Second home scourge in the Yorkshire Dales has grown

From: Ken Walsh, Tunstall, Richmond.

WITH reference to your story ‘Second home loophole may cost millions’ (The Yorkshire Post, May 2) may I comment. Upon retiring from British Telecom after working on a three-year project supporting installation engineers laying 3,000 miles of fibre optic cable in ducts throughout the Square Mile, I worked as a data centre support manager in preparation for Mrs Thatcher’s Big Bang in 1986 and nursed the site along in a support capacity before finally retiring and arriving in West Burton in December 1991.

Our friends had initially purchased the village store and post office and departed from a canal-side farm where I called in order to purchase eggs and provisions whilst passing on my narrowboat just south of Leighton Buzzard.

In 1984 they asked if I would return north sometime in the future and I never thought that an opportunity would arise.

Our friends contacted my wife, Janet, and I and explained that they were buying the Fox and Hounds public house in West Burton and would we be interested in purchasing the shop?

Having purchased a house on one side of the village green, we were also the proprietors of the shop with a flat above it. Over a period of eight years we witnessed the initial buoyancy and an enjoyable atmosphere generated by wonderful Dales folk.

In 1991, we had spare keys for maybe eight properties such that we could keep an eye on them. Damp conditions from October to April can cause havoc. Many stone cottages have no damp courses. Musty and damp conditions were par for the course.

It was a tradition, and still is, to walk to everyone’s door carol singing, ending up in the village pub for a free drink of punch. However there are now over 40 second homes, stark unloved and empty. The holiday lets are provisioned by the visitors requesting deliveries via the internet and the likes of Tesco have been known to arrive as late as 9pm. Consequently, especially after the Post Office removed the provision for pensions etc, the business is no longer a viable proposition.

Upon selling all three properties, one may ask why did you not keep the flat as a bolt hole? The answer is that our mantra was “Use It Or Lose It” and the villagers who we still see socially would have accused us of the kettle calling the pot!

Ironically the purchaser of the flat above the shop visits it occasionally – yet another second home.