Royal Clarence Hotel, Exeter

1.    Shoppers, workers, homeless folks

        Walk past the dull obstacle

         Made safe with boards

         Guarded with wire

         Fronting Cathedral Green.

        Five years on and nothing done

        'Disgrace!'

 

2.    'It's on Fire!' The Royal Clarence.'

        Maggie, Jeanney and I

        Watch worsening disaster on 28 Oct 2016 on TV

        In our bedroom at the Langstone Cliff in Dawlish.

        Before our party nibbles with the girls.

       Then we go down for dinner and disco

       At the South West Wine Federation Annual Weekend.

       We're dressed for Halloween

       Dot has spookified our table

       Maggie wears her spider fascinator

       I wear my witches' hat.

       Maggie spotted the news first

       Which seems about typical

       For us three.

 

3.    Fire started in the Castle Fine Art Gallery.

       It spread to the Grade II listed 54 bed hotel

       More rapidly because of voids, empty areas of roof.

       At 5.10 am

       Alarm was raised, all guests evacuated.

      Over 100 firefighters worked on the blaze

      95 different fire engines attended

       Pumping gallons of water from the Exe.

       4 aerial ladder platforms were used.

       After 3 days the fire was put out.

 

4.    No one was killed

       Though 2 firefighters sustained minor injuries

       But the land was scarred

       And jobs lost.

       The story rising from the ground in 1769

       Became soggy rubble.

       After a wall collapsed the firefighters got out

       And saw the fire burn itself out

       From outside.

 

5.    Not as hotel staff or firefighter

       Or conference delegate or even wealthy guest

       I worked here too.

       On market research hall tests.

       'Excuse me, I'm carrying out a survey'

       Our team grabbed passing shoppers

       Luring them in to the big ground floor hall

       By offering free coffee

       In the Royal Clarence.

       They watched ads replayed on computers

        And were asked specific open and closed-end questions

        On which was the better ad

        Or something.

        When it didn't drive you nuts

        It was an alright job.

 

6,     Five years on -

        Big plans have come and gone.

        Southwest Lifestyle Brands

        Who acquired the site

        From Andrew Broadswords Hotels in 2020

        Have said that even pre-pandemic

        Their plans for a 74 bed hotel on the site

        Were 'unviable', however

        They have been in contact with Exeter City Council

        'Talks have taken place.'

 

7.      Five years on

         Jeanney died last year.

         Maggie was isolated in lockdown

         And moved nearer to her daughter in Oxfordshire.

         I still see the girls from Wine Club

         Perhaps next year

         I'll go to the Annual  Federation Weekend in October

         Again.

 

8.     Writing -  the well ran dry, me.

        Right now I lead a happy life

        With music, close friends and U3A.

        At Circle Dance in our teabreak

        I learn that Todd Gray, local historian and

        'The only expert on the Royal Clarence'

       Will be giving a talk at the next open general meeting

       On the fourth Thursday of the month

       And I'm sure he's good but -

 

9.    I want the lot!

       The voices of the bricklayers

       And before that the architect and draughtsperson

       And before that Exeter City Council

       Voting that this hotel will be good for Exeter

      And the waiters and baristas and housekeepers and reception staff

      The kitchen porters and night managers.

      And some of the guests.

 

      And the fire safety officers and the electricians

      Who did their annual checks and could not possibly

      Anticipate the blaze.

      The staff at the nearby Mercure Southgate

      Who accommodated a lot of flustered individuals

      At about 5.40 am.

      The firefighters of course.

      And the camera crew who arrived first,

      And the local journalists from whom I've lifted my facts.

 

      And the split-second glance of the rabbit in 1769

      When the spade breaks her warren

      Before she bolts and burrows and rebuilds

      And the 'awareness ' of the air on 28 October 2016

      Of how the heat above the flames makes changes..

 

      (Want the earth now, don't I)