Wassail
Wassail is an old Norse word for “Good Health”. This is the season for apple trees to be wassailed by tradition on the eve of Twelfth Night, to ensure a good crop free from disease. This took place on 4th Read more »
Cecil Amor
Cecil Amor is the Founder Chairman of Bridport History Society. His background is in design, techonology and engineering, being a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and a European Design Committee Member.
Things that go ‘Whoosh’ in the night
During the summer our daughter very kindly proposed a nostalgic trip to Wiltshire to see our original home area, so we ventured through border control. There was no difficulty, we both had Wiltshire birth certificates. We entered via Warminster, which Read more »
The Mists of Time – Cecil Amor
For some years I have attended some of the very interesting Dorset Archaeological Days. I recall one on Eggardon Hill when a heavy mist enshrouded it. The unfortunate expert was forced to point through the mist, saying “in this direction, Read more »
My Mentors
This is about teachers and lecturers who have influenced me. The reason for writing it now will become clear in the last paragraph. One of my schoolteachers, Mr Scruton, still remains in my memory, in that I can rehearse his Read more »
Long Live King Jarge!
In The Trumpet – Major by Thomas Hardy this is how the local inhabitants greeted the travelling carriages of King George III and his family, escorted by a detachment of his German Legion. He was en route for Weymouth, where Read more »
Boney’s Coming
If you watched Broadchurch on TV a few months ago, you may have noticed an unusual building on top of a hill. It was where sordid characters Claire Ripley (Eve Myeles) and Lee Ashworth (James D’Arcy) fought and cavorted. The Read more »
On Silbury Hill by Cecil Amor
During my engineering apprenticeship at a large factory in Chippenham, Wiltshire, I was asked to work with a Production Engineer for three months. This was partly to ease his work load by taking over mundane jobs, such as recording when Read more »
My Bicycle was a Hercules, not a Raleigh
It was probably my birthday present, with a view to riding the two miles to the Grammar School if I obtained a scholarship. The Hercules was second hand and I could not reach the pedals, so they were enhanced by Read more »
Gathering Nuts in May
“Here we go gathering nuts in May” Thinking of the month, this childhood song came to mind. However, the words seem rather odd, so I appealed to the great oracle Google who advised that it was probably originally “gathering knots Read more »
Cromwell’s Ruins
“One of the Ruins that Cromwell knocked about a bit” – “Abaht a bit, Abaht a bit”. This was a music hall song heard on the radio about 50 years ago, sung in a mock cockney voice. From memory it Read more »