Random musings 

Villages – Rich Ghettos?

Published on 12 May 2012 in Random Stuff

My attention was drawn to an article on the Rural Services Network  website titled Villages becoming ‘ghettos’ for rich that makes interesting reading.

Here is a quote.

Mark Shucksmith, professor of planning at Newcastle University, said spiralling house prices in some rural communities were driving poorer people out of the countryside.

Affordable rural housing was essential to the vitality and sustainability of rural areas and was crucial for less prosperous members of rural societies to thrive, he warned.

Worth a read by country dwellers rich and poor.

 

 


 
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 

And there it was – gone!

Published on 23 April 2012 in Random Stuff

Driving back into Dorset from Somerset today I was approaching the Chard Road milk factory when the railway crossing lights started flashing red and the barriers came down. I pulled up to wait for the train to go through.

ST3404 : Level crossing at Chard Junction by Sarah Charlesworth

Level crossing at Chard Junction

  © Copyright Sarah Charlesworth and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Glancing to my right I thought where is the signal box? I looked again and there it wasn’t! It had disappeared, just the concrete base remained.

A Google when I got home revealed this story “End of an era at Chard Junction“. It seems signaling on this stretch of line has transferred to a modern centralised location at Basingstoke, so I suppose with no further use for the box it has been knocked down.

No more will those in the know be able to see if another train is due by looking at the signalman (or often signalwoman). If they came to the corner of the box straight after the train had passed they were raising the barriers, if they stayed where they were you were stuck there until the train waiting to travel along the single track in the opposite direction had gone through.

There is a better picture of the box and more information on it at trainweb.org.

 
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 

British Pathe newsreel on Bridport netmaking

Published on 8 April 2012 in Dorset

Recently I stumbled upon the British Pathe website which contains loads of their old news stories to view.

I came across one piece from 1954 that shows outworkers making nets in a rural setting outside Bridport.

Click the image below to go to the Pathe web site to view the short film. Is that a Gundrys van they show collecting the finished nets?

 
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 

Milne & Lyall, what the SRA had to say.

Published on 7 April 2012 in Random Stuff

I was chatting to a friend the other day about the building work going on to convert 33 West Street, Bridport into some form of Hotel.

The subject of the previous occupants of the building, solicitors firm Milne & Lyall, came up, and he said have you read the SRA (The Solicitors Regulation Authority) report on them. I hadn’t but I have since searched it out online and it makes interesting reading.

It is available at http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/solicitor-check/105486.article, take a look and see what you think.

 
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 

The end of Suited & Booted

Published on 1 April 2012 in Random Stuff

I picked up a copy of the final edition of Suited & Booted (South Somerset & West Dorset edition) today.

The final cover

Over the years I’ve enjoyed collecting my free copy from various pubs in the region and it’s been a great way for those pubs to publicise their upcoming gigs.

It will be sad to see it go. The owner had been trying to sell it for ages and had already published one final edition before reviving it, this time I suspect it really has gone for good.

The Taunton edition isn’t affected and will continue to be available.

 
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 

Form an orderly queue to get your Government recommended Screwfix jerry can!

Published on 29 March 2012 in Random Stuff

Following Government minister Francis Maude giving the public the rather dubious advice to store jerry cans of petrol at home in contravention of the law on storing fuel yesterday I thought I would see if Screwfix had any jerry cans left or if there had been a rush on purchasing them.

They still seem to have some in stock online so why not get one and when the authorities try to prosecute you say that nice Mr Maude said it was ok!

 
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 

Langport – Where is the port?

Published on 27 March 2012 in Things I Wonder

I’ve often wondered why Langport in Somerset is so named. Every other place name that ends in “port” is by the sea, Langport is just about in the middle of the county.

 
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 

Sunday carvery at the Red Lion, Beaminster

Published on 25 March 2012 in Dorset

I saw an advert in the View from Bridport free paper for a French Market being held in Beaminster town square today and decided to take a look.

I wasn’t too impressed by the market so I popped into the Red Lion where my eye was caught by the Sunday roast carvery they were serving. I couldn’t resist trying it, and very nice it was too. Good value at £7.95, I will be back to sample another soon.

 
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 

Plaque in Martock, Somerset, in memory of the horses killed in the Boer War.

Published on 18 March 2012 in Random Stuff

I was in Martock recently and was struck by this memorial to the huge number of horses killed during the Second Boer War that took place in South Africa between 1899 and 1902.

There is a large stone trough with an inscription that is now being used as a large flower tub. The plaque in the picture below is mounted on the wall of the building behind the trough.

 
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 

The Anchor Inn, Salway Ash

Published on 4 March 2012 in Things I Wonder

Aren’t pubs called The Anchor supposed to be by the sea? If so how come Salway Ash, quite a way inland from Bridport has a pub called The Anchor?

 
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 
© The Dorset Knob
credit