IN your edition dated April 23, David Deans in his article about Newport hotels stated “that the building (Westgate Hotel) still bears the scars of the Chartist uprising in 1839.” I believed that this myth had long been discredited, if only by you publishing two letters from me. The facts are that the building attacked by the Chartists was demolished in the 1850s and replaced by the existing building.
This building bears no resemblance to the old hotel, as artists’ impressions show.
Your property reporter made the same error a year or two ago and prompted me to write to you. Imagine my surprise when, on visiting my newsagent this morning, I saw a billboard referring to the two Newport hotels as “historic”, thus possibly creating a further myth.
Your reporters obviously do not read your letters page or establish the facts before rushing into print.
R B Williams, Lambert Close, Newport
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