Georgian manor house moved 30 miles, brick by brick

A husband and wife who were looking to move from Wiltshire to Gloucestershire were struggling to find anywhere in their chosen area they liked as much as their current house, and so decided to move the entire house the 30 mile distance and rebuild it, brick by brick.

This would be a serious task with any house, but the home in question was an 18th century Georgian manor house with five bedrooms, four reception rooms and four bathrooms, built mainly from Cotswold stone.

After deconstructing the house, finding an ideal plot and experiencing some planning complications, work began in the winter of 2009.

Unfortunately the harsh weather lead to around a third of the bricks from the original build being lost to frost damage. To make up for this, bricks were sourced from a few other demolished houses.

After a two year rebuilding process, the family finally had the perfect combination of the house they loved in an ideal picturesque country location.

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Government plans to boost house-building

Government plans have been announced to allow planning permission to be granted automatically on many English brownfield sites, as part of an initiative to boost house building.

Disused land could also be seized by the government to be used for housing, and major housing projects could be fast-tracked. In addition, red tape surrounding house extensions in London could be relaxed, removing the need for planning permission for extensions which are similar to neighbours' homes.

There would also be penalties for councils which fail to deal with planning applications in a reasonable amount of time.

Brownfield sites are areas where buildings have been built in the past, but are now derelict or demolished, leaving the land vacant.

The reforms were important because the UK had been "incapable of building enough homes", Chancellor George Osborne said.

The package of changes, named 'Fixing the Foundations' by the Treasury, is being treated as the second half of the budget.

The government's manifesto promised to "ensure that 90% of suitable brownfield sites have planning permission for housing by 2020".

Before the announcement of the new plans, George Osborne had said that "Britain has been incapable of building enough homes.

"The reforms we made to the planning system in the last Parliament have started to improve the situation: planning permissions and housing starts are at a seven-year high.

"But we need to go further and I am not prepared to stand by when people who want to get on the housing ladder can't do so."

Image: supakitmod / freedigitalphotos.net

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TrustATrader team settles into new offices

We're glad to report that TrustATrader.com has now settled into its smart new offices. The move went as smoothly as could be hoped for thanks to the help of a couple of companies in particular.

The TrustATrader team is now based at 5 Meadway Court, Rutherford Close, Stevenage SG1 2EF.

Don't worry if you recently used the old address - any post that may be addressed to our old office will be automatically diverted to the new address by the Post Office, so if you recently sent us something before you were aware of the new address, rest assured that it will reach us without a problem!

The TrustATrader IT systems have been unaffected by the move, so big thanks to the help of Prime Networks which got us up and running in no time, setting everything up over a weekend to keep us working smoothly.

We'd also like to thank GWB Office Furniture, which provided and installed the all important desks and chairs to keep us sitting comfortably while we help TustATrader members with any enquiries.

If you have any questions related to TrustATrader membership or the website, feel free to give us a call or email anytime. Our up-to-date contact details are always available here.

Best wishes to all our trusted trader members and users of TrustATrader.com.

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The amazing extending emergency bridge

Engineers from Hiroshima University in Japan have created an easily transported bridge which extends like a concertina and can be set up ready for use by traffic within an hour.

The design is called Mobile Bridge version 4.0. It can be carried on a trailer and deployed without any foundations, helping it to be put in place in a short space of time. It also requires no crane, instead it can be extended from one side of a river to reach the other, and can be disassembled in a short time to be used elsewhere.

The bridge has been designed to help support areas hit by natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis or flooding, where local bridges may have been damaged or destroyed. The emergency bridge could be used to help essential aid to reach those with the greatest need.

The assistant professor at the Institute of Engineering, Hiroshima University, Dr Ichiro Ario intends to continue to develop the Mobile Bridge to make it even stronger, lighter, more compact and quicker to deploy.

Image: Hiroshima University

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TrustATrader announces partnership with Friends of the Elderly

TrustATrader has announced its official support of national charity Friends of the Elderly. The charity’s research shows that over five million older people are affected by loneliness - something that TrustATrader members see evidence of on a daily basis. This, and their desire to make change, is why the company is supporting Friends of the Elderly’s Be a Friend campaign.

To launch the partnership, TrustATrader is encouraging 100 of its members to take part in the Battersea Park 5k and 10k runs on Sunday 18th October to raise money for Friends of the Elderly and awareness about the cause.

Friends of the Elderly’s Be a Friend campaign is combatting loneliness in the older population by encouraging people to get to know their older neighbours. Research by the charity found that over five million older people in the UK are affected by loneliness, with more than a million (1 in 10 older people) saying they often feel lonely.

Steve Allen, Chief Executive at Friends of the Elderly, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with TrustATrader to reduce loneliness in the older population. Having a team of traders running in Battersea Park to fundraise for our befriending services is the perfect launch to our partnership, and we look forward to many more traders getting involved in the future. We believe that feeling lonely or alone shouldn’t be a natural part of getting older and we aspire to a society where all older people have the opportunity to live fulfilled lives. With your support, we make that vision a reality.”

Gary McEwen, Managing Director of TrustATrader, added: “At TrustATrader we value the honesty and reliability of our trusted professionals. We go into the homes of older people every day and want people to get quality jobs done for a fair price. We’ve teamed up with Friends of the Elderly to support the charity’s Be a Friend campaign, which encourages people to simply look out for their older family, friends and neighbours where they can. It’s a great cause, and I’m looking forward to seeing lots of our traders fundraising and running in Battersea Park this October to kick off our partnership.”

The first fundraising event, the Battersea Park fun run, will take place on the 18th October. We are looking for 100 tradespeople to take part in the event where there will be plenty of things to do as well as the all important running event itself.

For further information, visit trustatrader.com/fundraising.

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Orbit tower in Olympic Park to become tallest slide in the world

It was regularly glimpsed on television or if you visited the Olympic Park around the time of the 2012 Olympics in London, but soon you'll be able to have a much closer - though high-speed - look at the Orbit tower as it's due to have a helter-skelter type slide built in and around it.

Plans have been approved this week to create the world's longest and tallest tunnel slide inside the 114m tall red Orbit tower sculpture in the Olympic Park.

The slide tunnel will be transparent most of the way down, allowing those on the ride to catch sight of various views of the spiralling structure on their way down.

The slide will be 178m long and 76m high. A ride will cost £5 and it will take around 40 seconds to reach the bottom.

The tower was designed by Turner Prize winning artist Anish Kapoor and structural designer Cecil Balmond and completed in 2012, in time for the Olympics.

The slide part of the tower will open in Spring 2016.

Image: By you_only_live_twice from Lighthorne Heath, England (The Orbit Uploaded by BaldBoris) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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