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Category: Local History

A tale of two number plates | Then & Now

My 1904 picture of Gillingham High Street is historically interesting on several fronts, not least because it features the town’s first car and its...

Handley’s Blackest Day | Looking Back

May 20, 1892, was the blackest of days in the annals of Sixpenny Handley. In a matter of hours, a fire that started in a...

Fontmell Magna’s Gossips Tree | Then and Now

Fontmell Magna’s Gossips’ Tree It’s sometimes known as the Cross Tree but a more evocative name is the Gossips’ Tree – and it’s just as...

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...

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Autumn returns to Wincanton:racing, style … and festive fun

Wincanton Racecourse is gearing up for a thrilling few months of top-class National Hunt action, packed with style, charity and festive racing.This year’s iconic...

Dorset Council budget relies on Council Tax to fund rising care costs

Dorset Council has published its draft budget proposals for 2026/27, revealing that the majority of new spending on social care and services will be...

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