The Blandford Express

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Assembly Rooms

Built in 1771, the Blandford Assembly Rooms once played an important role in the town. They could be found on the east side of West Street near a causeway which led to Blandford Bridge. The Assembly Rooms had a grand staircase which led to a ballroom. Each year at the time of the Blandford Horse Races there was the Blandford Races Ball. In 1829, the event covered two nights. It was said that the dancing went off with great spirit and the ‘company did not break up until past six o’ clock in the morning.’ The Dorset County Ball was frequently held there. In January 1837, upwards of 100 of the county’s great and good attended this prestigious social event. The Salisbury & Winchester Journal reported that the evening ‘passed off with much spirit and animation.’ In August 1840, Hungarian composer and piano playing genius Franz Liszt played in the Assembly Room packed with the local nobility and gentry. Tickets cost six shillings (30p) or twenty one shillings (£1.05) for a fa...

Blandford's Last Races

What links Blandford Camp, motor racing and chocolate? The answer sadly is Joseph Gibson Fry who lost his life on the 29 th July 1950 in a crash in the British Army camp. ‘ Joe ’ Fry was a member of the Fry chocolate family. The company, J S Fry & Sons had merged with Cadburys in 1919. Joe lost his life after suffering injuries while practising for a hill climb event when he lost control and crashed at speed. A bystander said: ‘Fry’s car approached a bend known as Cuckoo Corner at about 90mph. He appeared to drift towards the outside of the course, hit the right hand grass bank and somersaulted.’ He was driving his Freikaiserwagen racing car at the time of the accident. This name had a distinctly German twist and was a tongue in cheek combination of the surnames of Fry and Caesar. Dick Caesar was one of its designers. The Freikaiserwagen was an extremely powerful little sprint and hill climbing machine but was difficult to drive. It is reckoned it set the standard for the ma...

Policeman’s Lot

In September 1882, Richard Hann (P.C.1. Dorset Constabulary.) transferred from Winterborne Kingston to Child Okeford. On 21st December 1882, John Cowley, formerly of the Royal Navy was charged with assaulting PC Hann at Sturminster Newton. Not withstanding that the defendant had a wooden leg, he knocked the constable down. Defendant pleaded not guilty but was fined one pound with two shillings (10p) costs. On 23rd August 1883, George Meadon of Shillingstone was charged with allowing a cow to stray on the highway at Shillingstone. PC Hann proved the case. Fined one shilling (5p) with six shillings and six pence (32p) costs. On 24th April 1884, John Ricketts of Shillingstone was charged with being drunk at Shillingstone. PC Hann found the defendant very drunk and using bad language. Fined two shillings and sixpence (12p) with eight shillings (40p) costs. On 6th 0ctober 1884 at 4pm, PC Hann was reported for being under the influence of liquor while on duty at Child Okeford. He was r...

John Love: ‘England’s fattest man.’

John Love from Weymouth was reckoned at one time to be the fattest man in England. By trade, he was a bookseller and publisher but was also an accomplished artist. He did much to promote an interest in art in Dorset. In his shop he had both a library and exhibition rooms. In 1788, he published a Guide to Weymouth. He was so corpulent he regularly wore a waistband nearly up to his neck to prevent his trousers from falling down. John Love rarely wore a coat. Most of the time he just wore his nightshirt in which he was more comfortable. John Love had studied in London under William Ryland, Engraver to the King who was executed for the crime of forgery. Terrified by his master’s shameful death, Love returning to Weymouth. Initially, he was quite puny so his Dorchester doctor prescribed a diet of fatty foods as medicine. Results of this and his overeating soon became evident in his expanding waistline. ‘Giving himself up entirely to wine and dainties’ he ‘gave himself...

Great Post Office Robbery

When a Langton Long postman opened up Blandford Post Office on a Sunday morning in April 1949, he discovered quite a surprise. A London based gang had blown the door of the strong room wide open. The robbers had got away with £12,000 worth of cash, stamps and savings vouchers (about £445,000 in today’s money.) The thieves were apparently aware that the Post Office would be unoccupied from 9.00pm on Saturday evening until its opening early on Sunday morning. Post bags had been placed around the door to muzzle the noise of the explosion and the door of the strong room had been completely blown out. The Head Postmaster’s office had also been completely ransacked. The police suspected the raiders made their getaway along the Blandford-Warminster road. So, a 25 mile search was carried out along the road behind walls, hedges and fences looking for gelignite and other equipment. The police regarded the break-in as highly skilled. At the time, Percy Carter was the owner of the to...

John White: Dorchester’s American Pioneer

Dorset clergyman, John White (1575-1648) did as much as any person to set up the colony of Massachusetts leading eventually to the establishment of the United States of America. He was Rector of Holy Trinity and St Peter’s Churches in Dorchester, England from 1606-1648. For organising and encouraging emigration to the New World, John White has been described as the Founder of Massachusetts. Yet he never visited the new colony. He was a puritan at a time when there was much religious persecution in England. His first colonial project, the Dorchester Company failed but his second involving the forming of the New England Company was more successful. In March 1830, the Mary and John set sail from Plymouth for the New World with 140. Passengers on board. Upon landing after a ten week crossing the settlement of Dorchester, Massachusetts was founded. Many were from Dorset, Devon and Somerset. Weeks later other ships follows and the Great Migration began. John White was...

Tiger's Tale, Shillingstone & the 'S & D'.

According to railway locomotive driver Andrew Thomas (above) there was a major accident near miss on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (‘S & D’ ) that could have changed the course of European history. It occurred at Wellow station, some six miles south of Bath, and involved the future twice French Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau. It is believed this incident occurred in 1884 when the Frenchman is known to have visited England. Clemenceau is generally regarded as the statesman who prevented the collapse of the French military forces towards the end of World War I. Such was his tenacity, that he gained the nicknames ‘Le Tigre’ (Tiger) and ‘Le Pere la Victoire’ (Father of Victor y). The French politician was a guest of Lord Wolverton who had been the Liberal MP for Shaftesbury before succeeding his father in the House of Lords. Wolverton lived at Iwerne Minster and had already entertained Prime Minister William Gladstone on his estate. Lord Wolverton decide...

Dorset Fingerposts

Travelling along Dorset’s roads in the 1700s was hazardous. Not only was there the risk of being robbed by highwaymen, but as there were few signposts, an unwary traveller could so easily get lost. It was the Turnpike Act of 1767 which required trusts, who managed many roads and who charged a toll, to show the names of main towns. This was followed by milestones, often made of local stone, showing distances to the nearest town. Outside the Crown Hotel, Blandford there was a milestone which recorded the distance to Hyde Park Corner in London. Dorset has its own characteristic road signs known as fingerposts (see above). They are topped off by a circular finial or roundel which displays not only the place name but also a map reference. The latter was included at the suggestion of the Ministry of Transport in the 1930s. Worried about the prospects of a German invasion during World War II, the British Government ordered navigational signposts to be removed. After the war, to supplement the...

Dorchester’s Sabbath-Breaking Fines

Back in the 1600s, attendance at church on Sundays was compulsory, particularly in Dorchester. Failure to do so could lead to a fine of one shilling (5p) - at a time when the average weekly wage was around six shillings (30p). Costs could also be added to the fine. Legislation on church attendance had been introduced back in 1558. Going to church was not only required on the Sabbath but also on all Holy Days. Both constables and church officers regularly called into the homes of non-attendees. Excuses were varied and those received in Dorchester included: John Facy and his wife said they were too busy baking to go. While a man who missed an afternoon service claimed that his constitution could not cope with three sermons in a day. Despite this he was still fit enough to walk two miles to fetch a horse. Other excuses made included coming home from Blandford and making a deal at Fordington. Barber-surgeon Gabriel Butler was allowed one absence by pleading he was attending a pa...

Dorset Speak

Here are some old Dorset countryside words now almost completely lost. Curleywig – earwig. Dumbledore – bumblebee. Flittermouse – bat. God ‘lmighty cow – ladybird. Hoss-tinger – dragonfly. Hoss – horse. Palmer – caterpillar. Rot – rat. Wops – wasp. Cutty – wren. Devil Screecher – swift Ruddock – robin. Spadger – sparrow. Tiddies – potatoes. Pissabed – dandelion Chipple – spring onion. Bithy-wine – bindweed. Daffidowndilly – daffodil. Snag – sloe. Culver – dove. Greygle – bluebell. Churry – cherry. Beetlehead - tadpole. Black Bob - cockroach. (Source: A Bit of a Bumble by Alan Chedzoy - 2003.)

Weymouth’s Tsunami

When a Baptist Minister predicted Weymouth would be destroyed by a mammoth tidal wave it caused quite a stir. The South London clergyman prophesied that this massive tsunami would arrive at exactly 3.53pm on Tuesday 29th May 1928. As this was a bank holiday weekend, Weymouth would be packed with people. The prediction received widespread coverage in the local and national press. Panic spread and a local resident announced he had placed his canoe on the roof of his house to await the tsunami’s arrival. The Mayor of Weymouth reckoned he would be alright because he would be entertaining visitors on a boat in Portland Harbour. As they were from Holland he claimed they would be used to flooding. Weymouth had been hit by quite large waves in the past. A Weymouth magistrate tried to allay fears by claiming the giant wave would instead hit Weymouth, Massachusetts in the USA. While enterprising restaurant owners were adverting Tidal Wave Teas. A bright red sunset the night before was said ...

Blandford Buttony

Blandford is well-known today for brewing beer. Yet in the past, it was probably better known for the making of buttons – a trade known as ‘ buttony ’. All these buttons were hand- made. It is reckoned early in the 19 th century, there was an estimated 3,000 people around Blandford engaged in the button trade. The town was particularly known for the making of shirt buttons and a button known as the Blandford cartwheel. Robert Fisher opened a button depot in the 1830s in his draper’s shop in the Market Place. Travelling salesmen would visit the depot and buy buttons in bulk. Smallest buttons were known as mites and were made popular when Queen Victoria bought dozens for just a single dress. At its peak the town could boast of six button merchants. The making of buttons in Dorset had begun in Shaftesbury in 1650 by a man named Abraham Case. It is said a waistcoat that King Charles I wore to his execution had locally made buttons. The earliest buttons were made from the horns of the ...

Hector's Brewery

Hector’s Brewery could once be found on the bank of the River Stour at Blandford St Mary close to Blandford bridge. Described as ‘most delightfully situated’, it had gained its name from John Hector who bought the lease and ran the brewery with his sons between 1826 and 1879. Hector played an important role in the local community and was also a churchwaden. The brewery had been in existence since 1789. Before this, many houses had their own malt houses. In those destroyed in the 1731 fire, there were six in Blandford St Mary with malt houses. In 1879, Hector’s Brewery was bought by Horace Baydon Neame. He was a Kent farmer and hop grower and a member of the Kentish Shepherd Neame brewing family from Faversham. Neame then sold the brewery, together with two maltings at Winterborne Stickland and 15 pubs, to Hall & Woodhouse in 1882. Brewing by Hall & Woodhouse continued for almost 20 years at both Ansty and Blandford St Mary. Some 30 people were employed at Ansty and around 4...

Bournemouth’s Yorkshire Battleaxe.

Juliette Kaplin who played Pearl in 226 episodes of Last of the Summer Wine was born in Bournemouth. As Howard’s domineering wife, she was forever suspicious of her philandering husband’s pursuit of the peroxide-blond, seductive supermarket check-out assistant, Marina. She spent her early years in South Africa and then New York before returning to Bournemouth at the age of eleven years. In her teens she attended classes at the Hampshire School of Drama. She paid her way by working as a chambermaid, telephone operator and sales girl. Juliette also trained as a dancer and appearing later in pantomime in Leamington Spa she performed the Sand Dance with Scottish actor Bob Fyfe who played her on-screen husband Howard. Her real husband, Harold, owned a series of gift shops on the Kent coast. After his death, she continued to run them until she joined the cast of Last of the Summer Wine. Juliette first played the role of Pearl during a summer season in Bournemouth in 1984 and then took on the...