Pensioner evicted from his life-long home after losing lengthy landowner battle
A retired farmer has been evicted from the home he has lived in all his life in Northumberland after losing a long-running legal battle with the landowners.
Walter Renwick, 69, was born at Plankey Mill and is a well-known face to visitors at the popular beauty spot, near Hexham, where he ran a campsite. But now the Jesuits in Britain, who own the land, have said they took possession of the property on Thursday, September 21.
And to make matters worse he is now furiously denying claims that he was involved in the cutting down of the Sycamore Gap tree that was felled last Wednesday. He insists he has wrongly been named on social media as the culprit of the mindless vandalism.
Walter was served with an eviction notice earlier this year and was initially told to leave the farm by July 11. He was then granted a 28-day reprieve from eviction after the pensioner took his fight to Carlisle County Court but has now been made to leave with the Jesuits in Britain taking the land.
Walter has now been evicted (Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)A spokesman for Jesuits in Britain said: "The Jesuits in Britain can confirm that they have re-taken possession of the property and land at Plankey Mill, which is owned by them. A full examination of the physical state of the property will now take place. The Jesuits wish the previous leaseholder well."
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The religious order says the original lease was legally held by Walter's father and after his death they extended the lease to allow Walter time to find a new home. The last lease extension ran out in 2021 and the Jesuits were then granted a court order to have Walter evicted, it is claimed.
Walter previously told ChronicleLive the battle had "broken a proud man", adding: "I was born here. It is like a tree with roots. You know when your roots are here, everything has been put here: my dogs, my rabbits when I was a kid. Every memory I had as a kid, the football, the games when you were a kid when all the campers came. Happiness, there is no happiness now. Happiness is gone."
He has lived his whole life at the farm (Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)The Jesuits said many people denouncing the repossession have based their objections on the fact Walter has been running a paid-for campsite on fields adjacent to the property. They said the campsite was never allowed under the terms of the lease, and did not have planning permission from the local authority but they never took action on this point.
But over a number of years, the Jesuits say they have received complaints from both the local council and the National Trust, who own an adjacent property, about the "antisocial behaviour of several campers, especially during the pandemic in 2020".
Northumberland County Council bosses said they received a complaint in 2020 regarding an unauthorised campsite on Plankey Mill Farm but because it was more than 10 years old it did not require planning permission.
Meanwhile, police have said they have arrested a man in his 60s in connection with the Sycamore Gap tree felling incident and Walter admits he understood why some people may have thought it was him as he has spent his entire career felling trees, The Sun reports.
But although he was evicted last week from the home he grew up in near the scene of the crime, he vehemently denies being connected to the felling of the 70-foot 'Robin Hood Tree', adding: "I didn't do it." Walter said: “I am a former lumberjack and I have just been kicked off my property, so I can see why people have pointed the finger. My brother came down to make sure I hadn’t been arrested as he had heard the rumours. It’s very sad. It’s an iconic tree.”
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