Skip to main content

Blandford Mouth Organ Band & Other Amazing Facts

 

        Not a lot of people know that:

  •  Blandford was famous for its mouth organ band popular for its performances across Dorset.
  • A soldier facing a court martial at Blandford Camp in December 1953 refused to wear his army clothes in a cell. So military policemen forcibly dressed him to appear before his commanding officer. Upon returning to his cell he stripped off again.
  • In 1952, a man suffering from a loss of memory was given a newspaper to read in Blandford Hospital. Suddenly, he shouted, ‘that’s me’ and pointed to a report on the disappearance of  48 year-old, Harold Jarvis. Police checked and found he was right!
  • Most Reverend Dr Nevill, Bishop of Dunedin and Primate of New Zealand was married in Blandford in September 1906. His lordship was in his 70th year and his new and second wife, Rosalind Margaret Fynes-Clinton was aged only 30 years.
  • Blandfordia is a suburb on the southern side of the Australian capital, Canberra. 
  • A schoolboy was admitted into Blandford Hospital in Septrember 1977 after being attacked and bitten by a pike. He was helping a friend land the fish when it leapt and buried its jaws into his kneecap. Then, the pike jumped back into the river.
  • John Downton (21) from Blandford St Mary was sentenced in 1851 at Dorchester Assizes to be transported to Australia for 10 years for stealing a raincoat.
  • A Blandford man travelled to London in February 1948 to find a tattooist who could erase the picture of a girl on his arm. His wife had good reason for disliking the tattoo because it was a picture of the girl he had bigamously married during the war. She had told a probation officer, ‘If he had covered it up, I wouldn’t have so much reason to nag him!’
  • Blandfordia Nobilis is a flowering plant which can be found in New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as Christmas Bells because of the time of year when it comes into flower.

(Illustration: Blandford’s famous Mouth-Organ Band)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Panda Pops

Panda  Blue Rasperry Ade, Strawberry Jelly & Ice Cream and Casper Ghostly Limeade were all unique soft drink flavours produced by the Panda Pops brand owned by Badger Beers. Panda Pops were often sold in small bottles of fizzy drink that were as sweet and sticky as it was as possible for them to be. Other popular Panda Pop flavours were Cherry Ade and Bright Green Cola. Even more singular blends could be concocted by mixing two or more flavours in a Panda Pops mixing bowl. Panda Cola achieved a sort of cult status and there is even a song, ‘ Warm Panda Cola’ . While among Panda aficionados there was even the spoof blend of Princess Diana Memorial flavour! The Blandford drink competed remarkably well against American giants Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. Panda Pops date back to the 1960s when the Blandford brewer dropped the name of Sunparlor for its soft drink brands. Sunparlor had also been the name of a winning race horse owned by a member of the Woodhouse family. Cream soda was...
2 comments
Read more

Holton Heath's Tragic Explosion

Ten were killed and 23 were injured according to newspaper reports at the time. This made it one of Dorset’s worst ever industrial accidents. Holton Heath employees were blown into unrecognisable fragments necessitating a roll call of the factory’s entire staff before the identities of those killed were identified. Eleven men were originally believed to have been killed but when a roll call was held one turned up. A crimson red plume of acid vapour had towered into the sky resembling the shuddering eruption of a volcano. It was caused by the bursting of a sulphuric acid tank. Close by low buildings vanished and the shock affected houses for 20 miles with roof slates dislodged, ornaments knocked down and windows broken. The sound of the explosion could be heard at Shillingstone some 18 miles away. Closer to the factory, a hoe was wrenched from the hands of a gardener who was flung against a tree. One fortunate employee, Charles Rogers owed his life to having to leave, just before the ...
1 comment
Read more

History Slice with an Aussie Flavour.

  From Dorset Gallows to Van Diemen’s Land is the unlikely but true story of political corruption, hangings and transportation in the small market town of Blandford in Southern England.  It is available as a paperback from  Amazon in the United Kingdom, Australia and the USA. The book uncovers the extraordinary tale of two ordinary men, George Long a shoemaker and Richard Bleathman a butcher. Driven by belief and dissatisfaction they are swept along by events. Sentenced to be hanged in Dorchester Gaol for their protests against political corruption they are instead, following clemency appeals,  transported to Van Diemen’s Land -  on the other side of the world. ‘A fascinatingly  good read.  This book entirely complements the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs - also transported to Australia.’ (Richard Holledge, newspaper editor, freelance journalist - London. As read in the Independent, New York Times & Financial Times. Author of   Voices of the M...
Post a Comment
Read more