Cultural Diversity in Dorset

Who says there is no cultural diversity in Dorset?

Last night, walking on Burton Bradstock beach towards sunset, I stopped to chat to three fishermen who were reeling in the mackerel. The first turned out to be Greek (Vassilis is the village postman in Burton Bradstock). The second was Bulgarian, and the third was Indian. They had a huge catch of mackerel between them.

I wish I'd taken my fishing rod. Vassilis also caught a sea bass. They seemed to be doing better than the "locals".

I've just borrowed an interesting little book from the library, "Dorset's Hidden Histories" by Louisa Adjoa Parker, the Lyme Regis poet, which is an exloration of the presence of black people in Dorset over 400 years. I like her poem, "Velvet Dresses", which begins

"I want to climb under Dorset's skin
curl up in her folds, wrap her around me
like a patchwork quilt....

She writes about people "not from here" who live and proudly belong in Dorset.

The book also has an interesting section on Dorset and the African slave trade, about Dorset's slave-owning families who owned sugar plantations in Jamaica and Barbados and substantial estates in Dorset.