Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Trunk found in new house!

245 replies

WBWIFE · 02/06/2019 22:48

So we have found a trunk in the loft of our new house..

Its addressed to someone to a boys school that was open in the 1940-1960s.

I'm so intrigued, its bigger than the loft hatch so think we will need to cut it out of the hatch before plastering.

Ideas what to do with it? Use for decorative purposes? I've saw some turned into coffee tables! Or I may use it for toy storage, I love it!

Trunk found in new house!
Trunk found in new house!
OP posts:
MeltedCrayons · 03/06/2019 03:13

Argh I hate these threads! The safe was never opened, we never found out what the DH had in the shed OR in the locked garage! Grrr.

gtmpella · 03/06/2019 03:28

open it

Teaandcrisps · 03/06/2019 03:33

Open it already!

Bluebluered · 03/06/2019 03:43

Why would you not make a proper attempt at opening it before posting on here?! Get a small screwdriver and pick it open. Shake it around to see if anything is inside. It’s probably empty.

maidenover · 03/06/2019 03:51

meltedcrayons is that right? I’ve been away for a while and was hoping those mysteries had been solved in my absence

also blatantly placemarking

Llioed · 03/06/2019 03:52

Ooh I’m interested too! Are you able to ask previous owners if they know about this trunk?

CircleofWillis · 03/06/2019 03:58

If your name is Pandora, please, for the love of all things good in this world, keep it shut!

BasiliskStare · 03/06/2019 04:02

@WBWIFE and others

Well a short google ( & I am practically Poirot / Holmes here ) has shown that ( I think) Kestrels used to be a boys prep school in East Anstey in Devon until the 50s at least - now holiday accommodation - under the name of www.knapphouselodges.co.uk/lodges/kestrels-lodge

So in my very limited experience of having 1 DS I suspect there will be little of interest in the trunk he used for school , ( but hey ho ) Perrot ( Is it Perrot or Perroty ?) may have been a secret diamond dealer or written a fabulous poem. If like my Ds more likely to be a couple of conkers. But Knapp House Lodges might bung you a free glass of wine if you were in the area to have something relating to their history. Otherwise cleaned up I can see it could be a nice thing to store stuff in.

( Note to self - get a life) Grin

ThunderOnlyHappens · 03/06/2019 04:09

I would be up there in the middle of the night cutting a big hole in the ceiling to get it down and opened!

BasiliskStare · 03/06/2019 04:21

@ThunderOnlyHappens - I would be holding the ladders for you. Smile Or I like to think vice versa . Drill close holes directly under trunk & then either gently saw between them or just bash with a big hammer. Ceilings come and go - a mysterious trunk in the attic only comes along once in a lifetime Grin

OR

@WBWIFE I think it would be the work of a moment to have the house roof removed and get the trunk airlifted out.

proseccoandbooks · 03/06/2019 05:10

Op? Still here?

Decormad38 · 03/06/2019 05:44

Placemarked to catch disappointment later

backofthewardrobe · 03/06/2019 05:53

Trunk watch

Bluesheep8 · 03/06/2019 05:56

Where did the op go? Everyone knows what happens when you start a thread like this...has it been opened?

MyOtherProfile · 03/06/2019 05:57

Have you tried moving the trunk? Does it feel like there's anything in it?

nespressowoo · 03/06/2019 06:04

Is it open yet?

Iputthescrewinthetuna · 03/06/2019 06:04

Yeah, sorry OP i am place marking. I always forget to look at my watching tab and only use the I'm on tab sooooo....open! Open! Open! Open!

Giraffeinabox · 03/06/2019 06:05

Get a screwdriver and pick the hinges off. Likelyhood is it will then fit through the hatch and you can see whats inside and use the box. Personally, id put stuff in it (as its obviously going to be empty) then top with a see through panel to make a coffee table. But of course, you'll never see this because you wont return

Whoopstheregomyinsides · 03/06/2019 06:28

My guess is that the query about who she is has made OP fearful of revealing. I’m still hoping for an exciting ending though

WBWIFE · 03/06/2019 07:05

Still here but was asleep after a long day of renovating!

Outing means someone must have seen it on Instagram I presume, not much to hide though as I've only ever posted about houses and things.

We briefly tried to get it open but with ko success, its heavy but doesnt sound like their is anything in there- that's why I didnt make the thread about opening the trunk but what we can use the trunk for.

I have been in touch with knapps house and they have some history on the school and are in touch with some of the boys who went there, they said they will try to find out who b perrott was!

We will be making the loft hatch bigger as its absolutely tiny so will get it out that way.

Previous owners probably never went up there, they left a skip full of rubbish in the house, garden and loft! Piss and shit stained carpets and skirting. 40 dead flies per window - it is/was disgusting.

It's a 1930s bungalow

OP posts:
TheCaddy · 03/06/2019 07:34

Totally placemarking.

MyDearACake · 03/06/2019 07:53

Open it, please don't let this be the Victorian safe all over again

WBWIFE · 03/06/2019 08:00

@MyDearACake what happened with the Victorian safe?

OP posts:
Grandadwasthatyou · 03/06/2019 08:07

Nothing, that's the point!

Adversecamber22 · 03/06/2019 08:08

This reminds me of the film Amelie when she finds the box with items in and returns to the owner.

When I was a child the house we moved in to had a small box containing actually lovely things that had been hidden away in what had been the servants quarters. It included a sampler and a bible.