In the words of Withnail, the eponymous anti-hero of Withnail & I, Sleddale Hall seemed “free to those that can afford it, very expensive to those that can't”.
The tumbledown farmhouse, known to millions as Uncle Monty's cottage, sold for £265,000 yesterday in an auction that was almost as melodramatic as Richard E. Grant's performance as an alcoholic actor convinced he is destined for stardom.
Sebastian Hindley, a Cumbrian publican who fought off seven rivals to buy the house, was almost barred from taking part because he had not presented the guarantee required to bid by telephone. He had asked a friend to deliver a blank cheque by hand but the friend did not show up until the bidding began.
Spectators who packed the room at the Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge rowdily exchanged lines from the film as the auctioneer from Savills called the room to order. “What's in your hump?” shouted one. “We're not from London,” shouted another.
Withnail & I was a flop when it was released in 1987 but Bruce Robinson's semi-autobiographical story of resting actors achieved cult status after it was released on video, and continues to enthral the younger generation.
A “Camberwell carrot”, the name given to ambitiously large marijuana joints, has entered the lexicon and tea shops nationwide have grown tired of students demanding the “finest wines available to humanity”.
In West London yesterday a man with tousled hair began the bidding at £145,000, a price that grew to £170,000 without pause as one of five telephone bidders pitched in. The first man outbid his telephone rival but was challenged by Tim Ellis, 41, a conservation architect, who appeared to have triumphed with an offer of £190,000. Mr Ellis was about to claim victory when a second telephone bidder pushed him up to £201,000. It was only when Mr Hindley made his offer of £265,000 that Mr Ellis was forced to concede.
Mr Hindley, 40, who owns a pub in Ullswater, told The Times that he hoped to make the remote cottage available to everyone who loved the film. “I see the significance of Sleddale Hall as similar to that of Wordsworth's cottage on the other side of the Lake District,” he said.
“Before, you used to have to break in if you wanted to stay there. I want to make it accessible to everyone who makes a pilgrimage.”
The publican, who describes himself as a “local lad”, may have a fight on his hands. The building, owned since the 1920s by a series of water companies, cannot be occupied under existing planning rules.
Lake District National Park suggested yesterday that occupation would only be allowed if residents were “able to demonstrate essential need for the accommodation”.
A spokesman said: “It is unlikely that permission would be granted for a house — even one created from the conversion of existing buildings — unless it can be demonstrated that the residential use of Sleddale Hall has not been abandoned.”
The house, which is two miles from the nearest road, is in an unkempt state. Paul Mooney, the auctioneer, said that it would cost £150,000 to restore, assuming that permission was granted.
It is understood to have been unoccupied since the 1960s. The only known visitors are the cast and crew of Withnail & I, who used two of the rooms for filming, and a small group of musicians who make regular pilgrimages to the site.
Mr Hindley was undaunted. “If you work with the authority, I believe there's always something you can do. There's too many people who want to let heritage go to ruin.”
Mr Hindley has asked for anyone who wishes to help with the house to write to him at seb@easternfells.info.
Source TIMESONLINE
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