Clearing up a small mystery

I received a lovely letter from the current owners of the Clocktower Cottage, which they named Beaumaris. I had wondered about the odd choice of name, which means "beautiful sea," in a place as far inland as Duras, but Pam has explained the charming origin here. How romantic to name your happy place after the town where you met!  The letter is below:

Hello Donna,
Rosalind very kindly passed on your email address so that I could write and tell you a little bit about Beaumaris, soon to be yours.
I would like to say that Beaumaris has always been a "happy house" for us, and I do hope that it will be the same for you.

The name "Beaumaris" is the name of the seaside village in Anglesey, Wales, where John and I first met. It is a special place for us. When a friend, a stonemason by trade, heard our story he made the name plate that is now outside the house.
You will also see the stained glass window in the kitchen has also been specially made for the house, and the shape is quite unusual. It depicts the cross of St George, the patron saint of England, and the Fleur de Lys of France. It was made by "Jennifer" who used to have a studio in Duras where she used to restore stained glass windows, particularly from churches. She now works from home in a village called Landerrouat, which is not far from Duras. By the way she also made the two oblong windows in the kitchen/lounge.

In the kitchen you will see a set of scales and a row of hooks attached to the beam on the left as you go into the kitchen from the road. We found these when we were doing restoration work. Apparently they are meat hooks and scales as Beaumaris used to be a butchers shop at some time in the past. 
On the wall above the dining table is a wooden ox harness which we bought in France at a "vide grenier".

The metal wall lights in the lounge come from an old public house in Huddersfield, Yorkshire where I originate from. It has long since been demolished. The wooden ceiling lights and wall light come from an old house in Liverpool, where John originates from.
The lovely hanging gas/candle light fitting in the lounge is French and is complete.
There is a fabric covered chest which also comes from Liverpool, and if you remove the bottom of the chest you will find that J.H. Fellowes made it in 1971. We met Mrs Fellowes in 1989, and she was a lovely old lady. She was moving house and didn't have room for it so we bought it from her.

As you go up the stairs all the mirrors on the walls are from various places in England and Wales, and are of some age.
The large wooden chest at the top of the stairs is very heavy!  The owners nameplate has been removed at some stage, but on the inside of the chest is the name plate of the provider, Carrington and Co, Silversmiths, 130 Regent Street, London.  On some of the compartments the  labels are still there indicating which pieces of silverware go where.

On the wall above the double doors on the landing is a hand worked mantle surround. This was bought in France.

In the bedroom the gold Chinese carpet is one that we brought back from Hong Kong. I am not sure how old it is as we didn't buy it from a shop but from a friend.
The picture above the bed also comes from a public house in Huddersfield. 
The marble wash stand was bought in France.
In the cupboard under the window are some very old tiles. We think they may have been on the hearth when there was a downstairs fire place.

There is a story behind most of the things that we are leaving with the house, so if when you have a look around and there is anything that you would like more information about please do not hesitate to contact us, and if we can help we can.

Now to things "more practical"!!!

In the upholstered chest there are extra curtains.
Upstairs there are sheets, duvet covers, blankets, towels etc.
Downstairs there is everything you should need in the way of crockery, glassware, cutlery, pans etc. 
There is a toaster, kettle, food processor, mixer, iron and ironing board etc.
It should mean that when you come over to France you will not have to think of bringing bedding, towels etc.

In the loft we have left things that we think will be of use to you, spare tiles, wood etc.
By the way you will see that there is a stone recess into the tower, and we have no idea what it was for. We would like to think that it was where soldiers sheltered when Duras was a true fortified town with perimeter walls. The bottom step of the staircase is also stone. Why? We don't know!

The key to the ISOA double glazing system is in the small drawer of the tall unit in the kitchen/dining area.
The gas bottle is under the sink.
Mr Beauge, the electrician , has been and carried out the necessary work.


We will leave some documents with Rosalind before we leave, and if we can find some photos of the house when we were doing the restoration, we will send them to you.

Unfortunately Donna we will not be at the signing on the 2nd June, as we have to return to the UK. It would have been so nice to have met you. Maybe we will meet sometime in the future, as we will certainly take you up on your offer of two weeks holiday a year for five years. 
You will have to let us know how we arrange this. We normally prefer to come in May/June or September/October and not in the peak holiday season. It is so good to know that we haven't completely severed all our ties with Beaumaris!!!

I am sure you will be very happy in Duras as the people are so helpful and very friendly. We have made so many French friends that we will be keeping in touch with.

I think that is about all for the moment, but should you need any more information about anything at all, please do not hesitate to contact us.

With very best wishes,
Pam and John

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