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…
1864; Sutton Poyntz and wedding celebrations.
The surrounding areas to Weymouth were and still are prime farm land, and as such they had been worked throughout the centuries. In the Victorian era, and of course before even then, rural life was very much divided into 2 groups. You had those who had the lot… land, money and prestige…and then those who…
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…
1864; Weymouth as a nudist resort…
It’s quite weird really, you always have this perception of Victorians as being prudes and covered from head to toe, less some signs of sinful bare flesh should reveal itself. It wasn’t quite like that though…well at least for for the gentlemen! In 1864 a letter was sent to the Times, part of which was…
Weymouth 1873; Rub a dub dub, 3 men (not) in a tub….
Well, o.k. maybe the title is a bit lighthearted for such a tragedy, but when I read that it allegedly concerned 3 butchers assistants that the misfortune had befallen, a visual image immediately flashed in my mind of the popular nursery rhyme. Just put that down to my extremely warped sense of humour which seems…
1870; Pilfering pilots in Portland Roads
Being on the coast, and having both Weymouth Harbour and Portland Roads on our doorstep, a lot of the local men had always earned their living from the sea, and fiercely guarded their rights to do so. Not least the men who worked the local waters as pilots. These were were the men who from…
1865; Portland…keeping it in the family.
I know that Portland is not technically an island, (the Chesil causeway connects it to Weymouth), but it’s treated as such in many respects, not least that the folks on the island (I.m sure that being a proud race, they won’t mind me saying) have a long history of being fairly insular! nd When a…
1899, Weymouth; The mysterious disappearance of the train driver.
At one time in Weymouth there existed a railway line that ran from Weymouth station, across an iron girder bridge over the large stretch of water known as the Backwater and on to Portland. (Virtually where the new road bridge now sits.) In the year 1899 came a report in the newspapers of the rather…
1859; History of Weymouth’s Swannery.
Growing up in Weymouth, feeding the Backwater swans was a big part of my childhood. Off we’d toddle, me and my Mum, bag of stale bread firmly clasped in my grubby little mitts. The walk down the Backwater road seemed to go on for ever, my short, stubby legs would start to tire…and I’m sure…
1866; Portland quarry men and boys…theyz toils ‘n toils.
Portland is world famous for it’s quarries. This Isle is littered with immense craters in the ground, and large roughly hewn blocks of stone tumble in seemingly haphazard piles across the almost lunar landscape. There’s absolutely no doubt that those men and boys who slogged away day in day out in the quarries at Portland earnt…
VICTORIAN TALES FROM WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND 