Originally posted on The Crabchurch Conspiracy:
Many people have heard of and seen Weymouth’s famous Cannonball in the Wall in Maiden Street, Melcombe, but who has spotted this other cannon blast in the side of Pilgrim House in Hope Square ? The house itself was rebuilt in the 18th century, but Geologist and Civil War…
New Years Eve in Weymouth Victorian Style.
Weymouth is a fun place to be on New Years Eve, it’s reknown as the party town of the South West, everyone, but everyone who’s out is adorned in fancy dress. I recall one New Years Eve when a police car roared up through town with the theme tune from a Mr Whippy’s ice cream…
Victorian Christmas….
Back from the christmas market; WEYMOUTH CHRISTMAS MARKET -DECEMBER 1859. The provision made by the butchers at this market for the wants of the festive season, was liberal in the extreme. The various substantialities that minister to creature comfort were supplied in great profusion and made a most tempting appearance. The Messrs. Baunton’sshow was remarkably…
1857; Victorian Day-trippers excitement… journey to Weymouth
Today, we all seem to take many things, including technology, for granted, as ever more sophisticated gadgets and inventions are unrolled into our society. We seem to have lost the beautiful wonder and awe of the Victorian era, when every new invention or places of travel created great excitement amongst the people, such sights were…
Victorian Lodmoor.
Being down on the South coast, our weather tends to be fairly mild compared to the rest of the country, I’ve lost count of the amount of times that my hubby had phoned me from work in Dorchester, over the Ridgeway, and would gloat that it was snowing there, of course, in Weymouth, it would…
1899; Ding dong dell…Mary’s in the well
The length of Weymouth’s ancient quayside is lined with an eclectic jumble of historic buildings, each one has a thousand stories to tell, they have witnessed fights, lovers, joy, tears, death and birth….the ghostly whispers of so many events lie within their walls, and under their eaves. This time, our story starts not in Weymouth,…
1899; Thwarted love…never cross a woman!
In the April of 1899 a case came before the Under-Sheriff’s Court at Dorchester. It concerned a breach of promise, that was back in the day when people declared themselves engaged…it really meant something! Not like the business of today where it seems to be a question of how many engagement rings they can accumulate….
Weymouth’s Harbour Area; Brewers Quay
If there’s one place that I love to mooch around in Weymouth, it is an area named Brewer’s Quay for rather obvious reasons, if properly named, it’s Hope Square. This area has a lot of history, not least that it was where the breweries in the past chucked out that distinctive cooked hops aroma from…
1889; Girl held against her will at Broadwey?
With all the media reports on the news recently concerning the shocking story of the 3 women imprisoned as slaves, Weymouth had it’s own version of the sorry tale back in 1889. Sarah Guy was born in 1865 into a less than ideal and loving family home. Her Dad John was a violent drunk, and…
Weymouth’s Victorian bandstands.
The final bandstand stood out at the end of what was once an elegant, curving pier, which brings us neatly back to where we first started our story of the Weymouth bandstands.
VICTORIAN TALES FROM WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND 