WE'RE taking a look at Portland, Dorset, in days gone by begins with some old pictures.
The undated image below shows Alma Terrace just off Grove Road and the Borstal.
The Grove prison is clearly seen at the end of the street, then in its period of being a borstal. The first prison on the site was established in 1848 to hold adult convicts and use their labour in quarries. Alma Terrace was built six years later to house the prison’s staff. In 1921, in response to rising rates of juvenile crime, the prison was converted into a borstal.
Next, we bring you two pictures of Easton. The first, above, from 1990, shows a lady exploring the shopping arcade.
READ MORE: Life in 1960s and 1970s Dorset
The second, above, of the main road, shows how lovely the summer of 1999 was for residents of the isle – note the shorts of the man wandering past Hull Gregson & Hull estate agents on the right-hand side of the image.
Moving on, we have a 1993 image of Weston Road. From the 1950s onwards, this area of Portland saw considerable expansion, with new housing estates built to the north-west and north-east. Much of the construction was funded by the government to provide homes for Royal Navy personnel based in the region.
Our next picture is of the main road running through Chiswell, taken in 1990. On the right-hand side we see the Victorian-era Beach House Hotel – now trading as the Beach House Bed & Breakfast – while in the distance, on the left-hand side, the roof of the United Reformed Church is just visible.
READ MORE: Beautiful village with waterfall has rich history
We also have a beautifully sunny image of the Pulpit Inn, taken back in 2002.
The inn has been servicing the Portland Bill community since 1955.
It's named after Portland's Pulpit Rock, which is the ideal spot for wave watchers, sea glass collectors and those who like to feel the wind in their hair.
Often overshadowed by its more youthful and photographed neighbour, Portland Bill lighthouse, Pulpit Rock has history on its side.
This artfully stacked slab of rock, which appears to defy gravity, was formed in the 19th century.
The landmark is symbolic of the island's rich history of quarrying.
Quarrying began at Portland Bill in the mid 19th century but remained a small scale operation into the early 20th century.
Quarries were on the west side of the bill and stone was transported along a short tramway to a shipping quay, now the site of Red Crane. An area absorbed into the quarries was White Hole, where quarrymen cut away a natural arch to form Pulpit Rock in the 1870s.
It was intentionally left as a quarrying relic and was formed with religious associations, the large slab of rock leaning against the main stack depicted an open bible leaning on a pulpit.
Many visitors come to Portland to admire Pulpit Rock. It's popular with climbers and anglers and in 1998 the British record for a Ballan Wrasse fish was caught there by Pete Hegg.
Surrounding the rock is the rather charmingly-named Snail Shore, a surface containing snail, oyster and mollusc shells that once made up a Jurassic seabed thriving with marine life around 150 million years ago.
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