We have one immediate neighbor (Dan Docking) who has lived there almost as long as we have owned our property.
Above is his house on the private road that services his and our lot.
There is a ruined foundation of the early Kelley home on the property )now rather filled in with leaves and detritus but still clearly a house foundation.
And not far from the foundation is an old well (now covered with a cap rock).
The old rock walls - while the worse for wear - still define the boundaries of the property.
The last time Karen and I were here was in 1996 (100th running of the Boston Marathon), so almost twenty years ago. Our neighbor (Dan Docking) is still farming his property and as friendly as ever (although at age 72 he admits to not being able to do everything he used to do on the farm.)
When I first saw this property (over 50 years ago), it was still largely cleared land with some taller trees on it: now it's filled with scrub trees and that it was once a farm isn't apparent at all.
Time to answer the burning question from our last blog: what is that thing in the fence? Karen and I think it is a moose gate: when a moose enters the freeway (through an access road or jumping over the fence) he/she is rather trapped. This gate is designed to be a one-way gate to allow moose to push through (and exit the freeway corridor), but not to provide access in the other direction. (Note: this is not a vetted answer: just our thoughts.)
[Karen] Awakened feeling a little better but still coughing. (remember the old jokes which went on and on and then usually a very punny punch line? I remember one about a guy being chased by an empty coffin... until he pulled out his Smith Bros cough drops and the coffin stopped! Kalon first wanted to check on possibility of building regs for the Gilmanton lot so we hunted up the town clerks office which had been moved out of Gilmanton Iron Works to Gilmanton Corners - as we peered up at the old building it was immediately clear that the old building was falling apart! We drove off to Gilmanton Corners about 8 miles from G Iron Works and were helped out by a clerk who was off to visit her son and daughter-in-law in LA area in Sept. We discovered the lot is actually 8.2 acres not 6.2 as we always thought. It was a worthwhile visit and we were provided with info about value, etc. Also were able to pay the taxes while we were there. They have risen from $6 in 1960 to $388 today. There are quite a few more houses in the area. We have always appreciated our neighbor Docking and he has asked to have first buying privileges if we decide to sell our acreage as he hunts on the property and appreciates having neighbors who are virtually never there. He enjoyed talking to us about all the wildlife in the area - he is basically a hunter and loves to see an increase in the wildlife while his wife is the farmer and keeps the farm going with hay sales and enjoys riding her horse in the area altho it sounds as if the traffic on Middle Rd has increased so that she no longer can use that road to ride on. After the visit with Dan (we have yet to ever meet his wife) we continued on to Concord where we had a lovely dinner in a restaurant called 'The Common Man'. Had a nice email from Tony who reported on the 4th fireworks from the apartment terrace and the 2nd bunny caught and eaten by Jack the Hunter!
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