News

Johnston: When good fences don’t make good neighbours

Published

9 years ago

August 7, 2015

A DISPUTE in Johnston has escalated after a landowner erected fencing to prevent cars from passing and repassing over the access to his home.

Greg Bishop, the owner of Johnston Hall, spoke to The Herald earlier this week to express his exasperation about the way he has been vilified by Johnston Community Council, who he has accused of not bothering to respond to proposals he advanced in February of this year.

In the kitchen of Johnston Hall, Greg Bishop laid out a series of maps, plans, and charts dating back to the middle of the nineteenth century. The maze of lines and markings show the changing face of the village and the division and subdivision of land over time.

From Mr Bishop’s perspective, the situation is as clear as the lines on the map, which he says show that a car park on Church Road was originally part of the access way to the Hall.

“I want to make it clear,” Mr Bishop told our reporter, “I’m not claiming the land on which the car park is. People can keep on using the car park. All I am saying is that I don’t want people parking their vehicles across my gateway or blocking my access route to and from my property.”

Mr Bishop expressed his grievance that his motives and intentions had been both misinterpreted and misrepresented within the village.

“At no time have I said I will stop people using the car park as a car park, but it is being used as a turning circle or roundabout, and when vehicles come out of the end of the car park nearest Johnston Hall, they are blocking and damaging my property.

“The Community Council certainly doesn’t own the car park. It certainly doesn’t own the access to my property. And yet members of the Community Council have taken it upon themselves to stick their oar in.”

“I approached the Community Council and when I got nowhere trying to speak with them, my solicitor wrote a letter in February of this year. I didn’t get an answer, either from the Community Council or any solicitors acting on their behalf. Instead a petition misrepresenting everything that letter said was circulated at the Polling Station in Johnston Institute and round the village on the day of the General Election.

“The content of that petition was untrue from start to finish. It was actively canvassing people to subscribe to a version of events to support a legal dispute in which the Community Council has managed to involve itself without any legal claim to the land in question. Again, what business is it of theirs? They don’t own the land, they don’t even claim to own the land. I tried talking with them, I made sensible proposals which they ignored. I have been advised to block off the end of the car park and I am considering my position on that.

“It is amazing to me that the solicitor who acted for Mr Evans when he sold the land to me, who acted when Mr Evans sold parts of the land to other people, finds himself able to act for the Community Council when Mr Evans has provided a witness statement in my ongoing application to the Land Registry.”

Mr Bishop reserved his sternest criticism for local County Councillor, Ken Rowlands, former Chair of Johnston Community Council who still sits as a member upon it: “I had gathered witness statements from three long standing Johnston residents. People who have been here a damned sight longer than me, and certainly longer than Mr Rowlands. One of them took his witness statement to show Ken Rowlands. Suddenly he decided that everything he had originally written in the statement was either untrue or he was not prepared to stick by it. What business was it of Mr Rowlands to interfere? It was nothing to do with him. As far as I am concerned, he has caused this dispute to arise. He is responsible for it.”

We spoke to Cllr Ken Rowlands about the dispute. Cllr Rowlands told us. His take on events was somewhat different: “What’s happened is that Mr Bishop made an approach to the community council about people parking in his gateway. We agreed to look at it, possibly arranging to paint some chevrons to prevent inconsiderate users of the car park from blocking his gates.

“Mr Bishop told us he would talk to his solicitors about it. The next thing we knew we had a letter laying claim to the car park and other land. That was completely unacceptable to us as a Community Council and we instructed our solicitors to respond.”

We pointed out that it was only after the previous landowner, Merrick Evans, had conveyed the land on which Fairfield Nursing Home sat, that the ‘car park’ area had been tarmacked by the Fairfield’s owner in the 1990’s. . At the time Fairfield had been built, the Hall’s then owner had imposed a condition regarding the maintenance of the roadway to adjoin Church Road. The existing pavement to the car park’s front had only been in position since 2006.

If the Community Council did not own the land and was not responsible for its upkeep, we asked Councillor Rowlands who was: “In light of the current situation, I have asked the Highways Department to adopt the roadway as a matter of urgency using its powers under S.31 of the Highways Act. There will shortly be an emergency meeting of the Community Council to discuss recent developments.”

He continued: “What I am concerned about here is that a facility that has been used for many years and is important for the flow of traffic has now been blocked off at one end. People using the surgery are having to reverse out of the car park.

“The end has now been fenced off and I had Council officers come out late at night to make sure it was safe and to erect high visibility signs around the fence which has now been put up.”

Mr Bishop told us: “I have followed my solicitor’s advice and put up a fence to protect my rights. I have said before, the Community Council’s attitude and the way I have been misrepresented is behind all of this. I have made generous offers that would place me to expense. The Community Council seems to think that it can do and say what it wants. It has inflamed the situation.”

Community

Anzac Day commemoration service held in Milford Haven

Published

6 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Tom Sinclair

IN a service held on Sunday (Apr 28), the Milford Haven Branch of the Royal British Legion led a poignant commemoration service to mark Anzac Day, honouring the valor and sacrifices of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during the Gallipoli campaign in World War I.

The service, which took place at 11:00am, on Hamilton Terrace, Milford Haven, witnessed a significant turnout.

Attendees included members of the Australian Signals and Signal Company as well as representatives of Milford Haven Town Council and the Milford Haven Sea Cadets.

The service commenced with a welcome and introduction by Lt Col Warren Coetzer, followed by a rendition of the National Anthems of Australia, New Zealand, and Wales, embodying a spirit of unity and remembrance. The anthems were a moving tribute to the camaraderie and international bonds formed in times of conflict.

***ANZAC service: Remembering soldiers who fought bravely (Pic: MHTC)***

During the service, the Ode of Remembrance was recited, a profound moment that prompted reflection on the courage and fellowship of the ANZAC forces.

The emblematic Rising Sun Cap Badge and the Union Flag were prominently displayed on the event programme, symbolising the service and sacrifice of those who served under them.

Local dignitaries laid wreaths, and a two-minute silence was observed, offering a chance for personal reflection on the cost of war and the price of peace.

**Sea Cadets and member of the public at the service (Pic: MH Sea Cadets)**

The commemoration concluded with a prayer for peace, leaving the attendees with a message of hope and a renewed commitment to the values for which the ANZAC soldiers bravely fought.

The service was not just a remembrance of past sacrifices but also a reminder of the enduring spirit of the ANZACs, which continues to inspire and guide future generations.

Community

Survey of Picton Castle reveals groundbreaking medieval architecture

Published

6 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE first ever detailed architectural survey of Picton Castle, Pembrokeshire, has revealed a medieval castle ahead of its time in terms of design and high status living. Much altered in the Georgian period, the castle was surveyed by the author, Neil Ludlow, with Phil Poucher of Heneb – Dyfed Archaeology (formerly Dyfed Archaeological Trust) and funded by the Castle Studies Trust: it reveals a sophisticated building fit for royalty.

However, the building was actually built between 1315-20 by a senior royal government official called Sir John Wogan, who held office in Pembrokeshire, Northern England and Ireland and possibly fought on a military campaign in Gascony.

While outwardly it retains much of its medieval flavour, the interiors were extensively made over during the eighteenth century so that it now presents itself first and foremost as a Georgian country seat. But beneath this veneer, much medieval work still survives – though a lot of it is tucked away behind stud-walls, in cupboards, or is otherwise obscured.

Picton’s unique layout makes it a castle of great importance and architecturally ground-breaking for when it was built in the early fourteenth century. Most castles have at least some close parallels, but Picton is effectively one of a kind. Close study shows that it resolves as a central first-floor hall, flanked by services and a chamber-block to form a very early example of the three-unit ‘H-plan’ house.

The gatehouse – unusual in buildings of this kind – led onto an equally unusual ‘grand stairway’ to the hall; a second ground-floor entry probably led to an external kitchen and bakehouse.

The castle’s spatial disposition, access and circulation are meticulously planned, while the domestic appointments show a remarkable level of sophistication for the period, including what appear to be vertical serving-hatches between the ground floor and the service rooms above. At second-floor level, the east towers and gatehouse form two integrated suites of residential apartments either side of a chapel, in a manner firmly rooted within royal planning. The opposite pair of towers, at the west end, seem to have been united internally to form a residential chamber-block, for Wogan’s officials and guests, possibly served by latrines in the former west tower; the present partition walls are later.

Neil Ludlow told The Pembrokeshire Herald: “The enigmatic castle at Picton in Pembrokeshire is best-known for its magnificent Georgian interiors. But beneath this veneer is a medieval castle, from around 1315-20, with a unique layout. A towered hall-block with a pioneering ‘H-plan’, it reveals elements derived from royal planning, and sophisticated domestic arrangements including serving hatches between the floor levels. These innovations show it to have been a castle that was ahead of its time.”

Castle Studies Trust Chair of Trustees Jeremy Cunnington added: “The Castle Studies Trust is delighted to have funded the first ever detailed survey of Picton Castle and to have learned so much more about the medieval form of this unique building.”

Dr Rhiannon Talbot-English, Director at Picton Castle Trust told this newspaper: “Picton Castle has always been something of an enigmatic mystery: hidden gothic alcoves and arches, secret spiral staircases and untouched medieval Undercroft. Picton Castle Charitable Trust is extremely grateful to the Castle Studies Trust for its generous financial support which has enabled this research to be undertaken and we look forward to sharing this new knowledge with the public in a new exhibition about the early castle.”

Community

Solemn tributes at Freshwater West for WWII maritime tragedy

Published

6 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Tom Sinclair

IN an emotional gathering at Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire, the public and veterans convened on April 29, to honour the memory of the 85 souls lost in the tragic sinking of Landing Craft, Gun (LCG) 15 and LCG 16 during a brutal storm in April 1943.

The memorial service took place near the scenic, surf-popular beach, where the community assembled to reflect on the calamity that struck during a perilous wartime operation.

The service highlighted the sacrifices made by those aboard the LCGs, as well as six valiant crew members from the HMS Rosemary, who perished while attempting a daring rescue amidst the tempest.

Originally designed as Landing Craft, Tanks (LCTs), LCG 15 and LCG 16 were converted at Belfast’s Harland & Wolff shipyard to support amphibious operations by equipping them with heavy artillery.

Their redesign included the installation of two 4.7 inch guns intended for use during D-Day, suggesting that, had they survived, these crafts and their crews could have played a pivotal role in the Normandy Landings.

The crafts were en route to Falmouth when they encountered severe weather off the coast of Freshwater West.

Compounded by their flat-bottomed design, which was ill-suited for rough seas, both vessels tragically succumbed to the stormy conditions.

Denied shelter at Fishguard, they were compelled to continue towards Milford Haven, a decision that ultimately led to their sinking.

Today, the wrecks of LCG 15 and LCG 16 lie as protected war graves, and a poignant memorial stands overlooking the beach, a testament to the bravery and enduring legacy of the men lost to the sea.

Visitors to the memorial site at Freshwater West, which also hosts another commemorative marker at Thornton Cemetery in Milford Haven, can reflect upon the harrowing experiences faced by wartime naval personnel and the profound impact of their service.

The event served not only as a remembrance but also as an educational experience, particularly for younger generations unaware of the perils faced by their forebears during such tumultuous times.

The memorial at Freshwater West remains open to the public, offering a place for contemplation and respect, against the backdrop of one of Wales’ most beloved surfing beaches, where the echoes of history resonate with the sounds of the waves.