Rogues Gallery
Rogues Gallery
Buying an empty run-down empty building out in the countryside has so far brought its share of problems, mostly paperwork related and prompted a certain amount of financial head-scratching and so, I could frankly do without this.
It turns out the area the hall is in has its very own ‘terror squad’ (..as written on the wall!) who have decided that a good end to their half-term holidays might be to conduct a little breaking and entering. The rear door which currently leads out from the pantry onto the rear field wasn’t in great shape even before it was kicked through and the dead bolt on the inner door which now lies on the floor is looking pretty useless.
The walls inside the hall have been decorated with the pink and blue coloured chalks we left behind to highlight the potential room divides and a selection of fairly unimpressive phallus’ are daubed half-way up the wall as if to help the viewer work out the mental age of the artist. Not that it was really needed considering the visitors have written their names, the date of entry and their addresses on the walls. So I can at least breathe a sigh of relief that I’m not dealing with a master-criminal gang here. Either way, it’s a break in, damage has been done but more importantly, they have been wandering about inside, completely unaware that a fair chunk of the roof is actually being held up with just one or two rotten timbers.
Speaking to the police later that day, I tried to impress upon them I wasn’t that bothered about pressing charges, this was most likely the act of kids messing around in what they probably thought was a derelict building. More than anything, I just don’t want a repeat visit as even at this late stage, mopping up squashed teenagers would pretty much put an end to our dream of a romantic countryside idyll!
Luckily, nothing was taken, the damage was very minor and even the chalk was left where they found it so I can only take that as a positive.
