The Culprit

I was sitting this morning looking at the shadows and such and decided to take some pictures of them and some reflections.
My plan was to use one of them for my Blip.

SWMBO wanted to go to the shops so I was changing from my slippers into shoes and realised I had a wet sock.
How the hell did happen?
Well! ... it turned out there was water on the carpet - not from the radiator and nothing had been spilt. 
That was when SWMBO noticed the water staining on the hall ceiling.
Water had come from somewhere upstairs and come down inside the wall to appear on the carpet.
It had to be the hot water tank.
Yep! ..... A seal on one of the valves to the pump had gone. But there was also a lot of corrosion on a couple of other pipes.
I had no idea if I had the wherewithal to fix it so I turned off every valve and stopcock I could find in the cupboard and then added the three in the loft for good measure before heading off to the shops.

I drained the the hot water tank when we got back - not as easy as the videos and on-line help sites would make out as there was no drain plug - but I managed.
Then I removed the valve and found the seal was just a disgusting mess which took a bit of cleaning off. It was then a case of fitting a new washer.
Now, plumbing is something I really don't trust myself with (I am an incompetent, ham fisted oaf it has to be said) - but I just happened to have a box of all sizes of washers (I bought them for helping to make spheres on the lathe ..... don't ask) and the valve was good enough to have the size stamped on it. However, my washers are maybe a bit thick and squashed too mush as I replaced everything and allowed a gap, so I tried a couple of smaller sizes and managed to get it back together without anything looking like it had gone wrong.
When I opened all the valves again and let the water run again the washer seemed to be holding.
After a minute or two of staring at it and praying I saw a drip ...... from a different stop cock.
Shit!
It was only an occasional drip but it would appear that this was the bugger that has caused the corrosion  so had been going for some considerable time.
By this time the light was beginning to go so I decided to leave it until tomorrow to fight with it.
By this time SWMBO had found the contact details for a plumber we know slightly (married to one of H's nieces). 
I left him a voicemail on his and sent photos to his e-mail to explain my call (hopefully). 

I have since had a call back and he is going to come and have at look at it tomorrow (after a family funeral ..... what a gent).

My pictures of the shadows and the gunge & trouble makers are over here (SWMBO described some of the shadow shots as 'Creepy' .... You have been warned).