THE FAMILY ESTATE AND CLOGS

‘Happy New Year, Ian. But God it’s cold!’ John Mulholland, still clad in overcoat, scarf and gloves, had driven down on New Year’s Day and was sitting across from him on the first floor of Cleveland House. Six inches of snow covered the ground outside.

‘Twenty degrees of frost, according to the thermometer by the front door, coldest January since 1940 they said on the radio,’ Ian answered.

‘The place is deserted, a morgue, where is everybody? Not even the formidable, ‘The Honourable Miss Fiona Simmons’.’

‘She rang in and left a message. Apparently big New Year’s Eve party at the Pump Room last night, didn’t get home until four this morning, so saw no point in coming in. Great life for some.’

‘Not invited?’ Mulholland asked.

‘Different world. Upper class of Bath only, not my sort of thing anyway.’

‘The broke-class more likely,’ the older man responded.

‘Which brings us back to business, and the trustees meeting this afternoon. Tell me, how much does the tax man want for death duties?’

‘I have got him down to half a million since our last meeting with him in November. That really is his bottom line. He won’t be pushed anymore.’

‘That much?’ Mulholland was obviously surprised. ‘What do you reckon the whole estate is worth then?’

‘I haven’t inspected it all. There’s still the area around Great Pulteney Street to do.’ Suddenly Ian had a flashback of a naked Fiona, and hesitated for a moment before continuing. ‘Lotted properly and sold privately over say two or three years, I’d say around £2 million. Much less if the market knows, as it will be sure to guess, because at auction everything has to sell. Added to that there are very few buyers in the market with the money for such a large chunk of real estate. With a forced sale I would say £1 million before costs, net £900,000.’

Mulholland interrupted. ‘Then there’s the interest payable on the half million tax, since the old boy died. It must be around £500 a week and that’s without the local banks hammering on the door for their overdue mortgages to be repaid. Remind me, what do they total?’

‘£600,000, including unpaid interest.’

‘But Ian, that means the estate is bust and it will all have to go. There’s no choice. It will come as a terrible shock for the family, but they have been living beyond their means for decades. They went on borrowing without any thought as to how the loans could be repaid. A classic case of C to C’

‘C to C?’

‘Clog to clog in three generations.’

 

 

An extract from chapter forty nine of – ‘ Go Swift and Far – a Tale of Bath’ The first book of The Westcott Chronicles