An historic cliff top tower immortalised by authors Thomas Hardy and PD James has reopened after it was moved and rebuilt brick by brick to stop it falling into the sea. Clavell Tower was perched perilously close to the cliff edge at Kimmeridge Bay and was at risk because of coastal erosion.
Historic Clavell Tower reopens
August 31, 2008 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: Clavell Tower, Dorset, Kimmeridge, Smedmore
A British ‘Saving Private Ryan’
August 30, 2008 at 4:00 am (Biography, History)
Tags: Keith, Wimborne, Wimborne Minster
If ‘Saving Private Ryan’ were a British World War II film then it could easily have been made about the family of the Rev. Canon Archibald Leslie Keith, vicar of Wimborne, Dorset
Weymouth 1944
August 29, 2008 at 4:00 am (History, Location)
Tags: Dorset, Weymouth
United States Soldiers march through Weymouth, en route to board landing ships for the invasion of France, circa late May or early June 1944. Note the barbed wire in the foreground and the Victoria Hotel behind.
Spanning the years
August 27, 2008 at 4:00 am (History, Location)
Tags: Dorset, Fleet, Wyke Regis
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the bridging camp in Wyke Regis, Dorset, England which was established on the shores of the Fleet in May 1928.
Full story by Nicola Rayner in the Dorset Echo
Lyme Regis Lace
August 26, 2008 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: Channon, Lace, Lyme Regis, Power
This description of the lace made at Lyme Regis, Dorset, England is taken from ‘History of Lace’ By Bury Palliser, published by S. Low, son & Marston, 1865
Unsung Hero
August 25, 2008 at 4:00 am (Biography, History)
Tags: Bennett, Dorset, Olympics, Shapwick
In 1900 a 29-year-old train driver from Shapwick, Dorset, England made history by becoming Britain’s first Olympic athletics champion yet, more than a century later, his name is all but forgotten. Brian Faulkner celebrates the achievements of Charles Bennett.
Read the full story in the Dorset Life Magazine
The Lyme Regis branch line
August 24, 2008 at 4:00 am (History, Location)
Tags: Dorset, Lyme Regis
The Lyme Regis branch line was a branch line off the West of England Main Line in the south west of England, opened in 1903. It ran from Axminster in East Devon, via the hamlet of Combpyne and through the village of Uplyme where the line crossed a large bridge known as “The Cannington Viaduct” and crossed the Devon county border to the Dorset port and seaside resort of Lyme Regis.
The National Register of Archives
August 23, 2008 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: National Archives
This podcast from the National Archives introduces users to the structure and content of the National Register of Archives. The NRA contains information on the nature and location of manuscripts and historical records that relate to British history. The speaker demonstrates search techniques to make best use of its indexes and other resources.
The Bridport Railway
August 22, 2008 at 4:00 am (History, Location)
Tags: Bridport, Great Western Railway, Maiden Newton, Powerstock, Toller Porcorum, West Bay
The Bridport Railway was a standard gauge branch line that operated in the county of Dorset in England. Starting at its junction with the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway line at Maiden Newton, the line ran to the town of Bridport and for a period on to West Bay, also known as Bridport Harbour.
Execution at Dorchester
August 21, 2008 at 4:00 am (History, Location)
Tags: Dorchester, Evans, Fooks, Moule, Preedy, Stone
The following report on the public executions of murderers Charles Fookes and Alfred Preedy at Dorchester, Dorset, England appeared in the Times on March 28, 1863.
