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Our Wankers this week are the National Trust in Devonshire. Dr.Vernon Coleman wrote this letter to the Exeter "Express & Echo" … After my mother died a few months ago, my father decided he would like to pay for a memorial bench to be placed in the grounds of A la Ronde, the National Trust property near Exmouth, where he and my mother had worked as volunteer stewards since 1992. My father thought that this would be an excellent way to help celebrate my mother's life and to keep her in the memory of her many friends in the National Trust. A la Ronde, the 16-sided house near Exmouth The National Trust has now told my father that, although they will accept a memorial bench, it must not include a memorial plaque. When I protested, a National Trust representative at A la Ronde told me they ban small memorial plaques because it is their intention to make their houses look like normal homes. There is, I was told, something "municipal" about a bench with a plaque on it. This seems to me to be absurdly cruel, petty and bureaucratic nonsense. If any of the paid officers of the National Trust honestly believe that their houses look like normal homes, I suspect they must live in very funny homes. How many normal homes are open to the public, charge for admission and have stewards parked in every room so nobody nicks the furniture? The National Trust relies heavily on volunteer workers. It should think a little about this daft ban which helps nobody but causes, I suspect, much sadness among generous people who have given a great deal. Dr Vernon Coleman Barnstaple The GOS says: 'nuff said, I think. Having worked for a County Council for some years I am familiar with the way the official mind works, and its very first reaction to any new suggestion is not "Oh, that sounds like a good idea!", but "Let's see now, there must be some reason why we can't allow that." Bastards. either on this site or on the World Wide Web. This site created and maintained by PlainSite |