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Any extra money will go to improving Bridport Museum (a not-for-profit community res...
Quirky Bridport - the book
Bridport, Dorset, United Kingdom
Aim
To publish a collection of quirky stories that celebrates off-beat events, people and places in Bridport
Bridport museum is the keeper of the history of the town and the area around it. In the archives are lots of great stories. We hope to publish a collection of the best of them in a book - “Quirky Bridport”. Any profit from the book, or any money above the target, will help to fund museum activities.
It won't be a history book, or a guidebook, or even a listing of notable events in Bridport. Yes, some local landmarks, events and iconic buildings do appear, from The Chantry and the Torch Procession to Bucky Doo and Colmers Hill. And, yes, the period covered ranges from the birth of the town — Brydian — right up to the 21st century. But, as you'll see, Quirky Bridport isn't arranged by date or event or theme. Just as your experience of Bridport is a jumbled collection of memories that has grown messily over time, so this book mixes stories of early Antarctic adventurers with 1930s circus and modern-day events like the Hat Festival. All illustrated by antique photographs and postcards, modern snapshots, local news photos and wood block prints.
Although most of the stories come from our archives some can also be found in local history books in Bridport library and bookshops. There are a few well-known stories in here: the Poor Man's Friend, for instance. And some events even made national news too: the ballooning MP who disappeared; the Beating of Bounds on water (an accident waiting to happen?); Dodger, the fare-dodging cat. Not many famous names crop up, the Beatles excepted, as befits our small Dorset town. We are more discreet than that.
"The last sighting of Walter Powell, the ballooning MP. Eype, 1881."
But if the momentous is not for Bridport, let's celebrate the town. The great and the good (and the not so good) are outnumbered by everyday people doing quirky things. You'll find plenty of stories illuminating daily life in Bridport settings. We've included some stories because they're amusing or just plain bizarre: why, exactly, did those soldiers let the waves sweep the secret German navigational equipment from East Cliff beach in 1942? We don't know, but we've included the event for posterity.
We hope, also, that “Quirky Bridport” captures something of both the ephemeral and the everlasting nature of this town; that it shows how much Bridport has changed, and how much it hasn't. The arrival of the railway made such an impact at the time that it's hard to believe that 80 years later it was scrapped. Similarly, the Town Hall clock may now no longer be such a cliché when you learn what happened to it. Some stories manage to be both surprising and familiar.
"The annual Torchlight Procession evokes scenes from the Wicker Man"
The result is, of course, in no way exhaustive or comprehensive. The selection of stories is just a tiny sample of what's hidden in the life of the town. Think of it as an idiosyncratic photo album, collected by a very long-lived relative with wide-ranging tastes and a somewhat odd sense of humour. Help us to make these stories more available by publishing them.
Put simply, we chose these quirky Bridport stories and pictures because we liked them. We hope you'll like them too.
This project successfully funded on 10th July 2024