The population on the island was just 120, I can feel it's like the community in Hot Fuzz (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425112/) but less dramatic, it's still a closed community though.
Re:The House That Vanished
by bluebubble56 on Wednesday July 28, 2021 @05:23AM
(#27981843)
Yeah, with a community that small, I can see them managing to keep it amongst themselves. Especially since this guy was "an outsider."
I was thinking "Wicker Man"
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0070917/
Ah this is great: The *police in Wicker Man is played by the same actor as the old neighbourhood watch guy in Hot Fuzz!
Edit: He would have been about 42 at the time of filming Wicker Man
What baffles me is, if you leave a house FOR YEARS, why don't you hire a neighbour for upkeep? I mean every now and then a roof tile must come off in a storm that needs to be refitted, a house that you don't heat in winter starts to rot, etc. pp.
I can actually see that in a moderately short time span of 8 years a lot of decay can happen naturally after which 'hands-on' neighbours might have just not felt too bad to tear down the remains.
A neighbour was asked to look after the house. https://www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5da053ed4653d07dedfd58...
Notably it was also described as one of the oldest houses on the island. Which I think is a key point.
They could have come up with a more satisfying lie than ‘we got no clue’.
Just say it burned down, and you tore down the remains.
I think the problem there is that the local council decided to notify him about some damage to the house with a letter - so someone on the island isn't "in" on the whole conspiracy, otherwise, why even send him a letter. Or indeed, why not send a letter saying "yep, there's been a fire, we tried saving it but the house is gone".
But what I find remarkable is how strong the "don't snitch" spirit was in that community. I mean the deed was obviously done and surely people knew who did what. It almost appears as if most people in that community did not like Neville Presho that much ...