# The Honorary Consul's gaff...



## TeeJF (Mar 12, 2014)

*So here's another one I did recently which I've only just got round to posting up. I hope you'll enjoy the pics even though you may have seen the building before on other people's reports. 


 A big thank you to Sonyes for this one... ​*

*The Latvian Honorary Consul's gaff...​*

*I got a call one day in January 2014 from Sonyes. It went something along the lines of, "Are you doing anything tomorrow, I've got a new site you might enjoy?" Quite intrigued, I told him I was very much up for it, and so the following morning we trundled off the short distance from my place to the site, parked up, and commenced a quick recce.

The house itself, set in roughly twenty acres of gardens, with paddock, stable block et all, is vast and sprawling, and a very strong justification for the concept of planning permission - it looks like it was once a small house built next to a barn or the like, with a disparate set of extensions, bridging structures and embellishments, all added willy nilly over the years with little appreciation or vision for what the final result would be - quite horrible! And believe it or not there was even a band stand - although it has been demolished now it is still clear to see on Google Earth. Once inside we were greeted by a veritable mess of seventies kitsch, chipboard furniture and studded walls in Über abundance, in short, a 'compliment' to the negativity of the exterior!

So who lived here? What is an Honorary Consul? What was this place all about? Well... the house was the home of... let's call him Mr. H shall we. Mr. H and his wife have been involved in many diverse projects. A brief trawl of the net found several companies they have been involved with over the years but it was very difficult to find out what they are doing now and which, if any of the businesses survived because most are listed as dissolved. Clearly though, from the number and diversity of the business (they even went into Paint-balling and Vintage Cars!) then Mr. H was quite the entrepreneur and if the size of this house is anything to go by he most certainly wasn't as the number of dissolved companies might at first suggest. In time he involved himself in charity work too including financing the building of a students club and school in Sierra Leone. 





In August 2004 Mr. H was appointed as Honorary Consul to Latvia. Many consuls are not actually career officials of the country they represent at all; they can be locally-employed and may even be nationals of the country in which the foreign power requires representation rather than a citizen of the parent country. In smaller cities, or in cities that are a long way from full-time diplomatic missions, a foreign government which feels that representation is required will often appoint a person who has not even been a part of their diplomatic service previously. This kind of consul may well combine the job with his own business. Such consular appointments are given the title of Honorary Consul. Their role includes the promotion of business opportunities for companies from the parent country, taking part in strengthening the parent country's image abroad, and looking after the welfare of citizens from the appointing country within what is known as their bailiwick. The picture below shows Mr. H posing for the press outside the gates of his home as the news broke of his appointment as Honorary Consul. 





Quite why the house was sold is unclear but I suspect it was as simple as the owners had grown tired of it so it was time for them to move on. The property was listed at a target price of £999,950 - a bargain, you even get 50 quid change from your million! Eventually though the house and the 20 acre plot of land upon which it stands sold to Stocks Hall Care Homes Ltd. for £850,000. They submitted a planning application to the local council to create a 48 bedroom rehabilitation centre for drug addicts, alcoholics and the mentally ill, but the local NIMBIEs objected most strenuously citing concerns about the type of people that would use the rehab centre, the fact that it is located in the green belt, fears for highway safety, the impact on the amenities and the character of the area, and drainage problems. Not surprisingly the planning application was refused although I do wonder just how much the local 'Planning Objections Committee' must have bunged the council to ensure they got their own way! *

*The pictures...*​








*First sight of the house. *









*Rampant chavvery has provided us with a way in.*









*A sort of 'bridge' with little more than a bathroom joins two almost completely separate parts of the house. *









*On our left we look down into the Billiards Room.*









*A bog standard bathroom, not much to get excited about really.  *









*What an odd choice of decor  *









*A door takes you off the 'bridge' and into the southern part of the house.*









*Bedrooms to the right - 6 of 'em  *









*This staircase is quite pretty. *









*I thought I heard footsteps  *









*The north-south axis of the house at ground level. *









*How kind  they've left us breakfast  *









*Go to work on an egg... *









*Selfie-time *









*Chipboard chic  *









*And then you find this *









*A double-selfie  *









*I really like this room, all apart from the shuttered concrete staircase which just looked crap. *









*I thought this bit looked like it was made for naked mud wrestling hookers or the like.*









*Time for a spot of reflection. *









*I 'av in my 'and a parrot wot I bought from this very boutique not an hour ago... *









*Lying down on the job under the stainless steel ceiling in the kinky master bedroom. *









*A rather chintzy guest bedroom. *









*Did she just forget it or did she have a fashion revelation  *









*Evidence the grandkids were often round  *









*Time for a quick dip. *









*...or maybe a soak in the whirlpool *









*More rampant chavvery  *









*In the Billiards Room. *









*Pot pourri. *









*The gable end. *









*It actually doesn't look bad from this angle  *​






*Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed it.​*


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## UrbanX (Mar 12, 2014)

Wow! Excellent in depth report of a well known site. You really bring the place to life. 
Cracking photos too! Well done sir!


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## flyboys90 (Mar 12, 2014)

The staircase has to be a carpenters dream,really interesting report thanks.


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## krela (Mar 12, 2014)

This place really does demonstrate how money can't buy you taste...


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## Ninja Kitten (Mar 12, 2014)

i is lovin this one! got to get here


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## krela (Mar 12, 2014)

TeeJF said:


> Mr. H and his wife have been involved in many diverse projects. A brief trawl of the net found several companies they have been involved with over the years but it was very difficult to find out what they are doing now and which, if any of the businesses survived because most are listed as dissolved. Clearly though, from the number and diversity of the business (they even went into Paint-balling and Vintage Cars!) then Mr. H was quite the entrepreneur and if the size of this house is anything to go by he most certainly wasn't as the number of dissolved companies might at first suggest. In time he involved himself in charity work too including financing the building of a students club and school in Sierra Leone.



This kind of activity is a strong indicator of money laundering... the link with Sierra Leone is interesting too, given it's one of the key blood diamond countries.


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## TeeJF (Mar 12, 2014)

krela said:


> This kind of activity is a strong indicator of money laundering...



Funnily enough I was thinking along similar lines...


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## night crawler (Mar 12, 2014)

Strange what the Local Planning can do, especally if they own a lot of land. Wonder what will happen to the place now, won't be long before the local chavs toltal the place. But the dudes in the photo looked dodgy


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## tumble112 (Mar 12, 2014)

Your report has answered all t he questions I and many others had about the history of tnis location. It also brings a unique perspective on it as well. About the breakfast pic, just wondering if Mr H was a Peter Kay fan?


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## TeeJF (Mar 12, 2014)

tumble1 said:


> About the breakfast pic, just wondering if Mr H was a Peter Kay fan?



Hmmm... well Chorley isn't too far from Bolton after all!


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## smiler (Mar 12, 2014)

Fantastic Post, I Loved It, Good Luck with the extradition.


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## Dirus_Strictus (Mar 12, 2014)

krela said:


> This kind of activity is a strong indicator of money laundering... the link with Sierra Leone is interesting too, given it's one of the key blood diamond countries.



As I indicated on a previous report on this place, it is relatively easy to get beneath the evil smelling cloud that hangs over this place and it leaves one with a queasy feeling. You have only to see the number of mega rich that these old Eastern Bloc countries produced, to see why Latvia was such an interest to the late occupier of this place. I have grave doubts that 'growing tired' of this place played any reason in the placing of the property on the market - more an urgent need to get ones hands on the 'readies', just in case the proverbial hits the fan. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately the owners belief in the faint praise bestowed on the place by so called friends/hangers on blinded him to the fact that he was living in an idiosyncratic crap hole that was worth much less than he thought and the land was the only readily saleable asset.


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## LittleOz (Mar 12, 2014)

Best report I've seen from here - nicely done.


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## mockingbird (Mar 13, 2014)

A good documentation here! I really enjoyed the fact you showed different rooms than the usual reports! thanks alot!


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## TeeJF (Mar 13, 2014)

Dirus_Strictus said:


> Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately the owners belief in the faint praise bestowed on the place by so called friends/hangers on blinded him to the fact that he was living in an idiosyncratic crap hole that was worth much less than he thought and the land was the only readily saleable asset.



Well yeah... but I was trying to be polite!!!


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## cheesecrisps (Mar 23, 2014)

Brilliant I love your work always lots off pictures and your little jokes get me laughing all the time not to mention the great history write up about your work, well done you look forward to your next report.


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