The Blandford Express

  It may not be the real reason why cider making has been more of a past time in West rather than North Dorset. But in March 1841, 58year-old Christopher Hill of Pimperne, near Blandford took a swig of his locally  produced cider. He was not aware that his tankard, filled with the ‘wine of the apple’, contained a bee. While he was downing his drink the bee stung him in the throat. Christopher Hill sadly died soon afterwards. West Dorset has a long history of cider making. However in comparison with Somerset and Devon, cider production has never really taken off here on a commercial scale. There has never been an industrial scale producer like Coates  of Nailea, Somerset or Whiteways Cyder  of Whimple, Devon. (There are the two ways to spell cider/cyder and some say using ‘y’ is the more traditional spelling. Author Thomas Hardy sat on the fence and used both spellings.) According to the National Fruit & Cider Institute cider making came to England from Normandy a...

  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...

Bincombe - the small South Dorset hamlet north of Weymouth is reckoned to have inspired the nursery rhyme   The Grand Old Duke of York. The Grand Old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men, He marched them up to the top of the hill, And he marched them down again. In the Napoleonic Wars, there was a large military camp on Bincombe Down and the York Hussars among others were posted there. This was at a time when an invasion by the French army led by Napoleon Bonaparte was expected. Apparently, these soldiers were reckoned to number around ten thousand. They were  marched up and down the hill near the church so often by Frederick, the Duke of York that it inspired the nursery rhyme.  He was the favourable son of George III and Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. The Duke was notorious for his drinking and gambling. During the years prior to the Battle of Trafalgar everyone who lived along the south coast lived in fear of a French invasion.  It was also there  t...

Dorset Blue Vinny cheese enjoys Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), status so it is not any old cheese. This means this cheese can only be made at Woodbridge Farm, Sturminster Newton. It was the first food in this country to be awarded PGI status in 1998. Vinny comes from the Old English meaning to become mouldy.   For several centuries, Dorset Blue Vinny was made by farmers’ wives using left over skimmed milk after cream was taken away to make butter. This resulted in a dry, crumbly, low-fat blue cheese. Reputedly Blue Vinny was Dorset author Thomas Hardy’s favourite cheese. Unconventional methods were used to blue the cheese. These included placing dirty farmers’ boots nearby, dragging mouldy horse harnesses through the milk and even incredibly using slug slime. By the 1930s, factory cheese-making had increased dramatically replacing much of the farmhouse production. With milk rationing during and after World War II, production of Dorset Blue Vinny almost completely ceased. ...

Gathering of moss in Dorset on a commercial basis is now a lost trade. This used to take place on Okeford and Belchalwell Hills in North Dorset. Some mossers would use rakes while others would gather the moss using their bare hands. Orders would arrive from Covent Garden merchants in London . Bags of moss were labelled and despatched from Shillingstone by train to London - Waterloo via the junction at Templecombe. Bad weather did not deter the gatherers and snow was removed to access the moss. Shillingstone moss was valued by Covent Garden traders for its ability to hold moisture around plants. It was used for packing and decoration purposes.  In June 1906, three men and two women from Woodcutts, Salisbury were apprehended by police constable Bleathman for gathering ‘two or three bags’ of moss, valued at five shillings (25p). This was taken from land at Melbury Abbas belonging to Sir Richard Glyn. Each was fined five shillings with costs of thirteen shillings and four pence (circa ...

Henry Kentfield (also recorded as Kenfield) was a guard on the mail coach which ran from Dorchester to London back in the 1830s. As a defence against highwaymen, he carried a blunderbus, two pistols and a cutlass in a long tin box in front of him. Both post and passengers were carried and horses were changed every ten or so miles. He would have been the sole Post Office employee onboard as the driver would have been provided by a contractor. To ensure the driver kept strictly to the schedule, the guard carried a locked timepiece regulated to London time.  Kentfield would blow his horn at every place where a mail bag was to be collected. Dressed in his red frock coat uniform with blue flaps to the pockets and a blue collar, he had a sideline hustle which was a nice little earner. In collusion with the coachman, with the route passing through Blandford and Salisbury, he would take packages to the capital on his own account. He used to have eggs and butter brought to him by old dairym...

In days gone by when smugglers and fishermen  landed at night on Chesil Beach, they had their own trusted method to know where they were. They simply picked up a piece of shingle under their feet and felt its size.  At the Portland end of the beach, the pebbles are large but moving westwards the pebbles become smaller. These locals were able to use this feature to determine at night their exact landing location.  The beach runs for around 18 miles from the Isle of Portland to the village of Burton Bradstock. Chesil Beach is also described as a tombolo  which is a narrow piece of land by which an island such as Portland is attached to the mainland. Known as a lerret,  local fishermen developed a purpose-built boat suitable for their work off Chesil Beach. This was a double-ended open fishing vessel rowed by four men with a fifth acting as a steersman who also managed the nets. Many of these boats were built in Weymouth. It has been estimated as many as 200 vessel...

Before the era of Sky Television most football fans found out how their teams had performed by buying the local Saturday evening football newspaper. Southampton had the Southampton Football Echo, Portsmouth the Football Mail and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, as the club was then called, had the Bournemouth Football Echo. Each would include detailed match reports and photographs of that afternoon’s match. These dedicated football papers were printed on either pink or blue paper to differentiate them from the day’s other local publication. The colour would be determined by whether the club’s home kit was red or blue.It is believed the Bournemouth Football Echo dates back to at least 1901. By half past six on the Saturday evenings, newsagents such as Loaders in East Street, Blandford would be selling copies of the ‘Football Pink’ to a queue of potential purchasers. This was quite remarkable bearing in mind the referee of the Cherries match would have blown the final whistle at exac...

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...

Bridport Station opened on 12th November 1857 and a large crowd gathered in fine weather to view the first train’s departure for Maiden Newton due to leave at 8.15am. Many took the opportunity to travel on this train as Yeovil Fair was taking place on the same day. Unfortunately departure was delayed so the connection at Maiden Newton was missed. The Bridport station master was unable to issue all the tickets in time because of the numbers desirous of travelling. Next train connection to Yeovil did not arrive there until mid-day. To celebrate the opening, a Grand Dinner was held at the Bull Inn in Bridport on the following Tuesday commencing ‘punctually’ at 5 o’clock. Tickets were priced at ten shillings and six pence (52.5p) to include wine. Mr Knight of the Bull  Inn arranged a two horse omnibus for the convenience of passengers arriving and departing. A general holiday was declared in Bridport and most shops closed to enable the shop assistants to enjoy the celebrations. A first...

Operation Countryman was an investigation into corrupt practices in both the City of London and Metropolitan Police Forces.  It was led in the late 1970s by the Assistant Chief Constable of Dorset, Leonard Burt (above). When younger, he had played a key role in the uncovering of the Portland Spy Ring. This resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of local spies Ethel Gee and Harry Houghton.                     The investigation was set up following allegations that police officers in the capital were accepting money from criminals. In return, it was believed the officers were interfering with evidence, giving advance notice of police raids and assisting with payroll robberies. At the time many workers had their wages paid weekly in cash. This necessitated the transfer from banks to businesses of large amounts of cash required  to make up wage packets. During the 1970s, London was awash with meticulously planned robberies man...

  In 1781, the British Army fought in the Battle of Blandford. However, this was not in Blandford Forum in Dorset but Blandford, Virginia in the USA. It was during the American War of Independence. However, if in 1940 a German invasion of Britain had taken place it is almost certain a Second Battle of Blandford would have taken place but this time on Dorset soil. Operation Sea Lion was the code name for a plan by Adolf Hitler to invade Britain in 1940. Some 2,400 barges had been collected from around Europe to enable the German Army to cross the English Channel. Suitable landing points had been identified by the Germans between Dover and Lyme Bay. The small seaside village of Burton Bradstock, near Bridport was considered as particularly suitable because of the profile of its beach. The British authorities had decided to make Blandford Forum a key point in the defences against a German invasion. The town was on what was called a ‘ stop line’ which ran along the River Stour from Ch...

One of Dorset’s oldest hotels, the Crown Hotel in Blandford has a long and colourful history. Highwayman John Poulter and his five companions were unwelcome visitors to the Crown Hotel in 1752. After spending the day at the Blandford Horse Races, they decided ‘ to go on the sneak’ and in the dusk of the evening stole a ‘ porte-manteau trunk’ from the Crown Hotel. Taking it to a field to search, they discovered it contained eighteen guineas, several gold and silver coins, a gold watch, a pair of gold buckles, a gold girdle buckle, a great quantity of jewels, a white petticoat and a great quantity of apparel. All were taken to London and sold. (Source: John Poulter’s own account published in 1764.) A young chimney sweep was suffocated and burnt to death in a chimney at the Crown Hotel which had been on fire a little before. He went up one chimney and attempting to go down another was in a narrow part and could neither get up nor down. (Source: Salisbury & Winchester Journal 27 ...

Twenty-four years old leather breeches maker, Tom Hill has the unusual distinction of being condemned to be transported to both America and Australia for his crimes. On 13 th March 1783, Tom had been sentenced in a Dorchester courtroom to be transported to America for stealing a silver watch valued at one pound. At the time, this sum was the equivalent of three weeks wages for a Dorset agricultural labourer. The decision was a particularly bizarre one as America was no longer a British colony after the British defeat in the American War of Independence. However, the British were surreptitiously trying to restart the American convict trade as its prisons were overfull. Prior to this war, which had halted the scheme, around 50,000 convicts had been sent to the American colonies despite its unpopularity with locals. British authorities hired a London merchant who did a deal with a Maryland merchant to receive convicts and sell them as indentured servants. Consistent with the furtiven...