We had always wondered why 2 rooms in the Charlton house – the kitchen and the lounge room – had 8′ plaster ceilings rather than the 12′ baltic pine the other rooms have.

We though that perhaps at some stage they were lowered to make heating and cooling easier and to reduce energy costs.

The mystery was solved on our last visit when a neighbour, who grew up with the son of the previous owner, told us that there had been a fire some years ago.

So, now we finally have an explanation for the lower ceilings, the new roof over those two rooms and lack of a chimney.