Back in the summer I made a few visits to this Manor House, home of the local legend Ken Wallis. When dauntless had spotted an article on the manor and I went for a little look. As I was looking at the number on the board on the the gates an older man walked up with his dog and unlocked the gates. I enquired about taking photos of the house and he said its open on Wednesdays I said sadly I am at work. He said I could come back the weekend. So me dauntless and Janovitch turned up, and he opened the gates and took us to the house. He opened it up and left us to it, we spent quite a while in the house. We went back to the mans house and it turned out his wife was Kens daughter. We sat and chatted for ages and they made us drinks. I then went back a few weeks later with the girlfriend and her friend when they came to visit from Scotland for the weekend and Marlon and we spent longer there this time and went back their house and had drinks and sandwiches. The daughter telling us stories with a smile about stories of her father. The guy was a genius at engineering as we witnessed. She picked vegetables from the garden for us, and I remained in touch with them for a while. The house was sold at auction for over the asking price. Ken Wallis was born in Ely in 1916 and took an early interest in engineering, building a motorbike when he was eleven. He joined the airforce when war broke out and even though he had eyesight problems he wangled his way in. He flew 28 bomber missions and was heavily decorated. He retired from the RAF in 1964 and retired to norfolk. He is known for building gyrocopters and famously built little Nellie what was used in the James Bond you only live twice. He built thirty copters in total, they are now housed at RAF shuttle worth. We saw the hangars were they were built he had two workshops in the house. One were he produced the components and a woodwork shop were he crafted propellers. He died in 2013 aged 97 and was flying up to a few years before his death. The house laid derelict since and we were told he had no interest in anything that was everyday, but was focused on what he enjoyed. Like when a pipe was leaking badly and something he could easily repair himself, he just put a bucket under it because he was busy building parts for a gyro. A memorial was held at Buckenham airfield were about five thousand people turned up. I felt privileged to have seen the house, and even more to get a personal insight into his life. Prob one of my favourite explores from a personal level. The couple were so lovely and very welcoming. We were told it took them years to clear the place out due to being so much stuff inside. The wallpaper carpets had to be ripped up as well.
The front of the house.
The entrance hall which led to several reception rooms.
In this room was the most unique toilet.
This room was small but lovely and had a few remaining items
The thickest most solid door I have seen in a house.
Little Nellie.
Though stripped out now this was his workshop upstairs. The floors were strengthened to hold the machinery up here.
Continued..
The front of the house.
The entrance hall which led to several reception rooms.
In this room was the most unique toilet.
This room was small but lovely and had a few remaining items
The thickest most solid door I have seen in a house.
Little Nellie.
Though stripped out now this was his workshop upstairs. The floors were strengthened to hold the machinery up here.
Continued..
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