Purbeck Memories_2

I have a photo from around the time, shortly after my 10th or maybe 11th, or maybe 12th birthday, when I was on the 28 bus back to Worth, having visited the Wimpy, and then Little Fortes for a Knicker Bocker Glory even though I’d already had a Wimpy’s Brown Derby. I then had a mooch around Dorland's Paper shop for a ‘Look In’ Magazine and a ‘Jackie’ and a chance of seeing Terry Dorland, The Swanage’s David Cassidy, or George Best type figure of my youth. He wasn’t at home, or so his Mum would tell us, “He’s playing Football”, but she’d get poor Gerald, his brother to come out and say hello, which was good enough to be honest (sorry Gerald if you are reading this, I mean it in the nicest way possible). They were a lovely family all round, very popular; each Dorland family member were/are worthy of my worshipfulness.

To continue - I had also visited the ‘Basket’ shop, eyeing up a wicker basket and a specially designed PVC cover for taking my cookery ingredients and my completed cooked dish to and from school. This was in preparation for when I was to be moving on from Langton St Georges, and downhill to Swanage Middle, and was to be placed in Mrs Whittemore’s form. Mrs Whittemore was also the Swanage Middle/Secondary school’s Domestic Science Teacher. She had “a lovely shelf” as the boys in particular often commented on. I’d also bought some Espadrilles from the Basket Shop and a decorated tiny mirror, a gift for my new found friend Jane, who was Gladys Gilfillan’s (nee Welsh of 4-5 London Row) niece. Jane was a frequent visitor to the village; I'd bought that mirror at 'Beach Combers'.

Before catching the bus back into Worth, I generally went to ‘The Pantry’ for something on toast, or just toast. Mrs Weeks was a lovely lady; she made the best buttered toast and milkshakes ever and if there was time, I’d pop into Edgar's Hardware for all sorts of delightful items made from string craft. Those last two places were in Mermond Place where the bus stop was back then, near to the stone seat and bottom of the steps leading to and from the side of Swanage Rec. The Bus went via The High Street, past the Town Hall, Aplin’s and The Black Swan and ‘St Mary’s Place’ at the top region of Court Hill then towards Newton Manor and onwards.

The bus was always full, and frequent, tying in with early morning working hours and late evening shifts, and pub’s kicking out times. I recall Mrs Goodwin who worked at Fortes, and who lived at Stoborough. She was often on the bus in the early morning, about 6.30/7 a.m. and after shop’s closing times, and Eddie Chappell of Kingston was often on the last bus home -12p was the first bus fare that I recall paying in 'New Money'. Pippa Dolls were a penny shy of £1 (a sort of poor girl’s Barbie Doll in miniature), the Corridor and Puttock's were where we grabbed chocolate and sweets.

The 'Hippy' Market was opposite the Vic (there are flats on that site now), and where New Look used to be, on Trocadero Corner, before it became New Look it was previously a clothing and hippy style shop. That was a great clothing shop for the latest fashion, stainless steel chokers, love-beads etc., and there was talk of a lot of shop lifting that went on in there though, so Mum banned me from ever going in there, but I did go in there on one occasion before her ban. I think it was called ‘the Bizarre’ or was that the café and stall down ‘Town Hall Lane’ (?) where I was also banned by Mum from entering. I bought a lovely stainless-steel ring and a choker from there, which I still have.

There was ‘Beach Combers’ (opposite the recently closed fishing shop and old stone quay’s weigh bridge), great for flip flops and trinkets. ‘Beach Combers’ as already mentioned was where I had bought the little mirror as a gift for my dear friend Jane Devarian. It was around this time that I met Ali Brown and Cookie Bird for the first time, and just past Riff Raff’s Cauldron was the Café where the song ‘Pretty Belinda’ was apparently written in the 1960s, according to Robert ‘Jigger’ Johnson our old/young milkman. Oh yes, that song wasn’t about me by the way…I was just plain old ‘Monkey Face Belinda’.

With this may I please add R.I.P. Terry, Robert and his twin Graham, Ali and Cookie; legends in their own lifetime, and who I remember with great affection!
Bye for now.

P.S. remind me to go more in-depth with the Fords who had Woodyhyde and who took some of their prize sheep up to Worth and down to Winspit for a spell during the late 19th and early 20th century, and how they changed a small part of the landscape there, and why two of their sons shot off to America.