It’s always good when a new railway artefact relating to Spetisbury comes to light. This small brass plate (only about 6 inches long) came from the former signal box at Blandford, and would have been screwed to the shelf containing the block instrument apparatus for Spetisbury. A similar plate would probably have been displayed in Bailey Gate signal box, the signalmen in both boxes required to open the line section to Spetisbury. For a better explanation of how the signalling actually worked, see our signal box page. It’s a bit of a mystery why the right hand screw hole has been covered with a small brass plate inscribed with the word BOX, but it’s possible that in later years this plate was simply used as a key fob for Spetisbury signal box. We are grateful to Nigel McBay for supplying this photo and details about the plate, also to Chris Osment for further information relating to signalling matters. Nigel also tells us that in the 1940s the Blandford shunter ‘Ginger’ Ridout used to travel to Spetisbury to inspect the signal box.
Spetisbury station website 