Year in review: Looking back on the A&T headlines of 2024
January
Residents living in flood-hit communities have been told to “get out and dig ditches” to help prevent more wet weather misery.
Former New Forest district councillor Richard Frampton, told villagers in Bransgore: “If there is a ditch, dig it! If there is one in front of your property, get out and dig it out. Stop waiting for someone else to come and do it.”
And Cllr Barry McDonnell, from Sopley Parish Council, also revealed how it is now taking a “proactive” approach to the problem and recently invited representatives from the Environment Agency to the village to see how it could prevent future flooding.
He said: “If there is a drain blocked outside your home, rake it off; if it is still blocked report it. If you know you are in a flood plain historically at risk, it is each householders’ responsibility to take preventative measures like door guards and air brick covers.
“There is a lot house owners can do themselves.”
Both villages were badly hit by flooding during the recent torrential downpour and were virtually cut off at one stage, with major roads in and out completely flooded.
February
Volunteers at the National Coastwatch Institution’s Hengistbury Head base enjoyed a royal visit in the run-up to the charity’s 30th anniversary.
HRH The Princess Royal was welcomed to the clifftop station by NCI deputy chair Dr Chris Aps, station manager Peter Holway and watchkeepers Victoria Jago and Vincent Tabor.
Introduced by His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset Mr Angus Campbell CVO, they gave a briefing on daily operations. One of the busiest coastal stations in a network of 60 in terms of incident recording, it had over 60 logged per year in the last two years.
NCI chair Stephen Hand then invited Princess Anne to present five-year service awards to six watchkeepers. She also unveiled a commemorative plaque, which will be placed in the station.
March
A New Forest charity which rescues orphaned orangutans has been left overwhelmed after late TV star Paul O’Grady left it an “incredible” gift of £50,000.
O’Grady, who died at the age of 67 last year, was a well-known animal lover who fronted many TV shows about them. He became patron of the Orangutan Appeal UK, which is based in Brockenhurst, in 2015 after filming the series Paul O’Grady’s Animal Orphans.
Among the first projects the charity paid for was a new nursery at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Borneo, which O’Grady visited when he started filming his series.
He immediately fell in love with its occupants, especially one-year-old Archie, who was found terrified and alone in the rainforest. The bond between Archie and O’Grady became quickly obvious as he carried the tiny ape around like a baby for much of the time, recalling later: “He didn’t like strangers but when I opened his little cage, he jumped straight on me, and we became mates for life. He taught me what love at first sight is.”
April
A metal detectorist from the New Forest has unearthed a rare gold artefact he believes was commissioned by Alfred the Great in the 9th century.
Greg Livermore found the ornate Saxon aestel – a pointer designed to mark a place in a religious manuscript – on private land in the Forest.
Around a week later in the same field he found a stater coin which could date back to 60BC. Both finds have been reported to the county’s finds liaison officer who will write a report for the county’s coroner.
The ownership of the stater and the aestel could eventually be decided at an inquest, which will determine if the items are treasure trove.
Blackfield-born Greg, who works as a marine recruitment manager in Fawley, told the A&T: “I was out detecting with a friend and I saw this glimpse of gold, what turned out to be the aestel, in the ground.
“I had a sleepless night researching it and then the excitement really began to kick in, especially after seeing so many comments on my Facebook page saying what it could be.”
Greg and many others believe the aestel he found is one of 18 commissioned by Alfred the Great in the 9th century to give to bishops So far, only eight of these aestels have been unearthed.
In 2008, auction house Bonhams sold the Yorkshire Aestel for £10,800. Another rare feature of the aestel Greg found is that it still has its original gold pin, which would have held a sliver of wood, bone or reed in place as a pointer on the manuscript. “This would be the find of a lifetime for most detectorists,” Greg said.
May
A suspected New Forest murder victim was this week buried in a “once -in-a-lifetime” service, some 500 years after he met his end.
The remains of the unknown man were laid to rest about five centuries after he was initially disposed of in a “clandestine” fashion.
The 25-minute ceremony took place two years after his medieval-era skeleton was found in mysterious circumstances on a beach near South Baddesley. As reported in the A&T, after a lengthy investigation, archeologists have since concluded that “foul play” may explain how he came to be there.
Around 50 attendees – comprising nearby residents, those who had been involved in research and local historians – came to pay their respects at a special funeral at St Mary the Virgin in South Baddesley.
Mourners were greeted and handed a leaflet titled ‘The Funeral and Burial of the 16th Century Man Known only to God’. The Very Rev. Gordon Wynne conducted the service, which included a medieval hymn before the handmade wooden casket was buried in the church grave.
The funeral comes after human remains were found by local resident Graham Coulter in May 2022.
“I called the police and a young constable came along and quite a number of Land Rovers,” he said. “They had to exhume him fairly quickly as it was mid-tide at the time. He was dug up out of the mud moderately quickly and spread out on the lawn.”
June
A Lymington man accused of forging the will of a wealthy and “vulnerable” widow has lost his fight over her £5 million estate.
Mark Pidsley, a former secretary of the town’s Royal British Legion, had denied claims that he “lied” and created false documents in a bid to inherit the multimillion-pound fortune of artist Joan Sutcliffe.
Painter Joan, who died in September 2020 aged 90, owned three homes: one in Lymington, one in Putney, and a third in France. Her estate, which is valued at over £5m, had largely been left to stepdaughter Bridget Spencer and her children under a will Joan made out in 2011.
But a later will and letter of wishes, dated 25th March 2019, effectively left all her property and wealth in England to Mr Pidsley and his son David.
Mrs Spencer brought court proceedings in 2022, suing both Mr Pidsley and his son as executors of Joan’s estate, claiming the 2019 will was “a forgery and a false document” which “in all probability” was created by the former British Legion officer.
Mr Pidsley, a neighbour of Joan’s who had made a “sudden appearance in her life”, and his son strongly denied any allegations of dishonesty and brought their own court claim, seeking to uphold the 2019 will.
But the case has now been settled, with Mark and David Pidsley agreeing to a consent order, under which the 2019 will leaving them everything has been declared invalid and the 2011 will leaving the bulk of Joan’s £5m to her stepdaughter upheld as her last true will.
July
A man who suffered life-changing injuries in an attack in Lymington during which his best friend was killed has died less than three years later.
Luke Gray was with Max Maguire (23) outside the Royal British Legion in October 2021 when they were stabbed by Draven Jewell.
Father-of-one Max died at the scene but Luke, who suffered serious injuries after being stabbed twice in the back, survived. He had been battling back to health since, undergoing numerous operations.
This week his devastated mum Sarah Roberts revealed that she and Luke’s aunt had found him lying “peacefully sleeping” in his bed at his Lymington home on 10th July.
Close friend Mitchell Speechley-Price described Luke (26) as “a loving, caring and all-round incredible person who touched the hearts of many”.
He went on: “He had been battling what happened to him two-and-a-half years ago, but he was going to the gym, he was cycling, walking Max’s dog every day and was looking forward to getting back to work eventually, as he really missed that.”
An inquest has yet to be opened.
August
A dead horse, a beauty spot vandalised and accusations of animal cruelty marred a New Forest pony and trap event attended by hundreds of travellers from across the UK.
The pony had to be put down by a local vet after it was driven over a cattle grid on Woodlands Road in Ashurst by an elderly man attending the Tracy Cooper Drive.
After news of the death spread on social media, the river and bank at Balmer Lawn in Brockenhurst was vandalised on Saturday night with nails strewn all over the grass and broken glass scattered over the bank and thrown in the river.
Gallons of diesel were also thrown over three trees. The damage was discovered on Sunday by police who had turned up to supervise the travellers at the site, where they were due to cool their horses in the river. Forestry England had closed the area for the weekend as it is where the drive, formerly the Danny Cooper Drive, traditionally ends.
A team of police, Forestry England workers and volunteers including staff from the Balmer Lawn hotel spent hours cleaning the site but a large area of it remained cordoned off with police tape for the weekend.
Hampshire police and crime commissioner Donna Jones has promised a “thorough investigation” into animal welfare concerns.
Animal campaigner Gilly Jones, who helped clean the area, blasted those responsible: “To the person or people who did this, did you think of the ramifications of what you did. New Forest livestock were there, and we hope that none of them are injured by the nails and broken glass you dropped.
“Families with small children enjoy 'Brock Beach' but now we do not know when it will be safe to use again. You might not have liked the idea of the event taking place, but you have put so many more animals in direct danger.”
September
A 15-year-old New Forest teen was left in a critical condition after falling from a hotel balcony in Majorca.
Milly Whitlock Doe, from Thorney Hill, near Bransgore, was on her first ever family trip abroad to the Spanish island when the accident happened.
She was rushed to Son Espases Hospital, in the island’s capital, where doctors found she had suffered serious head injuries. They carried out two emergency brain surgeries to save her life before Milly was put into an induced coma on life support.
Her parents have spent every day at her bedside and relatives have flown out to take care of their three other children. There was good news at the beginning of this week when doctors removed Milly’s ventilator and she started breathing on her own.
They then brought her out of her coma, and miraculously Milly has been able to speak. Family friend Erica Arnold revealed: “I'm so pleased to be able to tell you that Milly is now out of a coma, breathing on her own and has been able to speak a few words.
“This incredible news is what we have all been waiting for. Well done Milly, you're such a fighter.”
She added: “It is not clear what happened. It is just a terrible thing; they had had one lovely day of holiday and then this happened.“
October
Antidepressants, antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals are polluting the New Forest’s surface waters, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of York have found ineffective wastewater treatment, seasonal tourism and a higher proportion of elderly residents are among the factors making the Forest’s waters more “vulnerable” to drug pollution.
They also found concentrations of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) – such as amitriptyline and clarithromycin – in the Forest’s waters are significantly higher in the summer, and are on par with larger national parks like Northumberland and the South Downs.
Dr Alistair Boxall, a professor of environmental chemistry at University of York, who conducted the study, said the “best solutions could be nature based”, with doctors “putting a greater emphasis on the impact of the drugs they’re prescribing, and reducing people’s reliance on strong pharmaceutical chemicals”.
River Action charity founder Charles Watson told the A&T: “This new report is absolutely terrible – we barely have enough information on the basics of what’s coming out of these wastewater treatment plants into the two main river catchments of Lymington and Beaulieu.
“We ’re aware of raw, untreated sewage coming out, but this study describes other terrifying things we don’t really know about. We’re talking about antibiotics, antidepressants and contraception medications – God knows what that does to the wildlife.”
November
Cows with young calves should be removed from the Forest in the wake of the death of an 88-year-old woman at Godshill who suffered fatal crush injuries, the latest Verderers Court has heard.
East Boldre resident Susan Melluish referenced the death of Pamela Barnwell last month. As reported in the A&T, she was found in October, surrounded by animals, at Godshill cricket pitch.
Ms Melluish told the court: “That lady didn’t stand a chance. At 88 she probably couldn’t run and I don’t imagine there were many gorse bushes to hide behind! What a terrible way to lose your life.
“What are you waiting for? Surely one fatality is too many? We need change now. One small simple change – keep cows and calves off the Forest in those first few early weeks.”
Describing how she feared she also would be killed when a cow with a young calf charged at her a number of times, Ms Melluish said she was still too traumatised to walk on the Forest with her dog.
“I ran and hid behind a gorse bush,” continued Ms Melluish. “She ran after me. When I thought she had gone I ran again only to be chased again. This happened four times – she wasn’t giving up. She was relentless in her pursuit of me.”
Describing how she was only able to get away when the cow saw another walker and charged at them instead – Ms Melluish said she was in no doubt she could have been killed if the animal’s attention had not been diverted.
December
Staff at Christchurch Food Bank were devastated to find thieves had stolen over a thousand pounds’ worth of Christmas food intended for struggling families.
The charity revealed in a post online that the food bank at St Joseph’s Old Chapel, Purewell Road, had been broken into during Saturday night.
It said: “It’s a sad, sad day when you find someone has broken into our food bank store building. “Why? We will not let you steal the joy we bring to others at this time of year.”
Tracy Blick, who runs the food bank, set up a fundraising page, and two days later reported the response had been overwhelming: “Wow, thank you for your kindness, I am now crying again.”
Supermarkets in the town including Sainsbury’s and Waitrose also rallied round asking customers to donate to the food bank.
