ST ALDHEM'S HEAD

Had a great blast of fresh air recently at this stunning place on the Dorset coast...

Took a load of photos as usual and played around with this one.
This is the amazing chapel up there on this exposed and windswept spot.

Inside you can find intricately carved graffiti on the stone columns going back to the 17th century.
Isn't it weird that when you see modern graffiti in the street, you hate it, but see some from 350 years ago, and you think WOW!!!

One of them is from 1665, the year of the The Great Plague in London. I like to think it's a mate of Samuel Pepys, escaping the lurgy and carving their name for a bit of fun.

To add to the air of mystery about the place, everything disappeared almost instantly soon after in a huge mist!!!
What is known as a 'sea fret'...!

Near the chapel are white cottages that would've housed the coastguard. One of these occupants was a real Dorset hero.

If you read my last blog, you would've been alerted to the strange things you can find in books.
Tucked away in a great book I've had for ages about Dorset, written by the splendidly named Aubrey de Sélincourt, there was a newspaper clipping about a dramatic rescue.

The hero was a certain Percy F. Wallace, who was lowered down a 230ft cliff to rescue an airman, who'd lost his way and fallen down there. The article goes on in great detail of the dramatic rescue. Note that it says St Alban's Head, which the place can also be known as.

I've long wondered what year it was, as the clipping is trimmed off, and if there is any further info on it, so today I had a quick go at researching it.

And whaddayaknow, there is another article on it!!!
Having gone through the British Newspaper Archive, I found that the cutting is from The Western Gazette, based in Yeovil, and the date of the rescue is February 1949. 

On Friday 20th May 1949 they ran a small feature saying our Percy had been awarded a framed certificate in honour of his bravery. 
Well done Percy!

So keep on checking those books for hidden gems!!!

I'll do more blogs about the other stuff I've found when I've finally unpacked all the books in the ArtPix Library!