The Blandford Express

‘Pas possible’ were the words spoken by Napoleon Bonaparte when, according to Dorset folk-lore, he stepped ashore in 1804 at Lulworth Cove. Translating as ‘it’s not possible’ this was said to be a judgment on the suitability of Lulworth as a landing-point for a French invasion of England. Author Thomas Hardy would later write a short story A Tradition of 1804 which would be loosely based on this report. Legend has it that the French emperor was recognised by a Dorset farmer’s wife, Mrs Voss who was able to speak a little French. It was a language scarcely ever learned in England in those days but her father was a pottery merchant who had many dealings with France and she had helped him with the paperwork. She was able to recognise his distinctive features from the many caricatures of Napoleon Bonaparte published at the time. It was feared that some 160,000 men and 15,000 horses would make the Channel crossing in a French fleet of flat bottomed boats. Her  husband was too close to t...

Charles Weeks, like many men and women in Dorset in the early 1700s, was deeply enmeshed in the smuggling trade. He operated at Lulworth and all along the Dorset coast and would land goods like brandy, tea and tobacco to evade paying heavy taxes. The rugged coastline provided secretive landing spots that were difficult for customs officials to patrol. Charles Weeks’s house was described as ‘a general magazine of snuff, pepper, cocoa nuts (beans), coffee and other goods.’ Weeks acted also as an organising agent for other smuggling merchants. He lived at Winfrith and recruited most of the village to work for him in the smuggling trade. He had a particularly crafty method of evading customs officials. He would mix seized contraband goods, which he bought at auction, with his own illicit smuggled items. When challenged, he was able to produce legitimate receipts. If this was not accepted, he would threaten litigation knowing that custom officials would be unlikely to follow up as they were...

  Del boy, Rodney and Grandad, from the comedy series Only Fools & Horses, are normally associated with Peckham, South London. Yet one of their most memorable scenes was filmed at Iwerne Minster in North Dorset. The December 1982 programme ‘ A Touch of Glass’ attracted over 10 million television viewers. It is frequently regarded as Only Fools & Horses’ fans favourite scene of the show. Derek Trotter had been given the job of cleaning a valuable glass chandelier at country mansion, Ridgemore Hall. With Del and Rodney up ladders, and only an old sheet between the priceless chandelier and the floor, it was inevitable something would go wrong. Grandad detached the wrong chandelier and it smashed on the floor. As Grandad queried, ‘ Is it very valuable? ’ To which Del retorted, ‘Not really. It was bleeding priceless when it was hanging up there, though!’ Ridgemore Hall was in fact Clayesmore School at Iwerne Minster. However, as the school would not allow the floorboards to be ...

In 1966, Stella Lonsdale sold off almost the entire village of Okeford's Fitzpaine a part of the Pitt-Rivers Estate. Locally, Stella Lonsdale was a wealthy North Dorset lady but to Britain’s Security Services she had been a dangerous threat to national security. Furthermore, it seems that neither the British nor the German Security Services were entirely sure on which side she was on. She had various aliases including ‘Suzanne de la Roche’, ‘Simone de Valliere’ and ‘Solange de Leprevier’. Then, there was also ‘Mrs Warner’, ‘Princess Magaloff’ and ‘Mrs Carr-Glynn.’ Stella Lonsdale was born in Olton, Warwickshire on 9 January 1913, the daughter of confectionery salesman Ernest Clive and his wife Stella. Her late partner, George Pitt-Rivers had insisted that properties should be sold off in individual lots to place the existing tenants in a better position to purchase them. The estate had, at one time, been so large that it was said George could travel from coast to coast without leav...

Richard Lydford was a teacher of music and the organist at Stalbridge Parish Church. In August 1875, he was sent to prison for having beaten his wife Lemira Lydford and having broken one of her ribs. Only 18 months had elapsed since they had been ‘joined together by God in the bands of holy matrimony.’  Their marriage had ‘caused a good deal of remark not entirely complimentary as Lemira was 72 years of age and the bridegroom not yet 40.’ She was the widow of the former minister of Stalbridge Congregational Chirch. He had come home between one and two o’clock in the morning and had threatened to cut his wife’s throat with a bread knife. Eventually she had escaped the house and had walked around a quarter of a mile in a storm when drenched with rain.  Lydford was apprehended at Semley railway station. James Bartlett, teetotal  editor of the Blandford Express commented: ‘This poor fellow’s case is another sad instance of the effects of strong drink. We understand he has bee...

  Twenty-year-old Scottish seaman, Robert Banks (right) from Greenock arrived at Blandford Station in December 1914. The young recruit slowly made his way up the muddy unmade track connecting the town with the newly opened Blandford Naval Camp. Upon the outbreak of World War I, he had volunteered with thousands of others to join the Royal Navy. This meant leaving his marine engineering job in Glasgow’s River Clyde shipyards. Robert Banks was joining the Anson Battalion of the newly formed Royal Naval Division. Another recruit was his long standing pal, Henry Short (left) who was a trumpeter.  As a break from training, the Mayor of Lyme Regis, Alban Woodruffe invited the Battalion to spend time at the seaside in early February 1915. Local resident, Mrs Emmett invited Robert to stay with her. Before leaving Lyme Regis, the Mayor gave the Battalion this message: ‘We hope you will take away pleasant memories of your short visit here and we wish you God-speed and all good luck.’ ...

Keith Floyd was a flamboyant celebrity chef and popular television personality who had strong links with Dorset. He filmed one of his early programmes Floyd on Fish in the George Inn in South Street, Bridport. Floyd developed his own unique and eccentric presenting style, which often involved haranguing his cameraman, while he cooked with a glass of wine in his hand. However, he did not consider himself to be a chef as he had not been professionally trained. Keith Floyd was born in Sulhamstead, near Reading in December 1943 and joined the British Army in 1963. He left after three years reckoning that he and the army were mutually incompatible. After the army, he became a dish washer, vegetable peeler and eventually a restauranteur. One of his restaurants was in the Vaucluse Department in Southern France. In 1984, he was offered his first television series Floyd on Fish. One of the scenes featured Floyd cooking on a trawler.  Floyd on Food, Floyd on Great Britain and  Floyd on ...

Woodyates Inn, located between Salisbury and Blandford, was before the motor car age an important coaching inn. This was an inn on a route followed by horse-drawn coaches at which the horses could be changed.  Hiding from his pursuers, the rebellious Duke of Monmouth stayed there in 1685 disguised as a shepherd. Despite his disguise, the illegitimate son of King Charles II was captured near Horton and was beheaded for treason. It was said the ghost of Monmouth appeared each year in the inn on the anniversary of his death. Woodyates Inn did not enjoy the best of reputations and in 1793 a traveller wrote: ‘I look upon an inn as the seat of all roguery, profaness, and debauchery; and sicken of them everyday by hearing nothing but oaths and abuse of each other and brutality to horses.’ This traveller, John Byng was a retired army officer and he also described Woodyates Inn as ‘miserable’ and ‘beds shocking’. He could not wait to leave but  he had trouble waking anyone to pay the b...