After a long 4 hour drive, I arrived in this little village with high hopes having seen images of what was inside this little cottage. It turned out so were other people as it had become a bit of a hot spot for curious eyes. At one point, I had to ask a man to leave the room I was photographing as he was becoming increasingly annoying by getting in my shots. When i'm photographing buildings i'm focused and the world around me shrinks, i'm in my own world, conversation with others isn't high on my agenda nor forthcoming. My lady Smaragdi sometimes accompanies me and understands that i'm a closed shop most of the time, she will wander around and enjoy the visit knowing any meaningful conversation with me is unlikely once my eyes are glued to the view finder of my Nikon. So being confronted with what was resembling Piccadilly Circus until they all left around 1pm wasn't what I had in mind. But maybe it wasn't for them either!

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Even before entering the building, one has to read carefully. In the gardens, long overgrown and forgotten, several Robin Reliants sit in the brambles peeping out as if watching over the owners former home. Household items strewn around; an old hoover, several vintage televisions, an old wooden transportation box originating from America add to the chaos before entering the home. Cloaked in ivy as nature wraps its arms around a once habited home, the inhabitants long gone leaving behind artefacts, the clues to their lives.

Stepping inside, hanging by the stairs are a cap and jacket, possibly the last inhabitant placed them there for one last time? Each room filled with clues as to their daily lives. Sewing machines sit where they were once being used, jars of pickles fruits still sit on the pantry shelves, uneaten. The attic, a feast of framed pictures, sheet music and yet more sewing machines.

Upstairs are 2 beautiful bedrooms, a chair beside a bed with a ladies cardigan left hung up neatly for the last time. Maybe it was her favourite cardigan? Where did she go? Who was the lady after all? So many questions left unanswered.

The Seamstress's Cottage is a trip back in time, a window into former lives, now departed but not forgotten.

It appears that a few weeks after my visit, most of the items in the house had disappeared. Personal items which had lay inside the cottage probably for decades finally taken, by who and for what reason is anyone's guess.