WEST DORSET TAXIS

18/05/2023

After more than 25 years of driving a taxi around the country, I have made the decision to finally retire. I've met some amazing people and enjoyed every moment, so a massive thank you to everyone that has sat in the passenger seat. For all longer journeys including airport runs and corporate bookings please get in contact with my daughter-in-law Jessica Herbert 07402 638 702 who has been working alongside me for the last 4 years.
Many thanks again, Martin.

07/05/2023

The Bluebells are out, around 70% of Common Bluebells are found in the British Isles and there is probably nowhere better to see them. The flowers are stunning shades of blue with drooping 'trumpet' like flowers, and heavily scented. They are a protected species and should not be picked. A carpet of bluebells and ramsons, commonly known as wild garlic, covers the woodland floor in spring and early summer and make a beautiful setting for a spring time wander.,
http://www.westdorsettaxis.uk.

30/04/2023

The Last of Spring.

The blackthorn be white on the hedgerow now,
The cuckoo d’ call clear an’ bold,
The sky be s’blue o’er the green o’ the vields
Where the buddercups vlourish their gold.
The blossom be out on the orchard bough,
The chesnut tree be in vlower,
The bluebells be thick in the shady woods,
Along the zide of the Stour.
The rivers an’ valleys an’ trees an’ vields
Do all zeem to I t’be glad,
Yet while this zweet zight my eyes do behold
‘Tis only my heart that be sad.

23/04/2023

Eight miles west of Swanage is the hamlet of Steeple, population sixty. It has a Norman church dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, in the porch it has a coat of arms engraved in stone that is precisely the same as George Washington's coat of arms, showing stars and stripes. The Washington arms is quartered with those of the squires of Steeple village, the Lawrence family, who are allied with the Washington’s by the marriage of one of its sons, Edmund Lawrence, to Agnes de Wessington in 1390. John Washington, a member of a junior branch of Agnes’ family, moved to Virginia. The Lawrence’s of Steeple became extinct in 1691, but the Virginian Washingtons prospered and John’s great grandson, George, became the first President of the United States. George Washington wore the arms on his signet ring and when he came to design the flag for the newly formed United States he used the arms showing the Stars and Stripes to be seen in this little church. Thus, the best-known flag in the world began its conception in a remote spot in Dorset. The flag of the US capital also hangs inside the church, presented on 25 July 1977 by Walter E Washington, Mayor of Washington DC. Any-one wishing to visit places like these need only to click on my link for a free quote,
http://www.westdorsettaxis.uk

20/04/2023

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16/04/2023

Just outside of Dorchester in the village of Woodsford close to the hamlet of Higher Bockhampton is Woodsford Castle. Woodsford Castle is the surviving range of a 14th-century fortified manor house. King Edward III granted William de Whitefield a licence to crenellate in 1335. in other words, to add defences, possibly against raids by the French. Despite this, Woodsford has never been a castle in the true sense of the word, at best a fortified manor house. The house has the largest thatched roof in the county. The surviving part of a 14th century castle, is a rambling wing of great interest and charm. Two of its previous owners, the Earls of Ormonde and Devon, were executed in succession during the Wars of the Roses. This is an absolutely amazing building, it is owned by the Landmark Trust and rented to any-one wishing to spend some time there, The usual stories of ghosts abound but I have never seen or heard anything in my life-time that I can say was by ghosts. Any-one wishing to visit places like this need only to click on my link for a free quote,
http://www.westdorsettaxis.uk

09/04/2023

Have to go back to Witney in Oxfordshire today with a customer and as its Easter Bank Holiday I am not going to go the tourist routes so have decided to pick my way from Bridport to Chippenham and then to Witney. Chippenham is in western Wiltshire, at a prominent crossing of the River Avon, between the Marlborough Downs to the east, the southern Cotswolds to the north and west and Salisbury Plain to the southeast. Making it a beautiful run through some lovely villages. One down side to going this way today is that it was on Rowden Hill Chippenham that the legendary American rock 'n' roll star Eddie Cochran died during the afternoon of Easter Sunday 17th April 1960. This was 63 yrs ago. So, a sad thought as I pass through this town. Especially as he died in a taxi, driven by some-body called Martin, hope my customer doesn’t make any comparison.
Any-one wishing to visit places like these need only to click on my link for a free quote,
http://www.westdorsettaxis.uk.

02/04/2023

The Dovecot At Blackford Farm in Selworthy on Exmoor was probably built in the 11th century which would make it the oldest dovecote in England. It is a Grade II listed building, and scheduled monument. The cylindrical stone dovecote has a cone shaped roof. It contains over 300 nest boxes. These are arranged into 11 tiers with an irregular pattern. Each of the boxes is approximately 11 inches by 20 inches but the opening is smaller than the interior of the box. The lowest boxes are about 2 feet 6 inches above the earth floor which kept them above the damp and away from brown rats which became common in the area in the 18th century. The pigeons would have been domesticated for food, possibly by Montacute Priory or by the local lord of the manor. It is now owned by the National Trust and used as a store for the neighbouring farm.
Any-one wishing to visit places like this need only to click on my link for a free quote,
http://www.westdorsettaxis.uk

31/03/2023

26/03/2023

King Alfred's Tower, also known as The Folly of King Alfred the Great or Stourton Tower, is a folly tower. It is in the parish of Brewham in Somerset, and was built as part of the Stourhead estate and landscape. The tower was built in 1760 to commemorate the end of the Seven Years' War against France and the accession of King George III. It was damaged by a plane in 1944 and restored in the 1980s.
The 161ft triangular tower has a hollow centre and is climbed by means of a spiral staircase in one of the corner projections. It includes a statue of King Alfred.
The tower stands near the location of 'Egbert's stone', where it was said that Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, rallied the Saxons in May 878 before the important Battle of Edington where the Danish army, led by Guthrum the Old was defeated. It is the start of the Leland Trail, a 28-mile footpath which runs from King Alfred's Tower to Ham Hill Country Park.
Any-one wishing to visit places like this need only to click on my link for a free quote,
http://www.westdorsettaxis.uk

19/03/2023

Lewesdon Hill, just outside of Beaminster is a site of an iron-age univallate hill fort, some of the banks and ditches are still visible. Now owned by the National Trust, it is enclosed by woodland with some magnificent ancient beech and oak trees; glimpses of the surrounding landscape through the trees makes the climb to the top worthwhile and in the spring the woods are carpeted with bluebells. Finally confirmed as the highest point in Dorset at just over 915ft. Lewesdon was also the site of one of the Armada Beacons in 1588 used to warn of impending attack by Spain.,
http://www.westdorsettaxis.uk.

12/03/2023

Pawlett is a small village 4 miles north of Bridgewater, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset. A huge rusty metal shed a mile to the west of the village of Pawlett at the junction of Gaunts Road with Ham Lane is the most visible reminder of the Royal Aircraft Establishment camp, which was located there in the Second World War. The shed was a hangar for a barrage balloon during World War II and was the site of an experimental research station into anti-barrage balloon warfare. At the site experiments were performed to examine ways to use cable cutting devices on the wings of aircraft to sever the cable on which the barrage balloon was flown and thus allow the aircraft to continue on a mission unimpeded. Brave pilots actually flew their machines into cables to test the effectiveness of these cutters. One wonders today, how many 20 to 30-year old men would volunteer for a job like this.
Any-one wishing to visit places like this need only to click on my link for a free quote,
http://www.westdorsettaxis.uk.