Melcombe Bingham, Dorset

Drakes of Hilton

For many generations the DRAKE family lived in the Hilton area. My gg grandfather was George DRAKE a Woodman. His son, Charles left the village and worked as a domestic coachman in the London area. My grandfather Ben, Charles' son, had three maiden cousins living in Hilton during WW2. My Uncle Kenneth had stayed with them in August 1944. During... [more]

Small but pretty

I grew up here, a tiny hamlet underneath Bulbarrow Hill. My grandfather and father are buried in the churchyard. My mother still lives here and is a great stalwart of this tiny community.

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... [more]

As a child I lived in the estate office.

As a child I lived in the estate office in the square, my father was estate bailiff for W J Brymer for all of the war years. I remember many of the troops were billeted with us in the house, at one time we had fifteen staying in the attic. We also had two American officers with us, one was Captain... [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... [more]