MODERN TIMES
Ginns from the airNow we come to modern times. In the late 1950’s Ian Strathcarron, then aged 8 or 9, used to visit the house at weekends. Ian’s parents were friends of the Farrar family. In 1958 George Farrar bought Gins, planning to convert it into a weekend house. Ian told us that at that time it was more or less a building site. The interior was largely gutted and the barns were in some disrepair. A keen yachtsman, Farrar turned one of the rooms into a storeroom for dinghies and other sailing equipment. George Farrar died in about 1963. The house had several other occupants until Holly and Julian Chichester, the present owners, bought Gins around five years ago. Meanwhile, the farmland has continued to be leased from the estate and no longer has any connexion with the house.
Just before we conclude, a word about the great row. In 1961 the peace of Ginns was rather shattered by the proposal of Royal Southampton Yacht Club to build a clubhouse here. Some of you will no doubt remember this affair. All we know about it comes from a fat file which we found in the Hampshire Record Office, mostly consisting of correspondence in the periodical, the Yachting World. In October 1961 the distinguished marine artist David Cobb wrote to protest: “This proposal seems to run counter to all today’s efforts to preserve the Solent Waterside from development. Beaulieu...(is)...beautiful precisely because it has not been built upon by clubhouses or power stations. Could the clubhouse not be re-sited at Buckler’s Hard?” The next month there was a leader in the Yachting World saying that more than 150 letters had been received, all of them against the proposal. “Clearly”, the editor concluded, “The clubhouse is not wanted.” The protests continued, some from distinguished people such as Hugh Casson. And George Farrar, owner of Gins, joined in. Not surprisingly, since the proposed clubhouse would deprive Gins of part of its view of the river. People were mostly disturbed at the threat of intrusion into a peaceful and beautiful place. Some feared the clubhouse would become what one called “a gin palace for businessmen.” They were worried about masses of visitors and even went so far as to suggest that the Royal Southampton wasn’t really a yachting club anyway, more of a cricket club.
In January 1962 another letter appeared, from the then Lord Montagu. He stated that he had agreed to sell the site to the Yacht Club for the nominal sum of £400 but had imposed special conditions to protect the amenities of the river. Hampshire County Council recommended to the government in September 1962 that the proposal should not go ahead but a public enquiry the next month found in favour of it and the government gave the green light. One lasting legacy of it all is the tall hedge now protecting Gins from the clubhouse which was planted by George Farrar.
So that is our story. We are most grateful to all those who contributed information and images. And we would like to give our warm personal thanks to Holly and Julian for giving us such ready access to their handsome and fascinating house and making our research on it such a pleasure.
As you drive away tonight you may want to reflect that you have been parking on a hard, and are taking a route, which have been used for well over seven hundred years.