Maiden Newton memories
Here are memories of Maiden Newton and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Maiden Newton or a Maiden Newton photo.
Riversdale House, Maiden Newton
I lived here as a child of nine in 1950-1. We rented it from the owner, the delightful Sylvia Townsend Warner, author, who lived there with her partner, Valentine Ackland. The house literally stands with one wall in the river Frome. Paintings which hung about the house by "John Crask" must have had a special significance for the couple. You could sit in the library and watch the rabbits on the opposite bank and herons would sometimes come there too. There was a music room with a grand piano overlooking the river (middle of the house). In 1951 the Frome flooded, turning the house into an effective island. Today, the place looks much the same but the corrugated cladding has disappeared from the walls.
Emigrant Ancestor Baptised There Christmas Day 1773
George Coombs was born in Maiden Newton in 1773. He later took a soldier's grant of 200 acres in Ontario - where we still live.
Memories of Dorset
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.
The Seasons of Childhood
This story written by Bee Snow 1928-2007 (nee Barbara Whitaker) about her childhood in Evershot, Dorset. Reared with three sisters, four brothers, four terriers and a jackdaw, I insisted by the age of five in accompanying this mixed mob on twice daily walks my mother decreed. We ran wild and free over the Dorset countryside. I supose largely tolerated because my father was the local GP. We were really an immature group of hunter-gatheres. Hunting was meant to be confined to rabbits, and we aquired some skill in helping our four terriers catch them. The death of the rabbit was often very painful to see and hear. I know I avoided witnessing it by tightly shutting my eyes, sticking my fingers in my ears and screaming "Kill it! kill it!" My eldest brother usually ran and dispatched the poor rabbit more quickly than could the terriers. My mother was always full of praise for the rabbits we carried home for the pot, but she always knew before we opened our mouths if... Read more
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
Childhood In Powerstock And Eggardon
Powerstock was my local village from 1951 to 1963. We lived at Kings House Farm at the foot of Eggardon Hill. My father Eddie Whitaker farmed (the hill rented and his 13 acres) for 12 or so years before moving to Somerset. I have visited with my family several times over the years and stayed at the Three Horse Shoes pub on one occasion, there I met one of my peers from school and caught up on people and places from the past. These visits ignihted fond memories of the past together with periods of acute anguish as only can be felt most keenly in the childhood experience. I remember cycling to school - always late! - and flying down the steep hill from Kings spurred on by brotherly challenge not to touch the brakes until the very last bend at the bottom (Wetley). It is now obvious, with the wisdom of years, that we were preserved from harm by the grace of God, because with narrow single track roads... Read more
School Experience
We moved from Weymouth to Kingston Russel just after have taken the 11+ exam at St. John's school.
When I started at Long Bredy school I only remember one classroom and one teacher. Hand bells and country dancing stick in my memory as things that we did there. And the teacher taught me how to build a model glider from a kit.
I was very struck by the dialect of my new school friends who used words that were like a foreign language, thick and tharn being just two.
I had a great time and ran over the hills back home when I stayed late.
Memorybank total
We're very pleased and excited by your response so far to our "Share your Memories" community.
You've shared 28,875 memories of 5,951 towns & villages across the UK - keep them coming!
Find Memories
Simply search for your favourite places to read others' memories and share your own.
Tips & Ideas
Not sure what to write?
It's easy - just think of an important place in your life and ask yourself:
How does it feature in your personal history?
What are your best memories of this place?
How has it changed over the years?
How does it feel, seeing these old photos of your favourite place?
Do you remember stories about the local community, its history and people?
Start now!
It's easy to add your own memories and reconnect with your shared local history. Search for your favourite places and look for the orange "Add your Memory" icon to begin.
Places this week
Here are some of the places you've shared memories of this week:
- Sway, Hampshire
- Eamont Bridge, Cumbria
- Southampton, Hampshire
- Oswestry, Shropshire
- Upton, Cambridgeshire
- Glasson, Cumbria
- Peterhead, Aberdeenshire
- Carlisle, Cumbria
- New Malden, Surrey
- Hornsey, Greater London
- Rochdale, Lancashire
- Guildford, Surrey
- Brentford, Middlesex
- Boston, Lincolnshire
- Eastleigh, Hampshire
- Helsby, Cheshire
- Knypersley, Staffordshire
- Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire
- Maesgeirchen, Gwynedd
- Banstead, Surrey
- ... and lots more - Browse this week's memories now.
Your memories
To jump straight to the memories you have added already to the Community, click here
I Remember When...
This stunning compilation highlights some of the best stories selected from the thousands contributed here on the
Frith website. The result is an absorbing chronicle of British life from the Second World War to the mid 1960s.
A colourful treasure trove of memories, "I Remember When" is an
irresistible mix of personal stories and recollections that affectionately reveal the detail of everyday life in Britain.
