Reflections on Brexit, Lettings and Autumn
Margaret and Barry Williamson
Hyvärilän Matkailukeskus Nurmes Karelia Eastern Finland
24 September 2017
Two days past the Autumn Equinox and we are still in the
northeast of Finland, lost in the country's limitless coniferous forest,
travelling among its 187,888 lakes. Tomorrow we aim to revisit the easternmost
point of the mainland EU, in a Finnish salient which pushes out into Russia.
Further east than Istanbul or Cairo, there we hope to be as
far away as possible from the machinations of the deluded right wing of the
Tory party, negotiating only within itself. As few as 17.1 million of Britain's
65 million people may have been tricked into voting against membership of the EU in June last year. They sure as Hell
didn't know what they were voting for.
Now, 459 days later, even Mrs May doesn't know what the future holds for our
country.
Fortunately, people we have met this summer in the
Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and now Finland, have lost interest in
'Brexit'. The initial shock and the amazement have turned into disgust and
derision. The subject doesn't rate a mention in conversation or on their TV
screens, but we notice that other motorhomers and caravanners do give us more
space when we park up for the night! Perhaps they don't want us to see them
laughing at our misfortune.
We are doubly pleased to be back on the road after spending four
weeks in England, through June and into July, spent working on issues arising
with our house in Huddersfield and Margaret's inherited flat between Blackpool
and Fleetwood. On the verge of sending our complaints to the Property
Ombudsman, the former lettings agent in Huddersfield settled for a 4-figure sum
in compensation for all his mistakes. We did, however, notice that subtracting
just £1 turned it into a 3-figure sum.
On the verge of sending our complaint to the Legal
Ombudsman, the solicitor in Fleetwood, who made a serious mistake with the
flat's documentation for the Land Registry, settled for paying our costs plus a
3-figure sum in compensation. We did, however, notice that subtracting just £1
turned it into a 2-figure sum. Cunning, these agents and their law men.
Progress has also been made in chasing rent arrears,
although not quite catching the evicted Huddersfield tenant. Two more court
orders (now 5 in total) have fixed a monthly rate of payment, with High Court
Enforcement Officers (aka Bailiffs) standing by in their black van.
Our overall intention now is to follow the retreating sun,
as Autumn progresses down to Helsinki, across the Baltic to Tallinn, through
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into Poland, remorselessly south through
Slovakia, Hungary and the Balkans and so into Greece. You could say that we are
exercising our European right to freedom of movement, while we may (oh, not
that word again).
Finally, the Guardian has just published Margaret's 100-word
evocation of cycling among the colours of the Finnish autumn.
This piece, albeit with an inferior stock photograph, was
published in the Guardian on Thursday, 21 September:
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/sep/21/autumn-colours-holidays-uk-canada-europe-japan-us-readers-travel-tips
Margaret's vivid description of the Finnish autumn is
something that Barry could not even attempt. He is colour blind!
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