View of the site of Winston Graham's former home Nampara Lodge, Perranporth today. It unfortunately had to be demolished because it was originally built of a material containing "Mundic"....

"The equity value of many mainly pre 1950 houses in Devon and Cornwall has been adversely effected by uncertainties in the nature of the concrete building material used in their original construction. Mundic is a Cornish word used to describe a mineral of iron containing sulphur, known as pyrite or iron pyrites. This mineral occurs frequently in the lodes or veins of tin and copper mined for centuries throughout Cornwall and Devon. Vast quantities of mine waste were extracted and dumped on the surface. During the early part of the 20th century builders used this cheap and readily available source of aggregate for the production of concrete blocks and concrete for construction.In the presence of moisture, the pyrities chemically alters and expands causing concrete to deteriorate. In the 1950s standards for aggregates used in concrete minimised this contamination. Whilst it is still possible that some properties built after 1950 may be affected the problem is more likely to affect concrete properties built between 1900 and 1950. Mortgage lenders currently insist that all pre-1950 concrete or concrete block properties are screened."

http://www.concrete.org.uk/fingertips_nuggets.asp?cmd=display&id=678

"Perfection is a full stop .... Ever the climbing but never the attaining Of the mountain top." W.G.

Winston Graham's bedroom window with the view from his desk of Perranporth Beach. (2004 approx.)

.

"Perfection is a full stop .... Ever the climbing but never the attaining Of the mountain top." W.G.