I thought you might like to see the letter I wrote to a Carmarthen Journal columnist 3 or 4 years ago! “Following the articles about the Cardigan Castle AGM last week, reading between the lines it seems that you have been taking a sceptical interest in the recent signs of disharmony after the badly explained resignation of Stephan Crosby. The refusal to provide a plausible portrayal of this unusual and intriguing development persisting at the AGM, with the woman who allegedly drove Mr Crosby from his job being re-elected chairperson. In contrast with Ms Tucker's consistent refusal to elaborate on the matter we have the following from Cris Tomos: The project's finance officer Cris Tomos has taken over on an interim basis. He told BBC Wales: "We were all appointed on a probationary period for six months and there was a review after three months. "Mr Crosby felt that his expertise was running visitor centres and heritage work. "The work at this time entails managing contracts, so he decided to leave the project." I would contend that it is vanishingly unlikely that a professional like Mr Crosby would not be fully aware of the nature of his task when he accepted the post and the Tomos “explanation” is a threadbare cover up It would seem that Mr Crosby was plagued with reproaches from a querulous Ms Tucker that he was not doing his job properly in various ways including an instance when she complained that the head gardener should not be eating lunch at his desk. More importantly there was a conflict regarding the vexed question of the extent of archaeology that would be engaged and the importance of the Rhys story. it would appear that he eventually found his position to be untenable. Apparently Crosby decided not to give the reason for his departure from the job he moved to Cardigan to take up because it would seem that he was concerned that it might compromise the funding procedure which was reaching a critical stage at the time. However his silence combined with that of Ms Tucker speaks volumes when contrasted with the statement from Mr Tomos shown above. I personally would welcome a controversy arising in the open as many aspects of this flawed project could be modified even at this late date and Cardigan could recover its heritage democratically, and of course a full archaeological campaign is paramount. I would also wish to explore the issue of the listed stucco on the house which I believe could be beneficially omitted Cadw would need to be challenged over this. I have forwarded two documents you may not have seen, the first from an anonymous source drawing attention to a number of anomalous issues, and second from the acting project leader Cris Tomos which appeared shortly afterwards. I have indicated the aspects in relation in both documents. Whilst the timing is a coincidence I think that the Cadwgan newsletter to the volunteers was a damage limitation exercise after the resignation and other undercurrents, including the blacklist mentioned in the “Rebecca” paper What is clear is that entry to the gardens will be by subscription or [not specified] entry fee. Why is this not a public park quite simply? Would this be to keep the rabble out of the grounds of a luxury accommodation for privileged tourists (gated community}whether or not attending the Welsh Language Centre proposed. And this ward of Cardigan officially has very high child poverty. When one wonders what the motivation may be that is driving Ms Tuckers relentless ambition to achieve what Mr Glen Johnson is on record as referring to as “a real estate operation”, in a Teifiside article of several years ago, a clue may lie in the fact that her daughter is the common law wife of one Mr Lynch who operates accommodation in the adjacent area [Granary Lofts] that is probably struggling so far but may benefit considerably from the Castle “community” venture.

Incongruously there is an advert on the Cadwgan site for the pizza tipi run by Lynch in the summer. I believe that it of vital importance that this standoff about archaeology by Ms Tucker and her committee perhaps in collusion with Cadw, should be fully and explicitly explored and we hope that you will be able to assist in this process. We would hope that Canon Cullane and Mr Johnson the historian would be ready to take a slightly stronger position than hitherto on their convictions. There is a feeling among many that almost all that happens in this town is touched by corruption and or incompetence in any event its clear that there is a clear credibility gap in the matter considered here. It is fairly clear though not provable as such that the original instigators of the Cadwgan Trust in securing the Green St cottages and later the house opposite were by so doing setting themselves up to be the “preferred partners” of Ceredigion Council in the matter of the castle had something other in mind than pure philanthropy, this is intuitive. From an examination of the Teifiside archive of articles and letters which is unfortunately not very well sorted chronologically it can be gleaned that she stage managed the first appearance of Cadwgan on the scene when they had already had the Green St cottages for several years links as follows. there is other material of interest of course. Gary Cooper leading the townscape heritage initiative awarded Ty Castell a circa £500,000 grant whilst on the committee and then later resigned. Run as indicated by a separate trust {see document forwarded postally, rarely mentioned and probably in existence for future acquisitions. Cardigan has been somewhat abused by the general poor quality of the restoration work overseen by Mr Cooper, the awful Prince Charles quay both concept and execution. The general lack of civic pride ie overgrown weeds and buddlia infestation, derelict sites with horrendous litter and fly dumping in contradiction to its stated tourist vocation is troubling. We can not afford another mistake with the castle. According to the Cadwgan account of the AGM echoed slavishly and stomach churningly by today’s Teifiside Elin Jones said “Cardigan has a really special story to tell – there’s something happening in Cardigan that’s not happening in the rest of the country,” .“Cardigan really is doing it for itself.” Elin Jones said that the town’s community initiatives such as the castle sent a message to the rest of Wales. “The future is the community taking ownership of the town’s economic future. I’m hugely impressed by what’s happening here in Cardigan.” Leanne Wood gushingly said in an earlier visit "Cardigan’s many community initiatives are a shining example to the rest of Wales – and the town should be shouting about its success" “These initiatives should be replicated throughout Wales. If other towns had anything like these projects Wales would no longer have a weak economy, we would be a very strong country indeed. Here in Cardigan you are a microcosm of what Wales should be" It could be but sadly is not. Hopefully even if you have no overriding convictions about these matters you will see a journalistic opportunity here it is certain that the Teifiside would not publish these considerations in the form of a letter and it begs the question of whether Ms Lewis should be on the committee of Cadwgan as the editor of the local paper with this conflict of interest ongoing and with long standing and demonstrable perception management activity.”