WHY did Worcester City Council buy back Pitchcroft from the various people to whom it had been sold a century or more earlier? That is the question that has been troubling me since this correspondence began.
When the Six Masters, executors to the will of Thomas Wyld who bequeathed Pitchcroft as "pasturage for 1,000 freemen of the city" sold off the land, using the proceeds for charitable purposes, they acted outside their terms of reference.
The sales were therefore unlawful and did not extinguish citizens' rights. Citizens were aware of this as their much protest showed.
It has since occurred to me that the affairs and responsibilities of the Six Masters may later have passed to the city council.
Does the council not now administer the name "Six Masters" as one of the Worcester Consolidated Municipal Charities? If so, that establishes the council as executor to Thomas Wyld's will.
It seems to me that Councillor Stephen Inman is going to have to carry out a lot more research before being able to justify leasing out the race track on Pitchcroft or the numerous clandestine attempts to monopolise it for racing.
JOHN HINTON,
Victoria Avenue, Worcester.
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