Apparently in 17th century Charles II gave ownership of the river bed to the Duke of Beaufort. Ignoring the question of how it can be okay for an English king to give bits of Welsh land to an Englishman you might ask, 'So what? That was then. What's it got to with us in the twenty-first century?' I'll tell you.
In 2008 with the development of a new shopping centre near the brand-new football/rugby stadium on the edge of the city the council wanted to build a footpath for pedestrian access. Before they could go ahead they had to get permission from the current duke. Not only that but they had to pay him over £280,000 for the right to build.
I don't know how I missed this at the time - although it didn't come to public attention until a year later when a councillor using the Freedom of Information Act managed to find out - but I am scandalised!
There is so much wrong with this! It's not just because the Duke of Beaufort is one of the richest land-owners in the country - England - but more importantly to do with the principle of a riverbed being owned by an individual because of long gone history.
Hir yn byw'r weriniaeth!
Long live the republic!
5 comments:
One wonders if there was any logical thought given.
Cop Car
That's outrageous!
I should think it seemed quite 'logical'.
Probably went a bit like this, "That's nice. I want it ."
Most of Wales, Scotland and Ireland went like that.
UK feudalism isn't dead yet.
Remember, your military swears loyalty to the Queen, not the state.
So a fat chance of getting a republic!
I understand your outrage!
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