bryn
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 property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling/article4778866.eceOi oi, Took a look at the abandoned ones thread and saw some discussion about Blackborough House in Devon. Thought you might like to know some more history about the place and maybe dispell a few rumours at the same time  First up it's been a scrapyard since before the war, the house was built by an industrialist from the start of the last century onwards, he was a sausage king or summat. Not Abe Froman though  He was in a race to build a bigger house than his brother, but went bust before completion. The house and land, still in a partially completed state, were sold to the Edmonds family who turned it into a scrapyard. The tiered gardens and walled pools were all filled up with tat, but we're talking Rolls Royce type tat here... They owned the place up until about ten years ago when Ralph the current owner bought it and if memory serves me right the figure that was talked about at the time was 60K. Yup. The house was used as a storage facility for the spare parts that the Edmonds bought up, old dealer stock, anything you can think of really. Bearing in mind the place is powered by a generator that chugs away in an outhouse. When we moved to Somerset in the late 70s, my Dad went down there and cleaned out all the vintage Riley and MG stuff but up until maybe five years ago there was still some tasty stuff lying around. The place was a bit of a mess for the most part, 50s fire engines shoved in hedges and the Jags you can see in Craigs pics are from Ralphs love of banger racing. Ralph himself is a successful businessman, not as left field as you might think. Kirsty Allsop the Location etc presenter moved into the area a few years back and was in discussions to buy the place and do it up as a TV series. Noel Gallagher was mentioned as a potential purchaser too. I've been there a few times and bought a few bits and bobs, but Ralph is pretty hit and miss. I know Steve Edmonds, one of the original family and he knows what's inside the house... But so does Ralph and he knows what it's worth, the value increases by the day. Any sort of 'urbex' or unwanted intrusion would be met with shotguns. Don't think you can sneak in with a camera and headtorch, if you do and get caught the law will be the least of your worries  As an example, when I was looking for some Capri front wings, Steve knew where they were, so did Ralph... But his response when asked was 'There are some rooms I haven't been in for six months, and I won't be going in them anytime soon.' Five years on I got the nod recently from another friend who knows Ralph that I could buy them PS There was a book written about the place, but it had an obscure title that escapes me at the moment. I'll see if I can dig it out. |
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Last Edit: May 7, 2010 13:52:19 GMT by bryn
Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
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Nice to hear some first hand information on the place. |
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable. |
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very interesting but its a very spooky place
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Good read that, I was wondering about the place after seeing it in the abandoned thread. Cheers |
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Bryn, you never cease to amaze & astound me.
Thanks for that, great story and nice to hear the facts instead of the usual hearsay.
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craig
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I'd be interested in reading the book. I did try my best to get in for a look round but didn't want to be too pushy as he must have to put up with it all the time. His prices are OTT but i'd happily pay up for something i was after if i could have a tour.
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Gompo
Part of things
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Has most of it gone now then - atleast the cars that were strewn around the grounds? I remember reading various things online saying it was slowly being cleared - I cant really tell from your post?
Cheers..
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1976 Ford Escort 2dr 1100
1977 Ford Escort 2dr 1300
1978 Ford Escort 2dr 1300-2000
1999 Honda Integra Type R (Black)
1990 Lotus Excel SE
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bryn
Posted a lot
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Has most of it gone now then - atleast the cars that were strewn around the grounds? I remember reading various things online saying it was slowly being cleared - I cant really tell from your post? Cheers.. Most of what we would consider interesting has been sold or baled, Ralph has his own baler The contents of the house have been largely untouched, believe me you'd know if that stuff had started to come on to the market. From what I know, as I haven't personally been there in about two years, he has your usual scrapyard fare in there now. He's always got random stuff lying around though, coaches and old trucks. To get the tour I think you're gonna need 1.5million in the bank |
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Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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Someone just shot the elephant in the room. |
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Fantastic stuff. I've been waking up in the night thinking about this place. 1.5 mil for the tour would be a fair price I think.
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Jaguar S-Type 3.0 SE
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,546
Club RR Member Number: 11
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Blackborough House skinnylew
@skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member 11
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excellent update Bryn what a curious place! |
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1.5 mil for the tour would be a fair price I think. Yeah. I think if the numbers came up tonight I'd go for that deal too! I'm writing this in Taunton as well so handy for the morning! EDIT for spelling. Too many Buds already . . . |
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@pistonbroker on Twitter
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fogey
Posted a lot
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This place has intrigued me for some time.
The link to the mention in the Times is some 18 months old. It was my understanding that the house was actually sold about a year or so ago and is now in new ownership awaiting redevelopment which is unlikely to take place until the economy/housing market improves.
Can anyone confirm this?
Whether the stock stashed inside the house has been moved / sold / destroyed I have never been able to ascertain.
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
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Blackborough House sowen
@sowen
Club Retro Rides Member 24
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Reminds me of going round a private breakers near Leicester hunting down wheels for my car. It was around an old 30's art deco style large house, surrounded by old yank motors slowly being consumed by nature  . Needless to say the guy wanted lots of money for everything  |
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Rich G
Posted a lot
Keyboard Worrier
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Excellent write-up Bryn. Been there loads of times in the Edmonds days, blackberrys were always bleddy huge! Wonder if they have all the BMC rear leaf springs that Silver Street Motors used to have? |
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i never new much about this house i only heard of it, but then me and a mate got hold of a mk 4 escort and decided to do it up !! we couldnt find any of these anywhere and all the scrapyards didnt no where we could get it they all said blackborough house scrapyard !! so we took a trip doiwn there and there was loads of escorts that we could get bits off !! its a really big ground to it with loads of cars everywhere !! some of them you cant even believe they'v bin scrapped !! i no you cant bye scrap cars anymore but i wish you could !! ha the only thing with that scrapyard is the track which you go down to to get to it and sometimes the prices !! but actually i just brought an engine which fully works for £75 and a swap for mine !! and 'fogey' i would like to say that I'm very interested in the life of this house and i no that ralph is still living there because ive bin down there nearly everyday for the past two weeks !! i want to ask him a bit about the house but i don't no if he will get funny or anything !! I'm down there later anyway so i think i might have a chat to him hopefully but if anyone knows anything thats really interesting about the house then please let me no ?? thank you |
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ThePollitt
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Fix up, look... at that car on eBay!
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What a great little thread-based treat. Nice bit of info there Bryn, and like Bruce said it's good to have some fact opposed to hearsay.
Still, I would love a look round there, but without the guns!
On a similar note there is a place in my village (Berkeley) which is rumored to be full of old muscle car and limos. Again, this has a large house on the grounds too, but again there is the 110% certainty that un-wanted guests will meet shotgun shell before they meet a person.
That said...I am working it!
Chris
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That said...I am working it! Chris ...and if you need someone as back-up/support/hand holding duties you know where I am. ;D Obviously if you get permission on an official (i.e. work/investagative) basis then I can also bring the camera |
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ThePollitt
Posted a lot
Fix up, look... at that car on eBay!
Posts: 4,696
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Jun 29, 2010 10:04:51 GMT
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That said...I am working it! Chris ...and if you need someone as back-up/support/hand holding duties you know where I am. ;D Obviously if you get permission on an official (i.e. work/investagative) basis then I can also bring the camera Well, I'm friendly with a fair few people in the village who know the fella, and a couple of them are trying to convince him I want a look for no other reason than because I love cars. I hear he's a reasonable chap, just very protective of his cars. Chris |
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Stu_B
Posted a lot
Investing in rust!
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Jun 29, 2010 10:29:55 GMT
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On a similar note there is a place in my village (Berkeley) which is rumored to be full of old muscle car and limos. Again, this has a large house on the grounds too, but again there is the 110% certainty that un-wanted guests will meet shotgun shell before they meet a person. That said...I am working it! Chris So the rumours that you're bullet proof are untrue? |
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Ax GTi Turbo
. Needless to say the guy wanted lots of money for everything 
