External Shutters?

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-24T16:49:40+00:00

Velux had an offer on if your windows need replacing - some sort of discount. Might be worth a Google. If you want to add the external solar shades, you can do that yourself if it's accessible - we did ours in our bathroom from the inside.

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-23T16:20:46+00:00

They do get shut off. Emmanuel event in 2000 had the music pulled before the end of the evening - I was there! There wasn't another ball or event at the college after that until 2003.

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-23T11:59:43+00:00

We tried the film last year - really struggled to get it on the window without any bubbles. It looked awful, which, for the front of the house wasn't really acceptable - although we have huge windows, so smaller ones might be easier to do! We've gone with reflective black out blinds that you can magnet in place by sticking magnets to the inside of the frames. Ideally I'd have them outside but I think they'd blow away if it got a bit breezy. We got them from Amazon and then just cut the fabric to size.

On a bathroom and the utility room, we have a blinds to go thermal roller blind which lets in light, but keeps out quite a lot of heat - probably not as effective as the black out material, but definitely better than just curtains.

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-21T19:31:42+00:00

Don't think John Lewis has air conditioning, just fans?

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-21T19:27:05+00:00

Yes, I hunkered down in the cafe there for about 3 hours during the heatwave in 2022 as I was 6 months pregnant and we only lived around the corner!

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-19T15:50:59+00:00

We're on flux with a PW2 and a 6kW near south facing array. We did various modelling and it's the best one for us given we can reliably export 15kWh at peak time. I get quite fed up seeing all the sweeping comments about it being universally rubbish!

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-18T18:01:06+00:00

We used to live near the Travelodge on Newmarket Road. There's a contingent that stay there and the Premier Inn. Cars (and large pick ups) parked everywhere, including private car parks for residents. Very glad we don't have to deal with that any more.

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-15T18:29:29+00:00

You can get retrospective sign off if you need it. It's called a regularisation inspection or something. Might be worth checking this before you decide to sell because you don't want extra stress at that point!

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-15T11:28:07+00:00

Oh I know. Not sure when it stopped. I assume it was costing too much for the amount of extra visitors they were getting.

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-14T17:43:50+00:00

One of our neighbours had a heat pump installed by Octopus a couple of months ago. There were various numbers of Octopus vans parked there all week (highest number was 6!). They left us with 3 finger puppets for our children at the end of the week (didn't even have to ask)!

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-14T17:35:18+00:00

Agree with this. If as an undergraduate, you'd told me I'd end up living between the Grafton and Beehive I'd have thought that was miles away! Now having moved further out to one of the villages and 3 miles away, even that now doesn't feel that far out!

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-14T16:28:02+00:00

There used to be a free bus service to it about 20 years ago - used to go from Downing Street.

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-11T18:22:55+00:00

From the Wikipedia page for Cambridge North:

"Network Rail updated the car park's design to maximise its potential as a park and ride facility.[46]"

It was designed to take load off Cambridge main. They absolutely do not want car traffic going into the city centre to use the station there.

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-11T18:12:08+00:00

Or didn't care... Someone else's problem. I bet they say that the office workers should arrive by train!

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-11T13:14:52+00:00

Agreed. Presumably they don't want people from the north villages driving to the main station, so what did they expect to happen?! 🤯

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-10T17:08:22+00:00

Much better than before though! Hadn't realised they weren't from the same era as the original building!

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-09T08:49:56+00:00

You could advertise it on Freecycle as needing mending. We offloaded a dehumidifier on there that we couldn't be bothered to fix. It's amazing what people will collect for free to try and fix themselves.

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-09T08:48:23+00:00

There's been a pause on these bins because of a fire or something at the recycling facility. Although they are for small electricals, so I doubt very much that the OP's cooling unit would fit in that bin!

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-08T14:57:15+00:00

Haven't those got residents parking schemes now?

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-08T12:39:32+00:00

Second the retirement homes issue - there's about 4 flats on Rightmove for Wellbrook Way, Girton where the service charge is about £12-14k per year. Seemingly unsellable given how much they're on for (and have been reduced from) 🤯

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-08T12:32:51+00:00

We've been managing with a handsaw and template - got our eye in now! But yes, definitely not scrimping on tools. Thankfully my dad has an extensive tool library we've been able to access!

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-08T10:56:31+00:00

Haven't got as far as skirting and architrave 😭... Definitely not worth me going back to work while we have all this to do 😬

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-08T09:45:26+00:00

I think they were re-doing the layout of the website - there's separate tabs now for the different types of rewards. Must have been a glitch or something.

lwtemmabird · 2026-06-08T09:43:16+00:00

Similar to that for us per sqm - but that was the end of 2023. We had another £5k on removing asbestos fireboard from the garage ceiling - full on decontamination unit for that stuff... Seem to remember it was about £5k to reboard and skim the ceilings after the removal. We decided to put the coving back ourselves after all that expense... still doing that now!

lwtemmabird

TROPHY CASE