Following on from last week, this week we’re taking a look at the second part of Bernard Paull’s book, ‘Loders Back-Along’.

Part two looks at life in Loders from the 1900s to the 1950s.

The village is made up of three areas, Uploders, Lower Loders and Yondover.

In the early 1900s, Uploders boasted a chapel, the parish (school) room, a blacksmith, two carriers, two public houses and a shop, with Lower Loders being home to the Court, church, the school, two public houses and the village policeman.

The ex-servicemen’s Hut was built in Yondover in 1926 but closed in 1959 and was given to the village and renamed the village hall. In 2000, after much hard work from John Hyde, Jessie Barret and a team of helpers, a successful lottery grant application and lots of fundraising resulted in the new village hall in Loders today, on a different site on land given by Lord Hood of Loders Court.

The Bridport Railway opened on November 12, 1857 and closed in May 1975. A construction site base was set up in Loders and it was there that the first sod was cut by Joseph Gundry on June 19, 1855. In Loders, as well as major earthworks, three bridges and a cattle creep were built over less than a quarter of a mile. At the end of the project on November 20, 1857, at Loders, the contractor’s surplus equipment was sold, which included 25 horses, 30 earth wagons and 50 tons of rails.

For more than two years, the site compound and the men associated with the project lived and lodged around the village.

Loders School opened in 1869. From then until 1918, the school catered for children from the ages of five to 12 or 13. In 1918, the school leaving age increased to 14. Those who were able to win a scholarship or whose parents could afford it transferred to Bridport Grammar School.

Until the late 1930s, 27 Loders was a Post Office and greengrocers run by Mrs Budden. This has been demolished and replaced with a bungalow. In the late 1930s, Mrs Wells became the postmistress of the shop and Post Office at 38 Loders, just across the road from number 27. The single storey building was the Post Office and store until 1992.

Loders Fete raises funds for the church and other organisations in the parish and is held at Loders Court by kind permission of the owners. The earliest reference to Loders Fete appeared in the Bridport News in 1886.

Up until the Second World War, the village had its own tradesmen, small shops, carriers and farms to provide produce and services. Most of the workers were employed in the village or nearby.

Bread was baked at Membury Mill in Askerswell and was delivered to Uploders as there was no bakers in Loders. In the late 1900s, the last descendant of the Marsh family at Hembury Mill passed away and the mill has now been restored and remains a monument.

In the 1920s and before, milk from the farms was sold direct to the villagers. It was either collected from the farms or delivered.

Some of the grocery shops in Bridport delivered to Loders, including Elliot’s stores.

It was unusual for women to return to work after starting a family. Many in and around Bridport were employed as outworkers by the local net factories. The braiders provide the needles and laces needed to make the nets. These were usually homemade and branded with the braider’s own particular mark.

The print of ‘Braiding in Loders’ by Fra Newbery is based on one of the four panel murals in Bridport Town Hall. According to Newbury’s notes, it’s Murtle Cottage, Loders, the home of Alice Bagg. When Newbury painted the picture, it was known as Temperance Cottage.

Up until the early 1960s, there were four pubs in the village, the Crown Inn, The Travellers Rest on the A35, the Loders Arms and the Farmers Arms.

On May 13, 1937, villagers celebrated the coronation of King George VI with homes decorated for the occasion.

In 1945, children donned fancy dress at Uploders House to celebrate the end of the Second World War. One child, John Lee, is pictured carrying a plaque that reads, ‘what is it to be this time work on unemployment?’ in reference to the many servicemen who returned from the war in 1918.

The second part of the book also touches on the First World War and Second World War, buildings in the village, deliveries to residents, hygiene and beauty and leisure facilities.

The book is available from Bradpole Post Office, Bridport Museum, Bridport TIC, The Book Shop, Cilla and Camilla, Groves Nurseries, Waterstones or by calling 01308 427475 or emailing 1944bjp@gmail.com