Post Box Saturday!

Mainland Britain’s oldest post box 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 Heritage Trail.

Lyme Regis has a wooden post box which can be found in the wall of the town’s first Post Office in Coombe Street. No longer in use, it has a vertical letter slot because it was thought it would be more difficult to steal a letter through one. It is easy to miss as it is not red!

There is also a Post Box Saturday which is a social movement to make people more aware of the social significance of the humble post box.

Guernsey’s blue post box

Comments

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...

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...

Holton Heath's Tragic Explosion

Ten were killed and 23 were injured according to newspaper reports at the time. This made it one of Dorset’s worst ever industrial accidents. Holton Heath employees were blown into unrecognisable fragments necessitating a roll call of the factory’s entire staff before the identities of those killed were identified. Eleven men were originally believed to have been killed but when a roll call was held one turned up. A crimson red plume of acid vapour had towered into the sky resembling the shuddering eruption of a volcano. It was caused by the bursting of a sulphuric acid tank. Close by low buildings vanished and the shock affected houses for 20 miles with roof slates dislodged, ornaments knocked down and windows broken. The sound of the explosion could be heard at Shillingstone some 18 miles away. Closer to the factory, a hoe was wrenched from the hands of a gardener who was flung against a tree. One fortunate employee, Charles Rogers owed his life to having to leave, just before the ...

The Blandford Express

Search This Blog