Well I promised I’d be back, and when you’ve got a gift that keeps on giving . . .
As the title suggests, this is the sixth episode in a saga that I’m more convinced than ever will end in tears for the central characters. And they will be the authors of their own downfall.
If you’ve stumbled on this site looking for Viagra, or you wanted to lay a bet on Cardiff City winning the Premier League (well, laff!!), why not stay tuned, but first catch up with previous instalments, Weep for Wales, Weep for Wales 2, Weep for Wales 3, Weep for Wales 4, Weep for Wales 5.
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LET’S GET UP TO DATE . . .
In what I assume was an attempt at ‘balance’ the Mid Wales Journal followed up its report of 6 July on hotels being abandoned by Paul and Rowena Williams and/or Keith Partridge with the report below a week later.
In this we read Keith Partridge blame the neglect of the Radnorshire Arms Hotel and the Knighton Hotel on “foul and abusive notices” being found around these properties. He was also outraged by social media posts and web sites. (Some people, eh!)
These assaults on Partridge’s honesty, and his motives, have caused him and his cohorts, to “rethink our strategy”, with the outcome of the rethink to be given by the end of August.
What a load of bollocks! He shut the Radnorshire Arms Hotel and the Knighton Hotel telling staff these hotels would be closed for a few months for refurbishment and re-branding. When it was seen that nothing was being done people started asking questions about Partridge, and a can of worms was opened.
The truth has now emerged about him, the accountant Duggan, and Paul and Rowena Williams. But Partridge is using the suspicion and hostility he and the rest of the gang have generated as justification for doing nothing.
My gut feeling is that it was never in the plan to re-open these hotels. But with so much evidence about the gang now in the public domain, and with politicians, media and many others asking questions, their plan has been rumbled, and they’re not sure which way to jump.
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THE MAN HIMSELF
Companies House tells us that Paul Steven Williams was born 23.02.1969.
His Linkedin profile tells us that before becoming a hotelier and property tycoon he worked for Royal Mail for eleven years as ‘National Facilities Manager’. We are told that his, ” . . . responsibility covered the management, acquisition and refurbishment of the Royal Mails (sic) £5 billion portfolio of UK properties”.
The manner in which the job is described suggests that this is where he learnt about property, how to acquire, exploit and dispose of property, plus all manner of short-cuts and dodges. Doing this job he must have made many useful contacts in the property world.
If you go up towards the top of the Linkedin page you’ll see ‘Paul Williams’ Posts’, ten in all. I was particularly taken by one dated October 2, 2015 and introduced as “Our Next Hotel Project …………..is….” and it turns out to be the Fronoleu Country Hotel near Dolgellau. In case it disappears from the internet, you can read it here.
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FRONOLEU
Upon reading that I thought to myself,‘Well, if this project was already under way in early October 2015 then it must surely be finished by now. So I shall hire me a charabanc and take a party of merry-makers up there!’
But alas, when we got there, this is what we found! It was terrible! The shrieks of the women, the crying of the children, the men cursing – ‘There was football on the telly, you bastard!’
What went wrong? We were told this project was under way in 2015, Paul Williams even showed us the plans on his Linkedin post. Surely he wasn’t lying?
And yet, I can’t find any record of a planning application ever being submitted for this property, and I searched both the Gwynedd council and the National Park websites. To judge by what I saw when I visited, the place was cleaned out some time ago, and that’s all that’s been done. It was bought, gutted, and left to rot.
The only sign of recent human intervention was the cut grass to the left of the hotel, probably cut by whoever lives in the house just out of picture in the same direction. Particularly poignant, I thought, was the state of the three flags, resembling standards on some long forgotten field of combat.
But how did Paul and Rowena Williams come into possession of Fronoleu?
Given the dates we already have in 2015 I suspect it was bought at this auction. The information given is interesting, and amusing. It tells potential buyers, “The more extensive amenities of Caernarfon and Bangor are accessible to the north respectively“ without saying that Caernarfon is over 40 miles away, Bangor further, and that Aberystwyth and Newtown are both nearer.
Obviously penned by someone who knows sod all about the area. Another give-away was calling Tabor a village, which is like describing Dolgellau as a metropolis. And while the former county town of Merioneth is indeed 1½ miles away – if you’ve got black, shiny feathers – it can only be reached from Fronoleu by risking the single-track unlisted road that runs to and from this isolated property.
(Our charabanc scared the shit out of a cyclist who reacted in the manner I suspect greets alien landings. I hope he wasn’t injured diving through that hedge.)
The ‘Joint Auctioneer’ is the Manchester office of Christie & Co. (Just can’t get away from Manchester, can we?) The sale was handled by Martin Davis, who has since moved on to Bilfinger GVA.
I’m sure Fronoleu serves some purpose lying empty and losing money but don’t be surprised if it catches afire or goes to auction again soon.
UPDATE: I hear from a council source that towards the end of last year council tax debts on Fronoleu had reached such a level that Cyngor Gwynedd threatened to go into Seiont Manor and seize ‘goods to the value’. This was averted only when £10,000 was paid over the phone by card.
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GOOD WITH FIGURES
I’ve just mentioned John Duggan, who serves as the gang’s accountant, and works out of a shed in the village of Leintwardine in north Herefordshire.
Leisure and Development Ltd, the company we are asked to believe was sold for £10m to another crook, Keith Partridge, in February, was using Duggan’s shed as the company’s registered office address, but earlier this month the address was changed to the Knighton Hotel.
Can’t you just imagine Keith Partridge sitting down one morning to his kedgeree, switching on his tablet to read Jac o’ the North and exclaiming in a voice resonant of both shock and horror – ‘Well, bless my soul, John Duggan is a crook! Who’d have thought it . . . lovely man . . . such impressive offices at Unit 3 . . . We’ll have to take our business elsewhere . . . ‘
How they’ve been allowed to get away with it I do not know. Let’s stick with Leisure & Development Ltd for a minute. This company was formed 19 January 2015; then, in July 2015, no less than 7 charges were registered, these being loans from the National Westminster Bank. Yet the accounts submitted for that period, up to 31 January 2016 – by Debra Oswald, Paul Williams’ sister – are for a dormant company!
Clearly Leisure & Development Ltd was not a dormant company. And I guarantee that no responsible accountant or lawyer would have signed off that statement, so Paul Williams’ sister had to do it.
Though in fairness, the accounts for 31 January 2017 (or the ‘Unaudited Financial Statement’) were produced by an accountant – John Duggan, of J D Accountancy, Leintwardine.
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EBBW VALE
An unlikely locale in which to find Paul and Rowena Williams, who specialise in country hotels, which then makes the former Badminton Club an even more unlikely purchase. But buy it they did and may have renamed it the Beaufort Sports and Social Club.
I’m not sure when they bought it, or whether it was through an auction – maybe someone in the area can help?
What I can say is that it was sold in December 2017 for a stated price of just £60,000.
Which then leaves the big questions:
- Did Paul and Rowena Williams initially buy the Badminton Club in their own name(s)?
- If not, when and from whom did Rural Retreats & Leisure acquire the property?
- Did Rural Retreats & Leisure Ltd pay a strangely high price for the property?
- Was the property then sold at a loss?
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GLYNLLIFON
Now we turn to the jewel in the crown, the reason given for allegedly selling the other properties to Keith Partridge.
The latest figure given for the Glynllifon project is £20m. Even if we accept that Paul and Rowena Williams received £10m for their other properties from Partridge (which raises the question of where he got the money), that still leaves a shortfall of £10m.
Fortunately, this money-pit is, according to The Caterer, being funded by the other Gwynedd properties.
We’ve already seen that Fronoleu isn’t making any contribution, and the only establishment that is open for business is the Seiont Manor Hotel. Run by Rikki Reynolds who, from the information I’ve received, seems either disinterested or out of his depth.
On top of which, Plas Brereton and Plas Tŷ Coch are themselves going to cost millions to renovate. As if that wasn’t enough of a financial burden, Paul Williams has told people he wants to ‘buy’ four more hotels in the area!
The figures don’t add up because Plas Glynllifon was taken on in order to raise more money. When everything eventually goes mammaries heavenwards the gang will drive off in brand-new Range Rovers, every glove compartment and other storage area stuffed with readies.
In the meantime, in the hope of persuading people that renovation is under way, Plas Glynllifon and Seiont Manor serve as repositories for fixtures and fittings looted from elsewhere.
And who’s to say the partnership will even hold? Because I hear of rows between Paul and Rowena Williams, with her often sleeping on an inflatable bed.
Face it, these people are crooks. Before long, as the NatWest Bank, HMRC and the police close in Gwynedd will be back to square one with a massive derelict mansion and a few smaller properties for which no uses can be found and no honest buyers.
UPDATE: Crooks they may be, but I’m sure they don’t have people whacked, which is a possibility that went through my mind when I was told about a ‘director’ who was there at Seiont Manor one day and was gone the next, never to be seen again.
The man I’m talking about is Mark McNicol, who describes himself on his Linkedin profile as ‘Operations Director – Rural Retreats & Leisure’, a job he’s held since April 2016. Which is a bit confusing, for Rural Retreats & Leisure Ltd changed its name to Polvellan Manor Ltd in March 2015. (Surely they’d have told him?)
Otherwise, he must mean Rural Retreats & Leisure UK Ltd. This, you’ll remember, is the company the gang tried to strike off, so not much future there.
For some reason I can no longer reach his Linkedin profile, but fortunately I grabbed it earlier.
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HMRC
Having mentioned HMRC I suppose I’d better explain why. It’s because Team Williams has a long-standing policy of paying in cash. Staff are paid in cash, suppliers are paid in cash, just about any deal that can be done in cash will be done in cash.
Inevitably, this means imaginative accounting – which is where Duggan of Cell Block B comes in – but documents still need to be produced. As I mentioned in the previous post, staff at Seiont Manor are given pay slips saying one thing (with no deductions for PAYE or NI), while the correct amount is paid by cheque.
I have now been sent some documents by former employees. This first one shows no tax paid while working at Seiont Manor. This individual is now paying extra tax to make up for the non-payment that is the responsibility of Rural Retreats & Leisure UK Ltd. (A company whose accounts are done by John Duggan.)
In another case, the salary was understated on the P60. In this example we are asked to believe that this person – earning £30,000 a year – was paid just £2,500 between November and April.
I have other documents all pointing in the same direction. Documents I will be happy to make available to HMRC. Those who’ve supplied me with the documents are ready to fully explain how this illegality is perpetrated. And I’m sure they have much more to tell.
This gang is always cutting corners, always lying, always cheating somebody. That’s because they are liars and crooks. There’s a story emerging of the deal Paul Williams struck with a certain drinks company. Of course he’s reneged on that deal, and the thug who runs the Waves Bar for him/Partridge in Cornwall has threatened a representative of the company with violence if he dares ask again for what’s owed.
For as we learnt in Weep for Wales 5, the Waves Bar in Seaton, Cornwall, is run by Stuart Paul Cooper, another crook done for fraud. But Cooper also has a taste for violence, and regularly threatens to burn down people’s homes – with them inside.
That’s three convicted fraudsters – that we know of – working for or with Paul and Rowena Williams: Keith Partridge, who’s supposed to have bought the properties outside Gwynedd, and has known Paul Williams for years. John Duggan, their accountant, who fleeced an old lady out of £700,000. And ‘Burn-’em-alive’ Cooper down in Cornwall.
We are judged by the company we keep, and when you keep company like that . . .
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NATWEST AND TOGETHER
Finally, one thing that’s been puzzling me is why any bank or finance company would lend money to these crooks. I suppose the easy answer would be that they’ve got collateral in the form of hotels and the fixtures and fittings they contain. But what if the value of those hotels and other property is greatly inflated?
Seeing as NatWest stopped lending to the companies run by Paul and Rowena Williams early in 2016, I guess warning lights flashed and somebody said – ‘Enough!’. A theory strengthened by news that NatWest in February 2017 was trying to ‘restructure’ the loans. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.
The document you’ve just read relates to Rural Retreats & Leisure UK Ltd. It’s dated 2 February 2017. On the Companies House website, a day later, the registered office address was changed from Unit 3 in Leintwardine (John Duggan) to Plas Glynllifon. Had NatWest rumbled John Duggan?
Whatever the answer – and as I just mentioned in relation to Mark McNicol – in May this year there was an attempt by the owners to strike off the company, and with it of course the debt to the National Westminster Bank. The procedure was halted by an objection from a public-spirited citizen.
All of which tells me that NatWest is innocent of any shenanigans. It is a victim in this affair. But what of Together Commercial Finance Ltd, the equivalent of a pay day loan company that replaced NatWest? The more I think about the relationship between the gang and Together Commercial Finance Ltd the more I see a partnership. If so, who’s taking the hit?
While you ponder this and more you might care to peruse a sheet I’ve put together that lists the dealings of the Williams-Partridge gang in a timeline determined by the dates of the many charges against their companies interspersed with noteworthy events.
Stay alert out there and don’t swap your cow for any magic beans. You listening!
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May I make two observations which might be of relevance? Firstly the transfer of ownership of Leisure etc. from the Williamses to Partridge would not have involved a monetary transaction reflecting (inflated) asset valuations. The company is clearly insolvent and worthless; all that is needed is a record of a share transfer and nominal consideration of £1.00. Apart from a change of ownership the company would continue to be run in the same old way by the Williamses as they continue to be major creditors. I can’t imagine why Partridge would want to be shareholder/nominal owner of this rubbish. As owner of the share capital of an insolvent company with nowhere to go his immediate duty is to wind it up to secure the assets and prevent further losses, and this he has failed to do. Secondly, in 2017 there was a major transfer of assets out of the Company, to offset a loan from the Williamses. As the company was clearly insolvent at the time any transfer of assets in favour of one of its creditors is clearly an illegal preference; the amounts involved would amount to a major fraud on other creditors. It is strange that nobody, not even the other major creditors, has questioned this transaction. Duggan has consistently turned a blind eye to the Company’s insolvency, false accounting and all sorts of other illegal conduct. All are parties to widespread ongoing fraud, yet the appropriate regulatory parties, including a number of government departments, appear totally supine in their response.
Jac. I’ve read everything on here with interest.
I wonder if there is a connection to the fate of Nannau Hall between Dolgellau and Llanfachreth. After the death of the last of the Vaughan family, the Hall became a hotel for a few years. The business folded and the Hall became vacant and was sold. To whom, I have no idea. It was literally stripped of anything useful. Fireplaces and wood panelling disappeared.
In 2006 I wished to extend my humble abode and engaged the services of an architect living not far from here. He told me that he was in charge of plans to restore Nannau. The plans he drew up for me were rejected by Cyngor Gwynedd. I subsequently leaned that that he was fully time served having been jailed for mortgage fraud in Blaenau Ffesiniog.. We parted company..
For the last 12 years there has been no activity at Nannau. Simply two rusty old shipping containers parked at the back of the Hall..Last year the Council demanded their removal. They went, but absolutely nothing else has happened and the Hall remains derelict.
This all sounds a bit familiar. I wonder who owns it?????
Nannau is owned by Jason Booth Cawood of Rugby, Warwickshire. He seems to have bought it in 2006 with a mortgage from The Mortgage Works (UK) Ltd.
No one can contact Jason Booth Cawood at all, at neither his addresses.
He might be working for this company.
Sunday pm. Very quiet at the Plas. We saw the mobile home that’s been parked there for well over a year heading off yesterday morning and the plant that’s been on site has also gone. My friends heard a lot of shouting from the Plas at about the same time. Only Paul’s Freelander and one red car remain this afternoon.
Are we witnessing a departure, or are they merely going for a well earned holiday in Goa?
If they were going to do a runner they would not be clearing up.
That they are clearing up suggests they’re staying and know they have to clean up their act.
Received this anonymous message to my ‘Contact Me’ box.
“Someone mentioned that the motorhome had moved from Glynllifon. I was passing Plas Bereton yesterday and noticed there’s a motorhome parked right outside the door, accompanied by some plant equipment. Lots of burning yesterday between 12-3. There’s also 3 static caravans on the adjacent land, but these could belong to a couple I know who are doing up a house just behind Plas Bereton.
Not only do we have two lovely ‘Welsh Riviera’ advertising floats around town, but on Saturday I passed one for the Fyddin”
This is so true, people of Presteigne only started complaining when after the time of refurb had long past its re opening. Ex employer of the Radnor xxx
Paul Williams and Keith Partridge must think people are stupid to believe their nonsense.
Surely the focus of this particular blog should be the misdeeds of the Williamses and their cronies. Bringing all this politics (even Trump for Heavens sake!!!) into the dialogue will put off many people from following it. Quite frankly I didn’t realise how many fruitcakes there are lurking about on the Web.
Didn’t you?!
Comments on this blog often go off at a tangent if people have nothing more to contribute on the main subject. It’s par for the course.
We’ve already established that the contributor from llanddewibrefigazette needs help, but all other comments that express an ‘extreme’ opinion seem based on experience and facts; as far as I can see they’re just shooting from the hip. And ultimately they all address the same problem of colonialism represented by the Williams affair.
Some of the comments I see to your posts trouble me, Jac.
It is true, of course, that all political websites will tend to attract the extreme, the ludicrous and the unhinged, but when I see the comments above from llanddewibrefigazette and those on other posts from our paper-folding friend (which seem allied to a ‘culture war’ religious mentality), and when I see Gwilym and others making approving remarks about Donald Trump’s thoughts (assuming for a moment that, a) they are his, and b) that he ever had any of his own in the first place), and when you yourself link – with apparent approval – to an interview with the American Nazi Bannon, I start to wonder about the prospects for Ein Gwlad as a whole.
(With regard to the last item, it’s your website and you can post or link to whatever you like; I wouldn’t for one moment suggest that that basic right be in any way constrained).
The danger as I see it is that – despite all the talk about how the party will not consider itself constrained by the old left-right-centre pigeonholes – the most vocal elements in and around it seem to be too close to the type of ‘right-populism’ which is becoming prominent in Europe and the US. The further peril is that – in (on the face of it, at least) seeming to endorse that position – the party will, at the very least, lay itself wide open to being portrayed by its opponents as being far-right. If the ‘syncretic’ vision is to be credible, it must be seen to draw more-or-less equally from the ideas of the ‘left’ and ‘centre’ as from the ‘right’ (I use those labels as shorthand; we all know what is meant by them). However, it seems to me that sometimes the justifiable disgust and distaste at the conduct and attitude of the so-called ‘socialist’ or ‘progressive’ parties in Cymru are causing a blindness towards the merits of some of the principles of mutuality and openness which I, at least, associate with genuine socialism and/or progressiveness.
I don’t think that that is an ‘image’ which will serve the party well. Its enemies have great power in our land, particularly with regard to the media, and the party should do as little as possible to give them an open goal to aim at. Whilst being consistent with its own principles and seeking to promote them, naturally.
Am I reading too much into this, d’you think? I have read the party’s Constitution and agree totally with the aims, principles and values stated in it. I would hate to think that the party might be damaged by some of those associated with it or by those who try to associate themselves with it. After all, it’s probably our last chance to save ourselves from total assimilsation.
I think when you see the Ein Gwlad policies you’ll be reassured. No policies will be officially adopted, of course, until the first Annual National Conference, but there’s a decent likelihood that they’ll include a Universal Basic Income (post-independence of course, since it’s unachievable with current Welsh Government powers). Many people would associate that with the Left. In many areas you can expect to see a ‘communitarian’ flavour, rejecting both ‘big state’ and ‘big business’ with equal vehemence.
As you were so quick to label Steve Bannon an ‘American Nazi’, I wonder if you took the trouble actually to watch the interview to listen to what he was saying. If you have done so, then you’ll have observed how he celebrates the fact that under Trump’s leadership there is now the lowest unemployment rate for black people ever, and the lowest for hispanics for over 20 years. He also has a lot to say about syncretism and populism, pointing out approvingly how in Italy the “left-wing” and “right-wing” populists have come together against the liberal/progressive (as they like to call themselves) establishment.
All of that said, no matter what Ein Gwlad says or does, it is bound to be slandered in various ways by its opponents, and no doubt the slanders will become the more bitter and personal the more compelling our arguments are.
Regarding llanddewibrefigazette, I have no idea who this person is but I think Jac’s advice to “go and lie down” hits the nail on the head.
Some of the comments I read on here trouble me too Nigel, and are often cringeworthy.
However, one thing that needs to be strongly pointed out and made clear, is that Jac’s Blog is NOT Ein Gwlad. They are completely separate animals, although there is an overlap in basic thoughts on, for example, matters like independence, that overlap is not limited to this blog alone. Campaign groups e.g. Yes Cymru also share overlapping ideas with us in Ein Gwlad, that does not mean that anything they or an individual member of theirs may say on a particular subject has our automatic approval, nor is it a reflection on us. Jacothenorth played a key part in getting support to found our new party – that’s where it ends. Some people were stupid enough (either in ignorance or for premeditated negative reasons) even labelled the party as “Jac’s Party”. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jac is not even on our Steering Committee at present.
It is NOT in Ein Gwlad’s gift to monitor or insist on what should be written here by individuals expressing their right to free speech. It is entirely up to Jac to decide what he allows to be published on HIS personal Blog. It is none of Ein Gwlad’s business, any more than it is anyone else’s business. It is solely a matter for the site owner – Jac.
While lovers of liberty in all lands have urged the necessity of freedom of speech, none put the case more pointedly than Voltaire when he said:
“I wholly disapprove of what you say — but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
I personally wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment.
One of the key ailments in our society, encouraged and promoted by the establishment’s ‘progressive liberals’ – more especially their propaganda puppets – the media and press – is the insane drive towards political correctness. This is the nail-spiked club used to keep political parties and the public at large gagged for fear of being attacked through reprisals – it is a weapon of the establishment. Sadly we see party spokespeople cowering under this trend, limiting their comments to cute soundbites and fluffy statements – it is a departure from reality, it is also totalitarianism in disguise.
As long as the golden rule is applied that you do not lie, commit libel or broadcast false news or black propaganda (which incidentally the mainstream media do incessantly), then EVERYONE has a basic human right to express themselves through the spoken or written word. The opposite is the Orwellian nightmare of the thought police. In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), by George Orwell, the Thought Police (Thinkpol) are the secret police of the superstate Oceania, who discover and punish thoughtcrime, personal and political thoughts unapproved by the Party. The Thinkpol use criminal psychology and omnipresent surveillance (telescreens, microphones, informers) to search for and find, monitor and arrest all citizens of Oceania who would commit thoughtcrime in challenge to the status quo authority of the Party and the regime of Big Brother. Sounds chillingly familiar doesn’t it?
Ein Gwlad has said from the outset that we will not be bullied or forced into submission on this count. We will truthfully, and incessantly tell it as it is, we will not candy coat the facts, and we believe that is exactly what our people are hungering for.
It should also not be forgotten the influence the bigoted and disparaging way that ‘populist’ parties are portrayed. People are being gradually brainwashed into believing that any ‘populist’ party is the product of what they call ‘extreme right wing nationalists’. NOTHING could be further from the truth, and I would advise anyone who is starting to think that way, through media brainwashing, to do a little independent research into what ‘populism’ and ‘syncretic politics’ actually means. We have produced a short pamphlet on the subject that you can download HERE.
Finally, I cannot let pass the remark made that “. . . . Gwilym and others [are] making approving remarks about Donald Trump’s thoughts”. I would respectfully ask you to re read what I wrote, which I incidentally prefaced by saying that I think Trump is a buffoon and an amateurish politicians, and that what he says you often can’t believe. What I DID say was that the words of the speech he delivered in the clip, (posted by another contributor) contained a lot of sense and truth. I also attributed the content of the speech to an astute speech writer and not the deliverer of the speech. If you care to re-read what I said, and listen to the speech again in it’s enirety, rather than skip read through what I wrote, I think you’ll find that you’ve missed the import of my comment I made on it.
I agree that Trump is a buffoon, but the left wants to use Trump to disparage the zeitgeist he has captured. Yet if they think about it, it could have have been someone more thoughtful, more credible, than Trump. And next time it might be.
Yankee left does not help itself. When hurricane Maria hit the Caribbean they went nuts at Trumps response to it (granted he did go to the island and hand out kitchen paper to starving Puerto Ricans in the affluent pro-USA part of the island) and after a while those voices fell silent and the devastation was forgotten as were the thousands who died there.
It was just a cause for the democrats and the “left” to bang a drum. Wasn’t about people at all. That’s heartless politics. That’s how someone like Trump managed to become President. There’s a sweet spot where there’s giving people what they want and making sure they have what they need and when the “left” (as we see with PC currently) disappears too far up its own arse that they just do not appeal to the voter… and then you have some one like Trump. A symptom.
It won’t be that the next person is more credible – its more likely the people will become more desperate. It’s not about Socialism not working, or Capitalism… ideas tend to have foundations which “work” in an acceptable manner – problem is the people that politics attracts: the power seekers, the extremists and those who find themselves out of their depth surrounded by sharks.
Look, Nigel, I’ve been syncretic since before the word became popular.
I was born and grew up in a working class area of Swansea but quickly realised that most of those I knew who voted Labour did so from self-interest, not from any high-blown belief in socialism. I also realised, long before the collapse of the USSR and the break-up of the Soviet bloc, that socialism as an economic system cannot deliver the goods. Basic things like bread.
But, thanks to my background, I was brought up a Welshman. Maybe it was this – and its belief in chwarae teg – that saved me from rejecting the entire corpus of socialist belief.
Put together my early environment and my personal background and I was left in a situation in which I had to decide for myself what was best for my country and my people. For example, where socialist demagogues would see downtrodden ‘workers’, I would see disadvantaged Welsh people, to be helped, not exploited. For socialist ideologues used ‘the workers’ little differently to the hated ‘capitalists’.
It persists in contemporary Wales with the Labour Party and its support system in the third sector, bleeding Wales white by capitalising on our poverty in order to remain in power – and in the cab of the gravy train – by blaming the Tories – even when the Tories aren’t in power!
Over almost 60 years of reading, thinking about and participating in politics I have arrived at a position where I believe that independence is the only viable future for Wales. That the capitalist system is the only economic model that can deliver prosperity in Wales, and yet, I also believe in public ownership of railways and other essential services, from prisons to electricity generation and supply. I also believe in a decent living wage and free health care.
As for llandewibrefigazette, I’ve no idea who he is, I think he’s a bit off the wall, but I’m reasonably easy-going, and I tolerate his little outbursts because only a prissy, self-righteous socialist ideologue would feign offence.
‘Left’ and ‘Right’ have now become meaningless and emotive terms that no longer bear any relation to reality. The Establishment and its media use ‘Right’ and ‘Far-Right’ as negative labels to vilify movements that should more correctly be called ‘Nationalist’ or ‘Populist’. These movements are, except for unpleasant and sinister groups of bandwagon-hoppers, no more Right-Wing than Bannon is a Nazi. He’s merely crass and boorish in the Trump vein, but he does seem to want to help restore national sovereignty in a Europe that has been emasculated by the cultural entropy fostered by the EU.
The ‘Liberal Establishment’ is not Left-wing but anti-culture and fundamentally anti-democratic and borderline totalitarian. Neither are they Socialist, or ‘Liberal’ (whatever that means). ‘Globalist-Uniformity Project’ might be a suitable label.
As for Cymru, since this power-group owns and controls the media, a movement like Ein Gwlad will, indeed, be ignored, trivialised, and ridiculed, and if that fails, they’ll eventually be labelled ‘Right-Wing’, and finally, ‘Nazi’.
As for llanddewibrefigazette, there’s not enough vallium in the world…
Absolutely SPOT-ON Wrexhamian! A brilliant summing up and perfectly accurate.
I just couldn’t put it into words any better myself – and I’m the one that’s teased about being the Syncretic Guru within Ein Gwlad!
It’s so refreshing to see someone who understands the concept so fully, and is lateral thinking enough to analyse what’s going on around them, instead of being led along by the propaganda – as most of the masses are. Thank goodness for deeper thinkers like you – don’t fancy a slot on our Steering Committee do you?
As for llanddewibrefigazette well I don’t know about vallium, but Llanddewi Brefi always was a special place for psilocybin researchers! Live and let live I say – unless you harm others.
Hmmm. Could be a good way to meet women…
Seriously, diolch am eich geiriau caredig, Gwylim. If I can help in the near future, I’ll be in touch. Pob lwc yn y cyfamser.
One of the most import features of this blog is that it’s one of the only media in Wales that’s challenging the ‘accepted and manipulated’ consensus that infects political life in Wales.
An example is that we get bombarded with ‘British’ media where government line is that eco-settlers in Wales is ‘progressive and good’ but the reality is that they a economic spongers with little understanding of our natural environment, colonialist, racist and bigoted. They have courted the establishment for land and cash. They hoodwink our political process and are not being held to account by the English owned media (BBC, Daily Mirror Group).
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/vegan-group-pollutants-gay-trans-lgbt-pembrokeshire-vegan-organic-facebook-bad-reviews-a8453286.html
This bigotry has no place in Wales.
We should call them out, not give them grants. Those from Plaid Cymru, British Labour Party branch of Wales and the English Green Party should be held to account. Just because you eat lettuce, got a soft degree from Sussex and a rich daddy to buy you a smallholding in Pembrokeshire growing lentils, does not mean you have the right to exploit, demonise and ridicule Welsh people, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, native language, or heritage.
These people should be sent homeward and removed from the eco-gravy train of Wales. In a single phrase – Go back to England. You bigots don’t belong here. If a Welsh person spouted such bigotry in London or the home countries you be hauled before the courts and prosecuted for hate crime, not given land, cash and housing.
Eco-Settlers – FUCK OFF.
Independence is nigh….Alleluia!
We shall defend the border and fight to the death for Cambria if need be…….Alleluia!
He bore the Holy Cross,
who broke the power of hell;
He was girded with power
He rose again the third day, alleluia.
The stone that the architects rejected
became the cornerstone, alleluia.
Crucem sanctam subiit,
qui infernum confregit,
accinctus est potentia,
surrexit die tertia. Alleluia.
Lapidem quem reprobaverunt
aedeficantes factus est
caput anguli, Alleluia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgDBlz48rz4
Go and lie down.
We weep for Wales and for the cultural terrorism inflicted upon us…….. and for Budddists too. Let us not forget the cultural terrorism that was inflicted on the Bamiyan statues……..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfH0sNU43xk
“Terrorists are destroying our cultural heritage. It’s time to fight back.
The destruction of culture has become an instrument of terror, in a global strategy to undermine societies, propagate intolerance and erase memories. This cultural cleansing is a war crime that is now used as a tactic of war, to tear humanity from the history it shares.”…………
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/terrorists-are-destroying-our-culture-heritage-it-s-time-to-fight-back/
Cambrians….we need to fight cultural terrorism and let the world know that we will fight to the death for our beloved Cambria.
I have heard it say that the architecture of Trisulti monastery is quite spectacular!…..
https://politiciandirect.com/politics/times-of-london-italian-monastery-to-house-right-wing-populist-leader-school
Cambrians do not lose faith……..Independence is nigh!
and remember….,…
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love.”
To anyone who is disinterested in the British MSM Globalist narrative, there is now a conservative, news aggregation website, similar to the Drudge Report that is more European focussed……..
http://www.real-news.co.uk/
Who knows? Perhaps they could include some Welsh stories concerning Europe’s oft neglected nation that wants it’s independece and some “dodgy shit” about how the Welsh Labour party has hijacked devolution for the sake of international socialist globalist communism and how it is in cahoots with London and Westminster to demean Wales and the Welsh people.
The Drudge Report………
https://www.drudgereport.com/
The problem is that it’s becoming more difficult to sift out the truth from false news media.
Realising the threat to their falsehoods and globalist elite agendas, the establishment and their mainstream news propagandist have sensed that the tide is turning – thanks to the internet. So what are they doing to counter this? Simple, get the wolves to skin some sheep and wear their fleeces, so that they can mingle amongst the flock and cause havoc.
They portray themselves as alternative news media outlets, and start their propaganda in the guise of the ‘good guys’. The result is confusion, which is exactly what they want. It’s a mad and dangerous world, where you often can’t tell friends from foes.
The other very effective ploy of course is to dumb down or black out any news that they don’t care for. Hence the reason why Ein Gwlad and others don’t even get a mention in the mainstream news media or papers. The problem is compounded here in Cymru, because we don’t have an alternative nation wide – large circulation – press that isn’t owned by Trinity Mirror i.e. the Labour party.
What’s needed is a home grown media outlet, that’s independent, unbiased and not controlled by the stifling establishment and their political mainstream
mpuppets.No doubt made an attempt to claim Presteigne’s efforts to tidy appearance at The Rad was their doing? Lucky there’s photos to prove otherwise.
It seems to me you’ve cornered a rat there with ‘Anonymous’ Jac! You know what rats do when they’re cornered – lose all logic & sense, panic, attack, try to bite and get killed in the process!!
A very weak and insipid response – whoever it is – with only personal insults and jibes about the blog. Nothing coming back when asked to provide evidence of inaccuracies.
Par for the course sadly. Another supremacist Brit-Nat’ I suspect that thinks they can get away with it when dealing with gormless natives. They are about to realise that natives (especially those in black hats and overcoats) are not as sleepy and thick as they believe us to be. They’ve picked on the wrong victims here. A bad case of misjudgement – we haven’t survived 800 years of oppression and colonisation for nothing! And before that even the Romans failed to quell us. They should read up on our history! They’ve confused our peaceful and unpretentious characteristics with weakness. BAD mistake.
He was hoping to cause confusion with very vague criticism, and quotes from Phil Parry!
When pinned down to specifics he scarpered.
Yes – as I said, par for the course. They all seem to follow the same pattern – especially ‘Huw Pugh’ Parry.
Here’s one of Parry’s greatest contributions to his country:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=419&v=0mDDSbSLu64
Dach chi’n iawn, Gee, but I don’t see much of that steel in the Community Councils where these listed buildings are situated. They have the authority to order anyone who damages such buildings to repair them to their original appearance, out of their own pocket. If the the C.C. gets ignored, it can grass the offender up to the County Council, and ultimately Cadw should (and I emphasise ‘should’) come round with a big stick.
It happened in a village near Wrecsam when a listed chapel mysteriously burned down. The Community Council took action immediately – the owner paid to have it rebuilt.
If the gang under discussion have contravened listed building regulations, that’s grounds for official investigation, and it can start with the Community Council.
There was a meeting Friday afternoon in Presteigne between Paul and Rowena Williams on the one side and Powys County Council and the ‘Welsh’ Government on the other. The council is presumably concerned about two empty and deteriorating buildings on its patch (one certainly, listed) and WG about what happened to its grant money.
The Williams pair was accompanied by a couple of suits. A number of locals were in attendance and Paul Williams tried to head-butt one of them. I have been sent a number of lovely photographs for which I’m awaiting clearance before I use them.
Weep for Wales 7 is being prepared.
Doing his cause a world of good!
I hope he keeps it up – looks as if the net is closing and he’s obviously rattled. At this rate he’ll also have ABH added to his rap sheet as well.
It’s the old ‘cornered rat’ syndrome again isn’t it?
I can’t wait to see the photos! They’ll be in the ‘Weep for Wales – 7’ episode I suppose.
They certainly will!
This story could run and run. Weep for Wales 10 and beyond. Hope the relevant authorities are reading this and launching their own investigations.
As a regular walker in Parc Glynllifon l always keep a keen eye on the goings on and have been intrigued by the number of statues and urns that are increasing almost daily. I think I have solved the mystery.I went on ebay and looked up moulds for garden urns.They are making them on site using concrete-that explains why there are so many and quite e few are damaged.You can also buy moulds for lions,horses etc. so look out what we’ll see there next. The bronzed effect deer which are there in abundance can be bought on the same site.I look forward to what appears there next.Don’t insult Drew Pritchard-at least he’s got good taste and wouldn’t want to be associated with cheap, tatty fakes.
I would think about 350000 maximum and thats being generous. The original Ledwych springs house was sold by them and is now a care home called Fairfield House. The land was divided and a mobile home and large agricultural “barn” (read potential clubhouse) a historic hedgegrow removed, a driveway opened up on to the road, all without planning permission. Everyone in the village very worried about what has been going on. About this time the Mortimers Cross was redeveloped, local gossip saying that it was done at over a million and the trades people not paid for the work.It used to be owned by a lovely elderly couple and it character was completely changed.
I suggest you ask around Bleathwood near Tenbury Wells, Look up the many planning issues and the transfer of his mobile home and storage shed for an unbelievable amount of money. All developement contravening planning with Hereford council over many years. Not a popular couple.
But talented . . . with the talent for making enemies wherever they go.
They sold Ledwyche Springs to their own company for £1.25m. What would you say it was worth?
Building regs and planning permission are not the same thing. I believe we’ve been discussing planning permissions for listed buildings.
https://www.the-eye.wales/royston-rocked/
Intresting blogs, although you clearly know nothing about employment law or building regs. Anyway wanted to see who was writing these blogs , so i googled you and seems your just a vile bully.
Yes, Phil Parry knows everything about me, and Phil Parry is always right.
As for employment law or building regs, you’re right, I’m no expert. But I know a crook when I meet one, and worse than that Paul Williams is a very ugly individual who treats people like shit. As I will reveal in my next instalment. God! the stories I’m being told about this bastard.
So in other words everything you have said is just uneducated guesses? Theories and bitter stories from people that don’t like them. Your a real hero.
Paul and Rowena Williams and those they associate with such as Keith Partridge, John Duggan, Stuart Cooper are liars and crooks, with some of them having spent time in prison. (A pleasure awaiting them all.) They are engaged now in mortgage fraud with a possibility of money laundering.
They don’t pay their debts and if they can get away with it they threaten with violence those who dare ask for the money they’re owed. If creditors can’t be threatened then Paul Williams has been known to hide and let female staff face large and aggressive men. They cheat the UK Government by not deducting tax and national insurance from staff.
They try to bully, bluff and cheat anyone who isn’t one of their inner circle. They lied to people who had worked loyally for them over the years by closing down hotels and throwing those people out of work. This affected small communities reliant on these establishments.
As for the “bitter stories”, why do you think there are so many of them? It’s because over the years they have treated so many people like shit. I was told a story last night that made my blood boil, you and everybody else will be reading it soon.
Paul and Rowena Williams are a couple of scheming, thieving, lying bastards, devoid of empathy and any human feeling. For them life is one long deception, a series of ‘victories’ over honest and gullible people. To the extent that I begin to suspect some psychological problem. (Maybe they can use that defence when they come to trial.)
You are obviously one of the gang or else a complete fucking idiot.
So everyone has to believe you or they are idiots. Sorry pal, but i can have my own thoughts,wether you agree or not , and when the facts you present are just inaccurate I will point it out.
Give us the alternative narrative.
we can all just make up fantasies and cause drama, like the fact that your only writing these blogs because of the traffic it brings to your website,or the fact that you don’t feel the need to check up of your facts you just publish everything that everyone tells you, even if it isn’t correct , you don’t care about it in the slightest. there is no balance its one sided drivel.
Just checked your IP address.
im fully aware that my IP.address can pinpoint me , neither do i care.
I notice that the IP address is Llanrug. Could this be the foul-mouthed anti-Welsh Rikki, by any chance? After one too many brushes with his “hobby”?
Almost certainly. And I have been informed that Rikki has a liking for certain substances.
But why do you say he’s “anti-Welsh”?
That’s what others are saying on your blog.
Has “Anonymous “ bothered to verify any of what Jac has said, as I did? It’s all true! Perhaps he/she isn’t interested in the truth. And can’t spell, to boot.
Oh come on Partridge, you’ve not even read the articles. I think you have more pressing issues to deal with than wasting your valuable time on here.
Not sure it is Partridge, unless he’s visiting Gwynedd.
sorry to disappoint you guys , but i am no one important , just someone who disagrees with all the blog has to say
That’s even worse – you believe these buggers!
its not a case of believing them or you its about balanced and factually correct information, and i should be allowed my opinion just as much as you are allowed yours. i’m more than happy to point out the inaccuracies in the blogs. but i feel i would be wasting my time.
Give us instances, examples, of where I have been factually incorrect on major matters. Are you saying . . .
That Keith Partridge, the Williams’ partner, didn’t do time in prison for theft and fraud?
That John Duggan, their accountant, didn’t do time in prison for fleecing an old lady out of £700,000?
That Stuart Cooper, who runs the Waves Bar in Cornwall for them, didn’t do time in prison for fraud?
That they didn’t sell properties they already owned to their own companies at grotesquely inflated prices.
That The Radnorshire Arms Hotel and the Knighton Hotel weren’t closed – and remain closed – with a few dozen people thrown out of work?
That the sale of those and other properties to Partridge was NOT a sham?
That the Fronoleu near Dolgellau is open and thriving?
That Paul and Rowena Williams don’t cheat on tax and national insurance?
That Paul and Rowena Williams aren’t sitting on a mountain of debt?
etc., etc., etc.
Tell me what I’ve got wrong.
If you disagree “with all the blog has to say” you’d be doing your case, and that of Paul and Rowena Williams, more good by contributing in a positive manner and pointing out where there are errors of fact. But I can’t help feeling that anyone that would take such an extreme position in this sorry tale of fraud and corruption is either part of the gang or alternatively has some other axe to grind with Jac. You’d also go up in my estimation if you used an apostrophe where appropriate and a spellchecker, since you clearly are having difficulty in these areas.
Just a punt. Should’ve read ‘oh come on xxxxxxxxx‘ enter one of any of the above characters. Pretty obvious who it is then.
What a wazzock! Clearly whoever you are you’re either very stupid or one of the “in” crowd.
I suffered at the hands of the Williams, and whilst there is much about Jac’s approach I disagree with, factually he is spot on.
They are a nasty crowd who will go to any lengths to get away with screwing the rest of us.
Interesting to see Mr McNicol worked for a holiday company as Operations Manager whilst at the same time working as Manager at the Raven, Much Wenlock. Is it coincidence that 3 names have cropped up with that address?
The newspapers willingly report that Keith Partridge is totally indignant that local residents are “rude” about his unregistered limited company’s plans but are too lazy to pick up that Coast2Coast Ltd does not exist at Companies House!
Glynllifon open day definitely smoke and mirrors. Guess Paul forgot that the internet stores information. Found a pic of the entrance hall during wedding venue days and looks the same except for furnishings!
That’s what I mean – all things that can be picked up and carried away.
And I know what you mean about Much Wenlock.
Mark Mc nicol a very loyal worker with a good general manager hat on with plenty of ideas for the business was struck off after he attended a hospital appointment in his home country he returned to no job…… A message around all the rrl hotels not to let him in if he comes knocking.
Nice way to treat a director, another example of this is Arfon Williams being sent marching orders after going on a authorised holiday.
Rikki Reynolds as good as a chocolate teapot, stumbling into good fortune without an ounce of knowledge, good practice, care or business acumen. A loud mouth anti Welsh anti local . A know it all who knows nothing.
So you’re saying that Mark McNicol just hasn’t updated his Linkedin profile? And when was he thrown out?
The General Manager you’re talking about was not Mark McNichol. Mark was English, and based at Knighton. You’re talking about Dan from the Rad.
You mean Dan Pricop?
I do. Dan was a lovely man, Mark was a knob.
I was a unsuspecting potential customer looking for a venue to host my wedding to hear Mr Reynolds bad mouthing the wedding and the local people taking place a few metres away f ing and blinding without a care in the world. Seiont manor once fairy tale venue with an impeccable reputation unfailing to all who stumble upon her reduced to foul language the second you walk in.
Well done, Jac, you’re performing a wonderful public service.
I had never heard of you or your blog until alerted to it by one of the Parc workers just a matter of weeks ago.
My journey along your long road began because I am a regular dog walker in Glynllifon. A beautiful unspoiled location to relax and commune with nature. We used to be able to walk by the Plas, but the new owners fenced off the whole surroundings, and the site now seems as impenetrable as Fort Knox. Viz the number of vehicles we see having to reverse back down the drive after encountering the padlocks. It appears that Williams’ workers are not encouraged to speak to us locals. And they are certainly not local themselves.
Anyway, some of my fellow canine lovers started to express the worry that the new owners were about to attempt to take over the whole of the Parc. I told them not to worry, Cyngor Gwynedd would never consider such a move. But then came rumours of meetings between the Council, the College and the new owners. And an Open Day and Public Consultation were announced by the owners. One of the two Park workers became so concerned for his future that he found alternative employment. Farewell, Nathan, loyal servant of many years. It was at this stage that I was alerted to you blog. I read it with sheer astonishment! And then I checked out as many of your assertions as I could. I was utterly horrified. All those praiseworthy articles in the Daily Post. No mention therein of the Radnorshire Arms, the Knighton Hotel, Polvellan Manor, and the ubiquitous Keith Harvey Partridge. The multitude of Companies within Companies. The complex “hall of mirrors”.
I have since attempted to raise the awareness of the Officers and Members of Cyngor Gwynedd, the MP and the AS, and rest assured your blog is avidly followed in our area. Perhaps Paul Williams, with his “grand vision” for Glynllifon, Plas Coch and Plas Brereton, thinks he’s dealing with a bunch of innocent locals. Not the case, thank goodness. Forewarned is forearmed.
I have also corresponded with the Editor of the Daily Post. Indeed it was I who alerted him to the furore in Presteigne and Knighton, which in all fairness he reported. A bit of a climb down after all the past hero-worship of Glynllifon’s saviours. He has not to date published my third “letter to the Editor”.
One issue which has been of concern to me up until today is the matter of Planning Permission. Plas Glynllifon and its grounds are Grade One listed. This means that permission of both the Planning Authority and CADW is required both to change of use of a listed building, and to works carried out. After a lengthy enquiry I am today informed by Gwynedd’s Planners that change of use of the Plas to that of an hotel was confirmed in 2008. However to the very best of my knowledge, no applications to undertake substantial works to either the Plas or its surrounding grounds have been lodged or approved. Major works have taken place outside the Plas, and most of the regular users of the Parc are simply horrified by the tasteless statuary literally swamping the place. In particular the MGM lion, and the hideous statue in the fountain nearest the Plas. All the Planners would tell me is that informal discussions have taken place with the owners concerning these works. They should be taking a much firmer stance.
Returning however to the building and its works, whilst not being a planner by profession, I should have thought that in order to consider approval, the Authorities would expect to see detailed plans and costings for the entire scheme, together with some sort of financial appraisal of the scheme and its sources of finance. After all, why approve a scheme which is never likely to be fulfilled in its entirety? And in reality could Glynllifon really generate enough revenue to support the massive capital investment which is talked about here (£20m?). The very last thing we want to see is an abandoned part-finished scheme.
What is needed here is clear leadership. Somebody willing to stick their head above the parapet. You have uncovered matters which need to be taken seriously by the Authorities, Jac. Will they act, I wonder?
I suspect that Cyngor Gwynedd has got in too deep with people they made no checks on, and that’s because the council was desperate to see something done with Plas Glynllifon. I’m equally worried about commitments made by Coleg Menai or Grwp Llandrillo or whatever it calls itself. This report from May says that the Williams-Partridge gang is in advanced talks to take over the parkland.
If either Cyngor Gwynedd or Grwp Llandrillo-Menai has agreed to give these crooks anything, then heads will have to roll. Which is why the silence from both is so worrying.
As for your fear that Caernarfon and Gwynedd will be lumbered with “an abandoned part-finished scheme”, that’s exactly what will happen. Worse, it was probably the intention from the start.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5906777/Husband-wife-plough-20MILLION-renovating-semi-derelict-Welsh-mansion-102-rooms.html
I’ll say one thing for them, they’re good at generating uncritical publicity. Do they have an agent?
But I’ll say it again, apart from a lick of paint there is little shown in those photos that couldn’t be taken away.
It’s time for the Daily Mail to be sent links to ‘Weep for Wales 1 – 6’
They are just regurgitating what they’ve been sent by these crooks, or their hirelings. Time to see the other side of the coin and insist on balanced reporting. A strange concept for the ‘Tory’ Mail I know, but they don’t like to be made monkeys of, so send the links.
It won’t do any harm to ‘jacothenorth’s traffic stats either, and lazy journalists enjoy having the work done for them, with new resources they can dip into.
Yes, I’ll do it.
Quick question Tim…….Where are the statues supposed to be?
There are older photos which have these statues on the parapets of the building itself, clearly visible, then there are photos particularly of the southern aspect surrounded in scaffolding and screens, and now in the latest photos the statues (plus an MGM lion acquired from somewhere) are all planted in the grounds at rather odd angles suggesting they have unsuitable footings.
Surely they have to have planning permission to remove and relocate items of masonry integral to a grade I listed structure?
If in doubt always ask a dog walker.
The statues are still on the parapets. These are new ones.
Haven’t you been there recently? We regulars watched in sheer amazement as the statues seemed to multiply overnight! The vile object in the fountain. The huge tasteless lion. The terrace with its curious mixture of nineteenth century lamps and hideous Greek urns with writhing serpents. And then lots of tables and chairs-perhaps from the Radnorshire Arms? On closer inspection most of this junk has not long left it’s moulds. Not antique at all. Then they opened up the second fountain and surrounded it with urns-all the same. The next day a family of ibis statues had arrived. And then two “horses” appeared in the field. What did puzzle us most was that another lion-seemingly bronze-was put up and then disappeared. Some said poachers had been in the Park!
I can send you some photos if you let me have your email.
As for planning permission you’d better pursue the Planners at Cyngor Gwynedd.
I wonder if Drew Pritchard (Conwy) has had any dealings with them.
Drew is the guy you’d go to obtain architectural salvage. As far as I know, Drew runs everything above board and honest and he may have been approached by the Williams crew. If you had a property and wanted to adorn it with statues, vintage fire places, industrial chic and stuff he’s the first point of call. He’s also the guy to send a photo of similar if you wanted to dispose of anything worth passing on, and will hold details of the item in case he happens across a buyer (domestic or international) interested in such the stuff.
I understand that Drew has a reputation in the trade of having “the eyes of a hawk and memory of an elephant”.
Wales needs radical change, but it cannot be delivered by any of the parties represented in the Assembly nor by any agency currently in existence.
To us poor Welsh people it is unbelievable how our elected representatives in the Cardiff Bay Gossip Shop can ignore this scandal and do nothing (maybe with the exception of Neil McEvoy) and he is in a situation where nobody listens to him any more – they simply switch off his microphone in the Assembly Chamber. Is anyone else stirring there Jac?