He said a colleague told him the nature of the calls, and that “apparently we’re going to go straight through Dobby’s grave”.<\/p>\n
“I said ‘Dobby, who’s Dobby? I don’t know Dobby?’<\/p>\n
“I said ‘he’s a fictitious character in a fictitious book, the whole thing is fictitious what are you talking about?’<\/p>\n
“[The colleague] said ‘no it’s very, very serious’.”<\/p>\n
Ludlam said he then discussed with planners “exactly how to reroute the cable so we wouldn’t go anywhere close to Dobby’s grave”.<\/p>\n
He added: “A lot of people were very happy about that, and the project is now going [ahead] and Dobby’s happy.”<\/p>\n
The Bronze Age remains the cable went close to were mentioned in Pembrokeshire council planning documents, external<\/a> about the power link.<\/p>\n It said archaeological trenches dug near the route of the underground cable “contained the rim of an inverted pottery vessel whose fabric suggests a Bronze Age collared urn circa 1700-1500BC, typically associated with human burial”.<\/p>\n The cable diversion is not the first time Dobby’s grave has been saved.<\/p>\n In 2022 the National Trust agreed it could remain in place following a consultation, but urged visitors not to leave souvenirs.<\/p>\n