PEOPLE were very interested in our appeal to find a photo of the cottage in the woods in Up Cerne, which was formerly occupied by the great great grandfather of Bristol resident Mark Foot.

George Foot, a woodsman, lived in the cottage and brought up his 15 children there. In 1960 the cottage was demolished and Mark got in touch with these pages because he was keen to see a photo of the home in the woods!

Well, we were successful in our quest thanks to Christine Caddy, nee Evans, of Dorchester, who managed to unearth this photo of the Foot family outside the cottage with woodsman George in the centre and Emily second from the right.

Christine wondered whether her grandmother Emily Foot was a distant relation of Mark and his great great grandfather.

She said: "I know that my grandfather lived somewhere in Up Cerne Woods with my grandmother. He was a gamekeeper. I think this Mark Foot must be a distant relative.

"I used to go and visit my dad's cousin in East Coker, who was a Foot."

Christine said she doesn't have much information on any pictures, but she visited the cottage in the woods many years ago.

She said: "It's news to me that the cottage was demolished in 1960. It was practically derelict when I used to go there. I'm 71 now so it was a long time ago. I remember the cottage was very basic accommodation and it's hard to imagine that they brought up 15 children in there."

After passing Christine's number on to Mark, Mark said he thought Christine's grandmother Emily must be the daughter of George.

Mark also shared these photos of George Foot and a newspaper clipping about the woodsman's very proud achievement of killing six adders in Up Cerne Wood!

So here, without further ado is what we know about this heroic woodsman who lived in a cottage deep in the heart of Up Cerne Wood.

George was born in 1850 at Batcombe and died in 1923 at Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester. He was a hurdle maker who went on to become a woodsman and gamekeeper for the Batten family in Up Cerne. He worked for them for more than 40 years and has a gravestone in Up Cerne churchyard.

He had 13 children with his first wife Mary Ann (Thorne) who came from Buckland Newton. Unfortunately she died when just 44 years old. John, known as Jack, became a gamekeeper (Mark Foot's ancestor).

William was a baker who had a shop in West Street, Ringwood. Alfred was a coachman and chauffeur, working for a short time at Glamis Castle for the Bowes-Lyons (the Queen Mother's family).

Rose Mercy married Ernest Stone of Dorchester. Margaret Elizabeth married Samuel Short who was a builder/mason from Hermitage. Emily married Frank Evans (Christine Caddy, formerly Evans's family). They lived in Bristol, Pontypool and then Branksome. Alice married Frank Selby who was a butcher/manager for Bailey and Beaumont of Poole. Ellen was a parlour maid who married Ernest Palmer and died when their only child Frank was two-years-old

Harry was an unmarried woodsman. Frederick George went to India with the Army and died when he was 18 years old. Frank married Rose Palmer - it was rumoured he deserted then went to live in New Zealand. He later joined the Navy and thought to have been at the Battle of Jutland. Frances also emigrated to New Zealand for a while with his husband Dick Tolley (shot himself in the farm barn at Meare Somerset) then married Hubert Baker.

Mary Ann married Arthur Coward of Bournemouth.

George then married Annie Flicker who came from Wincanton. They had two children - Gladys May, married Harry Frost of Dorchester who worked for Eldridge Pope Brewery and Robert married Mabel Smith. He hanged himself at his cottage at Dogbury Hill near Minterne Magna in 1954 when he was 52.

George then married Sarah Newton when elderly but both lived in their own homes. Mark said: "No doubt she was concerned that her husband died in Cerne Workhouse and if George died first she might have to go into the workhouse."

Thanks so much to both Mark and Christine for sharing the fascinating story of George Foot of the cottage of the woods with us!