Posted by Peter Ceresole on June 06, 2014 at 06:34:44 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: Ransome's Sketch - Re: Beckfoot Layout posted by Adam Quinan on June 06, 2014 at 02:34:47:
Now to me the chimney positions in the sketch do not make any real sense at all. For boring structural engineering reasons, they must indicate the location of main load bearing internal walls having two such walls within a few feet of each other at the right end of the main block and the left end of the kitchen block is not reasonable.
That's what I mean when I say AR didn't really care, and put the chimneys in the kind of places that he saw them round about. But certainly with no particular house in mind, and certainly with no thought for the structural points that you quite rightly raise. I mentioned what I think of as the functional features of Beckfoot, as part of the story (position of CF's study etc) and it seems to me that that's the extent of his interest. I think that he cared a lot about the feel of the place as a homely house, which is why I think that there is still a connection with Lanehead, but it's not a physical or structural connection, but an emotional one.