This is the first post post on this blog for rather a long time - too long I think.
The title of Old Pennar School has now be lodged with the land registry under the ownership of Pembrokeshire Housing Association. They paid £105,000 for the place.
The title has several covenants attached to it. If anyone can explain the purpose and significance of them I would be very grateful!
I have recently been in touch with Mr Nigel Sinnett of the Pembrokeshire Housing Association. I sent the email on or about 7 April 2016. A copy of my email is below:
Dear Nigel
I hope you and yours are well. I have a few questions about the work that
PHA will be undertaking at Old Pennar School.
Firstly, has a start date for the building been decided and if so, when
would this be? I would like to be able to have the demise of the building
recorded for posterity.
Secondly, I assume you have plans for the demolition material from the
school. What will happen to the limestone, particularly the dressed stone, as
well as the internal fixtures of the school – such as partitions, fireplaces
(such that survive) and roof timbers? I know of a couple of local heritage based
projects that have a use for random limestone walling stone for repair and
renovation of a couple of old houses. It would be excellent if some of this
stone could be made available to those projects at low/no cost. I must come
clean and confess that one of these projects is being undertaken by myself – a
house/cottage almost within view of the school that has been virtually untouched
since being built in about 1880 – contemporaneous with the school. The stone
would be used to help with the repair of the garden wall and restoration of the
old garden. The cottage has been in continuous occupation by the same family for
over 100 years and retains most of its internal woodwork, which reflects the
materials and skills of the workforce at Pembroke Dockyard. Such details would
have ben ubiquitous in PD, but sadly in most houses in the town they have been
ripped out in the name of progress. The other project is one south of Pembroke
where a very old cottage is being rescued, along with a series of old
outbuildings, with which I have some involvement. Information about the cottage
in Bufferland/Pennar is attached.
It would be excellent too if some parts of the school could be retained in
Pennar or lodged with the heritage centre in the Dockyard Chapel? I am thinking
particularly of the stone tablet in the north gable of the building or some of
the internal folding partitions and doors with their stone settings.
I do understand that the demolition contractors will probably want to make
the as much money form the architectural salvage as possible, but if it is not
too late, preservation locally of some parts of the building or use locally of
the materials (not in land fill!) could be seen as a conciliatory gesture
towards the local community who are saddened by the fate of the school.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Adrian James
Since writing the above letter it occurred to me that there is a need for a stock of traditional building materials to be maintained in the area of South Pembrokeshire for appropriate renovation projects on old buildings, particularly those listed or in the Pembroke Dock Conservation Area.
(At this point I shall make a relevant aside.... The need for such a supply of architectural salvage was made evident, several years ago, when my Auntie, who lived on Upper Row on Golden Hill in Pembroke, noticed workmen digging in the gutters outside her house. It transpired that they were lifting the old limestone kerbing and gutter setts (and replacing them with concrete!) so that the originals could be used to enhance the streets in Tenby. I thought it was outrageous then and I still think that today.)
The reply that I received form Mr Sinnett, on 15 April 2016, was both full and positive:
Adrian, thanks for your email
I’m sorry but I’ve been out of the office for much of this week and so I haven’t been able to respond. I did ask our development officer responsible for this scheme, Sam Stalbow, to summarise our position for me. I have cut and pasted this below.
The building works are scheduled within our 4 Year Development Programme for the 2016/17 period. A specific date has not been firmed up as of yet, though tenders have now been received and our consultants are currently examining them.
Regarding any building material from the existing school building. On all Pembrokeshire Housing Association development schemes a Principal Contractor is appointed to coordinate the construction phase of the project. Where demolition precedes any building work, it is the Principal Contractor’s responsibility to competently undertake any demolition and to dispose of all arisings/building material as they see fit. This could involve carting off site to an appropriate landfill, crushing to reuse material as aggregate or hardcore, or a plethora of alternatives. It is the contractor’s decision and as such, will affect the cost of the work. This is standard procedure and reflects the tender documentation.
Due to any demolition material ultimately being the responsibility of the principal contractor, my best suggestion would be that we provide a means of contact between you and the Principal Contractor (once appointed). This will allow you to strike up a dialogue with respect to any recycling or reuse of specific building materials.
The reason for this is that as the client, if we were to retrospectively request that building materials be reclaimed, we would essentially invalidate our tender. An example here would be; if a contractor had priced within their tender to demolish the building and crush the stone to use as hardcore. Suggest we were to then retrospectively request the contractor carefully remove and reclaim the quoin stones of the building. This would cost the contractor greatly in that they would have to supply hardcore from elsewhere, as well as change their method for demolition substantially.
It is with this in mind that I feel a dialogue between the principal contractor and yourself would be appropriate, with the aim of agreeing any potential reclamation of building materials. All of our contractors are registered with Considerate Constructors and as part of the Code of Considerate Practice it would be in their best interest to speak with the local community about this.
The development team have worked with a structural engineer to come up with a solution allowing us to retain the stone wall that bounds with the public footpath to the north of the site. Originally this wall was to be demolished and rebuilt. Where possible, we are endeavouring to retain what we can whilst still satisfying the various regulations that we are subject to as a housing association as well as keeping the scheme financially viable.
Additionally, we would look to retain any historically significant items such as the stone tablet on the northern gable, and would seek to liaise with the Town Council regarding the best solution for this.
We would be happy to engage with the Town Council further on this matter. As for the heritage centre, again it would be best for the centre to strike up a relationship with the successful contractor once we have reached a decision on who to appoint. Sam will be able to advise further on this once we have appointed the contractor and as the scheme progresses.
Regards
Nigel
I have this evening, 5 June 2016, heard unconfirmed reports. that the demolition of the school is imminent. I have not received any further correspondence from Pembrokeshire Housing Association, despite their assurances that they would be in touch.
AJ. 5/6/16
