25 February 2014

Goodbye for now wish us luck...

After being


all of a sudden we're moving house today!

As Joni Mitchell sang...
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Til its gone

We've lived here for mumble mumble years, in four houses, and apart from the cars, the village practically looks the same as in this cinema Pathe News Clip of the village from the 1940's! (just click on the photo)

DULWICH VILLAGE 
                                                                 

It still has the white picket fencing, (some in front of this house) wooden finger posts, the toll gate with its sign and the picture gallery which has had more than it's share of stolen paintings!

On the 31st of December 1966 eight paintings were stolen: three by Rembrandt, three by Rubens, one by Gerrit Dou and one by Adam Elsheimer. Worth at the time at least £3 million, a reward of just £1,000 was offered for their return. Nevertheless within a few days all the paintings were recovered as the result of an investigation led by Detective Superintendent Charles Hewett who had previously investigated suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams. Michael Hall, an unemployed ambulance driver, was the only one of the thieves caught and was sentenced to five years in prison.Rembrandt's small early Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III has been stolen and recovered four times, most recently in 1983, and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most frequently stolen artwork in the world. It has variously been recovered from a left-luggage office in West Germany in 1986; returned anonymously; found on the back of a bicycle; and discovered under a bench in a graveyard in nearby Streatham. The painting is now closely guarded by an upgraded security system.



A lovely park even in Winter and one of the park lodges

      


and the Barbara Hepworth bronze sculpture stolen from the park...

We used to be able to see this from the bedroom window of one house we lived in which backed onto the park... they must have made a hell of a noise cutting it off, the old couple who bought our house must be deaf as posts because we used to hear everything that went on in the park at night!
And if you've read any of my other 'village tales' particularly 'the criminals'
you won't be surprised when I tell you the person responsible was another retired local crim, one who a couple of years ago was found tied up in his home while his safe had been 'supposedly' robbed of several expensive watches and £250000.00 in cash!... so he says.

There are so many memories over four houses, the birth of our son, his christening at the College chapel...


and school, founded in 1619

Being snowed in...
    

so many friends we are leaving behind
as well as 'scruffy' our tame garden robin who always comes when we call him 
I hope our new owners feed him!

      


 We're leaving London and off to Dorset by the seaside.

I'll have a chance to get on with some work as there won't be internet or a land line until the end of March, because of the floods, lots of people are in a far higher need of being connected than us!

I'll miss reading your blogs and will try to visit when I can,
but until then...
please wish us luck
and come back and visit later.
XXX
   

11 comments:

  1. Good luck ... Dorset by the sea is a special place to live. M x

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  2. ooooO! Coming to Dorset.....ooooO!
    Still...You've chosen the best county on the planet...
    God's own....And, near the seaside....don't forget yer
    bucket and spade....HeHe! :).
    Seriously though...Best of luck...To you one and all.....
    Hope to see your lovely posts again soooooon!

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  3. Good oh, off at last. Try and enjoy the journey, as they say, don't stress, remember to breath. See you on the other side.

    Jean x

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  4. Good luck with your move, I like the sound of the Dorset coast! Heather x

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  5. Good luck, so much to leave behind, so much to look forward to.

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  6. Golly - not sure I'd want to move from Dulwich - even to Dorset.
    Hope it's paradise and not "a parking lot"!

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  7. Bon voyage! An exciting re-start! Maybe I will be able to see you in your new surroundings later in the year. Good luck with the move! x

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  8. Bon voyage on your new adventure! (There may be as many criminals down there as there are in Dulwich …) Hope to see you in your new surroundings later in the year x

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  9. I shall wait with baited breath for your return to blogging.
    Good luck in your new home.
    Big hugs x

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  10. Oh ,how exciting,,,, lots of luck, you will love Dorset ,,,, hope it all goes,smoothly , see you on the other side :) xxx

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  11. Dear Woolly Dog
    This is a poignant post indeed - I can imagine that soul searching that had to be done before embarking upon your move. I know Dulwich very well indeed as I was a sister in the Intensive Care Unit at Kings and then worked as a transplant coordinator based at Dulwich Hospital. Many of my bits of furniture were bought very cheaply at 'Brocantes' which used to be along Lordship Lane. When I last went back it was a car sales place I think....
    That said I am very sure that your move to Dorset will be exciting, happy, memory filled just as your time in London was. Having lived in London for over 20 years I find it exhausting when I go back and the traffic.......
    Every happiness
    Best wishes
    Jenny

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