Along The Lane - PhMuseum

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Ron walks down Dews lane

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Outside Ron's garage

© Sally Low - Image from the Along The Lane photography project

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Ron has lived on the lane with his wife Anne since 1962. His grandfather lived there from 1924. “I decided to renovate the farmhouse because of the historical significance and I also promised my uncle I would look after my aunt who was living in the property at the time. When I first heard about Hs2 I felt like I had wasted my time. I cannot really describe the feeling, it’s like someone had pulled the chair out from underneath me. We stopped the work on the house because there was no point in carrying on. How do you describe a feeling of having wasted your life – where are the words for that. I have a rough idea now why people get depression. I’ve tried to steer as far away from that as I can, the only thing that’s kept it away is my sense of humour. It’s not disillusionment, it’s more like, why did we bother because nothing is yours, nothing, they can take it away from you at the stroke of a pen. When its government they have the Royal Charter and it basically gives them carte blanche to do as they like but they are right on the borderline of the law. There are people up and down this proposed HS2 line that are really suffering with what they are doing. It has got so bad that the serious fraud squad are investigating Hs2 and their dealings with the people affected. This place, it's historic, it's grade 2 listed it’s got connections with Queen Elizabeth the 1st, there is all sorts of history attached to it. This house was something to be handed on in trust for the grandchildren so they would always have somewhere to live. In the morning, I check on mum and Anne makes her breakfast. We have a little chat and we see if there is anything she needs. I see the grandchildren before they go to school and then get to work around 8 and work as long as is necessary. I have worked at my garage on the lane for 50 years and my mum was still bringing me sandwiches irrespective of the weather up until last year. Sometimes I help with picking the grandkids up or dropping them off or looking after them. It’s like having children all over again and this time around I get to spend time with them – with my children I was working all the time. Living with my family under one roof, is something I have worked for all my life. I never really had any idea of the joy of grandchildren, none whatsoever and now that I have got it, it’s going to be snatched away when they take the house. I don’t want my wife to go through all this, she has stuck by me through thick and thin as my parents did. Without all of them, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we have here- it would’ve been impossible. All we asked for was 6 months notice which HS2 told the BBC they did. They showed me the signature and it’s a lie, it is not my signature. I never received this document. They gave us 8 weeks notice. This is the first time in 7 years that they have dated something- this has been hanging over us for so long and every year it was Chinese whispers as to when we would have to be out. I asked for 6 months notice so I would have the time to make all the necessary arrangements. I have to buy containers for storage, find new premises and I am having to put my own money upfront to pay for all of the initial costs. We are never ever going to be able to get what we have here especially with what they have offered for it. I went to the House of Commons and The House of Lords-we were supposed to be an exemplary case. At least Dick Turpin had the courtesy to wear a mask when he was robbing people Where we are is unique, what we have is unique.

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Ivy has lived on the lane since 1962. Ivy worked on the lane helping as a farm hand with her father in her early years. Ivy was part of the Women’s land army on the lane during the war working alongside German POW’s. The lane has hardly changed since Ivy’s childhood. Ivy gets up in the morning cleans her annexe and keeps busy all day helping Anne with the house work, the gardening and looking after the grandkids. Every week Ivy gets her hair done at home and up until last year would take Ron his sandwiches at the garage up the lane every day.

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Ivy has her hair done every 2 weeks at the home she shares on the lane with her son, granddaughter and grandchildren.

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Crystal with her son Max and the dogs in the garden.

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Max 2nd birthday

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Crystal and her dad co-own the farmhouse and the cottage down the lane. HS2 explained that for them to get compensation for the cottage in the future, Crystal has to continue living there. “The simple fact is I now need to move on from my home, my home does not accommodate my family anymore. I need to move on and move in with my partner. I explained to Hs2 the situation but they told me it was not their problem that I had 4 children. If HS2 wasn’t there I’d be able to move in with my children’s father. He is unable to stay here as he is a tenant farmer and if he leaves the land he will lose his livelihood. So it is actually Hs2 problem because they are the ones who are stopping me and my family living our lives and that of my parents. My life has completely been on hold since Hs2 started. I cannot officially live with my partner. We have put off getting married, I have put off starting my own livery business. The kids have a home at my parents, a home at mine and a home at my partners. I have tried to make it as normal as possible that they have more than one place to stay. It is really difficult to try and maintain this way of being all the time. They don’t seem to mind because of the way we make it. It is not the point though. I am up at 5.30 am in the morning. I am back and forth between the house and work, sorting out my horse's, other peoples horses, dad's garage, feeding the babies, dropping and collecting my sons at school and the childminder. We are a very close-knit family and we all just work together to do the best we can for the children whilst HS2 drags on. Initially on the HS2 website the line was going to be 60 metres from our property. When we went to the meeting to talk about a devaluation amount they said we are demolishing your property not going around it. My mum broke down. At that very first meeting, the words they said to me were you can’t get emotional over this. We have not been unreasonable, we have agreed to everything they have requested We have bent over backwards for them, more than we should and this has not been reciprocated. We agreed back in April that if they let us stay in our home till March 2020 that they could come and do whatever surveys they needed. Unfortunately, we didn’t get this in writing. It is not unreasonable that we want to get money for the workshop premises before we vacate it. When we dug our heels in explaining this, they put in writing that if we don’t let the surveys continue they will get us out of our properties before March. They are frightening and blackmailing our family. There have been so many stories about people not receiving their money and we cannot afford this as a family. The best one they have done yet was a request for our personal bank statements to prove we couldn’t afford to go and buy another property. How dare they? It doesn’t matter whether I have a penny or a million pounds in the bank. A normal property sale does not happen like this, why should a compulsory purchase be any different? The whole situation is crazy. There are no words to describe being forced to leave your home. To know that you own a property and owe no money on it. A place you and your parents have worked all your life for and you see how it can be taken away from you just like that. There is nothing you can say to describe this.

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Ron in front of the family home on the lane. The family sacrificed holidays and other such luxuries to restore the house which held up until recently 4 generations of Ryalls.

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Ron and Max

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Anne, Ron's wife

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Ivy with Max