Marshwood+ March 2020

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Cara Dillon not far from home Page 59

Louder doesn’t mean clearer!

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Marshwood +

© Sophy Roberts Photograph by Robin Mills

The best from West Dorset, South Somerset and East Devon

No. 252 March 2020

COVER STORY

Robin Mills met Sophy Roberts in Ryall

© Sophy Roberts Photograph by Robin Mills

’B

efore I was born, my father worked as a journalist. He wrote a story about fish farming in the former Rhodesia, which gave him an idea to set up his own trout farm in the UK. He wanted to farm and write, not run around the world questioning people for stories destined to become tomorrow’s fish-and-chip paper. My parents lived in the Welsh Marches for a while, then Scotland. My mother wanted to paint, having just come out of art college at the Byam Shaw in London. Not that she had much time for her own work in those early years. She was bringing up my two sisters and I, while also helping my father run the fish business, and gardening. She has always been a wonderful gardener. My father took care of the vegetable patch, helped by a dog-eared version of John Seymour’s The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency. We had chickens, sheep, and a pet fox which my sister found with a broken leg on the side of the road.

We ended up on a farm in Dumfries and Galloway. We had cousins who lived nearby. We ran as a pack with ponies and lots of space. I was a bit of a tomboy. It was magical—feral, but magical. When my mother’s friend came to stay and said he had seen an

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Sophy Roberts angel in our bluebell woods, I spent years looking for that angel. I can remember my mother throwing us outdoors to play, whatever the weather. “Oh stop complaining,” she’d say; “it’s warm rain.” It made me smile when in our geography textbook at school, our local town of Ecclefechan was cited as having the highest recorded rainfall in the British Isles for something like 20 years.

All I ever knew was rain. Then when I was about 18, my parents moved south and bought a farm in Stoke Abbott. Suddenly, for the first time in my life, there was sunshine.

It was around that time that I took my savings and some money my grandfather had left me, and got on a plane to India. I have always been curious—I like people. Everyone has a story; it’s how you open it up which matters. As a journalist, you have carte blanche to be an immediate questioner, and also a confidante. It’s why I love what I do, the excuse to unlock someone else’s life quickly, which you don’t have when you sit next to someone at dinner or in a pub.

I stayed on the road for about eight months. It was before tourism took over, and the industry wasn’t as big as it is now. It was in India that I became addicted to the sensation of travel.

After I returned, I was determined to do anything I could to work overseas.

My dream was to work as a foreign correspondent in a war zone. I did a year’s photojournalism at the London College for Printing. While there, I worked on a project about the funeral industry. I wrote to Jessica Mitford, one of the famous Mitford sisters, who had run away with her cousin to fight in the Spanish Civil War. She was revising a 1963 book called The American Way of Death, about the huge monopoly that big business has in the funeral industry. She asked me to work as her researcher. Jessica was brilliant; she taught me to be brave, that risk is the core of a creative life.

It’s one of the most important things I’ve ever learned. I went on to Columbia University in New York to study journalism, still determined to move into war reporting.

But I had to earn money. I had been studying, I was in debt, and a maga-

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zine—the complete opposite of war reporting—launched in London, called Condé Nast Traveller. I was offered a job as a junior researcher. There was much to like about it. The office was energetic and glamorous, and I had a couple of brilliant editors who have remained important mentors. But I also found it really hard. I was catapulted into a very cosmopolitan world—not a comfortable place for a kid who had grown up never caring what she looked like or taking posh holidays. I was writing about a world I didn’t quite relate to, trying to fit into a building called Vogue House where the women all looked like supermodels (some were). Afterwards, I started freelancing, writing and selling stories. Conflict journalism became an ambition of the past. It’s hard to be a woman in that environment and my husband, John, and I wanted a family. I put aside one dream for another.

At the same time as I began freelancing, my father told me about a cottage for sale at the head of the Marshwood Vale. We bought it, and somehow we worked out a different way of living.

That was when I left London behind. I was starting to break into the Financial Times, and was doing lots of work for various US magazines and newspapers. It was bread and butter ‘holiday’ journalism. I was trying hard to push into the less obvious parts of the world outside the tourist hotspots. It is one of the reasons I wrote my book, The Lost Pianos of Siberia. I was desperate to commit to something in travel that was

totally under my creative control, and outside my usual comfort zones. I had gone to Mongolia to write a newspaper story about an eccentric German man producing sustainable cashmere products. He had a grand piano, a Yamaha, in his tent in the middle of nowhere. But the sound was nothing special. One day, the German said, “We must find one of the lost pianos of Siberia”. That phrase started an adventure that went on for five years.

I now mostly work in post-conflict areas. While I have to understand the wider context of the countries I work in, I don’t focus on politics. I look at the untold stories about people, human-wildlife conflict and cultures that otherwise wouldn’t have a voice.

My last story was in Chad, which is a Foreign Office-mandated red zone. I was in the Ennedi Desert, in the country’s far north, along the border with Libya, where conflicts and tensions are rife. But that part of the world is fundamentally important to the Saharan ecosystem. It is also one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Before the Chad trip, I was on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border, researching a story about a farmer who had lived through the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s. The people had lost so much. The farmer is working to restore the wildlife in the region, which now has one of the highest concentrations of snow leopard in the world. My next assignment, if the permissions come through in time, will be Socotra.

I am away a lot of the time. I have two kids, who come along with me often, and a wonderful husband, who is also a passionate traveller. I also have a huge network which facilitates the absences, and some very grounded friends who call me out on the carbon burn that comes with my job. My parents live ten minutes away, as does my older sister.

My younger sister, a painter, is often in Dorset too; she shares my mother’s studio. In another place, another time, I could never have lived the life I lead. My children’s line of security includes their remarkable grandparents, aunts, and cousins. My father-in-law has recently moved back from America to be in the neighbourhood too. That’s what happens with this part of the world. It’s got a kind of magnetic draw.

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UP FRONT Since a growing number of readers now regularly read our online magazine Marshwood+, I’m obviously not the only one enjoying a look back at some of the people and places we have featured over the years. As well as the extended magazine, each month we republish highlights from that month, ten and fifteen years ago. It feels a little like travelling through time, which seems to be a bit of a theme to this issue. Robin Mills’ account of his journey through one hundred contributions to this magazine is a fascinating insight into how his life in photography became a voyage through the culture and history of our local community. It’s a voyage I undertook many years ago without really realizing where it would take me. This month we also travel back in time with a look at a new book by local author James Crowden.

The Frozen River: Seeking Silence in the Himalaya recounts the story of a journey he made to Ladakh in the Northern Himalaya in the mid-seventies. And I also managed to track down Sophy Roberts to hear about her life, and of course her extraordinary book The Lost Pianos of Siberia. Reading her book, it’s hard not to feel the powerful pull of history drawing the reader into the soul of the land through which she travelled. An unimaginable vastness, Siberia covers an eleventh of the world’s landmass. Sophy describes it as ‘a melancholy, a cinematic romance dipped in limpid moonshine’. She hears Siberia ‘in the big, soft chords in Russian music that evoke the hush of forest and the billowing winter snows.’ Although searching for a piano for a friend was the initial focus of her journey, the task becomes somehow secondary as Sophy’s encounters open up page after page of untold history—fascinating stories set against a backdrop of breathtaking beauty. It is a history littered with tales of horror but also of fortitude, resilience and survival.

The book is a journey through time and place in a land that, as she quickly discovered and to the benefit of all readers, has a habit of distracting one from the task at hand. This month I also spoke at length with Sir Oliver Letwin about his new book Apocalypse How. This is another trip through time, although in this case, to the future. It is a shocking wake-up call to all of us about what is not being done to safeguard our future. We will publish the full interview and more about this online and in our April issue.

Fergus Byrne

Published Monthly and distributed by Marshwood Vale Ltd Lower Atrim, Bridport Dorset DT6 5PX For all Enquiries Tel: 01308 423031 info@marshwoodvale. com

Editorial Director

This magazine is printed using wood from sustainable forestry

Advertising

Fergus Byrne

Deputy Editor Victoria Byrne

Design

Fergus Byrne

Sue Norris sue@marshwoodvale.com

THIS MONTH Visit www.marshwoodvale.com and click on Marshwood +

e ilabl Ava w in e i v to ch Mar

Visit our website for more Marshwood

Marshwood + is a new page-turning extended version of the Marshwood Vale Magazine. More events, more news, more people and a lot more Marshwood.

Plus! Each month we also look back on some of the things you may have missed over the nearly 20 years of publishing your community magazine.

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Cover Story By Robin Mills Robin Mills at 100 By Robin Mills Local Events Gearing up for the new Season By Margery Hookings Courses and Workshops Films News & Views Laterally Speaking by Humphrey Walwyn

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House & Garden Vegetables in March By Ashley Wheeler March in the Garden By Russell Jordan Property Round Up By Helen Fisher The Best of a Year By Nick Fisher

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Food & Dining Pan-fried Salmon with Hot Beetroot

By Lesley Waters Orecchiette with potatoes and black cabbage

By Mark Hix Gammon stuffed Apples By Irina Georgescu People in Food By Catherine Taylor

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Arts & Entertainment The Frozen River By Robert Twigger Galleries, Preview and Performance

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Health & Beauty Services & Classified People at Work By Catherine Taylor

“Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.”

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Contributors Helen Fisher Nick Fisher Richard Gahagan Irina Georgescu Margery Hookings Mark Hix Russell Jordan

Robin Mills Gay Pirrie-Weir Catherine Taylor Robert Twigger Humphrey Walwyn Lesley Waters Ashley Wheeler

Twitter @marshwoodvale

The views expressed in The Marshwood Vale Magazine and People Magazines are not necessarily those of the editorial team. Unless otherwise stated, Copyright of the entire magazine contents is strictly reserved on behalf of the Marshwood Vale Magazine and the authors.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of dates, event information and advertisements, events may be cancelled or event dates may be subject to alteration. Neither Marshwood Vale Ltd nor People Magazines Ltd can accept any responsibility for the accuracy of any information or claims made by advertisers included within this publication.

NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS Trades descriptions act 1968. It is a criminal offence for anyone in the course of a trade or business to falsely describe goods they are offering. The Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. The legislation requires that items offered for sale by private vendors must be ‘as described’. Failure to observe this requirement may allow the purchaser to sue for damages.

Road Traffic Act. It is a criminal offence for anyone to sell a motor vehicle for use on the highway which is unroadworthy.

Robin Mills at 100 Dorset based photographer, Robin Mills, has been contributing to this magazine for many years.

This month, celebrating his 100th contribution, Robin takes time to reflect on a life of farming and photography.

Robin Mills, © photograph by Julia Mear

Derek Collins - 2003, © photograph by Robin Mills

UNRELATED events drew me into taking photography seriously alongside my day job running the family farm. In no particular order, firstly a dodgy back kept me off work for a few weeks and forced me to contemplate alternatives to the physicality of farming, which might also be creative, fun and completely unrelated to the day job. Fortunately the backache got better, but I found myself helping a friend, Colin O’ Brien, hang an exhibition of his black and white London street photographs at what was the London School of Printing at the Elephant and Castle, sometime in the late 1990s. I was stunned at the power of expression within them, the visual story each one told. Later I saw Henri Cartier Bresson’s work at the Hayward in I think 1998. Here was genius at work, and I understood immediately why he described photography 8 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

as the simultaneous connection of the head, the eye and the heart.

Then another exhibition in 1999, in Honiton, of work by students of the late lamented Ron Frampton, put the idea in my head that I might try, on some level, to learn how these, and many other photographers who inspired me, had created their magical images.

In 2001 I began bunking off work every Monday to drive to Dillington House and study what some of my classmates called “The Way Of Ron”, on his ‘Distinctions’ photography course. I had already done some evening classes so it wasn’t too far in the deep end, but it required a big level of commitment to reach the exemplary standards of presentation both of photographs and written work that set Ron’s course apart from all others.

Caroline Conran - 2013 Š photograph by Robin Mills

James Crowden - 2015 Below: Pete Thomas - 2009 Š photographs by Robin Mills

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Wren Franklin - 2013

Jim Goddard - 2019

Alex Beer - 2018

Eva Harvey - 2010 Left top: Matilda Temperley - 2016 Left: Clare Trenchard - 2018 Opposite Page from top: James Lovelock - 2015 Havana Marking - 2015 Dave Symonds - 2012 Š All photographs by Robin Mills 10 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

It was definitely slow photography. Every frame, from church architecture to portraiture to life study, was tripod-mounted, meter-read against a grey card, and bracketed exposure, in an effort to find negative perfection. That belt and braces approach extended to darkroom practice in the winter months, when a single print was occasionally known to need 20 or 30 sheets of expensive photographic paper to satisfy Ron’s masterful, perfectionist eye. 4 years later I had my Associateship from the Royal Photographic Society. All of which was great fun, and has stood me in very good stead, whether in the darkroom, where I was still printing until a year ago when we moved house, or currently, in Lightroom. The digital revolution in photography was beginning to take off while I was on Ron Frampton’s course which was unequivocally film and darkroom based, and was viewed with some scepticism, but the principles we learned then apply to the digital technology we nearly all use now.

During that time at Dillington, we began supplying the Marshwood Vale Magazine with photos, and to cut a long story short Julia Mear and I took over the cover story role in 2009. As someone with an insatiable curiosity about people and their lives it is a bit of a dream job. I can’t imagine any other role where nosiness is so rewarded in meeting such a rich variety of real, lovely characters. I am unashamedly excited to have met people whose lives crossed some music heroes of my younger days; a person who met Bob Dylan backstage at one of his gigs, a guitarist who played with Paul McCartney, and the Pretenders, and I have shaken the hand of someone who once shook Muddy Waters’ hand. Another subject cooked Sir Lawrence Olivier’s last meal for him before he died, which took a bit of explaining, but despite being second-hand these anecdotes are memorable. Equally inspiring even without the name-dropping are the artists, actors, writers, farmers, craftspeople, musicians, restaurateurs, scientists, journalists, naturalists, and Dorset’s (probably) last hurdle-maker I’ve had the honour to meet. Some stories are very personal, some are heroic, but all are fascinating. I can’t call myself a journalist by any stretch, but despite working for a magazine I never get sent to war zones, or have to negotiate PR militia with stopwatches for access to self-obsessed celebs.

There’s never an angle to anything I write. Nor do my photographs have text splashed all over them. What, as they say, is not to like.

I nearly always photograph people in their homes, or outside in the garden, by a shed or under a nice tree, so that during the prior “interview”, which is admittedly only a recording of a minimally directed conversation, I have one eye checking out somewhere for the only two really crucial requirements, light and background. Shifting furniture is part of the job. Natural light, especially from a north facing window, is invariably best, because it’s soft and I am of course trying to make people look their best. But there’s nearly always a compromise so I have to think on my feet, and occasionally it doesn’t work so I’ll go back, when somehow it always does. I also have to work quite fast because the period when I sense what I’m looking for is happening can be brief. “Ah, there you are”, Jane Bown would say when taking her wonderful portraits for the Observer.

The other occasionally tricky compromise is trying to ensure that three people are happy with the chosen images—me, the subject, and the editor, but I’ve never fallen out with any of them. Writing up, or transcribing the recording is the time-consuming bit, mainly because of my rubbish typing. Written in the first person, I try to make it conversational, and by including a few words and phrases verbatim, read as much as possible as if the subject was speaking. An hour of recording an interview and I’m worrying how I’ll distil it radically into 1400-odd words without omitting something the subject thought was crucial, but far better than one which fizzles out after 15 minutes.

People often ask how we select our subjects, and there is no simple answer. But recommendations are sent in, and people we meet or brush past in our lives often directly or indirectly kick off an idea. The stories are personal biographies, they are not about celebrity, and avoid promotional content. We are always looking for more. Collectively, the 100-plus stories and photographs Julia and I, and those before us, have published in the Marshwood Vale Magazine, do seem to amount to a significant reflection of a wonderfully diverse community over a number of years.

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March LOCAL EVENTS

THURSDAY 27 FEBRUARY

West Dorset Ramblers circular walk 9.5 miles/15.2km Around Burton Bradstock & West Bay. 10.00am, bring picnic, no dogs.

Contact 01308 424512 The Art of The Joke: An Illustrated talk

by Susie Harries. 3pm. £5 Fundraiser.

Bridport Literary & Scientific Institute www.lsibridport.co.uk Monmouth Club Lunch 12.30pm. The Monmouth Club of Lyme Regis meets at a local hotel. The Club is open to retired or semi-retired professional gentlemen and is ideal for those who have recently moved to the Lyme Regis area. Members enjoy a 2 course lunch and convivial conversation with no after lunch speaker. For further information contact Dr Charles Wright on 01297 443258.

The Alexander Technique: a talk by Inge Dyson at the Charmouth Community Library at 7.00 pm.

Tangle Theatre presents: Volpone.

7.30pm at The David Hall in South Petherton. The classic satire of cunning and greed. A multi-skilled ensemble of three actors perform to an enticing backdrop of new and vintage Jazz, delivered with Tangle’s trademark dynamism. Tickets: £15 Full, £14 Concessions, from www.thedavidhall.org.uk or 01460 240 340.

FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY

Blackdowns Adder Survey.

7.30pm. John Hanratty will deliver a Reptiles & Amphibians group presentation.

Parish Hall, North St. Ilminster TA19 0DG Enquiries, Valerie 01460 234551 Genesis Visible Touch: The Duke Tour 8pm The ultimate Phil Collins-era Genesis show! Celebrating the 40th anniversary, Genesis Visible Touch are performing the “Duke Tour” live set with hits such as “Turn It On Again”, “Misunderstanding” and “Follow You Follow Me”. £16.50 in advance, £18.50 on the door (seated) The Beehive, Honiton. www.beehivehoniton. co.uk Box office 01404 384050 The Living Tree, cancer self-help group.

2.00pm Tripudio Flow gentle exercise.

2.15pm Art with Libby. 3.15pm Rising 12 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

Voices – singing with Jane. 2.30 – 4.00pm Therapy session: Anne Escott offering foot massages. Drop in any time between 2pm and 4.30pm at the Friends’ Meeting House, 95 South Street, Bridport DT6 3NZ. Tel 07341 916 976. www.thelivingtree.org.uk

SATURDAY 29 FEBRUARY

Leap Year Event in aid of Bridport Millennium Green. Entertainment to include Bridport Broadsiders, local male sea shanty singers, at Bridport Town Hall, 7.30pm. £7 (members £6), to include wine and nibbles. More details Sue Wilkinson, 01308 425037.

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 6.5 mile walk from Penn Farm 10.30am start. Bring picnic. No dogs. All welcome.

Please call 01308 898484/01308 863340 Artsreach at Powerstock Hut : ‘The Walking Man’ : A Talking Gig with Andy Morgan & Alhousseini Anivolla. 7pm for 7.30pm. Tickets: £9, £6, £25, 01308 485474/485730 or online www.artsreach. co.uk Henhayes Big Breakfast – 10am – 12 noon. Egg, bacon, tomato/beans, toast and tea/coffee. £4.50 Extras 50p each including black pudding, mushrooms & hash browns. Vegetarian options are also available. The Henhayes Centre, South Street Car Park, Crewkerne, TA18 8DA. Tel 01460 74340.

The Tuckers Jazz Club Dave Newton and Craig Milverton The Tuckers Arms, Dalwood, EX13 7EG. Near Axminster, (just north of the A35 between Axminster & Honiton) Tickets £10 Info. at www. dalwoodvillage.co.uk 01404 831 280 : 07999 553477 Dave Newton & Craig Milverton – A dynamic performance from The Kings of the Keyboard at The Tuckers.

Coffee Morning/ Indoor Car Boot Sale.

10am - 12 noon. Uplyme Village Hall. To book a table or enquiries ph. Becky on 07590495909 The Langport Mummers will perform a Leap Frog Day special, as all their performances are! 7.30 pm. Sharon Lazibyrds will also sing and play strings, there will be mulled cider and eats to buy.

Parish Hall, TA12 6JL. £5. Ring Fergus on 01935 8/22202 for more.

The Truth About Love: Bizet to Broadway 7.30pm Artists from the Royal Opera House & English National Opera perform in aid of Action East Devon & Honiton Dementia Alliance. With guests, Devon Close Harmony Quartet. £10 adv, £12 on the door The Beehive, Honiton. www.beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050 A Leap Year Concert at 7.30pm in St Peter and St Paul Church, South Petherton, featuring accomplished mixed choir Sixteen Bells and versatile quartet Bella Acapella. Tickets £8 / under16s free.

Wine for a donation. In aid of charity Raft (refugeeaidfromtaunton.org.uk).

Organised by Refugee Support Group, South Somerset. Geraldine Downey 01460 271358 Christian Garrick & The Budapest Café Orchestra – 10th Birthday Tour. 8pm at The David Hall in South Petherton.

The BCO play a blistering barrage of traditional Folk and Gypsy-flavoured music from across the Balkans and Russia, Klezmer laments, Romanian Doinas, Hungarian Czardas and their own unique re-imaginings of some of the biggest pieces ever written by the greats. Tickets: £18 Full, £17 Concessions, from www. thedavidhall.org.uk or 01460 240 340.

Norton sub Hamdon Concert by The Avon & Somerset Constabulary Male Voice Choir in Norton Church at 7.30pm.

Ticket £7 from Norton Community Shop or by Post (£8) calling 01935 881330.

Further details visit www.nortonfestival.org

SAT 29 FEB – SUN 1 MARCH

Hedge Laying. Patch Tucker will be at Monkton Wyld Court for the weekend to guide us through the skills and art of hedge laying. £80.00pp including lunch. Accommodation and dinner on the Saturday night are not included in the price. If you wish to book this in addition, please request when contacting us. To book please contact: info@monktonwyldcourt. org

SAT 29 FEB – SUN 8 MARCH

Crocus week, when these jewel-like flowers will carpet the lawns, although many bulbs will have been in bloom since mid-February. www.fordeabbey.co.uk Tel: 01460 220231

SUNDAY 1 MARCH

Plant and Gardening fair Packed with inspiration and ideas for the Spring garden, with over thirty stalls selling plants and gardening sundries. All the stallholders are happy to chat about their plants and stock, and to offer their expertise and share their enthusiasm, so do come along to see what you can add to your own garden, or just to admire the plants on show. £5 admission and free parking. www.fordeabbey.co.uk Tel: 01460 220231 Indoor Carboot.1pm-4pm.Cafe Bar. Tiger Way Axminster Town Afc. 07944556714.

The Phil Beer Band. 7.30pm. Charming, disarming and exceptionally talented, multiinstrumentalist Phil Beer is something of a national treasure on the Folk, Roots and Acoustic scene. One half of award-winning powerhouse Show of Hands, Beer is equally in demand for his solo shows. At the Octagon Theatre, Yeovil - Supported by The David Hall. For more information visit www. octagon-theatre.co.uk or call 01935 422 884.

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MONDAY 2 MARCH

Scottish Dancing at All Saints 7.3010.00 p.m.. Evening of social dancing at All Saints Village Hall (EX13 7LX), Cost £1.50 tea or coffee included. No partner required. Contact David on 01460 65981, or Andrew on 01297 33461, or just come along www.chardscottishdancing.org Lipreading & Managing Hearing Loss Honiton Methodist Church 10am - 12noon. Learn how to manage your hearing loss using lipreading and coping strategies, while building confidence in a supportive environment. First session free. Small, friendly group. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided. Contact Ruth for further details ruth@bizleyart.com 07855 340517.

Also on 9th, 16th and 23rd.

Arts Society Neroche South Somerset 6.45 p.m. Chairman’s Report: 7 15 p.m. From Desktop to Bureau – writing furniture from the 16th – 18th centuries.

Illustrated talk by Janusz KarczewskiSlowikowski. Frogmary Green Conference Centre, South Petherton, TA13 5DJ. Contact 01460 54578.

Bridport Folk Dance Club, 7-30pm – 9 30pm WI Hall North Street, Bridport. DT6 3JQ Beginner and experienced dancers welcome (children must be accompanied by an adult}. Contact: 01308 458 165

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TUESDAY 3 MARCH

Half-price sale of stamps. Christian Outreach Relief and Development sale of stamps at half the normal prices. The Antique Centre, Castle Hill, Axminster .

Tues – Sat throughout March.

Lipreading & Managing Hearing Loss Bridport Hospital 2-4pm. Learn how to manage your hearing loss using lipreading and coping strategies, while building confidence in a supportive environment.

First session free. Small, friendly group.

Tea, coffee and biscuits provided. Contact Ruth for further details ruth@bizleyart. com 07855 340517 or just come along on the day. Also on 10th, 17th and 24th.

Beaminster Museum Winter talk , 2.30pm, ‘Water Meadows of West Dorset’,

by Duncan Harris and Alan Wakefield giving results of their recent study, Beaminster Museum, Whitcombe Road, DT8 3NB. Info@beaminstermuseum.co.uk

WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH

Axminster Historical Society Talk: ‘Exeter Before The Railway’ It is hard to imagine life before the railways and how people traveled, if they did at all.

Coaches were the preserve of the rich who liked to be seen in them. Alan Rosevear helps to paint the picture and provides

us with a new perspective. 7:30pm All Welcome, Membership £10 Non Members £2 The Bradshaw Meeting Room, Axminster Heritage Centre, Thomas Whitty House, Silver Street, Axminster, EX13 5AH Free Benefits surgery. 9.30am and 12pm at Age UK Dorchester shop in Bridport, 16 West Street, Bridport, DT6 3QP. Free benefits advice for people aged over 50 come along and find out what you may be entitled to claim. To make an appointment please contact Age UK Dorchester on 01305 269444. Also April 1st.

AV&DCS Work Party. 10:00 to 16:00.

Bramble & general clearance at Sheepwash and Norman Barnes Glade in the Undercliffs. Note: 30 to 40 minute walk to work site. Meet at Stepps Lane SY266903.

Contact Donald Campbell 01297 552945.

West Dorset Ramblers Circular Walk 10:00am - 6 miles/9.7 km frampton area. Contact: 01300 320084 Bridport Camera Club 7pm for 7.30 start. Club competition - Low Light, judged by John Tilsley. Non members £4 at the door. Bridport Town Hall DT6 3HA. info@bridportcameraclub. co.uk. 01395 892353.

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THURSDAY 5 MARCH

Talk ‘The Great Bindon Landslide of 1839’ by Richard Edmonds, a local geologist : 2.30pm : Extensive measurements by Plymouth Coastal Observatory have led to a new model to explain what may have happened : Woodmead Halls, Hill Rd, Lyme Regis DT7 3PG : contact David Cox on 01297 443156 (Friends of Lyme Regis Philpot Museum) Morcombelake Gardening Club, 2.30pm, Talk by Charles Chesshire on The Art of Dishevelment, JH Hall Morcombelake, contact Jeanne Coates 01297 678303 Chard History Group Ancient Orcadians at 7.30pm, Doug Hislop is an enthusiastic Amateur Archaelogist and his informant talk and interesting photographs about prehistoric monuments, houses and temples of the ancient inhabitants of the Orkney Island, in Ballroom upstairs at Phoenix Hotel, Fore Street in Chard, Member £2, Guests £3 , Information 01460 66165.

The Alexander Technique: a talk by Inge Dyson at the Charmouth Community Library at 7.00 pm.

Scottish Country dancing with the Somerset Branch of Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. We have classes at Long Sutton, Ashill and Somerton to suit all levels. To find out more contact Liz on 01935 826181 or Anita on 01460 929383.

Also on the 12th, 19th and 26th March.

West Dorset Ramblers Circular Walk 10:00am - 8.5 miles/13.7 km. the brit valley. Contact: 01308 459282 Chard Camera Club The club will be meeting at the Baptist Church hall Holyrood Street Chard at 7.30pm for their AGM where they will be selecting officers etc for the coming year and renewal of membership. Further details can be obtained from the club’s membership secretary Mrs Joyce Partridge on 01460 66885 or by visiting their website www. chardcamersclub.org.uk Bridport Soulshine Café Fashion Revolution event. Bring a garment you love. Tickets tinyurl.com/ry5plbk 7pm Flower arranging demonstration at Tatworth memorial hall TA202QW. ‘Lets Celebrate’ By Ellie North Home made cakes Doors open at 1.30pm all welcome visitors £6 Further details Julie Kettle 01297 33924 Lent Lunches at 12noon following a Holy Communion service at 11.30am .In aid of charities he Drift, TCYC Youth club, The Children’s society, Royal British Legion Women’s Section and St. John’s Church.

At St. John’s Church and Hall Waterlake Road, Tatworth TA20 2SH also 12th, 19th, 26th March & 2nd April 16 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

Lyme Voices Community Choir. 19.30 to 21.15. Sing for fun. Learn tunes by ear. Everyone welcome. Baptist Church (pine hall round the back), Silver St., Lyme Regis, DT7 3NY. Phone 01297 445078 or email petelinnett@naturalvoice.net

FRIDAY 6 MARCH

The Undercover Hippy (solo) 8pm Best known for his high energy full band shows, it is something of a rare treat to catch Billy Rowan, a.k.a. The Undercover Hippy, giving an intimate solo performance. £12 in advance, £14 on the door The Beehive, Honiton. www. beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050 The Secret Life of Moths, 7:30pm – 9pm, Talk by Paul Butler, a member of the Dorset Moth Group, Bridport United Church Hall, East Street, Bridport, DT6 3LJ, www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk Fish and Chip Friday – 12.30. Fish, chips, mushy peas and tartar sauce, followed by a fruity dessert. Non-members £8.75 / members £6.50. Booking required.

The Henhayes Centre, South Street Car Park, Crewkerne, TA18 8DA. Tel 01460 74340.

Concerts in the West presents Nicholas McCarthy, 7.30pm, left hand piano, Tickets £15, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, 01460 54973, www.themeetinghouse. org.uk John Osborne presents: John Peel’s Shed. 8pm. Writer and theatre-maker John Osborne returns to the stage, this time with his Edinburgh sell-out production, John Peel’s Shed - a storytelling show about radio, music and a whole heap of records. In 2002, John won a competition on John Peel’s BBC radio show. His prize was a box of records that took eight years to listen to. At The David Hall in South Petherton. Tickets: £10 Full, £9 Concessions, from www.thedavidhall.org. uk or 01460 240 340.

Yeovil Archaeological and Local History Society meeting at Holy Trinity Church, Lysander Road, BA20 2BU at 7.30pm have an interesting talk ‘The Knights Templar‘ (Founded around 1118 to protect pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. The talk will examine their foundation, the ways in which they developed their landed properties in western Europe to support their functions in the Holy Land, and the circumstances which led to their dramatic suppression in 1312.) Speaker – James Bond. Guests £2 at the Door. Contact 01935 477174. www. yalhs.org.uk The Living Tree, cancer self-help group.

2pm Tripudio Flow. 2.15pm Film showing – Trees are the Key. Tracey and Simon

West from the WordForest Organisation will talk about progress with the forest in Kenya. Q&A session afterwards.

3.15-4.15pm Worry Busting with Louise Wender. Drop in any time between 2pm and 4.30pm at the Friends’ Meeting House, 95 South Street, Bridport DT6 3NZ. Tel 07341 916 976. www.thelivingtree.org.uk

FRIDAY 6 – SAT 7 MARCH

Bridport Youth Dance and Bridport Boys Dance presents Orpheus and Euridyce: The Power Of Love A collaborative production by Nikki Northover Bridport Electric Palace Adult tickets: £10.50 Child/student £9.50 Friday 6th March at 7.30pm Saturday 7th March at 2pm and 7.30pm Featuring choreography by Nikki Northover, Aimee Symes and Bec Ayles and music by composers Andrew Dickson, Georgia Collins and Chris Reynolds. Ticket booking line: 01308424901 ( Bridport TIC) Tickets online: www.electricpalace.org.uk Tickets in person from Bridport TIC or the Electric Palace Box office: Tuesday to Friday 11am to 5pm, Saturday 10am to 2pm Tel: 01308 428354

SATURDAY 7 MARCH

Sidmouth Daffodil Day 10am - 3pm This is to celebrate the million daffodils that have been planted around the Sid Valley. A plant fair, trips on the Vintage Toast Rack bus to the Daffodil sites, Daffodil Art Exhibition, children’s Daffodil art competition, talks by Lady Christine Skelmersdale and Nick Bailey, BBC Gardener’s World, Sid Vale Folk singers, Daffodil Gifts, & refreshments. Entry only 1p. Kennaway House, Sidmouth, Devon, EX10 8NG 01395515551 www. sidmouthdaffodilsociety.org.uk Rag Mama Rag (Ashley & Deborah Dow) are a country blues duo whose repertoire of 1920s and 30s American music is wonderfully varied. Originally from the UK and now based in France, Rag Mama Rag have built a reputation as one of Europe’s finest Country Blues acts and regularly perform at major festivals in France, Belgium and Germany. The show is a feast for the eyes as well as ears; the stage will be full of great instruments including a variety of impressive guitars, ukulele, harmonica and washboard.

When Ashley and Deborah pick up those instruments – boy, what a sound! Saturday 7th March @ 7pm Membury Village Hall Membury, Axminster EX13 7AF Adult tickets £9, family tickets £25 call 01404 881408 or visit the Oak Apple Community Café – every Friday afternoon at the Village Hall Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 8 mile walk from Powerstock10.30am start.

Bring picnic. No dogs. All welcome. Please call 01308 898484/01308 863340 John Peel’s Shed’, 7.30pm, at Clapton & Wayford Village Hall – a Take Art performance. Writer & theatre maker John Osborne shares some of his prize box of records won in a competition on John Peel’s radio show. Licenced bar & raffle.

Tickets, to include a hot supper - £12.50 adult, £5 child. Please book in advance on 01460 75313 (Adrienne) or 01460 74849 (Mary) Bridport Ceilidhs, 7.30-11pm. A change form the band previously advertised, we now have The Old Chapel Band playing for us, with Joan Holloway calling. All welcome, no experience or partner needed; all dances will be walked and talked through and called for as long as necessary. Bring & Share super and your own alcohol (the Woodman Inn is just opposite). St Mary’s Church House Hall, South Street, Bridport DT6 3NW. £10 on the door, £9 if bought in advance from The Bridport Music Centre, South Street, or pre-booked with Monty on 01308 423 442 or email monty3dayslate AT yahoo.co.uk. See www.bridportceilidhs.wordpress,com Beaminster Museum Book Sale , 10.00 12.00am, The Museum’s annual second-hand book sale , Beaminster Museum, Whitcombe Road, DT8 3NB.Info@beaminstermuseum. co.uk

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West Dorset Ramblers Circular Walk 10:30 - 8 miles/12.9 km. the hidden valleys of south poorton Contact: 01308 898484 Family Storytime with The Flying Monkeys. 11am. Stories told not showed for 3-8 year olds and their carers. Free/ Donation. Bridport Literary & Scientific Institute www.lsibridport.co.uk Luke Daniels and Nancy Kerr. 8pm.

Since Daniels’ landmark solo statement, What’s Here What’s Gone, in 2014, he’s put down several more markers on the musical map. (Regular visitors to The David Hall will recall that Luke performed The Polyphon Chronicles in September 2017).

Nancy Kerr is one of the most celebrated Folk musicians of her generation and to date, has won six Folk Awards from BBC Radio 2. At The David Hall in South Petherton. Tickets: £15 Full, £14 Concessions, from www.thedavidhall.org. uk or 01460 240 340.

SUNDAY 8 MARCH

Concert with ‘Rattle on the Stovepipe’ Dave Arthur, Pete Cooper and Dan Stewart play British, Irish and Appalachian songs and tunes on Fiddle, Banjoes, Guitars and Melodeon. Doors 7.30 for 8pm start. The Function Room of The King William, Barn Street, Crewkerne.

TA18 8 BP. Tickets £10. Call 07877 206124 to book.

Dorset Countryside Volunteers, 10:00 17:00. Scrub clearance to maintain species rich chalk grassland, with a brew up at break times! New people welcome. Hog Cliff (West Dorset). See www.dcv.org.uk, email DCVpublicity@gmail.com, or text/ voicemail 07923 498760.

‘An Introduction to Hawaiian Temple Healing and Magic’, 10am - 4 pm A day exploring transformational healing philosophies and practises from Hawaii, for personal health, happiness and longevity. Axminster Health and Wellbeing Centre ,Chard Street EX13. £60 waged, £40.00 concessions. Contact info@nemetona.online or call Claire on 07939935749.

Divine Union Soundbath 2-4 PM Crystal and Tibetan bowls for deep relaxation/ healing/detox The David Hall, Roundwell St, south petherton, Somerset TA13 5AA please book 01935 389655 ahiahel@live. com www.centreforpuresound.org

MONDAY 9 MARCH

Scottish Dancing in Chardstock 7.3010.00 p.m. Evening of social dancing at Chardstock Village Hall, Cost £1.50 tea or coffee included. No partner required.

Contact David on 01460 65981 or Andrew on 01297 33461, or just come along. www. chardscottishdancing.org 18 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

Scottish Country Dancing at Ashill 7.30 to 9.30 pm. Learn steps, formations and dances, led by fully qualified teacher in a relaxed and fun setting. Ashill village hall, just off the A358 Nr Ilminster. For more information contact Anita on 01460 929383. Also on 16th, 23rd and 30th March.

Radipole & Southill Horticultural Society, 7-30pm, The Challenges of Setting up and Running a Fundraising Garden by Di Gilliver from the Samaritans, Southill Community Centre DT4 9SF, 01305 788939 West Dorset Flower Club are holding a demonstration by Julie Jeans entitled “Sweet Nostalgia “. We meet at 2.30 pm at the WI Hall in North Street, Bridport.

New members and visitors are very welcome. For further details please contact the secretary on 01308 456339.

Bridport Folk Dance Club, 7-30pm – 9 30pm WI Hall North Street, Bridport. DT6 3JQ Beginner and experienced dancers welcome (children must be accompanied by an adult}. Contact: 01308 458 165

TUESDAY 10 MARCH

Going Green is Good for Business An open discussion to explore the practical side of ‘going green’. Hear from local businesses: what they have done, what they plan to do, what do their customers say. Everyone welcome. 7.15 for 7.30pm Driftwood Café, Baptist Church, top of Broad Street, Lyme Regis. Contact Polly 07586301779 West Dorset Ramblers Circular Walk 10:00 - 8 miles/12.9 km. view from st michael’s tower. Contact: 01308 898484 Bridport History Society meeting at the United Church Hall, East St. Bridport 2.30.

The topic is ‘House History Projects in the Bridport Area’, with Society member Jane Ferentzi-Sheppard and some of her students. Ideal for those who have been thinking about researching the place where they live. Members £1 and visitors £4.00, all welcome. For more information contact Jane on 01308 425718 or email: jferentzi@ aol.com

WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH

Axe Valley Centre National Trust, Talk, Smuggling in Devon by Robert Hesketh.

Colyford Memorial Hall 2.30pm Visitors welcome £2 Contact Membership Secretary 01297631801.

Furleigh Wine Estate Nordic Walking in the Vineyard. 11:15am Accessible to all - set your own pace as you find your rhythm with the walking poles provided/£10/www.furleighestate.co.uk/ events Loders Local History Group AGM & Talk, 7.30pm, Time to Stand and Stare

- Loders Magic - A Dog Walker’s View

by Chuck Willmott, Everyone welcome, Refreshments will be served. Entrance £3, Loders Village Hall, DT6 3SA The Beehive Folk Café 8pm Hosted by Folk Singer-Sue King. Free entry Everyone is welcome to come along and perform or listen at The Beehive bar, Honiton.

THURSDAY 12 MARCH

Crewkerne Gardening Club is hosting a talk by Claire Hart on”Planting for problem gardens”, we could all do with some help! This will be held in the Henhayes Centre at 7.30pm and we welcome visitors -£2.50, and all our members! Contact- 01460 279727.

Talk by local author Bernard Paull – Loders Back-along, schoolboy memories of the 1950s and pictures of even earlier.

At Bridport Town Hall, in aid of Bridport Millennium Green. £5 (members £4.50) to include tea and biscuits. 2.30pm, Details Sue Wilkinson, 01308 425037.

Seavington Gardening Club. ‘ Ponds and Water Features ‘ by Jenny Short . Held in Seavington Millennium Hall . Enquiries to Karen Day 01460249728 Visitors welcome.

The Old Malt House Jazz Band Concert 7:30 pm A Swing and Jazz collective playing a range of music from the 20’s & 30s with their own particular take on popular melodies of that time. Martock Church; Church Street; Martock TA12 6JL Tickets £10 or £9 at Martock Gallery/Newsagent or 01935 829576 Bridport Women’s History Group, 7-9pm, Secretaries in the 70’s by Sarah Stamford Bridport Youth & Community Centre, Gundry Lane, Bridport, all women welcome, More info: k.hunt@keele.ac.uk Chard Royal Naval Association The association will meet at their home venue Chard Rugby Football Club, Essex Close Chard at 7.30pm for their bi monthly official meeting. Further details can be obtained by contacting their secretary Mr Gary Pennells on 01460 77978.

Chard Camera Club The club will be away from home tonight as they visit Kilmington Village Hall at 7.30pm to attend the annual ‘Horseshoe Photographic Competition’, this year hosted by Colyton Photo club. Further details can be found on Chard website www.chardcameraclub. org.uk or Colyford cameara club website.

Seaton garden club at 2.30 - windrush willows demo of plant supports at masonic hall queen street seaton. Visitors welcome cost £2 to include refreshments Contact 01297 24049.

Lyme Voices Community Choir. 19.30 to 21.15. Sing for fun. Learn tunes by ear. Everyone welcome. Baptist Church (pine hall round the back), Silver St., Lyme

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Regis, DT7 3NY. Phone 01297 445078 or email petelinnett@naturalvoice.net

FRIDAY 13 MARCH

Drinks in the Clink: Piratical Rum Night. 7pm. Discover your inner pirate at a rum-fuelled night at Shire Hall! Your host is David, Grey Bear Bar Co.’s Master Mixologist. He will take you on a trip to the Caribbean, with the origins of rum and the triangular trade, look at naval connection, of course, piracy! Includes a drink on arrival followed by two cocktails and two rum samples, and a selection of nibbles. Tickets £25 per person and booking is essential. For more information visit shirehalldorset.org or call 01305 261849.

Stages of the Inner Journey and Why it Transforms the Exterior One, 10.30 am, a talk on meditation by Fr Laurence Freeman OSB spiritual director of the World Community for Christian Meditation, The Minster Church Ilminster TA19 0DU, Contact: Alexis Le Fevre 01460 55976 email: waterratviolet@gmail.com.

Food on Friday, 12 noon, at Clapton & Wayford Village Hall - two course lunch, roll & butter + unlimited tea/coffee, £5.

Special diets can usually be catered for if requested in advance. Disabled facilities, ample parking, lovely view. Open to all ages; very friendly atmosphere, newcomers really welcomed, but please book places in advance by phoning June (01460 77057) or Jackie (01460 72324), who will also provide more information if required.

Lyme Regis U3A Monthly lecture, Doors open at 10.00am for coffee until 10:40. Lecture at 11:00. Woodmead Halls, Lyme Regis DT7 3PG. “The Ice Age in west Dorset and east Devon” by Jim Rose, Emeritus Professor of Geography at London University and Visiting Research Associate at the British Geological Survey.

All welcome. members Free non members £2:00. Contact Penny Rose 01297 561076 When Louis met Bix, 8pm, recreation of a momentous event in jazz history, featuring Enrico Tomasso and Mike Henry, plus a full traditional jazz band choc full of top players, Tickets £22, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, 01460 54973, www. themeetinghouse.org.uk West Dorset Ramblers Circular Walk 10:00 - 9.5 miles/15.3 km. ups & downs of beer & branscombe. Contact: 01308 422514 Eat Green with Melissa Hemsley at River Cottage HQ, 6.30pm-11pm, Five course feast to celebrate the launch of Melissa Hemsley’s new cookbook Eat Green: Delicious flexitarian recipes for planet-friendly eating, River Cottage HQ, EX13 8TB, www.rivercottage.net

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Billy Mitchell and Bob Fox- 5Star B&B Tour 7.30pm Two of the UK’s best known and loved singers -Billy Mitchell (Lindisfarne, Jack the Lad, Pitmen Poets) and Bob Fox (Warhorse Songman, Fox and Luckley, Pitmen Poets) take to the road to tour their show ‘5 Star B&B’.

They’ll entertain you with their favourite songs including original Lindisfarne classics and traditional folk arrangements of songs such as Sally Wheatley, Meet me on the Corner, Dance to your Daddy, Collier Laddie’s Wife. Tickets £16.70 The Beehive, Honiton. www.beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050 The Living Tree, cancer self-help group.

2pm Tripudio Flow. 2.15pm Find out session with Sherry Porter talking about our Facebook page. Drop in any time between 2pm and 4.30pm at the Friends’ Meeting House, 95 South Street, Bridport DT6 3NZ. Tel 07341 916 976. www. thelivingtree.org.uk

SATURDAY 14 MARCH

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Little Bredy, 10.30am start. Bring picnic. No dogs. All welcome.

Please call 01308 898484/01308 863340 Flower Show and Plant Fair at The Allendale Community Centre, Hanham Road, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 1AS. The flower show and plant fair are run by the Dorset local group of the Alpine Garden Society showcasing the plant-growing talents of its members, who will be pleased to talk with you about their hobby. Plants of all kinds, not just alpines, will be on sale, produced by group members and by Leesa’s Alpines from Chichester. There will also be a photographic display showing plants in their natural surroundings and a tombola. Refreshments will be available at the Allendale Centre. Entry £1, Children and Alpine Garden Society members free.

Parking nearby. Contact peter.dixon@ agsgroups.org, www.alpinegardensociety. net/local-groups/dorset/.

Trees for our Future - from 1.30pm to 3pm at Bridport United Church, East Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3LJ. Free event. Lots of exciting activities from children’s art workshop, stalls, refreshments and tree advise and information. Join in a music and dance led procession to askers meadow for young people and children’ tree planting session. Win a fruit tree in the raffle!! Please come and support Bridport Tree Planting Group. All welcome Dorset Chamber Orchestra. Concert for Youth Zoo Tales” by Liz Sharma, with Dorset youth choirs. Narrator Martin Clunes Rossini - Thieving Magpie Overture Vivaldi - ‘Goldfinch’ 2 movements of Concerto for flute. Soloist Charlotte Ballard Robert Foster - Serpent

Concerto (part). Soloist Philip Humphries St Mary’s Church Dorchester. DT1 2HL. 4.00pm. Duration approx. 1 hour.

Tickets £12 (18 and under £1) available on-line and from Harmony Music, 3-4 The Forum Centre, Trinity Street, Dorchester, DT1 1TT (01305 260360) http:// dorsetchamberorchestra.org/ Living Spirituality Event 10.00 -4.00 “One River Many Wells” Gary Pulman (One Spirit Interfaith Minister) Quaker Meeting House 97 South Street Bridport contact: iona.lake@aol.co.uk ‘Bride Valley & Beyond’ at West Bay Discovery Centre. Join us for an entertaining evening of music and readings celebrating the history, landscape and life of our wonderful West Dorset Coast. Local musicians will be performing in aid of West Bay Discovery Centre. Starts at 7 pm, advance booking is recommended as numbers are limited. Tickets £8 are available online from Bridport Tourist Information Centre https:// bridportandwestbay.co.uk/ or call 01308 424901. Further details http://www. westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk/ James Crowden The Frozen River: Seeking Silence in the Himalaya book signing 10-12 am Waterstones East Street Bridport Table Top Sale - 10.00 am to 12.30 pm at Musbury Village Hall EX13 8AJ. Good variety of stalls including willow work, wood turning, jewellery, some craft items and of course general bric a brac and .... cakes ! Refreshments including bacon buttys. Profit to St Michael’s Church Musbury. Enquiries 01297 552440/552711 Loders Village Hall, West Dorset group of the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society meeting 2.00. DNA - Using the results for family history research. Done a DNA test but where to go from there, lots of hints and tips from Jane and her students. Members £1.50 and visitors £3.00, all welcome, tea and biscuits included. For more information contact Jane on 01308 425710 or email: jferentzi@ aol.com Egyptian Society Taunton “The New Grand Rgyptian Museum and the Treasures of Tutankhamun”. Speaker: Dr Chris Naunton. The lecture will take place at 2.00pm at Friends Meeting House, Bath Place, Taunton, TA1 4ED. There is likely to be a high demand for places at this event so please see our website for information on how to register interest http://egyptiansoctaunton.wixsite. com/home Martock Farmers Market 10-1 in Moorlands Shopping Precinct, North Street, with 16 stalls selling food they have made.

Tree Planting Festival, 1.30-3.30pm, Come to learn how to grow and grow trees before planting them together in a musical march! Following our event in December, where 70 people planted more than 200 trees in one afternoon, join us for this event where we will plant a further 600 trees. This event will build a better connection between people and nature, help biodiversity and be direct action to capture carbon and fight climate change.

Come and join us! Part of Port East’s Blueprint Festival, Bridport United Church East St DT6 3LJ, 07751 211 603 http:// bit.ly/BridTreeFest Ben Poole Band. 8pm. Nominated by the USA’s Guitar World Magazine as one of the best Blues guitarists on the planet, Ben Poole is very much at the forefront of the talent-rich Blues/Rock scene.

Since beginning his career playing on the local UK Blues circuit at age 16, Ben has become an internationally-recognised touring and recording artist. At The David Hall in South Petherton. Tickets: £19 Full, £18 Concessions, from www.thedavidhall. org.uk or 01460 240 340.

Family Craft Afternoon 1.30pm to 3.30pm Mothering Sunday And Easter Crafts Free Entrance for all. Afternoon tea will be provided’ there will be crafts and

cards to make for mothering sunday and easter which are all free. (Donations to help cover costs of the materials would be welcome). ALSO - Raffle; Guessing Game, Greeting Cards; Toys and gifts PLUS Play Dough table. At St. John’s Church Hall, Waterlake Road, Tatworth, TA20 2SH. More details from Monica Mason 014600 221356 Bingo Night Doors open 7:00 pm, Eyes Down 7:30 pm. Bingo Night: 90 ball games, cash prizes for each full house and selected complete lines with prize raffle, tea, coffee and licensed bar. Shipton Gorge Village Hall (DT6 4LZ) Enquiries 01308 898701

SAT 14 – SUN 29 MARCH

Blueprint Festival, A free fortnight long festival curated by the local Bridport community including a Tree Planting Festival, Energy Local Bridport, The Laboratory of Fun: 12 Creative Experiments, Mending Our Ways: Upcycle Your Clothes, Brink by Brink: An Interactive Screening, The Shoe Chorus perform ‘Reverdie’, and ending with the Bridport Mini Storytelling Festival, Bridport United Church East St DT6 3LJ, 07751 211 603 http://porteast.eventbrite. com/

SUNDAY 15 MARCH

Indoor Carboot.1pm-4pm.Cafe Bar. Tiger Way Axminster Town Afc. 07944556714.

Bridport Local Food Group Best Breakfast. 9am - 12 noon St. Mary’s Church Hall, Bridport Tickets £7 in advance from Bridport Tourist Information Centre £8 on the door Children (under 14) £3 in advance or £4 on the door Vegetarian and Vegan option available Any profits made will help fund the Bridport Food Festival and other local food profits Yeovil Railway Centre, Yeovil Junction, Stoford BA22 9UU: First Steam Train Day of the season. See more on www. yeovilrailway.freeservers.com, or recorded information on 01935 410420.

Divine Union Soundbath 2-4 PM Crystal and Tibetan bowls for deep relaxation/ healing/detox Stour Row Village Hall, Stour Row, nr. Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 0QG. please book 01935 389655 ahiahel@ live.com www.centreforpureosund.org Make the most of spring at Frankham Farm in Ryme Intrinseca (DT9 6JT).

Wander along woodland walks underplanted with spring bulbs, camellias, magnolias, azalea and cornus in the lovely 3½ acre garden set on a working livestock & arable farm. A large garden of lawn, herbaceous borders filled with

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Looking Ahead THURSDAY 2 APRIL

Tales from the River Exe Harbourmaster 7.30pm. Illustrated talk

by Grahame Forshaw MBE, St Andrew’s Church Colyton, tickets £5 and £4, Enquiries 01297 552057.

THURSDAY 2 APRIL

Friends of Lyme Regis Philpot Museum AGM and talk 2.00pm Woodmead Halls, Hill Rd, Lyme Regis DT7 3PG Contact David Cox on 01297 443156.

a wide variety of well-grown plants, roses, unusual shrubs and trees, clematis and other climbers. Attractively laid out, productive vegetable garden. Sorry no dogs as livestock close by. Open in aid of the National Garden Scheme charities, from 11.30-5pm. Adm £6 chd free. (Also open Sun 26 Apr) www.ngs.org.uk

the Georgian and Regency period’ , by Pentelope Ruddock, of Bath Museum of Fashion, Museum Friend and past resident of Beaminster , Beaminster Museum, Whitcombe Road, DT8 3NB. Info@beaminstermuseum.co.uk Bridport Youth Centre Fashion Revolution clothes swap. 7pm

MONDAY 16 MARCH

WEDNESDAY 18 MARCH

Scottish Dancing in Chardstock 7.3010.00 p.m. Evening of social dancing at Chardstock Village Hall, Cost £1.50 tea or coffee included. No partner required.

Contact David on 01460 65981 or Andrew on 01297 33461, or just come along www. chardscottishdancing.org Chard, Ilminster & District U3A will hold an Open meeting in The Guildhall, Chard at 2.00 pm with a talk entitled “Seeing differently by RNIB” Learn how Talking Books provide a lifeline to over 130,000 people across the country enabling blind and partially sighted people to find enjoyment and entertainment.

Admission £1 to members and retired visitors. Further information 01460 68629 or our website https://u3asites.org.uk/ chardilminster West Dorset Ramblers Circular Walk 10:00 - 8 miles/12.9 km. SW Coastal Path Walk. Contact: 01305 459315 Bridport Folk Dance Club, 7-30pm – 9 30pm WI Hall North Street, Bridport. DT6 3JQ Beginner and experienced dancers welcome (children must be accompanied by an adult}. Contact: 01308 458 165

MON 16 – TUE 17 MARCH

Dillington House, Ilminster. Bridport historian Jane Ferentzi-Sheppard is offering a two day course on Family History - Pre 1837 records, looking at Parish and Poor Law records, Wills and Probate and dating old photos. Ideal for those who have started their family history and got back to the early 1800s and need help. Fee is £112 which includes a three course lunch, tea and coffee all day on both days. For more information contact Dillington House on 01460 258613 or email: dillington at somerset.gov.uk

TUESDAY 17 MARCH

Beaminster Museum Winter talk , 2.30pm, ‘Bath and Fashion in the 18th Century’, changing fashions during

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2020 Devonshire Association Axe Valley Branch AGM, 2.00pm, followed at 2.30pm by a talk by John Smith on The Battle of Britain over Devon, 1940. At the Pavilion, Peace Memorial Playing Fields, Coly Road, Colyton EX24 5PU. Entrance: Donation £1 (DA Members), £3 (Non Members). For more details visit devonassoc.org.uk/events/ category/branch-events/axevalley-branchevents/ Thorncombe Rail Activities Club will host a talk and slide presentation given

by Paul Chancellor entitled “Colour Rail” The meeting is at Thorncombe Village Hall, TA20 4NE and starts at 7.30pm.

Non Members are welcome, there are refreshments, a raffle and the parking is free.

Contact Richard Holt, Chairman Tel. 01460 30428 or Google TRAC “traclubsite” for information.

Free wills surgery A free 30 minute appointment to ask any questions relating to wills and power of attorney. You chance to get expert legal advice to help you plan for the future. Appointments available between 9.30am and 12.30pm at Age UK Dorchester shop in Bridport, 16 West Street, Bridport, DT6 3QP. To make an appointment please contact Age UK Dorchester on 01305 269444. Also April 15th.

Dorset Wildlife Trust Sherborne Group, 7.30pm, talk by The Biking Birder, Gary Prescott, Digby Memorial Church Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne, DT9 3NL, cost £3.00. Mary Howes 01935 872742 West Dorset Ramblers Circular Walk 10:00 - 5.5 miles/8.9 km. stonebarrow wander. Starts at 10:00: Contact: 01297 489567 Chardstock Gardening Club 7.30pm.

‘Permaculture for Gardeners’ - talk by Andrew Mikolajski. Andrew is a gardening author, lecturer and horticultural adviser who has worked on many RHS publications and shows. Chardstock Community Hall, Westcombes, EX13 7BJ. All welcome.

Visitors £3 on the door; tea/coffee and

FRIDAY 3 APRIL

Chideock Society History at 7.30 in Chideock village hall. A Talk by Robert Wellen. Ticket price £2.00. Everyone welcome. Contact Lyn Crisp on 01297 489098.

biscuits included. Enquiries: 01460 221619.

Energy Local Bridport, 7-8.30pm, Interested in supporting local efforts to improve the environment and save money in the process? Bridport is likely to be the first town in England where local householders have the opportunity to purchase lowcost locally generated renewable electricity through the existing electricity grid. This event will include a presentation on progress to date and new potential opportunities from solar panels, with examples of other projects from around the globe. Part of Port East’s Blueprint Festival, Bridport United Church East St DT6 3LJ, 07751 211 603 http://bit. ly/EnergyLocalBrid Bridport Camera Club 7pm for 7.30 start. Story Telling critiques. Documentary photographer Tim Booth leads discussion on members’ projects. Non members £4 at the door. Bridport Town Hall DT6 3HA. info@ bridportcameraclub.co.uk. 01395 892353.

THURSDAY 19 MARCH

The Arts Society West Dorset. American Glamour: 150 Years of Tiffany. Speaker Clare Phillips. Bridport Town Hall 2.30.

Details: 01308 485487.

Community Coffee Morning, 10am – noon, at Clapton & Wayford Village Hall.

There will be a raffle, and a cake stall/’bring & buy’. Croissants & bacon/egg rolls will also be served. Do come and join us, for an opportunity to meet friends & neighbours - or get to know new people. Local or not, you can be sure of a warm welcome in Clapton. More details from Julia (01460 72769) Charmouth Gardeners invite you to a talk ‘Bees, their importance and how to encourage them in your garden’ by bee enthusiast and campaigner Brigit Strawbridge. 2.30pm with refreshments from 2.00pm at Charmouth Village Hall, Wesley Close. All welcome, non members £2 or why not join only £5 for the year. Tel 01297560757 for more information.

John Terry will talk to Tatworth W.I. members about “Amateur Photography” in Tatworth Memorial Hall at 7.30pm. Visitors welcome.

South Somerset RSPB Local Group The Mediterranean Naturally. Illustrated talk by well-known wildlife photographer David Boag, looking at the birds, butterflies and other creatures. The Millennium Hall, Seavington St. Mary, Ilminster, TA19 0GH

at 7.30pm. Entry £3 group members, £4 nongroup members, under 18’s free. Wheelchair access. Everyone welcome. Contact: 01460240740 or www.rspb.org.uk/groups/ southsomerset.

Louder is not always clearer- Devised and performed by Jonny Cotsen 7.30pm An honest portrayal of the vulnerability of a deaf man, created and performed by a deaf man.

For a hearing audience it is an illuminating and emotional experience. For deaf audience members the show is a familiar tale of misunderstanding and isolation. A humorous and at times moving story of one man’s attempt to cope, to fit in and be accepted.

The show is accessible to D/deaf, hard of hearing and hearing audiences through the use of spoken English, BSL and creative captions. Post show Q&A. Adult £10, Student £8, Family £29 The Beehive, Honiton. www. beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050 Lyme Voices Community Choir. 19.30 to 21.15. Sing for fun. Learn tunes by ear. Everyone welcome. Baptist Church (pine hall round the back), Silver St., Lyme Regis, DT7 3NY. Phone 01297 445078 or email petelinnett@naturalvoice.net

FRIDAY 20 MARCH

“1220 to 2020; 800 years of Hinton St. George Church”. Start time: 1800. A talk by local historian Charles Bird in St. George’s Church, Hinton St. George (postcode TA17 8SP) which will outline some of the key events in the church’s history as part of the celebrations to mark 800 years since the first recorded mention of the church in Hinton St. George. Entry free. Enquiries to 01460-77214.

For further information about other events, please see www.2020stgeorges.org.

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Chef ’s Special Lunch – 12.30. Fruit juice upon arrival, Roast Beef followed by Sticky Toffee Pudding. Tea / coffee and a chocolate to finish. Non-members £9.50 / members £8.00, Booking required. The Henhayes Centre, South Street Car Park, Crewkerne, TA18 8DA. Tel 01460 74340.

Branco Stoysin, 8pm, solo guitar maestro playing classical, jazz and world music plus film projection, Tickets £14, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, 01460 54973, www. themeetinghouse.org.uk Making sense of the Age of (tech) Disruption - An Illustrated talk by Sir Ken Olisa. 7pm £10 fundraiser. Bridport Literary & Scientific Institute www.lsibridport.co.uk Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show (PG) 7. 30pm. This powerful and stirring reinvention of the beloved family favourite is celebrated the world over for its Grammy Award-winning music and the thrilling energy of its Irish and international dance.

Filmed live at the 3Arena Dublin, the exact spot where it all began, the 25th Anniversary Gala Performance will bring Riverdance to the big screen for the very first time! Tickets: £13.50 Adults, £11 Students. The Beehive, Honiton. www.beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050 The Living Tree, cancer self-help group.

2pm Tripudio Flow. 2.15pm Tamara Jones talks about nutrition. 3.15 Rising Voices – Singing with Jane Silver-Corran. Therapy session with Peter Cove. Drop in any time between 2pm and 4.30pm at the Friends’ Meeting House, 95 South Street, Bridport DT6 3NZ. Tel 07341 916 976. www. thelivingtree.org.uk

SATURDAY 21 MARCH

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 6.5 mile walk from Compton Valance 10.30am start. Bring picnic. No dogs. All welcome. Please call 01308 898484/01308 863340

24 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

Silence and Music, 3.00pm, An a capella choir performance by Parnham Voices, St Nicholas Church Abbotsbury, ticket office 01305 871532 Coffee Morning/Jumble Sale 10am - 12 noon Uplyme Village Hall Enquiries 01297 445110 Axe Valley Community Choir Charity Concert. 7.00 for 7.30pm. In aid of ARC Axminster. The Minster, Axminster.

Contact jan.windhover@gmail.com.

John Osborne with ‘John Peels Shed’ - For all ages A homage to the late great John Peel and direct from Radio 4, Soho Theatre and Glastonbury. Writer and theatre maker John Osborne brings his Edinburgh sell out show. In 2020 John Osborne won a competition on John Peels Radio Show; his prize was a box of records. This is an ode to radio and a unique opportunity for any Peel fans featuring a selection of records previously owned by the late and infamous John Peel. Tickets available from 24 February 2020 Tickets; Available from the Village Shop, www.takeart.org, John Bailey (01935881227) ( £10 adults; £5 children) Venue; Norton Sub Hamdon Village Hall, Recreation Ground, New Road, TA146SF Contact John Bailey on 881227 with any queries.

Radipole & Southill Horticultural Society, 2-15pm, SPRING SHOW, Southill Community Centre DT4 9SF, 01305 788939 The Laboratory of Fun: 12 Creative Experiments, 2-6pm, Local artists + local citizens exciting community development! A drop-in day for all ages! 12 different creative experiments with stories, words, photos, games and picture making....collaborating with different people, exploring new ideas and having fun! Part of Port East’s Blueprint Festival, Bridport United Church East St DT6 3LJ, 07751 211 603 http://bit.ly/ LabOfFun Cara Dillon. 8pm. This extraordinary Irish singer has been captivating audiences and

achieving exceptional acclaim for over 20 years. Alongside a selection of favourites from her previous releases, Cara will be performing material from her new album, recorded with her husband and musical partner, Sam Lakeman. At The David Hall in South Petherton. Tickets: £22, no concessions, from www.thedavidhall.org. uk or 01460 240 340.

Char Valley and the Climate Emergency.

1pm – 6pm. Displays, presentations and panel discussions. What’s being done and what can you do? Whitchurch Canonicorum village hall, DT6 6RF. Information: www. charvalley.org

SUNDAY 22 MARCH

Mandeville Anne Scolding- Perrett (Clarinet) and Clare Sydenham (Piano) will be performing another of their memorable recitals with the title, “In Pursuit of Spring” at 3pm at The Salt House, West Bay,Dorset A Concert of music by neglected British composers evoking the freshness and colour of an advancing season including nostalgic music for Clarinet and Piano from a Post- War era including compositions by Geoffrey Bush, Gerald Finzi, EJ Moeran and James Rae. Tickets are £9 (under 16’s free) including tea and biscuits available from Clare Sydenham email clare.sydpiano@gmail. com or on the door.

An afternoon cream tea with accompanying live harp music. 3 to 5pm.

Dorset cream tea with florence Astley (harpist) providing classical background music. The village hall in Maiden Newton.

Pay on entry: £5 p person (Includes a Cream Tea). Any further info. Contact: flowastley@ gmail.com Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea special, 11am -4pm.Treat mum to an extra special Afternoon Tea in Shire Hall Café, this Mothers’ Day. Includes a selection of finger sandwiches, miniature cream tea, a range of cakes and Eton mess, as well as a cheeky glass of fizz and a cup of tea. Tickets £12.50 per head (minimum of two). Bookings must be made in advance please call 01305 261849 or email Kirsty.campbell@shirehalldorset.org.

Divine Union Soundbath 2-4PM Crystal and Tibetan bowls for deep relaxation/ healing/detox The Scout Hall, Redcotts Lane, wimborne, Dorset BH21 1JX please book 01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com www. centreforpureosund.org See daffodils, tulips and hellebores galore in the unusual & challenging ½ acre Ivy House Garden, set on steep hillside with fine views. Run on organic lines with plants to attract wildlife, see mixed borders, ponds, vegetable garden, fruit cage, greenhouses, polytunnel, chickens and bees. Insectfriendly plants usually for sale. Open in aid of the National Garden Scheme nursing and health charities from 2-5pm. Located in

Piddletrenthide (DT2 7QF). Adm £5 chd free.

(Also open Sun 12 Apr) www.ngs.org.uk also 29 March

MONDAY 23 MARCH

Musbury Garden Club a talk by Neil Lovesey on ‘Practical propagation’ - Covering all the bulbs, corms, and tuberous-rooted plants, all top cuttings – soft, semi & hardwood, root cuttings and much, much more. This is a practical session open for attendees to bring their own material for advice, and backed up with slides. Neil is the owner of Picket Lane Nursery. Doors to Musbury Village Hall, EX13 8AJ open for refreshments at 7p.m. before the talk at 7.30p.m. Members: £1.50. Nonmembers very welcome: £2.50.

Scottish Dancing in Chardstock 7.30 - 10.00 p.m. Evening of social dancing at Chardstock Village Hall, Cost £1.50 tea or coffee included.

No partner required. Contact David on 01460 65981 or Andrew on 01297 33461, or just come along www.chardscottishdancing.org

TUESDAY 24 MARCH

U3A Monthly Talk The U3A (University of the Third Age) offers a wide variety of general interest groups for retired, and semi retired people in Bridport and the surrounding areas.

2pm in Bridport United Church Hall in East Street. The cost to non members for each talk is £2. Further Information can be found at www.u3asites.org.uk/bridport. A talk from the Treatment Manager at Wessex Water.

Dorset Industrial Archaeology Society lecture “Bogs and Inundations – Reclaiming the Somerset Levels”, speaker: Iain Miles.

7.30 pm, the Dorset Room< Colliton House, Colliton Park, Dorchester. 01308 422054/01935 813598.

Exploring the Historic Atlantic Triangle Lyme Regis’ links with America by John Dover 2.30pm- 4pm at Woodmead Halls, Hill Road, Lyme Regis. DT7 3PG. All Welcome.

Members Free. Visitors £3.00. Including Refreshments. www.lymeregissociety.org.uk Mary Chisholm , the rich and varied graffiti all over Montacute House. 7 for 7.30 pm: In Martock School, Elmleigh Road. £3 admission. Ring Fergus on 01935 8/22202 for more.

WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH

AV&DCS Bird Watch. 10:00 to 15:00.

Dunsford Woods and Steps Bridge for birds and wild daffodils, with Rob Johnson. Meet at car park uphill on right past bridge SX803883.

Contact Fran Sinclair 07804 835905 for car share.

Uplyme & Lyme Regis Horticultural Society talk. 7.30pm Uplyme Village Hall.

‘Star Plants for Small Gardens’ by Matthew Wilson, Chelsea garden designer, gardening columnist and panellist on Gardeners’ Question Time. Ticketed event - members £5; guests £8. www.ulrhs.wordpress.com / Sue Hadcock 01404 831942.

West Dorset Ramblers Circular Walk 10:00 - 10 miles/16.1 km. compton down. Contact: 01300 320346 Coffee Morning. 10am-12noon at The David Hall in South Petherton. Free Entry.

THURSDAY 26 MARCH

Talk ‘Black and British in the 16th and 17th Centuries’ by Peter Lacey, a local historian : 7.30pm : Peter will focus first on pre-colonial Tudor England and then on Lyme Regis and West Dorset.

The talk will feature black people as part of the communities in which they lived : Woodmead Halls, Hill Rd, Lyme Regis DT7 3PG : contact David Cox on 01297 443156 (Friends of Lyme Regis Philpot Museum) Early years workshop 1.30-3.00pm: Drop in for a fun creative session for babies and toddlers. Free. Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Elmfield House, Dowell Street, Honiton EX14 1LX, 01404 45006 www. thelmahulbert.com James Crowden The Frozen River: Seeking Silence in the Himalaya 7pm illustrated talk Waterstones South St Dorchester Bridport United Church Fashion Revolution learn how to refurbish clothes you love. 7pm Monmouth Club Lunch 12.30pm. The Monmouth Club of Lyme Regis meets at a local hotel. The Club is open to retired or semi-retired professional gentlemen and is ideal for those who have recently moved to the Lyme Regis area. Members enjoy a 2 course lunch and convivial conversation with no after lunch speaker. For further information contact Dr Charles Wright on 01297 443258.

Mending Our Ways: Upcycle Your Clothes, 7-9pm, Slow fashion, slow fashion, slow fashion! If we can keep our clothes in circulation for longer it will have a huge impact on the environment both avoiding the need to buy more clothes and reducing the amount of textiles that end up being incinerated or in a landfill. This is an opportunity to bring clothes you own and learn basic mending skills to extend their life. Or be inspired to upcycle an item of clothing into something different, creating a new piece for your wardrobe. There will be food by Bearkat and Mocktails available and time to talk and share ideas. Part of Port East’s Blueprint Festival, Bridport United Church East St DT6 3LJ, 07751 211 603 http://bit.ly/MendWays Lyme Voices Community Choir. 19.30 to 21.15. Sing for fun. Learn tunes by ear. Everyone welcome. Baptist Church (pine hall round the back), Silver St., Lyme Regis, DT7 3NY. Phone 01297 445078 or email petelinnett@naturalvoice.net

FRIDAY 27 MARCH 26 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

“World of Cuckoos and other brood parasites.” 7.30pm A return visit by Colin Ryall in which he will introduce us to the 30 or so parasitic birds that aren’t cuckoos. Parish Hall, North St. Ilminster TA19 0DG Enquiries, Valerie 01460 234551 Dave Newton Trio, 8pm, mainstream jazz with special guests Andy Panayi and Sue Richardson, Tickets £18, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, 01460 54973, www. themeetinghouse.org.uk West Dorset Ramblers Circular Walk 10:00 - 7 miles/11.3 km. admiral hardy’s country. Contact: 01305 262681 Brink by Brink: An Interactive Screening, 7-9pm, Local film-makers modern take on pagan and folk tradition. Chasing Cow Productions Presents ‘Brink by Brink’ An interactive screening. Come along for an evening of film, music, and discussion, where we will be screening ‘Brink by Brink’, the first short film made by our filmmaking collective Chasing Cow Productions. Our collective brings together a group of local graduates all keen to continue working on creative projects after university within Bridport’s artistic community. The film is shot entirely in West Dorset and centres on a modern-day woman’s blackly comic exploration of pagan and folk tradition as she tries to get a local man to fall in love with her. The film is dialogue-free and is being scored by a post-production soundscape and a folk-inspired original soundtrack which will involve a cross-section of Bridport’s musicians. The event will consist of a full showing of ‘Brink by Brink’ (approximately 20 minutes), interactive discussions and presentations by the artists and producers, and a live performance of songs from the soundtrack. Food and drinks will also be provided! Part of Port East’s Blueprint Festival, Bridport United Church East St DT6 3LJ, 07751 211 603 http://bit. ly/BrinkFilm Hazel O’Connor 7.30pm Celebrating the Hallelujah Moments of a stunning and illustrious live career Hazel is accompanied here by virtuoso saxophonist Clare Hirst (The Belle Stars, Communards, David Bowie) on sax, Sarah Fisher (Eurythmics) keyboards and Tony Quinta (Odyssey/Edgar Winter) on guitar. This powerful blend of voices and musicianship brings a classy touch of energy, passion and fire to Hazel’s vibrant performance. Tickets £20.70 The Beehive, Honiton. www.beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050 The Living Tree, cancer self-help group.

2pm Tripudio Flow. 2.15pm Art with Libby.

Therapy session – Anne Escott offering Foot Massages. Drop in any time between 2pm and 4.30pm at the Friends’ Meeting House, 95 South Street, Bridport DT6 3NZ.

Tel 07341 916 976. www.thelivingtree.org.uk

FRIDAY 27 – SAT 28 MARCH

Rent Party Blues – Jazz piano with Mike Denham and songs by Hamish Maxwell Tincleton Gallery, The Old School House, Tincleton, nr Dorchester, DT2 8QR Opening / performance times: doors open 19:30; concert starts 20:00 Admission fee: £15, or four for £50 Venue contact number: 01305 848 909 http://www.tincletongallery. com The 1920s rent party was a hot bed for the development of solo piano styles including blues, stride and boogie-woogie.

Hundreds of long-forgotten pianists competed for engagements (and public recognition) at these informal events. A few made the big time. Fats Waller, Earl Hines and Jimmy Yancey cut their teeth at rent parties in New York and Chicago. Pianists were also in demand as accompanists for the blues singers of the day. Mike will play some of their well-known solo pieces, and some more obscure (but fascinating!) items in the style of Cripple Clarence Lofton, Art Hodes and others. It was, of course, the era of prohibition and high-profile gangsters, and these will no doubt provide a wealth of material for Mike’s acclaimed anecdotes!

Special guest, veteran blues singer Hamish Maxwell, will perform some entertaining and thought-provoking songs from the era.

SATURDAY 28 MARCH

The Beach Boys Tribute Show. 7:30p.m.

The Beach Boyz, now into their fifth year, continue to deliver the same lush harmonies in a new 2020 event that will exceed all expectations. Book for an evening of fun, melodies and participation which recalls the golden days when surf met rock and roll.

Contact: Archway Bookshop 01297 33595.

TICs Lyme and Bridport.On line www. wegottickets.com.

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 6 mile walk from TPortesham 10.30am start.

Bring picnic. No dogs. All welcome. Please call 01308 898484/01308 863340 T-Shirt Printing Workshop 11-1 / 2-4pm – family friendly. £15. Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Elmfield House, Dowell Street, Honiton EX14 1LX, 01404 45006 www.thelmahulbert.com Sid Valley Horticultural Society coffee morning Sidford Social Hall Byes Lane Sidford Sidmouth EX10 9QX 10.00am 12.00 midday Entry £1.00 Various stalls.

Big Breakfast, 9 – 11.30 am, at Clapton & Wayford Village Hall. Full English breakfast (£6.50), including fruit juice + unlimited toast & coffee/tea, in a friendly atmosphere with a lovely view. Disabled facilities, ample parking; all welcome. Further information/ booking from Adrienne (01460 75313) or Julia (01460 72769) Bridport Garden Club Spring Show,

12noon - 3pm, United Church Hall, East Street, Bridport, Bridportgardeningclub. co.uk, 01308 424055 Henhayes Big Breakfast – 10.00 – 12.00.

Egg, bacon, tomato/beans, toast and tea/coffee. Only £4.50! Extras 50p each including black pudding, mushrooms & hash browns. Vegetarian options are also available.

The Henhayes Centre, South Street Car Park, Crewkerne, TA18 8DA. Tel 01460 74340.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary Male Voice Choir – Bar opens at 18.30, Concert begins at 19.30. Join us for a musical extravaganza spanning everything from classic choral to popular song. This fantastic choir is guaranteed to entertain. Tickets £12.00. Booking required. The Henhayes Centre, South Street Car Park, Crewkerne, TA18 8DA. Tel 01460 74340.

South Somerset Spring Concert 7.30pm Mozart Requiem &Ave Verum Corpus Haydn Insanae et Vanae Curae & Te Deum Bruckner Locus Iste Brahms How lovely are thy dwellings fair. St Marys Churc Chard Tel 01458 259079 www. southsomersetchoralsociety.org.uk Miserere, 7pm, Cantamus sings inspiring music for the Easter season (Byrd, Purcell, Vaughan Williams et al), Holy Trinity Bothenhampton, Tickets £10 on the door.

Refreshments available. www.cantamus-

dorset.org Chard Camera Club The club will be holding their ‘Stars of 2019/2020’ Success awards night. Judge for the evenings events will be Mr Nigel West. The meeting will start at 7.30pm from their base in the Baptist Church Hall and rounds off a year of competition activities and will see the crowning of ‘Photographer Of The Year’ along with many more awards. Further details can be obtained from the clubs website www.chardcameraclub.org.uk or by contacting the clubs members secretary Mrs Joyce Partridge on 01460 66885.

The Shoe Chorus perform ‘Reverdie’, 5.30-7pm, The Shoe Chorus’ newest show!

Bridport’s inclusive community dance theatre company The Shoe Chorus will perform their latest show ‘Reverdie’ which sees the year rolling forwards into Spring and the start of a new life, with live music, incredible creations, amazing dancers and our very own dawn chorus. Part of Port East’s Blueprint Festival, Bridport United Church East St DT6 3LJ, 07751 211 603 http://bit.ly/ Reverdie Paddleboat Theatre: Hansel & Gretel 11am Join Hansel and Gretel as they venture into the woods, trailing breadcrumbs and sharing their story as they go. The mischievous siblings are searching

for the magical market at the heart of the forest – but if they’re not careful they’ll find more than just sweets waiting for them in the deep dark woods... Suitable for age 3+ Tickets: Adults £8.70, Children £6.70 The Beehive, Honiton. www.beehivehoniton. co.uk Box office 01404 384050 Rachael McShane and The Cartographers. 8pm. Rachael McShane is a singer, cellist, fiddle and viola player, based in the North East of England. An original member of Folk ‘big band’ Bellowhead, Rachael toured internationally with them, as well as making several TV appearances.

Rachael is now working on a new solo project and is playing with a brand-new band. At The David Hall in South Petherton.

Tickets: £16 Full, £15 Concessions, from www.thedavidhall.org.uk or 01460 240 340.

Sid Valley Horticultural Society coffee morning Sidford Social Hall Byes Lane Sidford Sidmouth EX10 9QX 10.00am 12.00 midday Entry £1.00 Various stalls.

Circle Of Voices at the Masonic Hall, Lyme Regis. 10.30-1.00: Spring Celebration: Pete Linnett will be leading a singing session of simple rounds and harmony songs, songs sacred and secular, from many faiths and none. All the songs will be taught by ear.

Session open to all. Deborah Latham will

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 27

lead some Dances of Universal Peace. £15 (concessions £12).

SUNDAY 29 MARCH

Bridport Chamber Orchestra Spring Concert, 3 pm. Music includes pieces by Karl Jenkins, Philip Glass, Bartok, Dowland, Janacek, Romero and Plaza. St Swithun’s Church, Bridport. Tickets £10 on the door, including teas. Children free. Info: guinea@ lewars.plus.com Garrick and Etheridge 7.30pm Drimpton Village Hall Christian Garrick (violin) John Etheridge ( guitar) are a world class duo who have played with some of the biggest names in music including Stephane Grappelli, Dizzy Gillespie, John Williams, Nigel Kennedy, Van Morrison, Cleo Laine and Bryan Ferry.

They have been associated for many years and are back with a new show that provides a feast of interplay and improvisation creating exotic, almost orchestral tapestries of sound. Atmospheric, hypnotic, humorous and entertaining, they can roar, seduce and whisper Tickets: £10 adults, £6 under 18’s and £25 family Available from Francesca Hurrell 01308 867617 or www.artsreach. co.uk Fashion Revolution workshop Bridport 15 Foundry Lane DT6 3QP for 13 to 18’s. 11pm Angels of Sound Voice Playshop 10am-12.30pm Chakra balancing

28 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

through toning and overtoning-find your Soul Note/Key Tone. Oborne Village Hall, oborne, nr. Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4LA please book 01935 389655 ahiahel@ live.com www.centreforpuresound.org Divine Union Soundbath 2-4PM Crystal and Tibetan bowls for deep relaxation/ healing/detox Oborne Village Hall, oborne, nr. Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4LA please book 01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com www. centreforpuresound.org Bridport Mini Storytelling Festival, 2-9pm, An afternoon and evening of mesmerising myths, enchanting tales and cracking good yarns to celebrate the magic of storytelling in Bridport. Our talented tag–team of storytellers, from near and far, will weave together a tapestry of tales to suit audiences from 4 to 104 during a spellbinding 7-hour marathon of spoken word stories... Part of Port East’s Blueprint Festival, Bridport United Church East St DT6 3LJ, 07751 211 603 http://bit.ly/ BridStoryFest Acoustic Night. 7.30pm – 11pm. All styles and forms of performance welcome – not just music. If you wish to perform please drop us an email at folk@chriswatts.org to secure a slot. At The David Hall in South Petherton.

MONDAY 30 MARCH

Scottish Dancing in Chardstock 7.3010.00 p.m.

Evening of social dancing at Chardstock Village Hall, Cost £1.50 tea or coffee included. No partner required. Contact David on 01460 65981 or Andrew on 01297 33461, or just come along www. chardscottishdancing.org AV&DCS Walk. 10:00 to 12:30. Holyford Woods with Mike Lock for spring flowers and early migrants. Meet Seaton Tower layby SY233914. Contact Mike 01297 551556 Bridport Folk Dance Club, 7-30pm – 9 30pm WI Hall North Street, Bridport. DT6 3JQ Beginner and experienced dancers welcome (children must be accompanied by an adult}. Contact: 01308 458 165 Bridport Camera Club 7pm for 7.30 start. Club Competition - Movement, judged by Maria Falconer FRPS. Non members £4 at the door. Bridport Town Hall DT6 3HA. info@bridportcameraclub. co.uk. 01395 892353.

TUESDAY 31 MARCH

Beaminster Museum Winter talk , 2.30pm, ‘The Poor and Poor Laws in Georgian Beaminster’, by Pauline Thorne, reporting on her recent research , Beaminster Museum, Whitcombe Road, DT8 3NB. Info@beaminstermuseum.co.uk Fashion Revolution Quiz and Raffle Bridport The Ropemakers Pub. 8pm Merriott Gardening Club 7.30pm ‘The Story of the Humble Spud’, Tithe Barn, Merriott. Contact 01460 72298 Axminster Musiical Theatre presents Avenue Avenue Q tells the story of a bunch of loveable, foul-mouthed puppets living on a downtown New York Street.

This musical is something completely different to any others that have been seen on stage in Axminster. After all, on paper a social commentary musical performed by a mix of puppets and humans with more than a touch of filth, plus jokes about racism and suicide doesn’t exactly look like box office magic. But the creators’ unique selling point was that cuddly puppets could get away with being cruder and more politically incorrect than humans and so it proved. The production first opened OffBroadway in 2003, before transferring to Broadway where it picked up three Tony Awards. It opened in the West End in 2006, where it ran for five years. It features classic numbers including “The Internet is for Porn” and “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist”. This show has been referred to as Sesame Street for adults! Please note that this is a show for adults! Further performances are 2nd, 3rd and 4th April all starting at 7 30 pm. There is a matinee on Saturday 4th starting at 2 30 pm. Tickets can be obtained on line from axmt.co.uk/ book-online and The Archway Bookshop, South Street, Axminster 01297 33595.

Around the House this Spring Call on Local Expertise for all your interior and exterior needs

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30 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

Rural Life Museum Celebrates Two Iconic Somerset Events

T

wo of Somerset’s best-known institutions will be celebrated at Somerset Rural Life Museum this year. In April the museum will open an exhibition of photographs documenting 20 years of the Glastonbury Festival. In July it will highlight the work of the Royal Bath and West Society, the oldest agricultural society in the country, and the annual show that is synonymous with it.

Music, Mud, Mayhem: Photographing Glastonbury Festival brings together images of the iconic festival during the years from 1997 to the present day. The images have been captured by the Somerset-based photographer Jason Bryant who has chosen his personal favourites for this special exhibition marking the festival’s 50th anniversary. It runs from Saturday 4 April to Sunday 28 June, ending on the same weekend as the Glastonbury Festival itself.

Jason Bryant said: “The images capture the crowds and the spectacle as well as the generosity and positivity which are so characteristic of the festival.”

The Bath and West: A Celebration has been created in partnership with the Royal Bath and West Society. It will showcase the remarkable contribution the society has made to the development of farming and the rural economy. It will also provide an insight into the society’s wideranging history and the challenges it has faced over more than two centuries of existence. The exhibition runs Saturday 25 July to Saturday 7 November.

Rupert Cox from the Bath and West Society said: “We are delighted to be working with the museum to raise awareness of the important work the society does to promote a broad range of economic, social, educational and cultural improvements to rural life today.”

Somerset Rural Life Museum is part of The South West Heritage Trust, an independent charity that protects and celebrates Somerset and Devon’s rich heritage.

Top Left: Stormzy photographed by Jason Bryant at the 2019 festival Bottom Left: Jason Bryant takes a selfie with the festival crowds Above: A prize bull at the 2019 Bath and West Show by Pete Hall Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 31

Gearing up for the New Season West Bay has undergone massive changes in recent years, as Margery Hookings discovers.

A

lmost eight years ago, I was asked to be a part of the Windrose Media Trust’s Forever Archive, a series of films capturing life in West Dorset through the eyes of those connected to the area.

I was tasked to find suitable subjects for the short videos which would illustrate the link between people and places. They ranged from singers to stately homeowners, artists and photographers to dentists and designers.

There was one problem, though, they needed someone at very short notice to wax lyrical about Bridport and West Bay, and would I do it? As a former editor of the local newspaper, the Bridport and Lyme Regis News, I would be the ideal person, according to Windrose director Trevor Bailey and cameraman James Harrison.

To be honest, I’m much happier behind the camera or armed with a notebook. And, in any case, I was about to exchange the lovely West Dorset landscape for a year in Greece. How could I talk about a place with conviction when I was just about to leave it?

Still, they needed someone in a hurry so I said yes.

Their particular preference, they said, was to film someone down at West Bay to talk about the area. And that’s what I did, stopping off for an ice cream and chat with Margaret Grundell who had been running the kiosk for so many years she was serving up 99s for the great-grandchildren of her first customers and was on first name terms with all of them.

When I first moved to Bridport in the spring of

32 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

1982, I didn’t know it very well, even though I was born and brought up about 25 miles away in south Somerset. My abiding memory of Bridport was that it was the place where my flatmate’s treasured cigarette lighter was stolen as we hitch-hiked from Exeter to Salisbury two years earlier. And West Bay, well, my late father always used to describe it as ‘that place with the hole in it’. He meant the harbour.

Still, it wasn’t far from my roots, which was where I wanted to be.

After an interview in Taunton, I visited Bridport and West Bay with my mother. It was the day before I was due to start work as a reporter on the Bridport News.

War had just broken out in the Falklands. I remember the two of us gazing at the newspaper office at 67 East Street. It was rundown, even in those days. I think there was a deep intake of breath before we headed down to ‘that place with the hole in it’—West Bay. We trudged up East Cliff and then turned around at the top to gaze down on West Bay and the hinterland beyond. It was absolutely gorgeous. Yes, I thought, I love this place. I feel at home here. I’ve been attached to it ever since.

The landscape of the part of Dorset covered by the Bridport News was like nothing I have seen before or since. It’s a special place, full of hidden lanes, rounded hills and stunning vistas, a place where you can escape from the crowds in the summer by going inland and enjoy the coast in the winter when everyone else has gone home.

West Bay was a favourite haunt back in the day when my new flatmate and I made The Bridport Arms our local, in the days before it became twice its original size.

And I still love West Bay. Parts of it are gorgeous and others aren’t. But it’s the sum of its parts that appeals to me. It’s a place where a caravan park is allowed to rub shoulders with chi-chi eateries and fish and chip kiosks. It’s a place where people mess about on boats in the harbour before putput-putting up through the piers and into the open sea beyond. Where fishing boats bob alongside pleasure crafts and a band strikes up on the green.

It’s a place where you can wander around the hole in its middle and then take a wonderful bracing walk along the pier and along the esplanade—which is not genteel like Sidmouth’s or Lyme Regis’s but is wonderful just the same because it is familiar, so close to the roar of the sea and you inevitably bump into someone you haven’t seen for years.

Over the years, West Bay has seen massive investment and change, but still its core remains the same.

I well remember the furore when planning consent was granted for the apartments overlooking the harbour and the beach. But at the time when Pier Terrace was built in 1884-85 by Arts and Craft architect Edward Schroeder Prior, the non-plussed locals dubbed it ‘Noah’s Ark’, according to a contemporary report in Bridport News.

Every year something seems to be happening down at the Bay, whether it is sea defence work or the opening up of a new restaurant or café. It’s a living, working canvas and something which appealed to television writer Chris Chibnall, who described Broadchurch as a love letter to the scenery of the Jurassic Coast, with the landscape a main character of the drama.

Before that, my late friend David Martin, a writer who lived in the pink house overlooking East Beach, had come up with a similar idea for a series set in West Bay where the lead character, played by Nick Berry, was the harbourmaster. Harbour Lights was a hit, although

not the sensation that Broadchurch was to become.

As West Bay prepares for the new season, its beaches shored up in a massive, multi-million pound flood defence scheme which involved 40,000 tonnes of rock and 10,000 tonnes of shingle from Scotland, four smaller coastal projects, funded by government money and with community support, are taking place or are nearing completion. Although a planned boardwalk along East Beach has not been feasible because of ‘funding constraints’.

At the West Bay ‘hub’ opposite the kiosks, there is now a circle of curved benches made out of concrete and designed by artist Michael Pinksy to reflect the curves and shapes of the local land and seascape. Love it or hate it, this motorcycle mandala is now well and truly installed, with bikers gathering around the outside of the ring and pedestrians sitting inside as they enjoy their food from the kiosks and shops.

The bridleway along the old railway line between West Bay and Bothenhampton has been resurfaced and widened for walkers and cyclists, with new cycle parking stands between Station Yard and West Bay Road car parks. And access to the disabled toilet next to the beach near the West Bay Discovery Centre is being improved.

To top it all, there’s free public Wifi at West_BayFree.

As West Bay businesses prepare for the Easter invasion, here’s to the new improvements making a welcome difference to its many visitors. Me, I’ll be hibernating over the summer, ready to emerge and soak up its splendours next autumn and winter.

• Windrose Media Trust’s Forever Archive films can be found on You Tube - https://www.youtube.com/user/ windroseRMT/videos - along with fascinating video and audio from the area, including a silent melodrama featuring West Bay called Dope Under Thorncombe, made at the end of the 1930s by hairdresser Frank Trevett and a group of friends. It now accompanied by a new musical score by Rachel Leach.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 33

March

COURSES & WORKSHOPS

WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY

Dalwood Upholstery Class 9.30am to 3.30pm with tutor John Cooper in Dalwood Village Hall. 9.30am to 3.30pm. £15 per day. Places limited, please book in advance by phone on 01404 831207.

FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY

By The Loom - Axminster Heritage Spinning and Weaving Group. For more info or to book: 01404 831207. The Bradshaw Meeting Room, Axminster Heritage, Silver Street, Axminster, Devon, EX13 5AH Dillington House, Ilminster. Bridport historian Jane Ferentzi-Sheppard is offering a day ‘DNA and Family History Research’, For more information contact the booking office at Dillington House on 01460 258613 or email dillington@somerset.gov. uk

SATURDAY 29 FEBRUARY

Jewellery workshop with Caroline Parrott.

10am-4pm. For more information visit shirehalldorset.org or call 01305 261849.

Hand Embroidery For Beginners 10am - 3pm Tutor: Jan Dimond £16 An Axminster Heritage Craft Course at The Bradshaw Meeting Room, Thomas Whitty House, Silver Street, Axminster EX13 5AH. To book please phone Jane on 01404 831207

MONDAY 2 MARCH

Soil Health for Growers (part 1), 10am-4:30pm, with sustainable food systems advisor, researcher and educator, Niels Corfield. From £55 incl. lunch. Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU. trillfarm.co.uk 01297 631113

TUESDAY 3 – TUE 31 MARCH

Adult Art Class. 10am – 1pm. Weekly class tutored by Trudi Ochiltree Fine Art BA Hons, PGCE Art and Design. Watercolour, acrylics, drawing and mixed media. Taster class £7.50, 6 week course £90. Woodmead Halls, Hill Rd, Lyme Regis, DT7 3PG. To book call 07812 856823 or email trudiochiltree@gmail.com

WED 4 MARCH - WED 1 APRIL Adult Art Class. 10am – 1pm. Weekly class tutored by Trudi Ochiltree Fine Art BA Hons, PGCE Art and Design. Watercolour, acrylics, drawing and mixed media. Taster class £7.50, 6 week course £90. St Andrew’s Community Hall, Lower Sea Lane, Charmouth, DT6 6LH. To book call 07812 856823 or email trudiochiltree@gmail.com

FRIDAY 6 MARCH

Creative Watercolours, 10am-3pm, Explore new and expressive techniques in watercolours, £30, book with tutor on 01460 281773, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, www.themeetinghouse.org.uk

MONDAY 9 MARCH

Nature Drawing in Pen and Ink taught

by Sarah Morrish. In early Spring the habitats around the Kingcombe Centre and Sarah’s natural history specimens, provide inspiration and subject matter to illustrate in pen and ink. All levels of experience welcome, and our small class size will ensure individual tuition. R: £392pp. NR: £264pp. The Kingcombe Centre, Lower Kingcombe, DT20EQ. T: 01300 320684.

Visit www.kingcombe.org to book online.

Soil Health for Growers (part 2), 10am-4:30pm, with sustainable food system advisor, researcher and educator, Niels Corfield. From £55 incl. lunch. Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU. trillfarm.co.uk 01297 631113 ‘Impressionism’, this course explores impressionist artists and their responses to the painting of modern life in the later part of the19c. (Course Starts Monday 9th March for 6wks, but with a two wk break for Easter.) Venue is Chapel in the Garden, East St, Bridport, 2pm-3.30pm, Fee £60. Tutor: Pam Simpson MA, who teaches at Bath Spa University. Contact: chris.pamsimpson@btinternet.com or tel 01300 321715

SATURDAY 7 MARCH

MON 9 – WED 11 MARCH

FRI 6 – WED 19 MARCH

DIY for Beginners, 9:30am-4:30pm, with patternmaker and woodworker, Graham Jones. £85 incl. lunch. Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU. trillfarm.co.uk 01297 631113 Mad March Hare, 10am-2pm, Sew a fabulous gentleman hare with cravat and waistcoat, £38, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, www.themeetinghouse.org.uk

SATURDAY 7 – SUN 8 MARCH

The Art of Soap Making, 9:30am-4:30pm, with educator, gardener and alchemist Jonathan Code. £245 incl. lunches. Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU. trillfarm.co.uk 01297 631113

SUNDAY 8 MARCH

Crystal & Tibetan Singing Bowl

34 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

Sound Bath. 2pm – 3.30pm. Experience the therapeutic Pure Sound effect with musician and sound healing facilitator, Dean Carter (MA Oxon), using singing bowls with vocal overtoning applied using the yin/yang principles of harmony.

At The David Hall in South Petherton.

To reserve a place email Dean Carter on ahiahel@live.com, telephone 01935 389655 or visit www.centreforpuresound. org. Payment required on the day. Tickets: £15 Full. £13 Concessions.

How to be a Successful Smallholder led

by Ruth Kirby BVetMed. R: £316pp NR: £232 pp. The Kingcombe Centre, Lower Kingcombe, DT20EQ. T: 01300 320684.

Visit www.kingcombe.org to book online.

TUESDAY 10 MARCH

Lino Printing, 13.45 to 16.45 £22 Coastal Craft Collective, 10 Marine Place, Seaton, Devon EX12 2QL 01297 691362 hello@ coastalcraftcollective.co.uk

WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH

Dalwood Upholstery Class 9.30am to 3.30pm with tutor John Cooper in Dalwood Village Hall. 9.30am to 3.30pm. £15 per day. As places are limited, please book in advance by phone on 01404 831207.

THURSDAY 12 MARCH

‘Impressionism’, this course explores impressionist artists and their responses to the painting of modern life in the later part of the19c. These were avant-garde artists in their time creating new subjects matter and responses to painting, which becomes the start of modern art. (Course Starts Thursday 9th March for 6wks, but with a two wk break for Easter) Venue is Lyme Regis Football Club, with free parking, 2pm-3.30pm, Fee £60. Tutor: Pam Simpson MA, who teaches at Bath Spa University. Contact: chris.pamsimpson@ btinternet.com or tel 01300 321715

FRIDAY 13 MARCH

Introduction to Weaving with a Loom, 14.00 to 17.00 £35 Coastal Craft Collective, 10 Marine Place, Seaton, Devon EX12 2QL 01297 691362 hello@ coastalcraftcollective.co.uk

SATURDAY 14 MARCH

Deer £75pp Studi0ne Broadwindsor Craft Centre,Dorset 9-30am to 4-30pm Children’s Art Chest, 10.30am-12.30pm, Spring is Here, £5. Age 8+, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, www. themeetinghouse.org.uk

SAT 14 – SUN 15 MARCH

Angels of Sound Practitioner Course Module 1 10am-5PM An ideal introduction to chakra balancing through toning and overtoning, and an extended and more in-depth version of our shorter ‘Angels of Sound’ Playshops, our Module 1 is open to all-Includes Sunday’s Soundbath. Stour Row Village Hall, Stour Row, nr.

Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 0QG. Booking essential 01935 389655 ahiahel@live. com www.centreforpureosund.org

TUESDAY 17 MARCH

Sew a Beach Hut Doorstop, 14.00 to 17.00 £20 Coastal Craft Collective, 10 Marine Place, Seaton, Devon EX12 2QL 01297 691362 hello@ coastalcraftcollective.co.uk

WEDNESDAY 18 MARCH

Needle Felt a Seagull or Budgie, 10.00 to 13.00 £25 Coastal Craft Collective, 10 Marine Place, Seaton, Devon EX12 2QL 01297 691362 hello@ coastalcraftcollective.co.uk Paper Making, 14.00 to 16.00 £25 each / £45 for both sessions Coastal Craft Collective, 10 Marine Place, Seaton, Devon EX12 2QL 01297 691362 hello@ coastalcraftcollective.co.uk Also 25 March

THURSDAY 19 MARCH

Fungal Foray, 10am – 12:30pm, with Nick Phillips of Chideock Champignons. £35.

Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU. trillfarm. co.uk 01297 631113

FRIDAY 20 MARCH

Bridport Embroiderers will be hosting a Rachel Hewitt workshop. Bridport Embroiderers meet monthly, at St Swithuns Church, Bridport, from 10.15 – 3.30. For further details, or to join/book, phone 01308 456168 or email cherry. bonhamlovett@btinternet.com.

Felting: Needle felted easter chick or egg, 10am-3pm, £25, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, www. themeetinghouse.org.uk Astronomy Workshop led by Stephen Tonkin. The Kingcombe Centre, Lower Kingcombe, DT20EQ. T: 01300 320684.

Visit www.kingcombe.org to book online.

Painting the Devon Primrose 10.30 to 1 pm Painting primroses in watercolour for beginners with tips and techniques Axminster Heritage Centre. To book: gina. youens@btinternet.com or 07703246481

SATURDAY 21 MARCH

Be Calm Be Happy Meditation course, 10.30-4.00, Plum Village meditation course, Quaker meeting house, Bridport. Book: www.bridportbehappy. eventbrite.co.uk Contact David Will 0795 095 9572 An Introduction to Nature Writing taught by Jenny Hunt. The Kingcombe Centre, Lower Kingcombe, DT20EQ. T: 01300 320684. Visit www.kingcombe.org to book online.

SAT 21 - SUN 22 MARCH

Mosaics, 21st 09.30 to 13.00, 22nd 09.30 to 11.00 Coastal Craft Collective, 10 Marine Place, Seaton, Devon EX12 2QL 01297 691362 hello@coastalcraftcollective.co.uk

SUNDAY 22 MARCH

A Year of Preserving, 9.30am-4:30pm, with chef, Chris Onions. £115 incl. lunch.

Old Dairy Kitchen, Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU. olddairykitchen.co.uk 07999 923089 Hedgerow Basket Making Workshop taught by Yanina Stockings. The Kingcombe Centre, Lower Kingcombe, DT20EQ. T: 01300 320684. Visit www. kingcombe.org to book online.

MONDAY 23 MARCH

WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH

Dalwood Upholstery Class 9.30am to 3.30pm with tutor John Cooper in Dalwood Village Hall. 9.30am to 3.30pm. £15 per day. As places are limited, please book in advance by phone on 01404 831207.

WED 25 – SUN 29 MARCH

Creative Writing Retreat, with poet and writer, Sarah Acton. from £450 incl. lunches. Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU. trillfarm.co.uk 01297 631113

THURSDAY 26 MARCH

Botanical Stroll, 9.00am-12:30pm, with naturalist and landscape detective, Graham Jones. Free, booking essential.

Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU. trillfarm. co.uk 01297 631113

FRIDAY 27 MARCH

Slow Stitch, 10am-12.30pm (and 1.304pm). Contemporary Kantha.

Bring your own hand sewing kit. £15 (excl materials), Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, www.themeetinghouse.org.uk Driftwood Easter Trees, 14.00 to 16.30 £23 Coastal Craft Collective, 10 Marine Place, Seaton, Devon EX12 2QL 01297 691362 hello@coastalcraftcollective.co.uk

SATURDAY 28 MARCH

Be Calm Be Happy Meditation course, 10.30-4.00, Plum Village meditation course, Quaker meeting house, Bridport. Book: www.bridportbehappy. eventbrite.co.uk Contact David Will 0795 095 9572 Chicken £65pp studi0ne Broadwindsor Craft Centre Dorset 9-30am to 4-30 pm Beginners’ Sewing Machine Workshop, 10am-1pm, Learn about threading, stitches and basic maintenance, £30 per double session,Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, www.themeetinghouse.org.uk & 18 April.

Crochet for Beginners, 10.30 to 12.30 £17.50 Coastal Craft Collective, 10 Marine Place, Seaton, Devon EX12 2QL 01297 691362 hello@coastalcraftcollective.co.uk

SUNDAY 29 MARCH

Create a Beach Finds Picture, 13.30 to 16.30 £19.50 Coastal Craft Collective, 10 Marine Place, Seaton, Devon EX12 2QL 01297 691362 hello@ coastalcraftcollective.co.uk

Sculpture Made Easy, 14.00 to 17.00 £30 Coastal Craft Collective, 10 Marine Place, Seaton, Devon EX12 2QL 01297 691362 hello@coastalcraftcollective.co.uk

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 35

March FILMS

TUESDAY 25 FEBRUARY

Behemoth Doors open 7pm for 7:45 film.

Bridport Film Society, Bridport Arts Centre (Members and guests only; Text only to 07770 261348 guests@bridportfilmsociety. co.uk)

THURSDAY 27 FEBRUARY

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (PG) 2pm The Classic Disney Comedy Musical from 1971 starring Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson. A dementia-friendly screening open to all. £3.80 incl. tea and biscuits The Beehive, Honiton. www. beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050

FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY

The Current War (12A) presented by Petherton Picture Show at 8pm. Starring Tom Holland, Michael Shannon, Benedict Cumberbatch. Tickets: £5. No concessions.

The David Hall, South Petherton, www. thedavidhall.org.uk or 01460 240 340.

1917 (15) Sam Mendes, the Oscar®winning director of Skyfall, Spectre and American Beauty, brings his singular vision to his World War I epic, 1917. 7.30pm Electric Palace Bridport. Box Office 01308 424 901.

MONDAY 2 MARCH

Knives Out (12A). Doors open 7:30pm for 8:00pm start. Screening at Odcombe Village Hall. Tickets £5 in advance on 07934 737104, or £6 on the door.

WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH

Judy (12A) Renee Zellweger, Rufus Sewell. Winter of 1968 legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London, troubled and broke, to perform a series of sold-out concerts. Moviola screening at Kilmington Village Hall, doors and bar open 6.45pm with the show starting at 7:15 pm. Tickets £5 in advance: 01297 639758 leave contact info to receive acknowledgement. £5.50 at the door.

See village web for email contact & film review https://www.kilmingtonvillage. com/other-organisations.html.

36 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

THURSDAY 5 MARCH

NT Live: Cyrano de Bergerac 7pm James McAvoy (X-Men, Atonement) returns to the stage in an inventive new adaptation, performed and filmed in front of a live audience at the Playhouse Theatre in London. Adults £15.30, U16 £12.30 The Beehive, Honiton. www. beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050 Yesterday (12) 7.30pm. A romantic comedy where a struggling singersongwriter (Himesh Patel) wakes up to discover that he is the only one to remember the Beatles. He starts playing Beatles music, passing it off as his own and life becomes complex. Doors open 7.00pm. Ticket at the door: £5 (includes a drink). Litton Cheney Village Hall, School Lane.

The Salesman (2017, Iran, 12A, 121 mins, Subtitles, Director: Asghar Farhadi). An Iranian film in which a couple’s relationship begins to unravel as they prepare for their roles in a local production of Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’. The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Guest tickets £4.

Contact: mickpwilson53@btinternet.com, or ring Mick on 01460 74849 or Di on 01460 30508.

FRIDAY 6 MARCH

Trees are the Key, narrated by Kate Winslet from the charity The Word Forest Organisation. An inspirational film which highlights the need for trees in the fight against climate change as well as other work done by the charity in Kenya. Free entry, donations welcome. Refreshments available. 7pm Charmouth Village Hall, Wesley Close More details: 07932 089602

SATURDAY 7 MARCH

JoJo Rabbit (12A) 7.30pm In the dying days of WW2, a lonely German boy discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler

(Taika Waititi), Jojo must confront his blind nationalism. Adult £6.80, U16 £5.80 Family of four £22 The Beehive, Honiton. www.beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050 Knives Out (12A) 7.30pm (Doors 7pm). A thoroughly enjoyable Agatha-Christie style ‘Who-dunnit’ with excellent performances from an all-star cast including Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Plummer. Detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) is hired to investigate the alleged suicide of a wealthy mystery writer (Plummer) following a large family gathering for his 85th birthday. Venue: Halstock Village Hall. Tickets: £6.50 from Halstock Shop or on the door. Contact: 01935 892485

MONDAY 9 MARCH

The Peanut Butter Falcon Beer film society, 7.30pm, comedy, drama, steamers restaurant, beer, contact Christine Jones 01297 625445 Knives Out (cert. 12A, 127 mins) - stylish murder mystery with an all-star cast.

Hawkchurch Village Hall, EX13 5XW doors 7pm, film 7.30pm. Tickets £5 in advance from Hawkchurch Community Shop or £6 on the door. Refreshments available.

TUESDAY 10 MARCH

3 Faces Doors open 7pm for 7:45 film.

Bridport Film Society, Bridport Arts Centre (Members and guests only; Text only to 07770 261348 guests@bridportfilmsociety. co.uk)

WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH

‘Genevieve’ 1.45pm, Dinah Sheridan leads an all- star cast in this 1953 British classic comedy film. Evergreens Cinema, Age UK Dorchester, 4 Prince of Wales Road DT11PW. Admission £2, including tea and biscuits. Phone Lucy on 01305 269444 or aukdmemories@outlook.com.

Theory of Everything Supper and Film Night, 7pm. - a two course meal and a cocktail followed by the film, £32 per person, Alexandra Hotel, Pound Street, Lyme Regis 01297 442010

The Peanut Butter Falcon showing in Beer and Chard

FRIDAY 13 MARCH

The Peanut Butter Falcon (12A).

Excellent casting makes this cornysounding buddy movie really work. Doors 7pm for 7.30pm start at Chard Guildhall.

Tickets £5 and £2.50 in advance from the PO, Eleos and Barron’s, or £6 and £3 on the door.

Official Secrets (15). 8pm. The true story of a British whistle-blower who leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Council into sanctioning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Matt Smith.

At The David Hall in South Petherton.

Tickets: £5, no concessions, from www. thedavidhall.org.uk or 01460 240 340.

FRIDAY 20 MARCH

Judy with Renee Zellweger. Doors and bar open from 7.00 for 7.30pm start. Cost £3.50, tickets on the door. The Village Hall, The Causeway, Milborne St Andrew, DT11 0JX.

SATURDAY 21 MARCH

1917 (15) 3pm & 7.30pm Sam Mendes’ visceral and immersive vision of the First World War battlefields. Two young British soldiers, Schofield (George MacKay - ‘Captain Fantastic’) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman - ‘Game of

Thrones’), are given a seemingly impossible mission. Adult £7.50, U16 £6.50. The Beehive, Honiton. www.beehivehoniton. co.uk Box office 01404 384050 Mrs Lowry & Son (12A) 7.30p, (Doors 7pm).Vanessa Redgrave and Timothy Spall steal the show in this highly enjoyable biopic of the great artist L.S.Lowry, finding success while caring for his curmudgeonly mother. Venue: Halstock Village Hall. Tickets: £6.50 from Halstock Shop or on the door. Contact: 01935 892485

TUESDAY 24 MARCH

8th Grade Doors open 7pm for 7:45 film.

Bridport Film Society, Bridport Arts Centre (Members & guests only; Text only to 07770 261348 guests@bridportfilmsociety. co.uk)

THURSDAY 26 MARCH

An Affair to Remember (U) 2pm Considered to be ‘one of the most romantic films of all time’ this teams up Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. They play a couple who have a romance while on a cruise from Europe to New York. Despite being engaged to other people, both agree to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building. Dementia Friendly Tickets £3.80, screening with Tea & biscuits. The Beehive, Honiton. www.beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050

FRIDAY 27 MARCH

Downton Abbey (drama) (cert PG) featuring the well known Crawley family and their staff as they prepare for a royal visit, is the film to be shown by T & F Movies in Tatworth Memorial Hall at 7.30pm. The doors open at 7.00pm and the entry charge is £4.50.

Mrs Lowry and Son (PG). 8pm A portrait of the artist L.S.Lowry and the relationship with his mother. Starring Vanessa Redgrave and Timothy Spall.

At The David Hall in South Petherton.

Tickets: £5, no concessions, from www. thedavidhall.org.uk or 01460 240 340.

SATURDAY 28 MARCH

Emma (Certificate TBC) 3pm & 7.30pm Jane Austin’s heroine the handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse is a restless queen bee without rivals in her sleepy little town. In this glittering satire of social class and the pain of growing up, Emma must adventure through misguided matches and romantic missteps to find love. Adult £7.50, U16 £6.50 TBC, please call to check. The Beehive, Honiton. www. beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 37

News&Views

SOMERSET Happy birthday Bradfords

The oldest builders’ merchants in the UK is celebrating its 250th year of trading. Bradfords Building Supplies was launched by William Bradford in Yeovil in 1770. It now has 700 staff across 42 branches. The Chard and Ilminster News reports that the company is marking the milestone by investing in a series of initiatives.

Giles Bradford is one of six family members currently in the business. He said Bradfords had witnessed the Industrial Revolution, survived two world wars, endured recessions, undergone significant diversifications, made numerous acquisitions and ‘most critical to its success, always embraced innovation’. The firm will be partnering with Mental Health UK on fundraising initiatives, working with trades charity Band of Builders and commissioning a commemorative truck.

CHARD Scheme enters second phase

The Chard and Ilminster news reports that South Somerset District Council is spending £3m on the Chard Regeneration Scheme, one of three schemes designed to improve major town centres in the district. Phase one—a new swimming pool and leisure centre—is under construction and will be completed by August 2021. The next phase involves the residential conversions of Boden Mill and Holyrood Mill, which currently houses the library. A new community hub and museum/exhibition space will be created by extending one of the existing buildings near the Silver Street access. The ground floor of Boden Mill will be commercial premises. Phase two, which features a community garden, could also include a new health centre.

HONITON Together against persecution

East Devon District Council marked Holocaust Memorial Day with a tree planting ceremony in the town. eastdevonnews.co.uk reports that a silver birch was planted in front of the council’s headquarters as Richard Halsey, president of Exeter Synagogue, recited the Kaddish Prayer. Among those present at the ceremony held on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, was councillor Paul Jarvis, who lost family members to the Nazis. He said standing together showed the community ‘rejects hate in all forms’. He added: ‘Events like this remind us of our collective duty to challenge hatred wherever we see it and to challenge ourselves to work for a safer, better future or face the consequences of our collective silence.’

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BEAMINSTER Raid leads to relocation

Steph and Chris Chapman have talked to The Bridport News about how their business was affected by the cash machine raid in the Square in August 2018.

They were based in the building where the cash machine was installed. After the raid, Chris Chapman Bespoke Kitchens and Furniture moved to Horn Park Business Centre. They had acquired the unit as a workshop just months before.

They now have permanently relocated there and have a new showroom. Scaffolding was up in the Square for more than a year and the raid had a massive impact on all the local businesses.

‘Our outlook on this now is we have managed to get through what has been a very difficult period, we feel now we are coming back out the other side,’ Mr Chapman said.

WINTERBORNE ABBAS Refurbished pub set to reopen

The former Coach and Horses Inn, which has been closed for more than three years, has had a £250,000 makeover. The Bridport News reports that the pub on the A35 will reopen in March as The Coach House Inn, creating 15 jobs. The pub was bought by Lee and Jo Worsley, who own Duck’s Farm Shop and The Kings Arms in Portesham. Mr Worsley said there was enough interest and local appetite to support the pub’s re-opening. Many of the pub’s original features have been restored and the old coaching archway is being reopened as an entrance door. Traditionally, this would have been used for stagecoaches turning into the building to access the stables. Mr Worsley said the relationship with the local community would be key to its success.

“So Annoying...”

Laterally Speaking by Humphrey Walwyn

T

hank goodness February has gone.

Good riddance. It’s been dark and rainy and windy and wet and generally damp and dismally poo. No wonder I’ve caught an acute case of GOM disease… G.O.M. standing for “Grumpy Old Man”. The only way to cure it is to have a jolly good rant about the many things I’m currently finding particularly annoying.

Little irritating things like people talking in cinemas during the film, noisy children with parents who refuse to control them, people wearing loud headphones or me typing the word ‘garbage’ on my computer and my spellchecker automatically changing it to ‘rubbish’. Every time… It’s so annoying! Once I’ve complained about these things, I shall hopefully be cured.

So, many apologies to you, dear reader, because you’re about to be on the receiving end of a March Humphrey Rant. How many of these annoy you too?

Let’s start with the car… top of my road-rage list are people who take up two parking spaces and people who tail-gate way too close behind you. Both offences should be criminalised. So too should seagull poo on my car windscreen (very difficult to remove), but it’s hard to enforce laws on birds because they fly away before you can stick a yellow offence sticker to their backs. I’d also like to ban all drivers who have pimped-up cars with deafening cut-down silencer roars, go faster wings on the back and loud bass bins on the car audio. They’re often coloured bright red (their cars I mean, but sometimes their drivers as well).

As punishment, they should be forced to listen to the worst pop song in the entire world for 12 hours solid at enormously high volume. There are lots of candidates for the worst song. My favourite (if that’s the right word) is “Dance with Me” by the former TV newscaster Reginald Bosanquet from 1980, but you could substitute “The Birdie Song” by The Tweets or Noel Edmonds’ “Mr Blobby” song if you like – both of which should carry health warnings.

Next is day-to-day living… How many times has this happened to you? You’ve done a huge shop at the supermarket only to exit the store and realise you’ve forgot-

Very irritating when it’s run out of battery and you really REALLY need to make a call!

ten the ONE thing you went in to the store to buy in the first place? This is normally something boring but indispensable like a pack of Hoover bags or a particular type of battery. So maddening—and it happens to me so often!

A further thing… I normally quite like people, but not when they’re wearing aggressive ‘in your face’ trousers. This should be a capital offence. Loud flashy shirts are alright, but orange and green polka dot trousers make me fill ill. That’s why I no longer watch golf on the telly.

Here’s another: Trying to remove the “reduced bargain” sticker from the bunch of flowers you bought to give away as a present. I think stores do this deliberately to discourage us from being mean. They stick the reduced tags on with super-sticky glue that won’t come off unless you completely ruin the packaging. While on the subject of stickiness, why can’t I ever find the end of the Sellotape roll? Perhaps it’s a commercial trick by opticians to remind me I need a new pair of glasses.

Other irritating things that occur more and more include walking into a room and forgetting why I walked in 30 seconds before and reading my favourite book and feeling good and the mind wanders and I suddenly realise I’ve no idea what I’ve been reading about over the last ten pages. Another of my pet peeves: I’m in a

restaurant, and the waitress comes and fills up my glass of wine every two minutes! I have to tell her to please stop—I’ll fill my own glass when I want it! And how about when someone leaves the door slightly open. I want it closed or open—not vaguely ajar. Beyond irritating!

Computers and mobile phones are naturally responsible for much frustration.

Like when I’m in a great hurry to finish something and the laptop screen goes dark blue and tells me that Windows is now updating and I must not turn anything off. After three hours I’m on Update Number 21 of 36 and have lost my hair and my mind. And how about when my printer wastes even more ink when it tells me it’s about to run out of ink? That isn’t Technology—it’s Torture! Aaaagh!

Also, mobile phones should be banned from the breakfast table (actually all meals), and I hate those ‘Free Wifi’ set ups in hotels because you still have to log in and it never works and I feel like throwing my tablet out of the window. Lastly… have you ever charged up your mobile all night only to find in the morning that you forgot to plug it in? Yes, me too! And don’t even mention the words ‘Email Spam’. I remember when Spam used to be served with egg and chips and not dribbled onto my screen.

Enough! OK—I’m feeling better now.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 39

Successful Women Annual Conference set for George Albert Hotel & Spa

T

he 2020 Successful Women Annual Conference and Awards Launch takes place on Thursday 5th March to celebrate International Women’s Day. In its third year, the one-day event will take place at George Albert Hotel & Spa on the Somerset/Dorset border, showcasing inspirational speakers from across the UK. The event will incorporate this year’s International Women’s Day theme of #eachforequal, aimed at challenging stereotypes, fighting bias, broadening perceptions, improving situations and celebrating women’s achievements.

Gill Donnell MBE, and Founder of Successful Women said: “I am thrilled that this year’s Conference and Awards Launch is looking to be our best ever! We have some incredible keynote speakers lined up, including the phenomenal Lynne Franks OBE who has spent decades empowering women on the world stage.”

Lynne Franks OBE who helped establish London Fashion Week and was the PR guru that inspired the hit comedy series Absolutely Fabulous is now based in Wincanton, Somerset, and has opened the SEED Hub where her retreats, eco-bedrooms and vegan café offer a respite for busy women and men who visit to escape the stresses of everyday life. Lynne said: “I am delighted to be the headline speaker at the Successful Women

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conference on International Women’s Day. As women, we know that the best and most efficient way to get things done is to work together. This event which brings so many women leaders of the South West into one room is a perfect opportunity to discuss how we can go forward, creating a sustainable future for all.”

Other inspirational speakers on the day include Alison Edgar, the Entrepreneurs Godmother; Luke Simon, founder and CEO of Charity School in a Bag; Sunny Bird, founder of Sunny Bird PR and the Perfect Dress Company; Susan Kabani, co-founder of Ugenie and Gill Donnell MBE the

Gill Donnell MBE

Willow weaving launches new programme of garden events

Lynn Franks OBE

founder of Successful Women in Business who has spent much of her working life promoting the role of women in the workplace and now heads up the Successful Women in Business Network.

Attendees will get the chance to interact and ask questions during the expert panel discussion and browse exhibitor stands throughout the day, all hosted by female businesswomen.

This year’s annual conference also marks the launch of the third 2020 Successful Women Awards which showcases and celebrates the achievements of women in business from across the South West. Entries will open on Thursday 5th March and include categories such as new business, creativity, public speaking and independent food and drink. Head over to www. swibawards.com/ to find out more.

You can purchase tickets to the conference at www.swibtribe.com/2020-conference-awards/ £69 for non-members and £59 for SWIB members. The conference will be held from 9.30 - 4.30 pm on Thursday 5th March at George Albert Hotel & Spa Dorchester.

Sponsors of the Successful Women Awards include Perceptions Marketing Solutions, Margo & Mya, D52Ltd The Business Toolkit, Fordington Gin, Tracey Rickard Web Design, Cameron Jones Financial Management, Humphries Kirk Solicitors, HJ Accounts Management, The Message Maestro, House of Colour Bournemouth and Willow Tree Health.

WIMBORNE’S Knoll Gardens launches a bumper 2020 programme of over 70 events with a willow weaving workshop on 14 March.

The willow plant climber workshop is one of four willow workshops taking place in the garden at Knoll this year, alongside other creative classes including photography for beginners, close-up photography, stone carving and mosaic making.

Expert-led bee, butterfly and bat walks complement the creative classes, with the first bat walk running on 6 April. Followed by a bee walk on 15 May. Later that month, on 23 April, Knoll’s owner, Neil Lucas leads the first of a series of four walks in the garden. Each will look at the seasonal changes in the garden, and take in Knoll’s rare and unusual trees and shrubs, as Neil highlights both spectacular individual plants and the mass plantings of grasses and perennials which provide the garden’s acclaimed naturalistic style. Horticultural masterclasses, in both Naturalistic Style and Ornamental Grasses run later in the year.

To find out more about Knoll’s event programme go to knollgardens.co.uk For details of the Knoll Gardens Foundation, a charity which runs the gardens wildlife events go to knollgardensfoundation.org

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Record numbers of black-tailed godwit spotted on Brownsea Island Lagoon Wardens on Brownsea Island have reported sightings of over 3,700 of black-tailed godwits on the Brownsea Lagoon in December 2019 – a record for Dorset. Their numbers have remained high in January 2020, with over 2,000 birds present, even at low tide.

It is thought that high rainfall and high tides have made their usual feeding grounds around the rest of the country such as East Anglia, Kent and north west England inaccessible because of flooding, so they have ventured further south to Poole Harbour in search for food.

The black-tailed godwit is a rare breeding bird in the UK that has suffered from dramatic declines. Due to this, it has many levels of protection*, including under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. The black-tailed godwit is a tall, elegant wading bird which forms large flocks when feeding, digging in the mud with its long bill, hunting for invertebrates.

DWT’s Poole Harbour Reserves Officer, Luke Johns, said, “The Brownsea Lagoon is a hub of activity all year round, but bird numbers do peak in the winter. It’s fantastic to see so many black-tailed godwits and it shows how resourceful wildlife can be if habitat is compromised. We are proud that due to careful management we are able to provide this habitat in the heart of Poole Harbour for these declining birds. It’s also a great opportunity for the public to see birds in large numbers from the hides over-looking the lagoon.”

Other bird highlights that have been sighted on the lagoon this winter include dunlin, which are near to 2,000 in number, waterfowl such as teal, shoveler, gadwall and wigeon. Brent geese have been seen in their hundreds in Poole Harbour.

The long-tailed duck has also been spotted off the shores of Brownsea – a real rarity for Poole harbour.

Other wildlife thriving on Brownsea Island includes fungi, mosses and lichens – which are doing particularly well due to the mild, wet winter. Beetle surveys conducted in 2019 recorded 73 new species to the island, adding to the 1,000 beetle species which have already been identified on the island.

Hundreds of people joined one of Brownsea Winter Bird Boats to witness the spectacle of the black-tailed godwits. The

boats, put on by DWT, National Trust and RSPB, run from November to January and offer the chance to see the birds in the lagoon when the island is closed to day visitors. DWT has partnered with the National Trust for a series of Early Bird Walks, which take place from April to October and give you the chance to take a guided tour with an experienced guide outside of the usual opening hours. It’s the perfect opportunity to hear the dawn chorus and spot some of the rare wildlife on Brownsea Island, including the red squirrel. See www.nationaltrust. org.uk/brownseaisland for more details or to book.

Brownsea Island is owned by the National Trust and Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) has managed the northern section of the island since 1962. The new Wild Brownsea Project, partly funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund, will see DWT and the National Trust working together to ensure that every visitor to Brownsea Island has a great wildlife experience and opportunities to explore and learn. Find out more about this project at www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/wild-brownsea Brownsea Island is now open for winter weekends until 8th March, and for the half term week (15th- 23rd February) and will be open daily from 14th March – 15th November 2020. For more information about visiting, visit www.dorsetwildlifetrust. org.uk/brownsea-island or phone 01202 709445.

Flock of Black-tailed godwits above the lagoon

The Brownsea Lagoon © Damian Garcia 42 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

New thatch for Be a Ranger for a Day Hardy’s Cottage

Re-thatching Hardy’s Cottage

Rangers on Brownsea Island by National Trust Images / John Miller

BUDDING young conservationists are invited to join Brownsea Island’s outdoors team as they look after the island habitat this February half term.

There are still spaces left on the forthcoming Junior Ranger Days taking place on 8 and 15 April and 27 May. They cost £20 per child with an accompanying adult. The boat fare is payable separately.

The National Trust’s Visitor and Volunteering Experience Manager on Brownsea Island, Olivia Gruitt, said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming another couple of groups of would-be rangers over this half term. During the day they will help out with key conservation tasks, learn more about what goes into caring for Brownsea Island, meet new people, learn new skills and, hopefully, have good fun too!”

The National Trust-owned island is run in partnership with Dorset Wildlife Trust and is home to red squirrels, sika deer and rare birds. Nestled in Poole Harbour, the nature reserve has varied habitats including woodland areas, a lagoon, beaches and heathland.

Brownsea Island is dramatically located in Poole Harbour, with spectacular views across to the Purbeck Hills. Thriving habitats including woodland, heathland and a lagoon create a unique haven for wildlife, such as the rare red squirrel and a wide variety of birds, including dunlin, kingfishers, common and sandwich terns and oystercatchers.

The Outdoor Centre invites you to follow in the footsteps of Lord Baden-Powell and the very first Scouts who camped here in 1907. The campsite and Southshore Lodge bunkhouse is open to everyone who fancies sampling the Scouting life and spending a night under the stars.

The Visitor Centre offers free family trails to help you explore the island and an insight into characters that have shaped the island into what it is today. The perfect day’s adventure—this island wildlife sanctuary is easy to get to but feels like another world from the moment you step ashore.

You can follow Brownsea Island on Twitter at www.twitter.com/brownseablog on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NTBrownsea/ and Instagram at https:// www.instagram.com/ntbrownsea Brownsea Island is open from 10am-4pm every day during half term week and is accessible by ferry Sandbanks and from Poole Quay. Boat fares start at £7.50 return for adults, £5 return for children.

More information is available at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/brownsea-island The National Trust is a conservation charity founded in 1895 by three people, Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley who saw the importance of the nation’s heritage and open spaces and wanted to preserve them for everyone to enjoy.

This year, the charity celebrates its 125th anniversary, and these values are still at the heart of everything it does.

HARDY’S Cottage will be proudly displaying it’s new roof after a month of closure for conservation work and re-thatching. Visitors will be able to see the result of this traditional craft when visiting Thomas Hardy’s childhood home, now cared for by the National Trust.

The thatcher contracted to complete the work was Scott Symonds, a Master Thatcher based in Chideock, Dorset. Scott knows Hardy’s Cottage very well as he has re-thatched the roof before along with his father, Dave Symonds, who taught him the family trade. Scott says ‘I remember being in my late teens when my dad and I first came to re-thatch part of the roof. We’ve re-thatched the roof in sections over the years, rather than doing it all in one go. This is to allow the rare thatch moss that grows on the roof to migrate to the newly thatched areas’.

A bundle of straw from the material set aside for rethatching Hardy’s Cottage has been donated by Scott to local beekeepers who intend to use it to make a traditional skep bee hive. A skep is a straw hive, traditionally used for keeping bees until around the start of the 20th century when wooden hives became the common design.

Richard Norman and Sally Leslie from Dorchester & Weymouth Beekeeping Association volunteer at Hardy’s Cottage throughout the spring and summer months delivering skep making demonstrations in the garden. Sally explains, ‘Our demonstrations show the use of straw and cane to make a skep in the traditional manner. We talk about the differences in 19th-century beekeeping with current day beekeeping. It will be very special to make a skep using the same straw that Scott is going to use for the roof ’.

When asked how long the new roof will last, Scott says ‘a newly thatched roof should last 25 to 30 years, depending on the location. Thatch in a damp location is likely to deteriorate more quickly as it likes plenty of ventilation. I’ve seen thatched roofs last much longer on the seafront with the strong sea breeze providing plenty of aeration. Hardy’s Cottage is located in the woods so the conditions are quite damp from overhanging trees, but we should hopefully see the new roof lasting 20 to 25 years’.

Information about visiting Hardy’s Cottage, including opening times and events, can be found at www. nationaltrust.org.uk/hardys-cottage

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N o r m a n

a t

9 0

IN 2010 the Bridport Arts Centre hosted an exhibition of work by local artist Norman Saunders-White’s under the title ‘Norman at 80’. Ten years on, and Norman is celebrating his birthday this coming April with an exhibition in Symondsbury entitled ‘Norman at 90’ Born in London in 1930, Norman has been a painter, a designer, a teacher of art and drama, and a performer in, and director of, youth theatres. The youngest student at St. Martin’s his initial scholarship was interrupted by wartime bombing but later he studied at the Byam Shaw School under Bernard Dunstan.

In 1968 he retrained as a teacher of Art and Drama, a post he held at several schools across West Dorset after gaining a further Diploma in Art Education at Birmingham.

Then, in the 1980s and 1990s he worked with several avant-garde and street theatre companies performing across southern England and in Denmark. This also included roles in Colway Theatre Trust Community Plays directed by the late Ann Jellicoe.

During this time Norman continued painting using a variety of media, screen printing, sculpture and etching and this year’s exhibition shows a variety of his work.

Norman at 90 – a retrospective covering 65 years of vwork runs from March 28th – April 8th daily 10.00 – 4.30 at the Gallery, Symondsbury, Bridport, DT6 6HG.

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Oliver Letwin fears for our future – and it’s not what you might expect

Sir Oliver Letwin will be at the Electric Palace on April 4th

FEARS that dependence on technology is leaving the UK open to catastrophe are voiced in a new book by former West Dorset MP Sir Oliver Letwin.

The ex-MP was a member of the National Security Council for six years as the minister with responsibility for the UK’s national resilience.

Publishers Atlantic Books call the work ‘an urgent and eye-opening examination of how technology is leaving society open to myriad catastrophic effects’.

As the world becomes better connected and we grow ever more dependent on technology, the risks to our infrastructure are multiplying. Whether it’s a hostile state striking the national grid—like Russia did with Ukraine in 2016—or a freak solar storm, Sir Oliver says our systems have become so interlinked that if one part goes down, the rest topple like dominoes.

He was the area’s MP from 1997 until September last year when he was expelled from the party along with 20 other rebel Conservative MPs who voted for his motion to take control of parliamentary business from the government. They wanted a bill to be introduced which would prevent the Prime Minister’s policy of allowing the United Kingdom to leave the EU without a deal on 29 October.

In the new book, Sir Oliver looks 10 years into the future and imagines a United Kingdom in which the national grid has collapsed.

He says reliant on the internet, automated electric cars, voice-over IP, GPS, and law and order would disintegrate.

As more and more news stories appear about convergent technology failing—from hostile states launching cyber attacks to driverless cars malfunctioning—this book reveals why we’re more vulnerable than ever.

Using groundbreaking research and real-life case studies, he takes us from high-level government meetings to elderly citizens waiting in vain for their carers, in what the publishers call a ‘wake-up call’ questioning our unshakeable faith in technology.

He uses his vast experience in government to outline how businesses and government should respond to catastrophic black swan events that seem distant and implausible until they occur.

At the heart of government for more than three decades and leading an investigation into the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure, Sir Oliver will be in conversation with economist Sir Howard Davies about the new book, Apocalypse How? Technology and the Threat of Disaster, at a Friends of Bridport Literary Festival special event.

The talk is open to all and takes place on Saturday 4 April at The Electric Palace, Bridport, at 11.30am.

Tickets are £15 and available from Bridport Tourist Information Centre on 01308 424901.

The Art of Late DEVELOPING

By Bruce Harris

O

n June 23rd 2019, I celebrated my 70th birthday. On October 28th 2019, I published my first novel, a historical family saga called ‘Howell Grange’.

It all sounds rather sudden. In fact, the process has been more gradual than it seems; ‘Howell Grange’, while my first novel, was preceded by five books, including three short story collections and two poetry collections, and not a self-publication amongst them.

One of the main reasons why writing has entered my life on this scale is a move to the beautiful south west of England.

My partner and I came to Devon in 2003, not long before my early retirement from a career in teaching and educational research in 2005. Devon proved an inspiration, and in 2013, my ‘retirement writing career’ was underway, with a published collection of twenty-five stories, ‘First Flame’, which had all won placings, commendations or listings in fiction competitions.

In 2016, unfortunately, my partner was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, which he had inherited from a parent. HD is not an illness associated with lifestyle, diet or age; if one parent has the faulty gene, there is a 50/50 chance that it will be inherited.

I decided to dedicate my writing to the Huntington’s Disease Association, and two further short story collections with two different publishers followed. ‘Odds Against’, also consisting entirely of award-winning stories, appeared in 2017 and was followed by ‘The Guy Thing’ in 2018. Another poetry collection, ‘Kaleidoscope’, also dedicated to the H.D.A., appeared in 2017, and the last book before the novel, ‘The Huntington Hydra’, included a number of poems detailing our sometimes very difficult experiences with HD. Having by then collected hundreds of pounds for the H.D.A., I felt I had gone as far as was feasible for that kind of fund-raising, and I needed to look to our own interests. A novel seemed like a logical progression, after an extensive experience of different kinds of writing.

As many writers do, I used the place where I grew up, the north-east of England, as a background, though Howell Grange, based in the mid-nineteenth century, goes back

even further than I do! It’s a bold family saga based on the mine-owning Howell family, though the action moves to many places apart from the north. The eldest son of mine owner George Howell and his aristocratic wife Elizabeth finds himself fighting in the Crimea. Second son Francis becomes an M.P. campaigning for safer mining conditions. Of the boys’ three younger sisters, the youngest, Alice, survives a sickly childhood to expand her nursing experience while helping the local doctor in a major mining disaster and moves on to help with poverty and cholera in the East End of London.

Charlotte, her older sister, marries into the ‘landed gentry’ and runs the estates largely on her own, and Anne Howell marries a local man but finds herself unable to conceive. I hope to be able to continue the Howell story with a sequel and a new generation of characters.

After seventeen years, we are settled in the south-west and dedicated to fighting HD for as long as we can. I know the people of the south-west have an admirable record of supporting local artists and writers, and whoever is prepared to give ‘Howell Grange’ a try will find themselves with an absorbing and involving read.

The book is on the sites of all the main bookshops – Waterstone’s, W.H. Smith, Foyle’s, Booktopia etc. www.bruceleonardharris.com

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Hospital patients benefit form generous donation

Survival kit launched for vulnerable teenagers

Nikita Roberts, Abi Clark and Ele Jarrett with the DNA survival kit at the event

DORSET County Hospital’s dialysis patients are currently benefitting from the generosity of a local company which made a significant donation to the hospital before Christmas.

The Portland-based electrical supplier Comben’s donated ten large televisions to the Haemodialysis Unit in October last year following enquiries from one of the nurses.

Lyn Woodsford, the Deputy Sister on the Haemodialysis Unit originally approached the company to ask for a discount on a total of 14 televisions. Instead Matthew Jones of Comben’s came back with a better offer – they would donate ten televisions to the hospital and give a generous discount on four more which were to be purchased by the department which had been fundraising throughout the year to pay for them.

The total value of the donated TVs came to over £2,000 and staff have already noticed significant benefits to their patients. Due to the nature of the treatment provided on the Haemodialysis Unit, patients can spend long periods of time there and being able to access their own TV screen makes a huge difference to their experience and time on the ward. Lyn invited Matthew back to see his screens in action after they had been installed.

Matthew Jones said, “Having a quick visit to the hospital and seeing how the televisions are helping the patients was a real pleasure. Comben’s have been supported by the community for many years and with the NHS currently under so much pressure it’s been an honour to give back to the community.”

Dorset County Hospital Charity continues to work with staff, companies and the local community to raise money to help fund the important extras which make patient care better. If you would like to find out how you can help please contact a member of the Charity team on 01305 253215, or email Charity@dchft.nhs.uk

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VULNERABLE teenagers across the county are being equipped with a ‘survival kit’ ready for when they leave care, to help them remain independent and healthy.

The Dorset’s New Adults (DNA) kit, provided by Dorset HealthCare and described as ‘a big hug on your first night alone’ - gives 18-year-olds a box of essentials to support them into the adult world.

Each box contains foodstuffs, vitamins, hygiene/health products and a blanket, plus information signposting people to a range of advice and support. It aims to help set young adults on the right path and make them less reliant on health and care services.

The kit was the brain child of Abi Clark and Ele Jarrett from the Trust’s Looked After Children’s Health Team. They organised an event in Poole to give young people the opportunity to come along, choose their box design and pick the items they would like inside ready for when they leave care.

Care Leavers Nurse Abi said: “The event was a fantastic opportunity for young people leaving care and transitioning into adulthood to choose their DNA box and have a say on what’s included.

“We also offered information about local services and support they can access in the future, ensuring a healthy and happy lifestyle.”

The DNA kit idea became reality thanks to Dorset HealthCare’s annual staff innovation competition, Dragons’ Den, securing £3,000 for an initial 100 boxes. Abi and Ele pitched the idea alongside former Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) service user Nikita Roberts, who explained that leaving the security and support of care at 18 can be an uncertain time.

After eight years in care Nikita now lives in supported living with a landlady and is expected to cook, clean, buy her own food and more.

She is working towards living on her own and is going to university in September.

Nikita was involved with the survival kit from the start and even helped Abi and Ele decide the items that were included in the box. She attended the event to share her experience with other young people in care while also supporting Abi and Ele. She said: “It can be really scary leaving care and living on your own.

The DNA box is a real helping hand. I’d recommend the box to any young person about to leave care – it really is like a big hug on your first night alone.”

The Looked after Children’s Health Team is a small dedicated team of nurses, doctors and psychologists who work together with other local services to help children and young people in care and those about to leave care.

Age UK opens Community Hub in Bridport AGE UK Dorchester is opening a new Community Hub, to support older people in Bridport, on 25 February 2020 - and the local community is invited to come along and have a taster session free of charge on the day.

The new facility – supported by Magna Housing, will be declared open at 09.30 on 25 February at The Community Room, Flaxhayes, Magna Housing, St Swithins Road, Bridport DT6 5DT. Bridport Town Mayor Cllr. Barry Irvine and the Town Crier John Collingwood will be in attendance.

The opening day will be an opportunity for people to come along, meet the friendly team, and give the facilities a try for free in a Dementia friendly, fun and welcoming atmosphere.

Regular client at Age UK’s Rowan Cottage day services in Dorchester, Ray Tout, age 77 said: “The day centre has a very friendly group of people. We are made to feel very welcome and are always included and feel part of everything that they do.

“We particularly enjoy the exercise session in the mornings.

The activities are stimulating for the mind which helps with remembering. Lunches are home cooked and very enjoyable.

“I highly recommend the services that Age UK Dorchester provide, as they are a real lifeline for many people like just like me”.

On offer at the new hub in Bridport will be a range of activities focussed on reducing social isolation, preventing falls and improving overall health and wellbeing. The day will also include music, socialising, games and crafts.

Age UK Dorchester CEO, David Thorp said: “I am excited to announce the opening of our new Community Hub in Bridport. This centre is just part of the many vital services that we provide to older people throughout North, South and West Dorset.

“There is a real need out there for older people to have access to advice, information, support and companionship in our local area.

Loneliness and isolation are an epidemic in our society which I aim to combat.

“I would encourage anyone who thinks that they may benefit from this new facility to come along to our open day. Those who have an older family member are also welcome to come and see for themselves what we offer”.

Karen Woollam, Community Volunteer Co-ordinator at Magna, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer our communal room to Age UK for their weekly hubs. We partner with others to create great places where people choose to live, with access to a choice of facilities and services that are tailored to individuals as their lives change.”

The hub will be open thereafter every Tuesday from 09.30 to 14.30 and will include activities, drinks, biscuits and a two course freshly prepared cooked lunch.

Please call 01305 269444 or email enquiries@ageukdorchester.org.uk to book a place following the open day.

Volunteers needed now for Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal in Dorset

M

arie Curie, the UK’s leading charity for people living with a terminal illness and their families, is urgently calling for volunteers in Dorset to give just two hours of their time to support the Great Daffodil Appeal – Marie Curie’s biggest fundraising campaign, held every March.

The money raised from the Great Daffodil Appeal will help Marie Curie Nurses provide much-needed expert care to people across Dorset with terminal illnesses, as well as support for their loved ones.

Andrew Rennison from Dorchester, said: “I have been a Marie Curie supporter since August 2017, just after my wife Kerri died. In the last few months of her life she received the very best care from Marie Curie Nurses. The team are experts in palliative care, they made Kerri’s last few, and at times very painful, months bearable.

“I am now Chair of the Marie Curie Dorchester Fundraising Group and would warmly welcome any new volunteers. Volunteering is a great way to support Marie Curie and to recognise the valuable help they provide to so many people at the most difficult times of their lives.

“Whole families benefit from Marie Curie’s care and support, it is wonderful to meet those families, many of whom want to give something back and choose to do so as volunteers. Volunteering takes many forms, and does not need to take up much time. But whatever you do is great fun and hugely rewarding.”

Steph Sterndale-Bennett, Marie Curie Community Fundraiser for Dorset, said: “Collecting can be a lot of fun, you can do it on your own or with family and friends, and we will support you every step of the way. We only ask our volunteers to do two-hour shifts, and you can sign up for just the one or as many as you’d like!”

To volunteer for Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal and give out the charity’s daffodils pins in return for donations, please visit mariecurie.org.uk/collect or contact Steph on Steph.Sterndale-Bennett@mariecurie.org.uk or 07753257166.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 47

Alan Turing bust for Sherborne School

Dorchester marriage with a ball and chain

The finished bust of Alan Turing will be unveiled in July

ALAN Turing (Sherborne School 1926-31) is today one of the School’s most famous former pupils. Sherborne resident, Kathryn Ballisat, inspired by Turing’s story and his connection to the town, has commissioned David Williams-Ellis, the internationally acclaimed sculptor most recently known for his sculpture to commemorate the D Day Landings, to create a bust of Turing.

Once cast in bronze, the bust will be unveiled in July by Turing’s nephew and former pupil of Sherborne School, Sir John Dermot Turing (Sherborne School 1974-78) and will stand on a plinth in the School grounds.

In 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War Alan Turing joined the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, where he was part of the team deciphering the Enigma machine. In 1942 Turing travelled to the USA to liaise with US codebreakers and in 1943 commenced work on speech encipherment at Hanslope Park. In 1945 Alan Turing joined the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington where he designed the ACE computer. Awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his war service, Turing gave the earliest known lecture to mention computer intelligence, so founding the field now known as Artificial Intelligence.

48 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

Mr and Mrs Cox in the Courtroom by Marcin Wisniewski.

LOVE was in the air at Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum in Dorchester as the first couple exchanged vows in the historic courtroom.

Deborah and Andrew Cox and their guests got into the courtroom setting theme - Andrew even wore mock chains and handcuffs as he came into the courtroom. The couple were charged by a ‘Judge’ with a ‘serious case of living in sin’ and sentenced to spend the rest of their lives together! 60 guests attended the ceremony in the Georgian courtroom on February 2nd, some even entering the witness box to speak on behalf of the couple before the Judge.

Mr and Mrs Cox, who are the first couple to celebrate at Shire Hall since the Georgian Courthouse was restored in 2018 said: “The Shire Hall was the perfect venue for our special day. The courthouse setting was beautiful and romantic.

The reception was wonderful; the staff, the food and the entertainment exceeded both of our expectations. A truly unique and wonderful place to make our special day such a memorable occasion.”

Events and catering supervisor Kirsty Campbell said: “All the staff feel very honoured to have played a part in Deborah and Andrew’s Big Day. We were delighted to help, and we’re so pleased they had a wonderful day. We’d like to send our biggest congratulations and best wishes for their new life together. We hope they will be the first of many couples who celebrate with us.”

Going for Bust supports Women’s Health at DCH

Michelle Ormston (left) with Julia Morris (right) and members of the Breast Unit Team at DCH

T

he Women’s Health department at Dorset County Hospital received a major boost recently following a generous donation from a local charity.

Going For Bust donated £10,000 to fund the purchase of specialist equipment for the Hospital’s Breast Care Unit. The Vacuum Assisted Biopsy equipment was identified by staff as the gold standard for diagnosing breast abnormalities. The donation from Going for Bust will enable the Breast Unit to purchase the equipment which is not currently available through NHS budgets.

Michelle Ormston from Going For Bust said, “We are very happy to support the purchase of this equipment which we know will bring significant benefits to many patients at Dorset County Hospital. This has given us another exciting opportunity to support the Breast Team and all the fantastic work that they do.”

Julia Morris, Radiology Services Manager said, “Vacuum biopsy is an established technique which allows quicker, more accurate diagnosis of certain types of breast cancer and can also rule out cancer in some cases. Having access to a VAB machine in Dorchester will be a tremendous asset for us and for the people of West Dorset.”

Michelle met with Julia and other staff when she presented her donation. Going for Bust has previously supported the Hospital through a £7,686 donation for a specialist Breast Board used in radiotherapy treatment and £5,000 for Light Therapy equipment.

Dorset County Hospital Charity continues to work with many supporters, donors and fundraisers raising money for departments across the Hospital.

To find out more please contact the Charity on 01305 253215, or email Charity@dchft.nhs.uk

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 49

From the Archives of

the Marshwood Vale magazine

A Look Back at MARCH

2005 & 2010

in the Marshwood Vale Magazine and People and Food Magazine

How things change. Looking back on our issue from March 2005 we published a piece about local resident Peter Hitchin’s efforts to get the Electric Palace cinema in Bridport reopened. The cinema had closed due to a report that the building was unsound.

However, Peter believed otherwise and concluded that renovation could bring about the re-opening of one of Bridport’s much loved buildings. Our piece read: ‘As soon as he is given the go-ahead to make whatever necessary repairs, Mr Hitchin hopes to renovate the building and offer a programming mix that will include national & international high-quality screenings, performance, exhibitions & bands, but will also offer low-cost daytime events, budget family & children’s access & a loyalty programme.’ Here we are fifteen years later and indeed the building was reopened by Peter Hitchin and today offers a fantastic mix of entertainment serving the wider local community.

In March 2005 we also met John Bullock whose career guidance suggested he should become a farmer. He went on to become a successful lighting designer and spends much of his spare time singing.

We also had a beautiful photograph and fascinating story about the Bruton Dovecote by Vicky Taylor. In the same issue Ron Frampton met Derek Beer from Axminster who had worked at Monkton Wyld School for twenty-three years. He remembered how the garden and livestock provided enough vegetables, also fruit, milk and eggs to feed 60 children and how one year they produced over 1000 peaches.

In March 2010 Julia Mear met up with Maya Kaye from Whitchurch Canonicorum to hear the story of her life growing up with the joys of rural living, while I met up with Honiton resident Cole Stacey. Cole As we continue to look back we invite readers to update us on any of the items featured in this section of Marshwood+. Please email us at info@marshwoodvale.com.

Fergus Byrne

FR

MARSHWOOD VALE For West Dorset, South Somerset and East Devon

EE

THE

MAGAZINE March 2005-Issue 72

John Bullock, West Dorset, photograph by Robin Mills

Arts & Entertainment Food & Dining

Gardening Interiors Health & Environment

These pages are from February 2005 - advertiser offers are not current

To advertise in this magazine call 01308 423031 or Email: sales@marshwoodvale.com

Cover Story MY school careers advisor suggested I became a farmer. This was a shock because the nearest I got to agriculture was the greengrocers. Perhaps he was using the ‘Mr. Drip the Plumber’s Employment Guide’. Young Bullock must become… a farmer!

So imagine my surprise to be living here in Dorset. Not a farmer, but living on a farm, with waxed jacket and thermal wellies. It took a few decades to get here, via London (a reasonably-sized town east of

Wessex). I carved out a career as one of the UK’s leading lighting design consultants, working on contracts throughout the UK. When I say ‘carved’, it was more of a bas-relief than a statue – urban living being a two-dimensional business, where the opening gambit of ‘and what do you do?’ determines whether you spend the rest of the evening talking to yourself.

An inevitable siren call brought us west, where it’s more a question of ‘who am I?’ I’ve heard Dorset described as ‘the graveyard of ambition’, but I think that’s just bad medicine from urbanites frightened of too much green.

Lighting design feeds and clothes us, but I have re-found my sing-

ing self. I’d always sung, usually alone in a locked room. These days I’m enjoying working within the English roots tradition (folk songs to you), recently releasing a portfolio of songs and photographs from West Dorset, called ‘Soundscape’. A tour of village halls is anticipated later this year.

Did I mention the labyrinths? I’ve always been fascinated by ‘earth mysteries’ and there’s no better place for that than Wessex. I design and build labyrinths - not those mazy things, but pilgrim paths used for meditation and contemplation. There’s one at Godmanstone, another planned at Monkton Wyld Court, and occasional temporary structures here at Townhill Farm.

Out and about with the camera

by Ron Frampton

Cake breaker, Dowlish Wake, photograph by Liz Perry

Linseed oil cake was delivered to farms in large slabs and had to be broken up into suitable sizes for animal consumption. The cake breaker shown here was used for this purpose, it was made by A.Handyside & Co. Ltd of Derby and London and was supplied to a local farm by John Gibbs of Crewkerne. The slabs of cake were dropped into the machine and by turning the handle two spiked rollers were activated and the cake was crushed. The size of the cake was determined by the adjustable rollers. No longer in use, the cake breaker forms part of the collection of old farming bygones which have been brought together by Perry’s Cider, and can be seen at the cider mills in Dowlish Wake, near Ilminster, Somerset.

Ron Frampton tutors photography at Dillington House, Ilminster, Somerset.

Summer programme now available: 01460 258613 Website: www.dillington.co.uk

Uprooted and brought to the country Reflections from Axminster resident Derek Stevens

WHILST most evacuee placings were reasonably compatible there were some which were obviously not, and with the ranking of some of the participants in one reported case under the headline ‘Evacuees Disgusting Behaviour’ it is easy to see why.

‘To come down here and behave like this is too disgusting. It is the most abominable thing we have heard for some time’. So said Lieut.-Colonel J.Gooden, Chairman of the County Justices addressing Mrs Elizabeth Hawkins and Mrs Violet Penny, two evacuated mums from Bermonsey. Liz and Vi were billeted with another Lieutenant Colonel and his wife, the Mrs F.N. Quantock-Shuldham. Liz and Vi had pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly and each was fined £1. Inspector Morris, the arresting officer, told the court that when the inebriated women were brought to the Police-station they had to be delivered to the cells on stretchers.

One old gent from Sherborne registered his disgruntled sentiments in a letter to the local press in December 1940: ‘It would be a great blessing if all the evacuated children could be sent home for Christmas. It would also be a good thing if their teachers would arrange something to take the children off our hands on Saturdays. These teachers are having the time of their lives. Whilst only half the children of these London schools have been evacuated down here, all their teachers have arrived with them and their hours of teaching are extremely short.

Therefore, it is up to the teachers to do something for the children in their ample spare time out of school hours. If there is one thing that is going to make the people of this country sick and weary of this war it is being compelled to have evacuated children in our homes. Whilst women who work in munitions factories are highly paid for their work, those with evacuated children can find themselves out of pocket as the 8s 6d allowed for the week is barely enough to cover the food bill.’

Response was swift from evacuated teachers jamming the letters column in following issues. Pointing out the problems of having to teach in evacuated conditions one wrote - ‘Classes may be smaller in number but the age range is far greater and as many as three classes have to be accommodated in one room. This makes for more preparation and marking which can only be done after school hours in the living room of the billet with the wireless on non-stop, amidst the week’s ironing and the family being put to bed. Also there are personal problems to consider.

The flat or household back in London and the double expenses thus incurred. I am not complaining about these conditions, merely stating them - since they are not made easier by criticisms such as those made by your correspondent.’

Another teacher’s letter read - ‘We are highly amused at the idea of London teachers ‘having the time of their lives’. May we recommend to your correspondent, in order to help him see evacuation events in a better perspective, that he uproots himself from Sherborne and from all his intimate associations with it and plant himself in some remote place, quite unknown to him, where, we hope, he will have the time of his life.’

From the Archives of

the Marshwood Vale magazine

Outposts in the community Where to get your Marshwood Vale Magazine

New hope for Palace

OUTPOSTS is a regular feature where we highlight some of the many outlets that carry your community magazine. Copies are available along the coast from Sidmouth in East Devon to Portland in West Dorset and in towns and villages from Ottery St. Mary to Yeovil. To stock the Magazine telephone 01308 423031.

The Electric Palace cinema in Bridport

East Bridge News, photograph by Belinda Silcox

A WARM welcome is assured at East Bridge News in Bridport from the proprietors Derek and Kathy Bryant, who have been running the traditional confectionery, tobacco and news shop for 16 years. The shop is open from 5.30am most mornings and stays open until 5pm. One can find greeting cards, basic provisions, lots of Dorset based goodies such as Moores, together with numerous magazines and papers. Alongside this, the couple run a home delivery service for newspapers and magazines that covers most of the areas in between Salwayash and Askerswell. East Bridge News is a great supporter of Dorset Air Ambulance donating money collected from customers every week. Tel. 01308 423467.

Braggs Stores, photograph by Belinda Silcox

JIM and Val Hatcher have been running Braggs Stores in Charmouth for the last two years, along with their dedicated team of staff. Set up in the 1930s by Mr and Mrs Bragg it has offered general provisions ever since. Together with general provisions, hams and cheeses, there is a vegetarian and gluten free range of products, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and a good range of wines, beers and spirits. Jim and Val always try to stock an organic and a fair-trade alternative and use local producers as much as possible. They are committed to providing Charmouth with an exemplary service to residents and tourists alike. A free local home delivery service is offered for those unable to get to the shop easily. Tel. 01297 560252.

ALL over the world fans of the silver screen tuned into news of the recent BAFTA awards. Mike Leigh fans, who have seen his most recent film, Vera Drake, win many awards already, were delighted to see the film walk away with three BAFTAs including Best Director.

The film has also received three Oscar nominations.

Vera Drake is just one of a clutch of films that West Dorset composer Andrew Dickson wrote and produced the music for, however in last month’s Marshwood Vale he bemoaned the fact that the film cannot be seen in his local cinema. His comment caused a number of readers to ask why, more than two years after it was purchased by Symondsbury film fan Peter Hitchin, the cinema has not yet re-opened.

“The answer is probably very simple.” said Peter. “But because the myth that the building is structurally unsound has been given such attention over the years, it seems that nobody wants to listen to another point of view. I have had a full structural survey completed by Brett Associates of Reading, a highly reputable company that employs 400 staff internationally. They were commissioned to investigate the building fabric, and their findings have confirmed that the building is in sound condition and only relatively minor works are required in the

short term to reopen the facility.”

Although that report, according to Mr Hitchin, “has been with West Dorset Building Control since March 2004. I still haven’t yet had a published appraisal of it”.

It would seem that a logical step might be to compare the original survey with this latest report.

But this, according to Mr Hitchin, is not possible, because nobody appears to have a copy of the original survey.

This apparent impasse has prompted the Shadow Chancellor, Mr Oliver Letwin, to suggest to West Dorset Building Control that they employ an outside of area consultant to give an appraisal of Peter Brett Associates’ survey.

Mr Hitchin has, in the meantime, been promised

by West Dorset Building Control that this matter will be dealt with within weeks. He is, as ever, hopeful that his plans to move forward can soon be realised.

As soon as he is given the go-ahead to make whatever necessary repairs, Mr Hitchin hopes to renovate the building and offer a programming mix that will include national & international high-quality screenings, performance, exhibitions & bands, but will also offer low-cost daytime events, budget family & children’s access & a loyalty programme.

Historic impressions Bruton Dovecote

Bruton Dovecote, Somerset, photograph by Vicky Taylor

AMONG the many interesting architectural features of Bruton in Somerset are the arched l5th century Packhorse Bridge, the long high buttressed Abbey wall and the unusual Bartons, or alleyways, that link the High Street with the river Brue. But one of its most famous features is the Dovecote set high on a hill to the south overlooking the church, river and town.

The Somerset Environment record dates the Dovecote as, possibly, early l6th century although other sources date it to the early l7th century. Known locally as the Pigeon Tower it was believed that the nearby Abbey kept their pigeons here. However, it was not converted for use as a dovecote until long after the dissolution of the Abbey.

The Berkeley family had acquired the land and estates and built a mansion incorporating what remained of the Abbey buildings and extending the grounds to create a 60 acre park. The elevated position of the Dovecote suggests that it may have been built as a prospect tower, possibly on the foundations of an earlier monastic building. It also may have been a watchtower as it overlooked one of the early fording places of the river. A print of the early l8th century shows it with a roof and chimney. Short avenues of trees radiated from it towards the east, south-east and south and it had views over the park, woods and surrounding meadows.

It is a rectangular gabled building, now roofless, surrounded by two lines of earthworks. All the architectural details are of a high standard which suggests that it was

intended for habitation, either by a warrener, or gamekeeper, or it was used as a picnic site where the Berkeley family could enjoy the views of their park. Built from local limestone with quoins and dressings of Doulting stone it originally had three storeys with windows on all sides on each floor. Most of the windows were probably blocked up later when it was converted into a dovecote. At this time nest boxes would have been built on a wooden floor. This has since decayed and they are now supported on piers of rubble.

There are forty nest boxes in a complete tier and sufficient height for about 22 tiers. Now, only six tiers, approximately 240 nest boxes, remain.

Pigeon-keeping, an ancient practice originating in the eastern Mediterranean region, was introduced into England by the Norman lords. The right to erect a dovecote was traditionally reserved for the lord of the manor and to be able to build and stock one reflected the social standing and wealth of the owner.

This common law was modified later to allow freeholders to build a dovecote. Keeping pigeons became such a common practice that, in 1655, it was estimated that there were three dovecotes in every parish.

The young pigeons (squabs) were kept as a source of meat. They were almost as large as adult birds and, because they had never flown, their meat was very tender and provided a little extra luxury for the table. The older birds, as well as being valued for their meat, provided eggs and manure. The manure was used not only as a fertilizer but also, during

the 16th and 17th centuries, to make saltpetre used in the manufacture of gunpowder.

In 1913, the Somersetshire Archeological and Natural History Society recorded an inspection of the site “with a view to its repair if thought worthy of preservation”. They reported that “The building had originally two floors above the ground floor. One of the floor joists to the top floor is still in place…

There are remains of internal plastering on the walls of both floors. The windows were probably, if not certainly, glazed… and one window of the ground floor has the wooden window seat still in situ. There were no signs to us of a chimney or stairs. It may be that the upper floors were approached by an internal stair of wood which has disappeared.” They noted that “incorporated in the structure are stones which have clearly come from some other building probably some of the materials were from the old monastic buildings.” The conclusion was that “the building was not of sufficient archaeological interest to claim the Society’s attention.”

In 1915, Sir Henry Hoare gave the Dovecote to the National Trust, making it one of the earliest Trust properties and ensuring its preservation. It is now Grade 11* listed and a particularly important building which warrants every effort being made to preserve it.

Bibliography: Victorian History of the County of Somerset, Vol VII. The Dovecotes of Historical Somerset by John and Pamela McCann.

Somerset Studies at Taunton Library.

Thanks to John Bishton. Story by Vicky Taylor.

Images of everyday life Compiled by Ron Frampton

Derek Beer, photograph by Ron Frampton

FOR this issue of Images of everyday life, Ron met Derek Beer at Axminster. This is Derek’s story: “My Granny Beer lived at Winsham, had 13 children, and died at the age of 96. In the 1930s, Grandad White was a farm carter, and Dad was a gardener at the Cricket St Thomas estate, now the wildlife park.

In 1946 I left school, aged 14. My first job was garden boy at Forde Abbey, a Cistercian monastery founded in 1148. I worked under a head gardener, and three gardeners.

I met my wife Eunice at the dance hall behind Axminster picture house. We planned to get married, but I slipped a disc in my back.

In those days if you couldn’t work you lost your job. I found temporary employment and we got married in May 1959.

Mr Samson, the old chap in Axminster fish shop, who was still driving at 96 and frying fish at the age of 100, told me about a gardening job at Monkton Wyld School, near Charmouth. I applied and started work with Dennis Bearpark, in December 1959. Alan and Graham, our two boys, came along over the next three years.

According to the records: Monkton Wyld School was originally a Gothic Victorian rectory, built at the same time as the church, 1848.

Romantically situated, overlooking a small wooded valley on the rim of the Marshwood Vale, it is approached through deep winding lanes.

Eleanor Urban and her husband Carl, a geography teacher, opened the school in May 1940. It was one of the few ‘co-educational

independent progressive boarding schools’, for children up to the age of 18, catering for 30 boys and 30 girls.

Carl, a German national, was detained under house arrest during the war. At this time, he wasn’t allowed to possess maps. But he was allowed to build Hartgrove Goyle Bungalow from local stone, at Trinity Hill, where the garden ran down to the bluebell railway line.

Carl died in 1960.

There were six full-time teachers and a part-time music teacher. All the main subjects were covered, arts and crafts were taught in the afternoons. The school attracted children of notable people, including: Laurie Adler’s daughter, Wendy; George Melly’s two sons, Tom and Paddy; members of the Gielgud family, and two nieces of Sammy Davies Jr., came from America.

I’ve always worked hard, but working at Monkton Wyld School was a challenge. There was no mains water, electricity or drainage.

We had our own sewage treatment plant. Our water was pumped from a local spring, and our electricity was generated by a large diesel engine with a heavy flywheel. In cold weather, I’d start it with a cranking handle, three times a day. It would puff and kick back – it could break your arm.

On Boxing Day 1962, snow started falling. We had a terrible freeze-up that lasted six weeks. The kids had no heating in their bedrooms – they must have been frozen. I had to walk each way to work from Axminster. The main road near Monkton Wyld was blocked for a fortnight. I walked on the hedges.

Spring arrived, Dennis and I provided enough vegetables, also fruit, milk and eggs to keep the school going – 60 children. We sold our surplus produce and bought in potatoes.

The walled kitchen garden was south facing, completely organic and everything was done by hand. We planted lots of fruit trees – one year we had over 1000 peaches. The iron supports for the netting, which provided frost protection, can still be seen.

We kept six Jersey cows, and milked them by hand. All had flower names, apart from one. She was born on my wife’s birthday so her name was Eunice. Hay was made by hand, using wooden rakes. The children helped. Our leghorn free-range hens – we kept 100 – provided lots of fresh eggs. They were beautiful.

One hen laid her eggs in the churchyard yew tree, one laid in the tool-shed.

I kept a pig for myself at school. She was called Rachel. I fed her on school leftovers – she loved polo-mints as a dessert. We eventually killed Rachel and put her in our freezer.

She was eaten by my wife Eunice, our boys and myself.

The school closed in July 1982. I’d been working there for 23 years. When I finished, I left the garden all planted up – we grew everything you could think of. I was 50, and spent the next 15 years as a self-employed gardener.

I’ve worked for some lovely people and was never short of a job. Now I’m 72, I like doing my own garden in Chard Road, Axminster – drivers go by and enjoy the splash of colour”.

Next month Ron will be going to Somerset.

West Dorset based writer and correspondent for the New Yorker magazine, Jon Lee Anderson, was one of the non ‘embedded’ journalists based in Baghdad during the Iraq war.

His latest book The Fall of Baghdad has just been published in Britain. He talked to Fergus Byrne about the events, the people and the psychology that is shaping the future of our world.

Jon Lee Anderson, photograph by Dianne Dowling

DESPITE launching a newspaper at the age of ten, whilst living in Taiwan, Jon Lee Anderson never really harboured ambitions to become a journalist. More likely, given the right set of circumstances, he may well have become a naturalist – fighting for the rights of animals in the wild and in captivity. At thirteen, he ran away from home, planning to live in the natural history museum in Washington, D.C., where he had spent time as a volunteer taxidermist. “I was not even interested in politics until I was 25” he says. “I was only interested in jungles and tribes, rivers, mountains and animals, that was all I cared about. I always thought I would be a naturalist. In fact when I was living here in England at the age of fifteen I met Gerald Durrell. I wanted to work with him, in Jersey.

That was my goal. It’s funny how it turned out.”

Jon Lee Anderson’s latest book The Fall of Baghdad may well be one of the most significant contributions to the memory of what is undoubtedly the most important political event of our time. Though he was based in Baghdad before, during and after the allied invasion, he was not an ‘embedded journalist’, and this book is by no means ‘war reporting’.

It is a story that works on many levels, not only giving the reader a fascinating insight into the workings of a regime, both under threat and under attack, but it also sets an emotional and historical context for the reader through the lives of many of the characters the author meets and befriends during his time there. “I would hope that the book serves, on one level, as a kind of story of about human nature” says Jon Lee. “But it’s also a story about the fall of one of the world’s oldest cities, and its history, and how that history continues to transmute and evolve, and about the collision between the west, the United States, and that culture – the

coming together of two cultures – with a lot of mutual incomprehension. And I felt almost like a mediating personality – because I was there, it was my countrymen invading and I had a great deal of empathy for the Iraqis. At the same time, I was continuing to explore their reality and trying to discover why it was all happening, and there was a precognitive quality to it.

The Iraqis I talked to were steeped in their own history – telling me well before the events what was going to happen, and then it did happen.

So on the one hand the book is a document of an extraordinary period, a dramatic event which affects all of us, but also, I hope, a book that offers an insight into human nature.”

Apart from the insight into human nature under extreme conditions, a subject that Jon Lee is uniquely qualified to investigate, having spent most of his writing life in volatile situations with heightened human emotions, The Fall of Baghdad has a keen sense of reality. From the opening chapter, in late 2002, when Saddam Hussein frees the inmates of Abu Ghraib prison, the reader becomes aware of the danger that mutual incomprehension and fear can bring. The fact that when all other journalists were warned to evacuate Iraq, Jon Lee Anderson stayed, is a testament to his need to report the reality of the situation.

It is also a sign of his respect for those that befriended and gradually trusted him – giving him insights into the workings of their lives under the Saddam regime. “Essentially, Iraq is a secret world” he says. “It is as I told it.

People revealed themselves gradually, the little moments, chinks of light. Ala Bashir, someone admired and trusted by Saddam, summons me to an art gallery to tell me what he really thinks about Saddam – what an extraordinary moment. When Sabah, my driver – who was a cipher to me, I never knew exactly where he stood – breaks down and weeps in a private moment and tells me he has a brother who has disappeared. When Salaar, the minder, makes a dry quip about Saddam having won 120% of the referendum he held in 2002 to extend his rule for another seven years, with just a twinkle, not a wink – this was how I began to learn about what was really in people’s hearts.

The fascinating thing was it continued to be a voyage of discovery because you never really know. And people, to survive, will do anything.

So were all of these admissions ways of pulling me in? They saw me as a lifeline. At some level, this was an element in each of their cases, but that didn’t make it any less authentic. They are people, you cannot view them in black and white terms, they are complex and they react in unpredictable ways.”

The future of Iraq, the Middle East and the western world are now inextricably linked.

During his most recent visit to Baghdad, Jon Lee had to travel in camouflage, sometimes with armed guards. This is something familiar from his childhood in Colombia where

he would be taken to kindergarten by armed guards. His unique perspective and knowledge of conflict stems from a need to understand the psyche behind the change from victim to revolutionary. Prior to writing what is considered the definitive biography of Che Guevara, he wrote Guerrillas, an on-the-ground account of five insurgent movements around the world.

He probably has a better understanding of what is fuelling the current insurgent movement against allied forces than most military analysts. He says, “I spent a lot of time around revolutionaries and guerrillas and I can often empathise with them. I understand the idealism that leads people to leave a safe and comfortable existence and go off into the hills and fight what they see as a tyrannical or an evil regime. But that same idealism can turn. Once blood begins to be shed, the blood becomes a combustive element of its own. It can create a world of martyrs and heroes, and it becomes its own justification. Vengeance is dressed up usually by a spiritual realm. Idealism can turn to its own form of tyranny.”

Jon Lee agrees with the commonly held belief that the lack of preplanning for the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq has led to the needless loss of life on both sides. However he is uniquely placed to offer intelligent observation on what is happening in the hearts and minds of those that the average western citizen fears most, those prepared to give their lives for their beliefs. “Look at the motivation behind the guerrillas” he says, drawing on knowledge gained from previous conflicts and groups.

“These were people, who in some cases had a great deal of animosity toward the outside world. The world looks at them as dangerous – beyond the pale beings – but they’re all over the world, they come from every society.

So therefore who are they? What unites them?

How different are they to us? That was the seed in my exploration of that world. It appears in every society, and if any society becomes polarised to the point where a significant minority feels disenfranchised from having a civic voice – for economic, social, racial or political reasons – you are already on the slippery slope to pushing them, or allowing them, to leave the fold.

Such a group will almost inevitably break apart and use violence, which is a time tested course of action and somehow a legitimate part of our human development. Because most societies were formed in blood.”

It is his ability to draw on personal experience and hard earned wisdom that has allowed Jon Lee Anderson to bring the reality of the Iraq conflict, its history, and the current insurgency into context. The Fall of Baghdad not only brilliantly documents an event that, on some levels, may have been inevitable, but it also offers an authentic and non-judgemental observation of some of the people and elements that could pave the future for that country.

The Fall of Baghdad is Published by Little-Brown.

Marshwood The

Vale Magazine

March 2010 Issue 132

FREE

Maya Kaye, photograph by Julia Mear

For West Dorset, South Somerset and East Devon thebestfrominandaroundthevalethebestfrominandaroundthevale

Julia Mear met Maya Kaye at the family home where she grew up; Hinkhams Farm, Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset. This is Maya’s story.

“I was born in Andover, Hampshire in the summer of 1975 to Peter and Marion Ray. My Mother had grown up in Weymouth, then Bridport and finally Griddleshay Farm in Whitchurch Canonicorum. Her parents had bought the farm so that they could have ponies, which was a passion of my mum’s and still is to this day. In her teens my mum went to the Norland College, Bath, to study to become a nanny but somewhere along the way she met my dad, Peter Ray, who was working on a farm near Andover. They quickly married; I was born and named Maya Rainbow Ray. At the age of almost four I was presented with a little sister, Sasha Sunshine. Our middle names are only unofficial – my mother didn’t actually have the bottle to put them on our birth certificates. Just before my sixth birthday we moved from Hampshire to Castle View in Whitchurch Canonicorum and I started at Charmouth County Primary school. After Castle View we moved down the road to Hinkhams Farm, where my parents still live now.

At heart my parents have always been hippies, our first cat was called Karma for heaven’s sake and my younger brother, Tom does have a real middle name Joshua because Joshu was a Zen wise man! Their idyllic plan was to be as self sufficient as possible. My early childhood memories are of vegetable gardens, warm buckets of milk (often floating with straw and other bits of inedible matter) and our first house cow; called Goldberry, chickens, warm eggs, homemade bread, jam and other delights. Of course, when you are seven your desire is to be like everyone else, so often I bemoaned the fact that our milk didn’t come from a bottle like everyone else’s. Now I would give anything to taste that rich, creamy nectar and be a child again peeping into the parlour or exploring the vegetable garden on a hot summer’s day with dirty knees and fingers sticky with raspberry juice.

It is true isn’t it that childhood is the best time of your life and looking back now you couldn’t have asked for one better than mine. Those long, hot, summer days spent idling the time away were in fact, full of adventure, mischief and above all freedom. Sasha and I had grown up knowing the grandaughter of a woman in the village for what seemed like forever, but one summer we all really clicked and she became more of a third sister than a friend. So began some of the best years of my life. Every school holiday, Gypsy would be sent down to Whitchurch from London to stay with her granny. Together we would set off on our bicycles through the lanes with a bottle of watery, warm orange squash and a squashed picnic and we wouldn’t come home until the evening. We must have looked a real sight because we only had two big bikes; one unfortunate (as the oldest, I usually nominated Sasha as the unfortunate) would be forced to ride on a tiny red and white miniature bicycle designed for a four year old. I can see Sasha now pedalling like crazy trying to keep up and

Cover Story Julia Mear met Maya Kaye in Whitchurch

Maya Kaye, photograph by Julia Mear

complaining bitterly the whole while. As a threesome we spent hours roaming the fields, the river and the woodlands.

As we got older we embarked on slightly more risqué games such as going to the churchyard at midnight. We used to wait until my parents had gone to sleep and then creep out of the house, meet up with our co-conspirator, Gypsy, and go to the churchyard. Our plan was to run 12 times around a grave to raise the dead but funnily enough, once we actually arrived, it wouldn’t seem quite such a good idea and we would slink off home again to bed. Once Gypsy’s mum overheard our schemes to creep out at night and told us stories of children being taken by adults, a thought I can honestly say had not crossed our minds, and there begins the loss of innocence I suppose. However, I am not sure how I would feel about my own children getting up to such mischief now.

One of my most prevalent memories is of caravans. The farm seemed to be littered with caravans in various states of dilapidation.

Caravans let out to holidaymakers, caravans dragged in by family friends, intending to stay for the summer, after which the friends left but the caravans invariably remained. The empty carcasses becoming a den, a hideout or to store a butterfly rescued from a spider’s web with only one wing. The floors slowly rotted into the mud and the walls became entombed in ivy and brambles. In teenage years, Gypsy, Sasha and myself along with other most privileged friends spent nights sleeping in the caravans. One of our favourite caravan games was ‘tombstones’ and involved folding the caravan bed back into its space against the wall. The unsuspecting sleeper would find themselves suspended upside down, crumpled unceremoniously behind the mattress, their muffled cries for help drowned out by our raucous laughter. My father taught me this game as he himself had played it at public school. It is great that my father has been a respected member of the community; Chairman of the Flower Show

Committee and on the Parish Council. However, I have memories of him in a different role, being filmed running around the field herding sheep, naked apart from a pair of wellies, as a favour to a friend who was doing a film studies course.

The Five Bells in Whitchurch is a pub that holds a special place in my heart, particularly during the times when Terry, Melanie and Nigel were running it. They used to hold biker’s conventions, Medieval Fayres and an alternative Flower Show with prizes for the most revolting sandwich. Years before, I remember going to the pub with my dad to help out on Skittles night. I felt incredibly privileged and trusted to be able to ‘stick up’ for the men who were playing; Simmy Symonds, George Barnes etc.

‘Let em roll’ they used to mutter if it looked like I would be too hasty in my lunge for the ball.

I now live in Ottery St Mary, Devon with my wonderful husband, Richard, whom I met years before we actually started dating when his parents moved from Coventry to Lyme Regis. I had moved to London with my sister who was studying International History at the LSE. I was having a wonderful time discovering the wonders of the big city. I got a job at Purves and Purves (a very trendy furniture shop on Tottenham Court Road). I didn’t really know anyone but I discovered that Richard lived only a short bus ride away and being starved of company I gave him a ring. He invited himself around for dinner that very night and never really left again. Shortly after we met Richard started working for Ash as their DJ. It meant that he got to have a great adventure going off around the world with them on tour and I got to swan around backstage at loads of cool gigs and parties.

Together we have a seven year old son, Alfie and a four year old daughter, Rosabelle both of whom are wonderful, adorable creatures who constantly provide me with moments of awe and wonder as I watch them transform into little characters in their own right. We moved back down to Ottery St Mary when Alfie was two because we didn’t want to bring up children in London.

I wanted my children to have the same country childhood that I had. We still spend a considerable amount of time at the farm in Whitchurch; my dad is an incredibly good cook and my mum is often the life and soul of the party. Even though I have forged a life for myself in Ottery St Mary, my heart lies in Whitchurch and I would love to return but work dictates that we live closer to Exeter at the moment. Although I did my teacher training at Goldsmiths University and taught in a school in South East London for three years, I now work for Connexions in Exeter, helping young people into work or education.

When we return to the farm and I see my children cast aside the Nintendo Games Console or other such gadgetry and run laughing to the old swing hanging askance from the plum tree, or take up a fishing rod and net and head to the pond, it makes my heart sing. My childhood has been idyllic and to know that my children are growing up in the same magical surroundings and are creating fantastic memories of their own that will be so entwined with my own is something special indeed.”

First Aid from the Herb Garden

by Wendy Lees

NOT being a trained herbalist I have always shied away from answering the many questions I am asked about the use of herbs for specific problems, but last summer I attended a wonderful course given by Georgie Corrywright, a medicinal herbalist who practises in Hooke, near Beaminster, and this has given me confidence to approach this subject in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s articles, especially as Georgie has kindly agreed to vet each article before it is sent to press.

No matter how small your growing area â&#x20AC;&#x201C; even a few pots or a window box â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is possible to grow a collection of herbs that can be used to counteract or prevent many common ills. All plants that I will be listing are harmless, providing they are used carefully, bearing in mind that herbal medicines (even teas!) are potent, and dosages should be taken as seriously as any patent medicine.

There are a few Golden rules for using herbs safely: Only use herbs that you fully recognise and positively identify.

Always consult a specialist before using any herbal remedies if you suffer from any long term illnesses, allergies or if you are pregnant.

In most cases the remedies should not be taken for long periods. If the symptoms persist, seek medical advice.

Treat with respect and do not exceed the recommended doses.

Teas (aka infusions or tisanes) These are simple to make using either fresh or dried herbs. Fresh herbs have a higher medicinal value providing that they are harvested when they are in their prime. I shall be writing about harvesting and preserving herbs later in this series.

To make a single dose, use 1 tsp of the dried herb or 3 tsp of the fresh herb in 1 cup (225ml) of water. This can be taken 3 times a day usually before meals.

Decoctions Decoctions are made from harder plant materials such as root, bark or seed. These should be crushed or bruised before use. Use the same quantities of herb per dose as for tea, but place the herb into an enamel or glass pan; add twice the quantity of cold water (i.e. 450 ml of water to 1 tsp of dried herb) and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer gently until the liquid is reduced to half of the original volume. Take away from heat and cover. Leave to steep for 3 minutes.

Strain and use.

Preparing tea: Pour boiling water into a glass, china or enamel jug or teapot; wait 30 seconds then sprinkle in the herb and allow to steep for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The tea can be drunk either lukewarm or cold and can be sweetened, if necessary, with honey (try to use a local honey as this will enhance its efficacy).

Should you want to contact Georgie her details are as follows: Georgie Corrywright DBTh. MIRCH Registered Medical Herbalist Tel: 01308 863668 Email georgie@aaschool.ac.uk

From the Archives of

A Dorset Settlement

FOR many people in and around West Dorset, memories of Wytherston, near Powerstock, will include much artistic activity. During the years when Sir Michael Culme-Seymour was in residence, a visitor might meet artists, musicians or sculptors hard at work in one of the cottages surrounding the main house. If lucky enough to be invited to dinner or drinks, a guest would be presented with a collection of contemporary art that might mesmerise and baffle many an art lover, but as Michael served on the committee of the Contemporary Art Society his collection was fascinating and born from a deep love of art and artists. His time at Wytherstone is remembered best in a book published by his step-daughter, the late Gemma Nesbitt, after his death in 1999.

However whilst the most recent memories of Wytherston may be strong, the history of this small settlement reaches back two thousand years, thanks to the findings of amateur archaeologists in the 1990s.

A new book produced by retired history teacher Tom Conner traces the development of the settlement from 200 years after the Doomsday Book.

Wytherston: A History of a Dorset Settlement is an engrossing account of life in one of the hidden gems of west Dorset.

In the Middle Ages, Wytherston, though unlikely to have ever had more than fifty inhabitants, was a parish of it’s own. Over the years the land was used for pasture, arable and even gave up it’s timber to to hard working tenants. Tom Conner’s richly illustrated account of it’s life and the lives of the families that inhabited it opens a new and very worthwhile page in the rich history of west Dorset.

The book can be purchased direct from the author. Visit www.wytherston.com for more details or telephone 01308 485756.

the Marshwood Vale magazine

A stunning record of Dorset gardens AFTER years of effort there is nothing more satisfying than seeing a lovingly tended garden in all it’s glory on a warm and sunny summer day. Without that summer day, however, the next best thing is seeing it preserved in beautiful photographs.

Which is precisely what the owners of thirty seven of the most beautiful gardens in Dorset will be able to enjoy with the publication of a new book by photographer Roger Lane.

The Gardens of Dorset, to be published in April by Francis Lincoln Ltd, is a portrait of some of the best that Dorset has to offer. Written in close consultation with the owners of the gardens, Roger Lane’s informative text compliments his beautiful photographs and details the history of each garden and its development under the current owners. It then focuses on design, planting and the garden’s relationship with the surrounding landscape. Glorious photographs, taken through the seasons, show the gardens at their finest and offer readers a unique view of stunning locations rarely available to anyone but the owners.

Although not available until April 8th, it would be prudent to pre-order at www.franceslincoln. com or email sales@frances-lincoln.com.

Published by Francis Lincoln Ltd, The Gardens of Dorset is hardback with 250 colour photographs. ISBN: 9780711230903.

Price £25.00.

Gardens of Dorset by Roger Lane, © photograph Roger Lane

Out and about with the camera

by Ron Frampton

© Photograph by Shirley Baxter

Shirley Baxter comments: “Our tutor took us to see this beautiful lime kiln in South Somerset. The kiln is set into a steep bank, which enabled the cavity to be fed at the top with small pieces of calcareous stone and the lime to be raked out at the bottom after burning. This was an unpleasant job: the dust was harmful to the eyes and nose – asphyxiation was a real health hazard. Kilns nearly always faced in a westerly direction in this area because the amount of draught was crucial to the efficiency of burning. In the mid 1800s, farmers produced their own lime to neutralise soil acidity, and break down heavy clay. Slaked lime – water added to lime, was also used in building as a whitewash and lime putty. When this was mixed with sand it formed mortar and plaster. Most of the traditional buildings in this area had lime used in their construction. I took the kiln photograph with my classic Mamiya 645J medium-format camera, using an 80mm lens with f22 aperture and Ilford FP4 film.”

Ron Frampton teaches photography at Dillington House, Ilminster: Architecture, Portraiture, Landscape, Documentary, and Traditional Darkroom Printing. Tel: 01460 258613 www.dillington.com Wytherston by Tom Connors

&

Arts

Entertainment

The Work Factor While thousands of hopefuls dream of participating in television’s next X-Factor show, there are as many hard working musicians, singers and songwriters touring a gruelling circuit of pubs and clubs, trying to gain an audience. Fergus Byrne spoke to Cole Stacey from near Honiton who has just released his first CD. A RECENT piece in the Observer Music Monthly magazine, it’s 76th and final issue, was accompanied by an extraordinary photograph of the folk singer-songwriter Pete Seeger.

The piece was written by Burton Bradstock’s Billy Bragg, and it showed the 90 year-old American legend photographed in New York last year. Billy said that Seeger ‘towers over folk music like a giant redwood’.

What was really striking was the extraordinary achievement of survival.

The sight of a 90 year-old man clutching a guitar and banjo powerfully highlighted the longevity of the music produced by so many singer-songwriters over the years. Over the last fifty or sixty of those, men and women with guitars have travelled the highways and byways, playing their songs to anyone who would listen. If they were lucky they scraped a living, or if very lucky they got a recording contract, and we would buy their LPs and hang onto their every word – because they were the voices of their generation.

The sight of Pete Seeger’s aging limbs and ancient banjo starkly brings home the fact that they appear to be a dying breed. Today the world of music is dominated by X-Factor style commercialism, where the singer-songwriter simply doesn’t bring in the money that the music industry needs.

However, a dying breed they may be, but they are not going away. There are folk nights and open mic nights thriving all over the countryside, and as people step up and sing their songs, there are still those with a will to work at it full time. To survive and even thrive, however, they will just have to do it with a bit more understanding

of the way things are these days. One such singer-songwriter is East Devon based Cole Stacey. The 24 year-old, who grew up just outside Honiton, has just released his first CD and is currently touring the countryside hoping to build an audience for his work. The days of the lucrative and much sought after ‘record deal’ are no longer the main focus for musicians like Cole. His new CD is, as he puts it, a body of work he just had to get recorded so he could move on to new work. Thankfully it is a body of work that was worth recording, because for Cole, the CD is his bread and butter while touring. Without the backing of a wealthy management or record company, all the expenses fall to him, and a few CD sales can be the difference between paying for the petrol to get to a gig or running on fumes.

The youngest son of a musical family – his Dad owned a music shop in Offwell and still plays locally – Cole couldn’t help but be drawn to music as a profession. He began with drums and took up playing guitar when he was sixteen. That prompted him to take a music A level.

After a trip to India he decided that music was going to be the source of his living, but it wasn’t a decision taken with stars in his eyes. “You just have to start at the bottom” he says.

“You go round to open mic nights, of which there are a lot in Devon, and just get up and sing.” A leg up from a performance and interview with BBC Radio Devon helped him step up a level, and the comment from Steve Knightley of Show of Hands that Cole is ‘an impassioned and ambitious young songwriter’, hasn’t done any harm either. Lodge Music, who promote a wide variety of established and upcoming artists, have helped Cole put together his CD, and now he has plenty of hard work ahead as he tries to build a solid fan base.

And that can take time. Many of the legions of fans of Devon’s current golden boys, Muse, probably aren’t aware that members of the band have been working musicians for the best part of twenty years.

Cole’s CD, Changing faces, contains 10 tracks, nine written by Cole and a beautiful cover version of Elton

Cole Stacey – a will to work at the job

John’s, Talking Old Soldiers. Cole is accompanied by the incredibly talented and versatile Scott Ward, a percussionist and pianist from Winchester. It was produced partly by Cole and partly by Simon Greenwood and shows a confident songwriter who has quickly built his own style. Speaking of songwriting, which he admits is his real passion, Cole says “I think you have to have a certain blind faith in yourself. I feel like I have something to say – like every songwriter does. When I first started it was a very indulgent thing, but now I accept that you have to make it accessible. You can’t just stay completely inside your bubble.”

With the current trend to download individual songs as opposed to complete albums, Cole is also aware that it is up to the musicians to work hard to get a market for their music.

Perhaps that’s the positive that will see a resurgence in good live music.

Many people will know about the Facebook effort to ensure that the 2009 Christmas chart number one, wasn’t completely manipulated by Simon Cowell’s X-Factor television show, as it had been for years previously. In that case, just enough people signed up to make the point that contrived music wasn’t what the whole country wanted. But that’s as much a sign of the power of the internet,

as it is of people power. What the music industry really needs now, is more people supporting live music in its traditional home of pubs, clubs and village halls. As musicians like Cole Stacey travel from town to town playing their songs and describing the world as they see it, music fans need to be there, to buy the CDs and make sure that the generations of Pete Seeger’s of the future, aren’t lost to the power of a thin wide screen and the Ethernet.

Cole Stacey’s Changing faces is available locally at Axe Music in Axminster and Honiton Music in Honiton or it can be purchased by visiting his website www.colestacey. net. Better still, catch Cole at his next local appearance and buy a copy at the gig. He will be at Kentisbeare Village Hall on April 16th.

Changing faces CD

House&Garden

An Ode to Radio

IF you remember the broadcaster and DJ John Peel with warm affection, you will love John Peel’s Shed, an “ode to radio”, coming to Somerset’s Take Art rural touring charity, at the David Hall, South Petherton on Friday 6th March, Clapton and Wayford village hall on Saturday 8th and Norton sub Hamdon village hall on Saturday 21st.

Writer and theatre-maker John Osborne won a competition on John Peel’s BBC radio show. His prize was a box of records that took eight years to listen to. The show features a selection of the records previously owned by the late and infamous John Peel, many of which are very rare recordings by obscure and now defunct bands.

64 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 65

Vegetables in March By Ashley Wheeler

Woodchip paths help to build up soil biology, providing long term fertility for crops, as well as improving drainage and creating a better surface to walk on

W

hat a wet winter! We have struggled to get much done outside in the market garden this winter, our polytunnels are looking very weed free and productive though, as we have been finding shelter as much as we can!

We are in the bottom of a valley on heavy clay soil that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drain very quickly. Through the winter we need at least two weeks of dry weather even to dry the grass out enough so that we can drive a tractor about to move compost to where it is needed. It turns out that two weeks of dry weather is pretty rare in the winter in Devon. The heavy rain takes its toll on the soil if it is not covered with growing plants or mulched in some way. The soil becomes compacted and leaches nutrientsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a sight often seen in fields that have grown maize and left bare overwinter. Ideally we sow green manuresâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;either undersowing squash and courgettes with low growing clovers and trefoil in the summer, or sowing rye and other cereals, along with phacelia in the autumn to cover the soil overwinter. However, sometimes it is even too wet to prepare the ground to sow these green manures in the autumn. We usually mulch heavily in autumn with compost on beds that we intend to plant early in the year and then cover them with black plastic to give more protection from the rain.

One thing that we have always had trouble with is our paths. We raise our beds up a little to give the plants a slightly deeper soil to root into, but often the paths are waterlogged and compacted going through the autumn and into the winter. Something that we have started doing on paths next to our no dig beds is laying down cardboard and then a couple of inches of semi composted woodchip. This initially provides a good surface to walk on, meaning that we can access beds to harvest from or mulch a lot more easily. Long term the woodchip will be broken down further and encourage more biological activity in the soil not only in the pathways but also in the beds. We are starting to think of the pathways not just as a means to access beds, but also a source of fertility for the vegetables growing in the beds. The woodchip will encourage fungal activity in the soil, and the mycchorizal associations between the plants and the fungi will give the plants greater access to

66 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

nutrients and water throughout the year. The cardboard and woodchip will act as a weed suppressant and so weed control in the paths should also be easier, and hopefully the paths will become less of a burden and more part of the whole growing system.

Simple techniques like this make a huge difference in the garden—not only to the productivity of the space, but also making it a more appealing place to be. It is not great wallowing in the waterlogged paths, and always feels like we are doing more damage when we walk on them when they are wet.

Walking on woodchipped paths on the other hand is great—it creates a sort of spongey effect and means that half the field isn’t stuck to your boots by the time you get to the other end of the path.

Now that March is upon us, it is time for seed sowing to begin in earnest, and everything will start to get a bit busier in the garden. As soon as the soil begins to dry out we will be preparing beds for planting the spring crops, as well as finishing off that over ambitious winter job list...

WHAT TO SOW THIS MONTH: turnips, chard, spinach, salad leaves—chervil, buckshorn plantain, lettuce, burnet, peashoots, anise hyssop, kales, mustards, agretti, sorell, summer purslane & goosefoot (end of month). Radish, fennel, courgettes (end of month), spring onions, cucumbers, dill coriander, peas and mangetout. We sow all of these into trays in the propagating tunnel to be planted out in April mostly.

WHAT TO PLANT THIS MONTH: OUTSIDE: salads—mustards, rockets etc., lettuce, peas, broad beans, potatoes, early kale.

INSIDE: If you sowed any early salad crops for a polytunnel or glasshouse they can go in at the beginning of March. Also successions of peas and spring onions will continue to be planted.

OTHER IMPORTANT TASKS THIS MONTH: If the weather dries, continue preparing beds for the spring by mulching with compost. Keep on top of the seed sowing, but don’t sow too much of anything—think about sowing successionally rather than doing one big sowing in early Spring. Things that are perfectly suited to successions include all salad leaves, spring onions, peas, beans, beetroot, chard, kale, carrots, fennel, radish and annual herbs.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 67

March in the Garden

By Russell Jordan

I

f you are reading this article then I am assuming it is because you have an interest in gardening and not because you are seeking amusement by critiquing my somewhat ungainly prose!

Years and years ago, I first veered away from hands-on horticulture by becoming a ‘researcher / writer’ for the gardening magazine Gardening Which?, part of ‘The Consumers’ Association’. Everything I wrote went through a process of rewriting, in house style, so I guess I never learnt ‘elegant’ writing because that simply wasn’t required. I now know, much too late to do anything about it, that this ‘truth is God’ approach suits my, mildly, Asperger’s brain.

Having said that, gardening as a pastime is largely an aesthetic exercise so, although an understanding of Science aids success, I am not entirely immune to the beauty of ‘taming nature’. To this end, March is perhaps the first month of the year, the logical start to the growing season, when the drabness of winter really feels like it is being extinguished by the joys of spring.

The spring flowering bulbs, especially the new ones that were planted last autumn, will be adding a burst of colour and, in the guise of hyacinths and many narcissi, a powerful perfumed haze.

Early blooming trees and shrubs, magnolias are the star performers here, are especially welcome for bearing their flowers at a time when the garden is still largely leafless.

The imminent emergence of new growth makes this time of year the last chance to complete the traditional winter tasks.

These include planting bare-rooted hedging, rose pruning, mulching of beds and borders, winter digging, wholesale clearance work and anything which might disturb bird nesting sites.

I find that dividing congested clumps of herbaceous perennials can continue into April, at least, because they recover best when the soil temperatures are decidedly on the up. March can still be very cold; remember the heavy snow we had here a couple of years ago.

With sap rising it is important to complete major shrub pruning / tree shaping operations; with buds bursting it may already be too late for some species. If major wounds are created, once winter dormancy has broken, then there is a risk that the cut surface will ‘bleed’ with sap, forced up under pressure, from the awakening root system, weakening the plant. At the very least bleeding is unsightly and something that is best avoided when possible. Open wound sites can also allow fungal diseases to attack the plant and damage it further.

Shrubs grown for their winter stems, Cornus (dogwoods) and Salix (willows) predominate here, should be cut right down to the gound, ‘stooled’. This promotes a fresh burst of new, young, shoots which will provide the strongest stem colour for the desired winter display. This drastic cut back must only be at-

68 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

tempted once the plant is well established, not on newly planted specimens, as it relies on the plant having developed a decent root system to support the new growth. A handful of general purpose fertiliser (regular readers will know that I tend to rely on ‘fish, blood and bone’!), forked in around the stooled plants, is beneficial to regrowth.

Cutting to the ground will result in an almost herbaceous type effect, albeit on a more robust scale and without the flowers, but, more especially in the case of willows, these are trees, i.e. they are woody by nature, so another option is to treat them as ‘lollipops’.

This means that they are allowed to grow up, with a single trunk, for a few years just like a ‘normal’ tree. Once the trunk is a few feet above the height required for the ‘head’ of the lollipop, it can be lopped off, lower than the height gained, and kept to this height annually; correctly known as pollarding. Over the years the trunk continues to thicken, becoming more substantial, while the ‘knob’ at the top, where it is pollarded to annually, becomes more pronounced and club-like—you’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever seen one.

These pollarded specimens, of bright winter stems, look really effective when grown as an avenue or in a formal line. Salix alba var. vitellina ‘Britzensis’, the Scarlet Willow, is often treated this way but any similar willow, with attractive bark colour, could be used. A trunk height of no more than your own head height, or head height plus step ladder, is sensible to allow for easy maintenance.

As an antidote to chopping back; seed sowing is a great activity to attend to whenever the weather prevents comfortable gardening outdoors. I’ve always had a soft-spot for alstroemerias and a quick dip into Christopher Lloyd’s Garden Flowers (an indispensable reference book that is now two decades old) reveals that “It is best to sow several seeds to a pot in March, and to germinate them in a cold frame where the temperatures will range from warm in the day to freezing at night. Germination will then be assured... If seed is given uniformly high temperatures, it will not germinate”. Sage advice, as ever, from the consummate gardener and writer.

It’s too early to plant out tender plants, severe overnight temperature drops are damaging with or without a ‘proper’ frost, so keep these gently ticking over in their winter quarters. The longer days, especially when accompanied by a bit of sunshine, will raise the heat in greenhouses / frames so it’s a good idea to start potting up tuberous plants, dahlias spring to mind, which were lifted from the garden in the autumn. They’ll need to be kept frost-free, obviously, but starting them off now will give them a headstart before planting out into their summer flowering positions.

As ever, prevailing conditions will be your greatest steer when

it comes to getting on with things in the garden. As I write, we’ve had a very mild and extremely wet winter—I can hardly remember a wetter February. This means that your lawn may well be longer than usual for this time of year. If at all possible it should be mown, on a high setting, but only if this can be achieved without turning creating a quagmire. I always seem to miss the one opportunity when a break in the downpours makes this possible and, in its current saturated state, I cannot see that I’ll be able to manage a decent cut any time soon. I’m praying for a much drier, less depressing, launch into spring.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 69

PROPERTY ROUND-UP

What can I buy for £350,000

By Helen Fisher

HAWKCHURCH £315,000

A delightful 3 bedroom home situated centrally in this popular village.

Beautifully presented throughout with a stylish, contemporary feel. Spacious kitchen/dining room with French doors to the garden. Sitting room with multi-fuel burner. South west facing garden with gate to garage and parking space.

Gordon and Rumsby Tel: 01297 553768

LYME REGIS £335,000

A stunning 3 bedroom penthouse apartment just a short walk from the coast and town centre. Beautifully presented throughout with open-plan sitting/dining room. Lift to all floors, well kept communal landscaped gardens and allocated parking space. Panoramic sea views as far as Portland.

Stags Tel: 01308 428000

CHIDEOCK £300,000

An immaculately presented 3 bedroom house in the heart of the village.

Large open-plan kitchen, sitting room with feature fireplace and doors leading to the garden. Low maintenance garden with storage shed and private parking.

Far reaching countryside views from the upstairs.

Goadsby Tel: 01308 420000 70 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

ILMINSTER £315,000

An unique Grade II listed 3 bedroom conversion within walking distance to the town centre. Impressive living room with vaulted ceiling plus basement with utility space. Brimming with original features and decorative details. Allocated parking space and small garden area.

Symonds and Sampson Ilminster Tel: 01460 200790

UPLODERS £315,000

A lovingly maintained period double-fronted cottage with good natural light, high ceilings and characterful features inc: open fireplace and wood burning stove.

Two bedrooms with fitted wardrobes. Recent uPVC double-glazing. Well-stocked private garden with workshop/utility area.

Kennedys Tel: 01308 427329

SHIPTON GORGE £350,000

A former farmworker’s cottage with many original features inc: open fireplace & exposed timbers. Large living room with wood burning stove.

With 3 good sized bedrooms, all with built-in wardrobes. Generous mature garden arranged over several levels with timber shed and far reaching views.

Symonds and Sampson Tel: 01038 422092

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 71

The Best of a Year

By Nick Fisher

T

hey say that a wise man keeps a diary. I am not a wise man. When it comes to cataloguing the past, I’m a peasant. I let time and events and fish pass out of my life without keeping a record. I rarely weigh them. I hardly ever get a good picture, because I’ve lost my camera or forgotten it, or have let the batteries run down.

There was a time some years ago when I was happily snapping away at the fish that I caught for weeks on end.

I felt very proud of myself, being so efficient and making this pictorial account, gaining photographic evidence of my fishing exploits.

As the weeks went by I began to wonder and marvel at the camera. Even though I’d taken quite a few shots, the film’s frame number rarely seemed to advance. Then, it dawned on me that I might not have actually ever loaded a film. I was too scared to open it, in case it was in fact only half way through the film. So, I went on taking pictures for a few more outings. Then, one day, I bit the bullet. Opened the camera in the darkness of our downstairs loo, only to find it was empty. No film.

How stupid can one man be? So, no pictures and no diary. The only thing in my possession you could ever actually call a diary, is a little black book full of scrawlings that represent appointments and trips I’m due to make. It’s all proactive forward-looking stuff, as opposed to retrospective accounts of what happened on a particular day or particular trip.

I’ve met anglers who keep journals.

Some quasi-scientific, some just jolly anecdotal accounts. The other day, I met a guy who proudly told me he has recorded every pike he’s caught over the last five years. Every weight. Date. Time of day.

Water temperature. Weather etc etc. This I can admire, but truly cannot feel a shred of identification.

It would spoil fishing for me to be so methodical and scientific about my sport.

72 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

There’s something very annally-retentive about having to turn your captures into chapters of your ledger book. But, at the same time I have benefited from other people’s quasi scientific approach.

I went barbel fishing with Archie Braddock. Archie lived in Nottingham and fished the Trent regularly. In fact he recorded the water temperature of the Trent every day for something like the last 20 years. He correlated all his barbel catches with moon phases and temperatures and barometric pressure.

He took me night fishing. We came to the swim as the day anglers packed up.

We shovelled in some ground bait, set up the rods, got comfy and sipped some soup from a flask.

Archie then announced that we’d get the first bite between ten and twenty past nine. In half an hour’s time. He was right on the button. The first fish, a barbel of nine pounds lifted my luncheon meat bait at thirteen minutes past nine and I proceeded to battle with a feisty nine and a half pound barbel in the gentle glow of Nottingham night-life reflected on the Trent.

Archie’s diaries mean something. They are factual. Full of information. An aide memoire and a tool to fall back on for inspiration, when things aren’t going well. My diary would be pants. I know it. I’d fudge the facts. I’d misread the instruments. I’d cheat.

In a way, Shooting Times became my diary. I can look back through a year of issues and see where I’ve been, what I’ve caught, even tell what sort of mood I was in by the style of the writing.

Writing for Shooting Times also made me more camera proficient. Somehow, the responsibility of delivering a feature seems less self congratulatory than just taking a fish-snap for the sake of an album. Believe me, I have been subjected to anglers photo albums on many occasions all around the world, and, they are interesting for about ten minutes

and ten photos. Beyond that, you’re on borrowed time.

When I look back at the fish that I’ve caught and lost. The trips I’ve been on, the places I’ve visited, there’s such a feast of ripe memories. Mahseer in India. Salmon in Ireland. Char in Iceland, Frostbite in Lapland. Barracuda in the Canary Islands, Bream in my canal. But the memory that bakes my cake most of all, is a sea trout in Southampton.

In the diffused glare of sodium orange street lamps at one thirty in the morning, fishing a swirling pool in the suburbs of Southampton, I hooked a four and a half pound plus fresh-as-avirgin’s kiss sea trout with sea lice and spots to poke your eyes out. It was July.

The weather was wet and warm. So was my heart.

The obliging fish took my tandem butcher on an intermediate line with a soft, almost playful take. He fought deep and dogged, not flashy or jumpy. He wasn’t a spectacular fighter. He wasn’t acrobatic. Just a heavy weight boxer with a low slow hook and a quiver full of body blows.

I’d fished hard. I’d waded, changed flies, changed lines. Tried every corner, nook and cranny of the pool and eventually found him in an unlikely spot. I earned him, every ounce. And I ate him.

Every scrap.

My wife and I had sushi to start the very next lunchtime. Next day I did a cerviche, marinating thin slivers in lime and vodka. The day after we had fillets grilled on the cooker top’s stripey hob plate. The last remaining chunk I did as gravadlax with dill and sugar. This we ate five days later with dill sauce and silly dripping grins.

I love my fishing. But my fishing experiences don’t have to be documented in a diary or captured in a snap album. For me, the greatest record of a fishing trip is a small garlic-tasting burp and a warm place carved out in my memory bank.

Food&Dining

Book your martini for a night of mayhem in Beaminster THE Ollerod Restaurant with rooms in Beaminster is planning a little bit of adventure for diners later this year. Live & Let Dine, a fully immersive dining show where the audience are transported into a slapstick, cartoon style parody is coming to The Ollerod, for one night only on Thursday 24 September 2020.

Live & Let Dine is a recently-launched interactive dining experience from London-based Kat Mary Productions, and features 4 actors portraying 15 characters, taking diners through an evening of intrigue and mayhem in true James Bond fashion.

Armed with all the clichés of the movies that one would expect and enjoy, the 007 hero is on a hunt to find out which evil villain is threatening his demise. Diners will enjoy a specially-created 3-course meal and welcome drink, as well as the 2-hour interactive show.

‘Following the roaring success of our sold-out Faulty Towers evenings, we realised that our diners and visitors were ready for another treat, which is why we have decided to bring the big screen to Beaminster’ says Silvana Bandini, co-owner of The Ollerod. ‘Since launching The Ollerod almost 2 years ago, we have enjoyed creating opportunities to form new memories for our guests and we are sure that this one will be no different. We do advise people book well in advance—because looking at the success of our previous events, this is going to sell out too.’ And the dress code? Guests are simply suggested to Dress to Impress.

Tickets are sold at £70 per person and include a 3-course meal, a welcome drink, and a 2-hour show. 50% deposit is taken upon booking. Space is limited and bookings are available through reception@theollerod.co.uk / (01308) 862200.

Touring play encourages audience to use their local

SOMERSET-based Wassail Theatre is taking its original pub play Horses! Horses! on a second tour of the West Country, running until the end of March.

The Somerset-based company first performed Rina Vergano’s play in 2018 and Wassail has now joined forces again with Theatre Orchard to bring the play to more pubs around the region.

It’s a familiar story to those of us who live in the rural areas—use your local, or lose it.

The pub is the hub so use it or lose it “The Pub is the Hub, ladies and gents, so it’s use it or lose it time.” Landlord Johnny’s putting on a Big Fun fundraiser tonight at the Nags Head, though he’s not in the mood for fun.

But while Johnny is desperately trying to save his pub, his wife Susie is hiding out down on Ted’s farm. Horses! Horses! is the darkly comical tale of a stolen horse, wild West Country soul, and most of all, the mess we make of relationships.

It is performed in your local boozer with pub games, pints, crisps, heartbreak and laughter, county music, lots of karaoke and a few surprises.

The tour includes pubs and venues at West Coker, Chard and Ilminster. For full details and a list of dates and venues visit www. wassailtheatre.co.uk/horses-horses.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 73

PAN FRIED SALMON WITH HOT BEETROOT SKILLET SCONES WITH DILL I know that as I serve up the hot, buttery beetroot a few eyebrows may be raised, but I am confident my savoury dish will surprise and impress

LESLEY WATERS

PAN FRIED SALMON

SKILLET SCONES

Ingredients • 425 g (15 oz) raw beetroot • 55 g (2 oz) butter • 1 bunch dill • salt and black pepper • 1 lemon, zest and juice • 175ml (6floz) sour cream • 115g (4oz) Organic Smoked Salmon

Ingredients • 225g (8oz) plain flour • good pinch salt • 1 tablespoon caraway seeds • 1 level tablespoon baking powder • 30g (1oz) butter • 1 tablespoon milk • approx. 150ml (1/4 pint) sour cream • 1 large egg, beaten • 2 tablespoons chopped dill • oil and a knob of butter for cooking

Serves 4 Directions 1. Peel the beetroot and shred it through the food processor or hand grate it on a coarse grater.

2. In a large frying pan, melt the butter. Toss the beetroot in the butter and stir fry for 2 minutes until very hot. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the dill, roughly chopped. Season with salt, black pepper, lemon juice and zest.

3. Heat another non-stick frying or griddle pan.

Add the smoked salmon to the pan and cook for 1 minute on each side.

4. Top the hot beetroot with some sour cream and sprinkle with a little extra dill. Serve at once with the cooked smoked salmon and the skillet scones with dill.

74 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

Serves 4 Directions 1. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the caraway seeds. Add the butter and using your fingertips, rub into the flour to form fine breadcrumbs.

2. In a large jug, mix together the milk, cream and egg and stir in the dill. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently combine to form a soft and manageable dough. (adding extra milk if necessary) 3. Lightly oil a large, non- stick, heavy based frying pan and place over a medium heat.

4. On a lightly floured surface, gently roll out the dough until 2cm thick. Cut out into approx. 8 rounds.

5. Add the knob of butter to the hot pan and place in the scones. Cook for approx. 10 minutes on each side until browned and cooked through. Serve at once with hot beetroot and pan-fried salmon.

March 2020 Food Markets Please check dates and times with venues or organisers

Sat 7th

Thu 12th Fri 13th Sat 14th Thur 19th Fri 20th Sat 21st Thur 26th Sat 28th

Poundbury, Queen Mother Square - 9am - 1pm Shaftesbury, Town Hall - 9am - 1pm Wareham, Town Hall, East Street - 9am - 1pm Blandford, Blandford Forum - 9am - 1pm Martock, Moorlands Shopping - 10am - 1pm Yarcombe, Village Hall - 10am - 12noon Purbeck, Commercial Road, Swanage - 9am - 1pm Honiton, St Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church, High St - 8.30am - 1pm Sherborne, Cheap St - 9am - 1pm Wimborne, Market Square - 9am - 1pm Crewkerne, The Henhayes Centre - 9am - 1pm Wareham, Town Hall, East Street - 9am - 1pm Dorchester South, High Street - 9am - 4pm Barrington, Village Hall, 10am - 12noon Yeovil, Middle Street - 9am - 2pm

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 75

ORECCHIETTE WITH POTATOES AND BLACK CABBAGE I still have vivid memories of this dish in olivo in Pimlico when Locatelli was cooking there, he used buckwheat pasta in the dish but it works with almost any type of pasta.

MARK HIX

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

• 100g orecchiette • 4-5 waxy new potatoes, peeled, halved and thinly sliced • 2-3 Savoy cabbage leaves, cut into rough 1-2cm squares 200ml vegetable stock • 2-3 tbls olive oil • 100g butter • 4 spring onions, halved lengthways and thinly sliced • 2 tbls chopped parsley • Freshly grated Parmesan to serve Serves 4

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water then drain.

Cook the potatoes and cabbage in the vegetable stock until they still have a bit of a bite then drain, reserving the stock.

Return the stock to the pan and reduce by half then add the potatoes, cabbage, pasta, spring onions and parsley and season.

Add the butter and oil and re heat slowly for a couple minutes and season to taste.

Stir in a little Parmesan and adjust the consistency with a little water and more olive oil if necessary.

Serve immediately with extra Parmesan.

HIX Oyster and Fish House is Mark’s local restaurant that overlooks the harbour in Lyme Regis and boasts the most stunning panoramic views across the Jurassic coast - this is easily one of the most picturesque spots to enjoy British fish seafood.

To book please call 01297 446 910 76 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

New production by Bridport Youth Dance Orpheus and Eurydice: The Power of Love is the latest production by Bridport Youth Dance and it will be showing at the Electric Palace, Bridport in March.

Orpheus and Eurydice is a story of tragic separation but also about the power and transformative value of dance, music, friendship and love. Musician and poet Orpheus falls in love with mortal Eurydice and loves her so deeply that when she dies, he travels to the underworld to get her back.

There he enchants everyone….even the dark king Hades—with the beauty of his music.

The Bridport Youth Dance (BYD) version of the Greek myth is a story about the power of love against the inevitability of human weakness. Love and friendship are underlying themes throughout.

Orpheus and Eurydice: The Power of Love is BYD’s 16th annual production. Choreography is by Nikki Northover, Aimee Symes and Bec Ayles. Music is by composers Andrew Dickson (with singer Georgia Collins) and Chris Reynolds and sound is arranged by Rob Lee. Performances: Friday 6 March : 7.30pm, Saturday 7 March : 2pm, Saturday 7 March : 7.30pm.

Ticket Booking Line 01308 424 901 or via www.electricpalace.org.uk

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 77

Share a feast with Mark and meet the producer at Hix special events

M

ark Hix and the team at HIX Oyster & Fish House kick off their new series of events this spring on 23rd March.

Each year the Lyme Regis restaurant hosts a series of events where guests have the opportunity to ‘meet the producer’ and chat to Mark and the guest host about their produce.

HIX has previously welcomed hosts such as Rob Corbett of Devonshire’s Castlewood vineyard, Jason Barber of Dorset’s Black Cow vodka and cheese and renowned forager John Wright, to name a few.

Following the success of the annual crab and mackerel supper club at Lyme Regis’s charity food festival Food Rocks, chef and restaurateur Mark Hix MBE teams up once more with Nigel Bloxham of Weymouth’s Crab House Café for the first event of the year.

Guests will sit at long dining tables to enjoy their sharing-style feast of local mackerel and Dorset cock crab. Much like the famous Food Rocks supper club, after enjoying crab soup, Cobb-smoked mackerel pate with pickled seaweed and Lyme Bay mackerel ceviche, guests will don their bibs, grab a rock and begin to smash into their tasty crab, which is served simply with mayonnaise and freshly baked bread. Mark and Nigel will be on hand to assist and answer any questions throughout the evening with a Q&A held during the evening.

Next up, look out for ‘Tequila and Lyme’ where Tequila and Mezcal will be paired to Mark Hix’s Mexican-inspired menu of local fish and seafood which has been specially created just for this event. Meet the brand ambassador for Ocho tequila and Quiquiriqui mezcal and enjoy delicious cocktails made with these quality spirits.

The final event this spring will see HIX Oyster & Fish House welcoming Wiltshire’s Ramsbury Estate for a very special event with all food and drink hailing from their land. The Wiltshire estate is nestled in the heart of the Kennet Valley and they create everything from the land. They “grow everything, waste nothing and aspire to leave no negative impact on the environment”. Expect gin & vodka from their own distillery using their own-grown wheat, Ramsbury beer using hops and barley from the estate, plus the menu will include dishes utilising Ramsbury Estate’s honey, rapeseed oil and meat.

HIX menus are built around the long-established, personal relationships that Mark Hix has with his suppliers and use only responsibly produced, carefully sourced and simply served British seasonal ingredients so these events are an ideal opportunity to meet just some of those suppliers.

Tickets for ‘Buckets & Bibs are priced at £45 and are available via the HIX website. Tickets for Tequila & Lyme and Estate to Plate are priced at £47.50.

Buckets and Bibs will take place on 23rd March at 7pm Tequila & Lyme will take place on 18th May at 7pm Estate to Plate will take place on 22nd June at 7pm All events take place at HIX Oyster & Fish House, Cobb Road, Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3JP Tickets for the events are available now from www.hixrestaurants.co.uk/whats-on

78 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 79

Guest Recipe

IRINA GEORGESCU Irina Georgescu is a food writer whose work draws on her Eastern European heritage. It is her love and commitment to talking about Romanian culinary traditions that made her pursue her dream and write about this heritage. Her cooking is inspired by her mother and grandmother, by her life in the busy capital city Bucharest, and by her constant explorations into the history and food of her country. Whilst trying to keep close to the traditional ways of cooking, she also brings her own interpretation to these dishes. Born in Bucharest and now living in the UK, Irina is the woman behind the popular blog Life In Small Bites.

GAMMON STUFFED APPLES MERE CU ŞUNCĂ

Stuffed vegetables and fruit are a staple of Romanian cuisine, particularly in Muntenia (or Wallachia) to the south of the Carpathian mountains. This is a region of soft hills, vast plains and large fruit orchards, and most of our apples come from this part of the country. I couldn’t have chosen a more enticing dish for you – both easy to make and spectacular to put on the table.

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

• 8 firm apples • 200g (7oz) cooked gammon, finely diced • 1 medium red onion, finely diced • 40g (1.oz) Cheshire cheese or the Romanian telemea, grated • 40g (1.oz) breadcrumbs • 20g (1/2.oz) butter • 200ml (7fl oz) cider • bunch of rosemary • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.

Serves 4

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Carpathia: Food From the Heart of Romania by Irina Georgescu, published by Frances Lincoln, rrp £22 hardback.

Food pics © Jamie Orlando Smith.

Published 17th March, pre order online or at your local bookshop

8.

Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

To prepare the apples cut a ‘lid’ from the top of each apple, about onethird down. Carefully core the apples and scoop out the flesh, leaving the bottom and the walls intact.

Finely dice the scooped-out apple flesh and combine with the gammon, onion and cheese.

Season and fill each apple with the mixture then place the apple lids on top.

Move the apples onto the lined baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

Top each apple with the breadcrumbs and a knob of butter. Pour the cider into the tin, add the rosemary and bake for 30 minutes.

Serve alongside braised cabbage or as a starter with a sprinkling of extra cheese.

PEOPLE IN FOOD & DRINK

Carole Brown - photograph and words by Catherine Taylor

CAROLE BROWN AS a little girl, Carole Brown used to go with her father to tend to his bees, which he kept in Honiton. Many years later, in 1986, Carole took on her father’s four hives and moved them to Bridport.

She then attended the local beekeeping course to ensure she knew how to care for them correctly. Today, she is Secretary of the West Dorset Bee Keeping Association and also helps out with teaching the in-depth yearly beginner’s course.

Now with 15 hives of her own, Carole is a knowledgeable apiarist. The honey from each of the hives, kept in three different locations, tastes unique as it is influenced by the local habitation, where the bees collect nectar and pollen. Still, a thrill to watch the bees, Carole also finds it therapeutic. She explains that as a busy person when she is checking on her bees, it is the only time she tends to stop. She clarifies, “You have to concentrate on the bees, watch their movements and do things slowly, you cannot rush, otherwise they will react to you. You also need to know why you’re going into a hive so that they are never disturbed unnecessarily”.

Each year the West Dorset Beekeeper’s Association has a large marquee at the Melplash Show, the main showcase for the Association, where they sell their honey and related produce from their teaching apiary at Netherbury. Carole sells some of her honey and beeswax from her door, also to people who make products from it, such as Filberts. The majority of the honey though Carole sells through Fruits of the Earth in Bridport and from the shop on the Symondsbury Estate, where she keeps some of her bees. She also uses her honey if she has a cough, or in cooking and advocates its use for those who suffer from hay fever, the more local the honey, the better. However, Carole finds the very best way to eat honey is as she did as a girl, simply, on hot toast!

Arts&Entertainment

The Frozen River T he stor y of how Somerset a u th o r a n d p o e t, Ja m e s C r owd e n , travelled up the Frozen River i n th e N o r th er n H i m a l aya i s th e subject of a new book. Ro b e r t Tw i gge r h a s tr avel l ed th e p a g es.

Background Photo by Nitin Gupta on Unsplash

J

ames Crowden was a young army officer with a career ahead of him when in the 1970s he threw it all up to reach the then hidden and impenetrable Zangskar Valley of Ladakh, the so-called ‘little Tibet’. His journey up the Frozen River told in clear and moving prose is a wonderful journey to a land that time forgot and which, even today, is not so easy to visit.

It is always a little tricky telling for the first time a travel story that happened four decades ago. Already you are implying ‘classic’ status since no one can make the same journey now; the book must stand or fall on its literary merit, its function as a guidebook to inspire a similar visit is much reduced. Yet the inspiration that this book provides comes from the unchangeable landscape and the universal qualities of the simple people Crowden encounters. It is raised considerably by his own Buddhistic faith, which, not being doctrinaire, has a homespun utility about it. He has visited the country many times subsequent to the memorable expedition he has written about, and this familiarity colours and informs his writing in a good straightforward way. That he is a poet is apparent in the pruning, the one and two-word sentences, the well-honed but never contrived turn of phrase. The balance between human encounter and landscape described is very well handled—it is by no means an easy skill to master.

Zangskar itself, which sounds even to the untutored, decidedly romantic and remote, is in eastern Ladakh, itself a remote part of Kashmir. 95% of its people are Tibetan Buddhists and this informs the feel of the whole book. It is mostly a high up place—from 3500 to 7000 metres, the people inhabiting the lower end of that altitude spectrum (but altitude sickness is something the hardy Crowden hardly suffers from). It covers an area the size of Lincolnshire, though far from flat it is riven with peaks and valleys. The frozen river of the title, the river Chadar that leads to the big town of Leh, is a central part of the book and provides a central balance beam for the narrative between the earlier part, which details Crowden’s immersion in village life, and the later sections which open out into a six-week stay at Karsha monastery and a final solo journey on skis over a high pass where the unavoidably intense sense of accretion of all he has experienced so far, as fresh snow compacts the older snow beneath it, is released in an avalanche and his seven-month journey is complete.

The book is handsomely illustrated and comes with a delightful dustjacket and good quality paper within—it is worth noting such things as many publishers have started to stint when it comes to paper quality—following the lead of cheapo American editions.

My favourite image, travelling up the river Chadar the travellers see only a sliver of night sky studded with bright stars above them. On either side the immense rock walls of the valley soar above them and block out most of the sky; after seeing this ribbon of stars the author reports the happy Zangskaris dance and tell stories before they go to bed.

The Frozen River - Seeking Silence in the Himalaya by James Crowden is published by William Collins price £16.99 There will be a book signing on Saturday 14th March 10-12 am at Waterstones East Street Bridport and an Illustrated talk Thursday 26th March 7pm at Waterstones South St Dorchester James will also be giving an Illustrated Talk on Saturday 23rd May 6pm at Shute Festival, Nr Axminster

Photographs: Clockwise from top: Dorje Tsering: The ice nearly running out: Map of Ladakh and Zangskar 1976 Hamid sings while he plays the jerrycan: River crossing below Karsha.

Opposite page: Problemsâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Dorje Tsering in the lead.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 83

March

GALLERIES

UNTIL 1 MARCH

Counterpoint: Martyn Brewster, Daisy Cook, Brian Graham, ceramics by Paul Wearing and furniture by Petter Southall. Sladers Yard Gallery and Café, West Bay Road, West Bay Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL. sladersyard. wordpress.com

2 - 21 MARCH

By Invitation, Mon-Fri 9.30am-4.30pm, Sat 9.30am-2.30pm, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, 01460 54973, www. themeetinghouse.org.uk

7 – 28 MARCH

Furleigh Wine Estate Dorset Visual Arts Exhibition. The SALON, Dorset a fine art collective at Furleigh Estate/www.furleighestate. co.uk

10 MARCH – 10 MAY

Work by Ruth Ander & other gallery artists An artist and printmaker living in Bristol.

A solo show of her unique atmospheric monoprints is in the main room, alongside a selection of other work from other gallery artists in the other rooms. Water, light and vapour are the three elements that inspire Ruth.

Her technique is perfectly suited to expressing these inspirations-delicate, translucent drifts of colour on fine tissue paper and traditional hand-made Japanese paper. Painted prints or printed paintings - the results are multi-layered impressions. Tincleton Gallery, The Old School House, Tincleton, nr Dorchester, DT2 8QR Opening / performance times: Fri/Sat/Sun/ Mon from 10:00 - 17:00, no admission fee.

01305 848 909 www.tincletongallery.com

12 – 25 MARCH

Land Use: Alex Lowery paintings, Richard Batterham pots from his private collection and furniture by Petter Southall. Sladers Yard Gallery and Café, West Bay Road, West Bay Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL. sladersyard. wordpress.com

Infourmation, 10.30-4.30, This showcase of recent work by four very different West Dorset artists—Michael Chappell, Tracy Linwood, Kathy Hallsworth and Charles Hallsworth— provides examples of each artist’s way of seeing and internalising the world around them.

The Gallery Symondsbury, Bridport DT6 6HG. www.lymebayarts.co.uk.

UNTIL 8 MARCH

UNTIL 14 MARCH

7 MARCH - 26 APRIL

Fifth Printmakers Open, 10.30-4.30, The Gallery & The Space, Symondsbury Estate, Bridport DT6 6HG. www.lymebayarts.co.uk

Liz Somerville Land of Hodd linocuts, woodcuts and drawings The Art Stable, Kelly Ross Fine Art, Child Okeford, Blandford, Dorset DT11 8HB Tel: 01258 863866

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14 MARCH - 1 APRIL

Selected New English Art Club Artists. The Jerram Gallery, Half Moon Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3LN. www.jerramgallery.com

UNTIL 15 MARCH

Mysterious Adventures: Acrylic Paintings

by David Brooke, Wed-Sun, 10.00-4.00, The Rotunda Gallery, Lyme Regis Museum, Bridge St, Lyme Regis DT7.

Roots of Religion in West Bay, see website for winter opening times. West Bay Discovery Centre. Admission free, donations welcomed.

Further details www.westbaydiscoverycentre. org.uk/

SUNDAY 15 MARCH

3 Artists Studio Sale. 10.30am - 4pm. Malcolm Giladjian, Claudia Dharamshi and Esther Jeanes Red Barn Studio’s, Hemlock Farm, West Chelborough, Dorset. 07788523897.

19 MARCH - 28 APRIL,

Where the Mist Rises, Mon-Sat 10-5; Sun 10-4, Lyme Bay Artist Annie Ward. The Lyme Regis Museum, Bridge Street, Lyme Regis DT7 3QA www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk or www. lymebayarts.co.uk

UNTIL 21 MARCH

Treasure Planet, An eclectic show by Artwey artists. Diverse styles and media. www.artwey. co.uk. Bridport Arts Centre, 9 South Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3NR. Lyn Kirkland.

lynkirkland222@btinternet.com 07818257665

21 MARCH - 13 SEPTEMBER

‘Down the track ‘ at West Bay Discovery Centre. Marking the 90th anniversary of the end of the passenger service to West Bay by looking back to a time when the railway ran between Bridport and West Bay. Open daily 11 am - 4 pm excluding Mondays. Admission free, donations welcomed. Further details. www. westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk/

23 MARCH - 11 APRIL

The Natural World: Man’s Impact. New work by the Textile Set artists group, Mon-Fri 9.30am-4.30pm, Sat 9.30am-2.30pm, Eclectic group exhibition, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, 01460 54973, www.themeetinghouse.org.uk Sharon O’Brien, Solo exhibition in the Cafe Gallery Mon-Fri 9.30am-4.30pm, Sat 9.30am-2.30pm, Eclectic group exhibition, Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, TA19 0AN, 01460 54973, www. themeetinghouse.org.uk

28 MARCH – 8 APRIL

Norman at 90 – a retrospective Norman Saunders-White. Daily 10.00 – 4.30 The Gallery, Symondsbury, Bridport, DT6 6HG.

UNTIL 3 MAY

60 years of a 60s icon: Brian Rice Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Queen Street, Exeter EX4 3RX

UNTIL 23 MAY

ARTIST ROOMS Richard Long ‘Being in the Moment’ Open Tuesday – Saturday, 10-5. Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Elmfield House, Dowell Street, Honiton EX14 1LX, 01404 45006 www.thelmahulbert.com

UNTIL 31 MAY

By Royal Appointment: Devon Lace-makers Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Queen Street, Exeter EX4 3RX

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SALLY McLaren

at the Art Stable

S

ally McLaren is a landscape painter and printmaker living and working from her studio and surrounding countryside on the borders of Wiltshire, Somerset and Dorset.

These different counties provide a varied and similar but different landscape. Sally trained at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford, the Central School of Art, London and Atelier 17 in Paris and taught at Goldsmiths School of Art, London.

She has exhibited worldwide in the UK and abroad and her work is held in many Museums and private collections throughout the world including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the New York Public Library , Cabo Frio Museum in Sao Paola Brazil, The Ashmolean Museum, the Scottish Arts Council, The Government Art Collection, The Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Sterling University Art Collection, Skopje Museum of Contemporary Art and is a member of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers and the Printmakers Council.

Sally McLaren, The Passage of Time is showing from 28 March to 25 April.

The Art Stable, Kelly Ross Fine Art, Child Okeford, Blandford, Dorset DT11 8HB. Tel: 01258 863866

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Red Horizon, watercolour, 15 x 19 cm

Yellow Field, watercolour 15 x 19 cm

Shadow, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 cm

New English Art Club at The Jerram Gallery

T

he Jerram Gallery have invited fifteen renowned members of the New English Art Club to exhibit paintings and watercolours for the first exhibition of 2020.

Based in London, the NEAC is an elected society of contemporary painters whose underlying ethos is built upon art informed by direct observation and personal interpretation of the natural world and the human figure, the group being a bastion for figurative painting. Much of the members’ work is painted outside thereby capturing with deft brushstrokes the changing light of a landscape or fleeting movement of people in a street scene.

With its first show in 1886, the NEAC was founded by a group of artists dissatisfied with the entrenched attitudes of the Royal Academy at the time. The club increasingly attracted younger artists, bringing with them the influence of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. The Jerram Gallery already represent a number of the NEAC artists who will be taking part in the exhibition, such as two past Presidents and the current President., along with members who will be showing their work with the Gallery for the first time.

Richard Pikesley, past President of the NEAC, will be showing landscape and still life. Working ‘en plein air’, Pikesley’s small panels show the changing light and colours of the seasons across the Dorset landscape. Julian Bailey, showing with the Jerram Gallery for the first time, is a painter whose recent work focuses on the contemporary figure, as seen in Rosie in the Studio. Bailey’s other subjects include the Dorset coast, still life and his favourite haunts in Corfu and the West Country. Caroline Frood paints directly from nature, sometimes taking weeks to layer up a picture, her detailed brushwork creating a luminosity and compositional intensity.

This exciting exhibition will provide a wonderful opportunity to explore the diverse range of approaches and aesthetics amongst these artists

who are united by a tangible connection of similar painting ideals based on the founding ethos of the NEAC. There are 60 paintings in the exhibition with prices ranging from £650 – £8,000.

New English Art Club Exhibition is showing from 14th March – 1st April, 2020 Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30am-5pm. The Jerram Gallery, Half Moon Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3LN The complete exhibition can be viewed online at www.jerramgallery.com from 1st March. The exhibition will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue. For further information or jpeg images please contact The Jerram Gallery, on 01935 815 261 or info@jerramgallery.com

Above: Rosie in the Studio by Julian Bailey, Oil, 23” x 24” £3,200 Below: Beach Dog, evening light, Charmouth by Richard Pikesley, Oil, 5” x 12” £900

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Masters in A

lex Loweryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent paintings reach further afield with new colours and new energy. Paintings of river estuaries, bridges and buildings in Barnstaple and Topsham add to Alex Loweryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vocabulary of subject matter refreshing also the Portland and West Bay paintings so many of us know and love. His subtle and surprising colour combinations, dramatic tonal differences and the man-made structures set against luminous sky and water work their magic as ever.

Acclaimed as the foremost living maker of domestic stoneware in the world, Richard is very sadly not now able to throw more pots. However, throughout his long career, he has put aside pots in a private collection which he used

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n their Artform for his own reference and as a record of his work. Some he chose because they marked a significant development that he wanted to replicate and others because they were ideal versions of a form.

With the help of his son, the potter Reuben Batterham, Richard has decided to release a good number of these pots, some from the final firings of Richard’s kiln which Richard managed last year with Reuben, and some dating back as far as the 1960s. This selling exhibition includes phenomenal pieces of all shapes and sizes.

The furniture of Petter Southall completes the exhibition of understated superb examples of craftsmanship, art and design. Made with uncompromising workmanship and a flawless eye for detailing, Petter Southall’s furniture and his larger garden structures, are a joy to look at and to use.

All three artists are masters in their artform. All three eliminate anything unnecessary from their work to reach the essence in superb timeless pieces. Simple repeating forms, whether they are rows of bollards in a painting, or a repeated curved component in a chair or a line of cuts around the edge of a jar, create resonant simple statements in the work of all three.

Land Use - Alex Lowery recent paintings. Richard Batterham pots from the artist’s own private collection and Petter Southall furniture at Sladers Yard, West Bay, Bridport Dorset DT6 4EL from Saturday 7 March until Sunday 26 April 2020 (or as long as stock remains).

Open: Mon to Sat 10–4.30pm, Sundays 10–3pm. All work can be viewed and bought on www.sladersyard.co.uk.

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Get clicking for this year’s Axe Vale Show photography competition AXE Vale Show is pleased to announce its 2nd Annual Photographic Competition After last years’ success the Show is partnering again with the Axminster Photographic Group to hold a photography competition. Entries are welcome from all age groups using cell phones, digital or film cameras.

Printed photos, entry forms and the necessary entry fee should be sent in by June 1st so there is still plenty of time to get clicking.

Competition categories include Landscapes and Seascapes, Nature, People, Pets and Domestic Animals, Towns and Villages and Axminster Life.

Full terms, conditions and an entry form can be downloaded from www.axevaleshow.com

End of the line for Guitars on the Beach?

ORGANISERS of Guitars On The Beach have reluctantly decided that this year’s event on June 27th will be the last time that Britain’s biggest guitar band will play together in Lyme Regis.

Due to a lack of the town council’s support, the unique and hugely-popular gathering of hundreds of guitarists of all ages and abilities at the historic Dorset resort is to end its show on the sand after eight years.

But organisers aim to go out with “our loudest bang yet” as they plan to stage 12 hours of guitar songs to support one last call for more music to be played in schools, a key part of GOTB’s philosophy since the event began in 2013.

The move to pull out of staging the gig at Lyme’s historic Cobb follows just a week after GOTB’s application for direly-needed funding was thrown out at Lyme Regis Town Council’s community grants awards.

Although GOTB has in its time drawn more visitors to Lyme than any other event other than the Red Arrows, the council decided it was not worthy of its support and they preferred to give more than £130,000 instead to the town’s ancient theatre and museum.

“Sadly, this year is going to be our swansong in Lyme,” said GOTB chairman and musical director Brian Street.

“But we’ve got no choice because of the lack of local support.

For the past seven years we have had great support from little local businesses and organisations, including, in the past, the town council, and we are hugely grateful for their help.

“But now that support has dried up. We have had generous pledges of sponsorship for this year from Lyme Bay Holidays, Lyme Online, Axminster Garden Machinery and Andertons Music, but 90 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

even if you add that to our little savings we’re currently a long way short of what we need to put on a show.”

“We’re going to go out with our biggest, loudest bang,” said GOTB founder Geoff Baker. “And we will also loudly banging the drum for more music to be taught in schools, something we have been campaigning about for years. Music is the beat of life and it is very regrettable that more and more schools are dropping music from their curriculum in favour of drier academic subjects like history and geology.”

For more information and background on Guitars On The Beach, or to join Britain’s biggest guitar band, see its Facebook page or go to www.guitarsonthebeach.com

Mystical Birdsong at The Lyric in Bridport DORCHESTER based Magdalena Atkinson has been wooing local audiences for some time now both as a singer/songwriter and performer of chansons with jazz pianist Philip Clouts. Her natural songwriting skills make full use of the sounds of hammer dulcimer, guitar, piano and hand drums. Having recorded two solo albums and built up a small internet following, she joined forces with three other musicians to record a third album from which emerged a new band, ‘Magdalena and The Mystical Birds’.

Although the new album is still a project in progress, they have decided to showcase the songs at The Lyric Theatre in Bridport on 21st March, before releasing them.

Steve Jones (formerly of ‘Heron’ and ‘Mungo Jerry’) is on keyboards, with Drew Crow Star (glam rock punk poet) on bass, and Darren Coleman (leader of ‘Blackdown Samba’) on percussion.

Drawing on their musical backgrounds, there are sometimes hints of Eastern European, easy jazz, punk, folk and Samba in the music. With something of the early ‘60s festival exuberance about them, their stage presence is light and playful.

Don’t miss the opportunity to be there at this first public performance.

They will be joined by guest singer/songwriter Roy Apps. As founder members of cult folk band ‘Heron’, Roy and Steve will play together as the support. This will be their first performance since their 2016 tour in Japan.

As a bonus, just for the night, local artist and performer Marina Renee-cemmick will be painting a backdrop during the performance. A graduate of Glasgow School of Art, and current student at The Royal Drawing School in London, Marina has designed the mystical birds images for their forthcoming album cover.

The entrance fee is £12.00. Doors open at 7.30pm and tickets can be obtained online at: www.magdalenaatkinson.co.uk

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PREVIEW

The Cajun Roosters come to Broadwindsor

Clive Anderson drops into Bridport on his first solo tour

Music from the bayous VILLAGES

Cara Dillon wanders over to The David Hall in March

5th March at Melbury Osmond village hall.

Kit and Aaron draw on their many influences to create unique arrangements of traditional music, as well as their own compositions.

Their critically acclaimed 2016 debut album, The Fox, explores the relationship between fiddle, guitar and voice, using the fertile ground of the traditional music of the British Isles as its starting point. The product of decades of musical experience, it combines intricately arranged original tunes and folk tales.

In demand as musicians, writers and arrangers, they have worked with many established artists including Grammy Awardnominated Yola, Seth Lakeman and Afro Celt Sound System.

THE music of the Louisiana bayous comes to rural Dorset when The Cajun Roosters Trio makes a four-date debut tour with Artsreach, on Thursday 12th March at Sandford Orcas village hall, Broadwindsor Comrades Hall on Friday 13th, and at Sturminster Marshall and Ashmore on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th.

With original arrangements and selfpenned songs, the Cajun Roosters—Chris Hall from England, David Buyle from Belgium and Hazel Scott from Scotland, — take the atmospheric music of the Louisiana swamplands into fresh territories, creating a sound that’s uniquely their own, woven with stories of life in the bayous.

Combining accordions, fiddle, guitar and vocals they create an uplifting sound that has delighted audiences all over Europe.

Leading the trio is accordionist Chris Hall, who has recorded and played with Sir Paul McCartney, Dave Gilmour, Kate Bush and Seth Lakeman among others.

Smith and others.

He started broadcasting in the late 1980s, presenting Whose Line Is It Anyway? first on BBC Radio 4 then on Channel 4, and fronted ten series of his Channel 4 chat show, Clive Anderson Talks Back, before moving to BBC One with Clive Anderson All Talk.

As well as documentaries on radio and television he is the presenter of Radio 4’s long-running Saturday evening programme Loose Ends, and the legal discussion programme Unreliable Evidence.

Mad March music SOUTH PETHERTON

ONE of the best roots music venues in the region, the David Hall at South Petherton, has a packed programme for March, beginning on Saturday 7th with the exciting duo of multi-instrumentalist Luke Daniels and singer and fiddler Nancy Kerr,.

Since his 2014 album What’s Here What’s Gone, Luke Daniels put down several more markers on the musical map. Revolve and Rotate had him transporting the 19th century’s closest thing to hi-fi, the giant steel discs of the polyphon, to modern transcription.

Nancy Kerr, the daughter of folk singersongwriter Sandra Kerr and Northumbrian piper Ron Elliott, is one of the most celebrated folk musicians of her generation and to date,. She has won six Folk Awards from BBC Radio 2, including the 2015 BBC Radio

Clive ties up the loose ends BRIDPORT

BROADCASTER and television personality Clive Anderson comes to the Electric Palace at Bridport on Wednesday 18th March as part of his first ever solo tour.

Clive Anderson: Me, Macbeth and I is described as “a one-man show guaranteed to be funnier than Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy.”

For nearly 15 years Clive was a practising barrister, in his spare time performing as a stand-up comedian and writing scripts for Frankie Howerd, Griff Rhys Jones, Mel

Catlow and Hawes MELBURY OSMOND

FOLK musicians Kit Hawes and Aaron Catlow, best known as the virtuoso guitar and fiddle players from the band Sheelanagig, are coming to Dorset for a three-date tour with Artsreach, starting on Thursday

Louder is not always Clearer JONNY is a teacher, a workshop leader and an avid football fan. He’s an artist, a campaigner, he’s just become a father, and he is deaf. He loves to dance, but he can’t hear the music unless the bass is turned right up.

Jonny was born deaf and grew up with a hearing family and friends who did not use the word deaf.

Mr and Mrs Clark: Louder is Not Always Clearer, at the Beehive centre at Honiton on Thursday 19th March, is a one-man 92 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

show that paints an honest portrait of a man perceived to be full of confidence and who is outwardly social, but is inwardly vulnerable and at times isolated.

In a hearing world, Jonny is different and Louder Is Not Always Clearer highlights those differences in a warm and humorous way.

The show is accessible to deaf, hard of hearing and hearing audiences through the use of spoken English, British Sign Language and creative captions.

PREVIEW 2 Folk Singer of the Year, and Best Duo in 2003 and 2011, with James Fagan.

The mood will be more meditative on the afternoon of Sunday 8th, when Dean Carter presents a crystal and Tibetan singing bowl sound bath. Combining the singing bowls with vocal overtoning promotes a deeply relaxing and healing state to rebalance and re-energise your body, mind and spirit.

The music turns to the blues on Saturday 14th for the Ben Poole Band. Since beginning his career on the UK blues circuit at age 16, Ben has become an internationallyrecognised touring and recording artist and has been nominated by the USA’s Guitar World Magazine as one of the best blues guitarists on the planet—alongside musicians including Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and Joe Bonamassa.

Somerset-based, Irish-born folk star Cara Dillon comes to the David Hall on Saturday 21st. Justly famed for her beautiful voice, Cara has been captivating audiences for more than 20 years. She has, according to Mojo magazine, “quite possibly the world’s most beautiful female voice”. For this concert she will sing favourites from her previous releases and material from her new album, Wanderer, a collection of beautiful and moving songs recorded in an intimate setting with her husband and musical partner, Sam Lakeman.

The last gig of the month, on Saturday 28th, brings the exciting pairing of singerfiddler-cellist Rachael McShane, an original member of Bellowhead, with The Cartographers. Rachael is now working on a new solo project—a reworking of traditional songs— and playing with this new band, featuring guitarist Matthew Ord (Assembly Lane) and melodeon player, Julian Sutton (Kathryn Tickell, Sting).

Army wives, army lives BRIDPORT

THE life of an army wife is one of constant movement and deployment. What’s it like when The Man Who Left is Not the Man Who Came Home—the title of the new play from Farnham Maltings, which comes to Bridport Arts Centre on Friday 20th March.

Alongside Chloe’s future hopes come imminent challenges—because being married to the military means facing deployment.

Behind closed doors there’s tenderness and humour, but as the day of Ashley’s departure comes ever closer, anxiety and confrontations multiply.

Kevin Dyer’s new play is the product of more than a hundred one-to-one interviews with soldiers and their wives, where secrets, regrets and experiences have been shared for the first time.

It is a story of resilience, of hope, of change—and what it’s like when the man you love is going to war and might not come back The play is performed by Stephanie Greer and Sam C Wilson with Sam Trussler, a military wife. The performance will be followed by an open conversation about the themes of the play, and the country we live in.

Spinning the Moon DORCHESTER

REHEARSALS are well under way for Dorchester’s record-breaking seventh community play, Spinning the Moon, which will be staged at Thomas Hardye School between 6th and 19th April.

Written by professional playwright Stephanie Dale, the two-hour play set in the turbulent years immediately after the Wars of the Roses. Like Shakespeare’s history plays, Spinning The Moon focuses on a specific period and blends reality with fiction, comedy with dark drama.

The play features the wealthy, quarrelsome Trenchard family of Wolfeton House near Dorchester, their servants, villagers, monks from Abbotsbury, a group of ‘cunning’ or wise women and the Spanish queen Joanna the Mad, who is shipwrecked nearby with her family and entourage. Events ebb and flow as the Trenchards act on the ill-judged advice of a monk and the community starts to fracture. Can a peaceful resolution be found?

Stephanie started writing the play five years ago and has worked it through several incarnations to where it is today. Along the way she has needed to increase the number of performers from 80 to almost 150 because the auditions were so popular! She says: “I began by creating the world of the play—and I can’t believe I started it in 2015!

“Then came the people and then more detail to put flesh on the bones. The challenge with the final writing was adding enough people to make sure that everyone who came to casting has a part.

Even if they only have a couple of lines, their presence will still have a massive effect on the finished project.”

It has taken years for the play to be ready for the stage, with tens of thousands of pounds raised – much of it via Art Council grants and generous donations and sponsorships from local businesses and organisations – and hours of dedicated planning by the

Dorchester Community Plays Association board of directors.

This is the first time that director Peter Cann, who has worked on community plays in the UK, Portugal and Jamaica, has been involved with a Dorchester production and he is thrilled by what he has seen so far. He says: “Spinning the Moon is going to be great. Most communities only manage one play, but Dorchester has developed this rich tradition, which is amazing to see. People are committed and they work so hard behind the scenes on getting people interested and finding the money.

“While the play is rehearsed and staged, the people taking part become a community in themselves. They will have fun, but they will also be stretched and do things they never thought they would be able to do.”

The professional team also includes assistant director Penny Levick, local musician, composer, writer and historian Tim Laycock as musical director, wardrobe supervisor Gillian Spencer-Gulliford, set and costume designer Dawn Alsopp and play officer Jenny Savage.

Spinning the Moon is being staged for 11 nights from 6th to 19th April at Thomas Hardye School theatre, with no performances on Good Friday or Easter Sunday.

This will be a promenade performance within the theatre space so audience tickets are standing only.

The box office is Dorchester Arts Centre in the Corn Exchange; 01305 266926 or visit dorchesterarts.org.uk.

GP-W

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PREVIEW

Nicholas McCarthy is touring with Concerts in the West in March

Etheridge and Garrick on tour VILLAGES

ARTSREACH favourites guitarist John Etheridge and violinist Chris Garrick are back in Dorset in March, with gigs including Portesham village hall on Friday 27th, Yetminster’s Jubilee Hall on Saturday 28th and Drimpton village hall on Sunday 29th.

Well-known for their solo work, and playing with other ensembles – Garrick is a leading member of the Budapest Cafe Orchestra – Etheridge and Garrick have performed together for many years.

Back with a new show, this world-class duo provides a feast of interplay, improvisation and eclectic repertoire, with music ranging from Peter Gabriel to Richard Rogers via Dollar Brand and Alison Goldfrapp.

Using looping and other effects, they create exotic tapestries of sound, switching seamlessly to a pure acoustic, with rollicking renditions of Hot Club swing, evoking the spirit of Reinhardt and Grappelli.

The Navy Lark LYME REGIS

ONE of the favourite radio comedies of the 1960s and 70s, The Navy Lark is back, with a cast of comic actors taking on the iconic roles of Jon Pertwee, Leslie Phillips, and Ronnie Barker, coming to the Marine Theatre at Lyme Regis on Friday 13th March.

Following the success of stage adapta-

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tions of other comedy hits of the past, this theatre version brings to life three classic episodes from the much loved radio series, which ran from 1959-77.

It stars James Hurn, known for portraying such iconic characters as Tony Hancock, Sid James, and Kenneth Williams from his hit one-man show Hancock and Co. It also features Richard Usher and Mark Earby, best known for The Goon Show Tour and The Lost Hancock’s Vacant Lot. The Navy Lark is presented in the style of a radio performance in front of a live audience, bringing to life the classic days of radio comedy.

When HMS Troutbridge docks at the Marine it’s going to be “Ev’rybody down!”

For an evening of nostalgic belly laughs. So “Bung Ho!”

One-handed pianist TOURING

NICHOLAS McCarthy was told he would never succeed as a concert pianist, because he was born without a right hand, but he wasn’t put off and has become a virtuoso soloist, giving concerts all over the world.

He makes a welcome return to Concerts in the West for the March series of recitals, which begin at a new venue, Minehead Methodist Church, on Thursday 5th, and continue at Bridport Arts Centre on the morning of Friday 6th, Ilminster Arts Cen-

tre on Friday evening and Crewkerne Dance House on Saturday 7th.

This inspirational young virtuoso, who only started playing the piano when he was 14, after hearing a friend play Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata, will also be working with young musicians at the Centre for Young Musicians at Taunton. He is committed to encouraging new audiences to classical music alongside his work with young people through music education.

The teenage Nicholas studied at the Royal College of Music and made headlines around the music world on his graduation in July 2012, as the only one-handed pianist to graduate from the RCM in its 130 year history. In March 2018 he was awarded honorary membership by its President, the Prince of Wales.

Nicholas is a champion of the “left hand alone’ repertoire, which first came to prominence in the early 19th century and developed rapidly following the First World War as a result of the many injuries suffered by musicians on the battlefield.

He has performed extensively throughout the UK including major venues such as the Royal Albert Hall. Internationally, Nicholas has toured and performed in France, Belgium, Holland, South Africa, South Korea, Malta, Kazakhstan, Japan the US and a six city tour of China One of his proudest moments was per-

PREVIEW

Twisted Tales 2 comes to Halstock on March 14th

forming with the British Paraorchestra at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic games alongside Coldplay in front of an audience of 86,000 people and half a billion worldwide viewers. His concert performances and recordings have gained critical acclaim.

The repertoire for the concerts includes Scriabin’s Prelude and Nocturne, Op 9;, Galilean Moons by Julie Cooper, Reinecke Sonata in C Minor, Op 179 Bach arr Brahms, Chaconne in D minor by Richard Strauss, Bellini/Fumagalli’s Casta Diva from Norma and Bartók’s Etude for the Left Hand.

Twisted Tales 2 HALSTOCK

BACK in Dorset with three more macabre and blackly funny short plays, Owdyado Theatre brings Twisted Tales 2 to Halstock village hall on Saturday 14th March.

Deep in space the crew of the Fortuna are searching for extra-terrestrial life but the ship is malfunctioning, a strange infection is spreading through the crew and time is running out...

As acclaimed sci-fi author Edward R Matherson lays on his deathbed, a bloody battle of wits is taking place in his kitchen over the secret of the universe...

Jamie’s life is in turnaround. He’s lost his job, he’s desperate for love and his only companion is a malfunctioning Alexa unit. She’s

supposed to make his life easier. But the question is - who is serving whom?

Rowan Rheingans BRIDPORT

FIDDLER banjoist, songwriter and theatremaker Rowan Rheingans, one of the Rheingans Sisters and a member of Lady Maisery, has two local solo dates, at Exeter’s Phoenix arts centre on Monday 30th March and Bridport Arts Centre on Tuesday 31st.

Rowan has released her debut solo album, The Lines We Draw Together. She has won two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (Best Original Track in 2016 and Best Album in 2017) and is a six-times nominee.

The Rheingans Sisters were nominees for the Best Duo/Band award at the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. They have upcoming gigs at Bristol Folk Festival on 3rd May and the Halsway Manor fiddle weekend from 8th to 10th May.

Who was Shylock?

SYDLING ST NICHOLAS

WELSH actor Rhodri Miles, who wowed audiences with his solo shows about Richard Burton and Dylan Thomas, returns to Dorset with Artsreach with a new one-man play, Shylock, at Sydling St Nicholas village hall on Saturday 21st March.

Is Shylock, the Jewish moneylender from The Merchant of Venice, a villain or victim?

Gareth Armstrong’s one-man play confronts these stereotypes through the eyes of Shylock’s only friend, and the only other Jewish man in the whole of Shakespeare, Tubal.

Promoted to centre stage from his minor role in The Merchant of Venice, Tubal proves a born comic storyteller.

Celebrating the richness of Shakespeare’s language and conjuring up a whole cast of characters from Portia to Pontius Pilate, Romeo to Max Reinhardt, Barabbas to Richard Burbage, this dazzling, moving, often hilarious performance is a fascinating exploration of Shylock and his people.

The power of love BRIDPORT

BRIDPORT Youth Dance (BYD) brings a new version of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to Bridport Electric Palace on Friday 6th March at 7.30pm and Saturday 7th at 2pm and 7.30 The group’s 16th annual production has choreography by Nikki Northover, Aimee Symes and Bec Ayles, with music by local composer Andrew Dickson (with singer Georgia Collins) and Chris Reynolds.

Orpheus and Eurydice: The Power of Love is a story of tragic separation but also about the power and transformative value of dance, music, friendship and love.

GP-W

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 95

PERFORMANCE

William Hanson in Teacups and Tiaras, A History of Etiquette at Exeter’s Northcott on March 2nd

FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY

Motown, How Sweet It Is, 7.30.

BRIDPORT, Arts Centre, Hashmat and Sultana, Sufi and Punjabi songs, 7.30.

BRISTOL, Old Vic, Akram Khan Dance Co in Chotto Xenos, to Sun, various times.

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Some Like It Hot, 1959 film and gala dinner, dance and auction, fundraiser, 7pm.

DULVERTON, Town Hall, WOR, period band from Flanders, 7.30. TA EXETER, Cygnet Theatre, Nathan and Ida’s Hot Dog Stand, comedy duo, 7.30.

HONITON, Beehive, Genesis Visible Touch, tribute, 8.

ILMINSTER, Arts Centre, GreenMatthews Players in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, 8.

LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, LR Comedy Club with Nick Page, Richard James, Mark Felgate and Tom Glover, 8.

MINEHEAD, Butlin’s, The Great British Alternative Music Festival, inc Boomtown Rats, Bad Manners, From the Jam, Big Country, to Mon. SHUTE, St Michael’s Church, Neil Maya Quartet, 1959:The Golden Year of Jazz, 7.30. ViA SIDMOUTH, Manor Pavilion, Variety by the Sea, comedy cabaret, 7.30.

YEOVIL, Octagon, Greatest Hits of

SATURDAY 29 FEBRUARY

EXETER, Northcott, Showstoppers - the Improvised Musical, 7.30.

EXMOUTH, Pavilion, The Phil Beer Band.

HONITON, Beehive, The Truth About Love - Bizet to Broadway with Royal Opera and ENO singers, in aid of Action East Devon and Honiton Dementia Alliance, 7.30.

SOUTH PETHERTON, David Hall, Christian Garrick, violin, and the Budapest Cafe Orchestra, tenth birthday tour, 8pm.

WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, California Dreamin’, 7.30.

YEOVIL, Octagon, An Evening of Eric and Ern with Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens, 7.30.

SUNDAY 1 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Arts Centre, Handel’s Agrippina live from the Metropolitan Opera with Joyce di Donato, 5.55.

CREWKERNE, George Reynolds Centre, Pip Utton in And Before I Forget I Love You, I Love You, 6pm. TA DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange,

Dorchester Arts, Histories of the Unexpected - the Tudors, with Sam Willis and James Daybell, 3pm.

ILMINSTER, Dillington House, Two Harpsichords - Steven Devine and Colin Booth, with soprano Kate Semmens, A journey through the music of 17th century England, 2.30pm.

MARTINSTOWN, Village Hall, Scratchworks in Womans (Like Romans but with a W), 4pm. AR PLYMOUTH, Theatre Royal, The Simon and Garfunkel Story.

WEST BAY, Sladers Yard, Extreme Baroque, with tea, 3pm.

YEOVIL, Octagon, Phil Beer Band, 7.30.

MONDAY 2 MARCH

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Angel Exit in tooB, 11am.

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, William Hanson in Teacups and Tiaras, A History of Etiquette, 7.30.

TUESDAY 3 MARCH

BRISTOL, Hippodrome, Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes, to Sat, 7.30, Wed/Thurs/Sat mats 2.30.

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Cirque

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PERFORMANCE

Cirque Berserk at Exeter’s Northcote on March 3rd

Berserk, to Fri, 7.30, Sat 2, 5 and 8, Sun 3pm.

PLYMOUTH, Theatre Royal, An Inspector Calls, to Sat. YEOVIL, Octagon, Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, 7.30.

WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Dom Joly’s Holiday Snaps: Travel and Comedy in the Danger Zone, 8pm.

EXETER, Corn Exchange, Amanda Owen, Adventures of a Yorkshire shepherdess, 7.30.

THURSDAY 5 MARCH

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, The Churchfitters, folk, 8.

HONITON, Beehive, Cyrano de Bergerac with James McAvoy, filmed at Playhouse Theatre London, 7pm.

MELBURY OSMOND, Village Hall, Kit Hawes and Aaron Catlow, traditional folk and world music, 7.30. AR WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Coldplace, tribute.

YEOVIL, Octagon, The Navy Lark Everybody Down, 7.30.

FRIDAY 6 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Arts Centre, Concerts in the West, Nicholas McCarthy, piano, Scriabin, Julie Cooper, Bach, R Strauss, Bartok, Bellini/Fumagalli, 11.30: Boogie Woogie with Julian Phillips, 8pm.

Electric Palace, BYD in Orpheus and Eurydice, and Sat, 7.30, Sat mat 2pm.

CREDITON, Arts Centre, Scratchworks in The Great Train Robbery, 7.30. ViA EXETER, University Great Hall, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, cond Pete Harrison, Hollywood Head to Head, 7.30.

EXMOUTH, Pavilion, Let the Music Play, with William Hicks Orchestra and The Supreme D, 7.30.

HONITON, Beehive, The Undercover Hippie, 8pm.

ILMINSTER, Arts Centre, Concerts in the West, Nicholas McCarthy, piano, Scriabin, Julie Cooper, Bach, R Strauss, Bartok, Bellini/Fumagalli, 7.30.

Warehouse Theatre, The Ilminster Belles,

spring concert, 7.30.

SIDMOUTH, Manor Pavilion, Broadway and Beyond, 7.30.

SOUTH PETHERTON, David Hall, John Osborne in John Peel’s Shed, storytelling and music, 8pm. TA WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Rob Brydon, Songs and Stories, 7.30.

SATURDAY 7 MARCH

CLAPTON AND WAYFORD, Village Hall, John Osborne in John Peel’s Shed, storytelling and music, 7.30pm. TA CREWKERNE, The Dance House, Concerts in the West, Nicholas McCarthy, piano, Scriabin, Julie Cooper, Bach, R Strauss, Bartok, Bellini/Fumagalli, 7.30.

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Elegie Rachmaninov: A Heart in Exile, with Lucy Parham, piano, Henry Goodman, narrator, 8pm.

EXETER, St David’s Church, Isca Ensemble South West, Pergolesi, Stabat Mater, 7.30.

Cygnet Theatre, Sisters of Science, singing the hidden stories of women scientists, and Sun, 7.30.

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PERFORMANCE

Peter Knight and John Spiers at The Marine Theatre Lyme Regis on Thursday March 12th EXMOUTH, Pavilion, Whole Lotta Shakin.

LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, Laid Blak, ska and reggae, 8.

MEMBURY, Village Hall, Rag Mama Rag, country blues, 7pm. ViA SIDMOUTH, Manor Pavilion, Woodbury Dance Studio in Napoli, triple bill, and Sun, 7.30.

SOUTH PETHERTON, David Hall, Luke Daniels, guitar, Nancy Kerr, fiddle and voice, folk, 8.

WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, The Power Ballad Show, 7.30.

SUNDAY 8 MARCH

LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, Riverdance 25th anniversary show on film, 7.

SOUTH PETHERTON, David Hall, Crystal and Tibetan singing bowls with Dean Carter, 2pm.

WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Syd Lawrence Orchestra, Live and Swinging, 7.30.

YEOVIL, Westlands, Joel Dommett in Unapologetic (If That’s OK?) comedy, 8.

MONDAY 9 MARCH

98 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Fingersmiths in My Mother Said, I Never Should, in British sign language, to Wed, 7.30.

DORCHESTER, Odeon, Dorchester Film Society, Out of Blue, 7.30.

PLYMOUTH, Noah’s Arc, Wassail in Horses! Horses!, 7pm.

TUESDAY 10 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Arts Centre, Briport Film Society, Three Faces (Iran), 7.45.

WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Arrows and Traps Theatre in The Strange Case of Jeckyll and Hyde, reworking to 21st century America, 8pm.

HARBERTON, Church House Inn, Wassail in Horses! Horses!, 7.30pm.

HONITON, Beehive, Folk Cafe, 8pm.

LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, Mark Thomas, 50 Things About Us, comedy, 8.

PLYMOUTH, Theatre Royal, 887, project originating from the childhood memories of Robert Lepage, and Thurs.

YEOVIL, Octagon, YAOS in The Sound

of Music, to 21 March.

THURSDAY 12 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Electric Palace, 1917, film, 7.30.

BRISTOL, Hippodrome, Welsh National Opera in The Marriage of Figaro, 7pm.

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Steve Knightley, Pass Notes, 8.

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Fascinating Aida, and Fri, 7.30.

Corn Exchange, Pete Whittaker, solo and free, explorer, 7.30.

LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, Peter Knight and John Spiers, folk, 7.30.

STOCKLAND, King’s Arms, Wassail Theatre in Horses! Horses!, 7.30. FREE, ViA WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Menopause - the Musical, 7.30.

YEOVIL, Westlands, Harry Rednapp, 7.30.

FRIDAY 13 MARCH

ASHBURTON, Arts Centre, Jane Mason in Night Flying, dance theatre, 7.30. ViA BRIDPORT, Arts Centre, Phil Beer, 7.30.

Electric Palace, Joel Dommett,

PERFORMANCE

Billy Mitchell and Bob Fox at the Honiton Beehive on March 13th,

Unapologetic (if that’s OK?), comedy, 8pm.

BROADWINDSOR, Comrades Hall, The Cajun Roosters Trio, 7.30. AR DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Jen Brister, Under Privilege, comedy, 8.

EXETER, Corn Exchange, Peter Pan, adult panto, 8pm.

Cygnet Theatre, Artemis Storytelling with Ben Haggarty and musician Sianed Jones in Frankenstein, 7.30.

HONITON, Beehive, Billy Mitchell and Bob Fox, folk, 7.30.

ILMINSTER, Arts Centre, Enrico Tomasso and Magic Mike Henry, trumpets, recreating When Louis met Bix, 8.

LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, The Navy Lark, live, 7.30.

SCORITON, The Tradesman’s Arms, Wassail Theatre in Horses! Horses!, 8pm.

FREE, ViA TINTINHULL, Village Hall, Somerset Opera in Iolanthe, 7.30.

YEOVIL, Westlands, Francis Rossi, I Talk Too Much, 7.30.

SATURDAY 14 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Electric Palace, The Personal History of David Copperfield, film, 7.30.

BRISTOL, Hippodrome, Welsh National Opera in Les Vepres Siciliennes, 6.30.

CHARMOUTH, St Andrew’s Hall, Neil Maya Quartet with The Brubeck Project, jazz 7.30. AR CHUDLEIGH, Community School Hall,

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PERFORMANCE Balagan Cafe Band, jazz and world music, 8pm. ViA DORCHESTER, St Mary’s Church, Dorset Chamber Orchestra, cond Walter Brewster, Martin Clunes, narrator, in Concert for Youth, 4pm.

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, The Magic of Motown, 7.30.

EXMOUTH, Pavilion, California Dreamers.

HALSTOCK, Village Hall, ‘Owdyado Theatre in Twisted Tales 2, 7.30. AR LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, James Morton and band with PeeWee Ellis, saxophone, jazz, soul, funk, 8.

SIDMOUTH, Manor Pavilion, Abbagirls, 7.30.

Parish Church, Vitaly Pisarenko, piano, Beethoven, Chopin, Bartok, Stravinsky, 7pm.

SOUTH PETHERTON, David Hall, The Ben Poole Band, blues, 8.

SUNDAY 15 MARCH

Marines.

THURSDAY 19 MARCH

AXMINSTER, The Castle Inn, Wassail in Horses! Horses!, 7.30pm.

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Dorchester Piano Quartet, Bridge and Schumann, 11.30am: Shire Hall, DYT Senior Company in The Memory Museum, promenade performance, to Sat, various times.

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Pasadena Roof Orchestra, 7.30.

EXMOUTH, Pavilion, Lionel - The Music of Lionel Richie.

HONITON, Beehive, Mrs and Mrs Clark in Louder is Not Always Clearer, 7.30. ViA WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Geoff Hurst, footballer.

YEOVIL, Westlands, Laughing Boy Comedy Club, 8pm.

FRIDAY 20 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Electric Palace, Fidelio, with Jonas Kaufmann, live by satellite from the Royal Opera, 7.15.

EXBRIDGE, Anchor Inn, Wassail in Horses! Horses!, 7.30pm.

PLYMOUTH, Theatre Royal, Holes, to Sat: Drum Studio, Augmented, to Sat.

BRIDPORT, Arts Centre, Farnham Maltings in The Man Who Left is not the Man Who Came Home, new play by Kevin Dyer, 7.30.

Electric Palace, The Elephant Man, 1980 film, 7.30.

COMBEINTEIGNHEAD, Village Hall, ‘Owdyado Theatre in Twisted Tales Volume II, 7.30. ViA DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Martin Harley, guitar, 8pm.

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Chicago Blues Brothers - a Night at the Movies, 7.30.

Powderham Castle, Katie Cowling, recorders and dulcian, with Andrew Daldorph, organ, 7.30.

HONITON, Beehive, Riverdance on screen, 25th anniversary show filmed in Dublin, 7.30.

ILMINSTER, Arts Centre, Branco Stoysin, Serbian guitarist, 8.

Warehouse Theatre, Somerset Opera in Iolanthe, 7.30.

MARTINSTOWN, Ashton Barn, Artsreach 30th anniversary ceilidh, 7.30.

AR

WEDNESDAY 18 MARCH

SATURDAY 21 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Arts Centre, The Flying Dutchman, with Bryn Terfel, recorded at the Metropolitan Opera, 4pm.

EXMOUTH, Pavilion, Havana Nights, with Graziano Di Prima, 7.30.

SIDMOUTH, Manor Pavilion, Five Star Swing, from Sinatra to the Swinging Sixties, 7.30.

MONDAY 16 MARCH

BATH, Theatre Royal, Band of Gold, to Sat, 7.30, Wed/Sat mats 2.30.

BOURNEMOUTH, Pavilion, Clannad.

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Opera Up Close in Madame Butterfly, updated to 1980s, 7.30.

YEOVIL, Swan Theatre, Emlyn Williams’ Night Must Fall, dir Richard Jones, to Sat.

TUESDAY 17 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Electric Palace, Clive Anderson in Me, Macbeth and I, first solo tour, 8pm.

DORCHESTER, St Mary’s Church, Barbican Quartet, 6.30.

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Gecko and Mind the Gap in A Little Space, 2.30 and 7.30.

EXMOUTH, Pavilion, Band of the Royal

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, The Masters of the House, musicals, movies and more, 7.30.

Corn Exchange, Monsters of Rock, 8.

St David’s Church, Exeter Chamber Choir, Bach St John Passion, 7.30.

EXMOUTH, Pavilion, Jack Off and the Beanstalk “adult” pantomime, 7.30.

HONITON, Beehive, 1917, film, 3 and

100 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

7.30.

ILMINSTER, Warehouse Theatre, Somerset County Drama Festival, 2pm, and Sun 2 and 7pm: Cinema at the Warehouse, Woman at War, 7.45.

LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, LR Comedy Club, with Mark Simmons, Luke Honnoraty, Matt Bragg and Tom Glover, 8.

NORTON SUB HAMDON, Village Hall, John Osborne in John Peel’s Shed, storytelling and music, 7.30pm. TA SEATON, Gateway, The Zoots, 7.30.

SIDMOUTH, Manor Pavilion, Ballet Theatre UK in Giselle, 7.30.

SOUTH PETHERTON, David Hall, Cara Dillon, folk, 8.

SYDLING ST NICHOLAS, Village Hall, Rhodri Miles in Shylock, 7.30. AR WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Dorchester Ballet and Dance in Narnia, 2 and 6pm.

YEOVIL, Westlands, Graziano di Prima in Havana Nights, with Giaa Lini, Latin dance, 7.30.

SUNDAY 22 MARCH

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Nick Cope, family concert, 2pm.

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Tom Rosenthal, Manhood, comedy, 7.30.

Corn Exchange, Dom Jolly’s Holiday Snaps, travel and comedy in the danger zone, 7.30.

WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Lou Sanders, comedy, 7.30.

MONDAY 23 MARCH

WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Russian State Opera in Aida, 7.30.

TUESDAY 24 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Arts Centre, Briport Film Society, 8th Grade (USA), 7.45.

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Told By an Idiot in The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, to Sat, 7.30, Sat mat 2.30.

PLYMOUTH, Theatre Royal, Some Call it Home, and Wed: Drum Studio, National Theatre Connections, to Sat. WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Russian State Opera in Carmen, 7.30.

YEOVIL, Octagon, Seven Drunken Nights, music of the Dubliners, 7.30.

WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, As One Theatre in Mary Anning: The Mad Woman of Lyme, 8.

WEYMOUTH, St Mary’s Church, Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts, Duncan Honeybourne Piano Trio,

PERFORMANCE

Rachael McShane and the Cartographers at the David Hall on March 28th

Beethoven, 1pm.

Pavilion, Giovanni Pernice, This is Me, dance, 7.30.

YEOVIL, Octagon, Noriko Ogawa, piano, Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin, 7.30.

THURSDAY 26 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Electric Palace, John Culshaw, The Great British Take-Off, comedy, 8.

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Film Society, Styx and Annual Meeting, 7.30.

EXETER, Corn Exchange, Oh What a Night, 8.

EXMOUTH, Pavilion, Ed Byrne, If I’m Honest, comedy, 8.

HONITON, Beehive, An Affair to Remember, 1957 Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr film, dementia friendly screening, 2pm.

SIDMOUTH, Manor Pavilion, Spencer J and the Copycat Crickets, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddy, 7.30.

WEYMOUTH, College Bay Theatre, Level 3 Music and Music Technology students Easter Showcase, 7.30.

WIVILISCOMBE, St Andrew’s Church, Somerset Opera in Iolanthe, 7.30.

YEOVIL, Octagon, Russian State Opera in Aida, 7.30.

FRIDAY 27 MARCH

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Sam Avery, Toddlergeddon, comedy, 8pm.

EXETER, University Great Hall, Rob Beckett, Wallop, comedy, 8.

HASELBURY PLUCKNETT, The Ciderworks, Wassail in Horses! Horses!, 8pm.

HONITON, Beehive, Hazel O’Connor, Breaking Glass 40 Years On, 7.30.

ILMINSTER, Arts Centre, Dave Newton Trio, jazz, 8.

LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, Rozi Plain, American folk, 8.

PLYMOUTH, Theatre Royal, Acosta Danza, Carlos and his Cuban company, and Sat. PORTESHAM, Village Hall, Chris Garrick and John Etheridge, guitar/violin jazz, 7.30. AR YEOVIL, Octagon, Mayor of Yeovil’s Show Time, in aid of Yeovil Hospital Breast Cancer Unit Appeal, 7.30.

SATURDAY 28 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Electric Palace, Andy Parsons, Healing the Nation, comedy, 8.

CHARD, The Choughs Hotel, Wassail in Horses! Horses!, 7pm.

DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, Dorchester Arts, Ninebarrow Band, fol,, 8.

HONITON, Beehive, Paddleboat Theatre in Hansel and Gretel, 11am.

LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, Britain’s Got Talent winner Richard Jones, magic, 7.30.

MILVERTON, Village Hall, Somerset Opera in Iolanthe, 7.30.

SIDMOUTH, Parish Church, Isca Ensemble, Joo Yeon Sir, violin, Elgar, Pugh, Rachmaninov, 7.30.

Manor Pavilion, Comedy Club with Jarred Christmas, Louis Burgess, Gary Delaney, 8.

SOUTH PETHERTON, David Hall, Rachael McShane and the Cartographers, folk, 8.

WEST BAY, Sladers Yard, Three Cane Whale, contemporary folk, 8.

YEOVIL, Octagon, The _Simon and Garfunkel Story, 7.30.

YETMINSTER, Village Hall, Chris Garrick and John Etheridge, guitar/violin jazz, 7.30. AR

SUNDAY 29 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Electric Palace, Romeo and Juliet live by satellite from the Bolshoi Ballet, 3pm.

DRIMPTON, Village Hall, Chris Garrick and John Etheridge, guitar/violin jazz, 7.30. AR EXETER, Corn Exchange, John Cooper Clarke, 8.

ILMINSTER, Dillington House, Charles Owen and Dominic Degavino, solo and duo piano, Brahms, Clara and Robert Schumann, 2.30.

LYME REGIS, Marine Theatre, Sunsplash, South African jazz, 8.

WEST COKER, East to East, Wassail in Horses! Horses!, 7pm.

YEOVIL, Octagon, Ed Byrne, If I’m Honest, comedy, 8pm.

Westlands, Merrill Osmond, 7.30.

MONDAY 30 MARCH

EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Balletboyz in Deluxe, and Tues, 7.30.

TUESDAY 31 MARCH

BRIDPORT, Arts Centre, Rowan Rheingans, folk, Dispatches on the Red Dress, 7.30.

EXMOUTH, Pavilion, Centre Stage in West Side Story, to Sat, 7.30, Sat mat 2.30.

YEOVIL, Octagon, Menopause - The Musical 2, 7.30.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 101

Health&Beauty

Do you love reading but don’t find it easy to get to the Library? up over 80 years ago and since then, has inspired and enabled more than three million women and men to give their time to help address the needs of the day in their local communities and in the NHS. The Home Library Service is free, and provides those interested Volunteers are ready to bring books to those with health in reading, not only with or mobility issues a regular delivery of WHAT could be better than getting books, but also a visit by a trusted lost in a good book? volunteer who you get to know Do you or someone you know over time.

All volunteers are DBS love reading but find it difficult to checked and carry ID badges. get books from the library due to If you’d like to know more health or mobility issues? about having books delivered The Home Library Service is there please contact Royal Voluntary to help: books and talking books are Service in Dorset by phoning chosen individually for each person 01305 236666 or e-mailing and delivered every three weeks dorsethomelibraryservice@ from your local library by Royal royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk. You Voluntary Service volunteers. can also contact your library directly.

Royal Voluntary Service was set

Museums

Please telephone or check website for directions and opening hours Bridge Street, Lyme Regis.

01297 443370.

ALLHALLOWS MUSEUM

CHIDEOCK MUSEUM

High Street, Honiton.

01404 44966.

Church of Our Lady, North Road, Chideock. 01308 488348.

www.honitonmuseum.co.uk

www.chideockmartyrschurch.org.uk

AXMINSTER HERITAGE

COLYTON HERITAGE CENTRE

Barrack Road, Weymouth.

01305 766626.

Silver Street, Axminster.

01297 639884.

Market Place, Colyton

www.fortressweymouth.co.uk

www.colytonheritagecentre.org

PORTLAND MUSEUM

www.axminsterheritage.org

CREWKERNE & DISTRICT

BEAMINSTER MUSEUM

The Heritage Centre, Market Square, Crewkerne. 01460 77079.

217 Wakeham Portland.

01305 821804.

Whitcombe Road, Beaminster.

01308 863623.

www.crewkernemuseum.co.uk

www.beaminstermuseum.wordpress.com

DORSET COUNTY

BLANDFORD MUSEUM

High West Street, Dorchester.

01305 262735. (Closed)

Bere’s Yard, Blandford Forum.

01258 450388. www.blandfordtownmuseum.org

BRIDPORT MUSEUM

South Street, Bridport.

01308 422116. www.bridportmuseum.co.uk

CASTLETON WATERWHEEL

Oborne Road, Sherborne. www.castletonwaterwheelmuseum.org.uk

CHARD MUSEUM

Godworthy House, High Street, Chard. 01460 65091. www.chardmuseum.co.uk.

www.dorsetcountymuseum.org

EXMOUTH MUSEUM

Sheppards Row, Exmouth.

07768 184127.

FAIRLYNCH MUSEUM

27 Fore Street, Budleigh Salterton.

01395 442666.

GROVE PRISON MUSEUM

Governors Gardens, The Grove, Portland. 01305 715726.

ILCHESTER COMMUNITY

High Street, Ilchester.

01935 841247.

LYME REGIS MUSEUM

102 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

NOTHE FORT

SIDMOUTH MUSEUM

Hope Cottage, Church Street, Sidmouth. 01395 516139.

THELMA HULBERT GALLERY, ELMFIELD HOUSE

Dowell Street, Honiton.

01404 45006.

THE MILITARY MUSEUM OF DEVON AND DORSET

ROYAL ALBERT MEMORIAL MUSEUM Bridport Road, Dorchester.

01305 264066. & ART GALLERY

Queen St, Exeter, EX4 3RX. 01392 665858.

SEATON JURASSIC

The Underfleet, Seaton 01297 300390 https://seatonjurassic.org/

SEATON MUSEUM

Town Hall, Fore Street, Seaton.

01297 21660.

SHERBORNE MUSEUM

Church Lane, Sherborne.

01935 812252. www.sherbornemuseum.co.uk

SHIRE HALL MUSEUM

High West Street, Dorchester.

01305 261849 www.shirehalldorset.org

www.keepmilitarymuseum.org

TOLPUDDLE MARTYRS MUSEUM

Tolpuddle, nr Dorchester.

01305 848237.

TUDOR HOUSE

3 Trinity Street, Weymouth.

01305 779711 or 812341. www.weymouthcivicsociety.org

WEYMOUTH MUSEUM

Brewers Quay Hope Square, Weymouth. 01305 457982 www.weymouthmuseum.org.uk

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 103

Services&Classified HOUSE SHARE

SITUATION WANTED

House Mate. I am looking for a house mate to share my beautiful home in a lovely part of Dorset. If you are a reliable trustworthy person with a good sense of humour & easy to get along with & a non smoker who is very clean & tidy please get in touch on 07752766959

Experienced responsible compassionate woman seeks part-time work in Bridport area. Personal care, cooking, light gardening, shopping.

Own transport. Excellent references £15 ph. Call 07721 634651

TO LET One bed furnished cottage near Halstock available 1st April. £600 pcm. Reduced rent considered for help in the garden. 07977 545221

To advertise on these pages telephone 01308 423031

FOR SALE Large wicker dog bed. v.g.c. £10. Axminster 01460 220333

Chain saw and long reach tool for sale £165 for both 01300 321405 Vinyl records all types bought and sold. Rock, Pop, Jazz, Classical always required.

Excellent price paid.

Open Wednesday Saturday. Roy 01308 458077 clocktowermusic. co.uk Bridport.

Brand new OPTI exercise bike. Unwanted Christmas present 2019. £65.00 01297 552420

Bailey Genoa two-berth caravan 2012 motor mover porch awning.

Regularly serviced. Good condition. £6,500 ono 01297 489591

Loom wicker chairs with upholstered seats £35 each.

Hoover Whirlwind 07811 573286 upright vacuum cleaner, Apple iPad WI-FI 250v 1800w Corded, FOR SALE Good working order £25. 32GB space gray-GBR Purchased on the 4th Sidmouth 01395 516435 Moroccan Hand KnotNovember 2019 for Besson 600 Series ted Vintage Runner Rug £349.00 (genuine reason 3-Valve Bb Euphonium Sold flock. All sheep . 2.2 x 6.2 feet. Beige/ for selling) Still in box. lacquered, mouthpiece equipment for sale.

Terracotta Excellent con£295 Honiton 01404 and case.

Example, creep feeders, dition. £160 Soft Black Good working order. Ideal 41245/07815 615393 shearing gear, etc.

Leather Luxury Suit CarMens Slipper Boots beginner. £500 01297 Beaminster 01308 rier Luggage New. £180 Size 10 - Celtic & Co 445243 863332 07484 689302. (calf height) Dark brown Peter Scott framed Wooden double bedstead 2 glass shower screens -100% sheepskin. Made prints ‘After A Snowin a very good condiin Great Britain Never 8mm thick with fittings. storm’ ‘In The Winter tion as it was never used. One is 2000mm x 640mm Dusk’ both 425 x 315mm. been worn and still in box Mattress as new but with the other is 2000mm x - £175 special order hence £20 01297 445243 slight tap water stains due 720mm. Only selling Flymo 38 hover mower, unable to return. Pictures to an accidental spillage. due to shower replaced can be emailed £145 Tecumseh engine £30. £30 for quick sale. 01297 by bath. Just £5. 01297 01404 41245/07815 07811 637576 444104.

444104 Two vintage style Lloyd 615393

Monthly Quiz –

May 20

Win a book from Little Toller Books

Send in your answer on a postcard, along with your name and address to: Hargreaves Quiz, Marshwood Vale Magazine, Lower Atrim, Bridport, Dorset DT6 5PX. Study the clues contained in the rhyme and look carefully at the signposts to work out which town or village in South Somerset, West Dorset or East Devon is indicated. The first correct answer drawn out of a hat will win a book from local publisher Little Toller Books.

There is no cash equivalent and no correspondence will be entered into.

Last month’s answer was Hermitage. The winner was Mrs Bass from Early, Reading.

104 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

FOR SALE 4 Cushions 41 cm by 41 cm. Beige covers. Brand new. £12 for 4. 09702 088166 Hardwood 5 bar, turned heel gate, vgc, hinges and latch available. Width 10 ft 10 ins. £80. Can email photo. 01308 459860 Jersey stamp booklets and prestige stamp books (1969-2010). All in mints condition, in album.

Real price approximately £380 - £285 Ono, 01305 820878 Jersey definitive stamps (1969-2007) all in mint condition. Also jersey postage dues all in mint condition in album (1969-1982) to include all bulletins with inserts. Real price approximately £360 - £265 Ono 01305 820878 2 x 48 box of reusable polystyrene 200ml plastic wine glasses. £35.00 1 x 48 box of reusable single piece clear 150ml stamped champagne flutes. £25.00 2 x 48 box of reusable polystyrene 12oz stamped hi ball glasses. £15.00 They can be dish washed up to 100 times and are ideal for outdoor summer weddings and parties. Used once, all in excellent condition. Tel: 01460 241607 Round metal framed hanging Chinese/Japanese paper lanterns in 3 colours, ivory, lavender & mint green. Each pack contains 2 x 12”, 2 x 10”, 2 x 8”, and 2 x 6”. Perfect for weddings and parties £20.00 Tel: 01460 241607 Pack of 45 organza sashes chair cover bows.

Wider sash larger bows ideal for weddings and parties. Spearmint £10.00 Tel: 01460 241607 Gun storage cabinet (for 2 shotguns) and two gun slips. £50 01935 891857.

Cot, baby’s, varnished wood, with mattress.

Good Condition. Buyer collects. £40. Dorchester 263783 or jct231@ outlook.com.

Stihl HS 87R 30” single sided heavy duty hedge

PEOPLE AT WORK

SURFACE PREPARATION

MUSIC

Alberny Restoration In-house blast cleaning for home and garden furniture, doors and gates. Agricultural/ construction machinery and tooling. Vehicles, parts and trailers etc.

01460 73038, email allan@alberny.co.uk, FB Alberny Sandblasting

Piano, violin, theory tuition at your home.

Highly qualified teacher.

20 years experience.

Adults and children welcome. Beginners to advanced. Dr Thomas Gold 07917 835781 Feb 20

RESTORATION Furniture restoration.

Antiques large and small carefully restored. City and Guilds qualified, ten years experience in local family firm. Phil Meadley 01297 560335

May 20

CURTAINS Little Curtains.

Handmade Curtains, Blinds and Cushions.

Contact 07443 516141 or 01308 485325

Mar 20

PROOFREADING Proofreading, editing, transcription, secretarial for writers and businesses.

Excellent references.

Penny Dunscombe Apr 20 07825339289.

FOR SALE trimmer brand new with tools & manual £400 ovno.

Tel 07721 530520 Dorset.

HSL Penrith Dual Riser/ Recliner chair in wine boucle, new Sept 2019, hardly used. Cost £1700, will accept £995. Buyer collects. 01308 868717 Recliner/Riser Armchair In Excellent Condition. £90.00 Tel. 07495888794 (Bridport Area) Minster stone fireplace/ hearth no. 5404 98cms X 137 cms. Good condition . £250 ono Can email photos. Colyford Tel 01297 552714

RGT/LCM Examiner offers Electric and Acoustic Guitar Tuition.

Beginners to Advanced.

All Grades. charliemason3@ btinternet.com Tel:07759603912 01297678691 Feb 20

WANTED Wanted to buy - field, or part field and part woodland, any size, to about 5 acres. Not top grade grass. Private, local resident wants to ‘do their bit’ for the environment. Anything considered. Please help.

07508 106910 Mar 20 Secondhand tools wanted. All trades. Users & Antiques. G & E C Dawson. 01297 23826. www.secondhandtools. co.uk.

Feb 20

Vintage & antique textiles, linens, costume buttons etc. always sought by Caroline Bushell. Tel. 01404 45901.

Jun 20

Dave buys all types of tools 01935 428975 Apr 20 Postage stamps. Private collector requires 19th and early 20th century British. Payment to you or donation to your nominated charity. 01460 240630.

Old sewing machines, typewriters, gramophones, phonographs, records, music boxes, radios.

0777 410 3139. www. thetalkingmachine.co.uk

Mike Dark, photograph and words by Catherine Taylor

MIKE DARK IT’S the night before the monthly auction and Mike Dark, owner of Bridport Auction House is simultaneously excited and nervous, anticipating what tomorrow will bring. 25 years after buying Bridport Auction House, Mike still gets a buzz from what he does. The thrill continues during the auction as the items he has exhibited and displayed all month are sold to the highest bidders.

Describing himself as ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’, Mike found that found one day’s trade selling antiques from a market stall in Brighton made better money than the art therapist teaching job he had during the week. The stall then materialised into a shop, then two, as Mike delved further into the antiques world and became more successful. He then bought a weekend cottage in Portesham, not so far from Bridport, where he grew up. The Dorset countryside and way of life infiltrated and beckoned Mike once more. Two years after buying the cottage, Brighton had to go.

Finding life in Dorset generally more friendly, Mike appreciates passers-by in Bridport responding to him when he greets them in the street. For the walker in him, the added bonus of the countryside scenery with its mix of flat land, smooth rolling hills, rocky outcrops, cliffs and sea has ensured he has stayed put; that, and the constant challenge of running a busy auction house.

Although firmly on the auction side of the podium, Mike does still pick up some items which he can’t bear to lose out on. A lover of books, he describes his home in Bridport to be more like a library than a cottage. With his girlfriend, Mo, Mike is often out in Bridport, enjoying the social scene and local hostelries. However, as a massive rugby fan, during the Six Nations, he is likely to only be found in pubs showing the games. Nothing gets in the way of rugby. A teller of tales, with a life full of amusing stories, it’s never a dull chat when sitting on a neighbouring bar stool to Mike.

May 20

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 105

FOR SALE FREE ADS for items under £1,000 Classified advertising in The Marshwood Vale Magazine is normally 95 pence+VAT per word in a box. This FREE ADS FORM is for articles for sale, where the sale price is under £1000 (Private advertisers only — no trade, motor, animals, firearms etc). Just fill in the form and send it to the Marshwood Vale Magazine, Lower Atrim, Bridport, Dorset DT6 5PX. or email to info@marshwoodvale.com. (Please do not send in all capital letters).

Unfortunately due to space constraints there is no guarantee of insertion of free advertising.

We reserve the right to withhold advertisements.

FOR GUARANTEED CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING PLEASE USE ‘CLASSIFIED ADS’ FORM

Name.....................................................Telephone number .................................

Address.................................................................................................................

Town.................................. County.................... Postcode ..................................

STORAGE

106 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 Tel. 01308 423031

FOR SALE Grandfather clock for sale, 8 day, oak and mahogany, name on the face R Summerhayes, Ilminster.

Runs well, height 81” very good condition for age, offers around £550.

Buyer collects, Chiselborough text 07779577619. email gwheeler49@hotmail.com Sherborne Electric Rise and Recline armchair. Petite size, oyster colour fabric, still under guarantee.

Excellent condition. £160 ono Bridport area, buyer collects 01460 62507 or mob 07970917501 4 piece cast aluminium bistro set. A really chic white set in aluminium which is less heavy to move around than cast iron and will last for years. The table is 27” across. Could be painted if required.Photos £150 01460 55105 Vintage tin bath. A large tin bath/planter/dog bath/ drinks cooler. 53” long 20 across 14 high. Enquire about local delivery. Photo £90 01460 55105 Various Multistar accessories MD001, MD009, MD016, MD115, MD800 plus other bits £30.00 the lot. Please phone 01404 42081 Taylor Lignoid bowls matched set of 4 size zero £35. 01935872553.

Two Tetrad armchairs, excellent condition, cream loose washable covers, £250 the pair. 01308 459454.

Vivotion exercise bike, digital printout on progress etc, excellent condition, £45ono. 01297 489725.

Langstroth beehive frames, approx. 40 Thornes brood and super unassembled, brand new. £35ono. 01297 489495.

Hammered Dulcimer, 18 coarse string instrument, excellent condition with substantial carry bag, beechwood frame, ideal for folk gatherings. £695ono. 07594 687485

Honiton area.

Panasonic DVD recorder and player – Freeview+, remote control and instruction book. Excellent condition. £30 (Ease Devon) 07891 745565.

Pedestal dining table plus four chairs, light wood, 125cm length, £50.

Sofa bed sprung mattress 156cm wide, depth 90 cm.

Beige, like new. £200.

01308 422295.

Double glazed window, vgc, h 103cm, w 122cm, bargain at £70. 01308 427479.

Donnay table tennis table, hardly used, from new, £50, Childs Pool table set 4’6” x 2’3” good condition, £50 – folding stand. 01308 867497.

Inner tent with build in ground sheet for awning, new £30; New awning ground sheet, £35, Breadmaker new £30. Hornby00 trucks £15; Coaches £15, BT Fax Answer M/c £15.

Ikea Billy bookcase £20, Boxed Llebo / Corgi cars/ trucks £3-£8. Childs bikes £5/£8. 01305 834554.

Hornby Doublo 3 rail trace £2, points £6, 1926 vintage live steam Bing 4.40 £450, Hornby 00 locos from £40, Trix 00 A2 ‘Peppercorn’ £110 boxed, Wills Kit 00 boxed A3 Flying Scotsman 4.6.2. £120. Wills Ki OD boxed GCR B” 4.6.0 £95. 01305 834 554.

47 Vintage Hornby ‘0’ tanks £45. Trucks £20, Rails £5. 47 Vintage boxed ggreen NZ 7 Tank, 3 rail, Hornby 00 doublo 3 rail coaches £20, Trucks £20, BR A4 4.6.2. 3 rail £90. 2.8.0 £90 3 rail, 2.6..4 tank 3 rail £80.

01305 834554.

Sacuepans Le Crueset wood handled 2L in Royal Blue, excellent condition, £25 each. £40 pair. 01823 481950.

Charles Rennie McIntosh style, 4 dining chairs, Mahogany £80. Can email pictures. 01935 413143.

Ornate garden rotating garden lounger, £600

ELECTRICAL excluding dismantling and installation costs. 07963 951651.

Caravan awning Trio Mex 775. £105. Fibreglass 6ft dinghy wooden oars, offers about £250. 07375 932135.

Old Creamery Sandstone table with oak top.

138cms 90cms. Four chairs some marks on legs but otherwise excellent condition £175. 01460 55450.

Small blacksmith anvil, very heavy, £50. Old fire grate made by Rayburn £50. Flare irons 13, all different. £50. 01460 241942.

Salters trade spring balance scales to weigh 100lbs £25, vintage typewriter Empire Aristocrat with case £30. 01460 241942.

Hay top quality good sized small bales, organic meadow, £3. 01460 239569.

Gents cycle 10 gear Apollo Perpetual, ex con, £75ono. Mobility walker, Model 21539, Handle adjustment 810-930 7kg lovely con. £70 ono.

01305 459940.

Lionel Edwards First Editions sketches in: Stable and Kennel 1928; Handful of Leather 1933, good condition, £70.

01297 560707.

Brown leather settee, excellent condition, like new, three seater. £150, 2 seater £125. (Space needed). 075655 26524.

Buyer collects.

1959 J&G Meakin tea set Sol range Shangri-La six cups saucers, plates, one serving plate, good condition. £35. 0754257 2734 Weymouth.

Kirby upright cleaner Sentria 2 with full kit and shampoo system, very little used. £300. 01460 242251.

Motorbike helmet Davida brand new in box, open face, size small, bought in error. £100 ono.

01297 489611.

CHIMNEY SWEEP

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2020 107