Three Buildings here in Torquay

Three Buildings in Torquay
The first is Torre Abbey, been here since the 12th century and is having a bit of a face lift. It's expected to take two years so if you come to Torquay this year you will be disappointed if 800 year old abbeys are your passion. Should be good when the work is finished because it was pretty good before they started.

An other possible disappointment is the balloon, or as I should say, lack of it. It used to take people 400 feet up and keep them there for 15 minutes which if fine if you like that sort of thing. Many locals thought it was an eyesore and were privately quiet glad when it got seriously damaged in a storm in January. It was at first announced it would fly again in May, then came the word that it would be unlikely to fly again this year as the people running the show couldn't get a new balloon as they didn't grow on trees. The elected mayor, Mr Gordon Oliver held a forum at which we all invited and said that while the balloon wasn't flying ,Lindstrandt, the company that own the thing wouldn't be charged rent. A week later it was pointed out that due to an ongoing legal dispute Lindstrandt hadn't paid a penny rent all the time the balloon had been flying.
Meanwhile the Gondola, wrapped up in bits of balloon and looking like a disused yurt from the Mongolian steppes, remains. Still an eyesore but at least a bit smaller than the balloon.

Yesterday came the news in the local paper that it might be flying by summer. Maybe they will pay Torbay Council the rent they owe before they start flying.
The third building that gets a mention is the Palm Court Hotel (former hotel that is). It closed down years ago and was supposed to be pulled down and rebuilt years ago but the developer ran out of money. Then 18 months ago someone set fire to it, didn't do too good a job of it because 2 thirds of it still stand here, derelict and, yes you have guessed, an eyesore.

Anyway an other developer has come along and work should start, "Within a few weeks." according to Mayor Oliver.  (dictionary definition of a few is a grammatical word used to indicate that there are not many or hardly any) So work should start in less than 4 weeks or the statement by the mayor should have said in a few months. We shall see.
And finally, the notice on the tree that annoyed me a couple of weeks ago has been taken down.