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| Demolition and Fires |
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During the Fifties and Sixties, quite a number of the older cob and thatch cottages along with most of the wooden and thatch barns were demolished.
It is probably true that the cottages were not really up to scratch and were not fit for living in. Even refurbishment into a "picture-postcard" cottage was impossible due to the cob walls, extremely thick made of chalk, straw and goodness knows what else, but no damp course meant demolition was the only course. The actual demolition was a great sight for the Village kids, big lorries, crawler tractors, lots of workmen, and huge bonfires in the old gardens. All was removed or burnt, leaving just an empty area where once the building stood. The following cottages were demolished in a short space of time...
- Granny Hathaway's next door to my house The first by stray straws during the burning of straw after harvest in the adjoining field that first caught light to the barn in the field, and then across the road to the complex of old barns. The latter was a much earlier night time event, noticed by me through our back windows, when the whole sky was lit up by flames. And soon after, the Wimborne fire engine came clanging through, but nothing of the barn remained next day. A benificial by-product of the cottage removal was the opening up of the cottage gardens, with all the fruit available for scrumping, and excellent playgrounds and dens.
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