1972: The man LITERALLY moving house | Nationwide | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive

"He can't move the motorway, but he can move the cottage."
Work to improve a short section of the A1 road between London to Edinburgh means that a 17th century cottage in Digswell Hill, Hertfordshire must be demolished. The owner of the cottage, however, has other ideas. With the bulldozers trundling over the horizon, Peter Fowler is in the process of carefully dismantling his cottage piece-by-piece, hoping to reassemble the ancient building precisely as it was on a new site.
Mr Fowler has just three weeks before the bulldozers do his demolition job for him. He speaks to Nationwide reporter Brian Ash about why he feels the cottage is worth saving, and the obstacles - both practical and bureaucratic - that might put an end to his project.
Originally broadcast 23 March, 1972.
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[@jbaldwin1970]

For those asking, it was rebuilt at the Weald and Dowland Open Air Museum

[@depniff]

Thanks for letting us know. At least that would have been a good solution to the planning issue even if he couldn't live in it again

[@BradGryphonn]

Thank you, Jonathon. I was about to ask that question. Is the owner in the video still alive? Not sure if you know or not. Just thought I'd ask.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Thank you, glad to know they preserved this 350yr old piece of history 🐱👍🏿 by the way is Mr Fowler still with us today??

[@moominmay]

@@fidelcatsro6948 hopefully as has managed to make it to 75

[@nigelhorsley7395]

Isn't that the same place where the Repair Shop is filmed?

[@jasonayres]

Peter Fowler, what a legend. And from a place called Digswell. He did dig up his digs well.

[@ChrisPollitt]

After deciding to lay in front of the bulldozer to prevent his home from being destroyed, his conversation with the bulldozer driver goes like this: "Come off it, Mr. Dent, you can't win, you know"

[@davedogge2280]

If they had done this in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy the Earth wouldn't have been blown up probably.

[@onlyme219]

42

[@AllAboutLifeInThailand]

I applaud him.

[@BradGryphonn]

This short video reminded me of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.

[@hilaryepstein6013]

Bless his heart for at least trying and I so hope he succeeded (could he have got it Listed?). Heaven knows what was knocked down to build not only motorways, especially in the 60s and 70s but unfortunately beaurocracy and idealism don't mix.

[@JoJo-bh1pu]

God bless Peter Fowler.

[@vanessahawarden9028]

Wonderful…I jolly well hope he was successful.

[@chickencrackling]

Apparently he rebuilt it in beautiful open countryside. Just next to HS2

[@staceygrove7295]

Nowhere is safe from developers. even when you're in the grave!

[@colshythecomedian]

Peter took it to the moon and rebuilt it brick by brick.

[@RenovatedCarpet]

Oldest 25 years old ever

[@andrewsundell2502]

How perceptions change. Today 51 years later 2024 a heritage trust would give a grant to cover all costs.

[@myalfie]

I wonder 💭 if the cottage did indeed get rebuilt ? Bye for now

[@jbaldwin1970]

It was, in the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum

[@myalfie]

Thank you for your reply very much appreciated!

[@RinoaL]

@@jbaldwin1970 Weald and Downland doesn't have any listing for it on their website, appears it was rebuilt elsewhere

[@kel69222]

I'd refuse to move, they have build round me

[@stephenwalker6823]

That's what happened with the farmhouse in the middle of the M62. The two carriageways pass either side, with tunnels for access. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stott_Hall_Farm

[@rar321blue]

How did it end??

[@jboomhauer]

The motorway went ahead and is still there ;)

[@rar321blue]

@@jboomhauer boom boom..🙂

[@jbaldwin1970]

I don’t know, I turned off autoplay…

[@fidelcatsro6948]

someone here said the cottage was reassembled elsewhere...🐱👍🏿

[@staceygrove7295]

Damn developers! This is how it goes, they let nothing stand in their way. Countryside and historically important structures, they don't give a damn, and their march of destruction is going on all the time. They won't be happy until there is nothing left, and then they'll just want to start again!

[@whatyousaidbud]

Ever use the London underground?

[@tristanthomas5006]

That's why they still had it in black n white. Old road and old building being rebuilt exactly the same.

[@martinhughes2549]

Probably because Nationwide had regional news reports from regional TV news studies. Not all had converted to Colour by 1972. BBC Bangor for example was not converted till 1978. However in 1972 only 8% or so had a Colour TV of course ; so b&w or Colour reports would look monochrome for most viewers.

[@Westeross]

A nicer version of Alan Partridge 👍🏻

[@FreakyRufus]

“The 60,000 dollar question” I found it interesting that he knew this phrase, yet got it wrong. It should be “the 64,000 dollar question”. The term comes from an American game show, where the easiest question wins 1,000 dollars, and the prize doubles in value as the difficulty increases.

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

It’s a common saying in the UK

[@theculturedthug6609]

Dollar originates from Britain.

[@FreakyRufus]

The phrase originates from an American game show from the 1950s. The dollar (in the US) originates from the Spanish dólar. During the American Revolution, the use of Spanish coins was widespread in the US, and they eventually based the name of the new US currency on the Spanish coins, and based the size and weight of the dollar coin on the Spanish coins. When exactly was the dollar in use in Britain, again?

[@MatSmithLondon]

@@FreakyRufus I think you may have responded to a weirdo / troll. But thanks for the history lesson! (I mean that genuinely. Didn’t know the dollar originated from Spain.)

[@FreakyRufus]

@@MatSmithLondon Actually, I decided to look it up, plus I found another video on youtube that talked about the origin. It originally came from a coin called the thaler from one part of the Holy Roman Empire. That coin became widely popular, with similar names in several European languages, and is where the name of the Spanish coin came from, which was nearly the same exact weight. It turns out that the Spanish coins ended up being used in England too. In the early 1800s, England had a shortage of 5 shilling coins (called "crowns" if you aren't familiar). Those coins were very close in size to the Spanish dolar coins. During the Napoleonic wars, England had captured a bunch of the Spanish coins, and they stamped their own image on top of the coins and used them as crowns. The English started calling them dollars, and the nickname stuck up until modern times.

[@ChrisPollitt]

Anyone remember the Bugs Bunny episode "No Parking Hare" (1954)?

[@ChrisPollitt]

A clip of the episode: kzbin.info/www/bejne/amicmHlup8hjqJo

[@onlyme219]

So English :) kudos

[@mikebeatstsb7030]

Surely if he owned his own house and land he could of just said no he wasn't going to sell n there then is nothing they can do about it..? They would have to go around... No?

[@flickpad]

Afraid not. The authorities are able to compulsorily purchase land and property in certain circumstances.

[@JustMyFish]

My grandparents lived in Northampton. When the M1 was built and expanded through their property they received a compulsory purchase order. Unfortunately there’s nothing you can do about it though The law still exist today. And that was in 1959. There lived there since 1937. RIP The village of Nether Heyford 🙁

[@thecaveofthedead]

Private property isn't the supreme right many people assume it is.

[@swaneknoctic9555]

By the sound of him I don't understand why he simply didn't ask his parents if he could move back in with them on the country estate. They'd probably also chuck in a new Range Rover.

[@benitopussolini544]

Exactly,I would have thought this cottage was part of that estate.they probably got compensation from their corrupt mates on the council to.

[@thecaveofthedead]

Well, there was a reason he could quit his job and still afford to move this building brick by brick.