Blandford to Shaftesbury


The area around Blandford and to its north is true rural Dorset, much of it remaining the same as it was in Hardy’s day. This is definitely a place where you can just relax and unwind.


Delightfully situated where the wooded valley of the Stour cuts through the chalk downlands, Blandford is an ancient crossing point of the river. The best way to approach is through Blandford St. Mary, the home of the Hall & Woodhouse Brewery, still run by the same family since its


Dorset roots in 1777. The new visitor centre, restaurant and fascinating brewery tours should not be missed.


The town is unique in having been almost totally re-built, following a conflagration in June 1731 which started in a tallow shop on the site of the present King’s Arms pub. Strong northerly winds swept fire through the town burning 400 houses and every fire engine. A handful of buildings remain from before the 1731 fire, notably Ryves Almshouse and the Old House.


From the sudden flare of flaming torches and menacing glint of sunlight on polished shields to the use of ever more sophisticated micro computers and satellite communications, the story of military communications is as dramatic and exciting as the history of war itself. To fight effectively and win battles, commanders have to keep in touch with their men and each other; at all times, and in ways the enemy cannot “overhear”.


At the Royal Signals Museum we see how military communications progressed from the use of torches and sunlight, through flags, the Semaphore and the Shutter Telegraph, to Morse Code, the telephone and the wireless. Then came the quantum leap of genius which led to the invention of the computer and successful decoding of the enemy’s Enigma and other codes used during World War Two - and beyond to the present time with encrypted Satellite Communications and Integrated Battlefield communications .


Have you ever wondered how secret agents were trained in WWII? What was life like as a Secret Agent with the SOE in France and what equipment did you have to help you escape… if you were caught? Ever wanted to have a go at sending Morse Code messages? Why were pigeons so important to the British Army? What was it like laying cables under fire on the front? What was Enigma - want to find out?


Discover all the answers at Dorset’s most dynamic and fastest growing visitor attraction. Six years of continuous development has created a unique and fascinating Family day out featuring displays on the Secret Agents of the SOE, Special Forces, and Despatch Riders with many fun trails and activities aimed to keep the children happy and occupied.


The Museum is located in the middle of a fully functional army camp and is widely used by serving soldiers. ADULTS MUST BRING PHOTO ID.


Directly north of Blandford, some 13 miles along the winding A350, lies Shaftesbury. The prominent ridge on which it stands was first inhabited at least two thousand years ago; traces of earthen walls still survive. With the coming of the Anglo-Saxons, Alfred founded a nunnery in 880 with his daughter, Aethelgeofu as abbess. A town grew up around this abbey, and it became so important that Edward the Martyr was buried there in 981, following his exhumation from Wareham.


24 The Tourist Handbook Wessex 2016-17 Gold Hill – Shaftesbury


Shaftesbury today is a busy little town with a mixture of buildings and styles with the real interest at the top of the town. Victorian excavation was carried out on the abbey site, but it was early 1930s work that made some exciting discoveries, including the bones of Edward, sealed in a leaden box and thought to have been hidden by the nuns prior to their eviction from the abbey.


Next to the ancient church of St. Peter is the former Sun and Moon Inn and a former doss house, now the home of the Shaftesbury Museum. This is at the top of Gold Hill, an extremely steep, cobbled hill plunging down to St. James’s, with some gorgeous higgledy-piggledy houses on one side and the massive retaining walls of the abbey grounds on the other. Up this street, every day, the people of Shaston used to cart their water, for there was none on top of the hill. Professional water carriers received a farthing a bucketful or two pence for a horse-load.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40