And in the beginning, there was a lot of lino

Here we go!  Neither Rob nor I are known for our DIY skills, but that's why Tim Berners-Lee invented the WorldWide Web (possibly not actually why he invented it, but I'm sure he'd be pleased to have helped us).  It's also the 20th birthday of the WWW today, fact fans!


We arrived at Linden Grove armed with stanley knifes, gloves, overalls, dust masks, and sandwiches.  It turned out that my set of gloves consisted of two left hands, and they don't make overalls for small women.  But the overalls did come in my favourite colour, and the sandwiches were good.

Like all good workmen, we stopped for a sandwich break before starting.

Job one was to clear the rubbish from the bedrooms on the top floor.  This box of Persil hails from 1987:

And this collection includes an essay about Douglas Haig, a ball of wool, and a McDonald's Happy Meal Toy.  I could have hyperlinked to the McDonald's website there, but I haven't.  Hope you all appreciate that!

Things began to get interesting once we started to take the carpet up in the green room - underneath the floor was covered with newspapers:

Yes, 1963!


This was back before the Victoria line stretched to Brixton, and people were asking for the tube to be extended beyond Elephant and Castle.  Transport For London being the forward thinking, organisation-for-the-people that they are would have listened to the citizens, especially on the last point, wouldn't they?  Oh wait, no they wouldn't 48 years later!

Floyd Patterson was still going strong (ish):

And Dowager Duchesses were offering rewards for stolen jewels - I doubt K Middy will be advertising in the Daily Mirror next time she drops an earring:

Anyway, this was a welcome distraction from pulling up, cutting down, and bagging the FIVE layers of lino that were glued to the floor.  It turns out that cutting up lino is surprisingly satisfying, but my eyes may never recover from the insult of the various 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s shades and patterns.


Oh, and speaking of the 90s, we also found this order form for a Gladiators outfit - how much do I want to see if I can send off for a Lightening outfit?  And for £12!  What a brilliant triathlon outfit!

So all that was worth it:

Look, no holes!  No mould!  No dead bodies (hopefully)!


And remember that mouldy store room from the previous post?  I lugged all the carpet, lino, and underlay down five flights of stairs:

So there we go.  One floor, done.  A bit.  We are very tired.  And overalls are totally not made of breathable material.