Symondsbury, Dorset
Symondsbury photos
Displaying 1 of 8 old photos of Symondsbury. View all Symondsbury photos
Symondsbury maps
Historic maps of Symondsbury and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Symondsbury maps
Symondsbury books
Displaying 3 of 13 books about Symondsbury and the local area. View all Symondsbury books
5 Symondsbury photos appear in 2 Frith book titles. You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Symondsbury
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Dorset memories
My dad was Cyril Henry Sprake, I have memories of travelling to Eype to see my gran, she was Day then. As grandad and uncle Robert died during the war, I am interested in knowing which of the local Sprake families was grandad's.
I too think of the area as my spiritual home, I have said to my family that I... [more]
Shared on 05 September 2008
My Mum, Nesta Smith (nee Sprake) was born in No. 3 Eype Cottages and lived there up until she married my Dad (Ron Smith) in July 1949. They met when he was stationed close by with the Royal Army Service Corp. They used to do their courting by the old phone box apparently! Dad proposed to Mum up at Golden Cap... [more]
Shared on 19 June 2006
Since my blog of 2007 concerning my time as a boarder at the Visitation Convent school 1942-1947, I have noted with interest that other former pupils (though not from the years I was there) have commented on their experiences of the place. Mostly, their memories are sad and bitter ones. It has made me think back again at my years there.... [more]
Shared on 07 October 2009
I was disturbed to read the Memory posted in early September from a contemporary about our common primary school, Bridport Visitation Convent. It was reprinted in the Bridport News of October 1st so needs to be balanced I feel. That gentleman clearly doesn't remember his time there with relish but I wonder why he didn't put his schooldays into the context... [more]
Shared on 03 October 2009
I was sent to the Visitation Convent at the age of 6 and was there for four terrible years. Like others who have written their memories of their time at the school, for me it was a very severe, cruel, harsh enviroment, devoid of any love or affection from the nuns. The punishments were frequent, for messing my pants or wetting... [more]
Shared on 09 September 2009
I was a boarder there for about a year aged about nine or ten in about 1957. It was the unhappiest period of my life before or since. I don’t recall a moment of kindness, sympathy, or humanity from any of the nuns. As a lonely rejected child I received nothing from them but harshness, punishments, and cruelty. And I was... [more]
Shared on 09 July 2009
Convent of the Visitation - Bridport - Dorset
CHAPTER TWO
School Years - Convent of the Visitation 1939-1945
One’s school years leave an indelible impression on one for good or bad. My views over these years in this regard, have modified considerably. The older you get, the more you tend to look at your youth with rose tinted glasses. So in relating to my school years... [more]
Shared on 08 January 2009
I was saddened to read the blogs of boys that had such an unhappy experience of days as a boarder. I was there from 1951 until 1957 and whilst I also remember the less than idyllic food and discipline, I tend to believe that was a reflection of the societal norms of the immediate post-war period. Are we in danger of... [more]
Shared on 22 December 2008
Extracts From Symondsbury & Dorset books
Displaying a selection of extracts from Frith books about Symondsbury, inspired by Frith photos.
Dorset Revisited Photographic Memories
Symondsbury lies around the little river Simene, with the conical Colmer's Hill in the background. Its church is a delight, with its compartmented barrel roof and Jacobean pulpit. It is a quiet little place, and a good centre for exploring the far western edge of Dorset.
Read more and see photos from this book.
Victorian and Edwardian Dorset Photographic Memories
Symondsbury is an intimate little village positioned between two rounded hills, and probably on the route of a medieval road linking Bridport and Axminster. The 14th- or 15th-century church of St John Baptist has a barrel roof, made by the shipwrights from West Bay which had been plastered over until the church was cleaned and renovated some 20 years after this picture was taken. To its right is Raymond`s Charity School, built... [more]
Read more and see photos from this book.
Dorset Revisited Photographic Memories
Symondsbury has had at least two remarkable parsons, both of whom lie buried within its church. Gregory Raymond served here for 57 years, through much of Victoria's reign. His 16th-century predecessor was William Gulston, the uncle of the journalist Joseph Addison.
Read more and see photos from this book.
