ON occasion I read in the Tavistock Times of the continued closure of the Old Folks’ Rest Room. The Times of January 7 is another such occasion and, once again, I am confused by what is written.

As far as I can understand, the land was gifted by the church following the demolition of the church standing on the corner of the plot.

In addition, the Old Folks’ Rest Room was built by public subscription. How then did Huntstrete Estate obtain a controlling interest?

If the land was gifted by the church, which individual, group of individuals or organisation was it gifted to?

Church land is often sold or gifted with restrictive covenants. If so in this case, a covenant may exist which restricts the land use to charitable purposes only.

If Tavistock Council was paying rent to Huntstrete, was this for the building which stood on land not owned by Huntstrete or was it for lease of the land, or both?

The gift of the land and the construction of the building were, it would appear, two separate events. Is the building now freehold?

It would seem to me that it would be a kind gesture if a local solicitor would carry out some pro-bono legal work to establish the exact legal status of this facility before the new committee tries to approach Hunstrete.

R Crispin

Yelverton