The Blandford Express

  Not many Dorset villages can claim they have had a Royal Navy vessel named after them. Yet despite the ship’s incredibly short Royal Navy commission, the village of Durweston can make that claim. While despite the county not being renown for building warships, HMS Durweston was Dorset built. She was launched by the Dorset Yacht Company from its Hamworthy Yard in August 1955. HMS Durweston was designed to combat the threat of mines laid in coastal waters. The Dorset Yacht Company had been founded in 1938 and in 2013 celebrated its 75 th anniversary. HMS Durweston was a Ton Class minesweeper. All Royal Navy ships of this class were given the names of towns and villages with names that ended –ton. Unfortunately however, HMS Durweston had one of the shortest ever commissions in the Royal Navy. The vessel was  sold to the Indian Navy in 1956 and renamed the Kakinda. She remained in the service of the Indian Navy until 1981. (Illustrations: Minesweeper HMS Durweston & cre...

  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.                                                                ...

Powerstock Station’s great train robbery took place on April 14th 1858 at a time when the station master was away at Sunday morning church. Powerstock Station was on the railway branch line which connected Bridport with Maiden Newton and it served both the  villages of Powerstock and Nettlecombe. The station consisted of a single platform, a siding and a bungalow style building.   This meant that it could be used as a dwelling if the station became unviable. The station had opened in 1857 and until around 1862 was known as Poorstock. The  Bridport News  of Saturday 24 April 1858 reported that the plunderers effected their entrance by breaking a window. Fortunately there was little cash to be found in Powerstock Station at the time and the burglars escaped only with coppers to the amount of one shilling (5p) or just one shilling and sixpence (7.5p). No clue was found as to the identity of the depredators so the case of the Great Powerstock Station Robbery still remain...

  From Dorset Gallows to Van Diemen’s Land is the unlikely but true story of political corruption, hangings and transportation in the small market town of Blandford in Southern England.  It is available as a paperback from  Amazon in the United Kingdom, Australia and the USA. The book uncovers the extraordinary tale of two ordinary men, George Long a shoemaker and Richard Bleathman a butcher. Driven by belief and dissatisfaction they are swept along by events. Sentenced to be hanged in Dorchester Gaol for their protests against political corruption they are instead, following clemency appeals,  transported to Van Diemen’s Land -  on the other side of the world. ‘A fascinatingly  good read.  This book entirely complements the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs - also transported to Australia.’ (Richard Holledge, newspaper editor, freelance journalist - London. As read in the Independent, New York Times & Financial Times. Author of   Voices of the M...

North Dorset Railway is a heritage project which is, step by step, bringing Shillingstone station back to life. Here are some newspaper cuttings from the station’s past. Some show that then, safety was not always a prime consideration. The station was closed as a result of Beeching cuts back in the 1960s. Accident on Line.  On Wednesday morning when the Somerset & Dorset train leaving Poole at 8.10 was within half a mile off Shillingstone, and going at the rate of 30mph, the driver noticed a bull jump the fence from a field and stumble into the line when the train was only a dozen yards off and before it could get out of the way the right-hand life-guard and buffer of the engine caught it and literally cut it in pieces.’ (Weymouth Telegram: 22 nd May 1874) Railway Supper. On Friday, the employees of the Traffic & Permanent Way at Shillingstone Station held their annual supper in the school room (kindly lent by Reverend EA Dayman). Upwards of 30 partook of an excellent repa...

When 149 Dorset adults and children joined the vessel, the Emigrant at Plymouth on the 5 th March 1849 they were joining a vessel that was to become known as the ‘ Ship of Death’ . More than half were from the villages of Stourpaine & Durweston, about 30 were from Child Okeford and the remainder came from different villages around Blandford.  Durweston clergyman, Sydney Godolphin Osborne saw them all embark on board the 754 ton three-mast barque, whose master was William Henry Kemp. Also on board were the captain’s wife, Sarah and three-year old daughter, Fanny. The voyage had been organised by the Blandford Colonisation Society who had held its first meeting in January earlier that year. It could be said, however, that the real purpose of the Society was to export the problem of the district’s poor to the Antipodes. Living conditions at the time for ordinary folk were poor and often insanitary with the situation in the village of Stourpaine being particularly bad. For those ...

  The inhabitants of Stourpaine were on Sunday morning thrown into a state of most painful excitement by the report that their most highly esteemed clergyman, the Reverend C F Tufnell had committed suicide by cutting his throat. It appears that the unfortunate gentleman had been labouring for sometime past under depression of spirits. (Somerset County Gazette 3 rd August 1867)   Six dairy cows belonging to Stourpaine farmer, John Coles were killed on the Somerset & Dorset line near Shillingstone.   On Friday afternoon a little boy, eight years of age was sent after the cows. He let them in on the line but before he could get them off on the opposite side the up-express, which is booked to arrive at Blandford at 3.30pm, emerged from the cutting and dashed through the cows. Five of the seven which were killed on the spot and another died in the night through injuries received. (Western Gazette – 8 th September 1871) The Stourpaine Temperance Friends were so satisf...

  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...

For stealing four and a half pints of milk, valued at eleven pence and a farthing (around 4.5p),  Adilene Blanche Plaister, a single woman, of Shillingstone was sentenced by Sturminster Newton Magistrates to four months in prison with hard labour. Witnesses had observed her crossing a field at around 5.15am with a bucket under her arm. She was then seen milking a cow which belonged to Shillingstone farmer Edwin Charles Tuffin - a charge she did not deny. The farmer claimed this was the sixth occasion his cow had been milked. The Court was told that Adilene Plaister had previously failed to appear at court stating she would definitely not go even for forty policemen. She was brought to Court under custody. Before Sturminster Newton Magistrates, Adilene Plaister pleaded not guilty but added: ‘I milked his cow but only did it for a bit of fun. I did it to get my own back.’ She alleged that Mr Tuffin had milked someone else’s cow.  On hearing the sentence, Adilene Plaister exclaim...

Poaching in Dorset in the 1800s was a crime chiefly driven by the rural poor’s  need for food. It represented a conflict between landowners who claimed exclusive rights to the valuable game on their estates and the poor who felt a traditional right to access food. Encounters between poachers and gamekeepers were often violent and convicted poachers faced severe penalties. Man-traps were frequently left in place to capture poachers. A desperate poaching affray took place in September 1893 on the estate of Lord Wolverton at Iwerne Minster. Four men who had set nets in a rabbit warren were surprised by an equal number of gamekeepers. The poachers were armed with bludgeons and this all took place around 2 o’clock in the morning. Gamekeeper to Lord Wolverton, Tom Lane said the keepers were first attacked with sticks and he was struck by a heavy blow to his head. They were then stoned but after some hard fighting the four poachers were finally captured. The poachers were in possession of...

  Del boy, Rodney and Grandad, from the comedy series Only Fools & Horses, are normally associated with Peckham, South London. Yet one of their most memorable scenes was filmed at Iwerne Minster in North Dorset. The December 1982 programme ‘ A Touch of Glass’ attracted over 10 million television viewers. It is frequently regarded as Only Fools & Horses’ fans favourite scene of the show. Derek Trotter had been given the job of cleaning a valuable glass chandelier at country mansion, Ridgemore Hall. With Del and Rodney up ladders, and only an old sheet between the priceless chandelier and the floor, it was inevitable something would go wrong. Grandad detached the wrong chandelier and it smashed on the floor. As Grandad queried, ‘ Is it very valuable? ’ To which Del retorted, ‘Not really. It was bleeding priceless when it was hanging up there, though!’ Ridgemore Hall was in fact Clayesmore School at Iwerne Minster. However, as the school would not allow the floorboards to be ...

In 1966, Stella Lonsdale sold off almost the entire village of Okeford's Fitzpaine a part of the Pitt-Rivers Estate. Locally, Stella Lonsdale was a wealthy North Dorset lady but to Britain’s Security Services she had been a dangerous threat to national security. Furthermore, it seems that neither the British nor the German Security Services were entirely sure on which side she was on. She had various aliases including ‘Suzanne de la Roche’, ‘Simone de Valliere’ and ‘Solange de Leprevier’. Then, there was also ‘Mrs Warner’, ‘Princess Magaloff’ and ‘Mrs Carr-Glynn.’ Stella Lonsdale was born in Olton, Warwickshire on 9 January 1913, the daughter of confectionery salesman Ernest Clive and his wife Stella. Her late partner, George Pitt-Rivers had insisted that properties should be sold off in individual lots to place the existing tenants in a better position to purchase them. The estate had, at one time, been so large that it was said George could travel from coast to coast without leav...

Richard Lydford was a teacher of music and the organist at Stalbridge Parish Church. In August 1875, he was sent to prison for having beaten his wife Lemira Lydford and having broken one of her ribs. Only 18 months had elapsed since they had been ‘joined together by God in the bands of holy matrimony.’  Their marriage had ‘caused a good deal of remark not entirely complimentary as Lemira was 72 years of age and the bridegroom not yet 40.’ She was the widow of the former minister of Stalbridge Congregational Chirch. He had come home between one and two o’clock in the morning and had threatened to cut his wife’s throat with a bread knife. Eventually she had escaped the house and had walked around a quarter of a mile in a storm when drenched with rain.  Lydford was apprehended at Semley railway station. James Bartlett, teetotal  editor of the Blandford Express commented: ‘This poor fellow’s case is another sad instance of the effects of strong drink. We understand he has bee...

Woodyates Inn, located between Salisbury and Blandford, was before the motor car age an important coaching inn. This was an inn on a route followed by horse-drawn coaches at which the horses could be changed.  Hiding from his pursuers, the rebellious Duke of Monmouth stayed there in 1685 disguised as a shepherd. Despite his disguise, the illegitimate son of King Charles II was captured near Horton and was beheaded for treason. It was said the ghost of Monmouth appeared each year in the inn on the anniversary of his death. Woodyates Inn did not enjoy the best of reputations and in 1793 a traveller wrote: ‘I look upon an inn as the seat of all roguery, profaness, and debauchery; and sicken of them everyday by hearing nothing but oaths and abuse of each other and brutality to horses.’ This traveller, John Byng was a retired army officer and he also described Woodyates Inn as ‘miserable’ and ‘beds shocking’. He could not wait to leave but  he had trouble waking anyone to pay the b...

Pimperne Churchyard is said to be haunted by the severed hand of a soldier called Blandford. Despite his surname, trumpet-sergeant Blandford came from the village of Pimperne. So, when in 1780 he was posted to Blandford, soldier Blandford was delighted to renew the acquaintance of his old chums. A popular character in the village, he was well known for his dry sense of humour. Like his Pimperne mates, Blandford had a lucrative pastime and that was poaching. A local tenant farmer wrote at the time to his landlord: ‘ Poaching has got to such a thing in our parish, that almost every boy at the age of 14 years practises it, which I fear will lead to further mischief.’ Most popular location for poaching deer was Cranborne Chase, particularly around the village of Sixpenny Handley. So, trumpet-sergeant Blandford soon organised a group of Pimperne poachers to head north in the direction of the Chase. Sadly, for the villagers, there had been loose talk and a group of local gamekeepers had been...

Julia Rosamund Harrison was the daughter of the Reverend John Harrison of Toller Porcorum, near Bridport and Julia attended the local village school. As a 17 year-old she won the title of Dorset Youth Clubs Hostess of the Year. For the offspring of a Dorset clergyman,  her career was to go off in an unexpected direction. One of her first jobs was working as an air hostess and then as a nanny for the actress, Diane Cilento - the first wife of James Bond actor, Sean Connery. She then became a Bunny Club  croupier. Julia met the Soho club owner and magazine publisher Paul Raymond and embarking on a new career as an actress and glamour model she decided to use the alias, Fiona Richmond. As a sex-symbol of the times, she appeared in stage plays and magazines and had a talent for self promotion. Fiona Richmond was in the forefront of the sexual revolution in the 1970s and once rode naked Lady Godiva-like through the streets of Soho. She was fined twenty pounds. In 1976, a national n...

Do you remember Mick Robertson - presenter with Jenny Hanley on ITV children’s programme Magpie  in the 1970s? For many years, Mick lived just outside Blandford in the village of Ibberton in the shadows of Bulbarrow Hill. Living nearby was Jack Hargreaves another television presenter and writer who had a keen interest in the North Dorset countryside.  Initially, Mick trained as a teacher before working in television as a researcher. After presenting Magpie, Mick produced many award winning programmes for children. In 2007, he was given the Special Children’s BAFTA Award for his television work . Although now retired Mick retains an interest in television as a family member is the Executive Producer on the popular television series the  Repair Shop. He is a lifetime follower of both County Cricket and Portsmouth Football Club. Together with  ex-Magpie presenting mate Tommy Boyd,  he is a regular contributor to internet radio station  Pompey Sound.  Mick...

West Dorset village of Toller Porcorum was in ‘a state of great excitement’ one Sunday night in October 1902 when, according to the Bridport News,  its little wooden station was destroyed by fire. Opened in March 1862, Toller Station could be found on the railway branch line which connected Maiden Newton with Bridport. It appears that the station-master, Mr Bradley was in his office and had an accident with a lamp. There was an explosion and the place was soon ablaze. Overlooking the station was the Vicarage where the Reverend D Clarke detected a strong smell of burning wood and resin. Seeing a cloud of smoke, the clergyman hurriedly dressed and ran outside to see what assistance he could give. He saw that the station-master had his arms severely burnt and his fingers badly cut. Reverend Clarke hurried onto the platform and threw what water there was at hand over the fire. Unfortunately by this time the whole place was ablaze. At one moment both the Vicarage and the Old Swan Inn, w...

William Lawrence was a Dorset soldier who fought the French from 1808-1813 and again at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Yet, despite this, he married a French girl, Clotilde Clairet from St Germain-en-Laye some ten miles from the centre of Paris. Returning to civilian life at the age of 28, he ran an inn with his wife at Studland. Born in 1791, and from a large impoverished Briantspuddle family, he was compelled to seek out his own livelihood at an early age. Initially, he was paid just two old pennies (1p) per day to frighten birds off corn fields and then he worked as a ploughboy earning just six old pence per day. At the age of 14, he was apprenticed to Henry Bush, a Studland builder. Running away from a harsh master, William Lawrence joined the British Army. William Lawrence served in the war in South America in 1805 and through the whole of the Spanish Peninsular War. He was awarded a silver medal with no less than ten clasps representing the battles in which he fought an...

At the time the giant German airship, Hindenberg was the largest aircraft ever built – it was an awe-inspiring sight. With its Nazi emblems, it was the pride of the Nazi Party when it flew over North Dorset during the morning of the 5 th July 1936. However, was the Hindenberg on a spying mission? That was certainly the view of a reader’s letter to the Somerset Standard (11 th July 1936) : ‘Are we in future when this country has been suitably photographed from the air by the Hindenberg to expect showers of bombs and poison gas wherever she has been? That is in the event of a future war. In case the Nazis should at any future date take exception to this letter, I think it more prudent to sign – AYZ.’ Returning from the United States to Germany with passengers, it was not taking the most direct route. It was also making its way contrary to an undertaking between the British & German Governments. This was that the Hindenberg would avoid flying over Britain except when forced to do so...