We are not good neighbours???

Shock!

Seen from one of our upstairs' windows...

Today saw some big flakes of snow coming down, and settling quite well. But you can also see that next door sports a "For Sale" sign outside. Have their neighbours failed to come up to scratch?

We shall be sorry to see these friends leave. They consist of a really beautiful mother, an interesting husband who plays well with their two charming children. two fine cats, and a pond full of koi carp. You have seen their house before in a Blipfoto, when the neighbours were helping us on another snowy Sunday in December 2010, and I have shown the cats before, here and the pair together here.

We were wondering what was going on recently with a lot of professional cleaners in, and the father painting the front fence very smartly: this is the fence on which the cock shown here was placed!

Much (but not necessarily all) is now revealed. We saw=branch%3AKidlington+Property&saleType=Sale] details of the house in the window display of a local Estate Agent.

Detached 4 Bedroom House For Sale
Turnpike Cottage, North Oxford
Guide Price £850,000

The details found on the web provide a good slide-show of the inside of this very fine "cottage". The Estate Agents' blurb (below main photograph) explains about the turnpike. The Agents say "This two-storey property is of historical importance to Oxford and access to the City from a bygone age when highwaymen rode the roads to the north of Oxford. The property represents one of the best (if not the best) surviving examples of the few remaining toll houses close to Oxford. Uniquely the property is the only toll-house close to Oxford that is a residential dwelling of significant character."

We were a bit taken aback by the asking price, since that must have some bearing on the value of our own property next door! However, ours is not an "interesting" house historically, and the inside has not been modernised so much or anything like so finely (see the slide show: click the arrow just below, or the right-hand edge of the main photograph from the Estate Agents). By the way, in that main photograph, you see our house to the left of our neighbours', and also the infamous repainted fence on which the cock once stood.

It is incredible to think that before Summertown was built this tollhouse and the Diamond Hall Inn were the only two buildings between St. Giles and Kidlington. Close your eyes to try and imagine the scene on the Banbury Road back then; St. Giles, Old Man's Gate Toll House, The Diamond Hall Inn, Kidlington, no Summertown and no other buildings just countryside in between, highwaymen on horseback strategically targeting travellers and the courageous occupiers of the tollhouse (pikemen) collecting tolls.

The Diamond Hall Inn was closed down and demolished c1790, and is described in various sources as having an appalling reputation as it was the recognised favourite haunt of the aforementioned highwaymen and footpads. That;'s a great pity. It would be nice to have an inn with "an appalling reputation" within walking distance of our house!

It will be interesting to see how many people show up as prospective buyers at this price (despite the absence of a replacement for the Diamond Hall). I wonder who we shall have as neighbours in the future. I doubt if they will be such an attractive a bunch as this lot. This is, in fact, the first time we have ever had real neighbours in our lives (having dwelt in city-centre "tied cottages"), and I was half-dreaming that I might be able to help the offspring with tuition (or just explanations and advice) in Science and Maths when they are a bit older. I was thinking up good experiments to show. Now I'll have to run the demonstrations on my own!