Felpham's most famous cottage given a face-lift

Thatcher Robert Ford has completed rethatching the roof ridge of Blake's Cottage.

The work for the building's owner, Heather Howell, was carried out just after the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Blake.

The visionary poet and artist lived there between 1800 and 1803. He famously wrote the words of Jerusalem there during that time.

Mr Ford spent four days putting on the new ridge plus another couple of days taking off and putting back the netting which keeps the rest of the thatch in place.

He said: 'A lot more people seem to take photographs of me on Blake's Cottage than is usually the case.

'The camera flashes suddenly go off. I have worked on Blake's Cottage before and I am used to working on 17th and 18th century period cottages. They are not necessarily as famous, though.'

The fame of Blake's Cottage, in Blakes Road, means that Mr Ford repeated the traditional diamond shape along the ridge's edge rather than create his usual heart trademark under the chimney.

He used 40 bundles of combed wheat reed from Somerset for the new ridge.

The base of each bundle is about 3ft in diameter and weighs 14-16lbs when dry.

Middleton man Mr Ford (44) said thatched ridges usually wore out in between 10 and 14 years. But Blake's Cottage took the brunt of the bad weather because the wind funnelled up from the sea.

Mrs Howell said this special year had seen a fair amount of interest in Blake's achievements.

'I think a lot of people now are realising how beautiful his paintings are as well as his poetry,' she stated.

She has lived in Blake's Cottage for 24 years and it has been in her family's ownership since 1928. Its historic significance is shown by its grade two* listed status.