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Category: Local History

A Garden Shed’s Unique Place in History | Looking Back

It’s home to wheelbarrows and gardening tools today but this glorified garden shed in the grounds of Manston House also holds a unique place...

Where Nuns Daily Trod | Then and Now

A 1930s woodcut by Shaftesbury’s High House Press features the L-shaped thatched cottages that formerly occupied the end of Laundry Lane. The cottages probably stood...

Hill View Dairies | Then & Now

The clue is in the street name but ‘Old Dairy’ appears to be the only on-site reminder of a corner of Okeford Fitzpaine that...

The grocer’s boy who won the VC | Looking Back

Only 1,358 Victoria Crosses have been awarded since the first one in 1857 and few have deserved it more than World War One hero...

The Two Ronnies in the Blackmore Vale

When it comes to vintage comedy, the Two Ronnies, are firm favourites in many households. Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett first broadcast their show...

‘Discovering the Vale of the White Hart’

Norman and early medieval kings had vast tracts of forest in Dorset. The Royal Forest of Blackmore was set aside for the king’s use,...

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Enter the Spice Merchant

Soupy dinners, a lorry full of mice and a dreamy back end – Basil begins his first season with Jess Rimmer with power, promise...

Two Wimborne icons unite in landmark electrical merger

Two of Wimborne’s oldest family-run businesses are joining forces in a landmark merger that marks a new era for local independent retail. Holmans of Wimborne,...

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