15 minute read
NATURE SPOT
IT’S ALL ABOUT TEAMWORK
By Peter Luscombe BVSc, PgC SAD, MRCVS
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I’ve had the privilege of working with some great vets and nurses over my career. But what makes a great vet in practice? I believe any vet is only as good as the team they work with. I have the good fortune of becoming the focal point of all their good work, much of it behind the scenes.
Your journey through the practice starts with our receptionists and support team. Whether in person, by phone, email or through our messaging app, they efficiently and compassionately handle your enquiries and requests. They are key in prioritising your requirements, whether they are medicines requests, seeking an appointment or identifying emergencies. Additionally, they undertake a lot of the day-to-day administration of the practice and maintain a professional and welcoming presence at the front of house. They do not have the level of medical training of other members of our team but have a good knowledge and understanding of our clients, are caring pet owners themselves and can direct you to the most appropriate service.
Our qualified and trainee nurses are key to maintaining the practice in readiness for any situation and providing the care and support your pet needs when in the practice. Their role is often under-recognised as much of their work happens out of sight. As well as managing the hospital care of your pets and supporting them when they need investigations or surgery, they are also available to provide professional advice on animal care in sickness and in health. Our team of vets, with a range of knowledge and experience, all work together to benefit our patients. We discuss difficult cases and share ideas. With a range of special interests and attendance at courses we continue to support and motivate each other to help us all keep up to date. Beyond this we coordinate with external specialists, whether they are visiting clinicians to our practice or referral to specialist centres for advanced investigations and treatments. We also have a working relationship with external laboratories, who provide us with testing beyond the in-house laboratory work performed by our nurses. These relationships allow us to seek further specialist advice when needed. But what about your pet? Well, the other important member of their team is you the owner, acting as their voice to tell us about their problems and signs. You must do the talking and make decisions on their behalf. We depend on you to help us create a practical care plan for your pet. It is important that you communicate what is possible. Will your cat take tablets easily? Can you bath your 70kg St Bernard? Are there limits to the budget? What is your priority for your pet – a cure or managing pain and maintaining quality of life? Beyond this we rely on you to administer treatments, monitor progress and feedback to us. So, with all the resources we can provide, we value you as part of your pet’s team: working together to provide the best personalised care possible.
Lower Acreman Street Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3EX www.newtonclarkevet.com
NATURE SPOT
Cranes are among the most amazing birds that we have on this planet. With their large stature and loud resounding calls, cranes have appealed to mankind whenever we have met.
In more recent times, the ancient Egyptians decorated their tombs with images of cranes, the ancient Greeks domesticated cranes and there is a Greek myth that the Greek god Mercury invented the Greek alphabet after seeing a crane fly. A dance called ‘A Dance of the White Cranes’ is known to have been performed in China 500
bc.
Between 2010 and 2014, 93 common cranes were handreared to release onto the Somerset Levels and Moors – doubling the UK population and helping to secure the future of the crane in the UK (The Great Crane Project Somerset). Coming right up to date, it is good to report the crane population is extremely well stablished once again on the Somerset Levels and also now much further afield. Standing at 1.2m tall and with a wingspan of 2.3m, it’s well worth a visit to the Levels to see these amazing birds.
Colin Lawrence, our local wildlife photographer, captured these images during this last year and confirms that 2021 was another very successful year for our local crane population.
THE MANY FACES OF MARCH
By Tracey Warren, Stoodley and Son
March, in like a lion out like a lamb. The first buds of spring are now emerging, and my garden is aglow with daffodils nodding in the gusts of winds and the faint tips of purple crocuses are now emerging from the earth. March as many of you know was named after Mars, the Roman god of war, but March is known for many other things.
The Ides of March is the 15th and the 74th day in the Roman calendar, and was a deadline for settling debts.
In 44 bc it was the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated, stabbed to death during a meeting of the senate.
A soothsayer had foretold the assassination, warning Caesar he would be harmed before ‘the Ides of March’. On 15 March Caesar saw the soothsayer on his way to the Pompey Theatre and goaded him ‘The Ides of March are come’ joking that he had survived the prophecy, the soothsayer replied ‘yes but not gone’.
Over 60 conspirators, organised and led by Cassius and Brutus, plotted to kill Caesar; during the senate he was attacked by Brutus and Casca and was stabbed over 23 times. After his death, Caesar’s post-mortem report was the earliest known report in history.
Following the assassination, a crowd gathered around the senate building and promptly burnt it down in anger. Mark Anthony (who was an elected consul at the time) recalled the senate and gave a speech in which he gave clemency to the assassins, and tried to pacify the mob, senators and public. This, over time, failed and many historians declared that the death of Caesar was the start of the decline of the Roman Empire. The seventh Monday before Easter falls in March and is also known as Clean Monday or Pure Monday. It marks the beginning of Lent for the Eastern Orthodox Church; this is similar to Ash Wednesday. It is also a day of religious reflection, fasting and religious purification. 17 March is celebrated as St Patrick’s Day, this being the date of death of Patrick in around 461. St Patrick was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary. At the age of 16 he was kidnapped and taken as a slave to Ireland. Here he became a shepherd and found his Christian calling. He is perhaps best known for the legend of driving all the snakes out of Ireland, after they began attacking him during his 40-day fast. However, modernday zoologists have found that there have never been snakes on the Isle.
Many people wear the traditional three-leafed shamrock to symbolise the teaching of the Holy Trinity by St Patrick.
29, 30 and 31 March are often referred to as The Borrowing Days. According to ancient Scottish folklore, they have a reputation for being the three stormiest days of the year. It is said that these three days were borrowed from April so that March might extend its power. In Spain a shepherd promised March a lamb, on the condition March reduced the winds and storms to help his flock. March obliged but the shepherd refused to hand over the lamb. March then borrowed three days from April in which he caused an even greater tempest and wreaked havoc on the shepherd. Day on the 18th, one of my favourites which is World Frog Day on the 20th and Mothering Sunday on the 27th.
But with all of these events, don’t forget to adjust your clocks on 27 March as British Summer Time begins.
March is also known for St David’s Day on the 1st, International Woman’s Day on the 8th, Global Recycling
WHY MILBORNE ‘PORT’
By Dr Lesley Wray
In spite of the story (probably apocryphal) about Lord Haw-Haw announcing the sinking of a ship at Cold Harbour, Milborne Port, during WWII, ‘Port’ has nothing to do with the sea. It is the Saxon word for a town or market.
The word port also appears in the Somerset town of Langport which translates as long market. The suffix was not applied to Milborne until the reign of King John when, in 1212, he confirmed the town’s market, which had been the most profitable in Somerset under the Anglo-Saxons. A year later the burgesses and freemen of the town were made quit of tolls in fairs and markets at home and abroad, and it is around this time that the suffix ‘Port’ appears in written records. The base of a thirteenth-century medieval market cross stood at the foot of North Street marking the corner of the medieval market place. It was moved to the other end of the village in 1959, since it was in the way of the traffic on the A30. During the Black Death (1348/1350) Milborne Port stopped being an important trading centre and became a struggling market town like many others. It slowly recovered and Henry IV granted Milborne Port a royal charter in 1397, to confirm the weekly market, along with an annual fair, which helped boost the local economy. industry meant it became a thriving town, and in 1720 a market house was built with a vaulted cellar, an arcaded ground floor and a room above. In 1748 a market for grain, cattle and other wares was advertised. There was a fish market as well as the general market, and an annual fair was held in late October. This led to an incident in 1770, when on the evening of the fair day a boy threw a lighted squib, made of gunpowder, from the street into the market house. The squib fell onto a stall selling gingerbread and other cakes, so a bystander quickly grabbed the squib and threw it off the stall. Unfortunately, the squib landed on a second stall and was again thrown away from it. This time it hit a young boy in the face and burst, injuring his eye. The case went to court, where the boy who threw the squib pleaded not guilty, since he had not thrown it anywhere near the child. It was decided that, as he had initially thrown the squib and the ‘natural and probable consequence’ of this was injury to somebody, the intermediate actions did not change liability. The case is still cited in legal tomes under the law of tort. Fifteen years after the incident, the arcades of the market house had been bricked up, and by 1791 the building was being used as a warehouse. Slowly the weekly market died out, but an annual fair was held that, like all such events, gradually ceased to be about trade and employment and became purely for entertainment. This is now held in early June as a fete and the ‘Party at the Port.’ Hopefully, lockdowns permitting, the celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee will see it return better than ever. One good thing about lockdown was the reintroduction of a weekly market, with local traders selling locally produced food. Long may this continue, reducing food miles and helping both residents and producers. If you would like to know more about the history of Milborne Port, please contact mphhgroup@gmail.com for information about our meetings and the museum opening times. Or visit our website www. milborneporthistory.org.uk or join our Facebook Group, Milborne Port History and Heritage.
WHEN DOES A WALK BECOME A HIKE?
By Rachel Woods
As spring starts to show, you may be planning to get out and about. Have you ever said of a journey ‘it was a bit of a hike’? Suggesting that the journey was somewhat more than a leisurely stroll. Does that mean hiking is more difficult?
Both are pleasurable; walking suggests less effort. Wandering, ambling, strolling along with no real rush or agenda other than the act itself. We don’t tend to hike the dog, even if when we hike, they come with us.
So what does the dictionary say?
The Cambridge Dictionary describes it as ‘the activity of going for long walks in the countryside’. Thinking about that, I have never heard anyone describe themselves as going for a hike around the town.
I don’t often trust Wikipedia (since anyone can edit it) but I agree with the description shared.
‘Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. “Hiking” is the preferred term in Canada and the United States; the term “walking” is used in these regions for shorter, particularly urban walks. In the United Kingdom, the word “walking” describes all forms of walking, whether it is a walk in the park or backpacking in the Alps’
So hiking is a bit more purposeful? Longer maybe than a walk and with more vigour. I see a hike as when I feel the need to take my rucksack with water and a firstaid kit. If I have an OS map with me, I see my efforts as hiking rather than walking. Even if my pace is very similar.
I may walk up hills if they happen to be on my way. I live at the top of one, so they are pretty unavoidable. Hiking feels and sounds like it involves more challenge, more of a trek and something that needs more of the day set aside for it. It requires a bit of preparation.
Great for body, mind and spirit
Whichever you choose and whatever you call it, getting out and exploring under your own steam is something that can be enjoyed by most. We can connect with nature, breathe fresh air and explore our environment with very little required in the way of skills or equipment. It’s exercise, fresh air and an excuse to remove yourself from screen time.
All you really need is a pair of sturdy, comfortable shoes and clothing. Lightweight waterproofs and, personally, I think a hat is seriously handy, come rain or shine. If you’re going more than just around the block, a small rucksack with water, snacks, phone, etc. gets you started.
You can build on this with maps, compass and all sorts of weird and wonderful things for more adventurous walks. This year I bought my first pair of gaiters, for the mud mostly, but haven’t had cause to wear them yet and am still working out how they go on. When it comes to maps and route planning, check out my article on navigation in last month’s edition (available at www. theconduitmagazine.co.uk). An easy way to explore new routes is via organisations such as the National Trust and your local tourism offices or libraries. For route plotting, the Ordnance Survey has a wonderful online tool for around £20 per annum where you can both plan your route and then watch a virtual flythrough.
Whatever your ability, there will be a route or terrain to suit you. I’m conscious that I refer to walking here but I could suggest similar for wheelchair users or those with mobility challenges. Start by recognising what’s easily accessible and what might be a challenge, then research and plan accordingly. Look out for community groups and walking groups that may be able to support you.
If you’re planning to walk more in 2022 – let me know what you’re planning by emailing rachel@coachinnature.co.uk. I’d love to celebrate your adventures in a later article.
Go on, off you go!
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