Time Restored,
Chapter 8,
The Grange,
Autumn 2021 CE The Bradley Hare turned out to be every much as good a pub as the Beckford Arms.
Jenna could see Tim was going to love living around here,
What with all these gastropubs serving local craft ales.
The very first evening there,
They tried their cover story out with one of the bar staff and were amazed to strike gold straight away.
You could have a look at Bradley Grange,
He said.
It closed down after Covid.
I think the owners went bankrupt.
My mate's one of the groundsmen.
He told me it's going up for auction.
Might be in here later.
After dinner,
Sure enough,
The barman they'd established was called Ben,
Introduced them to a stocky chap called Sam,
Who had a soft West Country accent.
This couple are looking for a place for a client of theirs,
Said Ben.
They want a large house with a training facility in the grounds.
Well,
The Grange is ideal for that,
Said Sam.
Used to have loads of jumped-up bankers down from London.
No idea what they came for.
When's it being sold,
Ben asked Sam.
I think it's next week sometime,
Sam said.
The agent closed the viewings down last week.
Loads of people had come.
Rushed off my feet,
I was.
When Tim and Jenna's disappointment could set in,
Sam said,
I'm up there by myself tomorrow until midday.
Come along around 11am and I'll give you a quick tour.
Tim opened up OS Maps on his iPad.
Could you show us where it is?
Sam left them to catch up with his mates at the bar,
And then went into the quiet lounge to look at the grounds in more detail on Google Maps.
Well,
The house looks grand enough,
Said Jenna.
And that must be the conference facility.
Looks like a honeycomb.
A quick Google search found the agent's listing.
Their West Country offices were in Bath.
The house was in need of quite a lot of TLC,
But the training facilities look really modern.
Tim noticed,
The conference blocks are completely eco too,
With loads of solar panels and ground source heating.
And Sam's right,
Said Jenna.
No more viewings,
But anyone could put a sealed bid in right up to the day before the auction.
Next Wednesday,
It looks like.
After yet another sumptuous breakfast the next day,
They called Anna to ask for her advice on auctions,
And to check if she could act as their proxy.
These types of auction are quite normal,
Anna said.
They closed the viewings down a week before just to stop time wasters.
It's great you can see it today,
But we can always get you an appointment.
Let me know how it goes.
The house was a short drive,
Just half a mile from the pub.
Sam met them at the entrance gate in a beaten up Defender,
And drove them what seemed like another half mile to the house.
They could see from the outside,
It was in need of some serious renovation.
Jenna touched the walls as they came to the front door,
And just shook her head at Tim.
Nothing from the hinge here.
It was what would be called a medium sized stately home,
Which they had learned was sitting in 80 acres,
Which was more acres than either of them could compute.
Inside its previous grandeur shone through,
And Tim played the architect character brilliantly.
Jenna was amazed,
As getting him to put a shelf up was a major ask.
He'd obviously been doing some research.
We'd have to strip these walls right back and add internal wall insulation,
He said,
And as it's listed,
The windows will all need replacing with double glazing filled with argon.
But this would allow us to get the place to zero energy,
As our client asked.
Jenna made a mental note to get Tim to reel it in if they went to see any other properties.
The views from the upper floors especially were expansive,
And the nearest other houses were right across the valley.
The house itself could not be seen from any local road.
They both had yet to work out what they would actually do with a 12 bedroom pad,
But when Sam showed them the converted stable block,
Tim let up.
The previous owner was a bit of a petrolhead,
Said Sam.
He had up to 15 cars in here.
It's even got an inspection pit and a car lift,
So his mechanics could work from underneath.
Jenna could see she might lose Tim for hours if not days,
But was already thinking to ask Graham if he could teach her the art of temporal healing.
She was aiming to be busy too.
Sam mentioned they'd better get over to the conference facility,
As they only had until midday.
The facility could not be seen from the house,
And was still a good drive away.
Nestled down in the bottom of a small valley,
The training centre was a modern single-storey set of six interconnected hexagonal blocks,
With an open central courtyard,
Also hexagonal.
This was the honeycomb they'd seen on Google Maps.
No need for any renovations here,
Said Tim,
During the whistle-stop tour with Sam.
And there's a gym,
Pool and spa just on the other side of this copse,
Said Sam as they emerged,
Somewhat buzzing with all the possibilities.
Graham is going to love this,
Said Jenna.
Your client,
Asked Sam?
Jenna had thought he was out of earshot.
Yes,
Said Jenna,
Realising she'd inadvertently given some information that they'd been holding back away.
She thought no damage was done.
They walked over to the spa,
And saw the reception was a converted chapel,
With a further three smaller modern hexagonal buildings attached to it.
There's a pool in that left block,
A spa in the middle and the gym off to the right,
Explained Sam.
We've got time to have a quick look inside.
Jenna wasn't really listening,
As she was tingling again.
When she touched the stones of the entrance to the chapel,
She could not help but to blurt out,
This time in a whisper to Tim,
More from the hench.
