10th March 2010

BRIDPORT: Bonny�s back in Bridport

YETTIES front man Bonny Sartin is set to return to Bridport to tell some “Smugglers Tales.”

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

This year’s show will explore the illicit deeds of the smugglers of Dorset and Hampshire and will take place in Bridport’s historic Town Hall on Wednesday, March 24th at 7pm.

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 law breakers 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 wasn’t just booze but basically any 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 event is being organised by the Friends of Bridport Museum, who support the museum by raising funds and supporting the staff and volunteers.

Tickets on sale from Bridport Local History Centre (01308) 458703 or Bridport Music (01308) 425707 and cost £6 in advance, £7 on the door or £5 for Friends of the Museum.

BRIDPORT: Bonny�s back in Bridport

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