EV-0037 — Western Mail: “It’s a Crichel Down, says woman farmer” (Mrs M. D. Buckler)

Quotation: “Mrs. M D. Buckler was objecting to further industrial development in the vicinity of her farm, Ty Mawr, Penarth Road, Llandough.” / land farmed by her family since 1667 had been “wrongfully appropriated.” (OCR)

Also in the same report (OCR, snippet only; added 19 Oct 2026): “Mrs. Buckler claimed that the water was cut off from her house and grounds for nearly 10 years by order of Western Ground Rents.” The report also quotes her: “This is a Welsh case of Crichel Down.” “Nearly 10 years” by November 1958 puts the start at about 1948–49 (inference). Read from British Newspaper Archive search-result OCR; page image not seen.

Also in the same report (OCR, SNIPPET ONLY; added 19 Oct 2026): Under the sub-heading “Herd loss”: “This, she added, resulted in loss of a complete herd of Friesian cattle.” What “this” refers to is not in the snippet; linking the herd loss to the water cut-off is an inference. Page image not seen.

Also in the same report (OCR, SNIPPET ONLY; fuller search window read 21 Oct 2026, decade sweep): “‘This is a Welsh case of Crichel Down,’ said Mrs. Buckler. ‘The Glamorgan County Council, Penarth Urban and Cardiff Rural Councils and Western Ground Rents have walked in and taken …’” The search window ends after “taken”; the rest of her sentence has not been read. A second window from the same report: “[…] by Penarth Urban Council as a rubbish-tip. Mrs. Buckler maintained that the letting of these sites was “made over her head” by Western Ground Rents, who claimed the ground as their property.” And: “She complained to the committee that the noise of stone-crushing and loading had prevented her …”. Her words as the paper reported them; not a finding against any council or Western Ground Rents. Source of the windows: British Newspaper Archive free search results (Western Mail, 20 Nov 1958, p.7), read in research cycles 8 and 14.

Related records (added 19 Oct 2026): A Ministry public inquiry into objections to the Glamorgan (Area No. 2) Development Plan was sitting on the day of this meeting: EV-0239 (verbatim record, 19 Nov – 11 Dec 1958) and EV-0240 (Penarth town map report and related files); the match is on dates only. A Western Mail item of 9 Oct 1957 carrying her name: EV-0242 (snippet only).

Related oral version: A later recollection of the water being cut off at the farm is recorded per Branwen (voice testimony), relayed 19 Oct 2026 (Branwen). It names a council and a dispute over water bills. This 1958 report instead gives Mrs Buckler’s own claim that the cut-off was “by order of Western Ground Rents”. No record of a Parliamentary debate on it has been found.

Proves: Reported: on 19 Nov 1958 Mrs M. D. Buckler of Ty Mawr told Glamorgan County Council’s planning committee her family’s land had been “wrongfully appropriated”, and objected to industrial development and to WGR lettings “made over her head”.

Does not prove: A press report of her statements; not proof that they were true, nor of wrongdoing by any council or WGR.