The Wednesday Walk 20th May 2015

The Plan

Athelhampton House to Tolpuddle

Who Turned Up

Sue, Wendy, Trudy H, Diane and Tony R, David

The Walk

We parked in the car park at Athelhampton House so, for the benefit of our loyal overseas readers, let me tell you about it. It’s situated about five miles from Dorchester and was built in 1485 by Sir William Martyn. In 1891 it was bought by Alfred Cart le Lafontaine (what’s the betting he had some French blood in his ancestry?) who restored it and created the formal gardens we can see today. In 1957 it was bought by Robert Cooke, who gave it to son in 1966. Today, it is owned by the next generation of that family.

Enough of that. We set off from Athelhampton, crossed the road, and took the footpath alongside the village church. This took us through Cowpound Wood where the going got a bit muddy at times. We came out into the open, enjoying the sunshine, and followed the trail before turned left towards Southover. We passed Southover House, turned into Southover lane and so into Tolpuddle which lies just south of the River Piddle.

I understand one of our number hadn’t heard the history behind Tolpuddle, so let me reveal a bit of it.

From 1825, trade unions were legal in England. In the 1830s agricultural wages were lowered as a result of increasing mechanisation. They went down to seven shillings a week. In Dorset, agricultural labourers refused to work for less than ten shillings a week. In the tiny village of Tolpuddle, a group of men led by George Loveless founded the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers as a protest. Crucially, they swore a secret oath of allegiance to their union, their big mistake. A local landowner, James Frampton, wrote to the Prime Minister to complain about the union. The men were charged under an obscure law designed to prevent mutiny in the Royal Navy and they were transported to Australia. At least they didn’t have to travel cattle class in a Boeing 747, but their plight caused a furore back home and eventually they were pardoned.

Back to our walk. After lunch, we took the short route back to Athelhampton. In the course of the day’s walk, we saw: bluebells, campion, cow parsley, primroses, rhododendrons, buttercups, kingcups, comfrey, speedwell and pink horse chestnuts. Don’t worry, you will not be tested on any of this.
Our thanks go to Trudy and Diane for the photographs.

We finished up with tea and cake at Sue’s house. Thank you, Sue, for your hospitality, and thank you, Trudy, for the cake.

The Pub

The Martyr’s Inn at Tolpuddle. A pleasant environment with friendly service and good beer. The pie deserved 9/10 for quality but only 5/10 for quantity.

Next Week
To be decided. Keep an eye on the blog.