From Our Files: Greenbelt building...Forest coal mining...snake hunt...gay group

Then and Now (with St Barbe Museum + Art Gallery): The Old Toll House, circa 1900

The Old Toll House on Southampton Road in Lymington was built around 1795 by the Lymington, Lyndhurst and Rumbridge Turnpike Trust.

It served as a toll-collector’s cottage for the Buckland Gate on what is now the A337.

This small, two-storey building is Grade II listed, with distinctive tile-hung brickwork, casement windows, a plain-tile roof, and later 19th century lean-to additions.

When toll roads were abolished in the late 1800s, the building was converted into a private dwelling before later being used for storage by the adjacent Crown Inn (now the Monkey House).

50 YEARS AGO

New Forest District Council’s development committee have given their approval to development of 140 units and a bypass on 20 acres of greenbelt land at Newlands Manor, Everton.

Their decision was described by Coun. E.R. Dearing as “wrecking” greenbelt policies and “flaunting” local opposition.

Coun. Dearing said: “We are losing a very large slice of the greenbelt which will weaken it completely in this area. It is something that should not be happening.”

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Power for the National Coal Board to start coal mining in the New Forest if they so desired was cited as one of the objections put forward by Mr Patrick McNair Wilson, MP for the New Forest, in the House of Commons during the Lords Amendment to the Coal Industry Bill.

But he was worried about the effect on the Forest saying: “Those areas where mining is not a known art could see serious problems created for surface owners who have buildings which could be subject to subsidence.”

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The hunt for Cynthia the five-foot-long boa constrictor, which escaped from her home at Blackfield, was continuing on Thursday.

Some children had reported seeing what they thought was Cynthia on Wednesday in a tree, but it turned out to be a length of ivy.

The mother of the owner reported how a lady had rung her to ask if the snake had been caught yet, saying two friends of her were refusing to come to the New Forest for their annual holiday until it was.

25 YEARS AGO

Gays and lesbians in Dorset could see a more positive side of the thin blue line if a new scheme to build bridges in the homosexual community takes off.

Dorset Police have responded to new evidence showing gays and lesbians feel vulnerable and excluded from the force by setting up a group designated as Lesbian and Gay Liaison Officers.

Some officers will be homosexual, but others will not. The aim of the volunteers is to build up contacts within the gay and lesbian community.

Superintendent Simon Martin, operations manager at Bournemouth Police, said: “The police is a macho type of profession but if you think about one in 10 is gay so there should be a support group.”

He stressed the problem that homosexual police officers face in being unable to open up about their sexuality. “It must be a nightmare to lead a double life,” he said.

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The late break-up of schools for the summer holidays hit attendance figures for the New Forest Show. It was estimated that numbers on Tuesday’s opening day was some 16,000 with family and children’s ticket sales halved on last year’s gate, representing a fall in income of £10,000.

Over 21,000 people passed through the turnstiles at New Park, Brockenhurst.

The Millennium show’s president HRH Princess Royal was a huge hit on her walkabouts although the ‘paparazzi” ruffled her hair on Tuesday and were asked to back off.

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Mr Eric Hiscock (68) and his 65-year-old wife Susan have berthed at Lymington in their 49” steel ketch Wanderer IV marking the competition of their third trip around the world.

This latest circumnavigation was taken at a leisurely pace taking seven years to complete.