Now, if you’ve ever been stood on Chesil beach and watched nature’s fury as she crashes in on this huge pebbled bank, you’ll know why treasure hunters love to visit after a storm. West Bay was referred to as ‘Deadman’s Bay’ by our own world renown local author, Thomas Hardy, and for very good reason….
Author: cannasue
Tragedy in Weymouth….boys will be boys, 1882
Children being, well, children, have a habit of being where they’re not supposed to be and doing what they’re not supposed to do….we’ve all done it ! When I think of all the scrapes we got up to as kids it’s a wonder any of us survived. Victorian children were no different, in fact there…
St George’s churchyard at Portland. Murder in 1803
Now I.m not one of these people who normally likes to wander from church to church, but was stopped in my tracks (well, the car was stopped in it’s tracks really) when we parked opposite St George’s church on the top of Portland. The sun was just beginning to set in the sky, going down…
Portland’s Own Glorious Cheddar Caves…Ooopps, But Then Again, Maybe Not! 1869
When ever I research items of local history, it never ceases to amaze me the amount of articles in local papers of the time that tell of new or rare things that the Victorians discovered, but despite all their curiosity of the amazing natural world around them…their first reaction would be to grab their gun and…
Victorian books, their articles and artwork….what to do?
I seem to have somehow accumilated rather a humongous stack of Victorian, mainly religious, weighty tomes, purchased primarily for the artwork they contain. However, reading through them revealed a vast amount of interesting articles on people, places and social history, which I’m still pondering what to do with. These are articles that I feel sure someone,…
Weymouth 1866. A Cruel Life for Victorian Beach Donkeys
Donkeys on Weymouth beach can boast a long history, they are an iconic image of traditional seaside holidays dating right back to the mid 19th century when sea bathing and beach holidays became a booming trade. (image © Channel Coast Observatory) Small children (and many adults) adore them, love to stroke them, and if lucky,…
Professor Cavill and Weymouth’s swimming display 1871
As a child growing up in Weymouth, i have many happy memories of swimming from the old Pleasure Pier. This was at a time when there were changing rooms for the swimmers, a slide, diving boards, and steps, water polo matches were played there. In the summer the water would be thick with kids and…
Weymouths beginnings as a sea bathing resort 1750
When ever Weymouth is talked about concerning it’s seaside status, generally it is said that George III made it what it is today, that’s partly true, but there is a little more to it than that. Weymouth was becoming popular long before the end of the 18th c. A certain Bath gentleman, Ralph Allen had…
Weymouth’s history as a harbour on the frontline. 1795
Being in the process of writing a book about the history of the Nothe area in Weymouth, I’ve uncovered many interesting facts about the past history of the town while trawling through the old newspapers and documents. Some of which I’ll narrate here, little snippits of what life was like for our ancestors, living on…
Weymouth 1723 and the corruption of elections.
Weymouth down through it’s past history had a record of being a ‘rotten borough’ when it came to electing M.P’s. It had one of the highest number of M.P’s for a town so small as this! At one time we could send 4 to the houses of Parliament. Well, when I say we, what was…
VICTORIAN TALES FROM WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND 