Horatio

Glossop is a pleasant town - so much bigger and more interesting than Marple. I had quite a wander around it last night when I arrived, and in many ways wish that I had settled here rather than Ludworth. But it is too late now for such speculation. This morning I went and looked at oil paintings for sale in the auction houses, but was not impressed. But now for the business at hand. I approached Ryecroft, the fine house of Mr. Andrew in Manor Park Road, just before our planned meeting time. There was a groom who met me, and took my horse off to the stables. I knocked on the door, which was opened by a very pretty maid.

“Good morning sir.”

“I am Horatio Whittington, and I have an appointment with Mr. Charles Andrew at 10.30.”

“Please come in sir, and let me take your coat and hat. I will inform Mr. Andrews that you have arrived. If you would just like to take a seat in the lounge, Mr. Whittington, I am sure he will be right with you.”

“Thank you.”

It wasn’t a minute later that Mr. Andrew came in, shook my hand and asked me to come into his office. He is an older man than I envisaged, perhaps all of 60, but I understand he has been in charge of Lord Howard’s affairs for at least thirty years. But he still looks vigorous and purposeful, and capable of doing the job.

He said, “I’ve asked the maid to bring our coffee in there, and we can drink it while we are going over the various papers.”

When we went into his office, another man was already there. He stood at my entry.
“This is Joseph Siddens who is the farm bailiff. He will be going with our surveyor to report on the farms that are part of the planned purchase, so I asked him to sit in on this meeting. He might well have some questions for you about them.”

“How do you do?” I said, shaking his hand.

“Well, thank you.”

“Ah, here is our coffee, and I hope you don’t mind if we drink it while we talk. I have another appointment at 12, and don’t want this one to overrun.”

“That is fine with me. Very fine coffee this.”

“Yes, well, the cook deals with that. I can’t tell you anything about it. Now, let’s get down to the details. You are the agent for the purchase of 11 properties in Ludworth, is that correct?”

“Yes, I have the signatures of those who are investing in the scheme. Not all of the buyers will be occupiers, but as property is now being recognised as a very good form of investment, I’m sure you weren’t expecting that.”

“Do you have a map showing the exact details of the required purchases?”

“Yes, I have it here. Since I last wrote to you, one of the prospective purchasers, Mr. Jack Salt, has decided to go on his own, via his estate agent in buying his property and that of the farmer who owns the other half of his property. Have you heard from him yet?”

“Yes, but my negotiations with him have nothing to do with you.”

“I appreciate that, but at least I now know that he is serious in his intent.”

“So, looking at this plan, I see that we have four farm properties. You have not indicated the acreage for them. Can you see this, Mr. Siddens? There is Whitebottom, Woodheys, and Low Hey more or less all in a row. What sort of size are they, Mr. Whittington?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have the exact measurements with me. But they are small holdings - no more than 11-12 acres each I would say. Woodheys is the largest of the three.”

“And now looking at the other dwellings. First of all you have listed Stanley Terrace - a series of four houses, is that correct?”

“Yes, and I am living in the bottom end one - as per here on the map (pointing it out to him). The end properties are larger as you would expect, each having six rooms. Of the inner terraced properties, this one (indicating on the map the house that belongs to the Allsops) has four rooms, and the other has only three. I intend to buy the entire terraced property.”

“I see. And the other terraced property is this one on the end, is it not? Bench Wells. And is someone from your consortium purchasing that?”

“The plan at the moment is for the current occupier of the bottom half to buy her own side, but I think she might well be persuaded to buy the entire property. If she does not, I do have provision for one of the other investors taking that on.”

“And the only detatched non-farming property - that is this one here - is it? Rock Tavern.”

“It is currently being used as a public house. I do know the size of it, as one of the previous owners made it into the press with his mismanagement of it. It is 535 yards, has a large clubroom attached plus three other rooms, five rooms downstairs and two cellars. It has considerable land attached, but it is currently not farmed. The current occupier does not wish to purchase it and I have pinpointed an investor for it.”

“Does it get good custom as a public house?”

“Well, not really. We already have two which do get good custom. But the Rock Tavern is another mile or so down the road, and might expect custom from the farms in the area, as well as passing trade on the Glossop Road. It is quite near Bench Lane which leads up to Mill Brow where there is a colliery, several mills and a quarry."

“I see. And you say one of your investors has his eye on that property, no doubt thinking that there is quite a chance that the value will rise if the pub is made successful. Why did it previously go out of business?”

“I don’t know the story behind it. I only know that Mr. Simpson, the previous occupier of the house, was a foreman at the stone works in Holly Vale - and he didn’t run it as a pub at all, so perhaps the regulars just grew fond of other places to drink.”

“Well, I think we should proceed as follows: I will come to inspect each of the residential properties taking our surveyor Mr. Thomas Haines with me, and Mr. Siddens will inspect all the farms with regard to the outbuildings, stock, both live and dead, and then we will come up with a specific asking price for each of the properties. I presume, that it is to you as acting agent, rather than your individual investors, that I will make the amount known, and then you will come back to me, within a reasonable length of time, saying whether you are happy to pay the amount asked or whatever. However, you must understand that land prices are rising all the time, and if you take too long over your deliberations, the asking price might well go up.”

“We are all very intent for this to go through as speedily as possible, so I will be as prompt with my reply to you as I can be. How soon can I expect that you will have done your assessment?”

“Well, it takes a bit of coordination and we are all very busy people. But I think I can say that our visits to the property can be done before the new year, and our price to you should be, if all goes well, to you before the first of February next. Will that suit?”

“I was rather hoping it would be quicker than that, but appreciate that these things do take time. I expect that the solicitors involved will take as much time as they can to spin the whole procedure out, to advance their pay packets,” I said with a wry grin.

“I am sure they will do their business as quickly and efficiently as we will do ours,” he replied, not at all pleased at my jibe at solicitors.

“I will write to you with the details of our intended visits, then, and you will make sure the properties are available for us to inspect. Is that agreed?”

“Yes, of course. If I am not available to be there during the inspection, I will make sure that one of the members of my investment consortium is available to be with you for each visit.”

“That about wraps it up for today, I think, Mr. Whittington. Thank you for your time. There is a small matter of a deposit for the properties, to show that you are in earnest.”

“I expected that, and have come prepared.”

“I think that £300 should cover it. Please could you see Mr. Thomas Kenyon, the Manager Manchester and Liverpool Bank, Norfolk Square. He is the financial agent for Lord Howard. You know where that bank is? Just across the street from the Market Square. You can’t miss it. Thank you again for coming today, and I look forward to doing business with you,” he said holding out his hand.

I shook it firmly, and replied, “And I with you. I look forward to having your letter as soon as it is reasonably possible. Good bye then.”

Mr. Siddens also shook my hand, although he hadn’t said more than a few words the entire time. I felt he was not quite comfortable with the business end of things, being a farm manager rather than a business manager. Mr. Andrew had rung the bell, and the maid had my coat and hat ready for me and then showed me out the door.

It was just after 12 by this time, and I stopped at the bank, paid the deposit. I had another £200 which I will put in my own bank. No need for Lord Howard to get the extra interest on it.

Then I made my way back over to the Norfolk Arms Inn. I wanted to be sitting near the door when Hannah arrived. I wasn’t sure what time the bus would bring her, but didn’t want her to arrive and not have me there. She would not want to go into a public house on her own, and she did not know that I had stayed there the previous evening or intimated that I had suggested to the staff that she (in the guise of my wife ) would be joining me for the afternoon. If only she could have arranged it to stay the night with me, but I know she would not have presumed that I would wish her to do that.

The Norfolk Arms Inn is not a very fancy place, but they do provide lunches, and I have booked us what I hope she will consider an adequate meal. We will have salad and quiche and a cobbler for pudding. And I have ordered a bottle of their finest wine.