A HUGE steel monstrosity erected on a Grade II Listed house within Tavistock?s Conservation area is facing the chop ? 30 years after it was first erected. The enormous fire escape was built at the rear of 38 and 40 Plymouth Road when the two properties were joined and operated as the Meadowcourt Nursing Home. But the home is no longer running, the two houses have been separated ? and now the new owner of No 40 would like to hear from anyone who could make use of a king-sized fire escape, or the steel used to make it. Richard Bury said: ?The house is Listed, it?s one of those flagship properties as you drive into Tavistock, but if you drove down Chapel Street at the back, you see this awful thing, it?s the biggest eyesore ever. ?When first built it was erected by just three men ? how they managed it is incredible.? Richard said it will be wonderful to get rid of what was possibly the biggest fire escape in Tavistock ? and his neighbours are also looking forward to the demise of the three-story metal framework: ?They are obviously delighted ? when they look out of their back windows all they see is this forest of steel.? Richard said the houses in Plymouth Road had a fascinating history and he and his wife were learning a lot as they refurbished their new home. ?They were all mine captains? houses and built with the typical Victorian ethos, where if you were a big mine captain, you had a big house, if you were a middle sized one you had a middle sized house and if you were only a small one, you had the smallest house.? Richard said the houses in the road vary substantially in size, depending on the social standing of their original owner. He and his wife plan to restore the house to its former glory as a family home and the fire escape needs to be dismantled and sold within the next month ? anyone interested in becoming the owner of a fine quality ? but very large ? fire escape, should call Richard Bury on 01566 784 841.
