From Our Files: Out with the old...borstal over school damage...an honest youth
50 YEARS AGO
THE arrival of a new vicar in Lymington led to a disastrous situation when he decided to have a clear-out of the rectory and took what he thought was just a pile of old papers to the tip.
They were, in fact, Lymington’s parish records which had been kept safe by local businessman and historian Edward King.
After he died in 1974 his family asked the vicar to take back the many boxes. But apparently unaware of their importance, he decided to dispose of them.
A tip workman came across what looked a very important document, sealed with red wax, and informed Lymington Historical Society.
Aided by mechanical diggers and a team of volunteers, the society took days searching for the boxes they were eventually found – dirty and wet.
Members of the society took them home to dry them out and around 90 percent of them survived.
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A “SHEER orgy of vandalism” which resulted in £10,000 of damage at Hythe Comprehensive school has resulted in an 18-year-old teenager being sent to jail for three years.
A 16 and 17-year-old have both been sent to Borstal. All three had pleaded guilty to burglary and damage at Winchester Crown Court.
The judge heard the three youths had smashed windows, ripped out light fittings, thrown trophies to the floor and stamped on them, ripped up books and set fire to a classroom.
There has also been human excrement left in the headmaster’s room. The court was told that there had been a “rise in vandalism at schools all over Britain”.
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A DIVE has taken place on the Royal Navy escort vessel The Mechanician, the wreck of which lies in the Needles channel where it grounded on the Shingles.
The heavily armed ship was hit by two torpedoes fired by UB35. The torpedoes were fired 30 minutes apart, the first exploding near number-six hold and the boiler room.
Codes and confidential documents were thrown overboard by crew. There was no loss of life.
25 YEARS AGO
Stan Holley has just celebrated his 86th birthday. When asked how he intends to mark the day, he said: “I want to shoe a horse just to show I can still do it.”
As this picture testified, Stan fulfilled that ambition harking back to his days a third generation of Sway “shoeing and general smiths”.
It was Stan’s grandfather Tom who founded the family business at The Forge, known as The Crossroads, Sway.
When Stan joined the family business most forms of transport were drawn by horses. Shoeing charges were 4/ a set for ponies - 6/ for cart horses.
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THE age of youngsters’ honesty is not past. On Monday a Hordle lad in his tweens was playing football within the children’s play area by the recreation ground when he unleashed a misdirected shot which smashed through the WI hall window.
Full of contrition, the lad went straight round to the village constable Dick Bezant, made a full confession and asked if he could make amends in any way.
The constable rang the WI president and the boy apologised profusely. But she was so flabbergasted by his honesty she declined to send him the bill.
She said: “We have had so many windows broken but this is the first time anyone has ever owned up.”
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THE increasingly popular half-day mature drivers course run by Dorset County Council’s road safety team has been sold out.
Just £2 a person, it is aimed at improving observation and hazard identification and means elderly people can continue to drive safely.
Living in rural communities makes it important for old people to be able to drive but increased traffic and changing road layouts can make driving for them more tiring and stressful.
Lessons include keeping fit to drive, the effects of medication, the importance of regular eye check ups and tips on recognising dangers on the road.
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The future of Hampshire’s coastal farmland, country parks, paths and nature reserves is under threat from possible rising sea levels and heavier storms over the next century, and has prompted a review by the county council.
A recent study warned, for example, that coastal features such as Hurst Spit could be lost in storms in the next 50 years, the Solent could rise by up to 50cms.
The council owns more than 1,500 acres of land on the coast including Keyhaven Marshes.
The sites attract more than one million visits a year. The review will discuss the implications of climate change.
