The Blandford Express

Some breweries are cherishingly remembered while others are now forgotten: Eldridge Pope  of Dorchester. Founded in 1837 by Charles and Sarah Eldridge, a new brewery was built near the railway line in 1880. Edwin Pope had joined in 1870 and was followed by his brother Alfred. The Huntsman   trademark (featured) was shared with Leeds based brewer, Joshua Tetley. Thomas Hardy Ale, a strong barley wine, was one their most famous beers. Eldridge Pope closed in 2003 and the site was sold to a property company. Bournemouth Brewery was founded at 117 Holdenhurst Road in 1858 in association with Heath Poult Inn.  One of its owners was a Mrs Hilda G  Ogden. The brewery was bought by Strong of Romsey in 1925 and survived just as a depot until 1973 when the site was redeveloped. Devenish of Weymouth. Originally the Flew Brewery, it was bought by William Devenish in 1824. In 1931,  Major J Devenish’s home was burgled but the stolen silver was discovered the next day by scho...

Despite a much smaller population, there is one global competition where the county of Dorset has matched the USA. In the now somewhat outdated Miss World Contest, Dorset has produced three winners. They are Ann Sidney, Lesley Langley and Sarah-Jane Hutt. The USA has provided Marjorie Wallace (1973), Gina Tolleson (1990) and Alexandria Mills (2010). Ann Sidney was a hairdresser from Poole, on a 30 shillings (£1.50) weekly wage, who won in 1964. She became an actress, married five times and for a short period was a girlfriend of Bruce Forsyth. The contest had an incredible 27.5 million television audience in the UK alone. When Ann returned to Poole she received a reception usually reserved for royalty. Her win led to British born, American comedian Bob Hope inviting her to entertain US troops in Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam. Her autobiography is entitled, ‘Surviving Miss World .’ Next year in 1965, Dorset achieved back to back victories when 21 year old Lesley Langley from Weymout...

  Nicknamed ‘ Diamond Pitt’, Thomas Pitt was a clergyman’s son who was born in Blandford St Mary in 1653. During his lifetime, he bought and sold a diamond considered by many to be the most pure and beautiful ever discovered. In 2018, it was valued at £14,000,000. Today, it is on display in the Louvre Museum in Paris. It is known as both the ‘ Pitt Diamond’ and also the ‘Regent Diamond’ . The diamond was found by a slave in southern India and he hid it in a large wound in his leg. An English sea captain found out about the diamond and lured the slave onto his vessel. He threw the slave overboard and stole the gem which he sold to a diamond merchant. The seaman later committed suicide. Thomas Pitt, who was the Governor of Madras and a testy character, bought the diamond for £20,400. His son, Robert brought the jewel back to England hidden in the heel of his shoe. The jewel was cut, a process which took two years and cost £5,000. The cut-off fragments fetched around £4,000. By then...

In times gone by, Poole was notorious for its fearsome pirates. Among the most terrifying was Poole born Eric Cobham. In his first act of piracy he stole £40,000 worth of gold and goods from a French vessel. From his base in Newfoundland in Canada, he practised piracy on the high seas. It is said he operated out of Sandy Point on the island’s west coast. Throughout his ventures between 1740 and 1760, he was accompanied by his wife, the formidable Maria whom he met in a Plymouth tavern. It was a time when piracy was an all male club and Maria was one of the few exceptions. Both were notorious for their cruelty and for sparing no quarter. Captured crews were murdered with some survivors even used for target practice. This left no witnesses. Then, their vessels were sunk to the bottom of the sea. Chillingly and frighteningly, Maria has been described as Canada’s Pirate Queen . She was definitely not a lady with which to tangle. By all accounts, Maria did not play second fiddle to her husb...

Harry Page, also known as Harry Paye, was a notorious pirate, smuggler and adventurer from Poole. Scourge of the Spaniards and the French, they nicknamed him ‘Arripay’. Operating in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, he would attack Spanish and French vessels and bring their cargoes of gold, wine and exotic goods back to Poole. It has been claimed that he liberated so much alcohol on one occasion that it kept the whole of Poole drunk for a month. Harry was given permission by King Henry IV to inflict as much damage as he could to the King’s enemies. Harry led raids on the French and Spanish coasts from Normandy right down to the Bay of Biscay. To the people of Poole, he was an adventurer and a hero but to the Spaniards and French he was a criminal. In his home town, Harry was regarded as a maritime Robin Hood. In 1398, he sacked the town of Gijon in Northern Spain and stole a famous cross from a church in Finisterre. Six centuries later, Poole sent a replacement wooden cross over ...

Many Dorset towns and villages are twinned with places which can be found in the La Manche Department of Normandy. Such links include: Bridport is twinned with St-Vaast-la-Hougue  (population 1828 – 2015). In 2019, the latter gained an award as the prettiest village in France. A must place to visit in St-Vaast-la-Hougue is the fine quality grocery store, La Maison Gosselin famous across France which has successfully traded there for more than 130 years. Lyme Regis is twinned with Barfleur (population 564 – 2018). Both now are popular seaside resorts but in 1066 it was the port where William the Conqueror embarked before the Norman invasion of England. In 1944, its German commander evacuated Barfleur, prior to any battle with the Allies, to avoid it being damaged because he liked the small port so much. Sturminster Marshall is twinned with Sainte-Mere-Eglise (population 3074 – 2018). In June 1944, American parachutist, John Steele was caught on the tower of the town church...

Dorset Starfish are not a rare marine invertebrate found off the Dorset  coast. In fact, Starfish saved hundreds of lives in Bournemoth & Poole during World War II by preventing an estimated one thousand tons of German bombs being dropped there. Starfish were decoy sites designed to deceive German night bombers away from strategically important towns and airfields. There were several Starfish decoys in Dorset. One was set up on the western side of Brownsea Harbour. It contained a mixture of different types of fire designed to simulate a burning town. Created with the help of a technician from Elstree Film Studios, it was operated by Royal Air Force personnel from a bunker about 200 metres from the set up pyrotechnics. Once the first wave of bombers had passed drums of oil and creosote-soaked hay bales were lit to simulate the effects of incendiary bombs. This sought to attract the focus of the drops from the next bomber wave. Poole & Bournemouth were a target for a large ...

  Featured is Coryates Halt which could be found on the Abbotsbury branch line. It opened in May 1906 but closed in December 1952. Other now almost forgotten Dorset railway stations include: Abbotsbury opened in November 1885: closed in December 1952. Broadstone opened in December 1872: closed for passengers in March 1966. Bridport East Street opened in March 1884: closed in September 1930. Bridport West Bay opened in March 1884: closed for passengers in September 1930. Blandford (Blandford Forum from September 1953) opened in November 1860: closed for passengers from March 1966. Charlton Marshall opened in July 1928: closed in September 1956. Creekmoor Halt opened in June 1933: closed in March 1966. Lyme Regis opened in August 1903: closed for passengers in November 1965. Portland opened in October 1865: closed for passengers in March 1952. Powerstock opened in November 1857: closed for passengers May 1975. Sandsfoot Castle (on Portland branch line) ...

After Danish born Bertha Hartung Olsen had appeared before Swanage Magistrates, she became known as the ‘ Brownsea Island Amazon’ . It was alleged that the 26 year old, ‘ good looking blonde’ had thrown a girl into the sea ‘ like a sack of wool’ and had also lifted up the girl’s father by his trousers. The physical training expert had been recruited as a security guard by the Island’s owner, Mary Florence Bonham Christie. Mrs Bonham Christie had bought Brownsea Island in 1927 for £125,000 and immediately banned both fishing and hunting. She was a keen supporter of the RSPCA and wanted the Island to become a bird and animal sanctuary. To achieve this, she had evicted nearly 200 Island residents. As a result, she was given locally the nickname, the ‘Demon of Brownsea'. John Walter Batt, a Bournemouth tailor, had been digging for worms as bait on Brownsea Island foreshore for 30 years. He had just received a solicitor’s letter warning him that he had committed a trespass. It was ...

Francis Fane was the silent but rather mischievous Dorset MP who loved a joke and can  also  be regarded as the founder of the village of Spetisbury. Francis Fane was born in the village in 1750 and served as the Member of Parliament for Dorchester from 1790-1807. In line with his taciturn reputation, there is only one record of him speaking in Parliament where he raised just a single question. One day Frances Fane was travelling up to London sitting comfortably inside a horse drawn mail coach when sitting above, in the open, was a barber from Dorchester. The latter’s heavily laden coat pocket hung temptingly over the MP’s open coach window. Francis could not resist slitting the inviting pocket and salvaging its contents which turned out to be a large bundle of bank notes. These had been entrusted to the barber to deliver safely to London. When the Dorchester hairdresser realised his loss he was in a state of apoplexy and extreme desperation. The mischievous MP then produced...

  Sandbanks Ferry has provided a vehicle and passenger crossing between Sandbanks and Studland since 1926. This avoids the 25 mile journey around Poole Harbour. First ferry crossing was on 15 th July 1926 and was coal fired and steam driven. In 1904, the Branksome & Swanage Light Railway Scheme had proposed the construction of a tramway between Canford Cliffs and Swanage. A tower was to be erected on either side of the water and by means of a gondola the tram cars would be swung across the water enabling them to continue on their way onto Swanage. The Branksome & Swanage Light Railway Scheme was unable to obtain the approval of the Poole Harbour Commissioners for their plan and as there was strong local opposition it was never built. Also, early in the 20 th century, there had been a rowing boat crossing which operated only during the summer. Built by an Isle of Wight shipbuilder, the first Sandbanks Ferry remained in service for more than 30 years. Despite only able ...

  Branksome & Swanage Light Railway was a proposal to build a 13 miles line from the County Gates through Branksome Park to Canford Cliffs. From there it would travel to Sandbanks and then to the entrance to Poole Harbour. This would be crossed by a transporter bridge so that the line could make its way onto Swanage. Promoters of the Scheme argued that it would open up the health giving opportunities of the Isle of Purbeck to Bournemouth & Poole residents as well as making Swanage less isolated. A representative of the promoters was reported as saying that they wanted a pretty route because they ‘ did not want to flood Branksome Park with rif-raf!’ A suspended gondola would carry the tram cars across the water at a height of 90 metres so as not to interfere with shipping. There are similar transporter bridges built in both Newport and Middlesbrough. The intended drive system would have used electric motors under the gondola to draw the platform across the harbour mouth ...

Maybe it is the sea air why, over the years, Brownsea Island has had so many colourful and eccentric owners. Originally called Branksea Island, its name was changed because so many visitors left the train at Branksome by mistake. Among the early owners was William ‘ Mad Benson’ (1682-1754) whom Poole people believed dabbled in black magic and cavorted with a coven of witches. Once when he stood for Parliament in Shaftesbury he only received four votes. Out of spite, ‘ Mad Benson’ cut off the town’s water supply. Next eccentric owner was Sir Augustus John Foster (1780-1848) who had been a diplomat. In fact, he was the last Briton to declare war on the USA back in 1812. While living on Branksea, Foster suffered from bouts of depression and committed suicide by cutting his own throat. Then there was Colonel William Petrie Waugh who purchased the Island for £13,000 for a money making scheme. He mistakenly believed there were valuable clay deposits from which expensive porcelain ite...

  Maryland is a lost village which could be found on the west side of Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour. Originally the island had been called Branksea but apparently so many visitors got off trains at Branksome by mistake that later the island became better known as Brownsea. The lost village was named after the wife of its founder, Colonel William Petrie Waugh. The Edinburgh born Scot’s wife, Mary Murray Halloway-Carew was an amateur geologist. Apparently she was convinced after poking her parasol in the soil that the  island held clay suitable for making high quality pottery. Former Indian Army officer, Waugh had decided to buy the island for £13,000 as a money making scheme. It is said he had returned to England with little property of his own. The purchase was after he had been told by a geologist that Brownsea Island contained a ‘ valuable bed of the finest clay’ worth ‘ at least £10,000 an acre .’ As Waugh was a recently appointed director of the London & Eastern ...

  Three local men believed they had sound theories to identify Jack the Ripper. This was the name given to the murderer who savagely killed five women in London’s impoverished Whitechapel district in 1888. The three men with these views were Henry Richard Farquharson, Frederick George Abberline and Sydney Godolphin Osborne. Henry Richard Farquharson who has been unkindly nicknamed ‘ loose-lipped Farqie’ was the controversial and outspoken Member of Parliament for West Dorset from 1885 to 1895. He lived at Eastbury House in Tarrant Gunville. Apparently, Farquharson claimed that the murderer was the son of a surgeon who had committed suicide. Fearing libel, he did not identify him specifically but his description pointed to Wimborne-born, Montague Druitt. In February 1892, the Western Mail later confirmed that the West Dorset MP’s theory was that ‘ the author of the outrages killed himself. ’ Druitt had committed suicide in November 1888 and his body had been recovered from the Ri...