The Blandford Express

When a  Baptist Minister predicted Weymouth would be destroyed by a mammoth tidal wave it caused quite a stir. The South London clergyman prophesied that this massive tsunami would arrive at exactly 3.53pm on Tuesday 29th May 1928. As this was a bank holiday weekend, Weymouth would be packed with people. The prediction received widespread coverage in the local and national press. Panic spread and a local resident announced he had placed his canoe on the roof of his house to await the tsunami’s arrival. The Mayor of Weymouth reckoned he would be alright because he would be entertaining visitors on a boat in Portland Harbour. As they were from Holland he claimed they would be used to flooding. Weymouth had been hit by quite large waves in the past. A Weymouth magistrate tried to allay fears by claiming the giant wave would instead hit Weymouth, Massachusetts in the USA. While enterprising restaurant owners were adverting Tidal Wave Teas. A bright red sunset the night before was said ...

King George III’s favourite holiday destination was Weymouth. Recovering from an ‘attack of madness’, he was advised that ‘taking the water’ was good for the health. During one of his worst moments, it is said, he shook hands with an oak tree believing it was the King of Prussia. Sea bathing was reckoned to be a cure for melancholy, gout and for ‘bad attacks of the worms.’ His first visit to the town in 1789 caused quite a stir but also a problem of etiquette for the Mayor of Weymouth. Advancing to kiss the Queen’s hand, Colonel Gwynn, a member of the King’s court, whispered: ‘You must kneel sir!’  Unfortunately, the Mayor took no notice of this advice and standing upright kissed the Queen’s hand.  The Colonel commented, ‘You should have knelt, sir!’                                                   ‘Sir’, answered the poor Mayor. ‘I cannot…for I have a ...

  Harry Houghton and Gordon Lonsdale were two members of the Portland Spy. Houghton was a Civil Servant who stole military secrets from the then Portland Naval Base and Underwater Research Establishment. He passed these secrets for money onto Gordon Lonsdale who was a Soviet master spy. Both were arrested in January 1961 and found guilty of espionage and imprisoned. In their respective countries they have quite contrasting memorials. Lonsdale’s real name was Konon Molody and he was born in Moscow in January 1922. He spoke impeccable English with an American accent as he had spent time living in the USA. Upon his release from prison and return to the Soviet Union, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. This was the country’s highest award and was designed to recognise extraordinary courage, dedication and heroism. He had operated in Britain from around 1955 until 1961. When he died in October 1970, his body was laid in state at the KGB Officers’ Club and there is an elaborate t...