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Caroline Estates  
United Kingdom

Reports1
First reportApril 20 2020
by Replica Heart



A Dream Denied
by Replica Heart on April 20 2020 16:38 hr CE(S)T   Shortlink to this report: [ https://urbx.be/wtth ]

Finding out the location
  very easy
Access
  very easy
Safety
  safe
Risk of being seen
  low
General condition of the place
  bad
Traces of vandalism
  none or very few
Good place for taking pictures?
  good
Did you see other people?
  none or very few


Visit date    October 17 2019 at 14 hr
Visit duration    1 hour

I first visited the islands of Bermuda in the summer of 2015, and passed this place on my travels down the road towards a military cemetery seen from the road. Even then, the cheerful green building seemed abandoned, but for one family grilling on their front porch.
Now, none of the little lime green townhomes are occupied, doors listlessly open to the tropical rain that beats down. Even though it’s autumn, the air is still thick and humid, almost like swimming in the air. My new husband “Doc”, shuffled uncomfortably in the dirt alley between the buildings and the sea. He had wanted to go to the glass beach further down the little lane, and did not share my fascination for the buildings in front of us, eerily and unnaturally silent.
“Only a couple,” I promised as I allowed my feet to carry me towards a yawning door. “I won’t go through them all.”
The homes were simple, but had clearly once been loved and maintained carefully. Wonderful little starter homes without many of the signs as to why they would be abandoned.
This question would later be answered for me during a bus tour of the island. Our operator, “Sean” had lived on the island for his entire life, and knew the story of every building, rock, and grain of sand. He took a liking to Doc and me, and our interest in the stories of the land and the people. When our coach passed the Caroline Estates, his tone turned bitter. Real estate is expensive on the island, Sean explained, and a few families owned the majority of all the property in the islands. The Caroline Estates were meant for the working poor of the island. It had been an opportunity provided by the government to allow families to buy a little piece of the island for themselves, via a long-term rent-to-own contract. However, the allure of building luxury accommodations so close to the Dockyards proved too great, and the land was sold out from the families. Maintenance declined, and one by one, the families were forced from the homes promised to them, if only they worked for them.
For now, the Estates stand, an unavoidable reminder that even in paradise, the divide between the wealthy and the poor is a gulf that the working class struggle to cross.

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  Text and photos are by Replica Heart. Click here to see Replica Heart's profile and other reports.

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