Something that many of the younger generation might not realise but Weymouth has a long and fascinating history with the army and navy. Even during my own lifetime I can recall a certain ‘liveliness’ when hundreds of sailors would take their shore leave, hoards of men streaming along the esplanade heading for town, all eager to make the most of their…
Category: Upwey tales
Tales from Upwey
The Travellers Troubles; The James Romany Family
One thing I really enjoy about my blogs ramblings is that I never quite know in what direction they’ll take me next. I love the fact that people often contacted me from all around the world. Some telling me that I’ve written about a long lost ancestor of theirs or about a place they once lived. Sometimes…
1872; Chesil Royal Adelaide shipwreck; part 2. Armageddon.
This is the second part of the tale of the sinking of the Royal Adelaide on Chesil beach that happened on the 25th November 1872. Well, in fact, it’s actually about what happened after…the dreadful scenes that hit the national papers and shook a lot of people. Despite there being many shipwrecks around the coast over…
1896; Tragedy at Upwey mill, Weymouth.
One of the prettiest little villages on the outskirts of Weymouth is Upwey. As you drive into the meandering village, the houses and buildings snuggle themselves down into a wooded valley, and in the midst of this stands the tall building of the Upwey mill. It’s fed by the river Wey which springs out of…
1883; Weymouth and the Great Western railway. A signal-mans tale.
The railway finally rolled into the seaside resort of Weymouth in the year 1857. Anyone who’s travelled the Weymouth line knows of the long Bincombe cutting and tunnel that burrows under the Bincombe chalk downs. As a child it was always with a sense of excitement that we would approach this tunnel…as the line began…
VICTORIAN TALES FROM WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND 