Fontmell Magna, Dorset

A Boarding School second to none

What a dump Iwerne Minster was to a school boy of the 60's sent from London to that boarding school in the middle of nowhere. The locals spoke in a strange unintelligible dialect, the air was sometime thick with the stink of manure, and you had to be 14 to buy beer from the off-licence at Tarrant Hinton! Now, 50+ years... [more]

I lived and worked here.

I lived and worked at the manor from Sept 1986 to around May 1988, if anyone remembers me and wants to get in touch please email. j.goodwin007@hotmail.co.uk

Evacuation to Hanford House in war time

My sister and I came to Hanford House with the Wimbledon High School at the beginning of the war. After a year the school returned and the owner of the house, Mrs. Lister, collected a small group of teachers and offered to keep on any children whose parents did not want their children in London. We stayed two further... [more]

Before the houses came

I remember these fields before any building was done in this part of the village.
The fields were owned by Mr Fred Bradley and Mr Harry Watts. I can remember going with Mr Watts to see if any cows had calved in the night. At the top of the field there was a large pond that in spring would be full... [more]

Village center

This photo brings back all sorts of memories! The house nearest the camara was the home of Mr Cottle the village harness maker, the double doors next to it led to the butchers yard, in those days they used to kill the animals behind the shop. The butcher was Mr Turner. He was followed by Mr Dyer whose son had the... [more]

Memories of the

Hambledon Hill played a great part in the first 15 years of my life as it did for most children of the village.
My very first memory is the huge bonfire built on top of the hill to mark the end of WW2, both my Father (Guy Moon) and George Diffy from the Post Office found some fireworks, this was the... [more]

Hanford House in wartime

HANFORD HOUSE


In the early years of the war, I taught at the school which was part of Hanford House. The rest of the house was occupied by a family I remember as the Listers (Colonel and Mrs.). My son-in-law, however, thinks it might have been Captain and Mrs. Sandys, the parents of Duncan Sandys. Mr. Sandys was, of... [more]