Beehive Dovecote

Today we went to visit Mrs madwill’s mother who came out of hospital last Wednesday.

She continues to make progress, albeit a little more slowly than before.

This afternoon she had an appointment at the hairdressers in her village - so we dropped her off there and went for a wander around. I saw this beautiful old ‘beehive’ dovecote in the grounds of the mansion house - it is about 500 years old. The brick courses around the tower are intended to stop rats climbing to the top. This is a Grade II listed structure but is also a ‘Building At Risk’ - as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development.

RANT…

We heard about the sh*tty end of the NHS today (after all the wonderful care she has had in the various hospitals she has been in). The care assistants who call on her twice a day at the moment are ‘employed’ by a private company (who presumably tendered the cheapest quote). One girl is supposed to work from 7 to 10 in the morning and has been given seven home visits to complete, each supposed to last thirty minutes (do the sums folks)…and all in a rural area with long distances to travel between clients. Her travel costs are reimbursed at 20p per mile, and I bet she is on minimum wage. You can be pretty sure the company will be claiming the 45p (HMRC specified) mileage allowance from the NHS. Despite the lack of money and all the stress, the service she provided was absolutely fine - such dedication.