Chapter 7

He took them upstairs and showed them the large office that overlooked the car park and the road, with toilets, a storage room and lunchroom. It was all dusty from lack of use.

“If you want to use this and we have closed the office downstairs, we can give you a key and code. The other buildings are open all the time except public holidays.”

Then, they went outside to the back building, where they were told to stand to the edge of the open area in case a forklift came in. It was a large open space with plenty of light.

“This is where store the fast-moving items and assemble the outgoing shipments.”

They looked around, noting the lunch area and toilets to their left. He then took them to a longer shed, with a lot of racking for pallets of goods.

Willow gazed around and then looked at him.

“It’s longer outside than inside.”

“Well spotted. This site was originally built as a fruit and vegetable distribution centre. I’ll show you the space that you can’t see.”

They walked to the far end of the racking, where there was a corrugated iron wall and a set of double doors. He opened one and they went into the next space. There was a workshop and a number of charging stations for the forklifts. Beyond it was a solid wall, with a high-speed roller door. He hit the button and the door shot up. Inside was a long, dark space. He put the lights on.

“This was originally the cool store. The current owners won’t remove the wall or the cooling unit. We just use this front part for the forklifts. It goes all the way to the back of the building, with a roller door and another door to the back lane. The space is about forty wide and a hundred odd feet long. All the walls have the original insulation. The current owner used to keep caravans in there. That was another one of his businesses.”

“You don’t use, or need that space?”

“No. We can easily cope with the current space because our turn-over of product is so quick. Do you need to use it?”

Willow looked at her two grinning friends.

“Rehearsal space and recording studio. We just need to build a soundproof entry with a door big enough to take amps and take away the lift-up door. Can we go right through?”

He flicked a switch under the light switch.

“That locks the lift-up door.”

They walked down the room, noting the mess, a couple of older forklifts, and some old caravan chassis parts. At the other end was another lift-up door. He hit a red button and the door shot up, to reveal a room big enough to take a couple of cars, and the outside wall with a barred window and a set of double doors on one side, with a similar space the other side that had been boarded up, leaving a single door.

“That is the way to the lane down the back. It’s just wide enough to swing a small caravan on the jockey wheel. He couldn’t get in from the other end because of the racking. I never had the keys to this entry. If you’re coming in this way, you have some parking, but it isn’t huge. If you shortened the cool store, you could create more parking. You could put a soundproof wall inside the cool store and create a rest room and then a control room with the recording and mixing. There’s a hundred feet of space, so you could close off the wall at the other end, lose fifty feet and still end up with a decent recording studio.”

The three friends and Wilhelm smiled.

“What do you think, Mister Epstein?”

“I love it. You get an investment property and a secret rehearsal space, already insulated. OK, there’s work to be done. If the cooling is on a platform on the roof, we could replace it with a reverse-cycle system to keep you hot or cool. It would need to have a baffled set of airways to allow you to be in it for some time. We would need to install some chemical toilets as I didn’t notice any water taps. Is it possible to link with your water lines, sir?”

“Yes, not a problem. The toilets in the other shed back on to this one. We could put a tee in and pipe water into here, with another pipe to the sewer. I doubt that you would use much water. The cooling unit has a big capacity power supply that you could tap off of and run the power to points inside using plastic tubing.”

“Sir. If we make an offer and it’s accepted, we will use another agent to take care of the tenancy, probably on new terms. We will need to discuss this further, but I expect that we will offer you a reduction if you allow us access to the upper offices and this space at the back. We will remove the cooling system and create a separation between your workshop and our part of the space. We will be able to work from this end, so we don’t mess with your operation. Now, don’t say anything to that agent in his car. As far as he’s concerned, we looked and will be in touch.”

“Not having to deal with that guy would be a bonus.”

“We may be in touch to let the rest of the band have a look. They’ll be part owners if we buy.”

“Anytime. I’ll have a list of needed repairs for you to look at, with estimated costs. If you ask me, the current owners are on the shady side, and haven’t kept up with my requests.”

They backtracked and turned the lights off, closing the door. Back in the open air, they shook hands with the manager, took his business card, and went towards their car. The agent was reading a saucy novel in his car. Wilhelm tapped on his window, and he got out.

“See what you came to see?”

“We did, thank you. The buyers need to talk to their partners before they decide. We will contact you in a week or so if they want to make an offer.”

“The price is set.”

“There is a very large amount of unusable space in that shed, which will take a couple of hundred thousand to turn into usable space. It wasn’t noted in the paper we were given. The offer will be for the whole building, and the current owners will lose the use of that space, if they did expect to have access without permission. Talk to them and expect an offer of something less than one and a quarter.”

“What about settlement period?”

“If they accept the offer, settlement will be inside a week.”

They got into the car and Wilhelm drove back towards Stoneleigh.

“Even without the prospect of a studio, that’s quite a good investment property. The tenant is riding the wave of on-line sales, which is unlikely to drop off for years. If he does need to shrink, you could still let him use the one big shed and clear the long one for car parking. That way, you could brick up the back entry with just a fire escape door and use the back area as a storeroom. If you get dropped off at the front, you could walk into the place from that end.”

“We need to get quotes on the building changes and the installation of the studio.”

“You will, Willow. If I were you, I’d replace the roller door to that workshop with a wall, an entry, and put the restroom and toilets at that end, then the control room, with the playing space at the far end. That way, you can replace the roller at the far end with soundproof double doors, so you don’t have far to carry heavy amplifiers. That way, you won’t have to demolish any walls. I expect that there might be a lot of asbestos in them, considering the age of the building.”

“We’ll need to talk to a specialist door company to replace the doors to the lane with something secure.”

They thanked Wilhelm for taking them, when they arrived at Willow’s house.

“Look, you three. You’ve given me something to think about other than farming. It’ll be something to think about when Rick and Rach take over. I’ll be happy to be your unpaid assistant with the properties. It will get me out of the house. Rosalie may even get involved. We’re too young to be relegated to bingo and card afternoons.”

“You’re on, Mister Epstein. We’ll just have to see how it pans out. If we go back with the band, we’ll arrange it for our security team take us there in the people movers, straight after school. We should be able to show them what we need to in almost the same time as a long orchestra session.”

Jacob said that he would ring Herb to see if he would be able to talk to the others.

She went in to have lunch with her parents.

“How was it, honey?”

“Good, Mum. The investment is sound, but there was a surprise.”

“Oh? Something bad?”

“No. Good. There’s one of the buildings that’s very long, and the tenant doesn’t use half of it because it’s built as a cold store. He doesn’t mind us using it, as it has access to a rear lane. We were discussing the ways we can turn it into a permanent rehearsal room and recording studio, so we don’t need to use the school, or the club all the time. It already has insulated walls, so would just need acoustic tiles to make it soundproof. It looks, at the moment, like the answer to our prayers. We’ll have to organise for the others to look at it after school. Possibly next Tuesday if Sebastian and his mates will drive us.”

“Well, it will be a band need, so should come under their contract.”

In the afternoon they went into the city to check the organ music. The Dean was back and greeted them.

“Good afternoon, ladies. I have some good news for you. Our usual organist is back in the country with his son transferred to a specialist unit in Birmingham. If my maths is correct, we have Gina next week and you will finish the contract the week after. We’re all grateful for your help and for improving the size of the congregation. He will take the next couple of weeks to see a few of his family and friends but will be here in two weeks to thank you, himself. Do you think that Gina will be able to join you on the Saturday?”

“I’m sure she’ll be happy to come in. We start the school holidays that week. Will he be coming to the concert next weekend?”

“I don’t know. It would be good if he can. I’ll have to check and get him a couple of seats.”

Willow went up and got settled, warmed up with the Bach and played all the hymns and songs for Sunday. When she came down, the Dean came over.

“I called him, and he didn’t know about the concert, so I’ve organised tickets for him on the Sunday evening. Good job you reminded me.”

Wendy drove them home, where they changed to go to the club. Ashley had gone earlier, and they joined him there. They had dinner and people were going through to the back room as they ate.

“Aren’t these people a bit early, Dad.”

“It’s seems the normal thing, lately. Malcolm is back there with the booking list to make sure that there’s nobody who hasn’t booked.”

They were joined by Gina and Maisie, Jacob and Racheal, and sat while everyone had their dinner. Ashley was told about the property and their thoughts for it.

“I wondered what you would get up to with that money. If you get seven properties, each one of you will get a steady return.”

“So will the tax office, Dad.”

Still chuckling, they went through to the back room and the three went up on the stage to conduct the sing-along. They weren’t allowed to leave before they had sung some of the hits. Most of the crowd sang along with the Carpenters, and most of the women sang along with ‘Her Day’.

On Sunday, Willow and Wendy were at the Cathedral for the morning service. They went to the music store in Birmingham to see the manager and ask about the purchase of their own set of amplifiers, suitable for a rehearsal room, and came away with prices. They had a quick lunch at the Bullring and were back at the Cathedral for Evensong.

They stopped at the club for dinner, and then went home. Willow got on to the rest of the band and proposed a visit to view the property on Tuesday after school, asking them all to tell their parents that they would be late home but with the usual security detail. That evening, she sat with her mother to watch Band Spot, which featured the first two bands. The compere announced that the two albums would be in the shops on Wednesday, and that the next week’s show would be Summer Rose.

On Monday morning, she asked Sebastian if he would drive them to Leicester after school on the next day to look at an interesting property, and if the other crew would be happy to bring the rest of the band. He said that it would be a pleasure and called the other vehicle on the radio, to find out that they were happy, and had already been asked by Herb, the first pick-up. At lunch, Willow asked Xavier if he wanted to come along and cast his eye on a project, telling him that he would be taken, and brought home, by their security. He said that he would let them know in the morning.

She also spoke to Geoff and Zara, in a large group of students who had seen the program, to congratulate them on the record deal, and then went to the members of the wind section to get their email details, now that they were going to be part of the band.

She went to the afternoon lessons, thinking about the size of Summer Rose now. It started at two, went to three, then four, then seven, and now eleven. The newer members were Bryan, who played both tenor and alto saxophone; Edward, who played French Horn and tuba; Vivienne with flute and pan pipes, and Nancy with trumpet and trombone.

After school, she rang Mervyn at the property, telling him that the whole band would be with him about five the next day. He told her to expect a lot of his staff to want photos with them. That evening, she added the wind section to the team and sent them a welcoming message as now being officially members of the band. She knew that they would get a real shock in a few weeks when they got their first statement, having just being paid by the club.

Tuesday, on the way in, Willow and Gina agreed on making the last Friday of the term as the night of their birthday party. They agreed that Willow would send out an email to the whole band inviting them and their parents. If they all came, that would be more than thirty there without other friends. They would talk about it on Wednesday at the choir practise.

Xavier said that he was able to join them, and the afternoon dragged. Finally, the school finished and both vehicles were on the way to Leicester. When they arrived, there was a good half an hour of selfies before they were able to show the others the real reason for the visit. Xavier wondered why he was along for the ride until Mervyn put the first roller door up and put the lights on. They all went inside, and Willow asked them to stop and listen.

“This was built as a cool store, so is fully insulated, with a cooling unit on the roof that we think can be replaced by a reverse-cycle system. At the moment, we’re not thinking of removing any walls. The door we just came through will be removed with the space bricked up and insulated, with just a single air lock door which we would use if we warned the tenant we’re coming. Where we’re standing will be fitted out as a rest room, kitchen and toilet block, piggybacking on the water and sewerage from the next-door building. Power will be brought in from the cooling section, if we can. Further on will be a control room with the mixing board and recording equipment. There will be a stud wall between the two. There will be a door to the studio section, which will go to the far wall, with a soundproofed door to the room beyond. That has an area behind it big enough to park a couple of cars. There is access to the lane outside, but we’ll need to fit secure doors instead of the old wooden ones there.”

The rest of the band explored the space, with Mervyn going to the other end to put the roller door up. Willow stood with the four security men and wondered what her friends would think of the plan. Sebastian cleared his throat.

“May I say something, Willow?”

“Of course, Sebastian.”

“We have a contact who makes specialised security doors. What do you want down the other end?”

“When we get ownership, we need to break the outer doors down. We don’t have a key and the doors are only wood. I’d like some input, but something steel, with locking pins, that opens inwards. There’s not enough space in the lane to get enough speed to ram raid them, and we want to retain the unobtrusive look. Perhaps one side which can be extra secure, and an opening side that has a few pins that engage. I’m thinking of fire escape doors with a ‘No Parking’ sign on the outside.”

Max grinned.

“That’s well thought out. I used to be a builder. What are the walls?”

“I expect that they are an outer brick, with wood or steel frame, heavy insulation filling, and a heavy board inside. I’m worried that the filling may have asbestos. This was a cool room, not a refrigerator. We’ll put a stud wall between the rest room and control room. The wall from the control room to the studio will be a lot of soundproof triple glazed glass and a soundproof wall. That’s readily available from the installer of the equipment. Where the roller doors are, we’ll copy the original wall. We’ll add a layer of soundproof tile to the studio section, with the electrics and other cabling in channels.”

“That has had a lot of thought. You would have been in a recording studio, so you know a lot more about it than I do. You will need an architect to draw it all up and submit for building approval. I expect that the main thing that you’ll have to prove is the lack of escaping sound.”

“Yes, we’ll need to consult with a sound specialist to design the air inlets to minimise that. I’m worried that it may be a bit airless when we play, so that might need some extra input.”

“You sound like you’ve made your mind up.”

“I did when I first saw it. There’s the whole upper floor of the office that we can use. It can be the base for the designers.”

The roller door at the far end went down and the others came back. Willow thanked Mervyn for his help and told him that he would be contacted later. He gave her the list of problems that needed to be addressed, and she passed that to Jacob to show his father. The group went out and stood in the carpark.

“Hands up all those who think we should buy the property and turn this into a recording studio?”

Every hand went up.

“Thank you, friends. I’ll send out team emails to keep you up to date. We will be using Jacob’s father as our point man. He is a director of the syndicate and has offered to help us in his retirement. Time to go home, see you tomorrow.”

They got in the vehicles and drove back towards Coventry. Xavier sat next to Willow.

“Thank you for bringing me today. It’s been great. I’ll investigate the mixing and recording units and get back to you. I expect that it will be a couple of months before that’s installed. Will you be advertising for an operator?”

“We’re not doing this as a place where we record others, Xavier. There’s not enough space around here for more than a couple of cars. No, it will purely be a Summer Rose and friends rehearsal and recording studio. Will you be happy to run the board when we get serious? We will also need Frank and Dave and will pay by the hour, along with listing on everything we issue.”

“Are you kidding. A chance to run something as up to date as you can get. I’d ride my bike from home to get here! What will you put into the studio?”

“I thought four or five, hundred-watt Marshalls, a grand piano, a proper organ rather than a keyboard, drums, and whatever else we think of at the time. I liked the sound that we get from the glass harp, and Brent will have a load of different percussion which he’ll want.”

It was a very happy Xavier who got out at home, and Sebastian drove the others back to Stoneleigh. When Jacob got out, he said that he would tell his father of the decision.

The next day, Sebastian had a card from the door specialist, and Max had a card for a builder who specialised in renovations. The lunch was more subdued, with nothing spoken about the visit to other students. The trip home was quiet as well. It was if the property and the project had made the whole band realise that this was getting serious.

That evening, Gina and Willow planned more of the party. Gina was going to email Peter to book G-Force to play for them, Malcolm was told that they would book the back room as if it was a reception, and to organise enough birthday cake for two hundred and fifty. Willow mentioned that they should invite the Russells and the Bishop. The choir was invited, that evening, along with Tom and his family. Willow had some of the friends she had made at school, like Dianne and Barbara. Gina knew a lot more. The ended up with a likely list of just over two hundred.

Back home, Willow related what they had decided to her mother, who told her that she would organise invitations to be printed for delivering next week. In all the excitement, Willow had almost forgotten what would be happening from the next day, the concert in the Cathedral had arrived.

Thursday, school threw up one surprise. Willow was named as Goal Defence on the netball team and given a note for her mother. The school had arranged for the sports supplier to organise two sets of netball outfits for each member of the team and the reserves. The coach would take them from the school on the Tuesday and Wednesday and drop them back there at around normal school times. They were asked to make sure that the first set they wore had been cleaned, in case they were in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Later that afternoon, the orchestra were taken out to two coaches and followed the truck with all the instruments to the Cathedral. When they arrived, there was a couple of OB trucks and a load of cables snaking into the Cathedral. They all helped place the chairs and the music stands on a raised platform, then placed the instruments in next to the chairs. The two Yamahas were brought in and connected to the power and linked to the PA system, with only the speakers at their end of the building used. Willow looked around and then went to Miss Russell.

“Miss Russell, a moment, please.”

“Yes, Willow, what is it?”

“At school, I practised the first item on the Yamaha, then stayed on it for ‘Carnival’. Here, I expect that they’ll want me to play the organ.”

“Ah! I think you might be right. If you start up there, solo, you’ll have to keep out of sight until we’re ready for ‘Carnival’. I suppose that you could take your place during the applause. Let’s talk to Howard about this.”

They went over to where Mister Bamborough was organising the cello pads.

“Excuse me, Howard. Willow has just brought an oversight to my attention. If she’s up with the organ for the first item, she’ll need to be able to join the others for ‘Carnival’. She’ll need to stay out of the way if we do ‘Danse Macabre’ first. If you point to first violin for special applause, she can slide in to sit at the keyboard.”

“That will mean that you’ll be playing solo in the standard black dress, Willow.”

“I don’t mind, sir. I keep telling others that we’re all part of the orchestra, just doing something special. I can spend the whole evening in the black dress. I know that the Bishop would probably want me to stand out, but if I stand out, then Gina should as well. It would look funny with the two of us in gold dresses in the middle of all that black.”

“All right. Hilda, let Gina know what we’re doing, and why. Then call the Head to let her know.”

Marianne Gregory © 2025