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Topic: The Beacon is for Sale< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Inkanta Offline




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Posted: June 25 2006, 11:41

The Beacon, overlooking Hergest Ridge and home to Mike during his Ommadawn era, is for sale. Details regarding the property, including pictures of the Beacon and surrounding area, may be found here.

Thanks to Moonchildhippy for the information.


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"No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From:  Moongarden's "Solaris."
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TOBY Offline




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Posted: June 25 2006, 12:05

Its actually quite small, I always had it in my mind that it was quite a big house. I remember there was a small fan convention there organised by the Airborn fanzine in 1991 (i think) I really wanted to go but couln't afford it.
Looks lovely though
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moonchildhippy Offline




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Posted: June 25 2006, 13:14

Anyone got £450,000 ,well possibly nearer £500,000 to spare,( by the time you've paid the legal costs,surveys,Land Registry fees, and Stamp Duty etc) ??? If so The Beacon is for sale,www.mccartneys.co.uk/residential/property/4137  

I had a win on the lottery last night, unfortunately it was £10, not enough to buy The Beacon :( ,damn, blast and b****r .  
I'd like to have moved to Herefordshire and been able to afford to work doing part time or  voluntary youth work, I'd have to do some work.  As an extra I could offer B&B, yes once again The Beacon would echo to the sound of Mike's music :cool: .    .

Imagine waking up to those spectacular views, sitting on the balcony watching the sunset over Hergest Ridge :D.

Oh well one day moonchildhippy, you'll achieve your dream.

Sorry for originally  posting in the wrong place.


--------------
I'm going slightly mad,
It finally happened, I'm slightly mad , just very slightly mad

If you feel a little glum to Hergest Ridge you should come.


I'm challenging  taboos surrounding mental health


"Part time hippy"

I'M SUPPORTING OUR SOLDIERS

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!
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Blue Dolphin Offline




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Posted: June 25 2006, 17:29

I hope the next owner of the Beacon will keep it as a B&B, because I still didn't have a change to visit it. I was at the Hergest Ridge hills in 1999 but I couldn't find the Beacon and me and my family were in a hurry to get to see more of England, so it was a shame.

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-The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it-

Mike Oldfield - 1980
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Blue Dolphin Offline




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Posted: June 25 2006, 17:36

By the way, does anybody know which room was used by Mike for his studio? I can imagine the whole house interior has been changed throughout the years.

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-The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it-

Mike Oldfield - 1980
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Inkanta Offline




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Posted: June 25 2006, 23:43

Blue Dolphin, I think it was the one downstairs. Who knows how he got a piano down there, but I've heard that it was that one. The owners prior to the Pritchards did a bit of adding on, but the Mike part is pretty-much intact, including the loft in the large room where Sally used to escape to via ladder (and pulled it up behind her) when the boys got a little too roudy.

I, too, hope the new owners keep it as a B&B. There are other places to stay in Kington, but are there any with such gorgeous views (plus the ambience of having been Mike's studio during the composition of some of our favorite works)??

Galadriel--not a problem as to the posting. I am so thankful that you posted it someplace! :)  I missed Robert P's email to my pleiades account about it (you'd think I was living *in* the Pleiades), and if not for your post, I'd have probably not discovered it for even longer. :O  :/


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"No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From:  Moongarden's "Solaris."
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Blue Dolphin Offline




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Posted: June 26 2006, 10:57

Thanks Inkanta! How do you know so much about that? (including that funny Sally detail)

By the way, with downstairs: do you mean the basement or the first floor?


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-The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it-

Mike Oldfield - 1980
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Jammer Offline




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Posted: June 26 2006, 17:25

I really do hope the buyer retains it as a place of public accommodation.

If it ends up being someone's private house, I may never get to meet any MO fans in a similarly appropriate location ever again. :/

I'm still living in hope for one day when I can meet a few of you at Kington.
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Inkanta Offline




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Posted: June 26 2006, 18:31

Quote (Blue Dolphin @ June 26 2006, 09:57)
Thanks Inkanta! How do you know so much about that? (including that funny Sally detail)

By the way, with downstairs: do you mean the basement or the first floor?

I stayed there last year. :)  

Floor-wise, hmmm.... well....there is the floor you walk in on, which is kind of the ground floor, you turn right, and then you can proceed into the living room-type area (with the fireplace) or go downstairs. It's not exactly the basement, because the window overlooks a garden. The house is built into the side of the hill, so it makes it more complicated to describe--especially for someone from the US, where our first floors and the UK first floors mean something different (and I never can remember exactly what).   :O


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"No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From:  Moongarden's "Solaris."
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Jammer Offline




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Posted: June 26 2006, 19:25

First floor to the UK is the one above the ground floor.

Therefore, Luka lived a whole two floors up, not just upstairs. ;)
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olracUK Offline




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Posted: June 26 2006, 19:49

Anyone got 6 lucky numbers for the Lotto?#

UK lotto goes up to 49, so....

03 (TB 2003)
37 (73 backwards)
15 Mike's Birthday
05 Mikes Birthday month

A bit stuck for the other 2 numbers. And when I win, I'll buy the Beacon and throw the biggest party for all you wonderful people.

Seriously, the price is very reasonable given the size, history and location. Just about 200K more than I have, and about 300 miles further than the wife is prepared to move to.
:/


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The answer is 42 - but what is the question?
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moonchildhippy Offline




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Posted: June 26 2006, 20:12

Quote (Inkanta @ June 26 2006, 04:43)
Blue Dolphin, I think it was the one downstairs. Who knows how he got a piano down there, but I've heard that it was that one.

I, too, hope the new owners keep it as a B&B. There are other places to stay in Kington, but are there any with such gorgeous views (plus the ambience of having been Mike's studio during the composition of some of our favorite works)??

With great difficulty I'd imagine.  That access road up toThe Beacon is only really big enough to get a 7.5 tonne box van up, anything  larger would get stuck. I don't think that road was in place when Mike lived there. The road  is wide enough for one vehicle,and has passing places , (driving up and down the road,I  thought it best to drive slow   and periodically sound my horn, to warn other drivers of my presence).  How Mike managed to get the grand  piano down the stairs to the lower floor, I still find baffling   :/, still shows Mike's ingenuity.

I agree there's no other place in Kington with such  gorgeous views, as The Beacon, except perhaps Penrhos Court along the A44 about a mile east of Kington.  www.penrhos.co.uk/hotel/rooms.html, but I think the  rooms are a bit out of my price range :O.
Incidentally Penrhos Court is theplace where Mike met Leslie Penning,and  Martin Griffiths,Mike's riding instructor, also father to The Penrhos Kids, co runs the hotel and restaurant.

GGRRRRR!!!!  I did think that maybe I should've picked nos 9 and 21 amongst my lottery numbers last Saturday ,if I'd have picked 14, instead of 35 I'd have won the jackpot and would've been on the phone to the estate agents to arrange a viewing , and a new life in Herefordshire    
  :cool: , Perhaps I need to listen to my inner voice a bit more,as if I'd have done that I'd have been £1085 better off, admittedly not enough to buy The Beacon, but enough for me to at least visit Kington this year. You fool Moonchildhippy   :O .  I've 2 weeks leave and my birthday coming up in 2 weeks andI've nothing planned ATM,as my plans went pear shaped.

Still this thread has made me think of the fantastic time I had in Kington last year, Iwill get there , but it's just going to take me longer than I'd anticipated.


--------------
I'm going slightly mad,
It finally happened, I'm slightly mad , just very slightly mad

If you feel a little glum to Hergest Ridge you should come.


I'm challenging  taboos surrounding mental health


"Part time hippy"

I'M SUPPORTING OUR SOLDIERS

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!
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manintherain Offline




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Posted: June 27 2006, 04:03

Quote (Blue Dolphin @ June 25 2006, 23:36)
By the way, does anybody know which room was used by Mike for his studio? I can imagine the whole house interior has been changed throughout the years.

I think it was the one downstairs. Who knows how he got a piano down there, but I've heard that it was that one.

The studio used to be downstairs. After Mikes move to Througham his sister Sally converted it into separate rooms.

The piano and the mixing desk were slid up the hill and a.f.a.i.k. were lifted through the windows into the studio.

:cool:
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arron11196 Offline




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Posted: June 27 2006, 09:43

Quote (olracUK @ June 27 2006, 00:49)
Anyone got 6 lucky numbers for the Lotto?#

UK lotto goes up to 49, so....

03 (TB 2003)
37 (73 backwards)
15 Mike's Birthday
05 Mikes Birthday month

A bit stuck for the other 2 numbers. And when I win, I'll buy the Beacon and throw the biggest party for all you wonderful people.

Seriously, the price is very reasonable given the size, history and location. Just about 200K more than I have, and about 300 miles further than the wife is prepared to move to.
:/

Hmm, how about, 42 and 48, being '92 and '98 minus 50  :D .

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Arron J Eagling

Everyone's interpretation is different, and everyone has a right to that opinion. There is no "right" one, I am adding this post to communicate my thoughts to share them with like-minded souls who will be able to comment in good nature.

(insert the last 5 mins of Crises here)
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moonchildhippy Offline




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Posted: June 27 2006, 10:29

Quote (manintherain @ June 27 2006, 09:03)
The piano and the mixing desk were slid up the hill and a.f.a.i.k. were lifted through the windows into the studio.

:cool:

Can't help but think of Laurel and Hardy's "The Music Box" when I think about hauling a piano, (and a mixing desk) up Bradnor Hill.  and in through the  window. For those of you not in the know, Stan and Ollie are delivering a piano to a house, situated atop a hill, where there's numerous flights of steps up to it from the street :laugh: , it's hilarious.

I'd imagine that to be a mammoth job.

Here's hoping I'm lucky on the Lottery tomorrow
;) .


--------------
I'm going slightly mad,
It finally happened, I'm slightly mad , just very slightly mad

If you feel a little glum to Hergest Ridge you should come.


I'm challenging  taboos surrounding mental health


"Part time hippy"

I'M SUPPORTING OUR SOLDIERS

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!
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Blue Dolphin Offline




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Posted: June 27 2006, 19:28

Quote (manintherain @ June 27 2006, 10:03)
The studio used to be downstairs. After Mikes move to Througham his sister Sally converted it into separate rooms.

More new things to me! Did Sally take over the place after Mike moved to Througham? Didn't know that.

--------------
-The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it-

Mike Oldfield - 1980
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Ray Offline




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Posted: June 29 2006, 18:54

You could probably buy the whole of Hergest Ridge for the same amount!

Ray   :O


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Looking out over the harbour in Peel.......
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Ray Offline




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Posted: June 29 2006, 19:48

Of course - the buyer will have to look in all the nooks and crannied because the SG was not stolen but lost in a cupboard at the Beacon - it lies there waiting to be found by the next buyer!!!

Ray   :D   :cool:


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Looking out over the harbour in Peel.......
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manintherain Offline




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Posted: June 30 2006, 04:04

Quote (Blue Dolphin @ June 28 2006, 01:28)
Quote (manintherain @ June 27 2006, 10:03)
The studio used to be downstairs. After Mikes move to Througham his sister Sally converted it into separate rooms.

More new things to me! Did Sally take over the place after Mike moved to Througham? Didn't know that.

Yeah, she did, but not for too long.

Just recently I found out Sally lived only a few kilometers away from my home for some time and could be seen sitting on the cemetery on warm summer evenings just around the corner.

:/
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Blue Dolphin Offline




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Posted: July 03 2006, 06:58

Quote (manintherain @ June 30 2006, 10:04)
Just recently I found out Sally lived only a few kilometers away from my home for some time and could be seen sitting on the cemetery on warm summer evenings just around the corner.

:/

You're kidding? Too bad you didn't see her. :/ You could have had some nice chats with her. Lovely woman.

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-The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it-

Mike Oldfield - 1980
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