Long before cricket & football became nationally popular, English counties had their own favourite pastimes. In Dorset ‘ cudgel playing’ was a favoured ‘sport’ and there is a theory that there is a connection between this sport and the cudgel carrying Cerne Abbas Giant. Cudgel playing used to be a most popular feature at race meetings, fairs and revels in Dorset during the 17 th & 18 th century. Betting, money prizes and rural rivalries to attain a sort of rural celebrity status, stimulated this most brutal of pastimes. Play would take place on a stage of rough planks about four feet high which would attract a large crowd of men and women. A challenger would ascend the stage and throw down his cap to be picked up by an opponent. With a leather thong to go around the wrist, each player would be holding a cudgel made of ash of about three feet long. A master of ceremonies would announce when the playing was about to begin. Object of cudgel playing was to ‘ break the head
Bere Regis coaches no longer ply their journeys along the highways and byways of Dorset but they are not forgotten. Thousands of now grown up ex-Dorset school kids remember them as this company took them regularly to and from school. Down some of the county’s lanes on such journeys, low hanging branches could be a particular hazard. Nicknamed the ‘ brown bombers’, because of their distinctive brown livery, others remember Bere Regis & District coaches for their remarkably low fares. Founded in 1929 and trading for over 60 years, the company was, at one time, one of the largest independent coach businesses in the country. In the 1960s, it had over 90 vehicles. Bere Regis & District’s business model enabled it to offer some fares at up to 50% below other companies. Many of the vehicles were second hand and therefore were beginning to come towards the end of their working lives. Engineering staff would take parts from one vehicle to ensure another remained roadworthy. It was s