The Journals of DHC: 1940s

In the local studies library at the Dorset History Centre you can find a large collection of journals. These journals are packed with fascinating articles and are often an underused resource. In this new series of blogs we will be highlighting some of the interesting articles within them!

This is the fifth in our series of blogs looking at the journals held at the Dorset History Centre. Two journals held at The Dorset History Centre were first published in the 1940’s, The West Country Magazine and the Dorset County Journal. Both of these magazines began in 1946 and provide a fascinating insight into life after World War 2.

The West Country Magazine is a collection of stories and articles about Dorset life. These include a lovely description of an unnamed hill by Angela Milne, the niece of A. A. Milne. The author explains that when visiting Dorset she walks the hill almost daily to get from the cottage where they stay to the village where the shops are. She describes the climb up the steep side of the hill towards the bench at the top and how, if she hears voices coming from the hidden bench, she slows to get her breath back because

‘We climbers of the hill don’t like it to look like it was too much for us’.

She also confesses that rarely do they arrive back with anything like the amount of sweets they had hoped to enjoy after dinner, having needed the energy from pieces of chocolate and square acid drops to get through the return journey!

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The magazine also contains an interesting piece on the village of Arne By John Atkins. Like the more famous village of Tyneham, the villagers of Arne were also forced to leave their homes in World War 2. Many of the buildings were destroyed by German bombs after the village was used as a decoy site, distracting the bombers from the factories at Holton Heath. The article appears in volume 4 of the magazine, published in 1949, and the writer remarks that no one in the area was very clear as to why the village had been requisitioned, although it was clear it had become a target area for bombs. Atkins discusses the difficulty in attracting new residents to such a remote location now that many of the former villagers were settled elsewhere. He also makes a brief mention of smugglers being arrested at Arne. A search of local newspapers reveals that this was an incident that occurred in 1947. A gang of smugglers operating in Dorset and Sussex were trying to smuggle in 198 gallons of liqueur, 4 gallons of brandy and 4 gallons of champagne through the deserted village, but the police had laid a trap for them and they were all arrested.

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The ‘Dorset County Journal’ is packed full of amusing stories, fashion advice and quizzes. One of the most interesting articles charts a day in the life of a country doctor just after the NHS had come into being. It reveals an increase in the number a patients that attend the surgery, mainly due to the act meaning that repeat prescriptions had to be written by the doctor, and the doctors concern about the confidentiality of medical records and giving value to those patients who chose to remain private, but records that the patients were generally happy with the new service.

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We thought we’d end this blog with a couple of questions from the quizzes in these magazines. We didn’t think that many people would know that the Dorset Cricket Team finished the 1948 season (they were 5^th), but perhaps some readers may be able to answer the questions below. They may also be a useful addition to your next online quiz!

1. Where was the first recorded case of Black Death in England?
2. In 1907, Baden-Powell, who was then working out his ideas for the scout movement, held his first experimental camp for twenty boys drawn from different walks of life. Where?
3. For what was the eighteenth-century Dorset farmer, Benjamin Jesty, noted?

(Answers below)

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This is the fifth in our series looking at our academic journals. You can read other blogs by clicking on the link below:

Journals of DHC: Pre-1910

Journals of DHC: 1910s

Journals of DHC: 1920s

Journals of DHC: 1930s

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Answers:

1. Melcombe Regis
2. Brownsea Island
3. He was the first person who introduced the cowpox by inoculation in an attempt to protect his family from smallpox.

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