7. Our New Home

The Sitting Room

Our Kitchen

27 July, Saturday - 21 August, Wednesday. Westfields House, Saffron Walden. Trips to Cambridge, Maldon, Londonand countryside surrounding Saffron Walden.

Westfields House is deceptive. It is a simple rectangle with its short side facing "Westfields," a one lane, partially paved road, rising steeply, from West Road at its bottom, about 500 feet to the Mt. Pleasant Road above. (It is hard to tell from the sign whether our street name is one or two words; we settle on one, the way the Smythson's stationery will read.) The house, its narrowness enhanced by its charcoal color, sits to the left of a one-car detached garage and behind a small front lawn surrounded by a relatively new hedge. The location of Westfields House as close as possible to the downhill and rear property lines allows not only for the front yard, but also for a garden and long narrow lawn. We are separated from our neighbors, the Eastons uphill and a vacant lot downhill, by six foot wooden fences. Our short driveway, the portion of the front yard not covered with lawn and the path along the side of the house to our front door (which is actually on the side) are gravel, a not uncommon sight. In the mornings and afternoons the postman's feet on the ground announce his coming.

Inside, an L-shaped hallway divides the house roughly in half, with rooms on each side of the long leg. At the back a drawing room runs the breadth of the house, next to the shorter hallway, which leads to the "front" door. At the intersection of the long and short legs of the L a circular iron stairway pokes through the upstairs floor ten feet above to four bedrooms and a bathroom. Looking down the hallway toward the drawing room are, on the right, a guest toilet, the master bedroom (which includes its own bathroom) and dining room. These rooms look out onto the lawn. On the left are the kitchen, with views toward Westfields Lane and the town of Saffron Walden, a family room (with television) and the stairs. The drawing room is really two rooms, one half with a comfortable sofa, love seat and chair, and the other half, where I will put my desk and work area, basically empty. Each room, including the halls, has its own radiator.

One of the many attractive aspects of the house is its many windows, including a bay window, next to where I will work. Upstairs, Jeffrey's room, on the north (downhill) side of the house has magnificent views of Saffron Walden down the hill from us, including St.Mary's, the large parish (Church of England) church. The varnished wood floors throughout the house look new. The master bedroom is good sized. There are closets in every room, as well as a storage room upstairs. The garage is tiny and not tall enough for the van. Even with all the closet space, storage room is at a premium with just our hand carried belongings. I wonder where we will put the things coming over in the four large boxes and trunk (as well as what is inside that was so important!).

If my favorite feature of the house is the drawing room, Cathy's is the AGA in the kitchen. The AGAis the Rolls Royce of British household appliances, functioning as a combination heater/stove/oven. Although we don't immediately appreciate its utility, especially on the warm days, as the year progresses the AGA will become an indispensable part of our daily lives, cooking our meals, keeping our coffee and tea pots warm and adding a warmth to the kitchen which the radiators alone do not give to any other room. The secret of the AGA is that it is on all the time. It has two ovens, warming and roasting, and two burners, simmering and boiling. The remaining kitchen appliances, all located under the countertop, are in stark contrast to the impressive AGA: on one side of the sink are the fridge (refrigerator) and a small freezer; on the other side of the sink are the dishwasher and the washing machine. We are, however, fortunate; outside in the garage are an almost American sized fridge/freezer and an equally large dryer.

Across the lane from Westfields house is a short row of small duplexes, many of which are owned by the FriendsSchool located at the top of Westfields Lane, across Mt. Pleasant Road. In contrast to the duplexes, Westfields House, Emmaus and a third house at the top of the hill are nice sized, upper middle income homes.

Below us, Blthye and Pawsey tractor company, with its main office across West Street at the bottom of Westfields, has a big, empty, dirt parking lot with trees and blackberry hedges next to our house and a commercial building on the corner. During the year, Blythe and Pawsey will lock up this old shop and the parking lot, and the parking lot will become a hang out for the kids, including the teenagers who pass through on their way to theFriends School up Westfields or the lane behind us.

We meet our neighbors immediately.

Ken and Allison live in the duplex directly across from us with their son Ian. Just turning four, Ian is almost a year older than Thomas, though the two of them will become friends on and off during the year. Kenis from Scotlandand works at the FriendsSchool. Although he is very friendly, I find it very hard to understand him at first. Ken and Alisonspend their family vacations in Portugal, but they do not own a car.

Jackie and Bob and their three children live next to us, up the hill at Emmaus. There is Greg(a year younger than Robert), Jemma (two years younger than Mara) and Jake(a year younger than Thomas, but twice as big). Bobis some kind of financial advisor. Jackie is home most days, but quite busy, dividing her time, as we first meet her, among activities at the Leisure Center, VBS (vacation Bible school), tending to the family allotment (a vegetable garden just outside of town on community owned land), and supervising children activities. Later in the year she will take on a part time job with the local town council.  Robert

and Jeffrey also meet Chris and Robert, roughly the same age as our two boys.  Chris and Robert, their parents, Paul and Theresa, and baby brother share the other half of Ken and Allison's duplex.  Paul also works at the Friends school.  In the autumn, Cathy will join Jackie and Theresa at a cooking class sponsored by a local education facility in a nearby town. 

Westfields House