Two mansions worth £1.4 million are being demolished and their elderly owners made homeless after a Victorian railway embankment suddenly collapsed beneath them.
Since it was constructed in 1986, Stephen and Lynne Coverdale have resided in their home on the exclusive Woodlands Estate in Baildon, West Yorkshire. In 2009, David and Fiona Lerner, who paid £385,000 for their property, moved in next door.
But both properties, which have more than doubled in value since then, have been officially condemned after a mudslide in February led to the back gardens falling on the railway tracks below, blocking the line.
After being evacuated, the couples were placed in a hotel and given temporary housing. The four elderly individuals, who were in their 60s and 70s, were reportedly too devastated to discuss the loss of their houses.
Now, anxiously, their neighbours await word from Network Rail on whether their residences may also be in jeopardy.
Experts have installed monitoring devices all around the gardens and are checking around the clock for any danger signs.
The Ilkley to Bradford line, which services four nearby schools, is situated right above the two houses that are being removed. The line will remain partially obstructed until June.
Living next to the two condemned properties is Margaret Dugdale, 68, a former clinical scientist from the NHS.
She hopes her home will be spared because it appears to be on more stable ground, but said: ‘If I have to move out, I have to move out. I have no idea where I stand with the insurance.
‘I am behind with the garden and I need a new carpet but there is no point if I am not going to be there. We first knew something was wrong when cracks were spotted in one of the gardens.
‘Then the gardens went. When me and my daughter saw what had happened, we nearly had a fit.
‘They tried to stop it by removing 2,500 tonnes of earth to reduce the pressure on the cutting. But they could not stop it and now we hear it might be too dangerous to work on.
‘My house was valued at £700,000 but who knows now. I have heard there have been three other landslips in embankments in other parts of the country since this one.
‘Once things as big as this start to move, you cannot do anything about it. I don’t blame Network Rail.
‘It could be 101 things that started it off and we have had such a lot of rain. We think it has been moving for some time, although before the movement has been slight. Then the gardens went and we do not know who is going to pay for all this.’
The upscale residences were built on the site of a former Bradford textile tycoon’s rural estate. The large home has been divided into four apartments, and there are now eleven dwellings on the property.
According to Network Rail, the dwellings’ structural safety has been compromised due to the recent rainy weather.
Network Rail ‘deeply sympathised’ with the homeowners affected, and it would continue to make ‘every effort to look after their interests’.
“Heartbroken” would be an understatement; these poor individuals have lost everything. The railways and their house insurance company will now argue over this.
In the UK, everything is broken; the roads are a nightmare of potholes, and there are lineups for NHS hospitals, NHS dentists, and GP appointments—to name just a few.
Once more, Network Rail will refuse to take responsibility. Perhaps if they stopped going on strikes and took better care of the railroads, incidents like this one would not occur.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 