I'm sorry that my first post on here in over eight months should be such bad news, but I thought some of you would like to know...
I was not far from Cane Hill so I decided to go and have a look to see if they'd stayed true to their word about retaining the tower, admin block and chapel. Well, it seems I chose a fateful day to do so... My heart sank when I got close and saw the smoke. Almost all the roof in the central section is gone, of course taking the beautiful clock tower with it. A fireman I spoke to said that the fire started in the basement (which as many of us know, is extremely damp...) and spread from a single location - as in, it was not spread all around the building to begin with. It was detected at around nine o'clock this morning, and required EIGHT fire engines to come out. There were also difficulties with water due to the lack of a main, so they had to relay it up the hill through other engines. There still seemed to be a good forty or so firemen on site when I arrived, even though the fire was almost out, as well as police and an ambulance.
Anyway, I got a few pictures to show the damage. Not pleasant stuff here...
As one of the firefighters said, these listed buildings certainly have a tendency to catch fire at an alarming rate... It's disgusting that the owners can allow this to happen and will now probably have the right to demolish this historic building. Of course, this reeks of the same kind of "accident" that befell the Derby Hippodrome... Astounding that the care of historic buildings like these can be left in the hands of those out only to make quick and dirty money. Heads should roll for this...
I was not far from Cane Hill so I decided to go and have a look to see if they'd stayed true to their word about retaining the tower, admin block and chapel. Well, it seems I chose a fateful day to do so... My heart sank when I got close and saw the smoke. Almost all the roof in the central section is gone, of course taking the beautiful clock tower with it. A fireman I spoke to said that the fire started in the basement (which as many of us know, is extremely damp...) and spread from a single location - as in, it was not spread all around the building to begin with. It was detected at around nine o'clock this morning, and required EIGHT fire engines to come out. There were also difficulties with water due to the lack of a main, so they had to relay it up the hill through other engines. There still seemed to be a good forty or so firemen on site when I arrived, even though the fire was almost out, as well as police and an ambulance.
Anyway, I got a few pictures to show the damage. Not pleasant stuff here...
As one of the firefighters said, these listed buildings certainly have a tendency to catch fire at an alarming rate... It's disgusting that the owners can allow this to happen and will now probably have the right to demolish this historic building. Of course, this reeks of the same kind of "accident" that befell the Derby Hippodrome... Astounding that the care of historic buildings like these can be left in the hands of those out only to make quick and dirty money. Heads should roll for this...
