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Hi Joanne, sorry to hear of the loss of the nest. I would have thought they would have fledged at least one brood of chicks by now - they usually have three broods in a season. I don't know if this is the case with your house but they seem to have trouble fixing nests to plastic materials.
You can buy/make nestboxes for House Martins - the RSPB sell them (eg http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/house-martin-nest.html) and also give directions on how to make one (here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/h/housemartin/encouraging_them_to_nest.aspx)
But it sounds like you'd need to borrow a tall ladder (or a friend with a tall ladder) to get the box to the right place - they are unlikely to nest anywhere on the building other than under the eaves. Maybe under a windowsill is a possibility. They need a good height and a sheltering overhang of some kind.
My blog: http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/
My Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124028194@N04/
Some years ago, I fixed a small wooden ledge just below the eaves of my house after the loss of a nest. Last year after a few years of absence we had a new House Martin family build a nest on top of the support. We were lucky enough to get 3 broods of 3 chicks throughout the summer and the nest is still intact.
Sandpiper
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