Grandad the eccentric part 1

I know i was going to tell you another ex story but I would like to share my grandad with you. Both my grandad's have passed away and one of my Nan's. But I am truly privileged to have had them. My sons friend has never known what it is like to have grandparent's as they passed away before they were born. 
I can not imagine life without them. But I suppose you don't miss what you have never! Which I can relate to in other aspects of my life!

Well my dad's dad was truly awesome. All my grandparent have things about them that make me chuckle. But grandad Frances-Bovey. Well, he was known as eccentric in Lawrence Weston. 
When you pulled up to his house there were really tall hedges possibly 15ft maybe even 20ft. They were huge, and these big green steel gates. You couldn't see through them either. What lay behind those gates was amazing, as a child I used to think it was a truly magical place. 
He had the biggest pond, 30ft by 15ft. An aviary of beautiful coloured exotic birds. Contraptions, he like to figure out how things worked, I even recall seeing the front end of a combine harvester there once lol. He had a massive shed, where he built every young boys dream, and I was bit of a Tom boy, I thought it was great. There was a huge lawn an apple tree and tiny rickety shed at the very bottom. 
Now my grandad would go through phases of what interested him, it made him tick, kept him going as he cared for his second wife she had a stroke before I was born, I had only ever known her not being able to speak much and she could not use her left side of her body. So he was her full time carer.  I think his eccentricity kept him sane! 
In that big shed you know what he made...........

Trains, fully operation trains that you sit and ride on. You know the ones they used to have at Ashton court many years ago, my grandad made those, my dad has the last one he started in his shed, he plans to finish it in his retirement!  How cool is that , my eldest son would have loved to see him make one, he might get to watch his grandad make one, as I did with mine. 

Anyway one day, I was about 7 years old I went to visit my grandad. He said "Go up to the top of the garden, there is something up there for you" well when I got to the top of the garden, I couldn't believe it, he had build me my very own merry go round, only a small one with 1 train, but wow! 
Then he said " it doesn't work mind, but it looks good don't it" lol loved that man. I didn't care that it didn't work it was great and I sat on that train playing all day, I had a great imagination, I went all over the world on that thing.

When I stopped going on it he took it apart. I wish I had a photo of it : ( , mobile phones weren't out then, let alone with built in camera's ! Lol

Then the next phase came and what a cool phase.

I will tell you more about this phase another day, it involves popcorn !!!!

Anna x