I will never forget my first trip to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford…the shrunken heads override every other memory of it. I later told my parents about it, who instantly recognised the name and said there was a second private #PittRivers collection just up the road from us in #Dorset.
These skulls should be returned to their descendants or given an appropriate burial, not sold for profit.
Shute’s Lane near the village of Symondsbury in Dorset. The walls of this ancient holloway, or sunken lane, are some 10 metres below the surrounding landscape, the trail worn away after centuries of passing boots, hooves and cartwheels. Most of the sandstone walls are extensively carved in a varying array of graffiti, including elaborate Celtic patterns, ghouls and gargoyles, a practice that seems to have been ongoing for decades.
New at bl.ag online, 'Bringing a Gilded Victorian Transom Window Back to Life'.
Visit https://bl.ag/transom to learn from @ajsignsdorset about the techniques used to create the original sign, and the work he's done to make it just like new again.
This sycamore tree is nearly 340 years old. It lives in the village of Tolpuddle, and is the biggest sycamore tree in Dorset.
Underneath this very tree, in 1833, six agricultural labourers met to discuss the poor wages and conditions imposed by their employers. They were later tried under the Incitement to Mutiny Act, and transported to Australia for seven years.
These were the famous Tolpuddle Martyrs - and this is the Martyrs' Tree.
‘Despite appearing to contradict national guidance from the Department for Work and Pensions (#DWP), local jobcentre managers have refused requests from Citizens Advice Central #Dorset to guarantee that no further demands of mental health inpatients will be made.’
“Surely the fact that he’s sectioned is enough to know this person is not at a stage in their claimant journey when they could come and discuss ‘should I do an IT course?’ or whatever.”
21 Jan 1644: Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of #Dorset made Lord Chamberlain of the King's Household #otd on the eve of the opening of the #Oxford parliament in which he sat (V&A Museum, London)
#Tombtuesday & spot the barrow...
Swyre head in #Dorset & a bowl barrow that has staked out a very good spot to observe the centuries as they wash over the Jurassic Coast
Save the date: For all of August, there will be an exhibition in Bridport, Dorset, about the life and work of George Biles, a prolific signwriter, decorator, and scenic painter whose career spanned nearly 70 years.
A collection of his Palmers Brewery pub signs have survived, and will be displayed alongside drawings, and more.
I'll post more in the future, but for now, there is an extract from a 1932 article about Biles in the alt text.
Honestly, setting foot out into #Dorset again yesterday afternoon was the first time i've felt human again this whole season
Swyre head really is something special if you can catch a sunny day in January, the low sunlight makes it glow & the jurassic coast unfurls like a scroll
#TombTuesday with the Winterbourne Poor Lot Barrow cemetery, just west of Dorchester,
goodness knows how many times we've driven past it on the way to Devon but this was the first opportunity to actually get some good shots of it