Before heading North and eventually landing up in Crieff, Alison and I lived for a couple of years in this 1930’s house in the Willowbrae area on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The windows at the front looked out onto one of a pair of semi-detached bungalows across the street. The bungalow occupied a corner site, was privately rented and had a large unkempt garden. The equally unkempt tenant was a big, beefy guy with a wife and a gaggle of noisy children. He didn’t work and simply hung out all day at the front of his house in t-shirt and shorts, greeting a stream of similarly dubious-looking visitors. And regularly he would amuse himself for hours operating a deafening strimmer round the edges of his garden. He really wasn’t a good fit for our rather douce neighbourhood.
So you’ll understand that we were delighted when he, wife, gaggle and strimmer disappeared overnight. The bungalow lay empty for a while and the garden grew even more unkempt until three young Chinese men appeared one day. The new tenants! They were very industrious, tidying up the garden and the front of the house, and clearing out the inside. We’d often see them loading full black refuse bags into the boot of their car – off to the tip, no doubt. We didn’t see or hear much of them after that, usually only late at night, so we figured that they worked in a Chinese restaurant or takeaway. But overall we were very pleased with our new neighbours.
Then one morning, returning home from a walk round the local park, we stopped short when we saw that the corner site was surrounded by a bevy of police cars and vans and that policemen in forensic gear were emerging from the bungalow carrying full black refuse bags. Yes, you may have guessed it – our lovely new neighbours had turned the bungalow into a cannabis factory. And just for good measure, in order to heat and light their factory they had tapped into the electricity supply of the adjoining bungalow belonging to a frail old lady. Appearances certainly can be deceptive!
So you’ll understand that we were delighted when he, wife, gaggle and strimmer disappeared overnight. The bungalow lay empty for a while and the garden grew even more unkempt until three young Chinese men appeared one day. The new tenants! They were very industrious, tidying up the garden and the front of the house, and clearing out the inside. We’d often see them loading full black refuse bags into the boot of their car – off to the tip, no doubt. We didn’t see or hear much of them after that, usually only late at night, so we figured that they worked in a Chinese restaurant or takeaway. But overall we were very pleased with our new neighbours.
Then one morning, returning home from a walk round the local park, we stopped short when we saw that the corner site was surrounded by a bevy of police cars and vans and that policemen in forensic gear were emerging from the bungalow carrying full black refuse bags. Yes, you may have guessed it – our lovely new neighbours had turned the bungalow into a cannabis factory. And just for good measure, in order to heat and light their factory they had tapped into the electricity supply of the adjoining bungalow belonging to a frail old lady. Appearances certainly can be deceptive!