Retirement

[Marhak]

Nicholas Johnson MBE, director of the Historic Environment Service at Cornwall Council, has retired (and I'm not yet sure who has succeeded him).

UNESCO's recent classification of the Cornish language as "extinct" is something we can thank Mr Johnson for. In his submission to UNESCO for World Heritage site status for Cornish mining, he dismisses the Cornish language as something that was only revived in the 1930s and that only a very few speak it. (The man who wrote that was our senior professional historian!). Of course, not only did he get the revival date very wrong, but - because a professional had written it, UNESCO believed it.

That same bid contained a "history" that was purged of anything that might be embarrassing to the Duchy. Mr Johnson and a colleague went hot-foot to Highgrove House to receive their instructions. Of course, the Duchy was described as a benevolent private estate, etc., ad nauseam, and, as a result the "history" read by UNESCO was a fabrication of the truth. God only knows what damage it has done to Cornwall.

For this, the same gentleman later received, from his large-eared boss, the award of the MBE, which I interpret to stand for "Member of the Brown-nosers Elite".

In future, we want honesty and truth published by the Historic Environment Service that we pay for. There are good people in there, and I can only hope that one of those now has Johnson's job.

[Marhak]

It's a little-known fact that Johnson owes his long career to me. Back in the early 80s, Cornwall had no professional archaeologists. Then the CCRA (Cornwall Committee for Rescue Archaeology) was set up. It consisted of two men in an attic cupboard in Strangways Terrace, Truro: Nick Johnson and Peter Sheppard (later replaced by Peter Rose) and came under the directorship of Prof, Charles Thomas, then Director of the Institue of Cornish Studies. The CCRA's funding came from the district and c*unty councils, and the Dept. of the Environment ("English" Heritage didn't exist then) and, each year, they had no idea if they'd still be in existence the following year.

My own archaeological credentials were known - I'd been made a Bard for archaeological services to Cornwall in 1981 - and, at that time, I was doing a lot of stuff on Radio Cornwall: the good old days when it had Cornish presenters, a Cornish director and Cornish content. I realised that Cornwall, one of the richest archaeological areas in Britain, was the only region not to have a permanent archaeological council department, so I started a radio campaign to try to shame Cornwall C*unty Council into taking on the CCRA as a permanent department.

To cut a long story short - it worked. The CCRA became the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, with Johnson heading it but, initially, it was still just two or three of them. Johnson was full of gratitude for what I'd done. If ever the Unit expanded, he promised, I'd get the first phone call, as he knew that I dearly wanted a professional archaeological career. Well, there's 30-odd of 'em now, and I'm still waiting for that phone call. I applied for a job there several times but wasn't even considered. Eventually, Cllr Hicks asked Johnson why I wasn't being considered, He replied that it was because of my public criticism of "English" Heritage's disgraceful record in Cornwall since their creation by Thatcher, and that, if they employed me, EH would withdraw funding - exactly as EH told Penwith Council would happen if I was to continue as Conservation Officer, and we all know what happened then.

Thanks for nothing, Nick. Just keep polishing that gong.

[Nige999]

No doubt took away with a nice retirement package as well.

[Marhak]

More than I did.

[Marhak]

Here's the story, Nige. "English" Heritage wrote to Penwith Council in the autumn of 1998, stating that they wanted a "properly qualified" Conservation Officer in that council (i.e. one meeting with their own approval) and intimating that funding would be pulled if I wasn't replaced. PDC's problem was how to go about that when I had done good service for 10 years (plus a further 14 with Carrick). A certain corrupt councillor who, in 1984, destroyed a Scheduled Ancient Monument,was reported by me for it, and allowed by EH to get away with it, owed them a favour accordingly. I took a long Xmas leave that year, and in the first post after Xmas, received a letter from PDC accepting a verbal resignation I'd never tendered. The date given for this fictitious event was jyst after I'd gone on leave. Moreover, they'd forced from a few staff members statements saying they'd witnessed this - which was a good trick as none of them were within miles of me at the time. One, bless him, was presented with a pre-prepared statement and asked to sign it, and refused, despite their threats. Didnt do me any good, though. I was out.

With UNISON, I went for Industrial Tribunal. Then the dirty tricks started. I won't bore you with those but, believe me, they were bloody nasty. Regardless to say, the same councillor was heavily involved. PDC did everything including lying through their teeth to delay that Tribunal, which was set for March. I was living only on my own savings and they weren't huge. UNISON weren't a fat lot of help, really. This dragged on until July 1999, by which time ACAS had got involved. PDC offered an out-of-court settlement of - £6000! Naturally I said no (expletives deleted). Trouble was, my bank balance was now down to just two figures and I hadn't a clue where the next mortgage payment was coming from. In the end, I had no choice but to agree to £12,000. My pension rights were now limited to that 24-year service. I tried to negotiate for a similar pension enjoyed by those who take early retirement, i.e. years made up to get them an enhanced pension. I've tried that several times and been refused.

The councillor? Well, as a long serving Tory councillor and prominent Freemason, he thought he was untouchable. I thought differently and knew his dishonesty would catch him out if I was patient. In 2002, I found out that he was bankrupt and, of course, the law demands that a bankrupt cannot hold public office. He was still a councillor and, indeed, a current Committee Chairman! His wife, also named as bankrupt, was still a serving magistrate!! I had a good idea who his main creditors would be so off I went to them, eventually finding one willing to give me copies of the relevant documents. Several copies were them made. One went to the Chief Exec. of the Council. Another to the Minster responsible for Local Government; the third to the Home Office. Him off the Council; her off the Bench. He's never been in politics since. F*ck not with Brother Marhak! Not that it did me a great deal of good. It felt good, though, and, at least, some justice was done.

I took a year's sabbatical, then started working for myself as an architectural designer but have never earned much since then. Just enough to get the bills paid and a few pints. Still, life could be a lot worse.

[Marhak]

I left out the best bit. PDC leaked the settlement to the Western Morning News and then accused me of breaching confidentiality! It could only have come from them - it certainly wasn't me. The WMN rang me out of the blue and asked if the settlement might be a 5-figure sum. I said they could assume what they liked, I wasn't going to tell them. So, they published that I'd settled for a 5-figure sum.

They then wouldn't pay unless I signed a total gagging order, so I'm not allowed to tell you any of this, or the above. They must have thought I came down with the last shower and wasn't aware that the Government had outlawed such gagging orders three weeks earlier. Bloody UNISON said nothing about that, but I knew. So I signed it - just to have proof that the Council were acting unlawfully. Of course, PDC no longer exists, so there's bugger-all it can do about this disclosure, even if the order was still legal (and I don't react to threats by cowering. I thought they'd learned that).

[Kerrow]

That's terrible Marhak.

It's terrible for you, but even more so because Penwith's archaeological heritage was denied somebody who was, perhaps, uniquely capable of looking after it. By co-incidence, I was shown last evening a huge (unpublished) document you compiled back in the early eighties, and was marvelling at the amount of work you have done, and the areas you have covered.

[Marhak]

Would that be: The Courtyard Houses of West Penwith - A Survey "(1982)? Badly needs updating and adding to. One day, I'll get round to it. That was all done in what's laughingly called my own time. Took four years. Long before I had a computer or even a word-processor. All the text on an ancient typewriter (I miss those gallons of Tippex I used to get through!).

With regard to the above, sh*t happens, I suppose. Comes of not being afraid to speak my mind, but I only do so because I give more than a damn about these things. Bloody but unbowed (bloody-minded, too, when the situation calls for it!). What do they say? Evil flourishes when good men stand by and do nothing. That's never been my bag, but you do pay for it.

[Kerrow]

Yes, it was the The Courtyard Houses of West Penwith. It's a huge amount of information on an important Cornish subject. I hope one day it does become available to the public.

[Nige999]

What an awful way to treat anyone. Marhak, I am surprised you can be so relaxed about it......

[Marhak]

To be honest, Nige, I am relaxed about it now - it's 12 years down the road - but I wasn't at the time, believe me. It's a bloody good job there wasn't a spare AK-47 hanging about!