From Our Files: a soldier dress thief, prisoner promoted, and a Lyndhurst queues solution?
75 YEARS AGO
EVIDENCE that an alleged absentee was wearing women’s clothing, including a fur coat, was given at Lymington Borough police court, when a fusilier was remanded in custody by the Mayor, charged with stealing a fur coat, a lady’s felt hat, a frock and a pair of lady’s stockings, of the total value of £63.
He was alleged to have stolen the property from “Chantries”, Southern Road, Lymington.
WRC Purver stated that he called at a house in King’s Road on Wednesday afternoon and told the fusilier, who was then dressed in civilian clothes, that he believed he was an absentee from his unit. The soldier replied “Yes,” then ran upstairs and escaped through a bathroom window.
Witness and other police officers searched the district and found him in some grounds near Grove Gardens dressed in the clothes which formed the subject of the charge and which in the meantime had been reported as stolen.
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MIKE KEEPING, son of Mr Fred Keeping, JP, of Milford-on-Sea, captain and left back of Fulham football team, was one of “five good men” remembered in the will of Mr John Dean, Chairman of the Club, who died last week.
In his bequest to Mike Keeping, Mr Dean wrote: “A great friend and true sportsman,” who gets “my double-barrelled 16-bore gun with case and fittings as presented to me by the players of Fulham after winning the Third Division (South) championship.”
Keeping held a pilot’s certificate before the war and once startled the Fulham directorate by flying from Southampton to London to take part in a match. He is now serving in the Army.
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Sgt R. I. Stone, RAF of New Milton, has had the unique distinction of being promoted twice within two days while a prisoner-of-war in Germany.
He was captured after his bomber had been shot down over Holland in July 1940, and the Air Ministry recently made a change of policy giving promotion to prisoners-of-war.
It has just been officially announced that as a result of this change of policy, Sgt Stone was promoted Temporary Flight Sergeant with effect from May 1st 1943, and Temporary Warrant Officer with effect from May 2nd 1943. The German Government are being notified of the promotions so that pay and privileges of the rank may be accorded.
It will be remembered that W/O Stone recently passed the College of Preceptors examination in seven subjects while a prisoner-of-war in Germany.
50 YEARS AGO
AN application by the Lymington section of the New Forest Hotels and Restaurants’ Association for an additional half hour’s drinking time each Friday and Saturday evening throughout the year, was refused by Lymington Licensing Committee on Tuesday.
The application — for an extension of the hours from 10.30pm to 11pm — was objected to by 44 of the 54 members of the Lymington Licensed Victuallers’ Association. It was the second time they had objected to such an application, and the second time it has been refused in two years.
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ALTHOUGH the owners of Highcliffe Castle are to seek permission to demolish the castle, they are not at this stage including any plans to build on the site.
Earlier this year they said they planned to develop the 14-acre site with high-class residential development. They would offer the foreshore and cliffs to the public free of charge, remove certain historic parts of the castle for preservation, and demolish the rest. Christchurch Planning Committee, however, opposed any residential development on the site.
Hampshire planning authority decided recently that it was impractical to consider restoration of the building, although it might be possible to preserve a small part of the structure as a ruin. At the moment there is a preservation order on the castle.
25 YEARS AGO
RADICAL proposals to alleviate the notorious traffic snarl-ups through Lyndhurst have been recommended by a traffic and environmental study panel, which will go before the District and Parish Councils, before public comment is invited.
The suggestions entail drastic alterations to the present traffic system, including: restricting the High Street to one-lane traffic with wide pavements on either side, along with a heavy commercial vehicle ban; priority to the A337 over the A35 at the Shrubbs Hill-High Street junction; all traffic passing round the southern edge of the Goose Green, closing off the northern section of the Emery Down road to all traffic, downgrading the A35 west, a 50mph speed limit, and advance information centres on approaches.
And ultimately to provide the right-turn “missing link” off the Totton West by-pass at Colbury, which will cost £1m at today’s prices.
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NEW FOREST Conservative MP Sir Patrick McNair-Wilson has refused to deny rumours that he will retire from politics if the Government goes ahead with plans to split the constituency.
Sir Patrick (64), who has represented the area since 1968, and has never made any secret of his bitter opposition to the changes, told the A&T: “I don’t know yet what will happen, but I’m definitely the last New Forest MP, and that is very sad for the Forest.”
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TV’s Jack Out of Town Hargreaves died in a cancer hospital on Tuesday night. He was 82.
Mr Hargreaves, of Blandford Forum, previously lived near Beaulieu, where he was a founder / instigator of the Out of Town Centre which provides farming holidays for children from the inner cities. He was a former president of the New Forest Show.
His popular countryside programme on Southern Television ran for more than 20 years.
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RUMOURS that all New Forest courts are to be centralised at Southampton in five years’ time, even though building work is about to begin on the new £750,000 court complex in Lyndhurst, have been strongly denied by the Hampshire Magistrates Courts Committee.
Work on the controversial court complex at the village police station is due to start next month. For many years there have been five New Forest courts — Lymington, Hythe, Romsey, Totton and Ringwood, but they have now been amalgamated into the New Forest bench sitting only at Lymington and Totton.
The centralisation scheme has been met with stiff criticism, because more than half a million pounds was recently spent on refurbishing the courts at Lymington.
