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I think the last time we spoke, myself, Mike and Jacob were getting ready to set off on an adventure to Wiltshire, to help set up and run a Pub/B&B. Full of the unknown but excited at a fresh start in the fresh air.
How wrong we were.
Within days of arriving at this place (which is owned by a very well known successful brewery, so we had no reason to doubt it's credentials) we began to realise that all is not what it seemed. Firstly our accommodation wasn't ready and looked far from ever being ready! Then there was the fact the pub looked like a dumping ground and no where near ready for opening! Eeek.
Still, we rolled up our sleeves and got stuck into this 'challenge!' *cough*
I don't want to bore you all, but basically within a month horrendous events started to unfold, we found out (detective work by myself) that the project manager was a very unsavoury character indeed. I won't go into to much detail but he was basically somebody you wouldn't want anywhere near your children (which thankfully he wasn't.)
This messed with our heads and to be honest from that moment onwards I knew I couldn't stay. Even though he'd been sacked (the day I found a newspaper article detailing his criminal past I reported it to the brewery - he basically had to declare himself if he worked around children, which he did not do) I was told he may return to collect belongings etc.
We then got told if we wanted our accommodation ready we'd have to do it up ourselves (holes in floorboards, walls etc...dead mice everywhere etc) and we were spoken to with complete and utter disregard when expressed the welfare of our child in that accommodation. We were basically spoken to like shit.
And the final straw during all of this was poor Jacob had been suffering from an all over painful rash, that 4 doctors (at the local surgery and in the hospital in Bath) could just not diagnose! I was beginning to think Jacob was allergic to the place.
Realistically it could have been the water, but I can't help think it was a sign, a sign to get out as soon as possible. So we did.
We are now in Bristol trying to rebuild our lives, and looking for jobs and viewing houses. Ideally we'd like to return to London as my partner has more chance of work there. Plus I would like to return to my beloved Streatham/Balham.
I'm not going to lie, we are bruised by it all, the unsavoury people we met, the way we were treated by the owners. All in all we've come out of it a little rattled and less trusting.
And all for trying to make a better lives for ourselves.
I look back at 'The Crown' saga and wonder where it all went wrong. The place itself had a weird eerie vibe that I felt uncomfortable in from day one. Maybe someone or something was trying to tell us to go from day one.
Anyway, we took a risk and it failed. The thing that upsets me the most is how it has impacted Jacob, as he is now disrupted and out of his routine.
Although, since leaving he is completely rash- free!
I have learnt, as an adult with a child, it is not acceptable to take the same risks with jobs, homes and solid stability as you did when you were sans kid, which I guess should have been a no-brainer really.
In a month, I'll hopefully be walking the dog round Tooting Common getting ready for Christmas and laughing at what a complete nightmare it all was.
Wish us luck!
