Anyone else noticed or even joined in the trend themselves? Is it just me or is the world going grey? Everywhere around me people are having their concrete tiled roofs re-done in grey slate - having grey UPVC windows and doors installed - painting their houses grey - driving grey cars. Even I'm going grey - what's left of it anyway.
Not noticed it...but then I'm not around to see!!! However, I do applaud the moves down west to have coloured houses....eg Tenby, Aberaeron etc. It seems to be more seaside places that do it but I haven't seen Porthcawl recently. Start a trend, Sparkey!!!!
There was a nice house not far from me that had white spar finished blockwork, double roman old english red concrete roof tiles, cedar clad double aspect dormers, and good quality white UPVC joinery throughout. Some git bought it, ripped the roof off for grey slates, ripped off the dormer cedar and replaced it with grey plastic cladding, replaced all the windows/doors with grey UPVC, painted over the spar with grey paint and laid a grey imprinted concrete drive. It looks like a fecking battleship now.
Not been to Aberaeron but the colourful effect in Tenby is enhanced by most seafront properties being part of continuous terraced Victorian development. Porthcawl is different as, once you get to the promenade and westwards to Locks Common, the properties are mainly detached. Some are brick but there is a promenance of white washed render, one or two in cream and some, new or recently renovated, battleship grey. The trend there is that when properties are bought they are either knocked down and rebuilt or extensively refurbished with the aim of creating "upside down" houses with bedrooms on the ground floor and living areas on the first and sometimes second floors, with lots of high, triangular glass looking out to sea, a good time to sell telescopes in Porthcawl. There is one knock down/rebuild like this on a large corner plot where they started about 2 years ago and which has been greatly delayed by Covid. I can't work out if it us going to be be one big house, 2 apartments, ground and first floor or 4 apartments. It has more balconies than you can shake a stick at. It should all become clear in the next couple of months. Locks Common is the place for the really big rebuilds. There was one advertised on Facebook last week, 7 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, sea views and rear views back to Porthcawl, cinema and games rooms and an elevator to all floors. Up at £1.35m. Pricey for Porthcawl but if you stuck it anywhere near the coast in Poole/Bournemouth you would be looking at £5m minimum.
Aberaeron in great, as is Newquay. As for the valleys, in the 80s, the art teacher from my school took kids and painted murals on a lot of urinals in the Rhondda. Visited a few when wandering home from various hostelries late at night.