Stalbridge back in the 60s and 70s was a bustling village. Roughly half the size it is now, the main street was full of shops and we had some great characters. Probably top of the list was Reverend Frederick Saunders (shortened to ‘Derek’) – an eccentric, likeable, scatter-brain of a vicar resembling Alistair Sim, who’s […]

Go up Bulbarrow Hill and at the top, just off Cuckoo Lane, apart from a really beautiful view, you’ll see disused buildings, aerials and, across the lane, old Nissan huts. All looks a bit dull, but this is a site of considerable national importance. It was a Gee Station, used during the war to allow […]

Driving from Mappowder up to Hazlebury Bryan, you enter Wonston and, thanks to the imagination of one household (and I’m presuming it was the male), you’ll note an enormous rock of mellow Sherborne stone with the house name, Hawkwell, beautifully carved and emphasised in black. Despite only being there for a month, the stone has […]

I grew up in Stalbridge and went to the primary school there, St Mary’s, under the wise and kind authority of the head master, Geoff Mallet.  They were called headmasters then, bit too binary for now, not very woke. Geoff Mallet was a great man who I remember with unbounded affection.  His French lessons even […]