Old Post Office Belper

We've lived in the Old Post Office for a couple of year's now. During that time the cellar has flooded a few times when there has been sudden heavy rainfall over Belper. The old sewage system doesn't cope with the extra rainwater run-off from a heavy storm. This is not surprising given how the town has grown over the past 25 years.  There's a small drain gully just beside the outer cellar door and it is about 2.5 metres below the level of the A6 road outside the property. So I'd say it is about level with the top of the sewage tunnel/pipe built under the road. When the system is overwhelmed by storm water run-off some of that water finds its way back to the cellar drain gully and floods out. There are some stone steps leading down from the garden to the cellar door and in bad conditions I've seen the water gain a depth of at least 60 cms deep. Needless to say this water finds its way into the cellar which is at the same level. The  cellar then floods to a d...

The location of the Old Post Office in Belper is a  bit of a nightmare for a prospective Estate Agent. It is located about one metre from the edge of a busy A-Road, and you can't park close to your front door. There's a town football club with noisy supporters to the rear of the property. One of the local busy night spots is just across the road. On school days there is a chaotic "mum's run" with cars parked all over. There's a popular pub a couple of doors away. A large factory is about 50 metres away. The lounge windows are large plate glass shop windows looking out on to the public path at the edge of the road. Every ten years or so the River Derwent floods the garden to knee deep. There were signs the cellar often flooded. The roof sags, but repairs will need expensive hand cut Welsh slate. The building is constructed from stone and the Grade II listing prevents significant  modernisation. It is expensive to heat. When we discovered it abou...

After three years of postponements by BT OpenReach they are now "accepting orders" from Internet Service Providers (ISP) for their "Superfast" Internet Broadband. I refer to those members of the public on Bridge Street who are connected via Cabinet 3 of the telephone exchange. The exchange is located just behind the Georges Fish and Chip shop. We've placed an order for a new phone line and the superfast broadband. It will be interesting to see how long it takes BT Open Reach to deliver.

The A6 road runs just outside the Old Post Office in Belper, literally just one metre away from the front door. We get more than our fair share of traffic, but thanks to secondary glazing the traffic noise is usually not too intrusive. However on sunny weekends we always notice the motorbike traffic as a huge variety of motorcycles are ridden to /from Matlock Bath. Often they are in groups which seems to magnify the noise from the under-silenced bikes. It seems to bounce along the terraced building at that end of Bridge Street.

At the foot of the garden of the Belper Old Post Office on Bridge Street we have a garage which opens on to an unmetalled track. This track runs from the A6 road to the Nailers football ground, the Tennis Club, the Hockey Club, The Bowls Club and the Cricket Club. When fixtures take place we get quite a lot of vehicle traffic along this track. The surface of the track is essentially crushed building rubble flattened using a small road grader. It gets very dusty during dry weather. If cars drive faster than 5 mile per hour the dust is sucked up to land on adjoining gardens and parked cars. Driving too fast along the track also creates potholes and ruts as the energy from the cars breaks up the surface. The track is used as a parking area for the mums-run cars for the local Long Row infant and junior schools. Social clubs and corporate events held in the football club buildings also add pressure to the traffic and parking. It is noticeable that people visiting the Cricket Club are...