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Forston
Forston maps
Historic maps of Forston and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Forston maps
Forston photos
We have no photos of Forston, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Godmanstone| Charminster| Frampton| Sydling St Nicholas| Piddlehinton| White Lackington| Piddletrenthide| Dorchester| Fordington| Stinsford| Higher Bockhampton| Martinstown| Maiden Newton| Frome Vauchurch| Cattistock| West Stafford| Puddletown| Littlebredy| Long Bredy| Melcombe Bingham| Evershot
Forston area books
Displaying 1 of 18 books about Forston and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Forston
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Dorset memories
A Tiny Sketch by Judges 1958 Found in Brisbane Charity Shop
I found a delightful pair of sketches beautifully framed 16cm x 11cm - one of the subjects was a skillfully crafted sketch of the Smith's Arms at Godmanstone - almost identically as it appears in the above photo - it was a real place.
The artist signed his/her name Judges.
The second sketch is of a Dorset cottage in Cerne Abbas the year earlier.
These sketches are a window to a place in a time long ago.
Easter 1962
I was one of 14 cyclists from Sussex who descended upon Cerne Abbas on Good Friday 1962, staying until Easter Monday. We literally descended, as the route we used was to come over the hill from Piddletrenthide swooping down the narrow lane into the village. We had left Sussex that Friday morning at about 7am and arrived in Cerne at about 7pm. We were 8 blokes and 6 girls and we were booked in at the Old Cerne Union workhouse, then doing bed and breakfast, now in 2007 a rest home. Torrential rain on the Saturday didn't stop us visiting Weymouth but on Sunday, when we went to Sherborne and Sturminster Newton the sun came out to allow us to don shorts for the first time that year. But the real enjoyment came from the two evenings spent in Cerne, especially Saturday night at The Royal Oak. In 1962 the pub bar area was much smaller than today, but we crowded in there, drinking the pub dry of draught Taunton... Read more
The 1st Hatch End Scouts Camp at Piddletrenthide
This view is EXACTLY as I remember this lovely village where the scouts from Hatch End spent a two week summer camp in 1957.
Although I no longer recall the name of the particular farm where we set up camp, I do remember our troop carrying out a good turn for the farmer. We were asked to demolish one of the ruined outbuildings and a month or so later we received an impressive scroll from him giving us the "right to call ourselves barnstormers and to march over his land forever with flags flying and knives unsheathed". A great impression on this 11 year old! The farmer's scroll was displayed in the Scout Hut back in Hatch End for many years as we all had such lovely memories of our two weeks in Piddletrenthide!
A Family Business
To anyone local to Dorchester this was a familiar scene day in and day out for almost 50 years. My grandfather Ben Courtney started selling 'fruit and veg' in 1947 from hand-carts on the roadside. His son Doug started in 1950 and various members of the family helped out through the week.
This picture shows my Aunt Isabel serving a regular customer with his two sons. Her father Ben is behind in his hat, serving, and her brother Doug is extreme left, carrying a box. My father (Doug Courtney) tells me his wife Joan was not at work at this time because she was expecting me to be born, in the June of that year!
Doug took over in 1960 and Trevetts worked alongside from the mid 1960s. Doug, Joan, Win, Isabel and Glad were the familiar faces that served. I did my fair share, working on busy Saturdays to ease the load. Everything was seasonal, and spring into summer brought a surge of fruit and... Read more
Parallel Parking in South Street in The 1960s
I had recently passed my driving test and drove a Morris Minor Saloon, to practice my parallel parking I used to drive down South Street after work or on a Sunday and park outside of Woolworths or Marks and Spencers and try various manoeuvres with the aid of the reflection of the car in the plate glass windows.
My Gt Grandparents Lived at Hangmans Cottage
My great-grandparents lived at Hangmans Cottage sometime during the late 1800s or early 1900s. My dad Robert Mitchell was born at Friary Cottage in 1904 which is a short walk from Hangmans Cottage. He used to tell me about his time spent with his grandparents at Hangmans Cottage when he was a boy. Sadly I am not sure as to whether it was his paternal grandparents which would have been called Mitchell or his maternal grandparents which would have been White-Matthews that lived there. I would really like to know, but sadly there is no-one left to tell me. I have visited both cottages on several occasions with my late father and have since taken my children & grandchildren to see both places. We now have several pictures of different generations standing outside Hangmans Cottage.
'When we Were Young'
‘I remember when’ - yes, I remember market day in Dorchester very well – when your picture was taken I was 10 years old, and could well have been one of the children in your picture. On Wednesdays, during school holidays Mum took my brother and I to Dorchester on the bus and we would go'‘into town’ first to do the weekly shop.
This photograph shows South Street (facing south) where they also (and still do) had stalls selling vegetables everyday - Dorchester Market itself is still held in Weymouth Avenue, which is approximately half a mile from South Street.
I think the stall holder was called Neville (Trevitt?), the lady could well be his wife. I also recognise the gentleman on the right with the cap, I think he was someone 'important in Dorchester' in those days, but his name escapes me, he must be now long gone, 54 years later!
On leaving school at 15, I work in 'Boots the Chemist' which is the... Read more
