Before having our loft converted into a new floor of living space (2 bedrooms and an en-suite shower room) we had to rid the existing loft of 30 years of accumulated junk – and even some stuff that was there when we arrived.
This we did over a period of about 6 weeks with some concerted efforts on a couple of weekends. Much of the stuff went to the tip (sorry- recycling centre), a good amount went to charity shops, and the remainder is either at the grandparent’s house or in boxes in our conservatory.
The result however is an almost empty loft ready for local builders Tabor Jones Ltd to set to and convert it to usable living space.
For the record I have taken a series of photographs of the ‘before’ situation and these can be found in a picasaweb album here. Included below are a selection of these.
andrew kenyon photography 
Hi Andrew – I was searching for images of ‘an old loft’ hoping I’d find one similar to mine -yours came up! I wonder, could you answer a question for me?
In photo 3 in your picasaweb album there are some timbers running right-left on top of the joists (abutting what I assume to be a chimney stack). The darker timber (4″x2″ ?) seems to be similar to what I have in my loft – spike-nailed to the joists. This doesn’t appear to be holding/supporting anything. Can it (and the corresponding one at the opposite side of the loft) be removed so the loft floor can be boarded out?)
Regards Phil
Not entirely clear which timbers you mean but assume you mean the two – one each side of the loft – that run perpendicular to and on top of the rafters. I’m not sure what they do but don’t believe the to be structural. You should really get a structural engineer to check before you start taking members out. I would add that if you are boarding out for living space then the rafters need to be stronger than those provided just in a loft. My existing rafters are 4″x2″. The new ones are 9″ x 1.5″ approx.