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Humbie Children's Village

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 11:48 am
by Sharon
ImageThe Children's Village Humbie 2004 by Sharon Halliday, on Flickr
Found near Humbie village, in turn near Haddington in East Lothian is the spooky little "children's village". This was the object of yesterdays away day, and my was it stange. I'd been previously 3 years ago, but only as a stop off on the way home, so I'd been hankering for a return visit ever since. From a distance our first reaction was "on no too late, the developers have beaten us to it!." Mercifully we were wrong, the place has simply been lucky enough to avoid the usual vandals. Which made it all the more interesting to weander around. Unortunately all the houses had been cleared, so there was little to tell of what had actually happened here.

Not much information on Humbie has been turned up, the internet does not always have all the answers it seems!

However current information suggests that it was a "christian" childrens home / holiday camp / school, yes all a bit sketchy.


Children's Village, The
East Lothian
Lying prominently on a hillside, just to the south east of Humbie in East Lothian and 4 miles (6 km) south of Pencaitland, is the Children's Village. Built in 1905 in the form of a series of cottages to house disabled children. Run laterally by the Algrade Trust, the village closed in 1999 and remaining (adult) residents were relocated to new accommodation in the region. Alternative uses for the buildings are being explored, with a stated preference for conversion into a holiday complex or corporate conference / training facility. The buildings are listed for their special architectural and historical interest.


I'm quite sure that there will be many stories that can be turned up about this place.

More photographs will follow.

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 11:58 am
by Sharon
It would have been highly suprising if teh combination of disabled children and evangelical chritians hadn't produced some kind of sex abuse scandal...its the way of the world afterall.... and no change here.


From The Times
TRUSTEES SUED IN SCOTS DAYCARE ABUSE SCANDAL
Former residents of an evangelical Christian community are seeking thousands of pounds in damages from its board of trustees over abuse and neglect they say they suffered. The community in Humbie, East Lothian, was run by the Algrade trust and provided a home or daycare for more than 30 people with learning difficulties, many of them with Down's syndrome. It emerged in 1994 that residents were kept in virtually freezing conditions, inadequately clothed and poorly fed. They were removed by social workers and placed in the care of the Church of Scotland.


PROBE INTO CHILDREN'S HOME ABUSE CLAIMS

An inquiry has been launched into allegations of neglect, sexual abuse and financial irregularities at a children's home in East Lothian. Inspectors at the Humbie residential school for pupils with learning difficulties found children wearing coats indoors because it was so cold. They also heard of sexual abuse by a male member of staff over 10 years.

The claims about the school, run by a Christian trust, emerged when the trustees were forced to resign and hand it over to the Church of Scotland.

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 12:19 pm
by Sharon
I take it back about the internet...careful research has turned up teh sad story of Humbie.

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo950116/debtext/60116-33.htm

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 1:19 pm
by My Kitten
Sharon wrote:I take it back about the internet...careful research has turned up teh sad story of Humbie.

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo950116/debtext/60116-33.htm


Interesting reading especially the horsemeat (or pony) and the chancers that worked there.

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 3:19 pm
by Apollo
Live and learn. At least I know why the locals always seemed to go get their rather large and grumpy hounds out when I visited a few times to scout around for the ROC post remains there. I thought they just didn't like strangers :(

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 3:25 pm
by turbozutek
Over a period of years, the local social work authority, Lothian regional council, became more and more dissatisfied with the management at Algrade. The council tried to persuade the trust to improve its care arrangements, but the social work department ran into fierce resistance from the trustees, particularly Miss Waugh and Mrs. Frisby, who claimed that they had guidance from a superior, divine authority.

I believe that large sums of money that should have been spent on the care of handicapped people have been diverted into the former trustees' religious organisation, and into property that now belongs to individual former trustees. I understand that about 17 properties, worth about £2 million, in and around the village of Pathhead may have been acquired in that way. I am pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Midlothian (Mr. Clarke), who represents Pathhead, is present. That property in Pathhead includes the high street cafe, which is exotically named, "The Video and Satellite Ministry".

That "Ministry" seems to be a combination of the former trustees' brand of fundamentalism and material beamed from kindred spirits in the United States of America.

When I visited the cafe last year, my main concern was for a group of handicapped young people from the Humbie home who were working in the cafe clad in absurd tartan uniforms. The ex-trustee who met me there, Mrs. Frisby, had obviously prompted them carefully and effectively to tell me that they wanted to return to the care of the former regime at Algrade. She went further. She cited divine guidance for her mission. Those "helpers"--I understand that they were paid £5 for a seven-day week--seem to be vulnerable people, who are being exploited and manipulated.


Algarde: Humbie Childrens' Village.

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 3:39 pm
by turbozutek
Hey all,

I heard an interesting story about a group of Urban Explorers who rang the bell there! Gave the locals a bit of a fright I gather !! ?

http://www.turbozutek.f2s.com/rtb.wmv

Well, at least it wasn't any of us, eh ?? ::):

Chris...

PS: 1.95M video file.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 10:14 am
by Sharon

PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 10:17 am
by turbozutek
May I replicate these over on the otherside ?

uer side ?

Chris...

PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 10:18 am
by Sharon
Done and dusted TZ...i have been busy this morning! :wink:

er yeah...work? what?

PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:08 am
by duncan
that first one makes me sad

PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:16 am
by turbozutek
All of them make me sick to the stomach with unhidden revulsion, and glad that I am an atheist heathen.

Chris...

Around the UK

PostPosted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 2:32 am
by greywolf45
Is there anything left of Humbie?

PostPosted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:30 am
by DickyHart
its all still there greywolf.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 9:34 am
by greywolf45
DickyHart wrote:its all still there greywolf.

Thanks Dicky. I was wondering about it, well, since Av at UER.ca made the location unavailable to me. :mrgreen: