17 July 2015

Roving

 "I've been a wild rover for many's the year/ I spent all my money on whiskey and beer"

Roving to the north west of Doncaster yesterday. I stopped to have a look at a beautiful Grade I listed parish church in a small village called Marr. It's The Church of St Helen and was mainly constructed in the twelfth century. See above.

Then I parked in Pickburn, donned my boots and set off northwards to another small yet equally historical village called Hampole. On the way I saw a few more of these ubiquitous wind turbines:-
They are like monuments to something but I am not sure what - perhaps to desperation or to optimism. I walked through Hampole Wood where there were several signs - "No Public Access", "Private Land", "Keep Out" etcetera. I was wondering what they had to hide but the track itself is a public right of way.
From Hampole Wood, the path to Hampole was chest high with tall grasses and other vegetation. Clearly not many rambling rovers plod that way. And then I came to Hampole itself where I was immediately struck by this abandoned building:-
It's called Ivy House Farm and it is up for sale for £400,000 but any would-be buyer would surely have to factor in another £200,000 to bring the ancient property back to life. I wandered around the back but the tumbledown state of the place put me off going inside.

Back home I discovered that Ivy House Farm, also known as The Doctor's House,  has some intriguing secrets which were reported in "The Daily Mail" back in 2013. You can read about it all here.

17 comments:

  1. That's a beautiful house.
    I can't believe the article came from the Daily Mail. Neither princess Diana nor sponging unmarried mothers were mentioned.

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    1. Nor pensioners living the high life in luxury camper vans, swanning around the glens of Scotland at the tax payer's expense.

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    2. Whose expense? I think you confuse me with one of the Windsor layabouts.

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    3. Come to think of it you do look remarkably like Prince Michael of Kent. Are you related? Perhaps you are one of the Duke of Edinburgh's many love children. This may explain your unbridled anger towards all things royal.

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    4. Up to my neck in video editing. Not in the mood for a row.

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  2. It looks great, but the asking price is completely unrealistic; why would anyone spend so much money on what is basically a ruin, and would need a LOT of money even just to have the rubbish removed?
    Thanks for the link to the article. I do not agree with the photographers saying that it looks "as if time stood still". If time had really stood still inside that house, everything would have been left just as it was - not strewn around everywhere, windows all smashed in, cars taken apart for their valuable parts, and so on.
    The church of St. Helen is beautiful, did you go inside? I don't think I have ever come across a church dedicated to Helen - usually, they are all Mary's, or Peter's, or maybe John's. Helen is very unusual to me.

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    1. Unfortunately St Helen's Church was locked. There are quite a few churches in England dedicated to St Helen and several of these are in Yorkshire. I have no idea who she was or why this name was ever chosen. Oh, and I guessed you'd find the old house interesting. I agree with your points but "The Daily Mail" isn't too interested in truth.

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  3. What a interesting story surrounding the ruins. It's odd that someone would just abandon the house...emptied of all furnishings etc., (unless they were looted later), and yet still remain in his place of employment. I reckon many more stories are hidden within those crumbling walls; stories that no doubt shall remain hidden.

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    1. "There's a story about when the mad psychiatrist hired a young Australian housekeeper/chef from the backwoods of Queensland. He wanted something other than housekeeping so she clouted him with a frying pan and headed home to write "Kitchen Connection"." = Reuters

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    2. It wasn't me that did...you can't blame me!!! I was never a housekeeper...and I was never from the backwoods...I was always forward...and furthermore...I hate housekeeping. Hmmmm....perhaps I might have clouted him for thinking that I did! If that was the case...he deserved it! :)

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  4. I would have thought £200,00 to buy and £400,000 to renovate would be more realistic. I bet the cars have disappeared.

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    1. Part of the security fencing was down. At that time I didn't know about the old cars but I peeped into the old brick garage and I could see at least one vehicle. I think your financial perusals are canny.

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  5. Honestly, the pictures in that piece make the home look like it was abandoned 100 years ago, not 20. The doctor is still practicing and, indeed, was up for an award a few years ago. Odd that he would leave those vintage cars behind.

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    1. Hey. You have to be crazy to be a psychiatrist Matron Thyme! The main body of the house is possibly sixteenth century.

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    2. I thought similar to Mountain Thyme re the appearance of the home...to me it looked like it had been abandoned 100 or more years ago, too...not 20. What on earth happened to it in those 20 years?

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