Henry Hastings had three great passions in his life - food, hunting and seducing other men’s wives. Born it is reckoned in 1561, he was the Squire of Woodlands in North Dorset. With the exception of oysters, which he consumed twice daily, he ate little he had not hunted and caught himself. He used the pulpit of a nearby disused chapel as his larder. ‘It was never wanting of a cold chine of beef, venison pie, gammon of bacon or great apple pie with thick crust.’ Bizarrely, this eccentric red-headed countryman, normally clothed in green, loved to dine sitting in a tree. When not ‘borrowing’ the daughters and wives of his neighbours, he spent his time fishing, hawking and hunting. Hastings was not the most house proud of individuals and the windows of his large parlour were strewn about with bows, arrows and other equipment. Many dogs could be found in the parlour where the chairs were occupied by litters of cats. He kept a little white stick to discourage the cats...
‘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 ...