Due to government cut backs, it has not been possible to do a complete annual census here at Woodcutts. Despite this, there have in fact been quite a few changes that have been recorded, which can easily be noted without intensive study and investigation and are of some relative importance. In the past ten years there have been some quite noticeable changes to the human occupation here; that is in the ten premises accessed from Long Lane, Woodcutts, along with their transport systems as shown in the following table:
| Year | Number of | Adult | ||
| properties | residents | Children | Vehicles | |
| 1999 | 10 | 17 | 7 | 12 |
| 2009 | 10 | 19 | 11 | 18 |
From the above figures, it can be seen that not only have the number of humans increased but the number of vehicles for each adult in the population has also increased from 0.71 vehicles per adult person to 0.94 vehicles. Hopefully, the full census can be completed at a later date in the year. However the main problem to be identified, that of the increased number of vehicles is important, as this will increase our carbon footprint here and could effect global warming locally. In fact, if the human population increase involves the advent of even more vehicles, the construction of new roads may become necessary, even to the extent of building a dual carriageway past ‘Between Gates’ to cope with rush hour traffic. This of course will require considerable excavations, but since there is a precedence for excavations in this area, it should not be a problem. If you are wondering what this precedence involved, it is quite simple. A gentleman called General Pitt-Rivers, who incidentally owned most of the land around here, dug holes all over the place. He used as his excuse an extreme interest in archaeology; nothing compared with the need for a new road here for the benefit of the local populace, so no problem with the planners is anticipated.
While thinking of archaeology, I must say what an enjoyable evening I spent with the Pentridge Church members on a visit to Marten Green’s farm, where his museum of archaeological artefacts and country bye-gones are in themselves worth a visit in its own right, but together with a tour of the nature conservation work being carried out on his farm it became a fabulous occasion. Thank you to both Marten and his wife for a very special visit.
It is amazing the history of the area that has already been recorded, especially with reference to Cranborne Chase. Recently I have been reading ‘A Chronicle of Cranborne and the Cranborne Chase’ by T.W. Wake Smart. This was written in the early part of the nineteenth century and first published anonymously in 1841, and gives a very good account of the history of the area over six centuries, especially that of the hunting and the friction between land owners, the Crown and the common people, including poachers.
Woodcutts is mentioned in the book, once on page 196, where Woodcutts is spelt as Woodcotes, and refers to a situation where one “William Weare was attached to answer to the plea of Thomas Topp, why he entered by force and arms his Close at Bridmore, and trod down and destroyed his corn , with certain cattle, cows, pigs and sheep, to the value of 100s., (£5.00 in today’s money) and committed other offences to the damage of the said Thomas Topp, and against the peace of the Lady the Queen, on the 5th day of May, in the 19th year of the Queen’s reign.” Presumably this reference is to Queen Elizabeth the first and the year 1577. So it may be seen that Woodcutts was an important place in those days. There are other mentions of Woodcutts, spelt in a number of ways in the notes at the back of the book; mostly concerning poaching or offences concerning hunting (deer) with dogs and the neglect or otherwise of deer fencing and woodland management including coppicing. Reading parts of this book, especially the notes is very difficult, perhaps because of the legal wording used and also the antiquity of the text. Whatever there was then, it is the same today; namely a great interest in the wildlife of the area.
As I write, there are a total of ten blue tits and great tits devouring feed at our bird table. For several weeks now Paul next door has been telling me that he has had nuthatches visiting his feeding station on a regular basis, which has made me extremely envious. That is until the tenth of this month (July), when we had our first visits from this species. Since then we have had occasions when as many as three nuthatches have been seen at any one time here. It is wonderful to see how acrobatic they are, even compared to the tinier blue tits. They are, of course, the only British species that can actually walk up and down on a tree trunk; that is, on the downward reach to go head first. Even the tree creepers have to work from bottom to top and then fly back down to the bottom to start their climb up again in search of insects in the bark for their food, while the nuthatch simply turns around and goes headfirst down the trunk or, in our case, the peanut feeder.
There are often up to ten assorted tits, as mention above, feeding together but at the coming of the nuthatches they all disappear. This is not the case when the greater spotted woodpeckers appear, despite it being a much bigger bird with a potentially much greater weapon in its beak. It could be because the woodpecker family - mum, dad and two youngsters, are much more regular visitors who have been coming for a much longer period of time, and that familiarity breeds contempt, but it is difficult to tell.
Another reason for feeling envious is that Paul, our neighbour, has pied flycatchers flying from the lime trees on the edge of his garden to feed on the flies accumulating in the damper shade under the lime trees. He also has a small garden pond, in which he has had frogs, toads and newts as well as a plentiful insect life, including dragonflies.
While mentioning insects, on Friday the 17th of July, I saw a group of painted lady butterflies flying during a sunny period just north of Bere Regis. I was wondering if this was the new generation preparing to fly back to Africa before the end of the summer, a reversal of that tremendous northward migration in May and June. Also on the same day, while driving along a narrow lane we were provided with an escort of three green woodpeckers for some one hundred yards (or whatever that is in metres) . . .
Sorry for the interlude, I hope I haven’t kept anyone up, but sitting where I am I noticed a nuthatch on the bird table and I have been attempting to obtain a photograph of it, so far unsuccessfully. Incidentally, if I had successfully taken a picture you would have seen that I was wrong about all the smaller tits fleeing at the sight of the nuthatches as they now seem to have accepted them. So, since I am already overdue with this piece for the Downsman, I don’t think I should wait any longer and I will say good-bye for now. Thank you for reading this article and God bless you all.
4th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, B Company, 6th Platoon
[Part 3 - Continued from June issue]
Crouching low beside his Commanding Officer [Lieutenant-Colonel H E Cowie], Lance Corporal Butt, bugle in hand, waited for the signal that would commit A and B companies into battle. Their objective; to reach the village of Eterville and clear it of the enemy. The noise was deafening; from ahead the steady crump of bursting mortar shells while overhead Typhoons [mainly] roared back and forth ready to discharge their lethal underwing cargoes of rocket projectiles, and also clearly audible was the scream of incoming shells from the warships giving counter-fire from the nearby channel. To all this passage of war Cowie seemed impervious, his eyes firmly focused on his watch as he counted down the seconds to zero hour. Ahead lay a field of standing corn which would form the battalion’s start-line and for many that day would be their entrance into eternity.
In close attendance to the two companies, led respectively by Majors Upton and G L Symonds, were a troop of recently arrived Crocodile flame-throwers and a squadron of Churchill tanks. Formidable though the latter might be and with an illustrious name to match, the Churchill required a particularly skilled and resolute crew in order to outfight their German counterparts manning the respected Mark VI Tiger. Nevertheless, the dull throb of their engines provided a certain reassurance to those anxiously waiting for the off.
At 0620 the strident sound of the bugle rang out and “the Battalion rose to its feet as one man”. First into the cornfield were the men of B Company and almost immediately an exchange of rifle fire could be heard by those strung out alone the line of advance. The skirmish, for it came to little more than that, was brief and it is likely that it was C and D companies who took the first German prisoners of the day. Although unsighted at the start of the battle, the eastward advance of five kilometres or so to the outskirts of Eterville was quickly covered and apart from one or two casualties from shelling, both companies had faired well. The barrage was now incessant and Major Symonds ordered his men, all “still in excellent formation” to halt and seek cover until the Allied artillery fire ceased.
Talking a few years ago with Les Perrett, Les remembers his platoon, and that of Harry’s, found themselves in an orchard bordered, he though, by a stone wall. Enemy mortar and machine gun fire from the direction of Eterville was at the time showing no sign of slackening and it was patently obvious that if it continued they were going to have a stiff fight on their hands in dislodging their opponents.
Symonds, meanwhile, was watching for the tell-tale sight of blue smoke which he had been told would signal the cessation of the Allied ground and air bombardment. He had not long to wait and the order to advance into the village was given. It was at this point that tragedy struck his company for no sooner had his men commenced the rush towards the nearest houses that four fighters, possibly Typhoons, peeled off and “dropped two bombs in the middle of my company whilst we were still in the open field. We could see the bombs falling so had time to lie down, but we suffered a number of casualties from these, including Sergeant Fowler [a pre-war territorial, married and from Swindon], who was killed, and all three of our No. 88 sets [radios] were put out of action.”
Naturally, this awful event was well remembered by Les Perrett for Harry Neave was quite literally only a matter of yards away from him, and though Major Symonds in his account of the action writes of an “open field”, Les believes they were still in the orchard when the explosions took place, killing his friend in the blink of an eye.
Despite this reversal of fortune, both companies not only got into the village and to their relief discovered that the majority of the defenders had withdrawn. It had taken the spearhead companies less than an hour-and-a-half to reach their first objective and B Company now progressed without too much difficulty to their next objective, a road beyond Eterville, thus taking the line of the sector advance that much closer to Caen and the Orne river.
With B Company halted and in the process of preparing a holding position, C and D companies reached Eterville and began the task of winkling out the few remaining German infantry, while A Company, which had come up on Major Symonds’ right and still supported by their Crocodiles, wheeled and headed on a southerly course for the village of Maltot.
Although their passage into and out of Eterville had been relatively straight forward, the position of B Company was far from secure. A mere 300 yards or so from the village, and due to the natural features of the land completely unsighted, a German counter-attack with tank support was being prepared. Already, enemy shelling of B Company’s area was in progress and before Major Symonds could complete digging his slit-trench he was rendered unconscious from the blast of an exploding shell.
Coming round, he was gratified to find his wounds were being attended to by his Canadian second-in-command, Captain Ron With. It was at this point that the 7th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment reached Eterville with orders to press on and capture Maltot. The events that followed are graphically described by the acclaimed military historian Antony Beevor in his recently published book D-Day; The Battle For Normandy [Viking, 2009]; “While the 129th Brigade struggled up Hill 112, the 130th Brigade on the left captured Eterville and then advanced towards the village of Maltot. The 7th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment and the 5th Battalion of the Dorsets, with their supporting tanks of the 44th Royal Tank Regiment, had little idea of the shock awaiting them. The 502nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion equipped with Mark VI Tiger tanks, the largest and most formidable fighting machine seen on the western front, was converging on the same spot. Unable to see what was ahead, the Tigers of one company smashed through the hedgerow in front and found themselves facing four Shermans. The Tigers’ 88 mm guns turned three of them into blazing wrecks in a moment. The fourth escaped using his reverse. The Dorsets*, unaware that the other battalion had withdrawn, were soon engaged in house-to-house fighting in the village. They learned the hard way that when clearing a building you had to go straight for the top rooms. If they went through a farmhouse and into the courtyard at the back, it was too easy for the Germans upstairs to throw down grenades and fire from the windows.”
It seems that both the 4th and 5th Battalions fought side-by-side in this action at Maltot.
Concerning this same encounter Major Symonds comments, “There are few people who know just why the 7th Hampshires failed to capture Maltot, but I witnessed one of the reasons. They were due to pass through Eterville to attack Maltot as soon as we were firm in Eterville, and this they did. As soon as they passed through us they ran into the German counter-attack ... ... I shall always believe the 7th Hampshire’s attack on Maltot, coming when it did, saved my company from being completely overrun before we were probably dug in.”
Symonds [later to be decorated with the Military Cross] also remarks that he never discovered how Major Upton’s A Company had faired in the attack at Eterville as later in the day they were “lost almost to a man at Maltot.”
To be Concluded in October issue
Postscript. In this third part of Harry Neave’s profile, I acknowledge the invaluable writings of G J B Watkins who wrote the 4th Battalion’s history [see the April 2009 edition of The Downsman] and whose reporting of Major G L Symonds description of the fighting appear in italics.
Memories
We went and we married a long time ago,
We worked for long hours and wages were low.
No TV, no wireless, no baths, times were hard
Just a cold water tap and a walk up the yard.
But if you were sick you were treated at once
Not, “Fill out that form and come back in six months.”
No vandals, no muggings, there was nothing to rob,
And we felt quite rich with a couple of bob.
No holidays for us, no posh carpets on floors,
But we’d coal on the fires and we didn’t lock the doors.
Our children arrived, no pill in those days
And we brought them up without any state aid.
People were happier in those far-off days,
Kinder and caring in so many ways.
Milkmen and paper boys would whistle and sing,
A night at the pictures was our mad fling.
They were quite safe to go and play in the park
And old folk could go out for walks after dark.
No Valium, no drugs and no LSD.
We cured most ills with a good cup of tea.
We all get our share of trouble and strife,
We just have to face it—that’s the pattern of life,
But when we’re alone and look back through the years
We don’t think of bad times and trouble and tears.
We remember the blessings, our home and our love
That we’ve shared them together, and thank God above.
Bread and Honey
Of all the meals you can buy for money
Give me a meal of bread and honey.
A table of grass in the open air
A green bank for an easy chair.
The tablecloth inwrought with flowers
And a grasshopper clock to tick the hours.
Between the courses birds to sing
To many a hidden shining string.
And neither man or maid be seen
But a great company of green
Upon a hundred thousand stalks
Talk to us its great green talks.
And when the merry meal is done
To loiter westward with the sun
Dipping fingers ere we go
In the stream that runs below.
Of all the meals you can buy for money
Give me a meal of bread and honey.
I bought a vintage red wine recently which was very strong. On the label it said, “Recommended for lying down.” I drank it, and sure enough, I had to lie down.
A couple got married. It was all beautiful. The bride wept for joy, the groom cried with happiness, the bridesmaids were misty eyed, even the wedding cake was in tiers!
If you want the rainbow, you have to put with the rain.
There’s a sign outside Kwik-Fit near me. It says, “We fit exhausts.” They’re right! I had a go on my daughter’s Wii Fit and I was well knackered!
How do you make your man’s eyes sparkle? Shine a torch in his ears.
I bought the wife a 1,000 watt light bulb for her birthday. She didn’t seem happy at first, but after she turned it on you should have seen her face light up.
A little girl was watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink when she noticed several strands of white hair in contrast to her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, “Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?” Her mother replied, “Every time you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy one of my hairs turns white.” The little girl thought about this for a while and then said, “Mum, how come all of Grandma’s hairs are white?”