We moved back to Lancashire from Bedford in January 2002 and did not set out to self-build. We found Cleve Prior by chance when we were viewing a house in the centre of Clitheroe which was to be auctioned. The agent selling Cleve Prior had only recently been instructed, and didn't have the keys. We viewed it externally, in the dark, and offered the asking price as we liked the site and the location. He who dares.....

We expected to carry out a comprehensive refurbishment, but 6 months of living in Cleve Prior convinced us that it had no intrinsic merits. We concluded that self build was the way to get exactly what we wanted.  It is very difficult to find a suitable building plot in the Ribble Valley, so we decided to demolish the 1950/70s 3 bed bungalow and replace it with a low energy house on two floors.

Ribble Valley Borough Council granted planning permission for our design on 11 February 2003, but Lancashire Highways Department closed the road on 15 February 2003 leading to an unexpected delay of 3 months.  We began building the garage block on 28 July 2003, completing it in December.  

The house build was delayed by a covenant as the covenantor failed to reply to correspondence.  Our solicitors finally resolved the matter in December 2004 allowing us to begin the house build in May 2005.

This web site aims to provide other self builders with a journal of events and a source of information about materials, suppliers and contractors.

You will also find more self build sites on the Links page.