The 450-year-old cottage I grew up in

This is a photo of the 450-year-old cottage I grew up in from 1990 -1998 situated near Cranleigh in Surrey. The cottage was so isolated that the nearest village was a 10-minute drive away.
It was a wonderful place for a young boy to grow up in due to all the space and greenery. I used to spend hours playing outside and climbing the trees. The only problem was my friends lived far away so often I had to get used to playing by myself and using my vivid imagination.

The problem with living in such an old house is the ceilings were so low, especially with the wooden beams and it could be quite draughty. Despite that it was great in the summer and we used to entertain friends with summer barbecues.

As this was the countryside there was quite a lot of hunting in this area. I remember a fox hunting party coming through our garden one day with all the men in red coats on horses and accompanied with beagles. Fox hunting has since been banned in the UK. I also remember the 4x4 vehicles and their distant headlights in the fields at night hunting pheasants. I would sometimes collect the empty cartridges the next day. Also about a 15-minute walk away were several lakes with fishermen trying to catch fish. It is a very scenic area.

In the first photo below you can see a smithy. A smithy was a workshop for a blacksmith who made the horseshoes for horses. Some of the blacksmith's tools were still left there. In the second photo you can see the long driveway. We didn't own this land around the driveway so people used to sometimes drive down the driveway without realising there was a private property at the end.

I loved this old cottage and even though I have been living in big cities in recent years I am still a country boy at heart. I have so many fond memories there.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Have a great day!