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The town map gets updated every few years. It shows the Georgian and Victorian parts of town, the more modern part is largely ignored.

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From my archive.

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This used to be a pub, I think it was a hotel before that and is now being turned into housing.

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The church sits in the centre of the town.

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MarkJacques

St Peter & St Paul is arguably the best Georgian church outside London and stands at the very heart of its community.

Blandford Forum, Dorset

Blandford Forum St Peter & St Paul

The typically austere exterior surmounted by tower and (newly restored) cupola contains an unexpectedly stunningly beautiful and peaceful interior. It is believed that there has been a church on this site at least since medieval times; the present building was erected following the town's devastation by fire in 1731.

This church was built on the site of an earlier church which was burnt, along with the rest of the town, in 1731. The work was carried out by local builders, William and John Bastard.

The timeless and seemingly unchanged interior, with its wooden box pews, is deceptive. Amongst other things those ingenious Victorians moved the apse back on wooden rollers to put in a chancel and choir stalls.

The Grade I listed organ by GP England, which legend has was originally built for the Chapel Royal in The Strand, has in its time been moved around the building.

It is believed that the pulpit was designed in 17th century by Sir Christopher Wren for the church of St. Antholin in the City of London.

You can also see a wonderfully carved Bailiff's Chair which was occupied by John Bastard in 1750 and 1752 and is still used by the current Mayor of Blandford. There is also graffiti on some of pew doors and other woodwork of the church, including an inscription by T Dobree who also painted his name on a beam in the cupola.

Recent restoration work to the tower and cupola included the rehanging of the Apprentice Bell in the cupola, which was used to alert apprentices to lunchtime and the end of the working day. It is possible to organise tours of the church and part way up the tower.

The church traces its history back to 1661 when after the Act of Uniformity, Revd William Alleine, who had been appointed to Blandford Parish Church in 1650 was forced to resign his living.

People have been worshipping in this beautiful place for over a thousand years, the church dates back to the 13th century and there is a real feeling of tranquillity and spirituality here standing on the bank of the River Stour.

Dating from the 11th century, St Mary's has an interesting collection of stained glass, well worthy of a visit.

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St Peter & St Paul is arguably the best Georgian church outside London and stands at the very heart of its community. Blandford Forum, Dorset Blandford Forum St Peter & St Paul The typically austere exterior surmounted by tower and (newly restored) cupola contains an unexpectedly stunningly beautiful and peaceful interior.

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"The answer to creation is to create. When theory reaches a stalemate things burn to begin".

The town had several of these paving stones commemorating the fire of 1731. At the moment they've been removed while new paving is being installed.

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This area was a stable yard

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The Town Centre, taken near to the gun shop

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The Town Centre, taken near to the gun shop

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Local Business - I think Badger are the main employer - something to research

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Local Business - I think Badger are the main employer - something to research

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Hall and Woodhouse have a massive impact not just on Blandford but also surrounding towns. In Blandford I think they are the major employer (possibly wrong as could be the army or perhaps Tesco?). Most of the pubs are Hall & Woodhouse and they make sizeable charitable contributions to local charities and schools.

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Every Badger beer is inspired by the beautiful Dorset countryside and expertly crafted in our independent, family-owned brewery using the finest ingredients. The result is a diverse and characterful range of beers, that's most definitely - anything but black and white.

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Badger Beers - Crafted in the heart of Dorset.

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Every Badger beer is inspired by the beautiful Dorset countryside and expertly crafted in our independent, family-owned brewery using the finest ingredients. The result is a diverse and characterful range of beers, that's most definitely - anything but black and white.

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Extract from my diary: "The outskirts (of town) are marked by the ring road, and there is no way I am walking on that. Last year one of the kids from Daniel’s year, Ollie, died on the ring road. He was hit by a car at midnight. His best friends decided to get a tattoo in his honour and they asked Daniel to design it for them.

“What are you going to design?" I asked.

“They want it to be about what he loved,” said Daniel.

“What was that?”

“Skateboarding and cannabis.”

I can’t imagine how that image will go, but within five minutes Daniel has a sketch made and now just has to perfect it so it will work as a tattoo.

“Do you know what happened?" I ask Daniel.

“Yeah, he was stoned and walked out in front of a car."

“Please don’t walk out in front of cars or try and cross main roads when you’re stoned” I plead. "

Because my room is at the top of the house I hear every accident that happens in town. The night that Ollie died I heard the emergency vehicles racing to the scene, as I did the night Ben died. The night Katrina was murdered I was walking by with the kids ten minutes before it happened. In those ways, the town is small. I know something bad has happened, and I wait to hear what it is.

https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/19473833.family-pay-tribute-teenager-died-blandford/

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Appealing for information, PC Mike Burt said that "shortly after the collision, the driver of the Vauxhall attempted to flag down a passing vehicle, but we have so far not been able to identify this car".

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Blandford boy, 17, dies after being struck by car on bypass

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Appealing for information, PC Mike Burt said that "shortly after the collision, the driver of the Vauxhall attempted to flag down a passing vehicle, but we have so far not been able to identify this car".

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A YOUNG man died and three others were seriously injured following a horrific head-on smash along one of the county's busiest roads.

The 19-year-old, named locally as Ben Andrews, was driving a red VW Golf with two passengers along the A354, just north of Blandford's Pimperne roundabout when the collision took place.

Tragically the Blandford man was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at Poole Hospital.

His passengers, an 18-year-old man and woman, were treated by paramedics at the scene and rushed to Poole Hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

Residents of nearby Letton Close were among the first to witness the aftermath of the accident, that happened along a straight section of the single lane 40mph road at 9.40pm on Monday evening.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: "I heard a tremendous crash and my first thought was that something must have fallen over in the house.

"Then we rushed outside and saw the cars. One of my other neighbours started directing the traffic and the fire crew and ambulance arrived really quickly.

"They do travel really fast along here and we often hear squealing brakes and tyres."

Officers quickly sealed off the area and the road remaining closed for six hours to enable ongoing investigations.

The woman passenger suffered a suspected broken pelvis while the male passenger sustained seat belt injuries.

Meanwhile, the driver of the other vehicle involved - a Citroen C4 - sustained serious injuries and was taken to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

A Dorset Police spokesman said: "Anyone who witnessed the collision or saw the vehicles prior to the collision are being asked to call Dorset Police on 101, quoting incident 407."

*A steady stream of shocked well-wishers placed floral tributes at the crash site yesterday and words of condolence were posted on social media websites.

One tribute at the scene, from Sammy, said: "I cannot believe this has happened. You will be missed by so many people. Take care up there. Sleep tight."

Another simply stated: "Ben, we will never forget you. Hugs and kisses."

* The 19-year-old Citroen driver, from Blandford, has been arrested on suspicion of motoring offences and released on bail.

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A YOUNG man died and three others were seriously injured following a horrific head-on smash along one of the county's busiest roads. The 19-year-old, named locally as Ben Andrews, was driving a red VW Golf with two passengers along the A354, just north of Blandford's Pimperne roundabout when the collision took place.

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The postcards all depict the built environment, but perhaps because the town is famous for it's Georgian architecture that's why people come here. Perhaps if some rural scenes were shown it might help? The Stour is important; I'm surprised it's not more prominent in the visual images of Blandford.

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From my archive

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The railway arches stand alone beside the River Stour as an echo of the railway in the middle of Stour Meadows. No-one is really sure what to do with them.

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by JAMES TOZER, Daily Mail

Last updated at 08:31 12 December 2005

The Army was fighting to avoid a second Deepcut-style bullying scandal yesterday after the deaths of two teenage recruits at a training base.

Krystle Cookson, 19, was found hanged at the Royal School of Signals camp in Blandford, Dorset, after complaining to her mother that she was being bullied.

Nine months later, 18-yearold Michael Williams was discovered slumped in the kitchens of his barracks with the cord from a blind wrapped around his neck.

Since then, two other teenage recruits at the base have taken overdoses and a third slit her wrists.

The Army insisted last night that the deaths were unconnected and that an investigation had found no evidence of bullying at the base.

But the dead recruits' parents said more could have been done to prevent their deaths.

The incidents follow widespread allegations of bullying and intimidation within the armed forces, sparked by the deaths of four young recruits at Deepcut barracks in Surrey. They also follow outrage at video footage, released last month, of a Royal Marine recruit being beaten unconscious in a brutal initiation ceremony at Bickleigh Barracks, near Plymouth.

Signaller Cookson, described as an outstanding young soldier, had been on a night out to celebrate being promoted to lance corporal before she was found hanged from a door handle with her Army tie in May 2004.

Yesterday her mother Patricia, from Middlesbrough, revealed that her daughter had complained of being bullied by other soldiers but had not reported it for fear of being branded a troublemaker.

'I can't believe that nobody did anything wrong,' said Mrs Cookson, 49. 'Krystle was just not the type to take her own life. She was a sporty, independent woman who was actually doing very well.'

Calling for a public inquiry into bullying in the armed forces, she added: 'This was not examined enough.'

Signaller Williams, described as outgoing and enormously popular, was found dead in February this year after a night out drinking following an argument with his girlfriend.

His mother Diane Dahle, from Llanelli, South Wales, believes his death was the result of a drunken prank and he was not being bullied. But she claims the Army should have done more to stop him binge-drinking.

'I never saw him upset or depressed about anything,' she said. 'He was always such a positive and joyful person.' Both deaths were investigated by Dorset police and the coroner, who returned open verdicts, saying there was no clear evidence that either had committed suicide.

But Mrs Cookson said police failed to speak to her about the bullying her daughter was suffering and claimed the Army advised her not to attend the inquest.

Of the three other cases of self-harm, the commanding officer said none was a serious suicide attempt and all three had since left the Army.

Camp commandant Brigadier John Terrington said everyone at the base had been left 'dumbfounded and gutted' by the deaths but insisted they were not linked to each other or to bullying.

'Why this happened to these two young people we can't tell you,' he said.

The Deepcut families are demanding a public inquiry after some claimed their children, who died from gunshot wounds, were murdered.

An Army spokesman said yesterday: 'Blandford is not "another Deepcut" - there was no involvement of firearms or third parties, and no evidence of bullying has been found during the in-depth investigations into both cases.'

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Another Deepcut feared as two die at Army base

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The Army was fighting to avoid a second Deepcut-style bullying scandal yesterday after the deaths of two teenage recruits at a training base. One of the recruits had earlier complained to her mother that she was being bullied.

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Access to the top of the Railway Arches
We want you to be safe when you access the top of the arches. The gate will therefore be open for access to the top of the arches between the hours of 9:00am and 2:30pm, seven days a week.
Please take care on the staircase, which may be slippery when wet.
The gate may be locked during severe weather conditions without prior notice.
Please take the time to view the interpretation panels underneath the arches.
Photos of the Railway Arches, December 2020

The project was funded by LEADER, and part funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and consisted of:

- Removal of soil and provision of drainage.
- Provision of a staircase to the track bed, along with barriers.
- Provision of information boards, explaining the history of the railway and the natural environment of the meadows.

More information on the project can be found beneath the audio clips.

Click on the links below to view the four interpretation panels:

Mural Board
The Railway comes to Blandford
The Rise & Demise of Blandford's Railway
Flora and Fauna of the Langton & Stour Meadows

An audio history of Blandford's Railway in five parts. Narrated by Hans Baker, written by Pippa Crabbe and edited by Charlie Stapley. The Express Galop by Charles D'Albert 1855 played by Artis Wodehouse 2014 The Bronx NY.

The Railway comes to Blandford

https://blandfordforum-tc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Audio-1-The-Railway-Comes-to-Blandford.mp3

The first trains

https://blandfordforum-tc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Audio-2-The-first-trains.mp3

Crossing the Stour to Blandford, "Hail the Conquering Hero" and cheering spectators performed by The Stour Valley Band

https://blandfordforum-tc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Audio-3.-Crossing-the-Stour-SVB-version.mp3

The rise of Blandford's Railway

https://blandfordforum-tc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Audio-4.-The-Rise-of-Blandfords-Railway.mp3

The Demise of the Railway

https://blandfordforum-tc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Audio-5.The-Demise-of-the-Railway.mp3

Click on the images below to listen to the relevant audio.
The slow train - (Flanders & Swann), performed by Dan Baker: Bob Downes and the signal lamp: Bob Downes and the jumping coal train: Bob Downes and the Dorset Horn Ram: Deborah Thompson and the Pines Express: Phil Easton's brief encounter: Phil Easton's Train at Durweston: Phil Easton's Last Day of Steam: Terry Cooper Waves Goodbye:
David Rake and the F.A. Cup Semi-Final

For over 100 years the flood arches on Langton Meadows carried the Somerset & Dorset railway over the biodiversity rich Stour flood plain. When the railway closed, most of the infrastructure was demolished, but the arches were left standing, an unlisted but much-loved asset and memorial to the town's Victorian industrial heritage. When North Dorset District Council considered demolishing them, public opinion in opposition resulted in Blandford Forum Town Council (BFTC) seeking a long-term lease for the structure so that it could be preserved.

Over the last five years, the Blandford Railway Arches Trust (BRAT), set up nine years ago to focus on bringing life to the structure, has worked in partnership with BFTC towards the restoration, maintenance and enhancement of the arches and of Langton/Stour Meadows, as a venue for outdoor events for the general public in Blandford and site of environmental interest, which thanks to its management by Dorset Countryside Rangers has Green Flag status. In 2013 BRAT was assisted by Dorset Countryside Rangers and volunteers in removing and cutting back vegetation which had grown over the years. Restoration work at a cost of £18,000 was requested by BRAT and funded by BFTC in 2015 to repair the damaged parapet and repair and repoint the brickwork.

BRAT are committed to the restoration and re-use of the flood arches on Langton Meadows, one of the last remaining structures which formed part of the railway, so much of which was destroyed in the years following its closure, but which has been given new life through the development of the North Dorset Trailway.

BRAT has encouraged the use of the site as a venue for plays, concerts, and public events. They recently held a Jazz evening at the arches, which was a huge success in showing how attractive the venue is for such events. They would like to continue to be able to offer the Arches as a site for community events, activities and workshops (such as wildlife identification, artwork, archaeological activities, etc).

The popularity of this site, the affection people have for 'railwayana', and the enthusiasm for retaining and conserving this structure is what has led BRAT, along with BFTC, to apply for and obtain planning permission to make the structure useable and to create an even more attractive venue for the town. In May 2017, planning permission was approved for the introduction of a stairway to the top of the structure and in June 2019 BRAT/BFTC secured £46,606.20 LEADER funding to enable the project to proceed, part funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

This project conserves and protects the Blandford Railway Arches, re-inventing the use of an historically significant structure on the North Dorset Trailway and enhancing its interest to the community and visitors as an event venue. The Arches are a rare reminder of our industrial railway past and a much-photographed landmark in their own right.

The work started on the railway arches in May 2019 and has now been completed.

The location near Langton Car Park makes the Arches a much-needed alternative and easily accessible venue. More visitors staying longer and attending events will purchase refreshments and accommodation locally, supporting other businesses rather than competing against them.
* The funds are being used to conserve and enhance a local historically and culturally significant structure and to impress upon local visitors and tourists the importance of the history of that structure to the development of the area.
* It will grow the wider rural economy by having created an attractive area for events, picnicking, education and community events, which will bring tourists into the area. It also provides an alternative to expensive street closures for community events, allowing the community to host more and larger events, bringing people into the area and boosting trade in B&B's, hotels, restaurants, cafes, pubs and shops. It also enhances and encourages use of the Trailway, of which the arches are a part.
* It fosters a sense of local identity through Interpretation Panels and events designed to highlight the importance of Blandford's railway history and of the natural environment of the meadows. Access to the top of the structure allows the many interested in railway history a better understanding of its role and creates a viewing platform to improve the visitor experience of the natural environment of the meadows, which have been awarded Green Flag status. The Interpretation Panels promote an understanding of the railway history and special habitat in which the Arches sit. The project creates a space for Wildlife Groups, Artists and Photographers to view the Stour Meadow and its flora and fauna.
* It has created a new use for these railway structures, structures that will probably never be incorporated back into their original use as a crossing over the Stour Meadows, and ensures that the Arches will continue to be protected against destruction, which they have been threatened with in the past. This project enhances the current and future use of the Arches and preserve this important part of our industrial heritage.

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Access to the top of the Railway Arches We want you to be safe when you access the top of the arches. The gate will therefore be open for access to the top of the arches between the hours of 9:00am and 2:30pm, seven days a week.

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I was in town walking past the hairdressers about 10 minutes before Katrina was murdered. I used to take the kids to Katrina. She was funny and kind, she told me about fried Mars Bars being an actual thing that she had went she visited family in Scotland (she had quite an accent). She fought back - residents in Orchard Street had called an ambulance for a man who had stab wounds.

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Prosecuting barrister Nigel Lickley QC described Thomas as having a "volatile" relationship with Ms O'Hara, with her trying to leave him several times. Each time he persuaded her to come back by promising to leave his wife or by threatening to harm himself.

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Ex-lover jailed for Blandford hairdresser murder

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Prosecuting barrister Nigel Lickley QC described Thomas as having a "volatile" relationship with Ms O'Hara, with her trying to leave him several times. Each time he persuaded her to come back by promising to leave his wife or by threatening to harm himself.

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L: View of St Peter's and St Paul's parish church from River Stour, R: Town Pump installed by Bastard Brother's after Fire (updated)

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Hall & Woodhouse, Blandford

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Cinema / Corn Exchange Development Cancelled

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Cinema / Corn Exchange Development Cancelled

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A decision to abandon a multi-million regeneration scheme for Blandford Corn Exchange has been welcomed by campaigners fighting to save the historic building's stage.

Blandford Town Council announced it would drop the major refurbishment for which National Lottery funding was being sought. It stated it would instead focus on improvements that are under way and others that could be achieved with funding that is already available.

Campaigners formed a group this summer to retain the grade 1 listed building's stage that was set to go as part of the approved scheme.

Sam James of Forum Drama, the town's community theatre group, and is spearheading the campaign, said: "This is fantastic news. The campaign team looks forward to being able to work with the council and help move this project in the right direction.

"We are currently working hard on researching solutions to current issues like the acoustics and the sky lighting."

Planning permission for the major refurbishment, originally submitted in 2012, has now expired.

It included a new kitchen and toilets, replacement of the current proscenium arch with a movable stage and seating, a new staircase and lift, glazing of the Shambles and extension of the council offices and community room at the rear.

A separate project to repair the façade and roof has been underway since May, and is budgeted to cost up to £93,000, with half coming from S106 funding from North Dorset District Council.

A successful bid has also been made for £55,000 of S106 funding for enhancement to the Corn Exchange for remodelling the existing kitchen area, together with exterior lighting, electrics in the town hall which has no power points, new round tables for parties and dinners and stage lighting.

The original proposals, which included the installation of a staircase and lift to the Town Hall on the first floor and extending the council offices and community room at the rear, had an initial price tag of £5 million which subsequently rose to £9 million because of Heritage Lottery commitments to give heritage aspects more prominence with extra staffing and fund five years of management and maintenance.

More than £60,000, much of it S106 funding, has been spent on the Corn Exchange in the last ten years, for work often described as urgent, in addition to salaries and fees for the project itself.

The refurbishment of the Corn Exchange complex, including the Town Hall, Council Chamber and Shambles dating from the 18th century, has been on the council's agenda since the mid-1990s, when a £3m scheme was put forward to develop a cinema, conference and meeting rooms. Money set aside for that project was diverted to the provision of a skate park and in 2002 it was decided not to pursue the creation of a dedicated cinema but to consider instead the best multi-purpose building possible.

The Town Council announcement stated: "The current plan for the Corn Exchange regeneration cannot be continued because of a combination of rising costs in an era of sustained austerity and the uncertainty of acquiring external funding, notably from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

"In addition, there have been difficulties in securing the necessary permissions and licenses, required by HLF before the release of funds. Without the certainty of this external funding the plan for the regeneration, radical and bold in its inception and scope, cannot be fulfilled.

"The Town Council is the custodian of the Corn Exchange for the people of Blandford Forum. The councillors and officers are mindful of the need to undertake repairs and restoration of this beautiful building, as required and in accordance with Listed Building Consent, so that it remains our principal venue and a legacy we can pass on to future generations.

"Doing nothing is simply not an option for this grade 1 listed building."

Nicci Brown

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Campaigners welcome end of Blandford Corn Exchange plan

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A decision to abandon a multi-million regeneration scheme for Blandford Corn Exchange has been welcomed by campaigners fighting to save the historic building's stage. Blandford Town Council announced it would drop the major refurbishment for which National Lottery funding was being sought.

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Blandford Forum Crime and Safety Statistics

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Did you know that Blandford Forum is among the top 10 safest small towns in Dorset? If you’re looking at Blandford Forum’s crime and safety history, you must read this before making an informed decision.

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All Blandford Fashion Museum apart from bottom left which is the Town Museum

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My son sent me this. He was pissed off enough to have saved the article.

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Today I went to the housing estate to see benches my 18 year old son was outraged about. (The council had been given £52,000 for public art).

There are two benches which tell the story of the town, beginning with its location on the Stour, the Celts, Badbury Rings, The Romans, and through to the fire on one bench. The second begins with the Royal Signals coming to the area in the 1960s (although there's been a military presence here since the 1600s) and covers lace and button making and the Bastard Brothers who rebuilt the town, ending in the return of otters to the River Stour.

The benches are covered by a large canopy and sit in the green space in front of the housing development. I had a drive around the development and got totally lost. It has a feel of Poundbury, the development in Dorchester that Prince Charles is behind. There's a wider variety of house styles here, and it's not an unattractive place, but it's very difficult to navigate as there's a lot of repetition, even in the more unusual architectural details.

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Blandford Postcard 3 from Tourist Information Centre

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Blandford Postcard 3 from Tourist Information Centre

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Top L: Crown Hotel, RHS: St Peter's and St Paul's Parish Church, B: Hall & Woodhouse Brewery Visitor Centre. I'm collecting visual representations of Blandford but my printer doesn't work so it'll have to be here!

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The domination of the church over the town. They think they have an automatic right to use every singe event to shove religion down the throats of the locals.

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This is from Stour Meadows, much of which is owned by the brewery who discharge waste into the river via pipes that run underneath the meadow. There are often people near this spot with huge cameras hoping to spot otters and kingfishers.

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In France, the Palace of Versailles near Paris had a maze, Hampton Court in London had a maze and at one time so did Pimperne. It could be found where Blandford Cemetery is today, an area that was once part of Pimperne. In Mazes and Labrynths , William Henry Mathews (1922) wrote: ‘At Pimperne, not far from Blandford, there was formerly a maze of unique design (Fig.63). John Aubrey writing in 1686 says it was “much used by the young people in holydays and by ye school-boies.” The maze was destroyed by the plough in 1730.’ Pimperne’s Maze was also known as a ‘ Troy-Town’ or ‘ miz-maze’ . In popular legend, the walls of Troy were constructed in such a confusing manner that an enemy who entered would be unable to find his way out. While an old West Country expression, ‘I was in a miz-maze’ meant to be in a state of confusion. ‘ Masen ’ was an old English word and meant to puzzle. The village maze had small earth ridges about one metre high. It covered about an acre of ground with intricat

In 1887 , combative Blandford Express newspaper man, James Bartlett was in court after claiming that school mistress, Elizabeth Cumming had damaged school property before leaving for another job in London. He lost the case and had to pay forty pounds in damages together with costs.            Trains on the Somerset & Dorset railway line were held up by heavy snow falls and men had to go in front of the engines to clear the snow. In 1888 , the Cottage Hospital moved to its current location. In 1890 , Chamen & Richards wine merchants offered twenty one shilling (£1.05) Christmas hampers for sale consisting of two bottles of ‘ good wine’ and a selection of five bottles of ‘good spirits’ namely from port, sherry, brandy, rum, gin, and Irish & Scotch whisky. In 1891 , surgeon dentist Mr C Morgan, who worked in the Market Place, charged two shillings & sixpence (12.5p ) for a ‘ painless’ tooth extraction and one shilling (5p) for a child’s ‘ temporary tooth’ . Rai

Unlike Glasgow or Liverpool, Dorset is not particularly well-known for producing comedians. Yet the county did produce the one and only Billy Burden. A theatre critic once wrote of Billy Burden: ‘There is a touch of the Chaplin about this artist…his ability to make an audience laugh at him one moment and in the next bring a lump to the throat. He falls about, acts “goofish”, becomes a fellow to pity, changes to slapstick…and then hushes our laughter by singing a serious song in a rich baritone voice.’ Born in Wimborne in June 1914, comedian and actor, William ‘Billy’ George Burden cornered the market in playing country bumpkins. His yokel character provided him with steady work appearing in pantomimes, summer variety shows and on the radio and television. Billy Burden regularly appeared in such shows as Workers’ Playtime, the Good Old Days, Hi-de-Hi and Are You Being Served? Billy Burden was also a fine pianist. In a career lasting over 50 years, he regularly performed wearing

Twenty-year-old Scottish seaman, Robert Banks (right) from Greenock arrived at Blandford Station in December 1914. The young recruit slowly made his way up the muddy unmade track connecting the town with the newly opened Blandford Naval Camp. Upon the outbreak of World War I, he had volunteered with thousands of others to join the Royal Navy. This meant leaving his marine engineering job in Glasgow’s River Clyde shipyards. Robert Banks was joining the Anson Battalion of the newly formed Royal Naval Division. Another recruit was his long standing pal, Henry Short (left) who was a trumpeter.  As a break from training, the Mayor of Lyme Regis, Alban Woodruffe invited the Battalion to spend time at the seaside in early February 1915. Local resident, Mrs Emmett invited Robert to stay with her. Before leaving Lyme Regis, the Mayor gave the Battalion this message: ‘We hope you will take away pleasant memories of your short visit here and we wish you God-speed and all good luck.’ Upon retu

Crown Hotel, Blandford is reckoned to be one of Dorset’s oldest hostelries. Yet its most tragic day, during a long history, must surely be when a young chimney sweep lost his life. The chimney sweep, who was just a child, suffocated and was burnt to death in a Crown Hotel chimney which had been alight a little while before. ‘His cries were dreadful and no-one could give assistance. Part of the chimney was taken down before he was got out.’ (Salisbury & Winchester Gazette 27th March 1780) The lad had gone up one chimney and attempting to go down another had become stuck. At the time children were used to climb up chimneys to clean out soot deposits. With hands and knees, they would shimmy up narrow dark flue spaces packed thick with soot and debris. After the 1731 Great Fire of Blandford it was realised that it was important to sweep chimneys regularly while many rebuilt houses had narrower ones. Smaller chimneys and complicated flues were a potential death trap for children. The sw

In 1874 , Londoner, John Lewis Marsh acquired the Kings’ Arms public house and then founded the adjacent Blandford Brewery. The Somerset & Dorset Railway announced it would introduce a new third class of travel in addition to its existing first and second class. In 1878 , Reverend Charles Henry Fynes-Clinton bought the Black Bear public house in Salisbury Street and converted it into the British Workmen Coffee Rooms. The building also housed the Temperance Hotel. Fynes-Clinton was largely responsible also for getting Blandford Church extended in 1895. He was Blandford’s rector from 1877-1913. In 1880 , Blandford station was using a horse for wagon shunting duties. In 1881 , a fire broke out in Shapwick making 80 residents homeless. It started on a shed‘s thatch roof at lunchtime with a strong wind blowing.  Blandford Workhouse was very much a family business. John Turner was the workhouse master, his wife, Mary was the matron and his daughter, Hannah was the school mistres

In the 1700s, travelling along Dorset’s roads was a precarious pastime. One day in September 1756, accompanied by his servant, an Oxford clergyman was to discover these perils at a cost. As he was making his way from Blandford towards Shaftesbury, the Reverend Collins was ordered to halt and ‘ stand & deliver’ by two mounted highwaymen. One spoke with a Welsh accent while the other had an olive-skinned Latin look about him. However, the two highwaymen presented a somewhat bizarre sight as one was riding an extremely tired old nag. As they were both holding a blunderbuss gun, the cautious clergyman reflected but then wisely decided to obey. The unfortunate ecclesiastic was then robbed of his horse, cloak and eight guineas. The highwayman, whose transport had been much improved, presented the Reverend Collins with his old nag enabling the unfortunate clergyman to continue on his way. Emboldened by their success, the two robbers decided to make their way to a public house in Pi

WHO’S AFEAR’D is not just the motto on the Dorset Coat of Arms but also the name of a Spitfire which crashed near Meopham, Kent on 23 rd June 1942. This fighter aircraft had been funded by local contributions from Blandford & Sturminster Newton district people and paid for in a manner which today would be called crowd funding. Many years later, Graeme Sinden was excavating for a swimming pool in his back garden near Camer Park, Meopham when he came across aircraft wreckage. Experts were called in and the plane was identified as Spitfire WHO’S AFEAR’D. (P8531) It had been built at an aircraft factory in Castle Bromwich in the Midlands. In September 1940, Shroton had raised twenty six pounds for the Blandford & District Spitfire Fighting Fund. The next month, Child Okeford held a concert in the packed village hall and sent in seven pounds. A Winterborne Whitechurch Dance in November 1940 raised eight pounds, two shillings & sixpence (£8.12) while a Winterborne Stickland So

In 1863 , Blandford railway station opened on 21 st September when a line that previously ended in Blandford St Mary was brought into the town. Led by the owner of the Crown Hotel, Robert Eyers the Blandford Town Band won the National Brass Band Championship held at the Crystal Palace. There were four Hunt brothers in the Band. On returning to Blandford, they were met by the Rifle Volunteers and marched around the town amidst cheering crowds. After the railway station was opened, seven new inns were built in the town. Reverend William Barnes lectured on Dorset dialect to the Blandford Literacy & Scientific Institution. In 1864 , music hall star in the USA and Britain, Samuel Cowell died in his East Street lodgings and was buried in Blandford Cemetery. He had twice performed before Queen Victoria at Windsor and also before the US President yet died a bankrupt. A charity concert was organised to raise money to pay for his gravestone.  A horse drawn coach from the Crown Hotel

If you were looking to get away at Easter in 1929, there were plenty of cheap railway excursion tickets on offer from Blandford Station. For six shillings (30p) you could buy a cheap day return to Lyme Regis or Seaton while for just two shillings (10p) you could spend a day in Bournemouth or go to the Steeplechase Meeting at Wincanton. On Easter Monday, you could travel to Yeovil and watch the home team take on Bath City in football’s Southern League at the Huish Park. (Yeovil won 3-1) Following Saturday, the Southern Railway Company was running a football special to London to watch Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic play Crystal Palace at Selhurst in a Third Division (South) match. Claiming, ‘ it’s quicker by rail’ , and leaving Bournemouth Central at 10.00am, the return fare to Selhurst was six shillings & sixpence (32p). The football special was advertised to have both corridors and a restaurant car. For those wanting to spend more time in the capital, there was a late retu

Cumberland Clark (1862-1941 ), the ‘ Bard of Bournemouth’ , is reckoned by many to be England’s worst poet. ‘The Bournemouth air is toney It bucks you up, and fills you out, if Thin as macaroni.’ ‘To learn about the Milk Supply, I nosed about with stealth. Reports I found, were published by the Officer of Health. The cowsheds and the dairies are inspected, you may read And authorities assert that they are very fine indeed.’ ‘That beautiful creature called Kate I met near Kensington Gate. She’d a costume like Eve’s Minus stockings and sleeves But otherwise quite up to date.’ ‘If you go to the Boscombe Arcade No excitement you’ll meet I’m afraid. You won’t find the place is a tax on your strength Four hundred and forty three feet is its length. You walk to and fro with a dignified air: Then you walk fro and to, or you sit on a chair; And there isn’t much else you can do when you’re there.’ ‘Let me say a few words on the Square From which you can get anywhere. A well-designed cent

While Florence Nightingale may be regarded as the pioneer of modern nursing a now almost forgotten Dorset cleric played a not insignificant role. Reverend Sydney Godolphin Osborne from Durweston travelled out to Turkey, at his own expense, to witness the appalling conditions in a British military hospital in Scutari, Constantinople. This was during the Crimean War (1853-56) when the British, French & Turks were fighting the Russians. He found soldiers wounded and dying in horrifying conditions. There were rats and lice in the hospital which was located close to a cesspit. He observed men lying in bed with dysentery or with open sores who had not had a change in linen for months. It is reckoned for every British soldier who lost his life in battle there were seven who died due to disease. He wrote: ‘I sought the truth and took my own way to arrive at it. Whether that truth would please or displease the public or the Government was to me a matter of indifference.’ Osborne spe

Blandford railway station opened in 1863 when a line that previously had ended at Blandford St Mary was brought into the town. After just over 100 years of service Blandford station was closed to passengers in March 1966 and soon after for goods traffic. Blandford station is remembered by songwriters, Flanders & Swann in their eulogy to the many quaintly named stations closed by the notorious Dr Beeching’s axe. Slow Train 'No more will I go to Blandford Forum and Mortehoe, On the slow train to Midsomer  Norton and Mumby Row. No churns, no porters, no cat on a seat At Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Chester-le-Street. We won't be meeting again on the slow train.' Blandford Station was one of the largest stations on the Somerset & Dorset line and was brick built with canopies on both platforms. These platforms were connected by a subway. There was also a goods yard, a corn store, landing docks and a seven ton crane. First station to the north of the town on a single track wa

In 1855 , Wimborne born Robert Eyers, a fine musician with many contacts in the musical world, took over the Crown Hotel. He would later also run the Greyhound Inn and in 1883 would become Blandford’s Mayor.         Blandford Cemetery opened. A dispute arose between the Mayor and the town’s inhabitants and the Bishop of Salisbury concerning the cemetery consecration. The Bishop insisted a communion table be placed in the cemetery to which the town objected.           Author, Charles Kingsley who was also Curate at Pimperne wrote ‘ Westward Ho’ . In 1858, Blandford Bank suspended payments with liabilities of £48,792 and assets of only £18,167. The Corn Exchange was built costing £645. In 1859, local newspaper, the Blandford Express was first published by editor, James Bartlett. It continued to appear until 1895. Tickets for the celebratory Corn Exchange opening luncheon cost three shilling & sixpence (17p) while the evening Ball & Supper cost seven shillings and sixpence (37

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In France, the Palace of Versailles near Paris had a maze, Hampton Court in London had a maze and at one time so did Pimperne. It could be found where Blandford Cemetery is today, an area that was once part of Pimperne. In Mazes and Labrynths , William Henry Mathews (1922) wrote: ’At Pimperne, not f…

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The Great Fire of Blandford in 1731 destroyed most of the town. Michael Le Bas looks back at the disaster and describes how the town rose ‘like the Phoenix from its Ashes’.

Published in March ’09

The Greyhound Inn, built by the Bastard brothers in 1734 as part of their re-building project

Any mention of ‘The Great Fire’ immediately brings to mind the Great Fire of London in 1666 but for many in Dorset, it means the Great Fire of Blandford in 1731. That fire burnt out almost 90% of the town. At the time it was considered rather extreme divine retribution. The current smallpox epidemic was bad enough.

Town fires in Dorset were not unusual, with the abundance of thatch being blamed. In a period of only a few years, the Dorset towns of Sturminster Newton (1730), Beaminster (1741), Puddletown (1753) and Wareham (1762) all had major fires running to thousands of pounds damage, but rarely did the event hit the London newspapers.

The story inscribed in stone at the foot of the memorial

Blandford was fortunate in having wealthy landowners close by, e.g. Portman, Banks and Drax. With their connections, Londoners soon learnt of the Blandford fire, and the London papers described it as a national disaster. The King, Queen and Prince of Wales responded by giving £1300, and charity-in-aid performances were given in the Drury Lane Theatre.

An Act of Parliament followed in 1732 decreeing that Blandford should be re-built in brick and tile, and that signs of re-building must appear within four years of the Act, else Commissioners were empowered to allocate the property elsewhere as they saw fit. The Commissioners were all local men, including George Dodington, Sir William Nappier, Sir William Chapple, Sir James Thornhill, George Chaffin, Edmund Pleydell, William Portman, Henry Drax, Richard Bingham, John Banks and Walter Ridout, any five of whom could adjudicate where there were disputes of land ownership or on financial altercations.

This model in Blandford Museum shows the town as it was at the time of the fire. The tallow chandler’s shop, where the fire began, is the roofless house on the left where the road forks. It is now the Kings Arms.

The fire began at 2 pm on Friday 4 June 1731 in a soap boiler’s (tallow chandlers) workshop on the corner of White Cliff Mill Street and Bryanston Street. A letter written on 12 June 1731 and recently spotted in the Dorset History Centre (ref: D/PIT/L23) says ‘it was occasioned by the soap boyler’s apprentice making too great a fire under a furnace of boyling soap and as he endeavoured to rake part of the fewel at the furnace mouth, set fire to other furzes in the same room and in the space of an hour spread into different parts of the town with such fury that several of the poor workers, who were labouring to putt this fire out where it first began, had their own houses consumed before they gott home’. Over 400 families lost their homes. Sparks flew such that the villages of Blandford St Mary and Bryanston across the River Stour were also largely burnt out.

The Kings Arms now occupies the site where the fire began and it carries a blue plaque to commemorate that terrible event. The events of the fire are laid out in a book by the Rev. Malachi Blake, who had been the Dissenting Minister in Blandford since 1716 and who experienced the loss of his home and his church. He records that it was hot summer’s day and the fire spread rapidly, fanned by the wind. By seven o’clock in the evening the fire had burnt itself out, leaving only a few brick-built houses on the outskirts that were roofed with tiles, including the Old House, the Ryves Almshouses, Park House and Dale House. The cellars under many burnt houses also remained. Most of East Street also survived, as it had been recently re-built in brick and tile after a fire there in 1713.

This monument in the market place was erected by John Bastard in 1760 ‘In grateful Acknowledgement of the DIVINE MERCY which has since raised this Town, like the Phoenix from its Ashes, to its present beautiful and flourishing State’

The parish church in the middle of town still stood, and into it had been gathered all the church records and items of value for safe-keeping. Being stone-built and having a lead-sheeted roof, it was considered a safe haven, and normally churches did not burn down in the event of town fires. However, minor fires did break out around the roof and were soon extinguished. By two o’clock in the morning hope was lost when fire was seen in the roof above the nave. Without ladders to reach the outbreak, all the fire engines, ladders and fire buckets having been consumed by fire elsewhere in the town, the fire spread, melting the lead above, and people had to run for their lives as molten lead cascaded down together with the stonework.

In modern parlance, the fire was a fire-storm. It was not so much individual houses burning but whole streets burning. Malachi Blake described attempts by certain gentlemen to reach their houses to rescue the elderly and infirm, but being driven back by smoke and flame right across the street. One case is described of an old lady emerging from the smoke crying for help and a gentleman saying ‘Catch hold of my coat tails, for we have to run’. He ran but she could not hold on, fell and died. Blake’s descriptions over some pages make harrowing reading.

Despite the terror, only twelve people died that day, but this is a conservative estimate as all church registers were destroyed in the fire. However, ten burnt victims, all named, were buried following the fire with two further burnt or missing. There is the popular story that many orphans were created and were given the surname Blandford, but this is not true. Malachi Blake states quite clearly that all children ‘lost’ on the day were safely restored to their parents.

The brothers John and William, sons of Thomas Bastard, an accomplished builder in town, were appointed to cost the fire damage for insurance purposes. That totalled £86,882 13s 3½d, with their own claim coming to £3,709 10s 4d. Being established architects, they designed and re-built the church at a cost of £3092. It is one of the few Georgian churches in England outside London and worth a visit. Its lofty nave is flanked by twelve giant Portland stone columns with Ionic capitals that carry an entablature taking the eye from the entrance to the altar. By 1739 it was re-opened for worship but the churchwarden’s accounts tell us that minor works such as glazing continued for some time. The spire planned for the tower never materialised, owing to lack of funds. Instead an iconic cupola was added in 1758, much to their chagrin. The brothers also built the Town Hall by 1733 (for £197), seemingly in concert with Sir James Thornhill, the Greyhound Inn by 1734 (£785), and their own flamboyant house (opposite the church) for £704.

The medieval road pattern was retained. The 1732 Act of Parliament decreed that Salisbury Street and East Street be widened by taking in land from houses, also that the Market Place be cleared of buildings and the Town Hall re-sited to its north side, displacing northwards the vicarage and the former Grammar School, now Old Bank House, to create a larger churchyard. The result is a very fine Georgian town centre; Pevsner said ‘hardly any other town in England can be compared with it’. Tours of the town are organised by the Blandford and District Civic Society in the summer months, and can be booked via the Blandford Information Centre.

The story of the Great Fire is encapsulated by the inscription in the Purbeck paving stones in front of the Town Hall in the Market Place, which reads ‘Recipe for regeneration: take one careless tallow chandler and two ingenious Bastards’, words created by the Blandford poetry group for the Millennium project.

The Rev. Malachi Blake’s account of the great fire, published in 1736, also includes rather a fiery sermon directed at the townsfolk

The Fire was also commemorated by the Dorset composer William Knapp, famous for the hymn tune ‘Wareham’, which is still sung in churches today. In 1738 he included in his A New Sett of Psalm-tunes and Anthems a choral piece using the text of Psalm 18 (‘In my trouble I call’d upon the Lord and complained unto my God’). The title page explains that ‘this Anthem was composed for the Use of the People of Blandford on the 4th of June, being the Day that Town was destroyed by Fire’ and the words of the text go on to point out that ‘there went a Smoke out in his Presence, and a consuming Fire out of his Mouth, so that Coals were kindled.’ It has not been sung in Blandford in living memory and it is possible that it never has been – past rectors had very strong views on what music could be performed in the church. A copy of the music has been discovered recently, however, so perhaps the Blandford Fire Anthem will receive its world première soon.

[Michael Le Bas is Deputy Curator at the Blandford Town Museum]

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When Blandford Burnt | Dorset Life - The Dorset Magazine

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The Simple Life, Family Relocate to Blandford

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The Simple Life, Family Relocate to Blandford

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Symonds & Sampson Blandford Forum - The Simple Life

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Blessing or curse? Not sure. I don't like it, some people love it.

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The Great Dorset Steam Fair, originally known as the Great Working of Steam Engines is set on Everley Hill. Since 2010 the fair is called the National Heritage Show. The annual show features steam-powered machinery and equipment, looking at traditional farming techniques and vintage equipment. The event runs for five days after the August bank holiday. Founded by Michael Oliver in 1969, the show is now run by his son Martin.

With over 200,000 visitors, there can be up to 30,000 people on site at Tarrant Hinton at any one time. Traction engines, steam rollers and farming equipment sit alongside vintage cars, shire horses and a fun fair. The Dorset Sound Festival started in 2008 and includes five stages catering for different musical tastes. The fair has set and broken its own record for the number of vintage steam rollers in a procession travelling over a newly built section of road. The number is now 103 steam rollers, workers at the fair build a section of road using vintage equipment specifically for this record.

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Watch The Great Dorset Steam Fair - BFI Player

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The Great Dorset Steam Fair, originally known as the Great Working of Steam Engines is set on Everley Hill. Since 2010 the fair is called the National Heritage Show. The annual show features steam-powered machinery and equipment, looking at traditional farming techniques and vintage equipment.

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Blandford is Shottsford in The Woodlanders

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The best of Dorset in words and pictures

Thomas Hardy's The Woodlanders is set in the north-west of Dorset. Tony Burton-Page guides us through it with the help of David Bailey's photographs of the actual locations.
Published in December '14
The Woodlanders, the eleventh novel published by Thomas Hardy, appeared in 1887, but its origins go back much further. After the great success of Far from the Madding Crowd in 1874, he had an idea for a novel with a woodland setting. However, the insistence of reviewers that his gift was for rural stories annoyed him sufficiently to put it aside and start a comedy of manners set mostly in London and partly in France. This was The Hand of Ethelberta, which turned out to be a failure with the public and is still one of Hardy's least-read novels.

He returned to his idea more than a decade later, by which time his 'Wessex' novels had achieved such success that their topography was a cause of great interest among his readers, who were soon demanding more information about it. The location of 'Little Hintock', the focal point of The Woodlanders, led to so much discussion that in his introduction to the 1912 edition, Hardy wrote that he did not himself know where it was and that he had 'once spent several hours on a bicycle with a friend in a serious attempt to discover the real spot; but the search ended in failure; though tourists assure me positively that they have found it without trouble' - even some of the fictional characters have difficulty finding it, notably Barber Percomb at the start of the novel.

In fact, Little Hintock is probably an amalgamation of two villages in the south-western corner of the Blackmore Vale, Stockwood and Hermitage. It is the home of the main characters, and most of them were born there. Giles Winterborne, a woodman with the sap of trees in his blood, has been promised his childhood sweetheart, Grace Melbury, the daughter of a well-to-do timber merchant, by way of reparation for an ancient wrong her father did to Winterborne's father. Despite this, however, her father has sent her away to an expensive finishing school to assure her of a future beyond the village, and when she returns to Little Hintock she is way beyond Giles. Instead, she becomes infatuated with Edred Fitzpiers, a young doctor who has recently moved to the area.

Fitzpiers, however, has an eye for the fair sex and is in turn infatuated with Felice Charmond, a rich widow living at 'Hintock House' (Turnworth House, in reality many miles away and now demolished). It transpires that she and Fitzpiers had a passionate but brief affair many years earlier, but by the time the two of them realise this, Fitzpiers has ensnared Grace as his wife, despite her lingering suspicions that he has been philandering with another village girl.

By now Grace is completely out of Giles's reach, for he has lost his house owing to the death of the old villager whose family had tenure of it, so that it now becomes part of the encompassing Hintock House estate.

But married life does not suit Fitzpiers: disillusion sinks in. He finds himself drawn towards Felice and begins an affair with her. When she stays for a few months in 'Middleton Abbey, near Shottsford' (Milton Abbey, near Blandford), his regular visits there to relieve the boredom of his new life arouse Grace's suspicions. The guilt-stricken Felice confesses all to Grace and decides to move to Europe, away from temptation and the 'handsome, coercive, irresistible' Fitzpiers.

When Fitzpiers hears of her plan he goes to visit her but falls off his horse, injuring himself. He crawls to Hintock House, where Felice takes pity on him, and after his recovery the two secretly leave for the continent. Fitzpiers sends Grace a letter saying he will not return for a long time.

Grace's father hears from local lawyer that there is a new law making divorce easier. He therefore encourages Grace to renew her relationship with Giles Winterborne. The two meet in 'Sherton Abbas' (Sherborne) and walk around the Abbey, and Grace realises that she loves Giles as much as ever. But the lawyer discovers that the new law does not go far enough to release her from her marriage, so she is tied to Fitzpiers. She withdraws into the existence of a 'self-constituted nun' until she receives a letter from her husband, declaring his intent to meet her at 'Budmouth' (Weymouth) and return to the continent with her.

On the evening of his return, Grace flees and shelters in Giles's hut in 'Delborough' (Chelborough). Giles honourably refuses to stay in the hut while she is there and sleeps in the woodshed. His already precarious health weakens in the winter weather and he dies.
Fitzpiers pursues Grace relentlessly and eventually persuades her to rejoin him. The last word is left to Marty South, a village girl who has always loved Giles and is left to mourn him alone.

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The best of Dorset in words and pictures Published in December '14 The Woodlanders, the eleventh novel published by Thomas Hardy, appeared in 1887, but its origins go back much further. After the great success of Far from the Madding Crowd in 1874, he had an idea for a novel with a woodland setting.

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The text on the other side says,

"Recipe for regeneration: Take one careless tallow chandler and two ingenious bastards".

The quote is from a set of paving stones in town that were installed for the millennium and is repeated here on the bench.

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From Blandford to Badbury Rings: Village Life.

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From Blandford to Badbury Rings: Village Life.

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From my archive, shot on film

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A 35-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, and a 24-year-old man held on suspicion of assault, have been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

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Blandford Forum stabbing: Man charged with attempted murder

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A 35-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, and a 24-year-old man held on suspicion of assault, have been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

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EV charging for 19 vehicles from solar panels on site.

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24 January 2022 - Dorset Council's Strategic Planning Committee has approved the Blandford Hill Eco Hub proposals, in line with their planning officer's recommendation for approval. To have a look at the planning officer's report, please (page 61, item 7):

Welcome to the Blandford Hill Eco Hub. On this website we introduce the proposals to you, provide a way to get in touch with us and keep you informed on how the plans progress.

​The Blandford Hill Eco Hub project consists of an electric vehicle (EV) charging station, a 15 megawatt ground-mounted solar farm and a 3 megawatt battery storage faciality on land south of the A354 at Blandford Hill, Winterborne Whitechurch near Blandford Forum in Dorset. By combining green electricity generation, storage and charging, we're maximising the green potential with charging for up to 19 EVs at a time.

After starting the public consultation process for the plans in February 2021, the planning application was submitted to Dorset Council in July 2021. Having taken feedback from statutory consultees and members of the public into consideration, the plans have evolved significantly during this time, for example:

Dorset Council's application reference is P/FUL/2021/02622. To view the application documents and comment on the plans, please [.

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Welcome to the Blandford Hill Eco Hub. On this website we introduce the proposals to you, add more information as the project progresses and provide a way to get in touch with us.

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From my archive, shot on film

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From my archive, shot on film. View from Blandford St Mary side of River Stour

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From my archive, shot on film

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One from my archive. It echoed the sense of 'No Entry' and being cut off I felt all around me. I used this in a previous photography course.

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I've only just seen these in an area called Station Court. There are two sets of what look like rails, I'm not sure if they are anything to do with trains because they look more like tram tracks. I'll have to look into it.

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Daniel has been volunteering, filming exhibits. I've been asked to help curate exhibitions. Lots going on for a small museum and a lot of work on environmentalism to come.

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Caring for the past, informing the future.

Making the prehistory, history and cultural life of our community accessible to all, enriching the lives of residents, visitors and generations to come.

Our Victorian Garden is now open again, after its winter refurbishment. Come and visit (during Museum opening hours) and watch the spring turn to summer. Or join us at one of our friendly monthlyCoffee Mornings!

Click here for news and updates

Opening hours: Winter 2021-22
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 10am - 4pm
Wednesday: Closed
Thursday: 10am - 4pm
Friday: Closed
Saturday: 10am - 4pm
Sunday: Closed

About the Museum

Blandford Town Museum tells the story of Blandford Forum and its surrounding villages through displays, exhibitions and local artefacts. We hold archives for people researching their family or local history, including militaria and railways. The Museum is entirely run by volunteers, and is free to enter. You can find out more about our history and organisation here.

The Museum provides learning and research opportunities for people of all ages, and we particularly like to work with schools and young people to develop their interest in local history. We host lectures, special events and exhibitions; scroll down the page or click here to find out what is coming up soon.

Shop and Museum Hire

As well as souvenirs of your visit, our shop sells local crafts, homemade jams and chutneys, and plants produced by the museum garden club members.

The museum is available to hire for social events, lectures, presentations etc.
Learn more

Get involved!

There are many ways to support your local Museum. Please get in touch if you would like to be involved in any of our activites.

Events

Please click here to see a list of all events planned for this year at the Museum.

These are coming up soon...

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Blandford Town Museum | Caring for the past, informing the future in Dorset

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Making the prehistory, history and cultural life of our community accessible to all, enriching the lives of residents, visitors and generations to come. Our Victorian Garden is now open again, after its winter refurbishment. Come and visit (during Museum opening hours) and watch the spring turn to summer.

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Available from the tourist information office.

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Buttons called "Blandford Cartwheels" were mainly made in the Blandford area, which until the beginning of the seventeenth century had been a centre for the Huguenot lace-makers, Whcn lace lost its popularity, the fine lace thread was used to make buttons. Linen shirt buttons were also made at Blandford.

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Note that this article was originally written in 1968 by Mrs P Reeks.
For Current Information try the website at "www.dorsetbuttons.co.uk".

Quite by chance one day, it was discovered that a village resident, Mrs. Horwood, was not only a keen needle woman and an authority on Dorset Feather Stitchery, but is doing her utmost to revive buttony and lace-making. Mrs Horwood is a Dane who has spent many years in India and came to live in Verwood in 1950. She travels through many parts of England exhibiting work and demonstrating how it is achieved. Much of her time is spent working with the Dorset Women's Institutes reviving "lost" crafts. She was therefore delighted to teach a "member of the next generation" how to work Dorset Feather Stitchery and Dorset Buttons. As my interest in the work deepened, I felt that I had to know how these crafts originated.

Apparently they were first made in Shaftesbury at the close of the seventeenth century by Abraham Case, those first buttons being called "high tops" and "knobs". They were made on a disc of horn from the Dorset Horned Sheep. The disc was covered with a piece of linen, which was then worked all over with fine linen thread to form a conical or knob shape depending on the type of button required.

The high-tops were worn by gentlemen on their hunting waistcoats.

From these small beginnings in Shaftesbury, buttony became a village industry in Dorset at the beginning of the eighteenth century, emplying thousands of people and bringing in a revenue of twelve thousand pounds per annum. Buttons were in great demand in Europe and America as well as in this country and they were exported from Liverpool.

The wire-ring buttons were invented by Abraham Case's grandson in the reign of George II. The wire was brought to the area from Birmingham by Horse and Waggon in one and a half ton loads. It was made into button rings by being twisted on a spindle and the cut ends being dipped in solder. Children were employed as "stringers". They threaded the rings into gross bundles, whilst others were at one time employed to polish the finished buttons until it was found that this damaged the thread, when this procedure then ceased.

By the beginning of the nineteenth century the Cases had depots for the cottage workers all over Dorset , the east Dorset depots being Blandford, Bere Regis, Lychett Minster, Iwerne Minster and Langton Matravers.

Buttons called "Blandford Cartwheels" were mainly made in the Blandford area, which until the beginning of the seventeenth century had been a centre for the Huguenot lace-makers, Whcn lace lost its popularity, the fine lace thread was used to make buttons. Linen shirt buttons were also made at Blandford.

I was intrigued when I discovered that there had been Huguenots in Bland-- ford at that period, as within three miles of Verwood at Woodlands there is a building called, "The Round House", reputedly a Huguenot building. There are varying tales of its original use, some think that it was used by weavers, others think that spinners and lace makers worked there. |I am beginning to think that the latter is possible as flax and hemp were grown in the east Dorset area in Saxon times.

In east Dorset varying types of buttons were made including High tops and Knobs, as previously mentioned and also those worked on a sire ring. These latter were Blandford Cartwheels, Yarrels with ten spokes, Basket-weave, Honeycomb with an odd number of spokes, Crosswheel of spider web, Singleton made from a linen covered padded ring, Jaml or Gem, Bird's eye a padded ring with a hols in the centre, Mites and Spangles, These last two types were very tiny and some buttons were decorated with beadwork. .

Examples of Dorset Buttons can be seen in the Dorset County, Christchurch, Poole, Shaftesbury and Victoria and Albert Museums. I was extremely fortunate in being able to purchase a few buttons from an enthusiast at the Dorset Art and Craft Exhibition last summer and feel proud to own part of Dorset's History. These I have included to illustrate as many as possible of the types mentioned above.

The complete buttons mere mounted on cards for sale. The first quality for export, were mounted on pink cards, the seconds on dark blue cards and the third quality were mounted on yellow cards, these last two qualities being for sale in England. Any dirty buttons were boiled in a linen bag before being mounted. It is said that expert buttoners could make up to one gross a day for which they were paid three shillings and six pence or three shilling and nine pence if the buttons were perfect. The out workers many on foot, took their buttons for sail to the various depots on certain days called "Button Days". Apparently they were not always paid in cash but sometimes in good.

A bitter blow struck the buttoners in 1850 when Ashton's patent button machine was exhibited at the Great London Exhibition. in 1851 the cottage industry was at an end bringing poverty and starvation to the families of the buttoners. It is said that as the result of this some three hundred and fifty families from Shaftesbury alone were shipped to the colonies at the Government's expense, some to Canada and others to Australia .

The Dowager Lady Lees fought to revive the industry in Lychett Minster at the beginning of this century. She succeeded in building up a small business which in 1908 produced parliamentary buttons; pale blue for the South Dorset Conservatives and purple for the East Dorset Conservatives. The advent of the 1914 to 1918 war brought this revival to an end. In 1967 boxes of buttons were found in an old cottage on Lady Lees' estate. Most of these she sold to Americans to raise funds for her Religious films projects, hut sadly she died a few months before she was able to complete the recent project.

The secret of making high-tops and knobs has never been solved, but the buttons made on wire rings are the types which are being revived. To make one of these buttons, the ring is held in the left hand and "casting" done by button-holing closely all round the ring, sewing over the loose end at the beginning. The button-holed ridge is then turned inside by pushing with the thumb, this was dune originally with a boned instrument called a "slicker" until it was found that this weakened the threads. When "laying" the spokes of the wheel, the thread must be kept taut to hold the spokes in place, these are secured by a cross-stitch at the hub centre. The button can then be ''rounded" in many designs e.g. cross-wheel; basket weave etc., I have been told that it is useful to leave one or two threads at the button back with which to sew the button onto the garment.

Dorset feather stitchery, is believed to have been "borrowed" from the Welsh in the seventeenth Century. It was worked on smock-frocks ( the usual outer garment of the country labourers and craftsmen. These smocks were worn by them over ordinary working clothes with coloured neckerchief at their necks. They were made of strong coarse linen and were embroidered on the collar, shoulders and cuffs with the characteristic smocking across the breast, back and upper and lower sleeves. Such smocks were worn in many parts of England, the designs of the embroidery being significant to the nature of the craft of the workmen. The design of the feather stitchery on the English farm labourer's smock on display in the Dorset County Museum consists of scrolls and diamond shapes worked in a variety of stitches, with diamond shapes being predominant in the smocking.

The smock-frocks did not entirely die out of use until the latter half of the nineteenth century.

The Dorset Women's Institutes are doing a great deal to revive this craft, Mrs. Horwood being a well known judge in this sphere. I feel that I am steadily becoming a native of Verwood and therefore Dorset, after having lived here for twenty years and I hope to be able to pass on to the "younger generation" here two of the crafts of their 'Heritage.

Copyright P Reeks.

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Note that this article was originally written in 1968 by Mrs P Reeks. For Current Information try the website at "www.dorsetbuttons.co.uk". Quite by chance one day, it was discovered that a village resident, Mrs. Horwood, was not only a keen needle woman and an authority on Dorset Feather Stitchery, but is doing her utmost to revive buttony and lace-making.

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Research local music

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Introduction to English Traditional Tunes

Contents

Introduction

By and large English folk tunes are functional: they were played for dancing or used for the melody of songs, and so their history reflects the history of song and dance (e.g. as a consequence of the absorption of new dances such as the waltz and the polka into the tradition, the associated tunes became part of traditional players' repertoire). This guide will serve as an introduction to tunes in their various functions and briefly examine the players, the instruments, and how you can search for tunes.

Dance tunes

Social dance tunes

The earliest records of traditional tunes are often in books giving dance instructions. Preeminent among these is Playford's The English Dancing Master, first published in 1651. This work went through a large number of editions over the next three quarters of a century with the title soon being shortened to just The Dancing Master. Tunes such as "Constant Billy" which became a staple in the traditional musician's repertoire, particularly for morris dance, were published here. However, we know that the Dancing Master drew on already existing tunes and dances for its content, e.g. the tune "Sellenger's Round" was extant in 1598, and was published in the 3 rd edition of Playford in 1657. The VWML possesses a number of editions of the Dancing Master and many later books of a similar sort published by Thompson, Rutherford, Preston, etc.

From the second half of the eighteenth century many amateur and semi-professional musicians wrote their own manuscript tune books, into which they copied tunes from printed or oral sources. Sometimes musicians would play for dancing in the evening and then as a west gallery musician at church, so some of these tune books contain a combination of secular and religious music.

A number of printed and manuscript tune books can be found in the collections of early folk collectors, such as Frank Kidson and Annie Gilchrist, which they used to aid their research into song and tune histories. They, along with other collectors of the time, were also active in collecting dance tunes still being played by traditional musicians, such as John Locke.

Morris and sword dance tunes

The tunes which were played for morris or sword dancing could have originated from a variety of sources, e.g. country dance tunes or song tunes, but later became part of the display dance tradition. The first major collector of morris and sword dance tunes was Cecil Sharp. Sharp first saw morris dancing on Boxing Day of 1899 whilst staying at his mother-in-law's house in Oxfordshire. The side was Headington Quarry, and the musician was William Kimber, an anglo-concertina player. Cecil Sharp noted half a dozen tunes from Kimber on that occasion, such as Blue Eyed Stranger.

Cecil Sharp's transcription of 'Blue Eyed Stranger', from the playing of William Kimber
Later, Sharp became interested in other forms of display dance - particularly long-sword and rapper as found in the North-East of England, and so examples of their tunes can also be found in Sharp's collection. It is interesting to note that the tunes for Rapper dancing standardised to jigs in the 19 th century. This tune type is perfect for the prescribed shuffle stepping which continues throughout the dance. A number of tunes used for traditional rapper dance can be found in the pages of the 1874 publication Kerr's Musical Melodies (Heaton, 2012. Rapper : the miners' sword dance of North East England. EFDSS).

Lionel Bacon compiled all the collected traditional morris tunes from the early 20 th century together for his Handbook of morris dances published in 1974, and remains one of the most comprehensive sources for traditional morris dance tunes.

Instruments

The fiddle is probably the most important instrument in English folk dance music, though the pipe and tabor remained the instrument for morris dancing until the early nineteenth century. In the later part of the nineteenth century free reed instruments (concertinas, melodeons and other button accordions and mouth organs) gained popularity. In village and church bands flutes, clarinets and serpents were common, possibly in the hands of musicians who had learnt in military bands.

Bagpipes were once a common instrument in England, and there have been many attempts to revive them. The Northumbrian small-pipes constitute a continuing living tradition with a distinctive repertoire.

Nowadays, revival folk performers may play almost any instrument. The Library has many tune books produced for specific instruments and tutors for the instruments most commonly played in the folk music today.

Song tunes

Song tunes are usually considered in relation to a particular song text (i.e. one text to one tune), but historically the relationship was not so straightforward. For folk songs, a single song may have been collected with a variety of different tunes, and a single tune may be used for many different songs. This is not surprising - prior to the 19 th century when many songs were printed on broadside ballads and sold on the streets, they would sometimes indicate the tune to which they should be sung. It was important, therefore, that this tune was already familiar to the general public and so popular songs were used again and again.

Sandyford Sensation, with tunes specified
Whilst the 19 th century ballad scholars such as Francis James Child were interested in songs from a literary perspective, many of the early 20th century song collectors, such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, tended to focus on the song's tune rather than words. This is because they considered the tunes to be more oral in nature, open to change and variation, and therefore more strongly associated with the folk tradition. Some of the collectors also suggested that many folk tunes were modal (of the church modes) which they linked to historic music. The modes and tune collecting is explored in the two chapters by Julia Bishop in Steve Roud's (2017) Folksong in England.

Reasearching tunes

Many tunes have changed their names over time, or go under multiple titles, so this can make tune research difficult. The VWML has created a Dance & Tune Index to help researchers locate dance tunes in the various books, pamphlets and records which we hold. Users can search for tune by given title, performer name, key, and a whole host of other fields. See "Search and browse tips" for more information on how to search.

Digitised Resources

The VWML Historic Dance and Tune Gallery - digitised copies of a range of historic published and unpublished dance and tune books, including Thompson, Preston, Skillern, etc., and Malchair, Kitty Bridges, etc.

The Village Music Project -contains transcriptions of a large number of historic manuscript tune books held in both public institutions and private hands.

The Dancing Master, 1651-1728 : An Illustrated Compendium By Robert M. Keller - a digital collection and index of the tunes printed in Playford's Dancing Master.

Books
Dance Tunes
Whilst it's possible to search for tunes online and using the VWML's indexes, books can be useful in grouping tunes from certain eras or for particular purposes together. Here is a selection of some of the best books for those interested in exploring English tunes:
Callaghan, B., & Stewart, P., 2007. Hardcore English : a collection of 300 tunes from English manuscript, recorded and aural sources. London : EFDSS.
Kennedy, P., 1950. Fiddler's tune-book, vol. 1-5. London : EFDSS (Influential tune books of the 1950s)
Bacon, L., 1974. A handbook of morris dances. Bedfordshire: Morris Ring. Barlow, J., 1985. The complete country dance tunes from Playford's dancing master (1651-ca.1728). London : Faber Music. Song tunes
Bronson, B.H., 1959. The traditional tunes of the Child ballads : with their texts, according to the extant records of Great Britain and America, vol. 1-4. New Jersey : Princeton University Press. Gathers together all the tunes of the Child ballads as found in manuscript collections of song collectors.

Simpson, C., 1966. The British broadside ballad and its music. New Jersey : Rutgers University Press. Explores the tunes which may have been used for broadside songs.

Davidson, G.H., 1847 and 1848. Davidson's universal melodist : consisting of the music and words of popular, standard, and original songs, etc., vol. 1-2. London : G H Davidson. A useful resource for historic popular song tunes.

Roud, S., 2017. Folk song in England. London : Faber. Julia Bishop's two chapters on song tunes are essential reading on this subject.

Recordings

Apart from a small number of early phonograph recordings and performers such as William Kimber (Anglo concertina) who made commercial records in the studio, the bulk of recorded music dates from the middle of the twentieth century and onward. A representative selection of field recordings appears on various CDs in the Topic Records Voice of the People series, notably:

Voice of the People, Vol. 9: Rig-A-Jig-Jig - Dance Music of the South of England. London : Topic.

Voice of the People, Vol. 19: Ranting & Reeling - Dance Music of the North of England.

The VWML has both commercially issued records and unpublished field recordings. The British Library Sound Archive is also a major collection of folk and traditional recordings, some of which can be listened to online.

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Introduction to English Traditional Tunes

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Contents Introduction Dance tunes Social dance tunes Morris and sword dance tunes Instruments Song tunes Researching tunes Introduction By and large English folk tunes are functional: they were played for dancing or used for the melody of songs, and so their history reflects the history of song and dance (e.g.

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The British Library Board acknowledges the intellectual property rights of those named as contributors to this recording and the rights of those not identified.
Legal and ethical usage "

Recording date

2004-12-12

Is part of (Collection)

BBC Voices Recordings

Recording locations

Dorchester, Dorset

Interviewees

Caddy, Brian, 1943 Dec. 24- (speaker, male, office manager), Symes, Devina, 1952 April 28- (speaker, female, housewife), Worth, Sue, 1953 March 06- (speaker, female, hospital staff), Barrett, Alfred, 1922 Sept. 11- (speaker, male)

Interviewers

Bevins, Trevor, 1956 Jan. 22- (speaker, male)

Producers

Radio Solent

Abstract

[00:00:00] Speakers introduce themselves, mention where they were born, their interest in Dorset dialect and local poet William Barnes. Description of Dorset, why people like to retire/visit there, how landscape changes across the county, its great variation within a relatively small area. Comment that they dont really consider Bournemouth to be part of Dorset because its so different to the rest of the county. Description of how local area has changed/is changing, incomers buying houses in villages which causes tensions locally. Mention local stories she was told when young.[00:07:58] Description of William Barnes poetry, what attracts them to it, the era and lifestyle that he describes in his work in contrast to life today, language he uses. Comment that its sad that language has become more uniform because theres a richness in local dialect. Comment that she didnt realise some of the words she grew up with were dialect until later. Mention dialect words/phrases she likes. Description of Dorset dialect, how its incorporated into her everyday speech. Anecdote about teacher being unable to understand her strong accent at school, she thinks her accent was stronger then. Comment that Barnes considered Dorset dialect to be connected to language spoken by King Alfred.[00:15:37] Discussion about other peoples attitudes towards Dorset dialect, mention pride in being recognised as coming from Dorset, modifying her accent in response to other peoples comments about her intelligence. Comment that people from towns think that country people are a bit slower but village people considered town people to be a bit spivvy. Mention best place to hear Dorset dialect in Dorchester, anecdote about friendly rivalry between boys from town and boys from country village.[00:19:07] Discussion about Dorset inhabitants inventiveness about language, in the past and today, mention creatively descriptive words used by Barnes. Change in oral traditions, comment that people are now more passive receivers of stories and music than people she grew up with, how local history is passed down through stories. Recitation of local story about the drowners in the water meadow which warned people to keep away from water meadows in full flood, mention various local stories and superstitions. God-fearing expressions used by wifes aunt, ghosts of Roman army at Lulworth, possibly intended to prevent smuggling. Comment that story-telling was considered to be great entertainment as well as possibly being warnings. Mention modern local stories possibly rooted in folk memory. Mention attitudes towards Thomas Hardy, story that he always bought stale loaf of bread from horse-drawn bakers van.[00:29:44] Discussion about attitudes towards regional accents, anecdote about girl being told that she needed to drop her Welsh accent in order to take her career further, surprise at this. Changing speech in different situations, reasons for using telephone voice and Received English. Comment that any dialect becoming extinct means losing a direct link to the past so its vital to hold onto all accents. Discussion about incomers in Dorset, their attitudes towards Dorset accent, future of Dorset accent. Mention words used locally as amusing insults.[00:37:39] Discussion about area they live in, how they would refer to it, how local speech/geography/culture relates to surrounding counties, attitudes towards Hampshire, how Hampshire has changed over time. Mention rivalries between urban/rural areas, how this affects local politics.[00:43:04] Discussion of words used to describe EMOTIONS.[00:45:38] Discussion of words used to describe CLOTHING.[00:46:35] Discussion of words used to describe PEOPLE AND THINGS. Mention words used to mean father now and in the past, use and meaning of partner. Description of a spiv.[00:51:49] Discussion of words used to describe WEATHER AND SURROUNDINGS. Comment that people, especially gardeners, talked about steady rain positively, mention old man in village who thought that somebody in Charminster was stealing his rain during drought. Description of uses of various rooms of house in past.[00:55:14] Discussion of words used to describe PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES. Mention that her left-handed sister had her left hand tied behind her at school.[00:59:21] Discussion of words used to describe ACTIONS. Comment that playing truant was not widely done when they were at school, she did it once and felt like a criminal. Mention other meanings of clout, controversy about proverb dont cast a clout till May is out, meaning of blackthorn winter, influx of Waxwings indicating a cold winter ahead. Comment that in the country people always tell you its going to be the worst winter ever. Speakers re-introduce themselves.

Description

Recording made for BBC Voices project of a conversation guided by a BBC interviewer. The conversation follows a loose structure based on eliciting opinions about accents, dialects, the words we use and people's attitude to language. The four interviewees are all poetry fans and members of the William Barnes Society.

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Recording made for BBC Voices project of a conversation guided by a BBC interviewer. The conversation follows a loose structure based on eliciting opinions about accents, dialects, the words we use and people's attitude to language. The four interviewees are all poetry fans and members of the William Barnes Society.

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From Wiki on Dorset Buttons

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Andy Dingley

== {{int:filedesc}} == {{Information |Description='Blandford cartwheel, a form of en:Dorset button |Source={{own}} |Date=2014-02-07 |Author= Andy Dingley |Permission={{self|cc-by-sa-3.0}} |other_versions= }} [[Category:Butt...

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. Date/Time Thumbnail Dimensions User Comment current 23:05, 7 February 2014 866 × 851 (129 KB) Andy Dingley == {{int:filedesc}} == {{Information |Description='Blandford cartwheel, a form of en:Dorset button |Source={{own}} |Date=2014-02-07 |Author= Andy Dingley |Permission={{self|cc-by-sa-3.0}} |other_versions= }} [[Category:Butt...

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Trafalgar Way - The journey of the naval messenger who brought home the news fromThe Battle of Trafalgar

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Trafalgar Way - The journey of the naval messenger who brought home the news fromThe Battle of Trafalgar

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Originally a fording place on the River Stour, Blandford Forum is an attractive market town which was largely destroyed by fire in 1731 - leading to substantial rebuilding during the Georgian period helped both by Act of Parliament and a donation of £1000 by George II. The work was undertaken by John and William Bastard and their complete redesign of the centre of the town largely survives to this day. In fact Blandford has been described as "the most complete and cohesive surviving example of a Georgian county town in England".
See our image gallery
The Bastard brothers built the grandiose Town Hall, like much of their work built with Portland Stone and containing idiosyncrasies of style. They also built the Church of St Peter and St Paul, the Market Place around the Town Hall and the Town Hall itself, a terrace of Almshouses and many large private houses including Spetisbury and Coupar House. A portico to the parish church was built around 1760 to commemorate the rebuilding of the town but it also had a practical purpose being built above a piped spring. Should a fire break out it could supply a head of water for firehoses. In 1899 it was converted into a drinking fountain. It is known as the Pump House fire monument. Today you can visit the Bastard House, where a blue plaque commemorates their work, and you can go inside part of it as it is a charity shop.

The Bastard brothers also built The Greyhound Inn, close to which you will find the plaque commemorating Lieutenant Lapenotiere's arrival in the town in November 1805 to change horses on his way to London. The plaque is in Greyhound Passage, Market Place.

A few significant ancient buildings survived the devastating fire of 1731 and they include the Ryves Almshouses and Dale House in Salisbury Street, Old House in The Close and much of East Street.

Known for lacemaking in the 18th Century Blandford later became a centre for malting and brewing, wool spinning and button making. The hostelry trade also expanded due to the busy turnpike road between Salisbury and Dorchester which was made in 1756.

A celebration of the town's Georgian heritage, Blandford's Georgian Fayre is held every year in the first week of May.

There is a Royal Signals Museum at Blandford Camp military base, Blandford Town Museum in Berne's Yard and Blandford Fashion Museum in The Plocks.

To the south of the town is a beautiful six-arch stone bridge spanning the River Stour.
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Originally a fording place on the River Stour, Blandford Forum is an attractive market town which was largely destroyed by fire in 1731 - leading to substantial rebuilding during the Georgian period helped both by Act of Parliament and a donation of £1000 by George II.

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In the tumultuous year of 1812, around the time the French were freezing in the ruins of Moscow and American troops were burning Fort York (Toronto), a London printer issued a quiet little book entitled Arbores Mirabiles, a collection of "curious Anecdotes" about "the most remarkable Trees, Plants, and Shrubs, in all Parts of the World." Among these, one of the shortest treats of "Damory Oak". Here is the story in full:

"Not far from Blandford, in Dorsetshire, stood, very lately, a tree, known by the name of Damory's Oak. About five or six centuries ago, it was probably in a state of maturity. At the ground, its circumference was sixty-eight feet, and seventeen feet above the ground, its diameter was four yards. As this vast trunk decayed, it became hollow, forming a cavity, which was fifteen feet wide, and seventeen feet high, capable of holding twenty men. During the civil wars, and till after the Restoration, this cave was regularly inhabited by an old man, who sold ale in it. In the violent storm in the year 1703, it suffered greatly, many of its noblest limbs being torn from it. But it was still so grand a ruin, above forty years after, that some of its branches were seventy-five feet high; and extended seventy-two. In the year 1755, when it was fit for nothing but fire-wood, it was sold for fourteen pounds."

Such are the reported facts. Now to put some leaf upon bare limbs.

[ This excerpt from 'Musing on Damory Oak ' starts at a point where the tree is 450 years old.]

... It was around harvest time one year, three summers before the Spanish Armada came to grief (to one old man's recall), when a lightning-bolt came close to killing the ancient tree. By now the Damory Oak was an edifice as big as a cloud, a trysting place for lovers, a named landmark from which a man might take directions or get his bearing, and a station for special events when, in annual processionals, local Blandford worthies beat around the parish bounds. By Elizabeth's reign the land was cultivated all around, cheek by jowl with the spreading, prosperous town. (For years it was part of the Ryves family's D'Amorie estate, whose seat is remembered to this day in the name of Damory Court.) But still the giant tree stood in an open curtilage, all its own.

One day, around mid-afternoon, harvesters were hard at work when a line of storm cloud appeared over the hill that here obstructs the north-west horizon. They had all seen storms before, but this one stretched as far as the eye could see, as black as a crow, with lightning bolts slung in its belly that would have been the envy of Zeus. Still, the harvest lord kept his troops in the field just as long as he could, pulling reapers away from their work with the scythe to help binders stack grain that was dry. He whipped up every beast and cart, to take as much of the crop to shelter as they could. For a full twenty minutes before the darkness reached them, all hands could see the rain falling like a water-fall from the leading edge of the storm-front; and they could smell and feel the thunder as the mighty cloud advanced. Some among them thought back to the Spring, telling their fellows darkly, with a knowing wink, "When the ash doth bud avorn the oak..."

Then came the rain, falling in a vertical wall from a raven sky. It would be almost an hour, by dead reckoning, before a shaft of lightning bright as Jacob's Ladder struck the oak, by which time its corky bark was sodden from the top-most twig to the base of its towering trunk, making the tree a perfect lightning rod. Not one among the harvesters had taken shelter under it. They knew too well the adage: "Beware the oak, it draws the stroke." Indeed, even birds know that: it's a foolish young fowl builds a nest near the trunk of an oak.

The bolt, when it came, lit up the sky and left the tree, as some did say, "a-smoke", for though the rain kept coming down, the heat of the stroke down the side of the trunk threw a steam cloud into the sky.

"Ah," said one old reaper to his fellows, "A mortal stroke, that were. You mark what I do say."

"Reckon as 'twill outsurvive you, Granfer," replied a younger man.

"And you, my zonner, though thik bolt did split her heartwood through and through."

And so it was. Some said this marked the moment when the great oak tree ceased growing and began to wane, just five short centuries, five years, and fifty from the time its acorn washed up on a Blandford bank. As ill-fate had it, the bolt fell on the tree's north-west side, so that where it rotted back its wound was left exposed to winter winds, and the driving force of rain.

Still, so massive was the life within this trunk that it endured for years, oblivious, as far as humans could see, to the wound running down the weather-side of the tree. As young people replaced old, as children became parents, the incident retired from mind. People forgot the year, even the decade of the stroke; those who remembered anything said simply that it happened when the mighty summer storm destroyed one half the standing harvest in the eastern funnel of the Blackmore Vale ...

[ Generations pass]

... It was while the Puritans were shutting theatres and proclaiming God as theirs that old Nathanael Cox moved into the oak, under duress, eventually coming to know its cave as one of his two homes. He had been thrown from his cottage by a landlord taking unscrupulous advantage of one of the more callous Acts of Enclosure. Old Nate took nothing, and wanted nothing, from the world other than to be left alone on a quarter acre of coleworts, beans, and peas, with his bee skeps for company. The day the bailiffs razed his cott, the old man stumbled, tear-blind, to the tree and lay curled up inside its wooden womb, unmoving for the shock.

When they found him two days later he looked lifeless, like a corpse that still drew breath-and certainly he wished to die-till Charity, in the form of caring folk, set up the bee skeps that he'd woven out of barley straw on an eastern-facing slope (at a prudent distance from Blandford town) and built him a new wattle and hurdle hovel, thatching it well, setting it back into the hill on a parcel of land which, like the oak, enjoyed the benefit of disputed ownership, and was thus protected by confusion under law.

Without a doubt, the old man was grateful to his former neighbours and the Damory Oak, though, addled as he was by shock, he had a curious way of expressing his appreciation. He'd say, to whomever listened: "You did oughta left I there to die."

To which the reply came back: "Girt lummox! Should poor men gi' their lords a boon an' drop down dead? Spite the bugger, Nate! Thee'll live long lives enough to haunt the bastard yet."

And so he did. Nathanael Cox lived on and off in the trunk of the tree for many a year, come rain or shine, selling ale to fortify folk facing the one mile climb up Back Lane to the races on Blandford Race Down. And when it came on thunder, he returned the oak tree's favour by standing in the weather, shouting curses at the gods until the storm had passed. Lightning never dared to strike the ancient oak while Nate Cox called it home. Modern science would have called this arrangement commensalism; old Nate, if he ever thought about it, surely would have called it love.

Thus he lived, poaching rabbits, talking to his bees in summer, badgers after dark. By day he'd dig out earthworms, storing them in a crock to feed his badgers. By the time the first blood of the Civil Wars was shed at Edgehill, Nate's badger friends had dug a sett beneath a hedge hard by the oak.

In fall, old Nate gleaned grain, finding enough to sell small beer as well as mead to harvesters and haymakers as seasons turned about. Some nights the ancient codger sampled overmuch of his own ale and lay down in the trunk, snoring fit to warn the badgers off; but voles and field-mice always came and, working around his noisy carcass, ripped at grubs and woodlice in the rotting wooden walls.

So it went, right through the Civil Wars. ... Nathanael Cox survived it all, gnarled, scarred, lice-ridden, and craggy as the tree in which he often slept. Soon, though, while the Commonwealth tried to impose a sense of civic righteousness, Nate was joined in the oak by other creatures, for the same Enclosure Acts that had stripped him of his home now laid down the foundations of quick hedges to demark the newly severed fields. And what better boundary and point of reference than the Damory Oak?-which found itself at the axis of four hedgerows cutting off four newly severed fields.

Voles multiplied exponentially beneath the hedges; field-mice were everywhere. Weasels, stoats, hedgehogs, and badgers multiplied behind them, till never again did a night pass quietly beneath the tree without a whoosh of wings, a squeak, a quick commotion in the hedge, and an owl flapped up again to eat its victim in a high branch of the tree.

"Daft ha'p'orth!" opined a visitor to Nate one afternoon. "You got birdshit on your head."

"'Tis they owls again," the old man answered. "Owls don't give a body a pinch of rest."

But, though he might curse the owls above and voles below, Nathanael Cox spent many summers in the tree-and died there one October day. (Folk seemed to think it was not long after Cromwell died, and war-tired men stuck Charles II on the throne). Anyway, they found old Nate's dead corpus when a boy was gathering acorns, for now that this oak and others were enclosed, the peasantry could no longer range their swine on oak- and beech-mast in the fall. This peasant's lad discovered Nate's legs projecting from the grotto.

When the sexton's team came to fetch him, they found that animals had stripped the flesh from off the head and torso where the carcass lay inside the trunk. But no-one doubted whose the rotted corpse might be. After living like an outlaw nearly twenty years, they took Nathanael Cox back home at last, and laid him down to rest in holy ground. ...

* * *

RF / from Wessex Tales / the story, Musing on Damory Oak

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In the tumultuous year of 1812, around the time the French were freezing in the ruins of Moscow and American troops were burning Fort York (Toronto), a London printer issued a quiet little book entitled Arbores Mirabiles, a collection of "curious Anecdotes" about "the most remarkable Trees, Plants, and Shrubs, in all Parts of the World."

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William Barnes, Poetry in Dorset Dialect

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William Barnes, Poetry in Dorset Dialect

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WILLIAM BARNES.

LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO., Ltd.

The Rights of Translation and of Reproduction are Reserved.

Kind Reader,

Two of the three Collections of these Dorset Poems have been, for some time, out of print, and the whole of the three sets are now brought out in one volume.

I have little more to say for them, than that the writing of them as glimpses of life and landscape in Dorset, which often open to my memory and mindsight, has given me very much pleasure; and my happiness would be enhanced if I could believe that you would feel my sketches to be so truthful and pleasing as to give you even a small share of pleasure, such as that of the memories from which I have written them.

This edition has a list of such Dorset words as are found in the Poems, with some hints on Dorset word shapes, and I hope that they will be found a fully good key to the meanings of the verse.

SPRING.

SUMMER.

FALL.

WINTER.

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Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect - Wikisource, the free online library

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WILLIAM BARNES. LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO., Ltd. The Rights of Translation and of Reproduction are Reserved. Kind Reader, Two of the three Collections of these Dorset Poems have been, for some time, out of print, and the whole of the three sets are now brought out in one volume.

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“Not far from Blandford, in Dorsetshire, stood, very lately, a tree, known by the name of Damory’s Oak. About five or six centuries ago, it was probably in a state of maturity. At the ground, its circumference was sixty-eight feet, and seventeen feet above the ground, its diameter was four yards. As this vast trunk decayed, it became hollow, forming a cavity, which was fifteen feet wide, and seventeen feet high, capable of holding twenty men. During the civil wars, and till after the Restoration, this cave was regularly inhabited by an old man, who sold ale in it. In the violent storm in the year 1703, it suffered greatly, many of its noblest limbs being torn from it. But it was still so grand a ruin, above forty years after, that some of its branches were seventy-five feet high; and extended seventy-two. In the year 1755, when it was fit for nothing but fire-wood, it was sold for fourteen pounds.”