20th January 2010

Bonny Sartin's Smugglers Tales comes to Bridport

Friends of Bridport Museum present a talk from The Yetties front man

FOLLOWING last year's sell out out show in aid of the Bridport Museum, Bonny Sartin will be returning to the town, this time to focus on a different aspect of areas colourful past.

This year's show by The Yetties front man will explore the illicit deeds of the smugglers of Dorset and Hampshire.

Bonny said: “Smuggling is usually thought of as a few cheeky chappies earning a little on the side but during the 18th and early part of the 19th centuries it was big business along the south coast.

“There were times when smugglers virtually ran the town of Christchurch, and gangs of 50 or 60 men roamed the countryside with little chance of being challenged by authority.”

“Most of the population were on the lawbreakers’ side and they were considered to be simply 'Freetraders'. Many farm labourers turned out to help carry the contraband inland. They could earn as much in one night working for the smugglers as they could all week on the farm.”

“But there was also a dark side to the trade. Many smugglers weren't averse to intimidation and violence. Revenue men were often beaten up and sometimes they were simply heaved off a cliff top or drowned.”

Bonny will tell their story, and how the trade was just booze but basicallyany imports with a tax sufficient to be worth avoiding, at one time it's reckoned that two thirds of the tea coming into Britain was brought in illegally.

The talk takes place at the Town Hall, East Street, from 7pm on Wednesday, 24th March. Tickets are £6 in advance, £7 on the door, and £5 for Friends of the Museum. Tickets are on sale from Bridport Local History Centre 01308 458703 or Bridport Music 01308 425707.

PICTURE: BONNY SARTIN - The Yetties front man will bring his Smugglers Tales to Bridport in March

Bonny Sartin's Smugglers Tales comes to Bridport

Bonny Sartin's Smugglers Tales comes to Bridport

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