THE KEY TO THE KINGDOM :The people of Weymouth have spoken!

Great article by Mark Vine @dorseteye

Old Weymouth High Street

An online facebook group (SOWAP) Save Old Weymouth & Portland, are pressing for a full archaeological excavation before any future building work is done on the plum cash-cow that is the old Weymouth High Street site and also, the retaining of those few historical/archaeological features that managed to survive the outrageous and sickening redevelopment there of the late 1960's/early 1970s.

Almost an entire street of originally 17th century and earlier buildings were shamefully bulldozed into oblivion to satisfy the then philistine council's desire to have a new office block with a sea view to work in and rumours still abound today of dirty deals being done at the time with one Councillor allegedly getting the demolition contract. But now it seems that those old scars are reopened as hundreds of residents have signed the groups petition and left damning comments about what happened back then on the petition page along with one very clear message for the present council .. HERITAGE AND HISTORY MATTERS IN WEYMOUTH! 

The site was to be rented to a developer but is now due to be sold off instead, a decision that will bring the council a much higher price, but will leave them with no control whatsoever over what is built there. And it is this that has set the alarm bells ringing amongst the history-loving residents and visitors of Weymouth...

more here

... And so, this is just a small part of the history of this unique and very special street and area of Weymouth. An area which SOWAP have vowed to look after and to ensure it receives the respect it so richly deserves. We would also like to see a memorial stone placed there as part of the new development to mark, not only the fallen, but also the achievement of Colonel William Sydenham, Dorset's forgotten and unsung hero. 

Though, possibly not unsung as Weymouth's own internationally renowned Celtic rockers, The Dolmen made an album in 2009 all about the amazing days of that cold month of February 370 years ago and you can check it out here.
The Crabchurch Conspiracy.

If you would like to join SOWAP, the Facebook link is https://www.facebook.com/groups/saveoldweymouth/?fref=ts 

And if you'd like to sign the petition and read the many comments, the link is http://saveoldweymouth.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/sowap-old-weymouth-high-st-petition.html 

Mark Vine

- See more at: http://www.dorseteye.com/south/articles/the-key-to-the-kingdom-the-people-of-weymouth-have-spoken#sthash.jAb9sp5Z.dpuf

SOWAP - Have been restoring this amazing photo of Holy Trinity school 1890ish

Have been restoring this amazing photo of Holy Trinity school 1890 ish, 3 hours in, I reckon 3 to go..

please sign this.

SOWAP-save old Weymouth high street - 500 signatures on petition, lets hit 1000 before the WPBC meeting @ Pavilion at 19:00 this Thursday

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500 needed to reach 1,000

SOWAP-save old Weymouth high street are at 500 signatures, great work guys, keep sharing.  Halfway to our first 1000 on the petition, hopefully we'll hit that after we're on BBC radio Solent http://www.bbc.co.uk/radiosolent 96.1 FM, 103.8 FM, 999 MW, 1359 MW, DAB (NOW South Hampshire), Breakfast from Dorset @ 07:40 tomorrow.

It would be great to have our first thousand before the WPBC council meeting at the Pavilion at 19:00 this Thursday.(please come) Our new short, easy to remember (and mention a lot) petition url  http://bit.do/sowap and a mention on the radio will get us even more supporters before the week is out... Please keep spamming friends, family and colleagues to join the group and sign the petition, it's a great cause.

I toured the site with some of the group earlier today after meeting to discuss the WPBC council meeting at the Pavilion. Terrible business. (business being the operative word)

 One of the old Town gate housings through which poured thousands of invading royalists at midnight of the 27th February 1645, thinking they would overrun the Parliamentarian defenders who they outnumbered six to one. But they underestimated local man, Colonel William Sydenham, who ambushed them and 200 of the attackers were slaughtered in the old High Street, before they were forced to retreat back out of the town.(from local historian Mark Vine)

Petition update

Please join us on Flickr and share and pictures of old Weymouth and Portland and environs

Save old Weymouth and Portland (SOWAP), inc. old Weymouth high street are now on Flickr , the photo sharing site, please add any pics you have or find.

SOWAP plan to morally clean up and protect this town from further corporacratic vandalism

Management Committee 7 th July 2015 North Quay Relocation and Disposal

More light reading Management Committee 7 th July 2015 North Quay Relocation and Disposal 

 "Appendix 1is not for publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of The Local Government Act 1972, as amended. The public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing it."

"5.39 Site valuations have been obtained and are summarised in the

Confidential Appendix 1 because it is inappropriate to release this 

information prior to marketing the site. The different values reported reflect

the different Options as well as the site and other constraints." 

Need legal FOI request info please anyone? Surely a range of values and options

 won't affect marketing of the final reality2+3

Fascinating map of North Quay old Weymouth pre the WPBC monstrosity

Tell Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to protect Old Weymouth high street from developers, forever.

Welcome to Save old Weymouth and Portland and the first of what unfortunately seem to be many missions.

Old Weymouth high street is a precious site of global historical importance.  Site of the 1645 Battle of Weymouth, part of the Crabchurch Conspiracy. This is a battle site where around 200 souls lost their lives on a night when, all told about 500 people died in the fighting. There are also remains of many Tudor houses and environs. Much has been lost due to development and now it is feared the rest is about to go the same way.

Save Old Weymouth high street seek to raise awareness of this precious heritage site and it's plight. We also aim to ensure that Weymouth and Portland Borough Council make sure the site is properly and extensively archaeologically surveyed by independent experts. Then preserved, enhanced and made accessible to the public for generations to come.

This is a very important place offering great insights into our past with the potential of greatly enhancing Weymouth and Portland's tourist offering globally. We owe it to future generations to save this site. I hope you agree and will act accordingly.

Please sign and share the petition and join us on facebook, pinterest and youtube