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Sturminster Newton
Sturminster Newton photos
Displaying the first of 5 old photos of Sturminster Newton. View all Sturminster Newton photos
Sturminster Newton maps
Historic maps of Sturminster Newton and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Sturminster Newton maps
Sturminster Newton area books
Displaying 1 of 16 books about Sturminster Newton and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Sturminster Newton
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Sturminster Newton.
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Weekends With The Jones
We used to vist Kim and Dave jones in Mappowder every weekend after we met them in Barbados in 1995. Great friends and good fun. Very special times.
Dorset memories
Going to School
I well remember going to the Catholic church as between 1948 and 1954 I attended St Mary's Roman Catholic School. When I first went to the school it was the old school and in 1953 a new one was opened close to the church and we all thought it was great as we had inside toilets and everything was new. The Head mistess was Miss Read.
Marnhull
I remember Marnhull, but can't remember the Catholic church there. I think I know you, I think you knew my sister Linda Bright, now Conway.
Marnhull, Roman Catholic Church
Miss Read was my aunt (she died in 1998) and I attended both the old school and the new one. Fr. Gallagher was the parish priest. The only Pamela I can remember was Pamela Wilson. Could that be Pamela Phillips?
Once an Idyllic Dorset Village.
Since about the 1960s, Child Okeford became a totally different community from the one I first got to know in the early 1930's. The Watts (Harry and Dorothy) had farmed out of Laurel Farm for many decades and Jo(sephine), the daughter, was my cousin by marriage.
Laurel Farm, as it is today in the late 1900s, is shown to the left of this memory. Sadly, the main characteristics - with the exception of the thatched roof - have gone. Also gone, are the numerous attached and detached buildings and facilities, which made the place a farmhouse.
I stayed at the farm on many occasions, during the 1930s and 1940s. As I grew so did my various responsibilities on the farm - but I must say the 'unskilled' labours were my forte - I had few real farming skills. Nevertheless, my broad back and great willingness to work were a welcome addition to the everyday workforce. In particular, these physical attributes were much in use during harvesting. I could... Read more
Child Okeford in The 1940s
I remember the village in the 1940s to 1970s.
I went to school at the centre of the village till 1951 then went to Sturminster S.M school. On the walk home from school we used to go into the forge run by Alfred Wolfery (known as Bogey as he was as dirty and sooty as the bogey man!)
Across the road from the forge and Post office was Mr Fox's bakery. He would give us wonderful hot bread and iced buns. Just on down the road was Mr Hutchins the local wheelwright and undertaker, he also had a cow which he used to take out on a halter to eat from the hedges. A few more yards down on the right was Mr Fred Bradley's farm, most of the work was done by Harriet (White) who spent most of her time moving cows from farm to fields a long way from the milking sheds.
When I started school the teachers were Mrs Laurence in the infants class and Mrs Jackson... Read more
Below Hambledon
I spent my early years playing and later working in the fields in the valley between Hambledon and Shillingstone hills. At one time I worked for Mr Harry Watts and later his daughter Jo. I can remember once Harry Watts and Mr Reg Tucker were building a hay rick when the local vicar and doctor walked by, they called up to the men on the rick "could you do with a hand up there", they replied "Yes we could, but you stay down there". I can remember Mr Fred Bradly fetching his cows from the Bottom of Melway Lane, the cows knew where to go and passed several other farm gates but only went into their own yard for milking. Most people in the village collected their milk from the nearest farm to their home. The butcher Mr Turner used to kill animals in a slaughter house next to his shop in the middle of the village, and used to kill pigs at the homes of those who fattened their own pigs, we... Read more
