The lot of the estate worker has change very little over the years. We are told that the day of the feudal system is past, I have news, in this neck of the woods it is alive and well. Serfdom is alive and well and the rich man in his castle is still crapping on the head of the poor man at his gate.
The house in which I live is part of a large estate which is in turn a part of an even larger estate which encompasses land in the far north and in the south of England. The estate upon which I live has had the misfortune to be disliked by the owner and has for many years been used as a cash cow to furnish improvements elsewhere. Most of the estate workers houses are in the same state of disrepair as the rented properties with dreadful damp and leaky roofs, let me give you an example.
Seven years ago on a stormy night two tiles were blown from my roof, Of course I reported the damage, nothing happened. During the following weeks I reported the damage several times and at last the estates maintenance manager called, took a cursory look and declared that there had been no damage that he could see. The fallen tiles were produced but nothing would budge the man, there had been no damage. Well of course I told him that his saying so did not make it so and that it made no sense to leave the roof so compromised all to no avail.
Time passed and the weather began to penetrate the roof, A large damp patch appeared upstairs and it spread over the next two years. During this time I call the maintenance department many time, we now had a new maintenance manager but the result was the same, the damp patch was nothing to do with the hole in the roof, a slight improvement since they were at least admitting that there was a hole.
Five years had now passed and the upstairs ceilings were covered in a thick black mould, I was taken ill with respiratory problems and for four months I was very ill. During this time I had test after test after test and at last the mould was reported to be the most likely cause of my health problems. Again we reported the problem and explained that by now the whole family was becoming unwell. The estates first answer was that the mould was my fault and that I should clean the house more often. Incensed by this slur I rose from my bed of pain and ill as I was wrote a couple of very forthright letters, one to the Estate Manager and another to the personal assistant of the Lord in question. I will leave you to imagine the tenner of my remarks, you know my style well enough by now. The e mails were sent at four on a Thursday afternoon, By eleven on Friday morning the scaffolders had been and gone, and on the Monday work began on the roof.
There was much more to it by now than replacing a couple of tiles, the whole gable had to be removed, the timbers replaced and it took several weeks. Two window frames which had rotted through had to be replaced and the upstairs treated for the toxic mould which had made me so ill and the whole redecorated with special paint. It had taken a total of six years to achieve this result and it cost the estate a fortune. There is no use looking for any logic in the situation, there is none and although it would be pleasant to believe that the estate had learned form this I have to report that this is not the case.
There as still homes on this estate with leaky roofs and black mould and this is largely because the people who live in them are too afraid to speak out, the threat of eviction or dismissal is always used in these cases, I know, they tried it with me. To illustrate this point I discovered today that the neighbours had not yet received their contract renewal on their leases for this year, they are quite late, could this be something to do with the planning proposals i.e. complain and we will not renew you can bet your boots it is and further more it is working, these people are too intimidated to join our cause and I do not blame them, they have cause to fear.
I gave up being bullied when I was seven years old and I refuse to be intimidated by these people
Here is the punch line, the people responsible for the mess when asked denied all knowledge of our difficulties,even the Estate Manager who's job it is to know all swore that this was the first he had heard of the matter the maintenance manger took the same stance in spite of the fact that he had threatened us on several occasions as to what would occur if we persisted in”making trouble”..
For over a year I have been for quite long periods of time with out and oven or a grill, during this period I have when I requested some action been told that this was not an emergency …....so we lived on fry ups and stews . I am at the present time reduced to baking my bread in next doors oven and roasting our meat on a home made barbecue in the garden...let us pray for fine weather!
By now you may have guessed that I am just a trifle narked by what has occurred and you are right, I am bloody incandescent. Last night I received from the estate manager a letter which implied that it was my fault that the oven was still faulty and that the electrician who came several weeks ago had reported back that there was nothing wrong with the appliance and that some one will come to look at the problem in due course.........I did of course reply with far more politeness that the situation warranted but now the gloves are off..
We have been plagued by rats for months , the estate knows this and does very little about it, they have implied that I have imagined these large rodents......yesterday I shot one of these monsters, we shoot about eight a week at the moment. It is my intention to parcel up the big game and send it to the Estate Manager some trick since they are imaginary don;t you think.
I always feel the better for a good rant thanks for listening.X
No comments:
Post a Comment