Page 5 - SHS Newsletter 2 Vol 3 Sept 29th 2020
P. 5
service of prayer and praise in the Parish According to the Ordinance Survey Benchmark
Church. Tea for the 400 children was soon ready Archive there are seven Benchmarks in the wall,
and was thoroughly enjoyed by them all. Sports two on the Stalbridge/Henstridge Straight and five
followed with Bicycle and Donkey races. from the top of Barrow Hill around to Frith.
Ordnance Survey Bench marks (BMs) are survey
At about 8.15 the bands commenced to play off marks made by Ordnance Survey to record height
the grounds and the proceedings were closed above Ordnance Datum. If the exact height of one
with a capital exhibition of fireworks just outside BM is known, the exact height of the next can be
the Park Gates. The best flowers were sent off found by measuring the difference in heights,
by an early train the next morning to the London through a process of spirit levelling. The term
Flower Mission.
'Ordnance Datum' refers to the height of mean
Stalbridge Archive Society (Ian Semple) sea-level, taken from a reference point at Newlyn
in Cornwall.
Stalbridge Park Wall
Stalbridge Park wall is said to have been built
sometime in the eightieth century. As children we
were told of the devil footprint which can be seen
if you walk through Church Walk, the story goes
that as he ran down towards the church and ran
up over the wall and left his footprint in one of the
stones.
Benchmark going down towards Basils
https://parallel.co.uk/os-benchmark-
archive/#12.34/50.96075/-2.37618
Contribution from Ian Semple
Janice Pickard remembers
VE Day 2020 and VJ Day
1945
Devils Footprint Church Walk
Back in May, on the anniversary of VE Day, I had
The longest stone is in the wall is on the corner of a lovely surprise. When answering my door bell I
Barrow Hill and Park Grove, the wall here found my neighbour, dressed as a World War II
collapsed a few years ago and was rebuilt and the “land army girl”, standing there with a box of food
stone replaced. so I could have a
cream tea later in the
day. This was
especially nice as, of
course, it was during
lock down and I hadn’t
been out for weeks.
In Harrogate, where we
lived in 1945, I have no
memory of any VE Day
celebrations. And
through the war we only had 3 bombs dropped, all
three an error from one British plane. Thankfully
The longest Stone no one was killed because the 1st landed on an
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