Category: Local History

The rich history that makes Yetminster a unique village

Tucked away on the western edge of ‘The Vale’ is a village with a very unusual history, indeed, possibly unique – Yetminster. Situated about five...

How an 1857 murder in India halted Dorset traffic last month

A young Dorset army officer, severely wounded during the 1857 Indian Mutiny, succeeded in leading women and children to safety despite being under constant...

The Milborne Martyrs | Looking back

This historic picture, dating from April 1874, provides a rare photographic glimpse of the agricultural turmoil and early trade unionism that played such a...

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...

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Why you should take Pony Club Efficiency Tests

The end of the summer holidays brings the Pony Club Efficiency Tests. Members will have been prepared while having fun at camps and endless...

Dorset’s secret soldiers and George Hosford on the failing TB system | BV Podcast

From secret Dorset saboteurs preparing for Nazi invasion to the 19th-century TB tests still dictating modern farming,  February’s BV podcast is a deep dive...

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