The suspended ceiling

Started asking the neighbours if I could see any original features left in their houses to get some idea of where to start and was slightly disheartened to find out that the original living room ceilings had lovely cornices and mouldings.

Sitting on the sofa one night gazing at the woodchip wallpaper I suddenly realised that the dimensions of the room didn't feel quite right, I measured up and yes, clearly the ceiling was too low. Half an hour of careful tapping and then banging confirmed that the ceiling appeared to be hollow, another 10 minutes, a screwdriver and a handsaw and we had a ceiling with a hole in it.

The hole was head sized so we took it in turns to climb the ladder and take a look. And bingo, there they were, the original cornices and mouldings, hidden by the 70s. However the initial euphoria wore off a little when we discovered that the structure of the suspended ceiling included an enormous wooden beam across the middle of the room cemented into the chimney breast and the opposite wall.

Decided to leave further exploration for another day.

But always check the height of the ceilings in an old house just in case.