History Lesson in the Making

I wish to thank Harry, a 10-year old boy from Shottermill Junior School who lives just yards from Undershaw who collected 30 names on a petition to assist the campaign to save a national landmark. This is a remarkable achievement by Harry and we would like to thank him for his contribution to help the 'Save Undershaw' campaign and his support to the Undershaw Preservation Trust. I urge Harry to post this directly as a matter of urgency as the deadline was 19th March onto the Planning Department at Waverley Borough Council with a covering letter stating what the petition is for.

Harry decided to use Undershaw as his subject for a school history project. He has since learned much about the house and indeed as Harry put it 'loads' about Arthur Conan Doyle.

After receiving permission from Harry's parents the Haslemere Herald and Surrey Advertiser (Godalming Edition) will feature a story about this marvellous undertaking of Harry's and his brush with history. The story if published may encourage other children and schools to learn about the house and Conan Doyle which would ultimately create an immense interest in the house's history. Another good reason why the house should remain as a landmark for all to enjoy.

Why not create history yourself and take on a project like Harry to help the Undershaw campaign. Harry has set an example that other children and schools could follow as part of their history lesson. Raising awareness of the house by creating publicity within the community is another way in which local children could help.

Harry's covering letter and petition can be viewed on the Waverley website by following the link detailed in a previous post on this blog.

Eagle Radio

Radio Eagle newsroom interviewed John Gibson yesterday from the Undershaw Preservation Trust, you can find this on the following link: http://www.964eagle.co.uk/news/review.php?article=160635 I have just learnt from eagle radio that the news broadcast is on MP3 player. I am not sure whether I am able to include this in the blog but give me a few days to work this one out!

Deadline Over - but Undershaw not OUT!

With the deadline over for all comments to Waverley Borough Council, I encourage those that missed this deadline of Friday 19th March to write to WBC at the following address: The Corporate Services and Planning Department, The Burys, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1HR quoting WA/2010/0172/0173, especially if you feel strongly about the current planning application. I have also noted that it appears you can object on-line until 29 March. So keep trying. Don't miss this opportunity and allow a deadline to interfere with our landmark.

With a building such as Undershaw, and a man as great as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, there can be no deadline! This in its self is an insult to the once owner of this building just like the proposed pavilion with its mere little board that is earmarked in recognition of his existence.

I would have thought the ladies and gents that form the board of councillors that will make this decision as to whether to grant or reject these plans would be educated enough to realise what an historical and welcomed landmark Undershaw could be. The true fact is that Undershaw was allowed to fall into such disrepair, with no proper security, open to the elements (weather and vandals) for many years. This then became a burden to the Council. A burden that they now want to get rid of in the easiest possible way.

With the selling price of Undershaw still being marketed at over a million pounds in its current state. Who would want to buy a property at that price and almost derelict? Who is to blame for its shameful condition? If the price had been right, it would have sold. Don't allow the excuse that nobody was interested in it, the price did not reflect its current condition and still doesn't. Lets hope that these educated ladies and gents make an educated decision on this, a decision that will ultimately gain their respect and votes for any future elections.

Here is the list of those councillor's that will make that ultimatum between our national heritage and modern day apartments: Councillor Peter Isherwood (Chairman), Councillor John Ward (Vice-Chairman), Councillor Mrs Jean Arrick, Councillor Jim Edwards, Councillor Simon Inchbald, Councillor David Inman, Councillor Mrs Carole King, Councillor Robert Knowles, Councillor Dr Nicky Lee, Councillor Stephen Mulliner, Councillor Steve Renshaw.

I wish to thank all those that have responded to the fliers that I posted through doors around the Hindhead area, your response has been gratefully received. The Undershaw Preservation Trust would like to thank you all personally through this blog.

I am in constant contact with the family and their architects who wish to purchase Undershaw as a single family home. I will be meeting them after Easter and as you can well appreciate this family wish to remain anonymous for the time being. The family are very well versed with restoring Victorian buildings for which they have restored 3 in their life time, the last one being a property in size of roughly 30,000 square feet which of course is almost 3 times the size of Undershaw.

Peter Egan and Philip Franks

Direct from their dressing rooms at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, Peter Egan and Philip Franks who are currently starring in 'The Secret of Sherlock Holmes' have sent the following statement:

"We consider that this planning application should be refused on the grounds that it would destroy the iconic and historic identity of Undershaw where Conan Doyle, through the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, wrote the return of the most famous and enduring ficticious partnership in literature.

Undershaw should not be divided by concrete into apartments, but should remain as one dwelling so that future generations can see how Conan Doyle lived through a traumatic and fruitful period of his creative life. We feel sure that Waverley and Haslemere would wish to retain Undershaw with at least some limited public access as a boost to the regeneration of Hindhead and tourism in the area".

Man of Mystery

A snippet in the Daily Mail today from a Roger Vince was brought to my attention. Can anyone shed any light on this fact?

"Reading about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's home, Undershaw, reminded me of something an elderly friend told me many years ago.

As a young women, she was friendly with someone who'd worked as a handyman for Conan Doyle at Undershaw. He told her that one of the upstairs rooms was permanently locked, staff were forbidden from entering and Conan Doyle had the only key.

After Conan Doyle's death, curiosity overcame him and he put up a ladder to the window and looked in. It was, he said, completely empty'.Whatever the secret of the locked room, Conan Doyle took it to the grave. Or does anyone know differently"?

Newsreel Footage of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

You may have been lucky enough to see this on youtube but for those that have not had the opportunity here is the link to a rare newsreel article of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle speaking about Sherlock Holmes and spiritualism. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eq18U5btcg


DON'T FORGET TO OBJECT TO THE 8 DWELLINGS THAT ARE PROPOSED FOR CONAN DOYLES UNDERSHAW. SCROLL DOWN AND CLICK ON 'OLDER POSTS' WHICH WILL TAKE YOU ONTO THE NEXT PAGE WHERE YOU WILL SEE A DIRECT LINK TO OBJECT TO WAVERLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL. WE HAVE ONLY UNTIL FRIDAY CLOSE OF PLAY TO MAKE OUR OBJECTIONS COUNT. LETS BE PROUD OF WHAT WE HAVE OBJECTED TO AND WHAT WE WILL ULTIMATELY HAVE TO HONOUR THIS GREAT MAN! LETS TAKE PRIDE IN SAVING OUR HERITAGE FOR ALL RESIDENTS OF THE AREA AND VISITORS WORLDWIDE. The Undershaw Preservation Trust would like to THANK ALL THOSE THAT HAVE PLAYED THEIR PART IN WHAT COULD BE A HAVEN FOR US ALL.

Town Council Meeting held on Thursday 11th March

John and I feeling quite jubilant after the meeting. The Town Council rejected the current planning application for the following reasons:

The proposal will:

(a) Result in the loss of a valuable heritage feature.
(b) Over develop the site.

In addition the proposed change of use runs contrary to the Hindhead Together Plan to make the Hindhead Cross Roads Area a tourist attraction.

The decision by the Town Council has given the Undershaw Preservation Trust a huge boost, inevitably we still have a long way to go and this is just the first hurdle.

Our next big stumbling block will be Waverley Borough Council, but with another article awaiting to be published in another national Newspaper and an article in the Surrey Advertiser next week we hope to overcome this. Our question to Waverley Borough Council is: "who has been responsible for the deterioration of this Grade II listed building - our national heritage - and if this application is passed; will it be Waverley Borough Council that has blood on their hands?" Surely the Conservation Officer would not wish to be tarred with this!

The Daily Mail article was certainly very well written by Robert Hardman and I thank him for such an excellent report. It is almost a plea to the nation. There was also a small snippet in the Daily Telegraph on the same day.

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO OBJECT DIRECTLY TO WAVERLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL TO THE CURRENT PLANS FOR CONVERSION. THE HOUSE SHOULD NOT BE SPLIT INTO 3 SEPARATE DWELLINGS AND PUBLIC ACCESS SHOULD BE RETAINED TO THE HOUSE AND GARDENS. ITS CHARACTER AND CHARM SHOULD BE RESTORED TO ITS FORMER GLORY TO HOUSE A LASTING TRIBUTE. YES TO ONE HOUSE, NO TO MANY!

An Article in the Daily Mail

I have just spoken with the Daily Mail. They are meeting the Trust's director John Gibson and the Victorian Society at Undershaw which will hopefully lead to a piece about our efforts in the Daily Mail this Saturday. The link to the article is: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1257565/Its-mystery-stump-Sherlock-Holmes-Why-earth-letting-Conan-Doyles-home-fall-ruin.html. Robert Hardman inset above preparing his story for the Daily Mail.

May I thank all those that have responded to my leaflets that I have posted through doors within the Hindhead area. This I did in the very early hours of Sunday morning whilst most of you were in bed and others on my way home from work in the evening. I hope that this flier is not classed as nuisance mail and I apologise to those that have classed it in this way. In some cases, I have never walked so many long driveways and been accosted by so many letter boxes. They can give a nasty bite if your hands are not carefully removed. I am glad I am not a postie! Thanks to everyone for their contribution, however we still need several more objections to raise the amount to a 3 figure number. If you scroll down a little further you will find a link directly to the Waverley page, click on this link then press the middle blue button maked 'on-line comment' and OBJECT. Can I call on those residents of Hindhead and the surrounding areas to lend your support in our efforts.

The picture above is what Undershaw could look like as either a Visitor's Centre or a single family home, lets hold this picture in our minds and make this happen. Incidentally this picture was found in a recent copy of 'My Weekly'. I am now trying to trace the gentleman who sent this in and won £50.00 for his article, a Anthony Phillips from London. He may have more photos of Undershaw when it was a hotel that I could use for this blog. If anyone knows this gentleman could you please ask him to make contact.

An important meeting at Haslemere Town Council level will take place as the first step in deciding Undershaw's fate on the 11th March. I will be attending this meeting with our director and will update you here of its outcome.

The petition that many people have signed worldwide has over 1,000 signatures and has now been forwarded to Waverley Borough Council with my letter of objection and Stephen Fry's statement objecting to the conversion.

Should anyone wish to become involved with saving Undershaw, then please contact me at info@saveundershaw.com I have had several very kind people offering their services free of charge which again has been such a boost at a very crucial time. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking them through this blog and hopefully there will come a time when I can thank them personally.

BBC London News - Feature on Undershaw

Should you have been unfortunate to miss the feature that the BBC aired you can go to the following link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8551000/8551603.stm

I would like to send my personal thanks to the BBC for their help and hard work to get this out in time before the first meeting of the town council on 11th March.

From this I would very much like to be involved in the making of a TV documentary on Conan Doyle's time at Undershaw and our efforts to save his home. A Commissioning Editor is an important factor in making this reality. As a matter of interest I have contacted 'The One Show' to see whether we can get Undershaw and our efforts featured on there. Again I will keep you all updated.

ITV Meridian Tonight News Link - Plans for Author's House

For those interested, and those that missed the news item on ITV Meridian Tonight you can catch it again by clicking on the following link: http://www.itv.com/meridian-west/plans-for-authors-house39551/

I would like to thank Meridian, especially Adrian Wills who I have hounded for almost a year to broadcast this for me. It was sheer determination and perseverance with encouragement from those supporters of the Trust that helped prevail in the end. I can honestly say it has not been an easy achievement to persuade Meridian to broadcast this. I do hope this has raised an awareness to a wider section of the public. One of my overall goals.

OBJECT to the Plans for Conversion

Don't stand back and see Undershaw be carved up into 3 separate dwellings, each dwelling fetching about £800,000 plus each, don't allow the history of the building to be lost to Hindhead forever. Allow our children to learn about Conan Doyle and many other great author's that have graced us with their novels. Don't allow Waverley Borough Council to condemn Undershaw to an execution erasing it from our history books forever. Give us, the Trust a chance to preserve Undershaw for all time, do you really want to lose an area of outstanding beauty, an area where you can walk and marvel the house where the creator of Sherlock Holmes penned his most famous novel 'The Hound of the Baskervilles. Allow us to resurrect Undershaw as Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. Please object to these current plans and allow the mystery buyer to step in and restore Undershaw sympathetically as a single family home and open it to the public several times a year. This was once a single family home, Conan Doyle's, please allow it to become one again!

To object click on this link: http://waverweb.waverley.gov.uk/live/wbc/pwl.nsf/(RefNoLU)/WA20100173?OpenDocument and go to 'On-Line Comment'.

The Latest on the BBC Visit to Undershaw on 5th March

Wow! wow! what a tremendous day, a day that could ultimately go down in history should this building not become the concrete jungle that has been described in a letter of objection.

The picture above shows the BBC reporter and cameraman discussing the plans with the developers architect and below is me with the three members of the Doyle family posing in front of Undershaw. You won't find that many of me on the blog, but this was a proud moment.

I am not going to spend this weekend writing up about the marvellous events that took place yesterday. I am going to spend a little time with my feet up and do what we call relaxing. I will write up the blog when I have spent sometime concentrating on my personal life which has been non-existent for several months. I will tell you all about the amazing day with amazing photo's when my battery has been recharged.

However, I must report that the BBC London News article is likely to go out on Monday or Tuesday of next week which included BBC Radio Surrey. The ITV Meridian Tonight feature may go out as early as this weekend. So keep watching and yes I was a very nervous campaigner but very proud and thankful to have had so much support from the Doyle family and strangers that have appeared in my life since starting this project, for which I am so honoured. It would be my wildest, yet crazy dream to have the house returned to the original family! Wouldn't that be an amazing feat.

Statement issued by Stephen Fry for the BBC Visit to Undershaw

Stephen Fry sadly cannot be with us at Undershaw tomorrow as he is in America but he has issued the following statement for the press:

"To Whom it May Concern,

There has never been a time when Conan Doyle has gone out of fashion or interest in him, his ideas and his creations has dropped far off the public radar. But there has certainly never been a time when he has been more keenly appreciated and valued than now.

I have contributed to three documentaries on Doyle and Holmes, two of them in the last year. One of the most successful films of this year was a Sherlock Holmes adaption: a global blockbuster of enormous proportions that is spawning a whole major Hollywood Holmes franchise.

Julian Barne's Arthur And George was one of the most successful books of the decade. The BBC are planning a huge new series based on an updated Sherlock Holmes. And at this time now ...Undershaw is to be retitled Underthreat. Surely we can all see that this is a disastrous mistake?
As Patron of the Conan Doyle library, as a former youngest member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, as an admirer of Doyle and his achievements I urge Waverley Borough Council to reconsider what future ages will adjudge a foolish short-sighted and wanton act of vandalism. There is real value in Undershaw. If it is thought about, it can attract new generations of tourists to the area, it can be an enormous source of local pride. Please, please, have another think."

Yours
Stephen Fry

BBC London News to visit Undershaw on Friday 5th March at midday

This is to let all my followers know and all interested parties that BBC London News will be filming at Undershaw this Friday, 5th March to include an article on their programme. The owner's architect will be present and we are trying to invite several VIPs to the site. In particular Richard Doyle (Conan Doyle's great nephew) who the BBC would like to interview. I have been in contact with Richard and I await his response.

I have now had confirmation from Richard Doyle and Jeremy Hunt MP and they will both be in attendance to support the campaign to save the property. Richard may possibly bring along another Doyle family member.

I have today phoned SAVE Britain's Heritage, and await a call from them to see whether they are able to assist with this appeal. I have e-mailed the Victorian Society with the details of the application and of the visit by the BBC in the hope that they will send a representative along.

I will publish the outcome of the BBC visit with photo's of the day in this blog. For those of you wishing to see the BBC London News feature; I will find out from them when it's likely to be aired. Keep watching this space.