From Our Files: Royal engagement... carnival queens... hotel ‘bribes’

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WHO will be Queen of the Carnival at the New Milton British Legion fete on Bank Holiday?

There were originally over 40 aspirants for this post of honour this year, and the six young ladies whose photographs appear above were selected for final choice by four judges at a dance held in the Church Hall.

Our readers are now invited to make the final choice of the Queen by a kiss! All you are asked to do is to put a cross (X) on one photograph – the one you favour – cut out the pictures and send them to the Legion Hall, Whitefield Road, New Milton.

The names of the candidates, in alphabetical order, but not in the photographic sequence are: Jean Bennett, Eileen Lush, Gwen Morris, Pamela Stillwell, Nina Shuttleworth and Vera Thorpe.

(Photographs by Charlton Studios, Sway)

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Lymington Borough Council decided at their meeting on Wednesday, that when organisations apply for the use of grounds owned by the council in order to hold fetes and fairs, permission must be sought if a licensed bar is to be used.

The matter was raised by Ald. W. J. W. Broomfield, who stated that part of the land at Victory Park had recently been let for a licensed bar, and the council’s permission had not been sought. This was in reference to a Labour Party rally.

50 YEARS AGO

BRITAIN’S new National Motor Museum was opened at Beaulieu on Tuesday by HRH the Duke of Kent. The museum replaces the one founded 20 years ago by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu in memory of his father, the second Baron, who was a pioneer in the motoring world. Cost of the new museum is put at £750,000, of which £470,000 has already been raised.

The Duke of Kent arrived at noon by helicopter and had a private view of the museum buildings and exhibits before the official opening, which was attended by about 2,000 invited guests.

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NEARLY four months ago a boy, of 14, was expelled from his school. Since then he has been denied any form of education, in spite of attempts by a probation officer to get him into another school. This was held to be the root cause of the boy, now 15, from Christchurch, appearing at the local juvenile court on Friday in last week, charged with stealing money from an electricity meter.

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THE effects of caravanning and camping in the New Forest and in coastal areas of the Borough of Lymington were discussed at the County Planning Committee’s meeting at Winchester.

Mr A. D. G. Smart, the County Planning Officer said the problem facing planners was one of saturation during the holiday months, and that a possible solution was to create more recreational areas between the Forest and sea. It was suggested that recreational complexes, such as Matchams could be set up for this purpose.

Mr Smart said: “The opening of the motorways will mean people will come flocking to the areas in even greater numbers and that these day trippers cannot be controlled."

25 YEARS AGO

A PIECE of land next to Highcliffe Castle which Christchurch Council wants to acquire at a knock-down price to create a heritage park, could be worth £400,000 to the local residents who own it if they win their planning battle to allow development there.

Permission to build three bungalows at Rothesay Park at the western end of Rothesay Drive has existed for over 40 years. However, the council is now refusing to renew the consent as it nearly always has done, saying that the proposed status of the land as public open space should be considered at next year’s inquiry into the borough-wide local plan.

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HUNDREDS of objections from the public have led to two controversial policies being deleted from the deposited Christchurch borough plan.

The two policies dropped by councillors at a special meeting of the Planning Committee were the redevelopment of the Pit Site car park in the town centre with shops and offices, and the decking of the Bank Close car park. Together the two schemes attracted a total of 727 objections.

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CONTROVERSIAL plans for a new hotel in Christchurch which were at the centre of “bribe” allegations have finally been approved by borough councillors.

Discussion of the scheme for a 41 bed Whitbread Travel Inn and pub on part of the DRA site in Barrack Road was halted in May when a Planning Committee member claimed that the brewers were trying to influence councillors by offering land and a building at the Globe Inn at Highcliffe for public use. Although council officials and Whitbread denied any link between the two sites, the hotel scheme was deferred.