The governments advice for people to get on their bikes and look for work is not a new sentiment. Even during the Victorian period people moved freely around the country following the work, such was the story of one northern family. In the 1860’s Enoch and Mary Ann Birkin had been living in their local…
Tag: victorian
1867; Danger Lurks in Portland Quarries.
The quarries on Portland are world renown. They are of a strange type of brutal beauty, glare from the white stone is blinding in bright sunshine, heat reflects mercilessly from calcified remains that makes up these huge slabs that tumble and totter precariously all around. Ultimately, their beauty belies the ever present danger that resides…
1891; Wyke Regis church receives its new bells
There is a sound you don’t hear very often these days, the ringing of church bells. I loved to hear them. At one time their merry peel would call villagers to worship on Sundays, ring out joyfully at wedding ceremonies, or the solemn death knell rung to mourn a person passing. In the Victorian era…
1859; William Cooke’s Great National Circus Equestrian & Zoological Establishment Arrives in Weymouth.
One of my childhood memories was visiting the annual circus that came to town. I know nowadays that using performing animals is not politically correct, rightly so, but as a child in the 50’s people never considered that darker side of circus life. Excitement would bubble up in my chest as we were walking down…
1862; Portland prison, The Pleasantness of Penal Servitude.
These facts are taken from an article penned by an unnamed author in the Cheltenham Chronicle of 23rd December 1862 and yes, that is genuinely what he titles his article…. The Pleasantness of Penal Servitude! They relate to the prison that was built on Portland to contain the convict labour force for building the Portland breakwater…
1877; Weymouths shipping trade
Weymouth has had a long history of trading with the Channel islands, and even further afield. As a small child I can recall walking along the raised platform on the harbourside with my Mum firmly holding my hand, huge creature like cranes towered above me, they’d lumber along the rails set in the concrete from…
1888; Weymouth Queen Victoria Jubilee Clock.
The striking Jubilee Clock is an iconic image of Weymouth, it adorns thousands of postcards and holiday brochures and what local hasn’t stood under there at some stage of their life to meet someone? The year 1887 was a milestone in the reign of Queen Victoria. It marked the 50th year of her ruling over the kingdom….
1869; Battery, Assault and Burial on Weymouth Beach!
In 1869 a little incident occurred on Weymouth sands, it really shouldn’t have been a problem, but it was, and one that ended up in the national papers much to the local council’s horror! William Wynn, a well-educated gent from London had been residing in Weymouth with his family for a much welcomed holiday. The…
1868, Weymouth mayor in court!
We are going through a bad recession at the moment (as if I had to tell you that!) and when things get tough financial wise, somethings have to go. Such is the present day council’s dilemma…what to cut, what to keep. Well, it appears to have been the old harbour area and piers that seems to be…
1861; World Famous Tightrope Walker Charles Blondin at Belfield Park, Weymouth.
In the Victorian era, there was actually a little known public park in Weymouth, the first to be created in the town. It was part of the grand Belfield estate. A 13 acre site, mainly parkland that surrounded a magnificent house built approx 1780’s for the Buxton family. Thomas Fowell Buxton became Weymouth’s MP between…
VICTORIAN TALES FROM WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND 