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...

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...

Archie Wellman, a Dorchester postman and his friend, Owen Wicks, a hairdresser’s assistant who worked on South Street, were both charged at Dorchester Assizes in May 1910 with fraudulently seeking to obtain money from a football betting company based in Holland. To secure their ends, the two men put together an ingenious scheme.  The betting company, owned by Fred Archer & Fred Bacon offered money prizes if the match scores were accurately predicted in return for an entry fee. All entries had to be posted before 2pm on Saturdays. Legal restrictions in Britain on betting were quite restrictive at the time and this is probably why the scheme operated out of Holland. Wicks made arrangements with a Cheshire based newspaper, the Athletic News to have the result of Saturday’s football matches telegrammed to him as soon as the games finished. These he would later post up in the hairdresser’s salon where he worked. Wicks received the football results at 4.56pm on the Saturday in questi...

In June 1936, the people of Portesham, near Weymouth came up with an ingenious way to promote their village - cat racing. For newspapers it was the ‘silly season’ and there was a shortage of serious news, so Portesham’s cat racing exploits spread like a wild fire. Daily Express thought it was a good enough story to send a photographer to the village, so several stray  cats were rounded up for him at the inn. The newspaper announced that the 440 yards four-lane track would be open in August and that the Dorset moggies would be chasing an electric rat. If challenged, the licensee of the King’s Arms agreed to confirm that a well-attended experimental cat race had already taken place. It was said that female cats were the better chasers and that tailless cats were not allowed to enter. The cats would wear different coloured ribbons around their necks so that punters could more easily recognise their favourites. Owners would have to pay a two shillings and sixpence (12.5p) fee to enter ...

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 ...

  In the late 50s and early 1960s, Pimperne Cricket Club played at Langbourne on a concrete batting pitch overlaid by matting. A particular hazard at Langbourne was cow pats as the pitch’s more normal use was for dairy cattle. To discourage the wandering animals, a temporary electrified fence had to be placed around the batting pitch which was inadvisable to touch Cricket in Pimperne went back many years. The Dorset County Chronicle  reports a cricket match between Pimperne and Chettle which took place in August 1867. It was a close game with Pimperne winning by one run with just one wicket to spare.                                                                ...

  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...

He was the high-spirited parson initially of Lydlinch and then Chettle who was mad about sport.  However, these were the uncivilised ‘ past times’ of the 1700s such as bull baiting, cockfighting and owl hunting. It was said he hunted ‘everything from the flea in the blanket to the elephant in the forest.’   He was also an author and a magistrate although writer Desmond Hawkins reckoned he regarded the law as an inconvenience to be broken or upheld according to what suited him. William Chafin was a crusty character and rural eccentric who wore old boots and greasy leather breeches even when dining with royalty. Young William’s sporting career began when he accidently shot and killed an old lady called ‘Goody’ . Somehow, the future cleric avoided court conviction but his father insisted he spent a month in a loft as a penance on just bread and water. During this confinement, he passed the time trap baiting sparrows. Only four of his eleven brothers and sisters survived which...

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...

  Charles Maidment was one of this country’s finest jockeys. Dorset born & bred, Charlie was born in Sixpenny Handley in 1845 and lived for several years in Blandford before he married. With 76 wins each, he shared the Jockey’s Championship with William Gray in 1870 and then with George Fordham the following year with 86 each. In 1871, he won the One Thousand Guineas, the Oaks and the St Leger on Hannah . The following year he won the Derby on Cremorne and the St Leger on Wenlock . After his 1872 Derby win, he suffered a short illness. This it is reckoned to have been due to the aniline dye in his silk jockey’s jacket. Sadly, Charlie Maidment was not good at managing his money. Despite amassing a fortune from his winnings he squandered it and in 1875 was listed in the Cambridge Bankruptcy Court. Owners then tended to shun him until he rode Kisber to win the 1876 Derby at Epsom. He married Mary Vickery Percy and they had four daughters. However, she had health issues. The Bury...

Long before cricket & football became nationally popular, English counties had their own favourite pastimes. In Dorset ‘ cudgel playing’ was a favoured ‘sport’ and there is a theory that there is a connection between this sport and the cudgel carrying Cerne Abbas Giant. Cudgel playing used to be a most popular feature at  race meetings, fairs and revels in Dorset during the 17 th & 18 th century. Betting, money prizes and rural rivalries to attain a sort of rural celebrity status, stimulated this most brutal of pastimes. Play would take place on a stage of rough planks about four feet high which would attract a large crowd of men and women. A challenger would ascend the stage and throw down his cap to be picked up by an opponent. With a leather thong to go around the wrist, each player would be holding a cudgel made of ash of about three feet long. A master of ceremonies would announce when the playing was about to begin. Object of cudgel playing was to ‘ break the ...

  The noble and manly game of cricket is becoming very popular in Dorset. Many gentlemen encourage the clubs which are already formed and many excellent matches have lately been played in the county. We understand a match between Blandford and Stour clubs for twenty two guineas and dinner will be played for in Shroton Fair Field on Thursday 15th when much good play is expected. The match terminated in favour of the Blandford team. A better contest at cricket was never witnessed in Dorset and a numerous and respectable company was assembled on the occasion. (Salisbury & Winchester Journal – 12 th & 19 th August 1822) Our town of Blandford has been very gay during the week. A new cricket club has been lately formed consisting of upwards of 60 of the principal gentry of the county. A capital piece of ground on the racecourse has, at considerable expense, been levelled and new laid with turf and next season will make a first rate cricket ground. On Tuesday last was the fir...

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...

Ken Baily was the England football and rugby cheerleader for three decades and Bournemouth Football Club mascot from the 1950s. An eccentric character and lifelong bachelor, he had a love of trifle and in his spare time could be seen riding his bicycle around the town dressed as either Winston Churchill or the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie. As a cheerleader, he was recognisable in his trademark costume of Union Jack waistcoat, scarlet tails, white gloves and top hat. When meeting royalty, Prince Charles is said to have once remarked ‘ where did you escape from?’ He is also the only man to become both a Freeman of Bournemouth and a Subbuteo figure. Ken Baily was a keen runner and swimmer and maintained his fitness by regular sea bathing. This included regular dips in the Bournemouth briny on Christmas Day and on New Year’s Eve. He worked as a clerical assistant in a Bournemouth telephone exchange and also wrote a gossip column for a local newspaper using the pen name Genevieve...

Forty years ago AFC Bournemouth, in 1982, had just celebrated promotion to a higher division. However it was not to the Premiership but to what was then called the Football League’s Third Division. So unlike today’s Premiership, the club could not look forward to the receipt of shed loads of money. While the club opened the season with a three goal victory over Walsall, the attendance at the Dean Court stadium was just 5,330. The Cherries were losing £2,000 per week and needed gates of 7,000 to break even. Club Director Derek Lever had launched an appeal to raise £50,000 over the coming season. The appeal would involve a series of money raising events to include a race night, a sportsman dinner, a sponsored walk and a medieval banquet. Mr Lever said that while the Cherries were not in danger of going to the wall he emphasised that the appeal target must be met just for general running expenses and to provide manager David Webb with some finance to strengthen the side during the season....

  Village cricket in Dorset goes back many years. Dorset County Chronicle reports a cricket match between the villages of Pimperne and Chettle which took place in August 1867.  In the 50s and early 1960s, the Pimperne club played at Langbourne on a concrete batting pitch overlaid by matting. Cow pats were a particular hazard as the pitch’s more normal use was for dairy cattle. If there was one match in the 1960s the Pimperne club was determined to win, it was against a village that it would be politic not to name. Their team, which seemed to consist mainly of members of the same family, were masters of gamesmanship. If Pimperne’s tail end batsman was a youngster, they would collectively seek to undermine his confidence. While the Pimperne scorer had to keep an eagle eye on the recordings of his opponent’s counterpart!   Yet Pimperne in their tussles with this opposition had their own secret weapon…lardy cake. This calorie laden, greasy, fatty delight had a key tactica...

  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...

Shapwick’s Charles Bennett was Britain’s first track  and field athlete ever to become an Olympic champion. He won two golds and one silver medal at the 1900 Paris Olympics. Nicknamed the Shapwick Express, Charles Bennett was born in the village on 28 December 1870. He became one of the finest middle distance runners of his time. Charles Bennett won the AAA four mile championship in 1897 and the cross country running title in 1899 and 1900. At the 1900 Paris Olympics, he beat the favourite, Frenchman Henry Deloge to win the gold medal in the 1,500 metres race. His time was a new world record. He then won a second gold medal in the 5,000 metres team race. Charles Bennett just missed an Olympic gold hat-trick by coming second in the 4,000 metres steeplechase. Apparently, he celebrated his victory by visiting the Folies Bergere night club. Despite limited press coverage, when he returned home to England, he was carried shoulder high through the streets of Wimborne. Charles Bennett...