Old Plantation, No2

Clicking on the link will showthe Old Plantation pub in happier times in August last year. Now it is closed, forlorn and unloved. Planning permission given to convert the building into a residential property and build on the car park and pub grounds.

A local group campaigned to keep it as a Community Pub, but the planning authority agreed with the developers that there were sufficient pubs in the locality for the application to be approved. The pub grounds had a large children's area and I think that the loss of that amenity was what people were trying to protect.

It's sad that another boozer goes west, but understandable I think. It hasn't been doing very well in recent times, a succession of landlords and the feeling that the pub was being deliberately run down so as to make its sale and subsequent development easier.

Perhaps some good will come of this; the building which is from the16th or 17th century and has been a pub since around 1860 will be restored and converted to a dwelling removing some of the later unflattering additions.

I toko this shot on my second visit to the allotment, this time to pick a tub of large raspberries, harvest some beetroot, potatoes and a cabbage and collect an ever growing pile of courgettes. Earlier I'd collected a couple of carrier bags full of different sorts of beans; runner, french climbing and dwarf. I'm going to have to hawk them around the neighbourhood as we can't eat them.

Susan continues to look after her mum who is regularly seen by the doctor and has given a whole armful of blood this week for various tests and has to go to the hospital tomorrow for a further blood test. Her GP is finding it difficult to work out what to do for the best but is providing excellent care and support.