Those who know my photos will be surprised to find this shot of a suburban street in a large built-up area. But there is a reason. For many years, my College (Sidney Sussex, Cambridge) owned most of the ground rents in Cleethorpes. Once something called inflation came along, these proved a very bad asset to hold, and they were sold. This street and its neighbour to the north, Sidney Street
TA2809 : Sidney Street, Cleethorpes, are almost the last remaining evidence of our former connection with Cleethorpes.
Some Colleges did better: they owned the freehold of large areas of farmland which then turned into business parks or the like.
I cannot resist an anecdote. When I was an undergraduate in the early 1960s, one of my contemporaries was Nigel Essex. He was sent a telegram (they still existed in those days) addressed "Essex, Sussex, Cambridge". It was delivered without delay.