The Blandford Express

‘Tis not well-known, but one year in the 1970s Shillingstone had the privilege of hosting the County’s Dwyle Flonking Championships. Equally little-known are the rules of the game. Two teams of twelve players are formed who dress up as yokels. To play they use a ‘dwyler’ (knitted cloth), a ‘dribbler’ (stick used to hurl the cloth) and two chamber pots, known as ‘guzunders’. The latter are filled with beer. Turns are determined by tossing a sugar beet. One team gathers in a circle and moves around an opposing player known as the ‘flonker’. This competitor dunks the cloth into one of the pots and then throws it at the opposing circling  players.  Points are awarded according to which area of the body the thrower hits with three points awarded for hitting a head.  However, if the player misses, called a ‘swadge’, the thrower has to drink as a forfeit the contents of the other chamber pot within a strict time limit. Alternatively, the player can dump the contents of the guzul...

Riots and protests are not normally associated with towns like Gillingham. Yet, that is what happened back in the 1620s. Gillingham Forest on the Dorset/Wiltshire borders was a medieval royal hunting ground and deer park which had been particularly popular with King John. A moated hunting lodge had been built there  to accommodate his annual visits. Gillingham Royal Forest consisted of some seven thousand acres and included the villages of Motcombe, Bourton and West & East Stour. In 1625, the area was deforested, the land enclosed but this  led to riots and protests. King James I and King Charles I had sold off parts of the forest to raise money. Erection of fences prevented the locals from grazing their animals and from collecting wood which had been long-standing practices. Also during the winters of 1626 & 1627 the deer were slaughtered and trees were felled. One of the more bizarre protests involved Lady Skimmington cross-dressing parades designed to poke fun at th...

Despite the duties being unpleasant, ‘Groom of the Stool’ to the King of England was considered a prestigious position. The role involved assisting the Monarchs with their bodily functions and bathroom needs using a close stool (see above). This historical piece of furniture was an early portable toilet which enclosed a chamber pot. Historians disagree as to whether this servant was required to wipe the Monarch’s bottom. Proximity to the Monarch with no-one else present led to the sharing of many royal confidences. In turn, the post holder became a feared and influential figure around the Court because of his access to the Sovereign.  The Groom of the Stool was also responsible for monitoring the King’s bowel movements and for liaising with doctors when necessary. Elizabeth I was served by a Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber. Sir William Compton, Sir Michael Stanhope and Sir James Fullerton were all Grooms of the Stool. Compton performed the role between between 1509 until 152...

From the mid-18th century onwards, many Dorset towns and villages set up sparrow clubs. These were not, however gatherings of bird watchers and nature lovers. Their sole purpose was to destroy as many sparrows as possible because it was thought these birds devoured much of the grain being grown. The sparrow was looked upon as an avian rat and a pest. Sparrows were considered such a threat to the harvest that to kill one was almost considered to be a civic duty. They would also burrow into the roofs of farm buildings made of thatch with the consequence the roofs would leak. For many years sparrow  pie was a traditional working class dish and was considered to be a food of the poor. Because the bird is so small at least a dozen would be required for even a family sized pie. In her book The Experienced English Housekeeper  published in 1769, Elizabeth Raffald provided a recipe for sparrow dumplings. In 1931, the College of Pestology even offered  a prize for the best sparrow...

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 ...

Bell ringer, Edward Hart paid the ultimate price in September 1884 when he failed to release his bell rope in the belfry of  St Nicholas Church, Winterborne Kingston (featured). Hart was a 34 years-old sawyer from Sturminster Marshall and was taking part in a peal with other ringers to celebrate a local wedding. The unfortunate man got entangled in his rope and was pulled up to an overhead beam. There, he suffered a severe blow to his head and then he fell heavily to the floor. He was never to speak again. Medical assistance was obtained immediately from a Bere Regis doctor but the unlucky woodworker died just four days later. As it was reckoned the occurrence was purely accidental, an Inquest was considered by the Coroner to be unnecessary. To prevent bell ringers flying into the air, foot straps (below) were invented. However, it seems this health and safety measure never really caught on. Reverend William Russell Ware Mortimer was struck by a 10 cwt swinging bell in July 1957. I...

  Jack Hargreaves OBE was a television presenter and writer who lived for several years in the village of Belchalwell. Despite being London born, he is remembered for his nostalgic and gentle programmes about the countryside. These included ‘ Gone Fishing’ , ‘ Out of Town’ and ‘ Old Country ’. They appeared long before and were forerunners of ‘ Countryfile ’.  Many of his programmes were filmed in his Belchalwell home’s potting shed and this provided the inspiration for comedian Charlie Higson’s character, Bob Fleming who regularly appeared in television’s ‘ The Fast Show’. Jack also conceived and presented ‘ How? ’ for 15 years the children’s how does it work programme with co-presenters Fred Dineage and Bunty James. Behind his gentle and unassuming broadcasting manner Jack Hargreaves was a shrewd individual and successful businessman. His reputation as a communicator earned him a role setting up broadcasting services for the allied military services before and after D Da...

At one time members of the Dorset Constabulary were subject to regulations that today would not be acceptable and possibly illegal. A  Dorset police constable could not marry without obtaining the permission of the Chief Constable, Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Symes Cox. He was worried that so many of his constables were married men that he issued the following instruction. ‘The number of married police constables being out of all reasonable proportion to the total strength of the Force so much as to be increasingly inconvenient to the efficient working of the police, No constable for the future will be allowed to marry until he has served at least twelve months and then permission will not be granted until he satisfies the Chief Constable he has saved a sufficient sum of money to enable him to start in life with respectability as a married man.’ (Dorset Constabulary General Orders – August 1864) When the Force had been established in 1856, it had been determined, unless there wer...

  Lent Crocking was an old Dorset custom that used to take place on Pancake Day. It was similar to ‘ trick or treat’ although some would say it was ‘ just blackmail’ . Boys would gather in the evening and parade through the villages each armed with a collection of relics of broken pots, washing pans, jugs, dishes & plates. The broken pots originally signified that as Lent was beginning they were of no use. A lead youth would step forward and knock on a door. As William Barnes wrote: ‘When the door is opened, the hero, who is perhaps a farmer’s boy, with a pair of black eyes sparkling under the tattered brim of his brown milking hat covered with cow’s hair and dirt like the inside of a blacksmith’s nest, hangs down his head and with one corner of his mouth turned up into an irresistible smile pronounces in the dialect of his county.’ ‘I be come a-shrovin’ Vor a little pankaik, A bit o’ bread o’ your baikin’. If you’ll gi’ me a little, I’ll ax no more If you don’t gi’ me nothin’...