# Thatchers still needed in 2021



## mellowyellow (Feb 12, 2021)

Thatcher Micheal Fahy repairs the comb of the roof on a 200-year-old cottage in Galway, Ireland, Feb. 10, 2021.


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## Aunt Marg (Feb 12, 2021)

I never did understand thatched roofs in a day and age when we have modern roofing materials.


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## hollydolly (Feb 13, 2021)

Well thatchers have never been _not_ needed here...

this was a new one on the pharmacy in the nearby village , just before it got trimmed.....we have lots of houses with thatched roofs where we live


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## horseless carriage (Feb 13, 2021)

Aunt Marg said:


> I never did understand thatched roofs in a day and age when we have modern roofing materials.


It's probably "Ye Olde Worlde Charm," but I'm with you. There was a beautiful house that we looked when house hunting, but it's thatched roof put me off. A thatch is warm and dry and wonderfully insulating........when it's new. But there is always the fire risk, the higher insurance premiums, there's the problem of bird's, smaller ones getting in, larger ones robbing you for their nesting material. 

The biggest turn off for me though, was the lifespan of a thatched roof. Between 15 and 25 years. At the time a new roof cost £25K. Here's a country pub close to us, look at the roof, it was thatched new just ten years ago.


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## hollydolly (Feb 13, 2021)

horseless carriage said:


> It's probably "Ye Olde Worlde Charm," but I'm with you. There was a beautiful house that we looked when house hunting, but it's thatched roof put me off. A thatch is warm and dry and wonderfully insulating........when it's new. But there is always the fire risk, the higher insurance premiums, there's the problem of bird's, smaller ones getting in, larger ones robbing you for their nesting material.
> 
> The biggest turn off for me though, was the lifespan of a thatched roof. Between 15 and 25 years. At the time a new roof cost £25K. Here's a country pub close to us, look at the roof, it was thatched new just ten years ago.
> View attachment 149555


most thatches now last at least 30 years.....


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## Pam (Feb 13, 2021)

I love thatched cottages. During the 1970s I lived in Wendover, Buckinghamshire and as I walked into town along the Tring Road I would pass a row of beautiful thatched cottages known locally as Anne Boleyn cottages. Fast forward to around 2002 when eldest son and partner were living/working in Devon, they rented a thatched cottage and I stayed with them for a short break. Absolutely loved it, felt like I was in Miss Marple's village of St Mary Mead.


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## hollydolly (Feb 13, 2021)

Pam said:


> I love thatched cottages. During the 1970s I lived in Wendover, Buckinghamshire and as I walked into town along the Tring Road I would pass a row of beautiful thatched cottages known locally as Anne Boleyn cottages. Fast forward to around 2002 when eldest son and partner were living/working in Devon, they rented a thatched cottage and I stayed with them for a short break. Absolutely loved it, felt like I was in Miss Marple's village of St Mary Mead.


I know Wendover very well


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## horseless carriage (Feb 13, 2021)

Pam's description of her delight in staying in a thatched cottage is exactly the kind of charm that appeals. One of the biggest reasons why there are so few thatched houses remaining is because of the railways. The coming of the steam train and the sparks emitted from the engine, put paid to many a thatched roof.


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## hollydolly (Feb 13, 2021)

horseless carriage said:


> Pam's description of her delight in staying in a thatched cottage is exactly the kind of charm that appeals. One of the biggest reasons why there are so few thatched houses remaining is because of the railways. The coming of the steam train and the sparks emitted from the engine, put paid to many a thatched roof.


we have quite a few here where I live...and of course the cotswold villages are teeming with them....


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## horseless carriage (Feb 13, 2021)

Most thatched properties in The New Forest have some sort of protection order on them, meaning that you cannot replace the thatch with tiles or slate. One such unlucky homeowner was allowed the change after losing their roof to fire. Unlucky? I should say so.


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## hollydolly (Feb 13, 2021)




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## Aunt Marg (Feb 13, 2021)

horseless carriage said:


> It's probably "Ye Olde Worlde Charm," but I'm with you. There was a beautiful house that we looked when house hunting, but it's thatched roof put me off. A thatch is warm and dry and wonderfully insulating........when it's new. But there is always the fire risk, the higher insurance premiums, there's the problem of bird's, smaller ones getting in, larger ones robbing you for their nesting material.
> 
> The biggest turn off for me though, was the lifespan of a thatched roof. Between 15 and 25 years. At the time a new roof cost £25K. Here's a country pub close to us, look at the roof, it was thatched new just ten years ago.
> View attachment 149555


Thank so very kindly for taking the time to explain this to me, Horseless.

I imagine insect problems would be problem, too?

The equivalent of £25K in CAD is roughly $44K, which is enough to pay for almost four steel roofs for four homeowners... roofs that will last for 50 (plus) years.

I'm the same as you, Horseless, no thanks to a thatched roof for me.


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## Aunt Marg (Feb 13, 2021)

Pam said:


> I love thatched cottages. During the 1970s I lived in Wendover, Buckinghamshire and as I walked into town along the Tring Road I would pass a row of beautiful thatched cottages known locally as Anne Boleyn cottages. Fast forward to around 2002 when eldest son and partner were living/working in Devon, they rented a thatched cottage and I stayed with them for a short break. Absolutely loved it, felt like I was in Miss Marple's village of St Mary Mead.


A Miss Marple or Midsumer Murders village.


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## Furryanimal (Feb 13, 2021)

And there was me thinking this thread was going to be about Thatchers cider


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## Aunt Marg (Feb 13, 2021)

Ideally, speaking for myself, I'd live in the Cotswolds area, and my home would be fashioned out of hand-cut stone, with a slate or traditional standing-seam copper penny roof.


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## horseless carriage (Feb 13, 2021)

Furryanimal said:


> And there was me thinking this thread was going to be about Thatchers cider


And there was me thinking that the no politics rule was about to get some of us hot under the collar.
Margaret Thatcher was one of those love her or loathe her politicians, there simply was no in between.


Aunt Marg said:


> Ideally, speaking for myself, I'd live in the Cotswolds area, and my home would be fashioned out of hand-cut stone, with a slate or traditional standing-seam copper penny roof.


If you check out a map you will see that The New Forest is predominantly in the county of Hampshire, but it also borders Dorset & Wiltshire. I live in a largish village, not quite big enough to call a small town, right on the county border of Hampshire & Dorset, on the Dorset side, where I live, there are two types of magnificent, Jurassic Stone. One called Purbeck and the other Portland. The latter is more famous and is exported around the world.

You might like your fantasy Cotswold home built out of this, harder than granite, beautiful rock.


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## Aunt Marg (Feb 13, 2021)

horseless carriage said:


> And there was me thinking that the no politics rule was about to get some of us hot under the collar.
> Margaret Thatcher was one of those love her or loathe her politicians, there simply was no in between.
> 
> If you check out a map you will see that The New Forest is predominantly in the county of Hampshire, but it also borders Dorset & Wiltshire. I live in a largish village, not quite big enough to call a small town, right on the county border of Hampshire & Dorset, on the Dorset side, where I live, there are two types of magnificent, Jurassic Stone. One called Purbeck and the other Portland. The latter is more famous and is exported around the world.
> ...


Gorgeous, Horseless!

There's something about stone structures that have always appealed to me... so grand, so timeless, built to last generations, unlike the mickey-mouse and cheaply built McMansions of today.


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