STILL WAITING… Part 5 of Liz Hutton's journey to restore a derelict chapel in Wales

December and January have unfortunately seen little progress with the Chapel. The inclement weather in Bannau Brycheiniog has caused a great deal of worry that the Chapel continues to deteriorate further whilst we wait for planning permission. The increasing number and size of holes, has meant the roof is really now barely more than an extensive sieve allowing severe water ingress. Fortunately, there’s very little of an interior left to damage, but I’m sure the water is no friend to the structural integrity of the building. We continue to deal with questions and points of clarification from a seemingly endless stream of statutory bodies, and are trying our best to keep spirits up that the end is in sight- everything crossed!

In lieu of anything further on the Chapel, at the start of 2026 I’ve been thinking a lot about resolutions, or intentions (if you prefer a resolution-light approach) and wanted to share a little in the wider context of my role here at TW.

As some will be aware, my background and training is as a general property solicitor, even though my current role has more of a residential conveyancing focus for prime central London and the Home Counties. Often when I meet other conveyancing solicitors, I’m struck by the doom and gloom they suffer as a result of relentless pressure and difficult transactions set in a seemingly endless regulatory regime. I don’t always see hope for the future of the profession, and have even heard advice to trainee solicitors to not even consider conveyancing as a speciality.

For me, working from home the last few years has not always been a positive experience. There are some (questionable!) highs, such as attending to your laundry when you like, and developing a stronger relationship with your postal delivery workers. The lows though, can feel a little harder when you’re alone or isolated. You might shake off a difficult call or interaction if you’re in the office surrounded by colleagues, but perhaps if you feel unfairly attacked in your own home, it can be more challenging to bounce back.

I very much hope 2026 can be a more positive experience where we remember to celebrate the wins, take pride in the quality of work we achieve and generally find a little more joy in our corner of the legal space remembering to encourage new recruits to join us. If nothing else, we hear from our trusted network of estate agency friends that it’s going to be a great year for property transactions!

My main intention this year is therefore to spend more time in our lovely London office. We are lucky to have a new office head, Jennifer Nicol who brings a wealth of experience as an employment solicitor, but more importantly a great energy and enthusiasm to build our TW brand in prime central London.

Happy 2026 everyone. More Chapel updates to come in due course. If you would like to follow along, please do so on Instagram@crickhowellchapel.

Read parts one, two, three and four of my journey.