Blackmore Vale

The Georgian courtroom in Shire Hall was the scene of many famous and infamous trials, the most famous being that of the six agricultural labourers known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs. This talk looks at the background to their story, the punishment they endured and the changes these ordinary Dorset working men made to their local area and to society as a whole. 
Speaker: Anne Brown 

When Rachel discovered a forger in the family, her research uncovered lots more about the crime and other C18th lawbreakers: the schoolmaster pressed into the Royal Navy who became a forger on discharge; the exciseman who found himself out of pocket when whisky production was regulated; the architect who was transported to Australia for forgery and ended up on a (legal) bank note.                              
Speaker: Rachel Rowe

In Thomas Hardy’s novel, The Woodlanders (1887), he describes the local landscape of North Dorset as filled with orchards and the smell of apples. An iconic image depicts the hero, Giles
Winterborne, standing with his specimen apple tree in the midst of the town of Sherborne. Elisabeth explores the little-known history of cider-making in the local area, using her own research and oral histories she has collected from residents of several villages.

Speaker: Elisabeth Bletsoe

Speaker: Jacquie Wragg

Topic TBC

During the First World War, an estimated 60,000 volunteers served with the British Red Cross Society in auxiliary hospitals across the United Kingdom, providing much-needed care for sick and wounded servicemen returning from the Front. This talk explores the pivotal role played by the VADs in Dorset during the war and highlights how this remarkable contribution was largely sustained through the efforts of female voluntary labour.

Speaker: Luke Mouland