Marshwood+ Mid-Month
Special Issue
The best from West Dorset, South Somerset and East Devon
No. 253-2 April 2020
Marshwood+ WELCOME TO
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OUR lives have changed dramatically in a few short weeks but we are still with you. And despite a lack of social events, the Marshwood community is as vital as ever—if not more so. We know digital reading is new to some of our readers, so here are a few simple pointers to make it easier for everyone to navigate our online magazine.
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UP FRONT With every day that passes we build up more reasons to look forward, and even in some cases, allow ourselves to dream about the future. Even if that future is simply to go back to how things used to be. However, one thing that has been highlighted by the many people I have communicated with by phone or other electronic means over the last few weeks, is the opportunity they have had to look back. Apart from the chance to read books and watch films we might not have had time for before, many of us have had a chance to savour moments from the past that we may either not have had time to really enjoy, or simply missed. Although I have been looking at past issues for our online Marshwood+ for many months now, putting together a short mid-month Marshwood+ has given me a chance to enjoy yet more of the stories that we have published over the nearly twenty years since we began. We’ve even found some classic Humphrey Walwyn from April 2002 which seems to stand the ravages of time better than many of the rest of us. While we’re in lockdown we hope to bring you more of these stories of the people and places that make up this extraordinary community. In the meantime, have a look at something a bit more recent. Visit this link to see a review of the 2019 Marshwood Arts Awards: The Marshwood Arts Awards Exhibition 2019.
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 Fergus Byrne
Deputy Editor Victoria Byrne
Design
Fergus Byrne
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Fergus Byrne info@marshwoodvale.com
Building a New Future
The world we knew is changing and many of us will be trying to build new lives in the months and years after coronavirus. We’d love to hear from you about what is happening in your community along with who and what we could be featuring. We’d also like to know what you’d like to see in your community magazine and hear your ideas. Email us at: info@marshwoodvale.com.
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Eva Harvey By Robin Mills Local Events Update John Leach By Robin Mills News & Views Laterally Speaking By Humphrey Walwyn Lal Hitchcock By Robin Mills Alan Heeks By Robin Mills
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Food & Dining Crustless Potato-Leek Quiche By Jessica Fisher An inexpensive Risotto by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Tabbouleh By Heather Thomas Galleries
41 Health & Beauty 42 Services & Classified “Doing nothing gets pretty tiresome because you can’t stop and rest.”
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Contributors Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Helen Fisher Jessica Fisher Robin Mills Heather Thomas Humphrey Walwyn
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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.
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A Look back at some of the people we have featured in the Marshwood Vale Magazine
‘M
y memories of wartime Weymouth are quite vivid, where I lived as a child. We were on Wyke Road, and I can remember bombed houses, and American soldiers giving my sister and me chewing gum. My mother worked on the buses, she was a clippie, and I didn’t really know my father, who was in the army. By the time I was 4, I’d had all the diseases around at the time; scarlet fever, pneumonia, diphtheria. I can remember being in hospital, in a cot, looking through the bars waiting for the bedtime sweetie to come round. My mother later married a bus driver, my stepfather, who was a really nice man. They had three boys together, so I’ve got three half-brothers. Mum’s family came from Wareham, where they had a greengrocer and florist’s shop next to the Black Bear, and one of the joys of my young life was going to stay there. I’d help with wiring the flowers to make the wreaths, and go into the woods to collect moss. We were treated like grown-ups, never being told when to go to bed, always having fun; they’d take us cycling to Arne or Corfe Castle. My parents moved around a lot, always trying to better their lot, which meant I went to seven different junior schools. Then I passed a scholarship and got into Bishop Fox’s school in Taunton as a boarder. I was always a bit short of things I needed, like socks, my parents being rather hard up, but I did enjoy my two years there, and I think it did me quite a lot of good. Then my parents moved to Yeovil, and I went to Yeovil High School where I did my GCE’s. I would have loved to do A levels and go to University, but we were a big family and money was short; we all had to work. Looking back, I wouldn’t change any of my life, but at the time I was quite disappointed. The head teacher at my school actually offered to pay my Mum £1 a week to allow me to stay on, but it wasn’t to be. Then someone at my Youth Club mentioned a job going in the Borough Surveyor’s
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drawing office. So I just went along, and was offered the job, simple as that. I was tracing plans, and doing lots of lettering, which was all done by hand of course in those days. Women had to wear skirts and nylons to work then, even when we were out on site; when the fashion for thick tights came in, I leapt into those—no more chilblains in winter. I’m constantly aware of how wonderful a time it was to be growing up. The music, which was so central to our lives, seemed to happen so suddenly, with Elvis, and rock and roll, and I’m still a huge fan; I’ve got all Bob Dylan’s music, even recordings of all his Theme Time radio shows. Fashion designers like Mary Quant, and Foale and Tuffin, were so important to our culture, the culture of young people. You could only buy white tee-shirts then, and I was so excited to get my first tee-shirt with a design on it, the first Rolling Stones one, but that wasn’t until 1966. When Ray and I started going out, he was an apprentice at Westlands. We’d all meet up at the Cadena Café in Yeovil, but one of our friends had a flat in West Bay, on Pier Terrace. He had the most wonderful collection of jazz records, and soon it became the obsession for all of us—to get to West Bay for the weekend. If I couldn’t get a lift there, I’d catch the train down. My mother was disapproving, I think she thought I was going out with all these chaps, but it was just a lovely crowd of people. West Bay was a working port then, there were cargo boats, from Germany, and Norway, and we’d go to parties on board. We had a skiffle group, and we played at the George, the Bridport Arms, and the New Inn at Eype. I didn’t play, but always went along for the ride, and we’d get invited to play at parties. We would spend all day on the beach; thunderstorms were great, everybody wanted to swim in a thunderstorm. I remember one weekend when there were about 30
Eva Harvey
Photograph Robin Mills
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people sleeping in that tiny flat; on the stairs, under the table, it was crazy. One of those people was Stu, Ian Stewart the pianist, who became a great friend; he was known as the 6th Rolling Stone. Word was beginning to spread, through people like him, of the West Dorset music scene, so we got to know more and more musicians. Ray and I got married on Boxing Day 1959, at Corscombe Church—and we’ve just celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. Mother was living in Corscombe at that time, and she knew of a rather dilapidated cottage with four rooms. Being next to the Fox Inn, of course Ray saw the potential. It had been quite a big house but there’d been a fire, and then someone had turned it into a bungalow, so it really wasn’t very inviting. Anyway, it came with an acre and a little stream ran through it, and that gave us lots of scope to turn it into something nice. Then we managed to buy the adjoining four acre field with an old stone farm building, and that really made the place; we eventually converted the building into a house for our son Saul and his family. I worked in the Borough Surveyors for 5 years, and then a job came up in the planning department. It was amazing the responsibility they gave me in those days. They sent me to Wincanton to plan a bypass route: I walked across fields making notes and sketches, on my own, and there it now is, the Wincanton bypass. It was me who decided where it went! I worked there for 5 years, until Saul was born in 1966. I enjoyed it all, and the fact that I left school early wasn’t bad for me at all because I was determined to keep learning all the time, and went to evening classes, doing geology, archaeology, French, Tai Chi, pottery. I’m still like that, I listen to Radio 4 and read a lot, and every day I hope to learn something new. Originally we got into the stone business through a friend who was extracting
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ham stone from Ham Hill, but needed somewhere to saw it up. We got permission to install the equipment here, and over 20 years or so the business grew; we got our own quarry on Ham Hill in 1982, which had been unused for 100 years. It’s such a beautiful place, the biggest Iron Age hill fort in Britain. We were quarrying, sawing and selling ham stone, and then got into building houses. I didn’t start the lettering until about 1984, although I still feel like a beginner. It was a natural progression from the work in drawing offices, but I still use my guide for the proportions of the letters from my school art classes in Yeovil. Ray and I were so busy we sometimes even took separate holidays, but were still very involved with music. The house was always full of musicians at weekends; Stu and his friends, like Alexis Korner and Charlie Watts, would play at Eype and other places, and in the early ‘80s it took off, with bands like Diz and the Doormen, Juice on the Loose, the Balham Alligators, Rocket 88, and Blues’n Trouble, at venues like Evershot Village Hall, West Mead at Bridport, and the Bell Inn at Ash. We were putting the musicians up here and feeding them, so being surrounded by musicians, music, and instruments obviously had a big influence on daughter Polly. She was writing songs right from her early teens, and it fills me with pride to think what she and Saul have achieved in their lives. It was always our ambition to have our own place on Pier Terrace in West Bay, and 15 years ago we managed to buy a flat there. So we still have our weekends away, and one day we’ll manage to spend 2 nights there instead of just one, when we’re not so busy. But then I’ve always been busy at what I love; rock, and stone, that’s me.
’
Diverse Abilities launches emergency appeal
DIVERSE Abilities, Dorset’s disability charity, has launched an emergency appeal to assist raising funds lost through the COVID-19 global pandemic. The emergency appeal aims to raise funds that will help to cover running costs, alongside the increased need for personal protection equipment (PPE), and providing higher levels of one to one care in order to minimise the risk to the vulnerable people supported by the charity. Founded in 1955, Diverse Abilities is the only charity that supports children and adults with profound physical and learning disabilities, and their families, in Dorset. Visit diverseabilities.org.uk/emergency to donate to the appeal.
Weymouth’s Virtual Quayfest raises over £13,000 for the NHS
W
eymouth’s popular music festival, the Quayside Music Festival, headed online on Sunday (12 April) for its first ever Virtual Quayfest. The music festival saw 20 musicians perform over a 12-hour period, from 12pm to 12am, and raised £13,200 for the local Dorset County Hospital.
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The success of the event was thanks to a collaboration of efforts from across Weymouth, from tourism group, Loving Weymouth & Portland, members of the local band The Leggomen, to Keith Treggiden, General Manager of Rendezvous & Royal Oak, where the event is usually held—many chipped in, each of whom was determined for the show to go on. The online festival was sponsored by Medisave, a local medical supplies company, as well as other local businesses who volunteered their services. Those who tuned in were treated to performances from the likes of The Voice 2018 finalist, Lauren Bannon, The Leggomen, Powelly, The Chase and many more, with DJ Steve Mullins and Zac P stepping up to entertain in between sets. A fundraising target of £10,000 was set on the Virtual Quayfest JustGiving page ahead of the festival, which was more than surpassed on the day. Keith said: “I really think that kind of money can do so much to help our NHS—from PPE, to
providing some hot meals, we want to show the amazing people at our local hospital that we are 100% behind them and will be forever grateful for what they have done for us throughout the coronavirus crisis. I am so touched by the generosity of everyone who tuned in to watch. “It was really humbling experience putting on the Virtual Quayfest. Seeing everyone pull together to make it happen and to make it a success, was just incredible. It is a testament to the Quayside Festival and how much it means to our community that we managed to pull it off.” To catch the highlights, find the Virtual Quayfest on the Loving Weymouth & Portland Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ events/1158567554484021/ To donate to the Dorset County Hospital via the Virtual Quayfest JustGiving page visit: https:// www.justgiving.com/team/Virtualquayfest?fbclid= IwAR2wTzqD6qGURc06JoxIUp9Krhrx9w9ewH zT-R-PO7SceByHtlkKke7cjsQ
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LOCAL EVENTS
FOLLOWING Government advice, gatherings have now all been cancelled. The following notices from just a few of the local groups whose events have been promoted within these pages over many years, confirm positions taken by these organisations. We will keep you up to date on any other information in future issues. The Arts Society West Dorset
With regret our May and June lectures are cancelled. Details: 01308 485487.
Bridport & District Gardening Club
2020 monthly evening lecture programme has of necessity had to be cancelled for the whole year. In the event of a satisfactory return to normality before the year is out, organisers will advise of any planned lectures that can go ahead.
Martock Church Guardians
The upcoming concerts at Martock Church are cancelled with a provisional restart date of September 2020. Updates in Martock Online http://www. martockonline.co.uk/events
Uplyme & Lyme Regis Horticultural Society
The Spring Plant Sale on 16 May and the Summer Flower and Produce Fair on 11 July have been cancelled. Summer Show exhibitors will be contacted by the show organisers. Winners of trophies at last year’s show may keep their trophies until 31 May 2021. Organisers be using the theme of Lavender and this year’s schedule of classes for next year’s show, so on the plus side there will be plenty of time to plan and prepare entries. Society members who have purchased tubers for the Potato in a Bucket competition are urged to keep their potatoes fed and watered. It is hoped that the Society will be able to run this competition in some form during the summer. Expanded Autumn Show: The Society hopes to run an expanded Autumn Show later in the year. As many
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people will be spending more time in their gardens this summer they hope there may be some excellent exhibits ready for showing in the autumn. Further details will be published later in the summer. Talks and trips: The Society’s programme of talks and trips will recommence as soon as Uplyme Village Hall reopens and gardens are open again to visit. Organisers will get in touch with members when they have positive news on dates. Any trips or talks that have to be cancelled will be rebooked. If anyone has paid for trips beyond April, the organisers will contact them.
Big Breakfast at Bridport United Church
The Bog Breakfast fundraising event with proceeds due to Christian Aid Appeal, at Bridport United Church scheduled for May 30th along with all other arrangements for Christian Aid Week, have been postponed until further notice. Organisers hope to be able to re-organize this event, later in the year.
Yoga classes in Milborne St Andrew
Yoga classes at Milborne St Andrew village hall are temporarily suspended, but the desirability of regular yoga practice in your life has probably never been stronger. Yoga practice combines stretching and strengthening with breathwork which is really good for the whole of you: it makes your body healthier—it’s not just your muscles and joints that benefit, but your internal organs as well, which means that your immune system also improves. It also helps your mind, making you feel calmer and clearer. As you feel clearer, you find it easier to make decisions, to understand what is right for you. It makes you feel at one with yourself and with the natural world. Although general classes
are what most people associate with yoga nowadays, traditionally it was nearly always taught individually. We are all different, with different life experiences, different bodies and therefore different needs. Sarah Ryan is trained to teach individuals, and has been doing it online, with Skype, for many years. Why not make this the time to get a practice designed for you, that you can then do every day? Ten to twenty minutes’ practice a day can really change things for you. Contact Sarah Ryan, on 01258 839230 or email: saryan6630@gmail.com
Milborne Movies
The lockdown has stopped Milborne Movies but it will be back as soon as possible. Organisers have some very good films already planned for showing, including Judy, Downton Abbey, Rocketman, and Blinded By The Light. If you haven’t thought of coming to one of their shows, why not give it a try, once we are all allowed to mix together again—perhaps come with some friends: it’s fun to have a drink or ice cream from the bar at the interval, and talk to others if you are feeling sociable.
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A Look back at some of the people we have featured in the Marshwood Vale Magazine
‘I
was born on 21st July 1939 in the pottery cottage belonging to my grandfather Bernard Leach, in St Ives, Cornwall. My boyhood in St Ives was pretty idyllic; our playgrounds were all the coves and beaches round West Penwith, and I can remember when the distress rockets went up, running down to the harbour to watch the lifeboat go out, which was the most exciting thing for a small boy. It was wartime, my father was away in the army with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, and mother invited a friend she’d met at the bus stop in St Ives to bring her two little girls round to have a bath, because we had a proper one, and they only had a galvanised tub in front of the fire. We were all aged about three or four, so my brother and I, who were nasty little boys and made the girls sit up the tap end, shared our bath tub with these two little girls and had lots of fun—and that was how Lizzie and I met. We married in 1961, so it’ll be our 50th anniversary later this year. My father David was in partnership with his father Bernard in St Ives. Grandfather set up the pottery there in 1920, where there was already a very well-established artistic community going back to the 1880’s. After he returned from studying pottery in Korea, China and Japan between about 1910 and 1920, he’d been asked to join the Cornwall Handicraft Association, and had some assistance in setting up the pottery in St Ives. To put it into perspective, he started making pots in the old fashioned way, like I do now, during what was the post-industrial, post Victorian era, and his approach was controversial, very influenced by his experiences in Oriental culture, and caused questions to be asked. What was this man doing returning to the old ways, hand-throwing, when all the interest of the time was in new mould-making machinery, and mass-production? He would talk about spirituality, the “soul and personality” of the pot, and I’m the same,
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but the difference is that today there’s more acceptance of this approach, and I think Grandfather’s work had the same ethos as all craftspeople who go against the guide of modernity and the industrial process; they mind about their work, they care about it. If you ask me who am I making pots for, I’d have to say it’s for me. In designing and making pots, I’m trying to satisfy my own standards and criteria before I’m happy to present them to the customer; whilst I can’t ignore what the market wants, my work is product-led rather than market-led. When I have a cup of coffee from another potter’s mug, I like to feel I can commune with the maker, who may be someone I may already know, and although the coffee tastes the same no matter what I drink it out of, it’s a privilege to use a handmade object, and this adds an extra dimension to the experience. I went to Dauntsey’s School, in Wiltshire, but I left school a very academically underachieved schoolboy. I loved school, but it was the sport I loved, and was in all the teams, so my parents were a bit disappointed with me. In about 1955/56, my father and mother moved to Bovey Tracey, and a year after that I left school and started my 5-year apprenticeship with my father. He’d helped set up a pottery at a Carmelite monastery in Kent, and I went there during my apprenticeship to work, which I really enjoyed. Then I went to work for a well-known potter called Ray Finch at Winchcombe in Gloucestershire, who’s a lovely, humble man, still alive at 96. And then I worked with my Grandfather, so that was four different potters over a 5 year period, all very exciting, and in the process I learned to both pick up and discard different approaches to the job, and find out what suited my own style. After our son Benedict was born I was looking for a good job, before I settled down; I had no money to set up on my own. One came up in California, at a lovely place
John Leach
Photograph Robin Mills
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called Mendocino on the coast about 150 miles north of San Francisco, and I worked at the Art School, and helped set up a pottery. We were there 6 months, in 1963, so it was an interesting time. I remember a story in the San Francisco Chronicle at that time; a woman had run naked through the streets of St Ives, ending up tolling the church bell in a dramatic fashion. This presented the authorities with quite a problem as to how to restrain her, as her arms were firmly attached to the bell rope, providing them with no convenient parts of her to catch hold of. And of course the Beatles had just exploded on the scene, so everyone was saying how very exciting life must be in England. Then when we came back to England, my dear motherin-law lent us £3000 and that enabled us to buy this place at Muchelney, in ’64, and build a kiln. These were all old farm buildings, where once they made cheese, and stripped withies. Often it was the woman left at home who would strip the withy using a brake, a single post with a v-shaped device which stripped the bark as it was pulled through. At one time nearby in Kingsbury Episcopi there were several withy merchants; also a blacksmith mending farm implements, a boot maker, strappers who dug the ditches, three bakeries, two butchers, and a saddlery, so there must have been dozens of little live/ work situations; there were also two pubs and two grocery shops. Originally we didn’t have a shop; everything more or less was sold wholesale, but it was clear that people like to buy from the source. So we took down the old traditional double pigsty that was here, saving the blue lias stone and some tiles, and in ’67 built the shop, so that we could retail. And then nearly 7 years ago we built the gallery, which despite turning out to be quite a lot of work, does keep the place a bit lively. We’re lucky here at Muchelney, which is comparatively well-known with the historic Abbey and the Priest’s House, so there are lots of visitors and we enjoy a sort of symbiotic relationship. I couldn’t operate from an industrial estate, which is maybe what the planners would have preferred. In 1972 Nick Rees wrote to me. He was 18 The Marshwood Vale Magazine April Mid-Month Special 2020 Tel. 01308 423031
a teacher, a bit disillusioned with his work, and wanted to do a pottery apprenticeship. That was 39 years ago, and he’s still working here, and then Mark Melbourne, who was originally taught by my brother Simon, rejoined us 7 years ago. So from Monday to Friday they work for the business, producing the repeat ware from my designs, but as my grandfather did, I encourage them to make their own pots in their own time, which are then put through the kiln and sold through the gallery, keeping their own creative spirit alive. In 1986 I bought 9 acres of land here behind the pottery, and two years later dug the pond, landscaped it and planted 500 trees. Then in ’91 planted a further 3500 trees, a mixture of indigenous broadleaf species. I’d been burning wood in the kilns, offcuts from sustainable sources, and I began to think about how much this country needs more trees, about how we’ve used up all our own indigenous forests over the centuries, and now we’re exploiting other countries’ resources. And then finally, I heard about the Yanomami Indians in the Amazon who in the ’70’s were ruthlessly cleared from their villages by beef or timber barons; they were in the way, they just didn’t count, and I was shocked. So what I’ve done with my little scheme is a speck, it’s nothing, but lots of people are doing it. What started as a conscience thing has now become an indulgence. I enjoy it, almost more than I can say, watching the trees and the wonderful myriad of species within the habitat grow and develop. It’s quite amazing how quickly it’s all happened, and now because of the dragonfly population it’s a designated County Wildlife Site. As for our family, as well as my eldest son Benedict, there’s Jennifer, who incidentally married an American, Doug, and they live in Glastonbury, Connecticut; there’s also Karen, and Joe, and Tobias. Between them there are 10 grandchildren, and all of them except Jennifer’s children over in the States live within about 16 miles of here. So we’re lucky, with our family, the pottery, and the land; they’re all so very close by.
’
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News&Views
LYME REGIS Cemetery reopened
Lyme Regis Town Council has re-opened the town’s cemetery off Charmouth Road to allow residents to visit the graves of loved ones reports LymeOnline. The cemetery had been locked at the end of March following the introduction of COVID-19 related restrictions. However local residents argued that it should be accessible and the council has opened the Charmouth Road entrance to allow residents to visit graves.
CHARD Numatic changes production
The home of Henry vacuum cleaners has transformed part of its production line to help make face shields for the NHS. Numatic, based in Millfield, Chard, has urgently retasked their research & development teams, production specialists and manufacturing teams to work across projects where they can help in the COVID-19 crisis. The company has also offered free loan of additional cleaning equipment within frontline healthcare environments.
COUNTRYSIDE Fly-tipping warning
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has warned people to vigilant against illegal fly-tipping. With household recycling centres closed due to the coronavirus pandemic there has been an increase in reports of rubbish being dumped on local land. Farmers and landowners are victims of this crime that have to clear up fly-tipped waste from their land, which the CLA estimates costs on average about £900 per incident.
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DORCHESTER Schools help out with meals
The Thomas Hardye School is working with other schools in the area to support families whose children normally receive free school meals, reports the Dorset Echo. More than 200 families are receiving food parcels through the scheme which has been supported by local businesses such as Craig’s Farm dairy and the Kiwi Butcher Dion Tantrum. In some cases hampers are being delivered in the school minibus.
DORSET Cleaners needed
The county’s community hospitals are calling for experienced cleaners to support our existing teams and help make a difference during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. Cleaners are required at the Dorset HealthCare-run hospitals in Alderney, Blandford, Bridport, Swanage, Wimborne, Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Weymouth. Anyone interested should contact dhc. DomesticAdmin@nhs.net to request an application pack.
A Look back on some thoughts from Humphrey Walwyn from April 2002
Misleading Information Laterally Speaking by Humphrey Walwyn
I
f it's finally Spring, then it's also they unexpectedly invite themselves to Sunday the season to be doing it yourself. lunch. Everyone's doing it… laying a new River Brit Blue (self explanatory): Well it's carpet in the study to cover up Uncle not, is it! I mean, it's definitely not blue even Derek's cigarette holes, mending the on a sunny day. It's really a sort of greyish plunger in the loo in time for Gran's dark brown with chocolate-blue overtones. visit and re-painting over last year's A suitable colour for your downstairs loo— experimental shade of bright sickly provided you don't mind the occasional green in the spare bedroom. These supermarket trolley in the paint tin. are all activities that I hate but I have Chideock Yellow Chochre (light lemon Spring in the air, paint in the hair. opaque): Great on weekdays but can bring a now succumbed to domestic pressure Dorset Blue rinse anyone? and have dragged myself into DIY lingering odour of diesel fumes to the room at stores to linger over colour charts weekends. Potential safety hazard on Summer and samples and the like. That's the easy bit (the creative bank holidays. planning); the hard bit (the actual DIY implementation) Lyme Regis Green (stone washed storm-shutter comes later. With luck I can prolong the former for at seaside view lime): One of those annoying colours that least a couple of months to ensure it is then too late to is never the same as the colour chart when you actually attempt the latter. paint it on the wall. No matter how many coats, it will I now know what I want to do in Life. Not for me always be different from what you expect. Appealing but the relatively mundane 'Concorde Test Pilot' or the unpredictable—particularly when trying to find a parking more practical (but much more fun) 'Mobile Phone space in the summer. Mast Demolisher'. No, I want to be 'Head of New Paint Cattistock Hunt (bright pink): Very unfortunately may Colours' for Crown or Dulux etc. What a great job to no longer be available after 2002. Order now while stocks think up names for all those new bright pastel shades! last. We all know about Gardenia, Morning Primrose and West Bay White (flecked textured off-white): Raindrop Petal Pink (a bit old hat), but the wave of Interesting and decidedly different. More a sort of 'patchy colours now available for your living room wall are even white bungalow on the hillside kind of colour' with flecks more eco-forceful: bitingly evocative of a Bright New of ice-cream cones, seagull droppings and discarded Dawn or something. Many of them read like episodes receipts from cash machines. from a BBC2 Nature series. You half expect David Yeovil Yellow (fluorescent): To be avoided. It makes Attenborough to jump out of your new can of Dolphin the teeth squeak when looking at it. Dreams (sort of blue-grey) or Mojave Canyon (dark russet Range Rover Green (formerly Hunter Wellie Green): brown). Debussy swamps your kitchen in full surroundDreadfully passé. To be avoided at all costs. Used to be sound colour when you open up Paysanne Parcifal (earthy exclusive but is now too commonplace for comfort. red) or Tropical Coral Shrimp (a subtle glowing pink). Jamie Oliver Salmon en-crôute (soft pastel pink): A Either that or perhaps you're supposed to open the tin and heavily textured paint that contains green flecks of dill and simmer the contents in a saucepan. But enough of all this shards of filo pastry drizzled with a light saffron sauce. If slushy old gloss… In my new job, I feel I could bring a you get hungry, you can always lick the walls. more healthy realism to Dorset DIY. Here are some of my Blair Rainbow (multicolour): Amazing new chameleon new paints for you to splash onto your walls: technology… this paint immediately takes on the colour Burton Cliff Sunset (Beautiful deep orange): Not of any neighbouring shade—changing hue according to recommended for ceilings as you can be hurt by lumps the current climate. Certainly not red, it can even look falling off during strong winds. decidedly blue under bright lights. It's part of the 'Labour Charmouth Sea Mist (very pale grey): Attractive Nouveau' colour range with an advertising slogan of off-white damp matt glaze with the unique property of "Paint Your Dining Room For A New Tomorrow". This is completely obscuring the far side of the living room in the ultimate in style for the PC decorator—PC of course a dense fog. Very useful to hide from the 'in-laws' when referring here to 'Paintfully Correct'.
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A Look back at some of the people we have featured in the Marshwood Vale Magazine
‘
I’m the middle one of three children. My parents both went to Cambridge after the war— my mother read history, my father mechanical engineering. He’d been wounded in the Normandy Landings. Talking with my mother only recently, she said that today my father would be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but then there wasn’t a name for it. Most of my childhood I was aware of him painting; he was painting around the theme of war, as if he was trying to paint his way out of trauma. This really carried on for most of his life, although he switched from painting to writing and back again; his surreal imagery was all around the house as we were growing up. I was also aware of his rather dark presence—this person who could be unpredictable and sometimes explode. My mother was the opposite, as if she was trying to counter that; she was sunny and bright, and tried to protect all of us, including my father, from the outside world. So it was quite a strange upbringing; it was very privileged, but in another way kind of deprived, in that we were always a bit cut off from other people. We always lived in isolated places, and there was a sense that the rest of the world was slightly contaminated; perhaps what we were deprived of was relationships; we had friends at the private schools we were sent to, but I think there was a sense of society at large being a rather threatening place. All this, along with my father’s imagery, has been a strong influence on my brother and I—he’s a singer/songwriter. As artists, I think we both have our roots in surrealism. I was sent to a very enlightened private boarding school, Bedales, which has a great reputation for the arts, and is coeducational, but I was homesick. It was a misguided thing which so many middle class people did at that time—parents thinking they were doing the best for their children, when actually it was possibly the worst. I couldn’t wait to get home, and after I left school and went to do my foundation year at Winchester School of
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Art, I lived at home and walked in to college along the river every day, as if I still needed that umbilical connection. After Winchester, I went to Newcastle Poly, as it then was, to do a Fine Art degree. That was in the seventies, so it wasn’t as exciting as the decade before, when Brian Ferry, Alan Price, et al, were strutting their stuff, but it was before all the cutbacks, so there was no limit on materials. I was experimenting with, and wasting loads of materials like clay, and resin. I hate to think how much resin I used. Newcastle then was just on the cusp of becoming a really exciting, vibrant place and I loved the landscape of Northumberland, and Cumberland, which we explored at weekends. I think somehow I missed out on popular culture. At boarding school there was no television, and at art school, half the time I lived in places with no electricity, and I think it just passed me by. I don’t know where I was; I think I was living in my imagination, and I wasn’t really aware of what was going on out there. I began to like Newcastle more and more; I had a good circle of close friends, and I might have stayed there but for the fact I had a boyfriend in London, so I moved down south again. And then I got pregnant, and had my daughter Ruby, and we moved to Sydling St Nicholas here in West Dorset. That was over 30 years ago. We’d been visiting Dorset when I lived in Winchester; it seemed to have a magic about it then—ancient earthworks and forgotten hamlets with damp and collapsed cottages. Walking into a pub you’d get stared at, for not being a local, and none of the footpaths led anywhere, they were all so overgrown. It was frustrating, but there was something really mysterious about it, as if you really could still get lost. I set up a printmaking studio, and found I could sell etchings quite easily. They were small and intense, and mostly based on landscape. Coming here was that classic artist
Lal Hitchcock
Photograph Robin Mills
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thing of trying to find a retreat to work in, somewhere up a track, although actually we lived in the village. I didn’t drive, and Ruby and I would take the bus once a week to Dorchester to do the shopping, or if we wanted to go further afield, we’d walk the two and a half miles over the hill to Maiden Newton, (Ruby aged 2) to get the train. Without a car, you get to know an area more intimately, but I think I did feel a bit trapped, especially with a small child and not really knowing anyone. I became disenchanted with my work too, probably because I wasn’t being experimental enough. But because it sold well, it was hard to give up. When Ruby was five, we went to live in Rampisham with George, her father, who’d moved from London. He’d bought a derelict farm, and that was up a track; I found it really liberating, and began to get back into 3D work. I needed to get away from the straight, tight, controlled part of me that was coming out in my etchings, and play about a bit. My son Edmund was born, ten years after Ruby, and I was very bound up with looking after him. I was growing vegetables and keeping chickens as well. And then my father died. When Edmund was four, I left George, left Rampisham, and came to live here at Mapperton, and I went into therapy. That connects with my life now, because I’m training to become a psychotherapist. While I was in therapy, I began to work with the flotsam and jetsam washed up on Chesil Beach. Making sculpture out of rubbish, I now realise, was a kind of metaphor for what was happening to me in therapy; I was trying to redeem myself by connecting up all the different parts, and making myself into something whole. The therapeutic part was never knowing what I was going to make until I was actually making it. With the etching there was
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always a feeling of failure, of not being able to do justice to the landscape, as if my only option was to replicate it. Also the process of etching involves a kind of commitment; once you’ve put the metal plate in the acid, it’s very hard to reverse anything; you can add, but it’s almost impossible to take away. But with the beach detritus I can endlessly add bits or take them away again. I love working with worthless materials, I get self-conscious and a bit scared using anything new. Blank sheets of paper intimidate me. When I go to the beach, I try not to look for specific things, but inevitably I have a kind of unconscious wish-list. I feel very ambivalent about the sheer amount of ‘stuff ’ there; stuff we throw away, or lose, or somehow manage to forget. We’re using the sea as a dumping ground, yet my work wouldn’t exist without it. It’s a strange kind of symbiosis. How these things arrive here, and what part of the globe they come from, never fails to intrigue me, as does the mystery of how the sea sorts them out—left footed flip-flops on one beach, right footed on another. Every beach has a theme, depending on the tide and the season. I started running workshops with kids about fifteen years ago. I encourage spontaneity; try to get them to play around with different objects, different imagery and associations. They learn the skills of construction; how to join things, make them balance, stand up, or move. More importantly, they learn how to overcome difficulties—there always comes a point in every piece of work when I feel I’ve reached an impasse, and I can’t see a way of resolving it. But eventually I do find a way, and I try to encourage children to do the same. It’s like a microcosm of life—constantly confronted by obstacles, and trying to learn how to overcome them. It’s very satisfying when you do.
’
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A Look back on some thoughts from Fergus Dowding from April 2002
Sow the Seed
I
t is the time of the great pagan rituals, when our ley-line loving ancestors used to perform delicious rituals when the sun rose over their standing-stones. It is now the end of the winter and time to get planting those seeds that will feed and please you this year. Growing vegetables is intensive gardening, as you are in effect trying to raise high performance annuals, which need perfect growing conditions to provide bountifully tasty crops. A good start to their lives is essential to grow strong plants. So, hot tip of the month: the best way of doing this is to sow your seeds in module trays indoors in perfect growing conditions You can buy these at most garden centres or DIY shops. Each tray has 40 cells. You cram compost into each cell as tightly as possible, plant two or three seeds in each and water daily. Keep the tray in a warm windowsill, conservatory or greenhouse. They will germinate very quickly in the warmth. Thin the seedlings down to one per cell, and in a month or so they will be strong little plants. Then put
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the tray outside to harden off for a few days to toughen up the leaves, which helps prevent slug attack. Each plant then has a firm root ball and pops out of its cell a treat. Planting these takes about ten seconds each. It's a miracle. The advantages of this system are so numerous that only a list will cover them all: • Perfect growing conditions for strong plants, with no slug attack. • You can sow seeds a month earlier than outside. • Saves you hours working up a perfect tilth in a cloddy seed bed. • aves you six weeks hoeing round your tiny plants—the first time you bend your back is when you plant out. • You can plant a perfect formation with no gaps, and • You can double crop e.g. put your winter cabbage plants out straight after harvesting your early potatoes. • And sow on and sow forth. Treat the whole thing as a joyous pagan ritual and you'll get a lot of fun out of it.
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A Look back on some thoughts from Antonia Johnson from April 2003
Perennial Leaves
A
s the corner of the seasons turns, my appreciation of those perennials that overwinter their foliage wanes, and I look fondly on those that start into growth early. It is time, anyway, to cut last year to the ground: all the thoroughly browned stalks of asters, aconites, phloxes, salvias and so on are only fit for compost; penstemons are sprouting at the base, and tatty old flowering stalks are best dispensed with; epimediums are singing their delicate flower spikes now, and do not need the leathery clatter of old leaves as accompaniment; likewise the fleshy, surprisingly tall lenten hellebores have enough of a green ruff; they are coming to the end of their flowering season, and new foliage will follow soon. Helleborus foetidus, however, carries all its foliage with the flowering head, on one stalk, and the darkness of the fingered leaves is a perfect foil for the bundle of pale green. Others that are already flowering include pulmonarias—P.’Blue Ensign’ is a startlingly good deep blue, (we combine it with the rather jazzy Chaenomeles ‘Crimson and Gold’)—and their tolerance is exemplary: we have a swathe of P.’Sissinghurst White’ under the dry shade of a mature walnut, and it never disappoints. Doronicums will also put up with competition—my mother taught me to plant it under roses: the heart-shaped leaf with its scalloped edge is charming, they clump up neatly, and the fine golden daisies are just beginning to open, and will continue for weeks. Best to cut the flower stalks down about May, so they go back to the neat clumps once the roses take centre stage. But I don’t need flowers in early spring as much as I need new growth, promise of future glories. Peony shoots are emerging (Gertrude Jekyll, I think, called them ‘delightful rosy snouts’), P. mlokosewitschii (molly-thewitch) one of the earliest: dusky plum velvet opening
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Cardoons looking very exotic - large and lush
to green; Euphorbia sikkimensis is gorgeous now, an overall impression of bronze made up of olive green leaf surface, outlined and midribbed in brightest fuchsia pink; sedums (we have a lot of S. spectabile, because it was here already, and the butterflies do love it more than the hybridised ‘Autumn Joy’) are neat grey pincushions, and, last but not least of this arbitrary selection, the freshness of the hemerocallis shoots somehow makes a big contribution—perhaps because their verticality chimes happily with all the bulb foliage. In my herb garden the cardoons look very exotic, large and lush; angelica is a foot tall already, and smells wonderful as I weed out the surplus; a giant fennel (Ferula communis, not Foeniculum) whose lacy leaves begin very early, may at last be mature enough to flower (its umbels can get to 8’). Christopher Lloyd has written of combining its foliage with a bright red tulip, which I would love to see. In an old copper boiler, tulips are poking up amongst self-sown Phacelia tanacetifolia, a hardy annual with pretty much-divided foliage, purple-tinged by the cold at present. Lots of joys to come.
Charity Launches Friendship Phone Line
L
ocal charity PramaLife, who usually run community groups and activities for older people and carers across Poole, Bournemouth and East Dorset, have launched a new Friendship Line for those feeling lonely, or who just want to talk to someone during the government imposed self-isolation. The initiative was set up to combat loneliness, especially for older people aged 70 and over, who have been instructed by the government to self-isolate for their own safety at this time. PramaLife’s Pathways Manager, Sue Warr, explains the reason behind her setting up the specialised phone line: ‘The initiative was set up as we recognised that, for many, the challenge of self-isolation is more than ‘how am I going to get my shopping’ but it can lead to increased need to share some ‘normal’ human interaction, and talk about something other than Coronavirus, and its effect on day to day living. We have over 50 volunteers who will be available to listen, or to strike up a conversation with anyone who would like to chat. offering friendship, information or advice, or just to let us know that they are struggling. Our aim is to compliment the other services and neighbourly support that is growing in the area’. If you would like to speak to somebody, the PramaLife Friendship Line is available every day of the week between 8am and 9pm. Simply dial 01202 022987. If you are interested in helping PramaLife with their phoneline, you can request further information or sign up to become a volunteer by contacting Sue on 07867 354588. You can find more information about Prama on their website www. pramacare.org.uk or by calling the team on 01202 207300.
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PROPERTY ROUND-UP
Spring into Action - homes ready to go By Helen Fisher
BROADWINDSOR £395,000
A semi-detached family home built in the 1880s, set in the heart of the village. With 3 bedrooms plus attic room and character features inc: flagstone floor & exposed beams. Easily maintained, large, private garden with sun terrace. Ample parking plus double garage with power and loft room above. Stags Tel: 01308 428000
SEATON £298,000
A generously proportioned 2 bedroom, ground floor apartment with direct sea views and level walking to the town centre and shops. Converted from a hotel in 1996, the building is spacious and well maintained. With small courtyard garden and allocated parking space. Double glazed and GCH throughout. Gordon and Rumsby Tel: 01297 553768
BRADPOLE £290,000
A detached 2 bedroom cottage situated along a small lane and presented in excellent order. Sitting room with wood burning stove and duel aspect windows. Country style kitchen with separate utility room. Good sized bedrooms with feature fireplaces. Fully enclosed, beautifully landscaped garden with decking area. Goadsby Tel: 01308 420000 30 The Marshwood Vale Magazine April Mid-Month Special 2020 Tel. 01308 423031
BRIDGEHAMPTON £625,000
A contemporary style detached home, built 2 years ago. Exceptionally spacious ground floor with underfloor heating throughout. With 5 bedrooms and gorgeous family kitchen leading onto a magnificent garden room. Garage and ample parking and far reaching southerly rural views. Greenslade Taylor Hunt Tel: 01935 415300
OSMINGTON £750,000
The East wing of a Grade II listed elegant, period property built in attractive Portland stone with many classical features. Excellent decorative order with 3 bedrooms. Formal landscaped gardens with croquet lawn, orchard, rose & vegetable garden and mature trees. All set in just under an acre. Jackson-Stops Tel: 01308 423133
WEST BAY £369,950
A spacious semi-detached, south-facing 3 double bedroom home with double glazing and new boiler. With conservatory and separate utility. Enclosed garden with arbour over dining terrace plus garage and parking. Excellent walks/ cycle routes immediately accessible. Kennedys Tel: 01308 427329
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A Look back at some of the people we have featured in the Marshwood Vale Magazine
‘I
was actually born in Bournemouth, which was Hampshire in those days, but my mother’s side of the family was very West Dorset. Grandfather was called Robert Wakeley, and he came from Loders, and then moved to Bournemouth. Mother’s mother was a Dashwood, from Piddletrenthide. So having finally moved to West Dorset only a couple of years ago, it’s been like coming home because this is definitely where my roots are. At school I loved English Literature, and went on to university at Oxford to study it. At university I’d enjoyed promoting functions like exhibitions and theatrical events, so when I’d finished I decided I’d go into marketing, and got a graduate trainee job with Procter and Gamble. I went straight into work, no gap year, from Oxford to work in Newcastle upon Tyne, and I still have mixed feelings about that move. It was quite a shock, going from a free-and-easy Oxford student life immersed in literature and philosophy to a hard-nosed, structured business world. The company operated like a machine, which from the word go raised the question with me about how to bring about human fulfilment in work, and still make a business profitable. In a sense that was quite a fruitful shock for me, because that was a question that has stayed with me ever since, and once I become passionate about something, I stay with it. That marketing job was also hugely beneficial, in that I have been able to apply the same methodology to non-profit ventures I’ve undertaken in later life. I spent four years with Procter and Gamble, and although I progressed in the company, it was clear the work wasn’t for me. I’d met my wife in Oxford, married in Newcastle, so I took the gap year then, and we travelled in Africa and Asia. Then I got a scholarship to go to America and study for an MBA at Harvard, where there was research into human fulfilment within working life. When I came back from the States, I got a job in Merseyside, as marketing manager of Hygena Kitchens;
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then I became a founder member of a group called Caradon, and worked as the managing director of the largest subsidiary, Twyfords Bathrooms. During the four years I was there as MD I was able to put into practice some of my ideas about improving human fulfilment, as well as the business results. One of my favourite films is the Ealing comedy I’m All Right Jack, and this company was straight out of the film. There were five dining rooms, each for different levels of staff within the company from the directors down to the ‘peasants’, and basically the workers had never seen, or met, the management. So I introduced a single canteen where everyone ate, and regular meetings between management and staff in which eventually all 1600 staff got to meet and talk to everyone in management, and once it was clear we were genuine, everyone went along with it, results improved, and more importantly morale improved as well. After four years, I was ready for a major change. I was 40, had been working incredibly hard, and was missing out on family life; I was worried about what sort of life I was bringing my kids into. So, I gave back the Jaguar XJ6, gave up the big office and full-time secretary, and set myself up as a management consultant and trainer. However, as well as the consultancy work, since 1990 I’ve been involved with creating non-profit ventures. The thread of these has been what could be called land based sustainable education, using some sort of project which gets people into closer contact with nature, with two aims; to bring about not only better understanding of environmental sustainability, but also human sustainability. I firmly believe that the same principles apply to both; I think many people are being factory farmed in their working life, in the same way that the natural environment is. When I left my business career behind in 1990, I already had a vision of these ideas; meeting some visionary and like-minded Dorset people, like Mark Measures, and Will Best, helped
Alan Heeks
Photograph Robin Mills
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me put things into practice quite quickly. I never had any doubts about establishing this project in Dorset, because there do seem to be more inspiring and innovative people here, and pioneering centres like Pilsdon, Monkton Wyld and Othona have suceeded. We formed a charity and bought a run-down 130 acre beef farm on the Somerset/Dorset border, called Magdalen Farm, with a courtyard of buildings that lent themselves to conversion into a residential centre. In one sense it was a crazy idea for me; I had no background in farming, running a charity, or education, but I had the time and the commitment. Also, the Harvard training does teach you to be a business paratrooper, to land in unknown territory and find the right people to provide the expertise. Over the first few years we learned as we went, and experimented a lot. We converted the farm to organic, evolved curriculum-based education for school children in a residential setting, with added personal and social education—things like trust games, night walks, learning about food and farming, the differences between organic and conventional. The Magdalen Project is still going strong, 21 years later. From the experience of creating the Magdalen Project, I realised that organic farming was actually the model I had been looking for in my search for human fulfilment within the workplace, so I started to run business training workshops at the farm, using organic farming techniques as examples of sustainable production which people could apply their own businesses. In 2000 my first book was published, The Natural Advantage: Renewing Yourself, which I wrote both for individuals and business organisations. I had been thinking a lot about what I call the next level of sustainability. There is a limit to how much energy consumption we can reduce in our homes with technical
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solutions like double glazing and insulation in our lofts. Food and travel accounts for more than half the average household’s energy consumption, and whilst I was interested in sustainable building, I was also concerned with human sustainability in a community sense; my marriage had by now broken up and I was living on my own. In about 2002, I found out about cohousing, a well-established concept in Scandinavia, although quite new here. It’s based on small self-contained dwellings, so everyone has their own front door and their own space, but there are shared facilities like a garden courtyard where people can easily meet and chat. There is also a common house, a bit like a village hall, in which there can be shared meals, parties, meetings, film shows, etc. It can meet the needs of people who are very sociable as well as those who aren’t, unlike a commune. I formed a group of interested people, and in 2004, the project came about in North Dorset, called the Threshold Centre, near Gillingham. It’s the first project of its kind in the UK done in cooperation with a housing association, so half of the properties are affordable, and it’s successfully demonstrating ideas of lifestyle sustainability, with its own one acre community garden growing food for the householders, and a pool car and ride-sharing. I’m also very proud of the fact that the ecological footprint per household has been measured at half the UK average, despite its rural situation and poor public transport service. There are 14 households, with young families, older people, and a wide range of social backgrounds. I always intended this to be a stepping stone for a bigger project, one in West Dorset, so in 2009 I began to look for local people to put together something similar in Bridport. By now we have 24 members, and we are working with the same Housing Association
as at Gillingham who will act as the developer, so that at least 40% of the properties will be affordable to people on the Housing Register. The District Council is now open to innovative forms of affordable housing, and we’re hoping to submit a planning application within the next year for 30 dwellings, which means that we’re still looking for more members to join. One of the things I’ve been involved with over the last 15 years or so has been men’s groups, and this relates to the second book I’m writing. When my marriage broke up, the best support I had came from a men’s group. I’m particularly interested in men over 50, who these days, possibly up to age 80, often have quite good health, have more time, enough money, and opportunity, but can suffer from loneliness, depression and addictions, because they need the life skills to deal with the ‘shipwrecks’ that often occur at this time. So I’ve set up a website and a blog to help men in this situation, and I’m working with a retired GP from Maiden Newton, Max Mackay-James, to offer resources to men in this age group. Perhaps men aren’t good at collaborating; it’s been said that men get to know each other shoulder to shoulder, not face to face.
’
Guest Recipe
JESSICA FISHER Jessica Fisher’s blogs, Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats, have established her as the go-to authority on cooking for a family cheaply, creatively, and nutritiously. Jessica walks the talk: She is the mom to, and primary cook for, four sons and two daughters. She is the author of Not Your Mother’s Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook, Good Cheap Eats, and Best 100 Juices for Kids.
CRUSTLESS POTATO-LEEK QUICHE Meatless Gluten-Free Make-Ahead Freezer-Friendly This quiche comes together quickly, thanks to frozen shredded hash browns. I buy a brand that is just potatoes, with no salt or other additives, making it an excellent staple to keep on hand
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
• 1 tablespoon butter • ½ large leek, thinly sliced (about 2 cups) • 2 cups frozen shredded hash browns, no need to thaw • 1 teaspoon minced garlic • Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese • 6 large eggs • 1 cup half-and-half • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. 2. In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Cook the leek, potatoes, and garlic in the butter until the leek is tender and starting to brown and the potatoes are hot, 2 to 3 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Transfer the vegetables to the prepared dish. 3. Sprinkle the cheese over the vegetables. 4. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the half-and-half, mustard, and thyme and whisk to combine. Pour this mixture over the cheese and vegetables. 5. Bake until the eggs are set and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Serves 4
Good Cheap Eats: Dinner in 30 minutes or less by Jessica Fisher, published by Harvard Common Press. ISBN 9781558328167.
Make it ahead: Once the vegetables are cooked, allow them to cool before sprinkling with cheese and pouring the egg mixture over the top. Wrap the pie plate and chill in the refrigerator overnight. To freeze, place the dish on a level surface in the freezer until set, about 2 hours. Wrap well and store in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator before baking. You may need to add 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time, depending on how cold the dish is.
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A Look back on what Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was cooking in Spring 2002
Cooking with Hugh An inexpensive Risotto
There are many variations of this recipe, depending on what greens and herbs come to hand from the garden or hedgerow. You need a reasonable bulk of greenery such as nettle tops, fat hen or sow thistle, then as many interesting flavours as you can muster. A particularly delicious and delicate risotto, this makes a fine starter on its own, or can be used to accompany fish or meat.
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
• • • •
1. Blanch the nettles in boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain, squeeze dry, and chop finely. Wash and finely chop the other hedgerow herbs. Bring the stock to simmering point and keep on a low burner. In a separate fairly heavy-based saucepan, sweat the onion or shallot in the butter for a few minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the rice and cook for a further few minutes. 2. Add a ladle of the hot stock and allow to come to a gentle simmer. Cook the rice until almost all the liquid has been absorbed, stirring occasionally to make sure the risotto does not catch on the bottom of the pan. Continue to add the liquid by degrees, incorporating the wine towards the end of the cooking, until the liquid is all absorbed, the risotto is creamy, and the individual rice grains are tender with just a hint of chalkiness in the middle. 3. Stir the chopped nettles and herbs into the risotto, which should become a beautiful pale green, flecked with tiny pieces of herb. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 4. The risotto should be served not piping hot, but tiede, with a sprinkling of chopped fresh herbs and a trickle of olive oil on each portion. Parmesan cheese is not required.
• • • • • • •
a dozen nettle tops small bunch of wild chervil small bunch of wild chives small bunch of yellow rocket leaves a few wild garlic leaves 575ml/1 pint chicken, veal or vegetable stock 1 small onion or 2 shallots, very finely chopped 55g/2oz butter 225g/8oz arborio rice 1 wineglass white wine salt and freshly ground black pepper
Inexpensive Risotto 38 The Marshwood Vale Magazine April Mid-Month Special 2020 Tel. 01308 423031
Guest Recipe
HEATHER THOMAS
TABBOULEH Herbs are underappreciated. What would eating experiences be without their subtle flavour and cheerful splash of colour? Tabbouleh is all about the herbs. In the Levant this simple dish is traditionally served as part of a mezze, its fresh flavours sharpened with lemon juice. You can achieve the same acid zing using a locally produced cider vinegar.
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
• 85 g/3 oz bulgar wheat • ½ vegetable stock cube • 4 tomatoes • 1 cucumber • 1 red onion • 3 handfuls of parsley leaves • 1 handful of mint leaves • 3–6 tablespoons cider vinegar • 4 tablespoons olive oil • Salt
1. Rinse the bulgar wheat, then cover in boiling water, adding the half stock cube for extra flavour. Leave for 15 minutes then drain and pop the bulgar in the fridge to cool. 2. Chop all the vegetables into small pieces. Don´t bother peeling the cucumber as the peels hold in the water and keep your salad fresher. Along the same lines, drain the excess juice from your tomatoes. 3. Put the chopped vegetables, herbs and chilled bulgar into a serving bowl. Add the vinegar, tasting as you go, the olive oil and salt and mix. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve: the crisper the salad the more the herb flavours pop.
Serves 6
The Mindful Kitchen was founded in 2016 by New York State native Heather Thomas, who now lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Mindful Kitchen offers people a path to greater well-being for both people and the planet by building a nature-related practice.
The Mindful Kitchen: Vegetarian Cooking to Relate to Nature By Heather Thomas £20.00. Hardback, 192 Pages ISBN: 9781782408758 Publisher: Leaping Hare Press
Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine April Mid-Month Special 2020 39
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e are only six months on from the 2019 Marshwood Arts Awards exhibition at Bridport Arts Centre and the world has changed beyond what most of us could ever have imagined. Here at the Marshwood Vale Magazine, we are launching a FREE to join virtual gallery for those artists who cannot now open their studios and galleries to the public. The Marshwood Virtual Gallery will be accessed by a multimedia eBook and also direct to a special website and will be made available online in the next few weeks. For an idea of how your work will be presented, have a look at our 2019 Marshwood Arts Awards eBook: https://issuu.com/marshwoodvaleltd/ docs/marshwood_arts_awards_2019_ ebook?fr=sZDBkNzEwNzU0MQ If you wish to participate please email info@marshwoodvale.com for details.
40 The Marshwood Vale Magazine April Mid-Month Special 2020 Tel. 01308 423031
Health&Beauty
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Services&Classified ELECTRICAL
SITUATIONS VACANT Friendly people person needed April onwards. Abbotsbury. Saturday and Sunday mornings. Breakfast and tidying up. Contact Angela 07967886762
POSITION WANTED
CHIMNEY SWEEP
Experienced Mature lady with small dog seeks work with accommodation caring/ housework. Qualified HCA excellent refs Sara 07592396941 Experienced, passionate cook available Axminster area. Part-time week days, one off batch cooking or drop off. Excellent references. Please give me (Juliet) a call 07553055787 SURFACE PREPARATION
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
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
Full and part time staff required at local plant nursery. Halstock 01935 891668 dorsetwaterlily@ outlook.com No agents thank you. Pastoral assistant. Bridport United Church to visit members and others in need and help run groups including for young people. 12 hours weekly, salary £10.95 per hour. Enhanced DBS required. Information alisoncocks82@gmail. com or 01305 458178. Closing date 14 April 2020.
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 May 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 Jul 20
PROOFREADING Proofreading, editing, transcription, secretarial for writers and businesses. Excellent references. Penny Dunscombe Apr 20 07825339289. Sofabed. Single. Grey leather. DFS, as new,145x100 folded. £350 Photos available 07837452637
TO LET Room to let. Own bathroom, non smoker quiet location, nr. Seaton. Tel; 0790 959 5245
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
May 20
Beehive national brood supers wanted. Tel. 07715 557556 Vinyl Records Wanted All types and styles considered. Excellent prices paid. Please Phone Roy 07429 102645 Clocktowermusic.co.uk Bridport
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May 20
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