One of two English kings named “The Great”; saviour of Anglo-Saxon Wessex from the Danes; creator of a chain of fortified “burhs” including Shaftesbury; founder of Shaftesbury Abbey; law-maker, scholar and father of the English navy. Alfred’s list of achievements is long and impressive, but how much of his reputation is based on contemporary spin and image-building by later generations? Noted historian of the Anglo-Saxons, Professor Barbara Yorke of the University of Winchester, will consider the real and the legendary King Alfred in her illustrated lecture for The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society at Shaftesbury Town Hall on Tuesday 03 October at 7.30p.m. The first of the Society’s winter series, this lecture is free to members while non-members may pay £5 at the door.

Contributors to the 2017-18 programme of Shaftesbury & District Historical Society lectures include a popular local history writer, a former Lord Mayor of London, an Ambassador to Japan, two leading academics, and a student of statues. The historical subjects covered include Dorset Smugglers, William Beckford Senior, Statues within 50 miles of Shaftesbury, Shakespeare’s Guildhall, and a 13th century Abbess of Shaftesbury. Professor Barbara Yorke of the University of Winchester starts the season at Shaftesbury Town Hall at 7.30p.m. on Tuesday 03 October with an assessment of King Alfred: Man and Myth. Lectures are free to S&DHS members while non-members may pay at the door.

Local History Librarian and Archivist Ray Simpson has created a new display on the histories of great estates within easy reach of Shaftesbury. These include Old and New Wardour Castles (film locations for Robin Hood and Billy Elliott respectively), Ferne House at Donhead St Andrew, Pythouse (scene of a Swing Riot in 1830), Stourhead, and Fonthill. Most of William Beckford’s Gothic Fonthill Abbey (pictured) has disappeared and several of these properties are still privately owned. Ray’s exhibition is, however, easily accessible on the first floor landing outside the Library of Gold Hill Museum, 10.30 to 4.30 daily until October 31.

The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society is shortly to publish its programme of lectures for 2017-18. At 2.30 p.m. on 02 January 2018 in the Garden Room at Gold Hill Museum historian and writer Dave Martin will discuss Cast Bronze Reputations; statues in the Wessex street. Dave promises that all the statues featured will be visible to the public and within 50 miles of Shaftesbury. But where is the somewhat decayed stone statue in the photograph? (Please click on the image to see the whole statue.) Who is the headless figure and for what was he well-known? A year’s membership of The S&DHS for the first entirely correct answers submitted to Gold Hill Museum.

Renowned wild bee advocate Brigit Strawbridge has expressed her delight at discovering a perfect location at Gold Hill Museum for two nesting boxes provided by Shaftesbury Bee Group’s Big Bee Project. The boxes, funded by Shaftesbury Town Council, are designed to provide maternity homes for solitary cavity-nesting species such as Mason and Leafcutter bees. The bees fill tubes with pollen as food for their larvae, performing a vital role in plant pollination in the process. Their offspring pupate in the autumn and emerge as adults in the following year. These bees are harmless to humans and pets as they do not sting. Planting in recent years in the Wildlife Friendly Gold Hill Museum Garden  by Ian Kellett and his late wife Marjory was always intended to be pollen-rich and attractive to insects and birds. The garden is free to visit during the daily 10.30a.m. to 4.30p.m. opening hours of the Museum, also free.