The New Penkridge Road appears to fall outside of Cannock Chase Council's responsibility, the boundary ending with the junction of Sandy Lane (which ironically was the subject of a road closure on the 10th May 1964) Land to the west of this falls within the jurisdiction of South Staffordshire District Council.
The Council does not own any of the land along this road, unfortunately all records pertaining to individual planning applications (which are numerous), tree planting and preservation orders date back to 1971 only, no records exist beyond this date.
This in effect means that if Harold South's testimony is to be believed then a more precise location of the impact site along the New Penkridge Road would be required in order to establish whose land the incident occured on back in 1964.
On a broader search the Urban Forestry Officer for Cannock Chase district Council could find no records that exist locally for the period in question.
Unfortunately there are no records of road closures of the types I requested that go back this far. The usual retention period for these types of records is only around 7 years and thus they would have been routinely destroyed many years ago.
In essence and at this moment in time while there appears to be no records held locally its not beyond the realms of possibilty that any significant event would have been transfered to the National Archives at Kew whether pending release or already declassified only time will tell.
The Council does not own any of the land along this road, unfortunately all records pertaining to individual planning applications (which are numerous), tree planting and preservation orders date back to 1971 only, no records exist beyond this date.
This in effect means that if Harold South's testimony is to be believed then a more precise location of the impact site along the New Penkridge Road would be required in order to establish whose land the incident occured on back in 1964.
On a broader search the Urban Forestry Officer for Cannock Chase district Council could find no records that exist locally for the period in question.
Staffordshire Police
Unfortunately there are no records of road closures of the types I requested that go back this far. The usual retention period for these types of records is only around 7 years and thus they would have been routinely destroyed many years ago.
In essence and at this moment in time while there appears to be no records held locally its not beyond the realms of possibilty that any significant event would have been transfered to the National Archives at Kew whether pending release or already declassified only time will tell.
I think there is every chance that Nick Redfern knows the exact location of the alleged crash. Not sure whether he would be willing to reveal it.
ReplyDeleteDisappointed to hear that your correspondence with the Forestry Commission drew a blank, but not entirely surprised. Good to see that Staffordshire police are consistent. Where next?
Hi Ian, You're quite right I myself was not entirely surprised by the initial results from my requests, although I'm sure we're covering old ground here. A further enquiry with Staffordshire Police confirmed that whilst they no longer retain this type of information,it is not uncommon for records of a significant nature to have been preserved elsewhere, originally this was at the now closed Force Museum. But two other sites might now yield further information...
ReplyDeleteIan:
ReplyDeleteNo I truthfully don't know the exact location. Withholding the precise location would be pointless: I would like to get the to the heart of the puzzle as much as anyone.
The most precise info I have on the crash site was that in the interview (the only interview) I did with the primary witness in 1996. That's all I truthfully have to go on re the site - his memories.
Cheers,
Nick
Hi everbody! Just as a footnote after reviewing Nicks book again the location is actually given in the interview is Two Miles out of Cannock on the right hand side of the road. This needs further research but I will certainly be looking into this at some stage.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Stephen
Hey Stephen
ReplyDeleteYep, that's about as accurate as we got it from South.
Of course, whether it could have been precisely 2 miles, or 1.5 or 2.5 is, of course, very much open to question, and an important factor - hence my comment that we don't know the precise location.
South's comment and estimate would have to be an approximate one, I would think, and one that could therefore place it maybe half a mile or more in each direction.
But, if his recollections are indeed right, then at least we have an approximate place to look at.