If you look closely you can see that the bottom section of the end wall of the shop is made of compacted chalk which is crumbling and appears to have a hole right through it at first floor level. The joists for the first floor are sitting on that crumbling wall. The brickwork supporting the roof appears to have a conspicuous absence of mortar to hold the bricks together. I think that for Margaret to describe it as “a difficult time”, was a classic British understatement.
From Margaret Wheeler