Firstly, I must apologise if this takes you a long time to read, it is probably because it is taking a lot longer for me to write, as I am using a different computer for the first time. Don't think for a minute, that I have come into money and automatically have invested my newfound wealth in modem technology. No, not at all, it simply means that my daughter-in-law, needed something with " more bite", or something like that. She could of course have had one of the puppies that our Border Terrier bitches are expecting; instead she purchased a new computer giving the old one to us. Anyway we are extremely grateful, despite the fact that I have been trying to get into it for two weeks now, and have at last succeeded in achieving something of my own on the screen, I do of course mean words and not blood. The next question will be, how do I print off what is displayed on the screen onto paper? Perhaps you will all be standing behind me, reading directly off the machine; if this does happen, an appointment system, similar to the one used at the doctors surgery will be implemented. Despite this set-up being of much more recent manufacture than our old word processor, I still have great difficulty in finding the "k", I would have thought that modem technology could have sorted that out for me. While thinking about technology, I can only assume that the mouse that drives this machine has been genetically modified. I appreciate that there are some animals smarter than me, but a normal mouse, no it can't be! Smart I'm apparently not, for those of you who read of the "Woodcutts Census" in the last edition of the Downsman, it will probably astound you that it was apparently statistically incorrect. This was due to my lack of knowledge, (Sorry about the delay I could not find the "k" again.) apparently Woodcutts extends beyond my visual range, in true Christopher Columbus fashion, I assumed that when I reached Chase Crescent, I had in fact reach the "shores" of Sixpenny Handley. Being a relative newcomer. I apologies for the error, and as Columbus’s Indians have now been allocated the sobriquet, Amerindian I shall now refer to the residents of Chase Crescent as Woodhandlians, I hope this will offend no-one.
Of course there will be other repercussions as a result of this error, for example we will no longer be interested in U.D.I., even if we find out what it means. It will also mean purchasing a new pair of waterproof carpet slippers, if I am to wander around Woodcutts in its entirety. For obvious reasons, I shall wait until after the foot and mouth epidemic is over, as I certainly won't want to drench my new footwear in disinfectant. Finally in regard to the census debacle, it will probably be necessary to label anything I write in future with a health warning, similar to that found on cigarette packets, "Caution, reading this could corrupt the mind." Now at last, on to more mundane matters, what has been happening in the real world? Probably the most important fact is that my early potatoes are in the ground, planted on March 5th, nearly two weeks later than last year. The other difference from before is the variety, last year Rocket, which did not do well on the chalk for me has been superseded by the old favourite, Home Guard. Main crop, which I hope to plant by the end of this month, will be Desiree, a variety I was more than pleased with last year. It was recommended by Mrs. Win Kirby, (Win will be delighted to see that not only have I found the "k" but a capital "K" at that.) Win has known this soil for almost four score years, I suspect that we can't include her babyhood times, so if it is her recommendation it must be worth listening to. While on the subject of years, our oldest resident, Old Shep. to some, Jock to others, Mr. Jock to Jessica and Hannah, the little girls who live next door and Mr. Robert Meehan to all others, has something to celebrate. On 25th of April this year, he reaches his ninetieth birthday. He came from north of the border all those years ago, to tend the sheep on the Rushmore Estate, where he made quite a name for himself, just one man and his dog and hundreds of sheep. If anyone wants to learn anything about sheep Jock is your man, he will talk sheep until the cows come home. It does not have to be sheep, he just loves having someone to talk to, as he lives on his own. So if you are in the area call in, he would love to chat. Now I'm chatting too much, so on to what has been happening in the countryside. Firstly, on the 4th of February a Red Admiral could be seen flitting in the sunshine, up and down the lane. It flew with all the verve and dexterity of a mid-summer butterfly, as if to say spring is here, summer is on its way. Oh how wrong it was! As was the hazel whip planted in the new hedge on the south side of the churchyard wall, this was foolish enough to produce tender green leaves on the last Sunday of January, and has been sitting there waiting for spring ever since. This plant was not alone; three days later a lilac bush and an elder tree were found in leaf in the Manor gardens, here at Woodcutts. Early celandines showed great promise right from the start of February, but to no avail, their promise came to nothing, now past mid-March and we still wait for definite signs of spring, from the plant world at least, where early promise has not materialised. In fact some early growth has been hit by frost, even early sown broad beans, (November planted.) have been hit, some not to recover. Obviously, warm, wet spells promoted rapid soft growth, which did not take kindly to the cold, freezing snaps. Fortunately the weather has had little effect on the bird population, anybody about at 5 am. will tell you they are certainly on song, as a few people have noticed they have been, at dusk each reasonably fine evening. I personally have not been so aware of this in the past and would be interested in other peoples' comments.
There has been a short interlude while I finished my coffee and my mind perambulated, I think that is a suitable word to describe how my mind works, it wont go anywhere unless it is pushed; on the major dilemma facing the countryside now, namely the foot and mouth epidemic. How glad I am, that I am no longer responsible for large numbers of livestock and my heart goes out to all who are, may God be with them all, particularly those who have lost animals, their livelihood and in some cases the will to live. In the past I have encouraged people to get out into the countryside, now regardless of what Government sources suggest it would be best to curtail any forays into it until this crippling epidemic is over. Even so, there is gardening to be done, birds to watch in the garden and public places, flowers, trees and shrubs at the roadside so there are still plenty of natural things to observe and thank God for. Let us hope in two months time, with the next edition of the Downsman, summer will be with us and the future much brighter.
Jimmy Collins who regularly attended our Chase Community Friends Day Centre has sadly passed away.
Jim always had a smile and a kind word for everyone, he would often talk of his children and the sadness of losing his wife in 1975, when he still had a young family. He and I talked frequently about our past lives in this neighbourhood. We shall all miss Jim and I am very proud to have known him. Here is what Jim wrote as part of his diary and gave me for publication.
My family links with Rushmore Estate.
My Grandfather worked on the Estate for General Pitt Rivers and also played in the Generals’ Band at Larmer Tree. He played a cornet.
My uncle, George Whitlock, was caretaker of The Farnham Museum from about 1920 until he died in 1939. My Aunt and her son carried on until the end of the war.
My father was a Suffolk man and father, mother, my older brother (then 4 years old) and I (then 2 years old) came to live at Dean End in 1920. My father went to work in the wood department of Rushmore Estate.
My Great Uncle and Great Aunt (Brother and sister) lived at the estate yard in one of the bungalows. My Great Uncle worked at Rushmore House - he cut the lawns etc with a horse and mower. The horse wore boots not to mark the lawn. My Great Uncle was bitten by an adder, this wound was healing, but the brass eyelet on his boot rubbed it and it turned poisonous and when my father called in to see him he was very ill so my father went to Handley and the Doctor was out on his rounds on horseback and by the time he got to Rushmore my Uncle was dead.
So at two years old I went to live with my Great Aunt and I stayed there until I was 5 when we had to go home to go to school.
Mr Alexander Pitt Rivers was living in Rushmore House then and every Christmas we went to a party for all his workmen and his staff. That was the last Pitt Rivers to live at Rushmore. In 1930 the house was let to Col. Palmer for 7 years. My older brother (Harold) went to work for him as a stable lad and when Col Palmer left Harold stayed on to look after the house and lawns for the estate.
I started work for the estate on 1st July 1937 until I went into the Army 1st September 1939 as I was in the TA.
During that time only 2 families lived in the park - Sam Hillyard at North Lodge and A J Hiscock at the estate yard.
This is the staff there between 1937 and 1939.
First this part of the estate was run from Hinton St Mary Estate where Captain Pitt Rivers lived. Mr F Cowley was manager and clerk of the works Mr Galpen. Their clerk was Mr Conway. They managed Hinton St Mary, Rushmore Estates and houses and land etc at Burton Bradstock.
Mr Cowley and Mr Galpen brought our wages up every other Friday. The hours we worked were 7 am - 5 pm Monday to Friday and 7 am - 1 pm Saturday. (Summertime) In winter our time was 7.30 am - 5 pm, 7.30 am - 1 pm Saturday. We had one week’s holiday, plus Bank holidays (Christmas Day, Boxing Day and half a day Good Friday).
Staff working on the estate and where they lived.
Building and Saw Yard Staff
A J Hiscock, Yard Foreman Estate yard, Rushmore
Sam Hillier, Carpenter North Lodge, Rushmore
Bert Stratton, Builder Tollard Royal
Tom Woods, Builders mate Woodcutts
George Abbott, Painter Farnham
Jack Saunders, Engine driver Tollard Royal
Frank Weeks, Saw bench Farnham
Fred Hunt, Saw bench Tollard Royal
Woods Department
Bill Weeks, Foreman Woodcutts
Walter Ryman, Woodsman Woodcutts
Harry Messer, Woodsman Woodcutts
Jim Hiscock, Woodsman Farnham
Sid Doe, Woodsman Farnham
Frank Scot, Woodsman Farnham
Arthur Hall, Woodsman Handley
Other staff on the estate
Harold Collins, Caretaker of Rushmore House and Lawns Handley
Tom Churchill, Rabbit and Pest Control Tollard Royal
Jim Collins Rabbit trapper in the winter, Woods Summer Time Handley
Steve Steel Caretaker Larmer Tree, 3 days in woods Larmer Tree
George Whitlock (My uncle) Caretaker Pitt Rivers Museum Farnham
Arthur Warren came up from Hinton St Mary with two horses to do any hauling etc. Sometimes he stayed for a month if it was summer time and I worked with him.
We did not have anything to do with King Johns House at Tollard. I think it was empty some of the time, then someone took it and had horses and wanted some stables - so H Dibben of Handley came up to Rushmore House and pulled down the old ‘Stock Hut’ which stood just outside the back door of Rushmore House and took it to King John and built stables with it which after the war was turned into offices etc.
There are only 2 of us left from those days 1937 - 1939; Mr Sid Doe who lives at St Giles and myself Jim Collins.
I’ve long been meaning to write to express my appreciation of Bill Chorley’s article in ‘The Downsman’ which gave details of the men whose names appear on the Handley War Memorial, along with anything known of the circumstances of their deaths.
I am so familiar with those names, having had the privilege of reading them out year after year on sixteen successive Remembrance Sundays, and indeed having known one or two of the surviving relatives of those whose deaths are recorded there. But I often wondered quite how each of them came to die; and it has meant a great deal to me to discover more about them. There can be few left who knew even those who gave their lives in the Second World War - but yes, we shall remember them.
Whilst putting pen to paper I’ll take the opportunity to pass on one or two comments I’ve had stored up to add to Mrs E Hayward’s informative articles in past ‘Downsmans’ on ‘The Parish of Sixpenny Handley. (I was very glad that previously Mr Frank Adam’s notes on the local history and customs had been published, ensuring that their contents would have a much wider circulation than the few remaining copies of his booklet could have).
Writing about Gussage St Andrew Mrs Hayward suggests that ‘Myncheon’, from which word the name ‘Minchington’ is derived, was the name of a nun. I think she must have misunderstood this. The word is in fact Anglo-Saxon for ‘a nun’ since Minchington was in fact an outpost of Shaftesbury Abbey. King Alfred had given the Manor of Minchington as part of his endowment of the Abbey, appointing his eldest daughter Gelfrida its first Abbess (It has been suggested that the novices were housed and trained at Minchington, though I’ve never heard tell of novices being separated off from the rest of the community.)
Discovery of the thirteenth century wall paintings at Gussage St Andrew is also mentioned by Mrs Hayward. Perhaps she was writing before the Passion Cycle, which indeed is what it turned out to be, was mostly uncovered, with a grant from the Pilgrim Trust. This was done by a Mrs Eve Baker, who had supervised similar work - it wasn’t a question of ‘restoring’ in any sense, but of just bringing the scenes to light by painstakingly flaking off the superimposed plaster - on the Guardian Angels Chapel in Winchester Cathedral amongst other places.
In Mrs Hayward’s notes there is a passing reference to Nicholas Longspee, fourth son of William Longspee and Ella Countess of Salisbury, who was one of the earliest chaplains of Handley. He would have belonged to the community of priests who were resident at Iwerne Minster and which was responsible to serving the parish of Handley. It is worthy of note that he eventually became Bishop of Salisbury, his tomb being found to this day in the Northeast corner of Salisbury Cathedral.
Mrs Hayward goes on to mention the 1655 royalist rising against Lord Protector Cromwell, headed by Colonel ‘Penruddick’ of Compton Chamberlayne. (The usual spelling of that name is at the pub at Compton Chamberlayne, which is ‘The Penruddock Arms’)If the plot was indeed hatched at Henry Butler’s Manor Farm Butler was very careful to distance himself from subsequent events. I don’t know what evidence there is that when the rising failed he ‘was fined for being in arms against Parliament’. The lengthy papers given on this subject to the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (to be seen in Salisbury Library) just record the evidence of a Mr St Loe, who had defected from the royalists, that ‘some called at Hanley after Blandford, for Mr Butler, but he wasn’t at home’ - a rather unworthy decision perhaps, but a wise one as it turned out! General Disbrowe’s list of prisoners held at Exeter includes a ‘Thomas Fitz-James of Henly in Dorsetshire, gent.’ A Captain Kirles of Woodcuts in Dorsetshire is also named as being implicated. Thirty-nine of the conspirators were sentenced to death but in the end less than twenty were in fact executed. However many of the reprieved prisoners, and indeed some who were not actually brought to trial, were subsequently transported to Barbados to serve sentences as indentured servants.
Mrs Hayward passed on the attractive tale that Dean Swift lived at Lilliput at the time the notorious smuggler Isaac Gulliver was flourishing with his activities based on the Inn at Thorney Down, the writer taking the name for his book ‘Gullivers Travels’. That the Inn was Gulliver’s headquarters is very likely since he had indeed as Mrs Hayward records been married in Handley Church to the inn-keepers daughter (Gulliver’s mark, in lieu of the signature he was presumably incapable of writing, can be seen in the Marriage Register held at County Record Office.) ‘Gulliver’s Travels was written in 1726, however, and Isaac Gulliver wasn’t born until 1745, the very year in fact Dean Swift died! It’s s pity to spoil a good story - but there you go.
Gulliver’s is a fascinating story anyway, without that little extra detail, for true enough, as Mrs Hayward concludes, he became accepted as a respectable member of the community, and was buried in the nave of Wimborne Minster. Desmond Hawkins in his book ‘Cranborne Chase’ adds the intriguing little nugget of information that he had in fact been churchwarden of the Minster. He also refers to the speculation that Gulliver might have been granted the King’s pardon because he had used his continental connections in smuggling to come by intelligence that was useful to the government of the day - a theory that has always struck me as very plausible.
The major Open Day, planned with Dorset Wildlife Trust, for April 1st will have been cancelled by the time you read this. We had prepared visual displays, guided walks, examples of woodland crafts together with various experts on hand to explain just what is involved in the biodiversity that applies to the wood. We hope it will be possible to re-schedule the event for much later in the year. No decision has been taken regarding the May Open Day but a notice will be placed on the reserve as soon as we hear from MAFF.
I can do little but add to the gloom everyone must feel about the present situation caused by the Foot & Mouth outbreak. The RSPB, in consultation with MAFF, have agreed to close all their reserves until further notice but discussions continue regarding the carrying out of essential maintenance and other contracts. The presence of deer in Garston Wood means that it will certainly be a considerable time before it is safe to allow public access but limited work, depositing stone and servicing boxes, will be carried out on the three sides away from any farm stock. Disinfectant precautions, to MAFF requirements, will be applied to the few workers involved. All survey work on birds, butterflies and dormice has been suspended and this ban also extends to the breeding bird surveys due to be carried out on farms in the region. Sadly, it seems we will have no meaningful records for 2001.
Prior to the disease appearing, the working parties had managed to finish a considerable amount of the coppicing due to be completed this year, and the deer fences are largely in place. A new wood-handling area has been created half way up the wood to ease the extraction of the larger trees. The wood has become particularly dark and unproductive in places, necessitating the widening of rides and opening up the canopy. The appalling rainfall has made parts of the wood very muddy indeed and it will take substantial tons of stone to make the paths and tracks suitable for all-weather use. I am sorry that so many dog-walkers have had to find an alternative place to exercise their animals and been so inconvenienced, firstly by the mud and now by F&MD.
The weather has held back many of the flowers by comparison with last year, but without having access to the main rides, this opinion is based on what can be seen from the road. Very few bluebells are in bloom yet whereas last year many were out by this time. Celandine is also much later than 2000. The hazel has yet to leaf.
By contrast, the dawn chorus is in full swing and rooks are busy nesting. The first Chiffchaff arrived in my garden on the 23rd, one day later than the first one in 2000, so I presume migrants are about! However, a Hen Harrier flew over my car while I was driving on the dual carriageway, only a few days ago, so winter is not over yet. Hopefully, the next two or three weeks will resolve the difficulties and life will return to a semblance of normality. In the meantime, the RSPB is grateful for everyone who has co-operated by not visiting the woods.