Pigeon Holes

Two years ago, working in the Civil Service, the term pigeon holes had a very different meaning for me than it does today. Back then (well it seems so long ago) pigeon holes were places where you left messages or correspondence for colleagues. Today I have the real thing – several in fact. Holes for pigeons cut into the walls of the barn. At some point they would have had wooden boxes attached to the inside to provide nests for pigeons whilst denying them access to the entire interior of the barn. The pigeons would have been a source of food for the people who lived here. Maybe the eggs were a source of food too but I haven’t found anyone who can confirm or deny that.

In renovating the barn the practical thing to do, would be to block up the old holes and point the walls inside and out. The other night though, I inadvertently left the light on in the barn and was amazed at the beauty of these relatively small and random pin-pricks of light that beamed out of the barn walls thanks to these old apertures. So the pigeon holes have to stay.

They need glassing in somehow and the shapes of the apertures are random to say the least. First attempt will be to see if glass bricks sold in DIY shops will do the trick. If that doesn’t work then maybe some Perspex can be cut to size and sealed in with mastic – either way a solution will have to be found because I can’t bring myself to get rid of them. But there again this is a frugal blog, maybe I should get some pigeons and follow the old ways.

David