News

Cowshed Cinderella in Court of Appeal

Published

10 years ago

May 16, 2016

A £1.3 MILLION “golden egg” is at the centre of a renewed and bitter Appeal Court battle between an aging farming couple and their estranged daughter – dubbed the “Cowshed Cinderella”.

Eirian Davies, 46, was repeatedly assured by her parents, Tegwyn and Mary Davies, now in their 70s, that she would ultimately step into their shoes and take over the family’s thriving Henllan Farm, Whitland, and its herd of pedigree Holstein cows.

And in May 2014 three Appeal Court judges ruled that a stake in the thriving 182-acre farm was due to her for the years of low-paid toil she put in.

Miss Davies has told how she missed out on going to Young Farmers’ Club dances with her two sisters as a teenager because she had to “stay at home with a muck fork” , tackling her farming chores.

She worked on the family farm for over 25 years, although with sporadic breaks over the years.

“They always told me that the farm would be left to me,” Miss Davies told an earlier court hearing.

“Even on my birthday, when the other girls were having things, they would say – ‘you will have the damn lot one day, it will all be yours’,” she said.

Her father would regularly warn her “not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg” if she complained about her meagre wages, she added.

Until she reached the age of 21, Miss Davies was paid nothing at all for her work on the farm and, after that, there was a period when she was paid just £15-a-day for milking the cows, although sometimes she received more.

She claimed she could have ‘made a better life elsewhere’, but her 75-year-old father and mother, 76, insisted she had earned a fair income during her stints working on the farm, also being provided with free ‘bed and board’ and other benefits.

Describing her as ‘a self-employed herdswoman’, they argued she would have done no better financially had she worked away from the farm.

In 2009, Miss Davies was shown her parents’ draft will, which left the lion’s share of the farm to her.

However, the couple later made changes to their bequests and proposed placing the farm in trust for the benefit of all three sisters equally.

Miss Davies had a ‘passionate interest in pedigree milking cows’ and, by 1989 when she turned 21, she was the only sister left at the farm, ‘her sisters having departed to follow other paths’.

And, when she left the farm to work elsewhere for a while, her father begged her to return.

The bitter legal dispute was finally sparked in August 2012 following an “altercation” in the milking parlour – after which Miss Davies’ parents launched an unsuccessful bid to evict their daughter from Henllan Farmhouse.

Later on, Judge Milwyn Jarman QC ruled Miss Davies was entitled to a beneficial interest in the family’s lucrative farming business, prompting her parents to challenge that ruling in the Appeal Court.

But in May 2014 Lord Justice Floyd dismissed the couple’s appeal, ruling that Miss Davies had received “less than full recompense” for her contribution to the farm.

The appeal judge concluded: “This is in many ways a tragic case. The bitterness between the parties was such that each had few, if any, good words to say about the other.”

After the parents’ appeal was rejected, the case was sent back to Judge Jarman to put a figure on the amount of compensation due to Miss Davies.

He awarded her £1.3 million for her share of the family farming business in February 2015 at the High Court in Cardiff, triggering her parents to mount a fresh appeal.

The case returned to the Appeal Court on Tuesday this week (Apr 26) as Mr and Mrs Davies’ legal team launched their attack on the judge’s findings.

The couple’s QC, Simon Fancourt, claimed the £1.3 million pay-out would be “hugely disproportionate to any detriment Eirian incurred in reliance on representations that were made”.

The “representations and assurances” given by her parents were “general and non-specific” in the early days, said the barrister, including such sentiments as, “it’ll all be yours one day” and “don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg”.

He said Judge Jarman had found that the first time the couple made any substantial “explicit representation” about inheritance was in 2009 when Miss Davies was shown a draft of their wills, bequeathing the farm to her.

Mr Fancourt said that Judge Jarman unfairly “worked on the basis that there was an expectation of inheriting the whole lot”.

“He gave too much weight to the expectations,” said the barrister.

Lord Justice Patten, Lord Justice Underhill and Lord Justice Lewison, who are hearing the case at London’s Appeal Court, are expected to reserve their judgment to a later date.

Crime

Pembrokeshire man sent to Crown Court over death by careless driving charge

Published

41 minutes ago

December 18, 2025

Court Reporter

A PEMBROKESHIRE man has been sent to the Crown Court to stand trial accused of causing a death by careless or inconsiderate driving.

Alexander MacCallum, aged 28, of Beach Road, Llanreath, Pembroke Dock, appeared before Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (Dec 18).

The court heard that MacCallum is charged with causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving following an incident on Thursday (June 13, 2024).

No plea was entered at this stage of the proceedings.

Magistrates were told the case was too serious to be dealt with at magistrates’ level and ordered that it be sent to the Crown Court for trial.

MacCallum was sent to the Crown Court on unconditional bail, with further proceedings to take place at a later date.

The prosecution was brought by Dyfed-Powys Police. No defence solicitor was formally recorded at the hearing.

Health

NHS Wales spends more than £15.5m on agency radiographers as pressures grow

Published

1 hour ago

December 18, 2025

Tom Sinclair

NHS WALES has spent more than £15.5 million on agency radiography staff over the past five years, as mounting pressure on diagnostic imaging services raises concerns about long-term workforce sustainability.

Figures obtained by the Welsh Liberal Democrats through Freedom of Information requests show that spending on temporary radiographers almost doubled between 2020/21 and 2023/24, despite relatively low headline vacancy rates across Welsh health boards.

Radiographers carry out X-rays, CT, MRI and ultrasound scans, which are essential to emergency care, cancer diagnosis, trauma treatment and elective surgery. Delays or shortages in imaging services can have a knock-on effect across patient pathways, slowing diagnosis and treatment.

The data also highlights an ageing workforce. More than a quarter of radiographers in Wales are aged over 50, with more than one in ten aged 55 or above. In some health boards, a significantly higher proportion of staff are approaching retirement age, raising concerns that experienced radiographers could leave faster than they can be replaced.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board recorded the highest agency spend, at more than £8.1m over the period covered by the FOI requests. Other health boards also reported growing reliance on temporary staff to maintain services, particularly where specialist skills are required.

While official vacancy figures remain comparatively low, professional bodies have previously warned that vacancy data does not always reflect pressure on services, as posts can be held open or covered through overtime and agency staff rather than filled permanently.

Diagnostic imaging demand has increased steadily in recent years, driven by an ageing population, advances in medical imaging technology, and rising referrals linked to cancer and long-term conditions.

Commenting on the findings, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:

“Radiographers are absolutely vital to the NHS. From diagnosing cancer to treating people in A&E, the vast majority of patient journeys depend on timely access to scans.

“These figures show a system increasingly relying on expensive agency staff while failing to plan properly for the future workforce. That is not fair on patients, and it is not fair on staff who are already under huge pressure.

“The Welsh Labour Government must take urgent action to improve recruitment and retention, support experienced staff to stay in the workforce for longer, and ensure NHS Wales has a sustainable radiography workforce fit for the future.”

The Welsh Government has previously said it is working with health boards to improve recruitment and retention across NHS Wales, including expanding training places and supporting flexible working arrangements to help retain experienced staff. Ministers have also pointed to record numbers of staff working in the NHS overall, while acknowledging ongoing challenges in hard-to-recruit specialties.

However, opposition parties and professional bodies continue to warn that without long-term workforce planning, reliance on agency staff could increase further, adding to costs and pressure on already stretched diagnostic services.

Local Government

Essential bridge maintenance and repairs planned for January

Published

3 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Works on Westfield Pill Bridge to affect A477 traffic

ESSENTIAL maintenance and repair work is set to begin on Westfield Pill Bridge, with traffic management in place on the A477 between Neyland and Pembroke Dock.

The programme of works is due to start on Monday (Jan 19) following a Principal Inspection carried out in 2022, which identified a number of necessary repairs to maintain the long-term durability and safety of the structure.

Westfield Pill Bridge is a key route linking communities in south Pembrokeshire and carries a high volume of daily traffic. While major works were last undertaken in 1998 — which required a full closure of the bridge — the upcoming refurbishment has been designed to avoid shutting the crossing entirely.

Instead, the works, scheduled to take place in early 2026, will be managed through traffic control measures to keep the bridge open throughout the project.

The planned refurbishment will include the replacement of both eastbound and westbound bridge parapets, the renewal of expansion joints, and full resurfacing of the bridge deck.

The work is expected to take no longer than three months and will involve weekend and night-time working to help minimise disruption. All construction activity will be carried out from the bridge deck and has been scheduled to avoid clashes with other planned trunk road works, as well as periods of higher traffic demand.

Two-way traffic signals will be in place for the duration of the works. These will be manually controlled during peak periods, with particular efforts made to reduce delays affecting school transport.

Motorists are advised that there may be delays to local bus services during the works, including the 349 (Haverfordwest–Pembroke Dock–Tenby) and 356 (Milford Haven–Monkton) routes.

Drivers are encouraged to allow extra time for journeys and to follow on-site signage while the works are underway.