From Our Files: Slip-watching ‘ghouls’...elderly fears...thieves’ cool getaway
50 YEARS AGO
GHOULS whose “morbid desire” is to see someone’s home topple over a cliff have turned up at Barton after the falls there.
Barton sea front was reminiscent of a busy August bank holiday at the weekend. Perhaps because of a shortage of news, the cliff fall which had been anticipated locally received national coverage with bulletins on ITV and BBC.
Such was the “enthusiasm” of people wishing to witness the collapse that despite the pleas of the property owners and replying abusively to their requests to leave as they were trespassing on private ground, the owner of Barton Post Office felt obliged to call the police.
He told the A&T this week that people were going behind the row of shops, climbing over barriers and standing on overhanging parts of the cliff. Small children were kicking stones over the edge.
He described the onlookers as “morbid” adding: “They are just waiting for more homes to disappear.”
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A FRIGHTENING experience befell Mrs Lesley Nixon of Elvin Close, Hordle, when an explosion occurred in SEB switchgear sited some 15 feet from her home.
Mrs Nixon was having a cup of tea with a friend when there was a flash of flame over 25 feet high and a steel cover 18 inches square crashed through a wooden fence into a greenhouse frame damaging prised chrysanthemum cuttings.
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CONCERN was expressed at last night’s meeting of Milford Neighbourhood Council at the application by the Freemasons for an old people’s rest home and flats on land off the High Street.
Council members fear that any increase in the number of elderly people will only add extra strain to the social services, particularly medical.
Council vice-chairman Capt. John Stanning said: “I think we should oppose any further influx of elderly people from all over the country.”
Members resolved to write to New Forest District Council expressing concern at the number of old people living in the area.
25 YEARS AGO
OBJECTION is being raised by New Milton town council to major plans for a new development with a potential getting on for 600 people at Ashley. Whilst accepting that Vernalls Farm, off Ashley Common Road, is zoned for housing, councillors maintain the local social infrastructure is chock-a-block and cannot cope with any more people.
The councillors are disturbed because the schools and doctors and dental surgeries are full, and water supplies and drainage are inadequate. They are also concerned that the local road network is incapable of absorbing the increased traffic which will be generated by such a large development.
Delia Wilson, who highlighted a lack of community facilities in Ashley, suggested that Barratts should be made to provide a hall saying: “They’re going to make an arm and leg out of this little lot.”
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HARDCORE pornography on the internet makes profoundly corrupting too easy to acquire, said Desmond Swayne in the House of Commons last week. In a speech the MP explained he used to think hard core porn less of a problem than other forms because it was difficult to get hold of.
However, following a constituent’s complaint, Mr Swayne told how easy it was for children to look at hardcore porn on the internet.
Mr Swayne told how he had been able to access a number of pornographic sites from his own office. “Within a few seconds I was able without any ingenuity without using any passwords and without overcoming any security arrangement I was able to access a number of pornographic sites.”
He described the experience as “a little more titillating as making a phone call from a telephone booth in most parts of London.”
But he did admit: “I began to feel myself the powerful nature of that corruption, I found myself lingering over it with a sense of fascination. I found myself saved by the division bell, which brought me to my senses and forced me to leave.”
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A MILFORD woman who went to her freezer in the garage to prepare her husband’s dinner of sausages and chips found that the contents of it had been stolen.
She said: “I lifted up the lid and all that was left were a few bags of frozen peas. Someone must have let themselves into the garage overnight and raided the freezer.
“It is unbelievable that someone could stoop so low. My husband had to go down to the chip shop for his tea.”
