Coleton Fishacre – National Trust
This is a 1920’s country retreat for the London-based D’Oyly Carte family – famous for the Savoy Hotel and Savoy Theatre. As we are Londoners – we thought we would give it a look. After WWI, the D’Oyly Carte family was responsible for the resurgence of opera in London, and on the back of that success, bought a picturesque valley in Torquay. This 24-acre spot (which runs down to the sea) was extensively landscaped, and an extensive manor house was built-in the simplistic style of arts and crafts, with an art decor interior. Following WWI, the 1920’s were quite decadent for the middle classes in the UK – and Coleton Fishacre has the feel of an out of control ‘folly’. There is opulence at every turn, with the senses being positively simulated in all areas. The manor house is seggregated into a servant section, and an owner section – and on the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, it is interesting and poignant to witness the stark division of the classes. The working class area is ‘downstairs’, whilst the middle class area is ‘upstairs’. Having made this observation, it must also be acknowledged that the servant area is spacious, clean, tidy, full of light and probably far better than the conditions many of the service class had to live in, in other middle class houses, where staff comfort was more or less irrelevant. To our minds, the opulence is pointless, as it does not progress society as a whole, but represents a prolific and out of control ‘individualism’ that is highly selfish and destructive of progressive working class social forces. Still, the only way ordinary people like ourselves could ever get to see inside a place like this, is through a tourist attraction! In this regard, such visits are used as historical lessons for ourselves and our children. We have taught our childre that workers are not ‘servants’ or ‘slaves’, and that every generation of workers must fight for their collectve rights anew – because the bourgeoisie will always take them away. Finally, as October comes to an end, the temperature on the day of our visit reached 20 degrees!
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 