Event News and Courses

August EVENT NEWS AND COURSES

Whilst most events are still on schedule there may be last minute changes. Please ensure to confirm the event is on before setting out

July 29 - August 3

Art Exhibition - an eclectic mix of acrylics and watercolours at The Bomb Shelter in Beer EX12 3EG Daily 10am - 4pm - Sunday 11am - 3pm Contact - eupchurch22@yahoo.co.uk

July 30

East Devon Ramblers 5 miles moderate walk. Aylesbeare common. Telephone 07812-433184. Mr Tea and the Minions The David Hall, South Pethetton 8:00 pm. Tickets: £16/£15 Concessions. Tickets can be purchased via the website www.thedavidhall.org.uk or from N&D News in South Petherton.

July 31

MAJU glamping Axminster 3-Course Rustic Forest Feast Cooked Over Fire - Hosted by Feast Alba. https://www.exploretock.com/ majuglamping. Creative Crafters Fair at Monks Yard from 10 – 4.30. Local Creative Crafters are holding a fair to showcase the beautiful handmade work they have produced during the Covid restrictions. Free entrance, and parking plus a great welcome.

August 1

King Arthur (The Last Baguette). 2.30pm, Maumbury Rings DT1 1QN. This fun and farcical adventure is a deliberately anarchic and anachronistic re-telling of the Arthurian Legend with live music, physical comedy and lo-fi acrobatics. Ticket price£11 / £9 membs & concs / £36 family (max. 2 adults, 2 u18s) www.dorchesterarts. org.uk/whatson East Devon Ramblers 11 miles Strenuous walk. Hemyock. Phone 01395-516897

August 2

Hawkchurch Film Nights, in association with Devon Moviola, presents ‘Summerland’ (100 mins, Cert.12A - moderate threat, occasional strong language) Hawkchurch Village Hall, EX13 5XW. Performances at 4.45pm (doors 4.30pm) and 7.45pm (doors 7.30pm). Tickets £5.00 on the door or in advance from csma95@ gmail.com or 01297 678176. Refreshments available.

August 3

HOP (Help Our Planet) Talk No. 3. Professor Tom Brereton on Whales and Dolphins in Lyme Bay. The talk takes place at the Marine Theatre Lyme Regis at 7pm and is the third in the series ‘Help our Planet’. Tom is well known sight in West Bay observing bird migration. He is steeped in knowledge of the wild life of the area and a breadth of experience in ecology and conservation. He is an ideal person to lead our considerations about how we can help to sustain the coastal ecology of Lyme Bay. After the talk he will be joined by the panel of marine ecologists and the evening ends with questions from the audience. Tickets can be bought via the Theatre website.

August 4

Axminster Heritage, Heritage Alive presents: ‘The Legacy of

Slavery in Britain.’ 7pm – 8pm. Cost £3.50. In this Zoom talk, author Nigel Sadler will illustrate how those involved in slavery and emancipation are remembered in the urban landscape and discuss some of the more controversial statues and memorials. Tickets are available from Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite. co.uk/e/the-legacy-of-slavery-in-britain-tickets-159226914989?aff= ebdsoporgprofile

August 5

Hidden West Bay walk. Join West Bay Discovery Centre on a guided walk to explore the fascinating history and stories linked to some of West Bay’s buildings at 10:30am. This guided walk is approximately 1 mile and about 1.5 hours in length. There is a £5 fee per person (no dogs please) and numbers are limited, so it must be booked in advance. Further details: http://www. westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk/ ‘Acting Strangely’ book launch at Waterstones Dorchester. Published by Honeybee books, a gripping, light hearted tale of ghosts, tinned beans and golf. Suitable for readers aged 13 upwards. Written by Andrew Trim wth illustrations by Dorchester artist Sam Zambelli, the obscure references to local history and locations will delight and amuse both adults and children. Gandini Jugglers- Smashed 2. A Bridport Arts Centre outside event at the Millenium Green, Bridport 4:30pm & 7pm This funny, inventive and characterful work is akin to dance theatre and will challenge your perception of contemporary juggling. Colyton Town History Walks, Every Thursday, 2 pm from Dolphin Car Park - £3 approx 1 hour. Contact 01297 552415

August 6

East Devon Ramblers 5 miles. Moderate walk. Seaton Hole. Phone 01297-444301

August 6 to 9

Art Exhibition. Six Local Artists, Painting, Textiles, Photography. St Mary’s Church, Thorncombe 10am – 4pm. Free Entry. Selling exhibition

August 7

Jodie McKay pay tribute to Johnny Cash and June Carter with the fabulous live band, Starkville. Hear all the classics from “Hey Porter”, “I Walk The Line”, “Ring Of Fire” and “Folsom Prison Blues”, to “A Boy Named Sue”, “San Quentin”, “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, “One Piece At A Time” and the incredibly powerful “Hurt”. This will be a reduced capacity socially-distanced screening. The Beehive, Honiton. www.beehivehoniton.co.uk Box office 01404 384050 Loders Fete is on from 2-5pm in the grounds of Loders Court near Bridport, DT6 3RZ (next to Loders Church). Entry: £2 adults, Under 12’s free. Parking free.

Moscow Drug Club…. Transcendent Troubadours of Gypsy

Cabaret & Swing The David Hall South Petherton @ 8:00 pm Tickets: £19. No concessions. Tickets can be book via the website www.thedavidhall.org.uk or by phone on 01460 240 340 Summer Art Workshop with Dorset Artist and Tutor Trudi Ochiltree. ‘Loosening up with Landscape’. Experiment with watercolour and mark making to loosen up your style and create expressive art works. 10am – 4pm The Village Hall, Charmouth £45 p.p or £80 both workshops. Booking is essential and full payment is required to book a place. All art materials and refreshments are provided. Please bring a packed lunch. Suitable for adults and young people aged 16+. To book call or email Trudi on 07812 856823/ trudiochiltree@gmail.com

August 10

She Stoops to Conquer (Rain or Shine) 7pm, Maumbury Rings DT1 1QN Ticket price: £14 / £12 members & concessions / £44 family (max. 2 adults, 2 under 18s). www.dorchesterarts.org.uk/ whatson

August 11

East Devon Ramblers August. 11 miles. Moderate walk. Beaminster. Phone 07922-651426 Lifeboats RNLI BBQ at Seatown from 4pm. Support the RNLI with the annual BBQ at Seatown beach. Watch the lifeboat at sea, get something from the BBQ and enjoy the many stalls with skittles, Aunt Sally and tombola. Cash only. Call Sadie 07811 470127 / Annie 07790 713156 for more information.

August 12

West Cliff and Eype guided walk from West Bay. Join West Bay Discovery Centre to discover the fascinating landscape between West Bay and Eype. This guided walk is approximately 2.5 miles and about 2 hours in length. The walk includes some steep gradients. There is a £5 fee per person (no dogs please) and numbers are limited, so it must be booked in advance. Further details: http:// www.westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk/ Garden Open for the NGS Broomhill, Rampisham DT2 0PT. 2-5pm, £5 entry children free. Come and enjoy a lovely 2 acre garden deep in the heart of tranquil west Dorset. There is plenty see, paths wind around the mixed borders overflowing with many unusual perennials, roses and shrubs, leading to a large wildlife area and pond. There is also an orchard and veg garden. Homemade teas and plants for sale.

EVENTS IN SEPTEMBER

Live or Online send your June event details to info@marshwoodvale.com by August 16th .

August EVENT NEWS AND COURSES

Colyton Town History Walks, Every Thursday, 2 pm from Dolphin Car Park - £3 approx 1 hour. Contact 01297 552415

August 12 and 13

Children’s Drop in Art Workshop Local artist Darrell Wakelam will be working with West Bay Discovery Centre to create a 3D wall hanging using recycled materials to highlight the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans. Free drop in workshops for children will be taking place at the Salt House, West Bay from 11am -1pm and 2pm -3.30pm.Please check website for latest information as it could be subject to change. http://www.westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk/

August 13

East Devon Ramblers 4 miles. Leisurely walk. Newcombe Erish. Phone 01404 45944 Lyme Regis u3a Food glorious food: a UK love affair presented by David Drury at 11am. This presentation, via zoom, will feature the history of all our British classics, from fish and chips to curry, roast dinners to cooked breakfasts and afternoon teas to comforting desserts. David also examines the complete change in dining habits within a generation and the growth of Michelin star restaurants and street food markets as well as looking at the classic pubs and traditional cafes. David is a Yorkshireman who has lived in London for the past 30 years where he is a Blue Badge Guide. 76 of 80 reviews on his web site are ‘excellent’. Definitely something to whet your appetite! Please see www.lymeregisu3a.org for details of how to join.

August 14

Mr Stink by David Walliams (Heartbreak Productions) 6pm, Maumbury Rings DT1 1QN Join us at Maumbury Rings for this outdoors re-telling of David Walliams’ best-seller Mr Stink. Packed with fun, humour, and a heart-warming message, this touching tale provides the perfect family entertainment. Age guidance: 7+ Ticket price: £12 / £10 membs & concs / £40 family (max. 2 adults, 2 children) www.dorchesterarts.org.uk/whatson Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Fleet Lagoon. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. Charmouth Gardeners Annual Flower Show at 14.30 in the ‘Community Hall’ Lower Sea Lane and the ‘Village Hall’ Wesley Close. Exhibits will include flowers, fruit and vegetables, home produce, photography, children’s sections and Handicrafts (needlework, woodwork, knitting and painting). We welcome entrants for all classes although *fruit and vegetable produce* must be grown within a ten-mile radius of Charmouth. FREE show schedules and Entry form detailing all classes (free to enter) will be available from Fortnam Smith & Banwell Estate Agent’s Office in Charmouth from mid-July (with details of where to return by 11th August). Entry on the day is £1 for adults (to cover both halls) children free entry. Please do join us, it’s a fun community day. Maiden Newton Pop Up Art Exhibition 10.30 – 4.30 Village Hall DT2 0AE near the Station. Maiden Newton Art Group are back together again and we are holding a one day Exhibition to celebrate! Free admission. For further info please contact Jane on 01300 321405. Broadwindsor Fun Day. Classic Car display in the morning. We have Children’s entertainment from Strawberry Jam Live Music starts at 4pm with Nina Garcia. Bill & Ben from the Leggomen are performing in the evening. Please address all enquiries to: bwfunday20@gmail.com Live and Local with Reg Meuross at 7.30pm at The David Hall South Petherton. There are so many fantastic local musicians in the area and Live and Local is the perfect opportunity for The David Hall to give them a platform to perform on. Petherton Arts Trust is especially pleased that Reg Meuross is able to perform as the headline act. A selection of local entertainers will perform across the evening and would welcome your support on the night. Who knows, you may even be seeing the next big act! Tickets: £10. No concessions. Tickets can be book via the website www.thedavidhall. org.uk or by phone on 01460 240 340. Lyme Morris Dancers Bridport Folk Festival All Day. Lyme Regis Carnival Procession 8 pm.

August 15

Alice in Wonderland (Boxtree Productions) 5 pm, Maumbury Rings DT1 1QN Ticket price: £11 / £9 members & concessions / £36 family ticket (four people, max. two adults) www.dorchesterarts. org.uk/whatson East Devon Ramblers 8 miles. Leisurely walk. Dunkeswell. Phone 01404-45944 Sherborne Steam & Waterwheel Centre - Open Day. See how the area overcame a previous health crisis. Waterwheel and steam engines running, audio visual displays and many items of local and historic interest. 11.30am to 3.30pm. Tea Room. Picnic Area. Toilet. Oborne Road DT9 3RX. Free parking on road. Entry by Donation (cash or card). SSWC.co.uk f: SherborneSteam

August 18

East Devon Ramblers 9 miles. Moderate walk. Trinity Hill. Phone 01395-260114 Lyme Morris Dancers Bucky Doo Square Bridport 10 am.

August 19

Chideock WI Cream Tea. Chideock WI will be holding their annual Cream Tea at Chideock House, Main Street between 3pm and 5pm. Teas £5.00. Raffle and WI Cake Stall. For more details email chideockwi@gmail.com. Stormy Seas and crumbling cliffs. Discover how the weather has shaped West Bay through time and how the challenges of rain, wind and coastal erosion have been met with West Bay Discovery Centre. This guided walk is approximately 1.5 miles, 1.5 hours in length and on easy terrain. There is a £5 fee per person (no dogs please) and

numbers are limited, so it must be booked in advance. Further details: http://www.westbaydiscoverycentre.org. uk/ Colyton Town History Walks, Every Thursday, 2 pm from Dolphin Car Park - £3 approx 1 hour. Contact 01297 552415

August 21

Powerstock Hut. A fascinating talk by Powerstock

resident Jo Willett on her first book “The pioneering life of Mary Wortley Montagu: scientist and feminist” who introduced into England inoculation against the smallpox in April 1721 (300 years ago) 2.30 for 3pm. Admission on the door £8 per person includes refreshments and scones afterwards. Good disabled access and Parking DT6 3TB. For further information on Jo Willett www.devoniaroad.co.uk. For further information on the event - Julian Payne 07736 147598 or jp.pdpr@gmail.com Proceeds to Powerstock Hut - Registered Charity No 301171 www.powerstockhut.co.uk Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 8 mile walk from Buckham Down. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. Henry V at Meerhay Manor. “Once more, unto the breach, dear friends, once more...” will be echoing around the hills of Beaminster this summer. The Festival Players are returning to Meerhay Manor, by kind permission of Diana and Robert Clarke, with their current production of Shakespeare’s Henry V. The lovely gardens at Meerhay will be open for picnics from 5.00 pm and the openair performance will begin at 6.30 pm. A marquee is available should the heavens open. Tickets (adult £16.00, under 18s £8.00) may be purchased online through Cornish Riviera Box Office www.crbo.co.uk/henryv and at Yarn Barton Centre in Beaminster (cash or cheque only) on 01308 862943. For further information call Diana Clarke on 01308 862305.

Talisman – Bristol Roots Reggae. A ‘Chance to

Dance’ Event @ 8:00 pm The David Hall South Petherton. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, Talisman were

August EVENT NEWS AND COURSES

one of the UK’s top Roots Reggae bands. Their prowess earned Talisman support slots with acts as diverse as Burning Spear, The Clash and The Rolling Stones. Tickets: £16 Full. £15 Concessions Tickets can be book via the website www.thedavidhall.org.uk or by phone on 01460 240 340. Summer Art Workshop with Dorset Artist and Tutor Trudi Ochiltree. ‘Jurassic Mixed Media’. Explore this versatile medium and the local coastline, plus en-plein air time at Charmouth beach, weather permitting. 10am – 4pm. The Village Hall, Charmouth. £45 p.p or £80 both workshops. Booking is essential and full payment is required to book a place. All art materials and refreshments are provided. Please bring a packed lunch. Suitable for adults and young people aged 16+. To book call or email Trudi on 07812 856823/trudiochiltree@gmail.com

August 21 & 22

Higher Ground Meadow Open Day. 10 am - 5 pm. Visit the Round Barrow which offers an amazingly serene and beautiful permanent resting place for ashes. Covid regulations permitting. Higher Ground Meadow, Corscombe DT2 0QN. 01935 891245 office@highergroundmeadow.co.uk. www.hgff. co.uk, www.highergroundmeadow.co.uk, www.theroundbarrow. co.uk.

August 22

East Devon Ramblers 7.5 miles. Leisurely walk. Beaminster. Phone 01395-579607 Acoustic Night @ 7:30 pm Petherton Arts Trust is encouraging local performers to come to The David Hall and perform on a professional stage. All types of performance welcome – The David Hall has had music, comedy, poetry, dance…. Everyone has the opportunity to deliver for 10 – 15 minutes with full PA and lighting. If you would like to attend Acoustic Night as a performer or audience member, please e-mail Chris Watts at folk@chriswatts. org or call 07715501157. Payment is on the door. Lyme Morris Dancers RAF Association Big Brew Salthouse West Bay 1 pm.

August 24

Bridport and District u3a presents a talk by Ian Keable entitled ‘The Century of Deception; The Birth of Hoax in the Eighteenth Century’, online via Zoom at 2pm. Please visit our website

for specific details and contact information, www. bridportu3a.org.uk, or email membership@bridportu3a. org.uk

August 25

The Great Gatsby (Heartbreak Productions) 7pm, Athelhampton House & Gardens DT2 7LG. Dress for the weather, bring a chair or blanket to sit on, and don’t forget the picnic and prosecco. Ticket price: £16 / £14 members & concessions / £52 family ticket (four people, max. two adults) www.dorchesterarts.org.uk/ whatson Coffee Morning Pop into The David Hall in South Petherton @ 10:00am for a cup of real coffee and a chat. Entry is free.

August 26

Hidden West Bay walk. Join West Bay Discovery Centre on a guided walk to explore the fascinating history and stories linked to some of West Bay’s buildings at 10:30am. This guided walk is approximately 1 mile and about 1.5 hours in length. There is a £5 fee per person (no dogs please) and numbers are limited, so it must be booked in advance. Further details: http:// www.westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk/ Colyton Town History Walks, Every Thursday, 2 pm from Dolphin Car Park - £3 approx 1 hour. Contact 01297 552415 Discover Farming at Vurlands Animal Farm from 10am – 4pm. Admission is Free to all children under 16 years and £2 for adults. Tickets MUST be booked prior to attending online at www.melplashshow.co.uk

August 27

East Devon Ramblers 5.5 miles. Moderate walk. Dalwood. Phone 01404-549390

August 28

Winsham Horticultural Society Annual Show & Car Boot. The Show is open to all comers from all areas, and has classes for children, photography, art, crafts, baking, preserves, flower arranging as well as the usual fruit, veg & flowers. Classes are only 25p to enter and entries close at 7pm on Wednesday 25th. Programmes are available from the village shop or by contacting Chloe 01460 30032. On the day the exhibition marque & car boot sale will be open to the public at 2.30pm entrance is £1. Cars booters can set up at 1.30 & pitches are £5 each (sorry no trade). Do come along and enjoy the displays and bag yourself a bargain or two from the car boot sale. For more details contact Debbie on 01460 432815.

August 30

Flower & Dog Show - Whitchurch, Morcombelake & Ryall Flower and Dog Show. Entry to the show is £2 (children under 16 free). Dog show includes varied classes. There will be a bar, Morris Dancers, live music, stalls & classic vehicles. Held at the Whitchurch Canonicorum Village Hall, Dorset, DT6 6RF, from 2pm to 5pm. Enquires 07979 475120.

HOW OLD ARE BEER QUARRY CAVES?

When you come to visit us we’d like to be able to give you a definitive answer. We can’t. The problem of aging the caves begins with the maps we have, which are neither complete nor comprehensive. Quite how incomplete we can indicate easily. Our best assessment of when limestone mining began at the cave site is derived from the presence of beer limestone at the Roman ‘villa’ site in Seaton. This puts the beginning of the caverns you will see at some time between 47 AD and perhaps 50 AD to 70 AD. After that, our maps show just two entrances or exits. But there are at least 18 exits or entrances to the quarrying site that we can detect from above ground, especially along the face of the car park as you look from our gated entrance. So, two known and 18 at least to go.

But Steve Rodgers our ‘master of flint’ at the site keeps finding beautifully worked and shaped flint tools. Beer has always been known as a flint site, but how big were the flint works, and how old? There are two broad possibilities.

The first is a period dated from about 14,000 BC and with the flint worked by home sapiens. The 2nd possibility that we discussed recently with John Allen the archaeologist at Exeter Cathedral, is a link between the Neolithic Broom site at Axminster, where the numerous axe heads found there in the 1880s have been scientifically dated to 350,000 BC by the Royal Albert Museum in Exeter. If the sites are linked we would have a ‘bridge’ between the assumed last of the Neanderthals in Britain, at the first flourishing group of home sapiens in East Devon.

Then there are two ‘mysteries’ associated with the caves. In one portion of the caves, towards the west, we can hear running water, but not see it. If it flowed above ground through the caves we would flood, as indeed a guidebook from the 1800s suggests we did. The guidebook says ‘don’t come without a guide, you might drown’. No sign of that now but we speculate that this water comes, however indirectly, from the ‘ancient aquifer’ adjacent to us. We believe that this aquifer, identified as Permian Jurassic by the Geological Survey in a paper no longer accessible, takes us back in geological time to the period when the caves were laid down, possibly as long as 300 million years ago. The other legend that links to this one is that the Beer stream, which feeds the water flowing down Beer Fore and High street, has never dried up, not at least since Roman times, 2000 years ago.

Just inside where you enter the caves for a visit, a Roman entrance we believe, behind our 15th-century church window, there is a small entry to a region below the caves themselves, where there are rumours of a set of caves below our caves. This would not be unusual in limestone formations and is seen in the limestone caves in the Mendip hills.

Our working hypothesis at the moment is that the river in the caves is fed by water from the aquifer, and exits down underneath Beer Head, close to the Branscomb alit. The water we find in the caves now is ‘sweet’ to the taste and we have obtained our testing kit from South West Water, in case we can one day offer visitors water that is two or three hundred million years old.

Beer village and the age of Beer Quarry Caves

But it’s not only at the caves that mystery prevails. Beer is identified in Domesday One of 1086 as one of the larger settlements in Devon. With fishing down on the beach and the quarries above, that is likely, But after that, we have a paucity of records until the second Domesday of 1873, one contemporaneous with the better of our two maps. We have detected the following landowners in the area of Beer, Branscombe, Farway at that time (1873); Four farmers in Farway, H Broome, Diment J, Mylem Miller, Giles and Mr Wood also of Farway. In Beer, only the Railway company owns land, and in Branscombe, nothing.

The majority of the people who worked in the caves, during the 2000 years etched on the cavern walls, probably came from Beer. It is a thriving place now. But its past does not appear in any record, save perhaps the one that Steve Rodgers is actually encountering in the flint tools he is finding at the cave site. The real story of Beer Quarry Caves is likely the story of a small seaside settlement at what is now Beer, that goes back at least 6,000 years, and probably double that. The people of this forgotten settlement were creating flint tools for the whole of the South West, occasionally even for Stonehenge. As we push further into the history, not of our caves but of the surrounding area, we hope to reconnect the caves directly with the people who worked there and the place they came from, Beer. If you can help us build this picture then we will be very grateful.

Steve Rodger. Curator and Flint Master, Beer Quarry Caves Kevin Cahill. FRHistS, emeritus, historian in residence, Beer Quarry Caves