Tolpuddle and Puddletown

In the rural heart of Dorset, on the small River Piddle, are the two villages of Tolpuddle and Puddletown. Tolpuddle is the lesser of the two villages, being little more than a small collection of houses, however its name is etched in English history as a result of events that took place there in the early 19th century.

The gallery shows the two villages as they appeared on a day early in November 2001, the bright clear sky leaving deep shadows. The pictures follow the route of a short walk starting at the cottage in Tolpuddle where the martyrs were said to have met, then following the Piddle upstream to the nearby Puddletown.

At the turn of the 19th century high corn prices and low labourers' wages led to a several years of unrest, with incidents of rural sabotage and numerous uprisings. Trades Unions had been made legal in 1824 but when, in 1834, labourers from Tolpuddle met to form a 'Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers' (albeit in secret) the general climate of unease throughout the country had reached such depths that the six ringleaders were arrested and sentenced to seven years' transportation. The harshness of the sentences shocked many. The men were soon known as the 'Tolpuddle Martyrs'. Two years later the then Home Secretary – Lord John Russell – granted pardons to all, but it took a further three years until all of the six had been brought back from New South Wales and Tasmania.