Chapelhay Gardens & Civil War Commemoration

The Friends of Chapelhay Gardens held an event yesterday to show the fantastic work they have done in clearing up the gardens in one of Weymouth's most historic locations. The event was well attended, with the Mayor of Weymouth and Portland, David Harris, present and soldiers in 17th century costume giving displays.

Local author, Mark Vine, sold out of copies of his book, The Crabchurch Conspiracy, a true story of Weymouth during the Civil War and the battle around Chapelhay and the harbour in February 1645. Anyone who would like to buy a copy of the book can order it through the website by clicking the link above. Mark, appropriately dressed in 17th century attire, laid flowers in remembrance of the 500 slain in one night so long ago.

A big Well Done to the Friends of Chapelhay Gardens for their hard work in clearing the site and for the successful event they put on yesterday.

Civil War and the Crabchurch Conspiracy - Friends of Chapelhay Gardens

On Sunday 24th February, the Friends of Chapelhay Gardens are holding an event to commemorate the battle which took place there and around the harbour. There will be a Civil War re-enactment in17th century dress. The event runs from 2pm - 4pm.

Mark Vine, author of 'The Crabchurch Conspiracy', which tells the story of the battle in 1645 and that of Civil War in Dorset, will be there with copies of his book.

For more information about the book please use the link above.

Save Our Southill Petition Presented to the Mayor

Yesterday evening at the full Council meeting of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council the Save Our Southill Community Land petition containing 501 signatures, was presented to the Mayor. This was followed by a short speech addressed to the council, summarising the strength of feeling of the local community, which includes Radipole, of all ages and their desire for the council to retain the land for use by the community.

The council were told of how we had talked with the young people (teenagers) and got their support for an idea to create community gardens on the site of the green land that fronts on Radipole Lane. The young people are willing to help create such a community garden and to help maintain it. This would give them a meeting place in the evenings and something they can be proud of. The elderly residents expressed delight with such an idea, both for the young people and for themselves. In fact, all ages thought it wonderful as they would have somewhere to meet with friends, break up their walk to the shops or just sit and watch the world go by. A use of the council-designated community land for use by the whole community - what could be better than that?

Fundamentally, there is a very strong community spirit and the council have been made aware of that. Let's hope that they will not now seek to destroy it.

Personally, I have found it truly amazing how this issue has brought the community together and how they have offered help in whatever way they can. They have spread the word about the petition, taken sheets to gather signatures and offered help in other ways. Naturally, with my interest in the local history, I have very much enjoyed talking with the more senior folks and those who have lived in the locality for a long time. Their memories and their stories have been delightful. The young people have been grateful to have their voice heard, to be asked what they think of the council's ideas and how they would like to see things done, as after all, they are our future and they should have a say.


P.S. the Echo don't have this story.

Dorset Echo News Online - Weymouth & Dorchester

Following on from their not liking comments made by anonymous users (i.e. those not sticking to one name) or not liking the contents of such comments and thereby deleting them, the Dorset Echo News online version (mainly covering Weymouth and Dorchester areas) has now changed things so that nobody can post a comment to any article unless they become a registered member! How ludicrous is that? The result is that hardly any comments are being posted and debate is non-existant.

Such a pedantic editor/moderator has killed off what was a thriving online community in which many Dorset people took part. But it's not just that, there were people from other parts of the UK and from abroad who posted too. Sometimes it was the topic rather than the locality that inspired them to post, so they are not likely to sign up.

A great loss in many respects. Maybe we should call for the editor/moderator to be sacked?

There is a solution, whereby anyone could post comments about news articles without fear of their posts being moderated to the extreme and with no need to sign up as a member. So, does anyone know enough about php to help me get a forum (linked into the existing ones on weymouth-dorset.co.uk but not yet visible) across onto another domain I have?

Please note: you do not have to sign up to post to this blog!