We all went fishing on 11th April when Bonny Sartin gave us a talk about the Dorset link with fishing off the Banks of Newfoundland.
The land was supposed to have been discovered by John Cabot of Bristol in 1497 but there remains some doubt about this. Huge reserves of fish - mainly Cod ,were found there and many fishermen from Poole went to harvest it , so much so that the land was eventually claimed for England.
Conditions at sea for the Poole fishermen were grim- it was always foggy, there was rotten meat, bad bread, and weevils in the biscuits, with 15/20 hours of fishing a day in small boats for seven months of the year. When the fishermen were finally coming home, they were press ganged by the navy sometimes even before they reached the shores of England. They were also, often waylaid by pirates.
As the various wars came to an end, demand for Cod started to decline and the Dorset people fell on hard times with many going over to Newfoundland to live where they carried on fishing in what was now their own back yard.
Bonny Sartin is a member of the Yetties folk group and during his talk he entertained us with many folk songs that the fishermen and their ilk sang. So overall a very interesting evening with some music thrown in!
Please be reminded that the Flower and Produce show will take place on 5th July this year when we are once again running a competition for the best kept allotment. As we only had six entries last year, we are looking for many more this year. Entries must be in by 28th June and entry forms are available either at the Post Office or from Sandy Adderley at 103, Southover.
Peter Dutton
Friday 16th May Annual General Meeting
Saturday 17th May Coffee Morning 10.15 am to 12 noon
Saturday 5th July Annual Flower and Produce Show
for more information about this and other talks go to the Village Society's programme