The Blandford Express

Until it was banned outright under the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835, the blood sport of cockerel fighting was a popular pastime in Blandford. Large bets were regularly placed on the results and the fighting cocks were specially bred for their aggression. Training was notoriously cruel and well-off owners even employed cockerel trainers. At considerable expense, the pastime was regarded as a ‘predominant amusement’ at the time by the local gentry. At these events, much alcohol was consumed. The enclosed dirt area where the roosters fought became known as a cock pit. This led to the expression ‘to be pitied against.’ Sometimes, the cockerels were required to wear razor-sharp mettle spurs when fighting. Victory was awarded to the cockerel that either killed its opponent or rendered it so injured it could not continue. Some spectators, in the interests of comfort, brought their own light-weight chairs which became known as cock fighting chairs. According to the Salisbury & Wiltshire ...

Known as the ‘ Victoria Cross Pigeon’ , the heroic last flight of carrier pigeon 2709 is remembered in the Royal Signals Museum at Blandford Camp. During World War I, the British Army used pigeons to carry messages. A miniature container would be attached to a bird’s foot in which a note with a message would be put. As pigeons can fly quite fast, the message could be delivered quite quickly. A bizarre feature of the time was the mobile pigeon loft. These were initially horse drawn but later London buses were converted into pigeon lofts. Quite a strange sight they were on the Western Front and some change from their previous role in the streets of London. Each vehicle could carry 60 to 75 birds in specially made coops on the upper deck with feed, stores and an office below. In October 1917, pigeon 2709 was given an important message to deliver from the Passchendaele front-line to the Divisional Headquarters. It left from the Menin Road area at around 1.30pm on the 4 th October 1917...

  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.’ ...

  This George III silver-gilt cup and cover was won by Moonlight at Blandford Races back in 1815. Silver-gilt is high quality silver carefully coated with a thin layer of gold, sometimes called vermeil. Today, the cup could be worth an estimated £17,500. At just 15ins (38cms) high, its inscription reads:     ‘Blandford 1815 Sir Richard Glynn Bart Steward.’ Horse racing started at Blandford in the 16th century and was both a sporting and social occasion. It took place where Blandford Camp can be found today. The  Sporting Magazine  of 1815 reported: ‘The course was well-attended, and sport on both days was excellent. The company at the balls was more numerous than for many years past, and the ballroom was graced by the fashion and beauty of neighbouring counties, as well as by the county of Dorset.’ Sir Richard Carr Glynn 1st Bt. (1755-1838) of Gaunt’s House, Wimborne was the steward of Blandford Races. In 1798, he was Lord Mayor of London and upon his father’s d...

What links Blandford Camp, motor racing and chocolate? The answer sadly is Joseph Gibson Fry who lost his life on the 29 th July 1950 in a crash in the British Army camp. ‘ Joe ’ Fry was a member of the Fry chocolate family. The company, J S Fry & Sons had merged with Cadburys in 1919. Joe lost his life after suffering injuries while practising for a hill climb event when he lost control and crashed at speed. A bystander said: ‘Fry’s car approached a bend known as Cuckoo Corner at about 90mph. He appeared to drift towards the outside of the course, hit the right hand grass bank and somersaulted.’ He was driving his Freikaiserwagen racing car at the time of the accident. This name had a distinctly German twist and was a tongue in cheek combination of the surnames of Fry and Caesar. Dick Caesar was one of its designers. The Freikaiserwagen was an extremely powerful little sprint and hill climbing machine but was difficult to drive. It is reckoned it set the standard for the ma...

During the early hours of Sunday 16 February 1958, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) raided Blandford Camp. Brandishing revolvers, masked raiders shot a soldier and overpowered seven others. During the attack, the men were heard to shout, ‘this is with the compliments of the IRA.’ Despite this, the raiders appeared concerned about the young soldier shot in the stomach. They intended to raid the armoury for arms but were unsuccessful. The IRA assault on Blandford Camp was probably an inside job. Frank Skuse was a young Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (REME) corporal. His home was in County Cork. A man answering Skuse’s description had hired accommodation in a country house at Charlton Marshall. When the police forced entry they found ammunition, weapons and three suits of battledress with REME shoulder flashes. Two weeks after the attack, a tommy-gun, small arms and ammunition were discovered in a converted bus parked in a Bournemouth caravan park. Frank Skuse had hired the bu...

John Newman from Hammoon was a champion cudgel player. He was so feared and respected by opponents that it was said Somerset men would not cross the border into Dorset to compete unless he was prohibited from playing. It is reckoned he would play any man in England for any sum. Cudgel playing consisted of two players, each armed with a cudgel, trying to draw blood from an opponent’s head, neck or face. A cudgel was a short thick stick that was used as a weapon to attack or defend against the attacker. Umpires would decide whether sufficient blood was drawn. It was a popular spectator sport at the Blandford Horse Races held annually in the 1700 & 1800s at what is now known as Blandford Camp. When the crowds saw blood, they would shout out ‘ a head’ ! Both combatants, if they were wise, would ‘ gaffle up’ that was to pad the less hardy parts of the body before cudgel playing. John Newman was a powerful athletic man who was six feet tall which was unusual for his times and he was...

  Rupert Brooke was both a soldier and a poet who wrote one of his most famous poems the Soldier when he was stationed at Blandford Camp during World War I. Then something of a celebrity, he was known for his boyish good looks and was once described as the ‘handsomest young man in England.’ He was also a friend of Winston Churchill and the then Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith. At Blandford Camp, Rupert Brooke was a member of the Hood Battalion of the Royal Naval Division. ‘The Soldier If I should die, think only this of me That there’s a corner of a foreign field That is forever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed, A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England’s, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.’ His poetry has frequently been criticised for its unrealistic, romanticised and idealistic view of war. Rupert Brooke died of s...

  There’s an isolated, desolated spot I’d like to mention, Where all you hear is ‘ Stand at Ease’, ‘Slope Arms’, ‘Quick March’, ‘Attention’ . It’s miles away from anywhere, by Gad, it’s a rum’un, A chap lived there for fifty years and never saw a woman.   There’s only two lamps in the place, so tell it to your mother, The postman carries one, the policeman has the other. And if you want a jolly night, and do not care a jot, You take a ride upon the car, the car they haven’t got.   There are lots of little huts, all dotted here and there, For those who have to live inside, I’ve offered many a prayer. Inside the huts, there’s RATS as big as any nanny goat, Last night a soldier saw one fitting on his overcoat.   For breakfast every morning, just like Mother Hubbard, You double round the bloomin’ hut and jump up at the cupboard. Sometimes you get bacon, sometimes ‘ lively’ cheese, That forms platoon upon your plate, orders arms and st...

Blandford Racecourse was at one time almost as famous as Aintree or Epsom. A race meeting was held annually, normally for two days, on Blandford Downs - where Blandford Camp is today. Dating back to at least 1603 while Aintree is associated with Red Rum, Blandford Racecourse was renowned for a horse named Arctic. Run over two miles, this meeting’s most prestigious race was the Dorsetshire Gold Cup. Arctic took the Cup in 1838 and in four successive years from 1841. During this time, Arctic had several different owners including Lord Shaftesbury, Sidney Herbert MP – an ally of Florence Nightingale – and Mr Galpin who kept horses at stables in Langton Long. Among Arctic’s successful jockeys was C Percy from a Pimperne horse training family. According to Victoria History of Dorset (1908): ‘It would be impossible to find a healthier spot for horses or a more perfect training ground than this on the old Blandford Racing Course with distances to suit preparation for all races…’ Blandfo...

Duke of Wellington was Prime Minister twice and defeated Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo. Reflecting his status, his Apsley House, London home in Hyde Park had the distinguished address of Number One, London . It was therefore quite an event when Arthur Wellesley, 1 st Duke of Wellington decided in August 1827 to visit Blandford. Purpose of this visit was to attend Blandford Races held annually on Blandford Down which is now Blandford Camp. These dated back to the early 1600s and by the late 1820s, Blandford Races were at their most prestigious – as famous in that decade as Doncaster or Newmarket. The Duke of Wellington had arrived at the Races as a guest of the Course Steward, William John Bankes of Kingston Lacy. He had become a friend of Wellesley during the Spanish Peninsular War. Their arrival together was a splendid sight involving eleven carriages pulled by 44 horses driven by coachmen accompanied by splendidly dressed footmen. The two day event was crowded...

There were four German prisoner of war camps in the Blandford area during World War One. These were on Blandford Camp, at the Blandford Milldown, at Crichel and in Iwerne Minster. The last two were small agricultural camps. Blandford Camp was by far the largest and in March 1917 held nearly 1,400 prisoners. It covered 12 acres together with another 17 acres for recreation. The majority of prisoners were German although there were some Austrians. Reflecting the class structure of the time, officers were accommodated separately from the men and in better conditions. The Camp had around 50 wooden huts including 34 dormitories heated by stoves and lit by electricity. One way in which internees kept themselves entertained was by what was known as ‘Schiebung’ . Life in the camps was lived under strict rules which internees would challenge to break whenever it was safe to do so. The more ingenious the initiative the better it was enjoyed. Alcohol was prohibited but empty bottles would be co...

Nicknamed the ‘ Powder Puff Line’ , Blandford Camp railway probably had the shortest and most controversial working life of any railway in Britain. Blandford Camp railway was a small branch line built towards the end of World War I which connected the town with Blandford Camp designed to carry both supplies and personnel. It left the Somerset & Dorset line just to the south of Blandford Station passed along the borders of Langton Long, crossed the Blandford-Wimborne road and climbed up to the military camp. At the Camp end of the line there was a 200 yards long halt style platform. This remained in place until the 1960s. Although today Blandford Camp is an army establishment, its first permanent occupants were the Royal Naval Division to be followed by the Royal Air Force in 1918. The RAF had been formed in April 1918 and its Blandford base of 15,000 military personnel became a major entry point for new recruits. It was also the location of the Royal Air Force’s Headquarter’s Gen...

  While it may not be unusual for members of the Rail & Maritime Trade Union to take industrial action, it is much more unusual for members of a British military base to do so. Yet, that is what happened in Blandford Camp at the end of World War I. Today, the military base is associated with the army yet in early 1919 it was a large but only recently opened Royal Air Force (RAF) establishment. Recruits to the RAF were received there for initial training and the RAF Records, Equipment and Personnel Depot had been relocated to Blandford Camp the previous year. Having only been opened as an RAF base in 1918, Blandford Camp was not a happy place. There were accommodation problems due to construction delays caused by a shortage of building workers. The War Cabinet had flatly turned down an Air Ministry plea to improve construction worker pay rates to aid recruitment. Such delays resulted in widespread overcrowding in tents particularly unsuited to bad weather.   Blandford’s RAF...

  Blandford Camp has always been associated with the British Army. Yet at Christmas 1914, the Camp was jammed packed with sailors…and they weren’t happy! These miserable matelots had joined the Royal Navy to serve at sea in, what was at the time, the world’s largest, most powerful and prestigious maritime force. However, they now found themselves on land at wet, muddy Blandford Camp.  They were billeted in poorly heated wooden huts many of which were leaky. Furthermore on the exposed downs it was bitterly cold, it was raining continuously and there was mud everywhere. These sailors were being trained to be soldiers. They had been allocated to the Royal Naval Division which had been set up by Winston Churchill because too many volunteers had applied to join the Royal Navy. Many of this unhappy crew were naval stokers who were renowned for their resourcefulness, rowdiness and heavy drinking. Their normal role was to stoke and maintain ship boilers, a dirty, dusty, thirsty and ex...

  Around 100 years ago, there was an influenza outbreak in Blandford and the surrounding villages which had similarities with the corona virus pandemic. Just as Boris Johnson and Prince Charles have been viral victims so were Prime Minister David Lloyd-George and King George V in 1918. Called ‘ Spanish Flu’ , there is little on record showing how the Blandford district was affected. This was because of widespread press censorship. At the end of World War I, newspapers were not allowed to publish stories that might have undermined national morale. However, at Blandford Camp there were so many ‘ Spanish Flu’ deaths that the authorities were unable to suppress this story. Today, the camp is associated with the British Army yet in 1918 it was a massive Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force base. Blandford Camp’s story broke in October 1918, when it was suggested that sick recruits had to lie on dirty straw mats and there were insufficient doctors and nurses. Despite this, new recruit...

  Between 1948 and the early 1960s, Blandford Camp was nationally known for its racing car and motor cycle circuit. Racing at the time was particularly dangerous with few safety measures and frequent accidents some of which were fatal. Some observers reckoned the Blandford Camp roads were far too narrow for passing. On the 27 th August 1949, the first post-war closed circuit, racing car meeting was held at the Camp and involved several races. During the day’s third race for sports cars, Gordon Woods lost control of his vehicle when it hit the kerb and demolished a bus shelter. The driver was thrown out of his cockpit and suffered serious head injuries. He later died in Blandford Hospital. Despite this accident, the race meeting continued. Major Peter Braid was leading in the next race but had not been racing for long. At the same point as Woods’ accident, Braid hit the kerb and then at speed hit the damaged bus shelter. It acted like a ramp and his racing car was catapulted over a...

  During World War I, there was a German Prisoner of War Camp on the Blandford Milldown which opened in June 1917. It held nearly 200 internees who were accommodated initially in three huts and 30 large bell tents. Each tent was lit by lamps but there was no heating. The kitchen was in a shed and tobacco could be purchased from a canteen. As there was no infirmary, all sickness cases were sent to Blandford Camp. There was considerable ill-feeling towards German people at the time and that was often reflected, and frequently encouraged, by newspaper reports. The Weekly Despatch of 6 January 1918 reported that ‘the good people of Blandford are much incensed at what they consider to be undue pampering of a number of German prisoners interned there.’ Apparently, the townspeople were surprised to see at Christmas ‘ batches of their grey clad guests’ entering any shop they pleased and buying what they wished – even tea ‘ by the pound’ as one indignant housewife complained. However, ...

In the latter years of the Second World War, Blandford Camp was occupied by the U.S. Army. While Langton House, now demolished, became the base of the 1 st United States Infantry Division. In preparation for the 1944 Normandy Landings, part of Blandford Camp was transformed into a major U.S. Army Hospital complex. It was to be known as the ‘ 22 nd General Hospital’ . The site was converted from a British Army training camp to a hospital containing wards, operating theatres and medical stores. While the hospital was being constructed, Blandford Camp was also used as a parking zone for tanks and vehicles awaiting the Normandy invasion. This area was well camouflaged and protected by anti-aircraft guns. American Army medical staff arrived in Liverpool in April 1944 and travelled on to Blandford by train. There were five hospital units set up which each had 1,248 beds. They started receiving patients about two weeks after ‘ D Day’ (6 th June 1944). Many casualties were flown into t...

It might not have been Ascot, Epsom or Aintree but Blandford Races was once quite an important event in the county’s social calendar. Blandford Races date back to 1603 and were held on the downs which today would be part of Blandford Camp. Meetings continued until the middle of the 19 th  century with few breaks in between. The longest interruption was when Oliver Cromwell was Head of State and Government. As Lord Protector he was not amused by such events. Apart from horse racing, there were other entertainments. These included wrestling matches, cock fighting and dancing. Much feasting took place which was highly lucrative for the town. In 1780, cudgel playing was advertised and resulted in a Shaftebury man losing his left eye. This was then replaced by a sword and dagger contest between the gentlemen of Dorset and Somerset. One of the race patrons was Lord Palmerston who was later to be Prime Minister. In 1824, he had had a winner, Luzborough in the Dorsetshire Gold Cup. No...