A RETIRED mother is seeking help to find the cottage she named her second daughter after almost 30 years ago.

Pamela Brebner, from Sunbury-on-Thames in Middlesex, visited the county this summer to search for the tiny detached thatched cottage that captured her heart in the summer of 1975.

As an expectant mum, she stayed in Stoborough near Wareham with her husband Robert and two-year-old daughter Amelia.

Mrs Brebner had a fruitless search for Melissa Cottage and is now hoping someone might be able to help her find the little house, probably in the upper Piddle Valley. It was found by chance when the young family took a detour off the main road.

"We went down a long lane and turned right into a tiny pretty village with a stream to one side of the street and white ducks walking up and down the street freely," Mrs Brebner said.

She can no longer remember whether there was a pond, but she is sure there wasn't a pub or a shop.

"As you went into the village the church was to the right-hand side," she recalled.

"There was a parade of something like British Legion members marching up the slope to the church for a special service or for a member's funeral. We didn't like to intrude so we drove past the church and there was the tiny thatched cottage called Melissa Cottage.

"It was so pretty and I remember saying that if I had another girl I would call her Melissa, which we did on her birth on January 31, 1976." This summer, on the couple's first return visit to the county, they found one Melissa Cottage in Wool but the owner told them the thatch was replaced by tiles before 1960.

Mrs Brebner said: "We must have done 100 miles in July, going from village to village. It would be wonderful if anyone had any information."

Dorset Record Office was unable to help because they do not keep lists of thatched cottages and owners are able to change the name of their property.

To help, please contact Rachel Grant at the Dorset Echo on 01305 830984.