The Blandford Express

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Sparrow Clubs & Sparrow Pie

From the mid-18th century onwards, many Dorset towns and villages set up sparrow clubs. These were not, however gatherings of bird watchers and nature lovers. Their sole purpose was to destroy as many sparrows as possible because it was thought these birds devoured much of the grain being grown. The sparrow was looked upon as an avian rat and a pest. Sparrows were considered such a threat to the harvest that to kill one was almost considered to be a civic duty. They would also burrow into the roofs of farm buildings made of thatch with the consequence the roofs would leak. For many years sparrow pie was a traditional working class dish and was considered to be a food of the poor. Because the bird is so small at least a dozen would be required for even a family sized pie. In her book The Experienced English Housekeeper published in 1769, Elizabeth Raffald provided a recipe for sparrow dumplings. In 1931, the College of Pestology even offered a prize for the best sparrow...

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...

Blandford’s Brutal Pastime

Until it was banned outright under the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835, the blood sport of cockerel fighting was a popular pastime in Blandford. Large bets were regularly placed on the results and the fighting cocks were specially bred for their aggression. Training was notoriously cruel and well-off owners even employed cockerel trainers. At considerable expense, the pastime was regarded as a ‘predominant amusement’ at the time by the local gentry. At these events, much alcohol was consumed. The enclosed dirt area where the roosters fought became known as a cock pit. This led to the expression ‘to be pitied against.’ Sometimes, the cockerels were required to wear razor-sharp mettle spurs when fighting. Victory was awarded to the cockerel that either killed its opponent or rendered it so injured it could not continue. Some spectators, in the interests of comfort, brought their own light-weight chairs which became known as cock fighting chairs. According to the Salisbury & Wiltshire ...

Bournemouth’s ‘Big Un’

At around eight feet tall, Chang Woo Gow was Bournemouth’s tallest man. Although born in China in 1841, he moved to Bournemouth in 1890 for health reasons. Here, he opened a tea shop and an Oriental Bazaar which sold imported Chinese goods. He made his home in Southcote Road, Bournemouth. To ensure his privacy, he built a ten feet high wall around the garden. A bed nine feet long and six feet wide was specially constructed for him. Far from overweight, nevertheless he still weighed 23 stone. On one occasion, a horse drawn carriage collapsed under his weight. It is said he travelled around Bournemouth in a rickshaw. Chang Woo Gow was a highly educated man who reputedly could speak ten languages. Most difficult language for him was English. He had travelled the world as ‘Chang the Chinese giant’ but his real name was Zhan Shi Chai. Under his stage name, he made circus and variety show appearances. He first appeared in London at the Egyptian Halls in 1865 with his wife, known as the...

Raining Rooks

It was something of a mystery why hundreds of rooks were falling from the skies. This was happening in January 1934 and all within just a few miles from the village of Melcombe Horsey, near Dorchester. The birds appeared to be flying from the direction of Wareham and Lulworth. Nothing like this had ever happened before in the county although there was some talk of it previously happening once in Hampshire. Hundreds were found dead in the woods and locals in North Hampshire were warned not to eat the dead birds. Local rookeries contained thousands of birds which proved unwelcome pests to the Dorset farmers. One theory expressed was that a farmer who had fields of young corn had steeped grain in arsenic or some other poison such as strychnine and scattered this over the land where the rooks fed. All the dead birds were either rooks or jackdaws and it was reported four cats, a dog and a fox also died in the neighbourhood. Followed the analysis of one of the dead birds, it was revealed it ...

Elm Tree Inn - Knicker Bunting, Smugglers, Spies & Bouncing Bombs!

Elm Tree Inn, Langton Herring in South Dorset is a 400-year-old hostelry with a colourfully checkered history - that includes smugglers, bouncing bombs, espionage and knicker bunting. Originally leased by the Prince of Wales, it became a known haunt for wreckers and smugglers. Wreckers plundered cargo from shipwrecks. The dangerous shingle banks and deep waters off nearby Chesil Bank led to many local shipwrecks. Folklore has it that wreckers would tie a lantern to a cow’s tail and the gentle up and down motion would simulate that of a ship at anchor. Passing captains would mistake the false light for a safe harbour. Disaster would follow. A fisherman who had cheated others on the size of his catch was chased through the village in 1780 and was hung from a beam at the Elm Tree Inn. In 1834, William Whittle was sentenced to death for smuggling and for assaulting a Revenue Official. Following a petition for clemency, signed by more than 600, he was transported to Australia. The village’s...

William Whittle - Smuggler

William Whittle was a seaman with a lucrative sideline. He was also a smuggler of foreign spirits. The Dorset coastal village of Langton Herrimg was his place of birth and he was born there in 1810 on New Year’s Eve. His secondary trade of smuggling seems to have been a family affair as relative Thomas Whittle, a Langton Herring shoemaker, had been sent to prison for smuggling three years earlier. In 1834, William Whittle was charged with assaulting a Customs Officer at Abbotsbury and of being the leader of a smuggling gang. It was reported that a gang of around 60 men were helping with the landing of the liquor. Smuggling of wines, spirits and luxury goods from France was the local industry and the men of Abbotsbury and Langton Herring seem to have been particularly busy. At Dorchester Assizes in March 1835, William Whittle was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged in Dorchester Gaol. This prompted a petition for clemency signed by William Devenish, Thomas Margrie - Secretary t...

Dorset’s Dead Ringers

Bell ringer, Edward Hart paid the ultimate price in September 1884 when he failed to release his bell rope in the belfry of St Nicholas Church, Winterborne Kingston (featured). Hart was a 34 years-old sawyer from Sturminster Marshall and was taking part in a peal with other ringers to celebrate a local wedding. The unfortunate man got entangled in his rope and was pulled up to an overhead beam. There, he suffered a severe blow to his head and then he fell heavily to the floor. He was never to speak again. Medical assistance was obtained immediately from a Bere Regis doctor but the unlucky woodworker died just four days later. As it was reckoned the occurrence was purely accidental, an Inquest was considered by the Coroner to be unnecessary. To prevent bell ringers flying into the air, foot straps (below) were invented. However, it seems this health and safety measure never really caught on. Reverend William Russell Ware Mortimer was struck by a 10 cwt swinging bell in July 1957. I...

Old Dorset Words

Here are some now almost forgotten words from the Dorset Dialect. Acker – a mate or pal. Betwattled – confused. Bigitty – ‘to big for his or her boots.’ Chattermag – a magpie or a woman who chatters like one. Clavy-tack – a mantelpiece. Clinker – an icicle. Cowheart – a coward. Diddicoy – a gypsy. Dumpsey – dusk. Faddle – a bundle. Glim – a feeble light. Glutchy – to swallow greedily. Girt – great Gooner – certainly. Huckmuck – dirty. Jopetty-jopetty – anxious. Loplolly – lazy person. Noggerhead – an idiot. Passon – parson. Puggled – stupid. Screws – rheumatism. Snoodling – drizzling. Square pushing – courting. Tiddyvate – to decorate oneself. Torrididdle – bewildered. Totties – feet. Twit – to tease. Wuss – worse Zummut – something. (Source: A Bit of a Bumble by Alan Chedzoy - 2003.)

Henry Hastings: Dorset Casanova

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

‘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 ...

Post Box Saturday!

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...

Wilts, Dorset & East Devon Railway

Not a lot of people know this but in the 1890s, there were plans to make Blandford Station into a railway junction. Connecting Bath with Poole and Bournemouth, the Somerset & Dorset Railway had already opened stations in Blandford and Shillingstone. The Wilts, Dorset & East Devon Railway was an ambitious plan to construct a new and additional route from Salisbury to Exeter via Blandford. The first section of 21 miles would leave the existing Salisbury to Yeovil line at Wilton and open new stations at Broadchalke, Sixpenny Handley and Pimperne before joining the Somerset & Dorset line in Blandford. The second section of 11 miles would run through Blandford St Mary, Winterborne Whitechurch & Bere Regis and then join the London & South Western, Poole to Dorchester line at Moreton Station. The final 50 mile section would be built via Shipton Gorge, Bridport, Charmouth, Lyme Regis, Seaton & Sidmouth and would then join the London & South Western Line at Topsh...

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...