Listed building consent

We decide it's time to speak with a conservation officer about our proposed works. As always we don't think that anything we are proposing is controversial but we suspect that something sacred might crop up.

We engage our excellent planning consultant, Amanda Frith, who organises a site visit. So one dreary summer morning Dave & I set out in Dave's van complete with new & very large graffiti of a huge cock on the side above the side door. At this stage we were both still, stupidly, of the illusion that Bristol to BOA is, oh about half an hour. So as well as arriving in a van with a huge cock on the side of it we are also very late.

To our pleasant surprise the conservation office, who is waiting patiently outside with Amanda, is quite young & without a beard laced with that mornings cornflakes. I'm sorry if you are or know a conservation officer that is perfectly normal but from personal experience they are usually blokes that seem to have a keen interest in trains & real ale & not much in personal grooming. I now wonder if that's just officers in Bristol (who all look like the chap above), anyway enough of my stereo-typing.

We do a grand tour of the pub pointing out the many positive things we intend to do to the building & muttering under our breath about walls that we want to remove. The officer is very impressed with the amount of restoration we intend to carry out, I even thought at one stage he might hug us. There are however a couple of areas that he foresees potential conflict, a skirting board here, a bit of wall there, but we agree that there are many positives to balance out against the negatives. He states he looks forward to our application & we leave feeling pretty chuffed.