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Burngate

Burngate maps

Historic maps of Burngate and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis.   View all Burngate maps

Burngate photos

We have no photos of Burngate, although we do have photos of these nearby places:

West Lulworth| Lulworth| East Lulworth| Worbarrow| Tyneham| Wool| East Burton| Bindon Abbey| Bovington| Ringstead| Moreton| Osmington Mills| Stoborough| Wareham

Burngate area books

Displaying 1 of 18 books about Burngate and the local area.   View all books for this area

Memories of Burngate

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Dorset memories

Silver Jubilee Parade 1935

I remember well the parade through the village on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee.
My mother and several other mothers dressed six of us young boys as toy soldiers and we had to march in the parade.  However, the best thing in the parade that I can remember was a model of the Queen Mary.  It was loaded over a car.  You could not see the car, only the majestic liner floating through the village.  It was a wonderful occasion for the children of the village for we had a party that evening in the Parish Hall and everyone was presented with a mug to commemorate the occasion.
At the time my family lived at 19 West Lulworth just opposite the War Memorial.
We were Church of England but my mother insisted on sending us to the Roman Catholic School in East Lulworth.  She had heard the Miss Yarnitsky was the best teacher in Dorset and that was enough for her.  On days that my sister and I missed... Read more

West Lulworth Church

Holy Trinity Church, Interior 1904
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I was a member of the choir. In the 1930's and throughout the war years the church would be packed for the morning service every Sunday.
As a child I used to look forward to the Magic Lantern shows put on by the vicar Mr Sharpe.  These occurred after Evensong.  The Catholics of the village came in after the sevice and were welcome to see the presentation.  Mr Sharpe had been a missionary at some time in his life and must have been a keen photographer.  Everyone must have enjoyed his presentations as there was always a good crowd in attendance.
Mrs Ironmonger played the organ and we choir boys took turns pumping the organ.
Some years ago when visiting from Canada I noticed that the vestry had been
vandalised and that the beautiful window over the alter had been smashed.
I believe that it has been repaired.
During the war years the army attended Sunday morning services and the military band played during the singing of the hymns. The... Read more

New Years Day

I remember one New Year's Day just before the war. There was an annual football match between the Lobsters and the Shrimps. The Lobsters were the older fishermen and the Shrimps their sons and their friends. My father was the manager of the N.A.A.F.I at Lulworth Camp and had to do some work early in the morning. On the way home he happened to come to watch the football match. As soon as some of the older fishermen saw him they pressed him to play. Well, play he did. It was a very muddy pitch and I well remember how upset my mother was when she saw him when we returned home. The games were always played in a field at the bottom of Sunnyside, owned at the time by the Yates family.

Collecting Soft Fruit in The Retreat House Garden.

As a child I remember collecting loganberries, raspberries, strawberries and gooseberries in the garden at the back of the house. My mother used to make them into jam which would last throughout the winter months. We had 5 childrens ration books and one adult so my mother had plenty of sugar to make the jam. During the evacuation of the army from Dunkirk my mother would make cakes and jam tarts for the men who for some reason found themselves at Lulworth. Ironically, my father was a survivor of the troopship Lancastria which was the greatest loss of life ever suffered by the British Army.

The Castle Inn

My aunt Dorothy Whitlock was a collector of seashells and black sand. When you enter the Castle Inn you may notice on your left hand side the mural created by her of shells and black sand. I myself now collect shells mainly from Sanibel Island in Florida and use them with a combination of calligraphy to create pictures.

The Castle Inn at Lulworth

I worked as the kitchen porter at The Castle Inn, Lulworth in 1966. I was nineteen years old and thought it would be good to spend the summer by the coast. As I thought of myself as a bit of an artist I would have the Dorset countryside to inspire me. I wasn't a very good artist, but I looked the part with full beard, corduroy jacket and a guitar that I couldn't play. This was pre-hippie and post-beatnik days, so I probably just looked odd. All other youngsters were Mods or Rockers.

I must say in 1966 the pub looked very similar to the 1903 picture, little white fence and all. Like all pubs in those days they had a public and saloon bar with a small off-license in between, to keep the toffs and the yobs apart. In the public bar you got campers from Durdle Door caravan site and squaddies from the Army Camp from the other direction. In the saloon bar were holiday makers with... Read more

Holiday Memories

Man O'War Rocks 1903
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My memories as a child are walking over the army ranges from West Lulworth to Mewps (as a family group) after lunch on a Sunday to collect winkles for tea. I also remember beach combing on the shore of the bay and finding all manner of flotsam washed up - from timber to discarded cigarettes. The picture is Man'o'War rock looking east towards Ball Stone rock and St Oswald's Bay.

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