The Blandford Express

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...