Weekend Stubble

THE owner of a North Wales cottage immortalised by rock gods Led Zeppelin is pleading for the chance to retire in peace. Church in Wales Vicar John Dale has owned Bron-yr-Aur cottage in rural Gwynedd for the past 35 years and is planning to settle down there in the near future.... [But] the cottage has been inundated with fans, some of whom are hell bent on taking away a piece of memorabilia from the place where lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page penned their famous third album, Led Zeppelin III, back in 1970....

Rev Dale says some fans have broken into Bron-yr-Aur, taken photos of themselves in front of its now iconic fireplace, and then posted the pictures on the internet.... Another bizarre occurance involved the theft of a sizeable chunk of mortar from the cottage’s front wall – only for it to be returned to Rev Dale in the post a few days later.

“Obviously, the person’s conscience got the better of them,” said Rev Dale.