Spike's passion for historic architecture and the cultural importance of preserving old buildings like these only enhances my deep love for the man and makes me realize how, often, the greatest comic minds are also the most humanistic. At least, there in Britain, you now have semi-strong historic preservation laws that more or less prevent greedy real estate developers from unceremoniously wrecking perfectly fine "outmoded" buildings, through either intentional neglect or outright demolition, and putting up post-modernist monstrosities in their place. Such is the sorry state here in the United States, and we are much culturally and aesthetically poorer for it!
Council are only interested in profits and themselves. I use to go to 17th century Inn near Chester called the Golden Grove it was a listed building down a lovely country lane some times if they were closed the owner would reopen especially for my mother and myself. The listing was taken off, and the inn demolished. There are now house's built their
This is NuT council & St John's Cemetery - they've opened the windows of the lodges to ingress pigeons & the weather to rid themselves of the obligations of the multiple listings. Even hiring wreckers to ruin the Jewish cemetery with 'professional' ruination over one night, where they crow-barred the walls down & tipped drysoil over the tumble to age/distress it. I have all the 'photos taken a day or 2 later. Betty Surtees House - Eng Heritage, didn't want to know, very obstinate & obstructive to me informing them, Kate Wilson I think it was. *PC's Galliott & Stevenson, the same, even tho' it was their beat - total disinterest. Around 2005. Got a disc full of 'photos.
Almost a million quid in today's money. Reasonable for a substantial manor house in need of renovation (that is, before it started to completely fall apart)
