‘Ring of Spies’ is a British spy film, released in 1964, which is much based on the true story of the Portland Spy Ring. Filmed in Dorset, it featured Bernard Lee, who later played ‘M’ in the Bond movies, Margaret Tyzack, William Sylvester and David Kossof. Harry Houghton and his girl friend, Elizabeth ‘Bunty’ Gee were civil servants who worked at the Admiralty’s Underwater Weapons Establishment at Portland. Development work for Britain’s first nuclear submarine was taking place there. Both the heavy drinking Houghton and Gee developed a taste for the finer things in life that their modest Civil Service salaries were unable to finance. Houghton bought a car for which he paid cash and would spend more than his weekly salary on alcohol alone. Bunty was a middle aged spinster, with few friends, who lived with her mother. Until she met Houghton she had lived a sheltered life. Bunty had a reputation for being a particularly bad cook. Bunty had access to highly top secret files so in league ...
Mainland Britain’s oldest post box still in use is reckoned to be located in the village of Holwell, near Sherborne. Dating from 1853, it was made by Messrs John Butt & Co of Gloucester. Inscribed with the initials of Queen Victoria, it is unusual being octagonal in shape with a vertical letter slot. Apparently, Royal Mail enthusiasts travel from all over the country to view its unorthodox features. Vertical letter slots were discontinued as it was discovered they provide a lesser shield against rain water. By 2014, the Holwell post box had become quite delapidated and for its refurbishment it had to be stripped right back. The first post boxes in Britain were introduced in the Channel Islands a year earlier as an experiment. These were not red but had a distinctive blue colour. Four post boxes were installed first in Jersey followed by six in Guernsey. Guernsey Post has installed heritage plates on some of their closed post boxes and there is also a Post Box Heri...