I've been Gokked

Today may be the day I finally get to become famous - it's taken over 400 years to be seen by the masses and it feels a little odd.

I'm in a very secluded location and until now I've seen relatively few people come and go - my memory is a little blurred with age but a Saxon landowner called Wado I think was the first settler, then there were farmers, railway workers and even a few of the King's soldiers during the Civil War.  Cromwell himself marched his men along the lane but in all the confusion I'm not sure whether he was here or not.

I forgive them for the musket ball holes left in my doors some of them probably felt more pain than me.  Thankfully I don't have to witness such trauma these days as my caring owners and visitors are a much quieter sort - although we did have a big group down here a few weeks back - Glitterati Twitterati or GlitTwits my owner called them.  I thought I was in for a bit of a battering but they were a fabulous bunch and they made me feel like the star of the show - hoping my new owners are of the same mould.

 
My owners have now removed my ancient 16th Century doors and placed them carefully on display under the Shippon so they could have some new hardwood, double glazed doors and windows made to fit my grand openings.  I now feel all warm and cosy inside but I still get to enjoy and share my memories of an exciting past.

My owners have been a little bit stressed lately, they worked incredibly hard to upgrade me and make me all fresh clean and sparkly to show me off to potential new owners.  I think they were aiming to launch me to the masses on 1 April but things slipped a bit - something to do with lots of paperwork flying to and fro on something called the internet which seems to be where it's at now and apparently I have broadband and everything now. I wonder what Wado would think of that?!

There's a very nice lady called Helen Silver that came along to help give me the final makeover, she worked very hard too and I have to say I've never felt so pampered.  I feel like I've been Gokked (yes I know all about Gok aswell - that's Television for you, something else I only discovered when my owners found me 12 years ago).

Look at my owners lovely bedroom now - eat your heart out Gok :-)

I enjoy the night time when they retire to these sumptious surroundings, it's my chance to be very quiet and reflect on how lucky I am to be here in such a beautiful, unspoilt part of the country and be so well cared for.

zzzzzzzzz ....