Heart Attic in Highgate - From Dust till Yawn

The tried and tested duo of Gosia and myself spent Wednesday evening on double Mission duty, starting in South London, followed by an hour's commute on the Overground, Northern, Victoria and once again Northern Lines to Highgate. Amazingly, and due to 4 one-mile sprints at each phase, we kept to the planned schedule and arrived slightly early at Mrs M's house, on the edge of Highgate Wood.

Mrs M greeted us with overwhelming gratitude as she was under serious time pressure to clear her house prior to relocating. She explained the task and revealed not one but TWO attics that needed emptying before the council would let her leave.

I did the gentlemanly thing and climbed up into the first loft only to be greeted by heavy darkness and a thick aura of black dust that reminded me of chemical warfare training from my previous life. Thankfully, Gosia had had the wit and foresight to bring a head-torch, which was a lifesaver, so I set to work clearing a treasure trove of objects, from floor lino to candelabras, vintage books to a VHS video recorder, and passing down to my teammate. Apparently, nobody had been up in decades, substantiated by the finding of newspapers from 1985.

Despite nearly falling through the ceiling and suffering a toxic-induced cardiac arrest, the job was done, albeit I sounded like a lifetime 50-a-day smoker when I re-emerged. Gosia then set to work on the second attic, just as packed as the first, with older cuttings (1984!). Impressively, she managed to finish in quicker time and with considerable more elegance than me, even pirouetting on the final descent from the roof. It was then a case of shifting every box, bag, furniture item and 1980s souvenir to Mrs M's spare rooms for subsequent removal.

Mrs M was supremely grateful and, despite this being the hardest mission I've attempted, Gosia and I agreed that it was definitely hugely rewarding, albeit exhausting. Followed by a slower mile run back down to Highgate tube, we travelled back south, nearly falling asleep en route.