Marshwood+ January 2023

Marsh wo o d

© Samantha Knights Photograph by Julia Mear

Ralph Fiennes

Fergus Byrne met Samantha Knights in Shute, East Devon

At heart I am a nomad—as happy in the city as rural idyll, and probably never happier than when roaming. I thrive on people, places, and ideas of all kinds. I was born in Wimbledon in 1971. We were living in a flat on Wimbledon Common and my wonderful parents were really passionate about growing their own food, perhaps inspired by the TV show The Good Life, but it wasn’t going to happen in our fifth-floor flat. And so began the migration south. By the time I was five we were living in Sussex and had a third of an acre. We later moved to where they had some more land and they started to create what is now an incredibly beautiful and mature garden with over 100 trees, lots of winter colour shrubs, and fruits and vegetables. Dad set up what was then a pioneering Horsham Organic Gardeners’ Society (HOGS).

So my younger sister and I grew up with a lot of home grown food as well as tales from a journey they took from London to Kabul before I was born. Our childhood was pretty free range. At weekends and after school in the summer as children we roamed about in a neighbourhood pack on bikes, on foot and came back at dark or when we were hungry. We didn’t travel abroad much when I was younger but had summer holidays at Rinsey Cove in Cornwall with family friends. And then when I was 10 (and my younger sister eight) they took us out of school and we did a month’s road trip all over the West United States. It triggered a love of exploring things new.

I went to an array of schools. My middle school (now failed and closed) was quite a bohemian sort of environment—40 kids in the class with an enormous range of learning styles, quite left-wing. I remember we had an African supply teacher that came for a whole term to get us to make mud huts—lessons never forgotten. But after a few years, mud hut complete, I grew bored and my parents somewhat reluctantly put me into a private girls school in Surrey where I stayed until O-levels (fortunately for them on a full scholarship).

It propelled me into a world of competitive sports and academics and many antics with an extremely spirited cohort of girls. It also sparked a contrarian gene in me with all its rules—some bordering on the completely absurd including that girls should not whistle at any

© Samantha Knights Photograph by Julia Mear

Samantha Knights

time. At 16 I moved to a large and energetic state sixth form college. After the strictures of the girls’ school it was a breath of fresh air, but my grounding in languages and arts subjects stood me in good stead.

By this time I had started to get very interested in Soviet history (the idea of fomenting a revolution seemed light years away from the Sussex village where I was living). I was also unexpectedly exposed through my language teachers at the Sixth Form in leafy Godalming to Brecht, Sartre and de Beauvoir. It was an eye-opening period for me, combined with a pack of new friends, and Friday night trips (en masse as sixth formers like to be) to The Cider House.

After what seemed a lot of schooling, I was longing to venture forth. As friends drifted off to university or college, I managed to find a family of Russian scientists in Moscow who were keen to have an English ‘governess’. I had few relevant skills but with a crackling telephone line my failings on the Mary Poppins front were readily disguised, and in early 1990 I was on an Aeroflot flight into what turned out to be the embers of Soviet Russia. I had eight months living there, immersing myself in the language and exploring myriad places in the city—state museums, summer palaces, writers’ houses, parks, and the like. Wherever I went by metro, trolley bus or tram, my sturdy Timberland boots (which had to last like everything else for the entire stay) gave away my foreignness and I was always a source of great curiosity. I discovered many things including the student parties at Moscow State University and the common bond of a vodka and a Russian anecdote.

When I came back I spent a very fun three years reading history at Somerville College Oxford. I threw myself into college rowing, the student newspaper, and life—no doubt at the expense of my history studies. I didn’t realise it at the time, but it turned out there was rather a lot missing from the syllabus—no mention of slavery, little discussion generally of the negative side of Empire,, colonialism was taught through the prism of decolonization, and the reading list barely strayed from white, male Oxford dons. But life there was all engaging. It was the age of Poll Tax riots and the Gulf War and American students’ fear of being conscripted. Three years flew by. What I really wanted to do at that time was to become a foreign correspondent. After more rejection letters than I care to remember for a graduate trainee scheme on a national newspaper, I applied for a job as a Business Editor at the Baltic Independent in Tallinn, Estonia. A door opened into one of the post-Soviet states and a new chapter of life. One of the stories that I was asked to

cover by a prison guard with a conscience was about some Iraqi women and children that were in prison in the interior of Estonia. They turned out to be middle-class Iraqis fleeing from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. On their way to Sweden, the traffickers they had paid $10,000 a piece to had dumped them on the shores of Estonia. At the time I knew nothing about law nor the Refugee Convention, but it didn’t seem to me it was necessary to imprison them. I went away thinking they needed a lawyer, not a journalist.

I returned to the UK and to law school. I found studying law fascinating—a completely new language and way of looking at the world. I got a pupillage in a set of bankruptcy chambers, spent two years living in Bermuda on a billion dollar trust case which was before the Court there, and living one of the strangest periods of my life. Plucked from my very rooted 20-something life in London, thrust into a goldfish bowl of a life on an island the size of the Isle of Wight in the middle of the Atlantic, I spent weekends sailing or on a Cannondale bicycle as an antidote to the trial. I got stopped once for ‘speeding’ on my bike as the very low speed limits are fiercely policed. As seductive as island life can be, I longed for the grit of London life and to do something more people-orientated.

So, when I came back from Bermuda I headed off to SOAS and LSE on a part-time basis studying the areas of law that I wanted to practice in going forwards including refugee law and civil liberties, and minorities and the law. I then spent a year at Harvard writing a book on law and religion and during that year moved to Matrix chambers, a specialist human rights set. As I was entering the area of refugee law, lots of lawyers were leaving the field because of the legal aid cuts. The situation has only got a lot worse although there is an incredibly committed core of lawyers who continue to work in the field. Every case is different and every client unique. I started getting instructed in cases to do with national security and terrorism in the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which is where I represented Shamima Begum recently. Since I became a Queen’s Counsel in 2018 (and now a KC) I do more appellate work where arguments generally turn on points of law. But there is nothing like arguing cases before the first instance tribunal which can lead to client’s being granted refugee or human rights protection where it should be given. I am currently involved in the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry which relates to what is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in this country’s history.

I met my future husband—Bijan Omrani—on a rainy evening in London.

He had just returned from Hong Kong. I was about to go to work on a rule of law project in Afghanistan and a friend put me in touch with Bijan as he had just written a book about the country. A spark ignited. We never imagined then we would be living in the South West full-time. But years later our flat in London had become more than a little cramped with two children (now aged 9 and 11), and a growing book collection (Bijan being a friend of almost any book). We came down to Shute, East Devon one summer to think about what to do, and Shute Primary scooped up our son and we never returned to live in London. And so began another episode: one with infinitely better air quality, a local beach, stunning countryside and a far more diverse collection of friends. Later added to by a Clovis—a two-year-old lurcher with a need for an early morning blast in the woods every day.

At first I was an anomaly: a lawyer based in rural Devon with cases in London. But of course in 2023 I am quite the norm with my office in the attic, new and improved broadband (cutting out BT) and only stranded now and again by an increasingly dismal train service. I wouldn’t swap our lives here for the city now. A day beginning walking in the woods and ending in a swim in the sea with work in between is a good one. I

On a local level I have become very concerned about the state of our rivers and seas and how we can stop the gross polluting of them – the toxins from agriculture that run off and the raw sewage being repeatedly and regularly pumped into our oceans. There are some incredible local campaign groups who are becoming ever more active. But our laws are woefully inadequate to protect the environment, our regulators ineffective, and the government agencies responsible are doing far too little. The locao community here however is extremely motivated and collaboratively let’s see what can be done. If we can’t solve toxins and sewage being dumped in our oceans what hope do we have to solve the climate crisis?

As I have got older, increasingly I return to the things I loved as a child, especially reading and roaming; and a desire to explore different things. And so began Shute Festival, now in its eighth year which I co-founded with Bijan and writer and psychotherapist Paddy Magrane over a bottle of wine in 2016 in our house. Every time we finish the Festival we always feel completely shattered and vow it will be the last. And then as January unfolds, so does the longing to create a festival anew: to gather people, performers and musicians and bring on the conversations.

UP FRONT THIS MONTH

Some months ago at a concert in the Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester I picked up a badge from the merchandise stall. In white writing on a black background it asked a simple question: ‘What’s going to happen now?’ With war in Ukraine, a looming energy crisis and Britain registering an air temperature of more than 40 degrees Celsius for the first time in recorded history, it seemed a more than pertinent question. As we head into 2023 it now feels more pertinent than ever. Here at The Marshwood Vale Magazine we have been highlighting all that is good about the wider local community for more than 21 years. We have managed to support hundreds of local organisations and initiatives as well as help launch food and literary festivals and promote an Arts Award that now reaches artists and makers all over the world. But the most pressing thing that we want to highlight in the coming years is the need to protect our beautiful yet fragile environment, and to celebrate the natural biodiversity around us. However, to do that we will need your help. Whether as readers donating, or local businesses advertising in support of this community resource, in order to expand our coverage of local environmental initiatives, health and wellbeing concerns and to continue supporting so many vital groups and organisations, we need readers to contribute to that future. We have managed to get through the pandemic - and that was no small task - but with ever increasing energy costs on top of a doubling of production costs in the last year, we have to ask for help to expand this coverage. In our cover story this month Samantha Knights talks about her fears for the state of our local rivers and seas and the ‘gross polluting of them’. This is one of many local concerns that we want to explore further. In this issue I was also struck by a comment from local businessman Alasdair Warren when he said that we all have to think about our local communities and ‘dig deep to support one another’. If you think you can help us to expand our coverage of nature, biodiversity, environment and health by donating toward our community’s future please, do so using the details on this page.

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Cover Story By Fergus Byrne 12 Event News and Courses 22 News & Views 23 Nature Studies By Michael McCarthy 24

House & Garden 24 Vegetables in January By Ashley Wheeler 26 January in the Garden By Russell Jordan 28 What Next By Fergus Byrne 30 Food & Dining 30 Smoked Mackerel Pate By Mark Hix 32 Arts & Entertainment 32 Wander Women By Fergus Byrne 34 Galleries 36 Preview By Gay Pirrie Weir 40 Screen Time By Nic Jeune 41 Young Lit Fix By Nicky Mathewson 42 Health & Beauty 42 To Statin or not to Statin By Christopher Roper 42 Services & Classified

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

Fergus Byrne

EVENTS AND COURSESJanuary

29 - 31 December

Christmas Mouse Hunt Help us find the mice that are hiding around the Centre, see our latest exhibition ‘ West Bay memories’ and enjoy our hands on interactive displays. West Bay Discovery Centre 11:00am -16:00. Admission free. Further details http://www. westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk/

30 December

East Devon Ramblers 10.00am 5 mile leisurely walk. Hemyock. 01404-45944.

Voices of Hope Beautiful songs from around the world taught in harmony. Group is accessible to all ages and abilities. £5 suggested donation per session. Very relaxed atmosphere, uplifting and fun. No singing experience necessary. Drop in 11am to 12am Borough Gardens Bridport near Buckydoo Square (benches in gardens for those who need to sit or rest) If it is very wet we sing in The Unitarian Chapel in the Garden on East Street Bridport Jane Silver Corren 07887675161. janesilvercorren@gmail.com

31 December

New Year @The Gateway Party Headliners The Loose Cannons, doors & finger buffet 7.30pm, DJ from 8pm, live music from 9.30pm to midnight, tickets £25. Join us on New Year’s Eve for a fun party night to see in the new year 2023! Party the night away with our DJ and then live music from the fantastic The Loose Cannons Band, leading up to midnight and Big Ben’s chimes. Tickets from 01297 625699, www.thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am - 1pm.

1 January

East Devon Ramblers 10.30. A leisurely 4 mile walk lasting 2 hours to ‘blow away the cobwebs’. The Byes, Sidmouth. Tell: 01395-513974 Mince pies after!

Singing Bowl Soundbath 2-4PM Oborne Village Hall DT9 4LA. £15 Advance bookings 01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com.

3 January

Scottish Country Dancing at Ashill Village Hall Nr Ilminster TA19 9LX every Tuesday evening 7.30 to 9.30 pm. Beginners, returners and dancers of all abilities are very welcome to come along and join us. Biscuits and hot drink at the interval. Please wear soft, flat, comfy shoes if possible. £3.00 per evening. Further information contact Anita on 01460 929383 or email anitaandjim22@gmail.com.

4 January

East Devon Ramblers 10.00. A moderate 8.5 mile walk taking in Squabmoor reservoir, Bystock ponds with possible glimpses of Exmoor ponies and highland cattle. Tel: 01395-266668.

West Dorset Ramblers Moderate 8.5 mile circular walk around Corscombe and St Juthware. Contact 07826 150114

Scottish Country Dancing at 7.30 Venue: Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. All welcome, no partner required but please wear soft shoes. First evening free, thereafter £2.00 which includes tea, coffee, squash and cake. Contact: Malcolm on 07790 323343. Check out bridportscottishdancers for more information.

5 January

Dance Connection for well-being, 7:15pm, Bridport St Mary’s CHH, 07787752201, danceconnectionwessex@gmail.com.

The Gleaners & I (2000, France, PG, 82 mins, S/titles Director

Agnes Varda). Membership £25, guests £5 per film. Contact mickpwilson53@btinternet.com or ring Mick Wilson on 01460 74849 or Di Crawley on 01460 30508.

6 January

Matilda (PG) 5.30pm The Beehive Honiton www.beehivehoniton. co.uk 01404 384050.

Voices of Hope Beautiful songs from around the world taught in harmony all ages and abilities. £5 suggested donation per session. Drop in 11am to 12am Borough Gardens Bridport near Buckydoo Square (benches in gardens for those who need to sit or rest) If wet we sing in The Unitarian Chapel in the Garden on East Street Bridport Jane Silver Corren 07887675161 janesilvercorren@gmail.com

East Devon Ramblers 10.00. A moderate 5 mile walk. Sidmouth. Tell: 01395-579607.

Twelfth Night Celebrations with music from Rough Assembly and words from Debra Bates – An evening of songs and words of Love and Hope for 2023. Bridport Town Hall, 7.30pm, in support of Bridport Millennium Green. £10/members £8 to include glass of wine and mince pie. Details Sandra Brown 01308 423078.

6 - 7 January

‘Matilda’ (PG) Friday - Family Picnic Night & Saturday Matinee Screenings, doors Fri – doors 6pm, screening 7pm; Sat – doors 2pm, screening 3pm, tickets: Adults £7.50, Under 16s £6.50. Tickets from 01297 625699, www.thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am - 1pm.

7 January

Andre Rieu in Dublin (U) Exclusive to cinemas, this celebratory concert is the best way to welcome in the new year! 3pm The Beehive Honiton www.beehivehoniton.co.uk 01404 384050.

Ali & Ava Intelligent, nuanced depiction of 21st century Britain. 7.45pm. Warehouse Theatre, Brewery Lane, Ilminster. Contact details crisrainbow44@gmail.com.

Beginners Sewing Workshop at Axminster Heritage Centre, Silver St, Axminster from 10 am until 2 pm. Cost £18. Contact : gina. youens@btinternet.com for booking and more information.

Matilda (PG) 7.30pm The Beehive Honiton www.beehivehoniton. co.uk 01404 384050.

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Drimpton. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340.

8 January

East Devon Ramblers 10.00. ‘Around the Coly’. A moderate 7 mile walk from Colyton to Southleigh. Tell: 07595-457895.

‘Andre Rieu in Dublin’ Screening, doors 2.30pm, screening 3pm, tickets £14.50 Start 2023 in style with Andre Rieu in Dublin. Exclusive to cinemas this celebratory concert is the best way to welcome in the new year. Tickets from 01297 625699, www.thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am - 1pm.

9 January

Talk Dorchester Townswomen’s Guild 2 p.m. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. Dorchester Community Church, Liscombe Street, Poundbury, DT1 3 DF. Visitors very welcome £2.50. Any queries 01305 832857.

Hawkchurch Film Nights in association with Devon Moviola,

EVENTS AND COURSES

proudly presents ‘Mrs Harris Goes to Paris’ (116 mins, Cert. PG).

Doors open 6.30pm, film starts 7.00pm at Hawkchurch Village Hall, EX13 5XD. Ticket reservations £6 from csma95@gmail.com or leave a message on 01297 678176 (socially-distanced seating available if booked in advance) or pay at the door. New improved projection - give us a try if you haven’t been for a while - and subtitles for the hard-ofhearing. Home-made cake and other delicious refreshments available.

Bridport Choral Society starts its new season of rehearsals at 7.30 p.m. until 9.30 p.m. in the United Church Hall, East Street, Bridport. New members are welcome. We sing a mixture of musical styles, from the old to the new. There are no auditions, but some musical knowledge and ability to read music is useful. The first two sessions are free. For more information phone 01308 425987, visit our website or Facebook page: Bridportchoral.wordpress.com. facebook.com/ Bridport Choral Society, or just turn up on the night.

If you enjoy dancing and music and socialising, then join in with the Folk Dancers in the W.I.Hall, Bridport from 7.15 to 9.30pm every Monday. Musicians welcome. Tea and coffee. Ring 459001 for further details. Beginners welcome.

Scottish Dancing in Chardstock Evening of Scottish Dancing in Chardstock Village Hall 7.30 - 10.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but

please bring your own mug. No partner required. Cost £2.00 Contact David on 01460 65981 www.chardscottishdancingclub.org.

New Art History 6 wk course January cheer with ‘The Scottish Colourists’. 2pm-3.30pm, Venue: United Hall East St, Bridport. Fee £65. Tutor is Pam Simpson MA, Art Historian, who works at University of the Arts London as an Associate Lecturer. Pam is an experienced tutor, whose career has been spent teaching in London Art schools and also in Dorset where she runs courses and gives lectures for groups. The same course runs on line via Zoom on Fridays at 2pm Fee £60. Contact Pam to book via email: chris.pamsimpson@ btinternet.com or tel 01300 321715

West Dorset Jive Community Evening 7:30pm, Chideock Village Hall - All dancers from all types of Jive welcome - Introduction to Modern Jive class by Qualified Teacher Dee Lanning - No need to book and there is no charge for this event!

10 January

Scottish Country Dancing at Ashill Village Hall Nr Ilminster TA19 9LX every Tuesday evening 7.30 to 9.30 pm. Beginners, returners and dancers of all abilities are very welcome to come along and join us. Biscuits and hot drink at the interval. Please wear soft, flat, comfy shoes if possible. £3.00 per evening. Further information contact Anita

on 01460 929383 or email anitaandjim22@gmail.com.

Axminster District Choral Society encourages new and existing members to come along to a rehearsal in the new year on Tuesday evenings from 7 pm for 7.30pm in The Minster Church, Axminster. For people who enjoy learning and singing classical choral works. The Society will be preparing for a very special Easter concert. This will be the UK premier of CPE Bach’s (JS Bach’s son) 1798 St Matthew Passion. The Choral Society is a non-auditioned choir who sing a wide range of classical choral pieces. Whilst it certainly helps to read a few notes of music, some rely on minimal acquaintance with the score and inexperienced members will soon discover and learn new skills in rehearsals. New members are warmly welcomed. See website: https://www.axminsterchoral.co.uk/index.html

Beaminster Museum winter talk 2.00pm by Chris Tripp titled “Dorset Diggers Excavations at Stalbridge House”. Over the past five years, excavations have explored the archaeology of the house and some of its history. Most of its fame is related to Robert Boyle, but there are lots of fascinating details of the owners as well as how the changing fabric kept the diggers guessing right until the last days of the excavations. Entry £5.

11 January

East Devon Ramblers 10.00. A strenuous 11 mile walk on Aylesbeare Common. ‘It’s worth it for the views’ Tell: 07578-413003.

Talk: Shipwrecks of Lyme Bay West Bay Discovery Centre is holding another winter talk at The Salt House at 2:30pm with awardwinning Dorset author Nigel Clarke who will be exploring the amazing shipwrecks hidden beneath our local waters. Tickets £5 are available in person or on-line from Bridport Tourist Information Centre. Further details http://www.westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk/

Axe Valley Centre, National Trust talk entitled “From the sublime to the ridiculous” by Lesley Emery. 2.30pm Colyford Memorial Hall. Admission members £1. non-members £2. Including tea/coffee.”

Scottish Country Dancing at 7.30 Venue: Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. All welcome, no partner required but please wear soft shoes. First evening free, thereafter £2.00, which includes soft drinks, tea, coffee and biscuits. Contact: Malcolm on 07790 323343. Check out bridportscottishdancers for more information.

12 January

Chesil Bank Writing Shed Do you write, would you like to write? Our new writers group meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 7pm - 9pm from 12th January 2023 at Portesham Village Hall. From poetry to prose, fan fiction to literary fiction, and biography to travel guides. Whatever your writing style and genre come and share it with us for feedback; challenge yourself with fun writing prompts and learn more about the business of being a writer. New writers welcome. Find out more: www.writingshed.co.uk.

Solo Charleston Dance Classes 1-2pm, St Marys Church Hall Bridport - Introduction Class - £5 - All Welcome Dance Connection for well-being, 7:15pm, Bridport St Mary’s CHH, 07787752201, danceconnectionwessex@gmail.com.

West Dorset Ramblers Leisurely 4 mile walk from West Bay by Packhorse Trail to Eype. Contact 07952 517764.

13 January

She Said (15) about the New York Times journalists whose story launched the #MeToo movement. 7.30pm The Beehive Honiton www.beehivehoniton.co.uk 01404 384050. ‘Emily’ (15) Picnic Night screening, doors 6.30pm, screening 7.30pm,

EVENTS IN FEBRUARY

Live or Online send your event details to info@marshwoodvale.com

EVENTS AND COURSESJanuary

tickets adults £7.50, Under 16s £6.50. ‘Emily’ tells the imagined life of one of the world’s most famous authors, Emily Bronte. The film stars Emma Mackey as Emily, a rebel and a misfit, as she finds her voice and writes the literary classic Wuthering Heights. Tickets from 01297 625699, www.thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am1pm.

Voices of Hope Beautiful songs from around the world taught in harmony all ages and abilities. £5 suggested donation per session. Drop in 11am to 12am Borough Gardens Bridport near Buckydoo Square (benches in gardens for those who need to sit or rest) If it is very wet we sing in The Unitarian Chapel in the Garden on East Street Bridport Jane Silver Corren 07887675161. janesilvercorren@gmail.com. Also 20th and 27th.

Brilliant British Humour in the Picture Postcard 1840-1950s Members of Lyme Regis u3a will start the year with a humorous, artistic treat. Dr James Taylor, a former curator of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and avid collector of comic postcards will talk about this popular art form from the Edwardian era to the outbreak of World War 2. Details on www.lymeregisu3a.org. Guests welcome for a donation of £2. 11am at Woodbury Hall, Lyme Regis: New for 2023 by popular demand we are moving back to Chard

Guildhall. Please join us for Where the Crawdads Sing based on the 2019 best-selling book. Doors open at 7pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets in advance for £5 from Eleos, Barron’s and the PO and on ticketsource/ Cinechard; or on the door for £6.

East Devon Ramblers 10.00. A leisurely 5 mile walk. ‘To the woods and back’ Starting from Seaton. Tell: 07710-160903.

Rusty Rackets tennis tuition indoors for beginners with an LTA accredited coach from 6pm to 7pm at Wey Valley Tennis Centre, Weymouth. For more details and to book please contact Clive on 07484186761.Also on 20 and 27 January 2023.

14 January

An Evening with Reg Meuross esteemed local folk singersongwriter 7.30pm The Beehive Honiton www.beehivehoniton.co.uk 01404 384050.

‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ (15) Picnic Night screening, doors 6.30pm, screening 7.30pm, tickets adult £7.50, under 16s £6.50 age 15. Tickets from 01297 625699, www.thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am - 1pm.

The Bridport and District Model Railway Club will be holding their annual Winter exhibition in the Public Hall, Fleet Street, Beaminster, Dorset DT8 3EF from 10am until 4pm. Visitors will be

able to view a wide variety of layouts in various gauges and themes, from both local exhibitors and those coming from farther afield. There will also be layouts representing steam and modern railway scenes which have a very local and an international flavour together with other railway displays. The exhibition will also have a trade stand for visitors wishing to buy new or second-hand model railway products.

Admission price is Adults £3 and children under 16 years free. Car parking is available in the Yarn Barton car park and Covid instructions will be observed during the exhibition as required.

Friends of Weymouth Library’s Saturday talk at 10-3-a.m. is about Cecile Neville, Richard III’s mother, a remarkable woman and great beauty who outlived her four sons, two of whom became kings. Tickets can be obtained from the Library at £3 for non-members and £2 for members. All welcome.

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Winfrith. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340.

15 January

East Devon Ramblers 10.00. A moderate 10.5 mile walk. ‘All around Thorncombe’ Forde Abbey Farm. Tell: 07771-935117.

Allington Strings 3pm, St. Mary’s Church, Bridport DT6 3NW Tickets £10 available from The Book Shop, Bridport or reserve via allingtonstrings@outlook.com.

Dance Connection Dance Day Workshop, 11am-4pm, Bridport St Mary’s CHH, 07787752201, danceconnectionwessex@gmail.com

16 January

Scottish Dancing in Chardstock Evening of Scottish Dancing in Chardstock Village Hall 7.30 - 10.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug. No partner required. Cost £2.00 Contact David on 01460 65981 www.chardscottishdancingclub.org.

Modern Jive (Leroc) Social Dance Classes 7:30pm, Chideock Village Hall. £6 per person, Come with or without a partner. Beginners and Returners Welcome Every Week. www.dynamic-dance.uk. Also 23

and 30 January.

If you enjoy dancing and music and socialising, then join in with the Folk Dancers in the W.I.Hall, Bridport from 7.15 to 9.30 every Monday. Musicians welcome. Tea and coffee. Ring 459001 for further details. Beginners welcome.

Lyme Regis Museum Friends illustrated talk in the Woodmead Hall, Hill Road, DT7 3PG, starting at 2.30 pm. ‘Seining Along Chesil’ – Sarah Acton, writer, in conversation with Gail McGarva, historic boat builder, about traditional seining and Chesil beach boats like the Lerret. With readings from Sarah’s new book, signed copies available. Members £2; Visitors £4 (£2 if you pay £8 on the door to become a member). All welcome. Tickets not required. For enquiries contact David Cox 01297 443156

17 January

Turn Lyme Green Talk: Plane Simple flight free travel Fiona Wood will talk about her travels across the northern hemisphere without flying - taking trains, buses and ferries through Europe, Russia, Mongolia, China, South Korea and North America, as well as passages on freighters across the Pacific and Atlantic. Discussion on why should we cut down on our flights? What are the problems with flying and what are the alternatives? 7pm Driftwood Cafe, Baptist Church at the top of Broad Street, Lyme Regis DT7 3NY.

Barrington and District Gardening Society ‘Gardeners Question Time’ 7.30pm - Barrington Village Hall, Barrington, Somerset. Members free, Visitors welcome £2. ‘Flower of the Month’ competition. Refreshments and raffle. More info: 01460 54691.

Scottish Country Dancing at Ashill Village Hall Nr Ilminster TA19 9LX every Tuesday evening 7.30 to 9.30 pm. Beginners, returners and dancers of all abilities are very welcome to come along and join us. Biscuits and hot drink at the interval. Please wear soft, flat, comfy shoes if possible. £3.00 per evening. Further information contact Anita on 01460 929383 or email anitaandjim22@gmail.com.

EVENTS AND COURSES

18 January

The Beehive Folk Café Perform or listen in the Beehive bar. Free entry. 7.30pm The Beehive Honiton www.beehivehoniton.co.uk 01404 384050.

Scottish Country Dancing at 7.30 Venue: Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. All welcome, no partner required but please wear soft shoes. First evening free, thereafter £2.00, which includes soft drinks, tea, coffee and biscuits. Contact: Malcolm on 07790 323343. Visit bridportscottishdancers for more information.

Colyton & District Garden Society Talk ‘Organic Vegetable Growing’ by Brian Hesketh, at Colyford Memorial Hall at 7.30pm. Members free, guests £3. New subscriptions (£10) for the 2023 programme will be due then - please come in good time so as not to delay the start.

Coffee Morning including cakes, scones & pastries, and bacon/

egg rolls (made to order), 10.30am – noon; all welcome. Clapton & Wayford Village Hall. More details from Julia (01460 72769).

West Dorset Ramblers Moderate 7 mile walk taking in Bridports’ hills and rivers. Contact 01308 458198.

East Devon Ramblers 10.30. ‘H is for hill, D is for Dalwood’. A 7 mile moderate walk from Dalwood, going to Horner Hill, Ham and Hawley. Tell: 01297-552860.

19 January

Royal Ballet Cinema: Like Water For Chocolate (12A) a brandnew full-length ballet based on the famous Mexican novel 7.15pm The Beehive Honiton www.beehivehoniton.co.uk 01404 384050. Dance Connection for well-being, 7:15pm, Bridport St Mary’s CHH, 07787752201, danceconnectionwessex@gmail.com.

Bridport & District Gardening Club will meet at 7.30pm at the W I Hall North Street Bridport when Margie Hoffung presents ‘Gardening a very British Tradition’. The meeting is open to nonmembers for a fee of £2.00 and further information can be found on the website bridportgardeningclub.co.uk.

The Art’s Society 2pm for 2.30pm Bridport Town Hall, Fiction, Fallacy and Fake News, Spin and Propaganda in Art through the Ages. Speaker: Geri Parlby. Visitors Welcome £7.50 Windborne. Vocal Harmony Singing form Vermont Hailing

EVENTS AND COURSES

from New England, USA. Wootton Fitzpaine Village Hall at 7.30pm Windborne Concert Tickets £10 (U18: £5; Fam:£25) from 01297 560948 and www.artsreach.co.uk when available online.

Vocal Harmony Workshop with Windborne limited places! Suitable for all ages, with no previous experience required. Places £5 and must be booked in advance. After the workshop, enjoy food from Claire’s Country Kitchen served from 6pm before the concert Workshop and concert tickets must both be booked. Workshop + concert =£15. For details of BACS payments to secure your place, please ring 01297 560948.

20 January

East Devon Ramblers 10.00am. A 6 mile leisurely walk from Broadhembury. ‘Fine views of Dartmoor hopefully’! Tell: 01395519232.

Dance Connection Taster, 10:30am-12, Dorchester Corn Exchange, 07787752201, danceconnectionwessex@gmail.com.

Mrs Harris goes to Paris at 7.30pm. Village Hall, The Causeway, Milborne St Andrew DT11 0JX. Doors and bar open 7.00. Tickets cost £6, which includes a drink or an ice-cream ‘She Said’ (15) Picnic Night screening doors 6.30pm, screening 7.30pm tickets adults £7.50 Under 16s £6.50. Two-time Academy Award nominee Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star as New YorkTi mes reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who together broke one of the most important stories in a generation – a story that helped launch the #Metoo movement, shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood and altered American culture frever. Tickets from 01297 625699, www.thegatewayseaton. co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am - 1pm.

21 January

Armageddon Time (15) Coming-of-age drama. Date to be confirmed. 7.30pm The Beehive Honiton www.beehivehoniton.co.uk 01404 384050.

Burns Night at Loders Village Hall, Bridport 7pm, The evening includes the piping in of the haggis, a reading of Burns’ Address to a Haggis, and of course traditional music, readings, dancing, eating, and drinking! Reserve your place (£15 a head) by contacting wellplotshelter@gmail.com. Or why not book a table of 8 and brings your friends

Petite Maman A magical story of a young girl coming to terms with her grandmother’s death. An insightful and hopeful film that will gladden your soul and broaden your mind. France 7.45pm Warehouse Theatre, Brewery Lane, Ilminster. Contact details crisrainbow44@ gmail.com.

CUPID is a mutual support group for ostomists anyone with a stoma (colostomy, urostomy, ileostomy) or pouch. Our next meeting is at The Dorford Centre, Bridport Road, Dorchester DT1 1RR from 10:00 - 12 noon. You are welcome to call in to our informal gathering and talk to others about whatever you like and maybe have a tea or coffee. Our sponsor Clinimed will have James Connor, their representative with products for you to see and discuss. And we are delighted to have The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance to inform everyone about their life-saving charity because you never know when you, too might need their services!

PINA Celebrating Dance on Film Part 1. 2.30pm (U) Wim Wender’s passionate and exhilarating tribute to legendary dance choreographer, Pina Bausch plus the first part of an inspiring programme of short films from local dance companies, Bridport Youth Dance and Grace and Growl. Tickets £6 per screening from Bridport Tourist Information or at www.bridport-arts.com.

DANCER Celebrating Dance on Film Part 2. 7.30pm (12) Bridport Arts Centre. The life and brilliant career of ballet dancer Sergei Polunin, from his early days in the Ukraine to principal at the Royal Ballet in London plus the second part of our inspiring programme of short films from Bridport Youth Dance and Grace and Growl. Tickets £6 per screening from Bridport Tourist Information or at www.bridport-arts.com.

The Axminster Twinning Association AGM will be held on Saturday 21st January 2023 at 6.00pm in the Pippins Community Centre, Axminster. We look forward to welcoming as many current members as possible as the occasion also gives members the chance to renew their membership - still at pre-Pandemic prices. Members will have the opportunity to sign-up for the Twinning trip to Douvres la Délivrande, which takes place in early June. New Year social activities programme of events will be issued shortly. May 2023 will include a Coronation Party to celebrate King Charles III accession to the Throne. We always welcome enquiries from people keen to become members of the Twinning Association and we would ask anyone wishing to make contact to email us at: arksteerer@aol.com ‘Living’ (12A) Picnic Night screening doors 6.30pm, screening 7.30pm, tickets adults £7.50, under 16s £6.50. ‘Living’ is the story of an ordinary man, reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, who at the eleventh hour makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something wonderful – into one he can say has been lived to the full. Tickets from 01297 625699, www. thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am - 1pm.

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 8 mile walk from Bridport. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340.

22 January

East Devon Ramblers 10.30. A leisurely 7.5 mile walk. ‘To Lyme & Mary Anning Statue’. Uplyme, River Lim, seafront, Happy Valley. Tel: 01297-443836.

The Royal Ballet: Like Water for Chocolate (12A) screening doors 1.30pm, screening 2pm, tickets adults £14.50, under 16s £7.50. Tickets from 01297 625699, www.thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person TueThur 10am - 1pm.

East Devon Ramblers 10.30. An EASY fairly flat 5 mile walk. ‘Nice and easy does it’. Budleigh, old railway, white bridge and seafront. Tel: 01395-266668.

23 January

Scottish Dancing in Chardstock Evening of Scottish Dancing in Chardstock Village Hall 7.30 - 10.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug. No partner required. Cost £2.00 Contact David on 01460 65981 www.chardscottishdancingclub.org.

If you enjoy dancing and music and socialising, then join in with the Folk Dancers in the W.I.Hall, Bridport from 7.15 to 9.30 every Monday. Musicians welcome. Tea and coffee. Ring 459001 for further

EVENTS AND COURSES

details. Beginners welcome.

24 January

Scottish Country Dancing at Ashill Village Hall Nr Ilminster TA19 9LX every Tuesday evening 7.30 to 9.30 pm. Beginners, returners and dancers of all abilities are very welcome to come along and join us. Biscuits and hot drink at the interval. Please wear soft, flat, comfy shoes if possible. £3.00 per evening. Further information contact Anita on 01460 929383 or email anitaandjim22@gmail.com.

Bridport & District U3A Monthly Meetings & Talks My Life in Science’ by Brian Bowsher OBE FRSC FlnstP. Brian has had a distinguished career in the world of science. The talk will begin at 2pm in the Bridport United Church Hall in East Street. Refreshments will follow. The talk is free to members and there is a £2 charge for non-members. Please see the Bridport & District website for further information about this and future talks and if you are interested in becoming a member: bridportu3a.org.uk.

Falkland Islands: Wildlife and Wrecks A talk by Derek Thomson for Seaton u3a at The Gateway, Seaton. The talk will start at 2pm and is free to members of Seaton u3a; £2 for non-members, who are welcome to come along for the talk, enjoy refreshments afterwards. For more information go to https://u3asites.org.uk/seaton/home.

25 January

East Devon Ramblers 10.00. A strenuous 10 mile coastal walk. Knowle house, donkey sanctuary, south west coast path. Tell: 01395514265.

West Dorset Ramblers Moderate 6 mile circular walk centred on Abbotsbury. Contact 07974 756107

Scottish Country Dancing at 7.30 Venue: Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. All welcome, no partner required but please wear soft shoes. First evening free, thereafter £2.00, which includes soft drinks, tea, coffee and biscuits. Contact: Malcolm on 07790 323343. Check out bridportscottishdancers for more information.

Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society talk on Heritage Vegetables by Sally Nex. Uplyme Village Hall 7.30pm. Refreshments from 7pm. Members free, non-members £3. More information www. ulrhs.wordpress.com.

26 January

Nostalgic Cinema: Viva Las Vegas (1964), a dementia-friendly subtitled screening open to all. 2pm The Beehive Honiton www. beehivehoniton.co.uk 01404 384050. Dance Connection for well-being, 7:15pm, Bridport St Mary’s CHH, 07787752201, danceconnectionwessex@gmail.com

National Theatre Live: The Crucible (12A) screening doors 6.30pm, screening 7pm, tickets adults £14.50, under 16s £7.50. Tickets from 01297 625699, www.thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person TueThur 10am - 1pm.

National Theatre Live: The Crucible (12A) Arthur Miller’s captivating parable of power. 7pm The Beehive Honiton www. beehivehoniton.co.uk 01404 384050.

27 January

Steve Knightley Unlock me and other Lockdown Laments Acclaimed singer-songwriter from Show of Hands. 7.30pm The Beehive Honiton www.beehivehoniton.co.uk 01404 384050.

East Devon Ramblers 10.00. A leisurely 4.5 mile walk. Upottery. Views over the Blackdown hills. Tell: 07979-263043.

Dance Connection Taster, 10:30am-12, Dorchester Corn Exchange, 07787752201, danceconnectionwessex@gmail.com.

Take Art for Cultivate presents “Muck, Microbes and re-making Paradise “ an evening with Graham Harvey. 8pm at Norton Sub Hamdon Village Hall (doors open at 7) Tickets available at the Norton Community Shop or purchase online at takeart.org/event/an-eveningwith-Graham-harvey Adults - £10 (subject to a booking fee)

28 January

I Wanna Dance with Somebody (TBC), a celebration of Whitney Houston. Date to be confirmed. 3pm and 7.30pm The Beehive Honiton www.beehivehoniton.co.uk 01404 384050.

Jumble Sale 2pm. Contributions gratefully received, & may be left at the hall between 10am & mid-day on the Saturday morning. Clapton & Wayford Village Hall. Further information from Jackie (01460 72324) or Mary (01460 74849).

Joey the Lips Gig, doors 7.30pm live music from 8pm (TBC) tickets £20, £22.50 on the door. The nation’s funkiest 10 piece band return to Seaton’s Gateway Theatre for one night only in 2023. Joey the Lips are a big funky outfit making a joyous sound in the true spirit of funk and soul – great entertainment! The 10 piece band originally formed in 1993 and hasn’t stood still since! Tickets from 01297 625699, www. thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am - 1pm.

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 6.5 mile walk from Lambert’s Plantation. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340.

The New Elizabethan Singers will give the first public performance of new music by a local composer in their concert in January. The concert, at St. Swithun’s Church, Bridport starts at 7.00 pm. Tickets (£15, under 18’s free) can be obtained from Goadsby Estate Agents in Bridport and online at https://thenewelizabethansingers.org.uk.

Bridport Seed Swap 10-12. Bridport Community Shed Bring your surplus seed to swap at this informal gathering of local gardeners or simply take those you’d like, in exchange for a donation to charity. For more info call Eileen 07879 280334.

29 January

East Devon Ramblers 10.00. A leisurely 7.5 mile walk. ‘An East Devon stroll’ Buckton farm, Mincombe wood. Tell 01395-577891.

Singing Bowl Soundbath 2-4PM Oborne Village Hall DT9 4LA £15 Advance bookings 01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com.

Allington Strings 3pm, All Saint’s Church, Merriott TA16 5PS Tickets £10 available from The Feed Station, Merriott or reserve via allingtonstrings@outlook.com.

Dalwood Jazz Club Dave Newton and Craig Milverton “Dualling Pianos” The Southwest’s best known jazz pianists in concert. 3pm in Dalwood Village Hall EX13 7EG (near Axminster) Bar for beer/ wine/soft drinks and teas/coffees etc. Parking at the Village Hall. Ticket £12.50p Pay at the door. info: t.mackenney111@btinternet.com 07999 553477.

East Devon Ramblers 10.00. ‘Up and down again’. A moderate 8.5 mile walk. Seaton seafront to Beer and Branscombe. Tell: 07886926636.

“Family Justice” A talk by Richard Bond, a former Circuit and Family Judge. 2.30pm at United Church Main Hall, East Street, Bridport. Golden Cap Association members £2, visitors £5. Contact 01308 459855.

If you enjoy dancing and music and socialising, then join in with the Folk Dancers in the W.I.Hall, Bridport from 7.15 to 9.30 every Monday. Musicians welcome. Tea and coffee. ring 459001 for further details. Beginners welcome. Scottish Dancing in Chardstock Evening of Scottish Dancing in Chardstock Village Hall 7.30 - 10.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug. No partner required. Cost £2.00 Contact David on 01460 65981 ww.chardscottishdancingclub.org.

31 January

Scottish Country Dancing at Ashill Village Hall Nr Ilminster TA19 9LX every Tuesday evening 7.30 to 9.30 pm. Beginners, returners and dancers of all abilities are very welcome to come along and join us. Biscuits and hot drink at the interval. Please wear soft, flat, comfy shoes if possible. £3.00 per evening. Further information contact Anita on 01460 929383 or email anitaandjim22@gmail. com.

Beaminster Museum winter talk at 2.00pm, when Bob Machin is talking about the architecture and evolution of Dorset farmhouses. Many of the examples and historic photographs include sites within the museum catchment area. Entry £5.00.

West Dorset Ramblers Moderate 5+ mile circular walk enjoying the Winter views around Hardy’s Monument. Contact 07952 717764.

BRIDPORT

Arts Centre funded

Bridport Arts Centre is one of just 10 organisations in Dorset who will receive a share of over £5 million (a year), ensuring that more people in more places can find fulfilling art and culture on their doorsteps. Arts Council England, the national development agency for creativity and culture has set out a strategic vision to give everyone access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. Bridport Arts Centre is a multi-arts venue presenting a year-round programme of visual arts, theatre, dance, comedy, music, spoken word and film screenings. It caters to the whole community, young and old, and have a dedicated familyfriendly programme of events.

BRIDPORT Free service for housebound

The Bridport branch of the Home Library Service are keen to help get books to people in isolated areas. If you love reading, but struggle to get to the library, the library can come to you. The Home Library Service offers regular deliveries of library books for those who are housebound or are otherwise unable to travel to the library. The Home Library Service is delivered by volunteers from the Royal Voluntary Service. Books are selected based on people’s reading preferences and delivered personally to their home. For more information, just ring the Royal Voluntary Service on 01305 236666.

ABBOTSBURY

Book of kneelers

For over twenty years, Abbotsbury people have been stitching kneelers for their parish church to mark the millennium, celebrating village organisations and businesses, and commemorating the kneeler-makers’ cottages in the village and Abbotsbury’s long and colourful history. Now that all 108 kneelers— each one with a unique half-cross stitch design—have been dedicated, a book about them has been published. 36 full-colour pages tell the story of each kneeler, as well as relating the history of the twenty-year project.

The book also includes a guide for any other congregation thinking of making kneelers for their own church. The book is available at many of the Abbotsbury shops and galleries.

SHERBORNE

‘Multi-purpose’

venue

Michael Cannon, a successful businessman, and head of the Cannon Foundation has been unveiled as ‘the name behind The Sherborne’. Renovation of The Sherborne, formally known as Sherborne House, has been underway for some time and the multi-purpose venue is due to open in late October next year. In partnership with Dorset Visual Arts, Sherborne House Trust will bring an events and arts space, with six historic rooms and a stunning contemporary extension at the rear. Complete with a café, bar, and restaurant as well as co-working offices on the top floor, there will be something for everyone. The Sherborne will be run by the charity’s trading arm.

DORSET Kites promote Jurassic Coast

A new kite being sold all over the UK, Europe, Australia and North America is flying the flag for the Jurassic Coast. Based on pterodactyls, a flying reptile that flew over the Jurassic Coast millions of years ago, the kites are an idea from Sibyl Fine King of the Fine Family Foundation. She thought it would be wonderful for pterodactyls to fly once more over the famous Dorset and Devon coastline and so worked with designers to create and patent the unique design. Jurassic Kites has subsequently heard of ‘pterodactyl sightings’ in the Seychelles, USA and even in Egypt.

Nature Studies

By Michael McCarthy

So here we are with the hardest of the winter weather coming right up, and the dilemma presents itself: do we feed the birds in the garden, or do we not?

Until just over fifteen years ago this question was a no-brainer. Why wouldn’t we feed our beloved garden birds and help them get through to the spring? But then, starting in 2005, one of the most colourful, the greenfinch, began to disappear. It certainly disappeared completely from our small garden in west London where the flash of the male’s yellow wing-patches had long been an enchanting sight.

Eventually the reason for its vanishing was discovered: the birds were being killed off by disease. To blame was a newly-emerged infection called trichomonosis, being spread by a parasite which had previously only been found in pigeons and doves. Now it had jumped the species barrier into greenfinches, where it caused throat lesions which prevented them from swallowing, so they were starving to death. But almost as worrying as the discovery of the disease itself was the discovery of the mechanism of transmission—for it turned out to be garden bird feeders. The parasite was being carried in the saliva of the birds, and at bird tables and feeding stations where many of them congregated—and contaminated the feeders with their saliva—it was being passed from one to another.

It was an extraordinarily powerful mechanism, because in Britain the putting out of sunflower hearts, peanuts, fat balls and all the rest of the avian menu is a gigantic activity: it is estimated that 17 million households take part, and we spend about £300m on it annually. Think about it: if you’re a greenfinch, seventeen million potential death traps are out there waiting for you, set by householders who only wanted to do you good. And the British population of these lovely creatures has duly collapsed: between 2008 and 2018, it dropped by 67 per cent.

Now the situation has become even more urgent because trichomonosis is starting to kill off the greenfinch’s close relative, the chaffinch, which some people might feel is an even lovelier bird. About 2013 the chaffinch population started to decline markedly and by 2018 it had dropped by nearly a third compared to the level of a decade earlier. It was suspected that trichomonosis might be to blame,

An incomer’s discovery of the natural world in the West Country

but it was not until last September that a new piece of research by ornithological scientists showed that this is almost certainly the case.

I have to say that I feel an extraordinary pang at the idea that we might be killing off our chaffinches with kindness. I dearly love this bird, not only for the breeding male’s stunning plumage of blue and pink and black and white, but also for his song, that descending cadence with a flourish at the end, for me one of the most charming sounds of the spring. And I have an even worse fear; there is some suggestion that trichimonosis might spread to the bullfinch, the loveliest finch of all. In London we never caught a glimpse of Pyrrhula pyrrhula from one year to the next, but when we moved west we found we were in definite bullfinch country; I have seen several around the village, and on a wonderful morning a year ago one of them perched in a bush ten yards from our kitchen window, a great winged blossom of rose-pink, grey and black; it was an indescribable thrill. (The one finch that so far seems immune is the goldfinch, whose population has exploded thanks to the nyjer seed which they find irresistible).

So is it better to feed your garden birds or not? The answer is, on balance, yes, as long as you clean the feeders. You have to take them down and wash them, preferably with disinfectant, at least once a fortnight, and preferably once a week. It may seem like a pain, but it’s a necessary one, and a small price to pay for the delight garden birds give us.

I’ll be doing it, as the hard weather arrives. I’m one of the 17 million; I’m a part of the £300m bird food economy, a not insignificant one, in fact: when I bought my supplies for this winter, the girl in the garden centre smiled as she rang them up on the till, seeing them come to an eyebrow-raising £75. “Lucky birds,” she said.

Well, yes; as long as I make the effort to keep the feeders clean.

Recently relocated to Dorset, Michael McCarthy is the former Environment Editor of The Independent. His books include Say Goodbye To The Cuckoo and The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy

A typical bird feeder of today with goldfinches (plus great tit) - but no greenfinches or chaffinches.

© Photo: Robin Mills

Vegetables in January

By Ashley Wheeler

January is about the only time of the year as a vegetable grower that you can try and get things in order for the season ahead. All of those jobs you didn’t have time to do during the summer, or the energy to do in the autumn can be done now to make the growing season flow much better.

Crop planning is probably the most important tool for us in terms of making sure that we are prepared for the year ahead. Everything is written down from seed sowing dates, seed quantities required and the plan of the garden that shows us where everything will be planted. This means that everything is in place before the season starts and we can refer back to the plans daily. We have a calendar of seed sowing dates so that we don’t have to think about it in the height of summer when there is so much to do. So, in essence it is great to get ahead on all of the planning in the winter whilst the garden is resting.

Although the weather changes from year to year, we don’t tend to change the sowing dates too much, but rely on previous experience that tells us that is usually best to keep with the sowing dates that we have been using for the past 13 seasons. There may need to be slight adjustments— usually for crops sown early or late in the season. For example sowing turnips, winter radish and chinese cabbage all happens in July and August, and if they haven’t had enough time to reach full size we may adjust the sowing to a week or so earlier.

The second way of getting everything in order whilst you have a little more time is to make sure all of your tools are in the right place and ready to use—everything is sharpened that needs to be, everything has a handle that needs one and everything is put away in an orderly fashion. This sets you up for the year ahead, and you can gather together all of the rogue tools that have found their way into the corners of the garden and hang them up where they rightfully belong. It’s best to put the most commonly used tools in the most accessible place, whilst less frequently used ones can go towards the back of the shed.

It can be really energising to get out into the garden in January—the days are beginning to get longer, and there isn’t much better than a cold, crisp January day (the cold, soggy ones are less pleasant). Make the most of any frosts by getting some of the heavier jobs done that might just make a mess when the ground isn’t frozen, such as mulching beds, putting down woodchip on paths—things that will warm you up.

So, don’t look out of the window thinking “it looks a bit cold out there, I think I’ll stay inside”, get your coat on and spend a little time in the garden on the sunnier days—even just taking a cup of tea out and watching the birds, and maybe sort out some of your tools and start getting ready for the season ahead.

WHAT TO SOW THIS MONTH: It is still too early to sow most veg, but we will be sowing a few sugarsnap peas, lettuce, spring onions and agretti on a heated propagation bench for early tunnel production. But, there is no rush for sowing anything until the end of February/early March.

WHAT TO PLANT THIS MONTH: Nothing to plant this month (unless you still haven’t planted garlic, in which case it’s not too late!)

OTHER IMPORTANT TASKS THIS MONTH: Keep working through your winter job list of getting everything sorted for the season ahead. Soon enough it will be time to start sowing in earnest, so the more prepared for this the better. Do your seed ordering now if you haven’t already— and try to use some of the great smaller seed companies growing seed in the UK such as Real Seeds, Vital Seeds and the Seed Cooperative. Make sure you have gone through all of your seed packets, and throw out any that don’t last more than a year. We find that parsnip seed is no good after a year, and parsley, carrots, spring onions and leek seed doesn’t last particularly long so we tend to buy seed each year for these.

January in the Garden

By Russell Jordan

After the excesses of the festive season we return to a less than bountiful time of the garden and the uncertain cost of living situation. I’ve often written about how good it is to have a period of extreme cold in the winter because of its cleansing effect and the subsequent reduction in the number of garden pests that are able to overwinter. At the time of writing we are having a cold snap and, to be honest, I’m hoping that we don’t have a protracted period of cold this winter when heating costs are already sky high and my lack of central heating, in a house with no double glazing or modern insulation, makes heating it tricky at the best of times.

Meanwhile, your garden is entering its deepest period of slumber and disturbing its peace with lots of noisy chainsawing, shredding and leaf blowing seems somewhat indecent. If the ground is really frozen then it does, at least, mean that walking on cultivated soil is less likely to lead to compaction than if it were wet but it also means that there’s not a lot of cultivating that you can do either. I like to at least ‘tickle’ over the soil, with a border fork, before doing anything, like applying organic mulch, so even that is out of the question if it’s frozen solid.

On the other hand, the physical properties of ice have a beneficial effect on opening up the soil structure without you having to lift a finger (or a fork). Water is not only the magical substance that is the secret to life on earth but it’s also a bit of a law unto itself when it comes to it’s behaviour on a molecular level. Unlike practically every other liquid in existence, water actually increases in volume, by about ten percent, when it turns into solid ice and this also has the side effect of making it less dense than liquid water—very important when it comes to ice forming on top of ponds etc.—without which overwintering would be very different for aquatic life.

The importance of increased volume, when it comes to relieving soil compaction, is that all the water held in the ground, near to the soil surface, will expand as it freezes and open up the soil structure on a microscopic level. If you have managed to fork over the soil, lifting out any compaction, before we start having deep frosts then the action of ice forming subsequently will further enhance the aeration effect of your digging efforts.

As I’ve mentioned before, getting air into your soil is just as important to plant health, at least at the soil surface, as any amount of watering or feeding. Plant roots need to be able to respire, breathe, and in order to do this they must have access to oxygen which can only enter the soil if the soil structure is sufficiently ‘open’ in order for gaseous exchange to take place between the atmosphere and the soil via voids within the soil. Frost action is one means by which these voids are made and maintained.

Frozen ground will temporarily put a stop to any bare root planting that you might have planned but, if you have a delivery of bare-rooted trees or hedging material, then it is important that it is temporarily heeled in to an area of spare ground if you can find a spot that is slightly sheltered and therefore not frozen solid. If you unpack your specimens and find that they are at all dry, ideally they will have been soaked before dispatch and then kept moist within their packing, then soak them in a bucket of water in a frost free space, garage etc., while you dig a trench in your favoured spot.

A slot deep and wide enough to cover the roots of your specimens will suffice and they can be inserted, at an angle if it helps, before spading the soil back over the roots so that they are completely covered. This is called ‘heeling in’ because the loose soil is then firmed down with the heel of your boot to ensure that the roots are in good contact with the damp soil and there is no way that any amount of wind

will dislodge your bare-rooted plants while they wait to be planted in their final positions when the weather improves. It’s unlikely that the soil will be dry, at this time of year, but watering in will do no harm if you are in any doubt that the material my have dried out during transit.

The start of a New Year is symbolic and it’s a good time to have a think about how you used your garden in the year gone by and how you might be able to make improvements during the year ahead. The garden will be reduced to its bare bones during the depths of winter so assessing boundary hedges, walls, fences etc. might be a place to start.

The whole concept of the garden being an ‘outside room’ relies on having it divided up, wherever large enough, so that the whole garden is not revealed all at once. Even in these days of minimalist, open plan, living there are not many houses where you open the front door and the whole contents of the house, toilets, bedrooms, kitchens and all, are exposed to full view. The garden is the same; even if the only divisions you make are to screen off the compost bins, incinerator and shed, then at least that allows for your garden to maintain some air of mystery.

Larger gardens can be turned into more a magical mystery tour by means of screening, hedging, walls and fences so that there is a new vista to be enjoyed at every turn. Colour theming is something that used to be very popular, just look for images of the ‘White Garden’ at Sissinghurst Castle for inspiration, but you could theme areas of the garden on any design whim which takes your fancy; a life size menagerie of topiary animals would be a slightly more eccentric scheme if you were gifted some Niwaki topiary shears for Christmas.

Happy New Gardening Year!

What Next?

Back in December of 2020, I spoke with a few local business men and women to get their thoughts on how Covid had impacted their industry and how they felt they might deal with the challenges after the first effects of the pandemic. We had just come out of the first wave of Covid and were expecting to batten down the hatches for the winter of 20/21. And although the overall outlook was grim, there was a sense that we could survive and push through the ravages that Covid wrought and see a way forward for hard pushed businesses.

I decided to follow up with some of those business owners again this year with the fallout from the Covid pandemic now further strained by a combination of the war in Ukraine; a seemingly chaotic Westminster and very little evidence of the ‘opportunities’ promised by Brexit. Whilst the overall outlook is predictably bleak, those that are in a position to take a long term view are doing just that. But as with the initial ravages of the pandemic, the hospitality industry is perhaps in a worse position now than at the peak of the Covid explosion.

Local business owner, Alasdair Warren, believes that all the government support that was provided for businesses during the pandemic helped to ensure a relatively quick recovery ‘locally, nationally and internationally.’ However, he says the problem with the current crisis is that ‘it’s going to take a long time to fix because there’s no vaccines.’ There’s only the passage of time and some pretty tough policies that he believes ‘will take a while to feed through.’ So he thinks we’re in for not only a very tough winter this year ‘which of course is more acute in Dorset than other places by virtue of our dependence on the tourist trade.’ But he says it will be equally difficult in the winter of 23/24 also. ‘Because the energy challenges and the economic

the country faces are going to take this winter and the next before things start to feel better.’

With a background in banking that included senior positions at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, Alasdair is able to give a view on national and global markets at the drop of a hat, but having grown up near Bridport his focus on the local economy is also finely tuned. He is fully aware

of the need to keep local businesses from closing down. He remembers the 1980’s when the high street went through a ‘shocking, shocking period and lots of things disappeared.’ That he says took ‘twenty to thirty years to rebuild.’ And he believes that if people don’t want the same thing to happen again they need to focus clearly and consistently on where they spend their money. ‘You, me, everybody has got less to spend’ he says ‘but we still have to buy the essentials. So buy them where you can sustain local businesses.’ He says shopping locally might cost a bit more on shoe leather but otherwise it won’t cost us any more and the potential loss if we don’t support local businesses is catastrophic. ‘Waitrose will still be here in two years’ time’ he says, ‘they don’t need your money. So will Morrisons. But I’ll tell you what, some of those other shops won’t be.’

With interests such as the Electric Palace in Bridport, a growing stable of pubs, a wine business, ownership of the building that houses Bridport Arts Centre and most recently the relaunch of his great grandfather’s cider business, he feels a natural duty of care not only to his employees but also to the community he grew up in. ‘My thing is to get all our businesses through to the other side, and the other side is 2025’ he says. ‘The real reason for that is not because we’re going to make any money between now and 2025, we’re going to lose money. But I’ve got something like forty families that rely on me across the businesses we have. And we’re going to keep going because those families need us. And that’s true of all businesses. It’s not about whether the owner makes money or not, you’ve got to think about it in terms of being a local community and we all dig deep to support one another.’

That same community engagement also applies to Bridport Arts Centre. His hopes of opening a restaurant within the building are also on hold until ‘the economic circumstances allow’ but he says ‘in the meantime the Arts Centre will continue to operate as it always has as an Arts Centre, and I’ll continue to maintain the building for the people of Bridport.’

Perhaps the most telling message Alasdair Warren promotes is for businesses to be honest with their customers. When he explained to customers that the Electric Palace couldn’t sustain the business without increasing ticket prices, the response was positive and people came out to show they could be supportive. ‘People really want these pieces of social infrastructure to exist’ he says. ‘I would say be honest with your customers about the challenges that you face, and to customers I would say support these businesses, or they will go. The Electric Palace experience was enormously warming for me because we didn’t know whether people

challenges

After the havoc caused by Covid it seems like there is no respite.

Fergus Byrne hears from local business men and women about how the current crisis might affect them—and us

‘You’ve got to think about it in terms of being a local community and we all dig deep to support one another.’

would respond but they have and it’s great.’ Despite energy and insurance costs at highs never experienced before, the venue will continue to provide entertainment and respite in economically difficult times, but it will do so at a loss—but a loss that Alasdair hopes will be sustainable.

that will struggle and will need help. ‘There’s a food bank in Beaminster, so clearly there are people who will be struggling’ he says. ‘But we are fortunate in west Dorset, we are relatively immune to the worst excesses of the markets and the worst excesses of poor financial management of the government and so forth—as well as interest rate rises and cost of living increases.’ He sees many of his customers as ‘savers not borrowers’, so rises in interest rates are better for them than for those struggling with rising mortgages.

In Lyme Regis, Kathryn Haskins from the Alexandra Hotel is also seeing a slowing in the local economy. She sees businesses around her discounting and presenting special offers that they would never have done before. ‘Everyone’s doing everything they can to try and draw in that business’ she says. However, her problems are more to do with staffing than bookings. ‘It’s all just down to staffing’ she says ’Staffing is just a nightmare. I don’t know where people are going to come from really. Lyme is particularly hard because you’ve got 180 degrees of sea on one side where you’re not going to get anyone.’ Lyme Regis is also too far from large towns like Exeter and Yeovil to draw workers.

She describes parking as ‘horrific for anyone living outside the town. What used to be £2.50 to park for the day is now something like £12 because the council have hiked it so much. It’s just not viable. It’s impossible to operate basically.’ The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that local transport is not the hospitality industry’s friend. ‘When you work in hospitality you often don’t finish until 11pm’ she says ‘and how can you get to a breakfast service on a Sunday morning?’

Like many businesses around her, Kathryn looks to the traditional summer season for respite. ‘We have to hope that the summer is good. People might not go overseas. On the other hand the airlines might charge ridiculous rates to get bums on seats, but some might think it’s a better option to stay in the UK.’ With a couple of bleak winters ahead that’s a hope that will be echoed throughout the tourist reliant area.

Outside of the hospitality industry the high street has been suffering for some time. Online buying options have crippled many businesses and even sales initiatives such as Black Friday or Black Monday have been exploited by online giants to tempt people away from their local shops. However, Richard Barker from Cilla and Camilla who have four shops in Dorset is still ‘bullish’. He believes that Dorset is somewhat cushioned from the worst of the cost of living crisis. ‘If you’ve got a strong business that’s well managed and well run and relatively well capitalised, then you should be able to ride out difficult times’ says Richard.

With four shops spread across Bridport, Beaminster and Sherborne, Richard is very aware of the fact that although his stores are in affluent areas there are those

Richard also cites location as a key for those hoping to survive on the high street. Rather than increase his marketing spend he chose his shop sites for maximum impact. ‘I justify having what I think are the two best sites in Bridport on the basis that that’s how we market our business. There’s nothing that we stock that anybody needs, its only stuff they want, so that means we have to put it right under their noses. We pay the highest price for square foot in the town. A big part of our marketing spend goes on rent to make sure we are in the right place to get the footfall.’ Despite this, Richard is not expecting the next two years to be ‘buoyant’. However, he says ‘we’ve got some costs that we can trim and we’re strong enough to get through it.’

Location off the high street is also not without its merits. St Michael’s Trading Estate in Bridport has been a talking point and a destination for some time, offering a range of small businesses as well as a vibrant and much enjoyed Vintage Market. Martin Ridley explained that the estate normally runs at about 95% of capacity. They recently unveiled not one but three historic blue plaques on the estate. Martin said that although the estate had been providing commercial trading space for 53 years, the owners and management have always been conscious not to overlook the fact that St Michael’s had an industrial life for hundreds of years as a net and rope making factory when it was also providing jobs and employment for hundreds of local people—back to the time of King John.

Although capacity at the moment is lower due to the ongoing impact of the fire in the Tower Building, where they continue to be frustrated by the delays caused by contractors, loss adjusters and insurers in having the building reinstated, Martin says ‘an additional 12 units will come back to us when this work is complete and currently we have a waiting list of 100 inquiries interested in taking space at St Michael’s including the reinstated building. That is perhaps a measure of a reasonably healthy and we hope sustainable business.’

Who knew—other than perhaps Vladimir Putin—that we would be facing such challenges at a time when the world needed to pull together to recover from a global pandemic? But as the saying goes ‘it is what it is’ and now collective engagement and cooperation is what communities will need to focus on. Pulling together is about the only way that we can pave the road ahead.

‘I would say be honest with your customers about the challenges that you face, and to customers I would say support these businesses, or they will go.’

SMOKED MACKEREL

PÂTÉ

As you probably know I’m working with Chesil Smokery with my Hix Smokin House range and the mackerel has been a big hit. It’s probably one of the most popular of the smoked fish, even with kids. Smoked mackerel has such a unique and versatile flavour and lends itself well to making a pâté. You can make this and keep it in the fridge for snacking on or serve it as a light lunch, or at a dinner party snack.

INGREDIENTS

• 200-250g smoked mackerel fillet with all of the skin and bones removed

• About 200g crème fraîche

• Salt and cayenne pepper

• Toast and lemon, to serve

Serves 4 - 6

DIRECTIONS

1. Put the smoked mackerel into a food processor with half of the crème fraîche and a little salt and cayenne pepper and blend until smooth.

2. Add more crème fraîche and seasoning to taste.

3. Refrigerate and serve with toast and lemon and some salad leaves if you wish.

Hix Smokin’ House range can be ordered online for nationwide delivery. Christmas hampers are also available. chesilsmokery.co.uk

MARK HIX

George Egg - Set Menu

A COMEDIAN who has been described as “a culinary Bill Bailey with chopping boards instead of keyboards” (The Scotsman) comes to Dorset on a three-date Artsreach tour, from 27th to 29th January.

George Egg cooks food while making you laugh. In the last five years or so, he has toured three shows, including DIY Chef and cooked more than a thousand dishes, all of them in front of a live audience, none of them with a kitchen!

The new show, George Egg: Set Menu, is a tasting treat of the best bits, the most delicious jokes and the funniest food—three meals cooked live and you even get to try it at the end.

In a show that is totally different from anything else you’ll see, George Egg serves up a unique blend of live gourmet cooking in the most unconventional ways, while performing a comedic lecture.

You may have seen George on Steph’s Packed Lunch (C4), heard him on Loose Ends (BBC R4) and encountered him online where he has had more than a million views.

George Egg will be at Yetminster’s Jubilee Hall on Friday 27th January, Burton Bradstock village hall on Saturday 28th and Lytchett Matravers village hall on Sunday 29th all at 7.30pm.

Tales of Transgression

Described as a ‘searing examination of human mobility at the margins’ a new book cowritten by authors from Bridport and London is a deeply thoughtful exploration of women’s free and unfree movement. Alex Blanchard and Alex Howlett spoke to Fergus Byrne.

Although the title may be a play on the comic book heroine, Wonder Woman, a character whose strengths include empathy, compassion, and a strong conscience, a new book, Wander Women, lets readers hear the voices of many of those who, in the face of often hidden adversity, share those same strengths. Described as an exploration of women’s free and unfree movement, Wander Women examines and highlights the borders that restrict women’s movement through the world, whether due to gender, disability, race, faith, or migration.

Co-authored by Alex Blanchard and Alex Howlett, the book is ‘very much in the business of questioning and discarding labels’ by sharing the voices of those labelled. It also calls out the dehumanising descriptions used in the media such as ‘swarm’, ‘hoard’, migrant crisis’, and ‘flood of migrants’. By putting voices to the stories of those caught up in gender, disability, or migrant traps Wander Women shines a light into places that few of us would otherwise see.

The story began when Bridport’s Alex Blanchard and London-based journalist Alex Howlett found they were both researching the lives of women in displaced situations. A suggestion to write a book about the Saharawi, an ethnic group native to the Western Sahara, many of whom live in Algerian refugee camps after their land was ceded to Morocco from Spain, was quickly expanded to include stories of displacement and boundaries in many situations, even those restricted by gender. ‘It felt very limiting if we were talking about women to not talk about trans women or non-binary people’ said Alex Blanchard. They also agreed that when talking about movement it felt integral to be talking about mobility and structures other than physical borders. ‘Because we are not just talking about physical borders’ continued Alex. ‘We’re talking about borders of race, borders of wealth. There’s so many various layers of discrimination that come into whether or not people are allowed to move.’

Those interviewed range in age from 24 to 96. There are heartbreaking stories such as that of Ari who was born to Armenian parents in the Georgian capital Tblisi. Her childhood was lived through the Georgian civil war. The family escaped to Russia where Ari married and then moved to the UK to live in Bournemouth. But her sense of not belonging followed her everywhere. ‘I don’t speak Armenian’ she says ‘I don’t speak Georgian. I speak Russian and I live in the UK. If somebody asks me where I’m from I answer “Everywhere”’. Despite the safety of living in England, she suffered from an abusive, controlling husband and her marriage broke down. She fled to a refuge in London where her appeal for refugee status began. When, after many years of fear and mental torture she was granted refugee status she joyfully told her children ‘We are free’. Ironically she found that her children hadn’t seen the same boundaries and felt free the whole time.

There is also the story of Eva, the daughter of Anka and Bernd who were both in Auschwitz. Eva was conceived in Terezín Concentration Camp. Bernd was German first and Jewish second. ‘They suffered at the hands of the Nazis because of their ethnicity rather than their faith’ says Eva. When Anka was found to be pregnant she had to sign a document agreeing that when her baby was born it would be handed over to be euthanized. The baby, named Jiri, was spared the death sentence but died of pneumonia after two months. Eva points out that Jiri’s death meant that she lived because if Anka had arrived at Auschwitz with a baby they would have both gone straight to the gas chambers.

Returning to Prague after the war Anka tried to reclaim her citizenship but as she had married a German she was considered German because in many countries the wife takes on the nationality of their husband. The authors cite a case study that shows gender discrimination in nationality law, though forbidden in the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women in 1981, abounds in at least twenty-six countries.

Dr Jessi Parrott who uses the pronouns they/them is an actor and writer with cerebral palsy. Jessi’s story highlights how the UK welfare state hasn’t always treated disabled and neurodivergent people well. In particular, Jessi talks about means-tested benefits which are withdrawn if someone marries. The recipient is left reliant on their partner for financial support. ‘We’re not pets to be kept’ says Jessi. The system is further exposed with figures showing that in 2019 in England and Wales, disabled women were more than twice as likely to have experienced domestic abuse than non-disabled women. This abuse may include withholding medication, food or personal care, or access to aids that provide independence.

Piretta, escaping forced Female Genital Mutilation in The Gambia shares the fear that asylum seekers have of being sent to a detention centre while seeking asylum. She points out that ‘detention centres are essentially prisons.’ Alphare, originally from Uganda fled to Kenya because she is transgender but ended up in a refugee camp where the stigmatism is just as bad. She locks herself away, living in constant fear. Dorothy Bohm, a photographer who fled the Nazis as a young girl and didn’t see her family again for twenty years says she can’t take ‘ugly’ or ‘nasty’ photographs as she says ‘there’s no need’. Ugliness has been an uninvited companion to so many of those who have been displaced.

’It seems like a wide array of interviewees but they are all linked’ explained Alex Blanchard. They are linked by the question of how does someone’s identity affect how they move around the world? ‘And that’s their gender identity, their racial identity, etc.’ It is also about the question of how a woman might move around a city at night or how a disabled woman might get on an airplane or how a trans person might deal with security at an airport.

Through the diversity of stories, the book also reminds us of the difficulties for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants today. People are trapped in detention centres and refugee camps for months, years, and in some cases decades. Their only crime is that of movement. Most are seeking a better life or escaping horrific abuse. Alex Howlett says one aim of the book is ‘to counter the xenophobic, hateful narratives that have encouraged so many pretty awful policies, specifically in the UK.’ She hopes the result might make readers with different politics think again about the alienating ideas they might have around migration ‘...maybe make people think a little differently.’

One of the many telling comments in the book comes in the story of Patrice, a Windrush wife from St Lucia. The book highlights author Leah Cowan’s description of the paradox of Windrush where advertisements crowed about what a great place England was to come to. Cowan says: ‘Britain’s only consistent export is its own inflated sense of its own greatness, and yet outrage is meted out to anyone who wishes to cross its borders and venture in.’ This is an observation that might be made about many western nations.

Wander Women makes the point that current systems push undocumented people into riskier parts of the economy and that until the government develops policies that help migrants to be safely and respectfully settled, illicit and dangerous channel crossings will continue, and more lives will be lost.

Wander Women: Tales of Transgression in a Bordered World By Alex Blanchard and Alex Howlett is published by Hurst Publishing in December 2022 ISBN 9781787387973.

There will be a local launch at Waterstones in Bridport on January 19th at 6pm.

Alex Howlett is currently a reporter with Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit, and previously wrote for the Financial Times.

Alexandra Blanchard is a writer, teacher and host of the podcast The Grand Thunk.

GALLERIES January

Until 30 December

Kit Glaisyer Christmas Exhibition Small & affordable works, oil sketches, prints, books, Cafe Royals, West Country landscape, and figurative pieces. Open on Wednesdays & Saturdays from 10am-4pm or by appointment. Bridport Contemporary Gallery, 11 Downes Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3JR 07983 465789 www.bridportcontemporary.com @bridportcontemporary.

Until 31 December

John Hodgson Exhibition John is a self taught artist based in Ilminster, Somerset. His works are often heavily inspired by fantasy, mythology, folklore and also the natural world, often in combination. Using mainly Graphite and Ink also gilding/ watercolour to add the occasional splash of colour to his work. His other creative work is as a traditional and artistic Fletcher, creating arrows for display, historical enactment/collection and art pieces, using mainly historic methods and materials and has been featured in Somerset Magazine and articles. He is also a long term martial artist/writer and teaches/trains in the art of Kenpo and also Self Defence. Open daily 8.30am - 4pm at Unique Framecraft, Unit’s 4 - 5 Millwey Rise Workshops, Second Avenue, Axminster.EX13 5HH Telephone 01297 631614 or 07801 260259. Instagram:- @uniqueframecraft. What three words :- warned.tasteful.elaborate. Halstock Art Group currently have an exhibition of paintings in the Yarn Barton Gallery, Fleet Street, Beaminster. Monday to Saturday 9.30 to 12.30am.

1 - 28 January

Rose Richards Exhibition Guest artist Rose will be displaying her beautiful large expressive florals of acrylics on paper. This is the first time that Rose has exhibited with us and viewing is highly recommended to appreciate her stunning artwork! Open daily from 8.30 - 4pm at Unique Framecraft, Unit’s 4 - 5 Millwey Rise Workshops, Second Avenue, Axminster. EX13 5HH Telephone 01297 631614 or 07801 260259. Instagram:- @uniqueframecraft . What3words:warned. tasteful.elaborate

Until 4 January

Linocuts Helen Murgatroyd Double Elephant Gallery, Exeter Phoenix. Based in Bude, North Cornwall, Helen makes linocuts centred round themes of food, work and rural life. Her practise is rooted in observational drawing.

“In my sketchbooks I document the community I live and work in. In the studio, working directly from my drawings, I develop prints that tell visual stories of the places and people I meet.” This selling exhibition showcases prints from an ongoing series based on the farm where Helen lives and works, alongside some prints from an artist residency in Nepal where Helen documented daily rituals in a rural mountain village. The recipient of many printmaking awards, Helen was voted Printmakers’ Printmaker by her peers at Printfest in 2019.

Helen Murgatroyd, Linocuts at Exeter Pheonix until January 4.

Until 8 January

Unwrapped: A Festive Exhibition Get festive preparation done early with the opening of SSW Shop’s ‘All Wrapped Up’: a special selling exhibition featuring some of the best handmade decorations, tableware, greetings cards and gift inspiration our local artistic community has to offer. Sou’-Sou’West Arts Gallery, Symondsbury Estate, Bridport DT6 6HG. Open daily 10:30-4:30. Free admission & parking. Contact 01308 301326 www.sousouwest. co.uk.

14 January – 4 March

A Language of Seeds Series of photographs by Devon-based artist Léonie Hampton celebrating her vegetable garden, family and friends while responding to Royal Albert Memorial Museum’s botany collection. Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm. Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Dowell St, Honiton EX14 1LX thelmahulbert. com. 01404 45006.

Until 15 January

Keeping It Small Mini-mosaics by Allan Punton, Alison Hepburn, Manya McMahon and Janet Ventre Rotunda Gallery, Lyme Regis Museum, Bridge St, Lyme Regis DT7 3QA, Tues-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun 10am-4pm, www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk

18 January - 5 March

Portraits of Golden Cap Local artist Edward Hall draws inspiration from the iconic form and setting of this highest point on the south coast. Rotunda Gallery, Lyme Regis Museum, Bridge St, Lyme Regis DT7 3QA, Tues/Wed-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun 10am-4pm, www. lymeregismuseum.co.uk

Until 28 January

David Inshaw recent paintings, drawings and prints. Petter Southall furniture. Sladers Yard, West Bay Road, West Bay, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL. Wed to Sat 10am - 4.30pm. Café Sladers and the ground floor gallery are also open Sundays 10am - 4pm. Admission free. 01308 459511. www.sladersyard.co.uk.

Moments of Vision

GALLERIES IN FEBRUARY

DAVID INSHAW’S paintings are alive with light effects, trees, birds in flight, bonfires and figures not posing but caught up in their own inner lives. He paints the things that matter to him, from the planes he loved as a boy living at Biggin Hill to clouds that stop him in his tracks. His landscapes are real places, interpreted through memory and dream in paintings that are both intensely personal and universal in their potency. The ‘Moments of Vision’ exhibition at Slader’s Yard in West Bay continues until January 28.

David Inshaw. Oak Tree with Rainbow. 2021. Oil on canvas. 30″ x 30″. 76 x 76cm. £20,000

David Inshaw. Homage to Alf. 2022. Oil on canvas. 40″ x 40″. 101.5 x 101.5cm. £25,000

PREVIEW January

The Charlie Parker Story

LYME REGIS

CHARLIE Parker, known as “Bird”, was one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time, leaving a legacy that continues to resonate, nearly 70 years after his tragically early death at the age of 34. That legacy is celebrated in a concert at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, on Sunday 15th January.

Philip Clouts, the theatre’s resident jazz pianist, and star saxophonist Neil Maya tell the Charlie Parker Story in a special Jazz in the Bar event. Hear the music and story of the alto saxophonist who created a new genre in jazz, bebop, with fast tempos, virtuosic technique and advanced harmonies.

The two musicians will recreate some of Charlie’s finest compositions as well as some great jazz standards that he brought to prominence. In between numbers Neil will talk about Charlie’s eventful and troubled short life and the influence he had on jazz.

Saxophonist Neil Maya plays in many jazz bands including the Drat Pack, All Jazzed Up, the nationally touring Magnificent Buble, and his own quartet. He has been praised for his“electrifying performance with crisp melody lines and improvisation.”

Listen out for many of Charlie Parker’s most famous compositions and recordings including Ornithology, Yardbird Suite, Now’s the Time, Blues For Alice, Cherokee and more.

Miles Davis once said: “You can tell the history of jazz in four words: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker.”

Welsh stand-up in Dorset LYME REGIS

WELSH stand-up comedian Robin Morgan comes to Lyme Regis Comedy Club at the Marine Theatre on Friday 20th January, heading a line-up that includes a fellow native Welshman, David Arnold and the club’s resident host, Tom Glover.

Robin Morgan has appeared on comedy favourites Mock

Neil Maya and Philip Clouts tell the Charlie Parker Story at Lyme Regis’ Marine Theatre

The Week (BBC Two), The News Quiz, The Now Show (BBC Radio 4) and co-created Ellie Taylor’s Safe Space (BBC Radio 4). He also created and starred on topical panel show What Just Happened? (BBC One). He stars in Kenneth-Branagh-starring drama This England (Sky Atlantic).

He has performed four solo shows at the Edinburgh Festival, his debut in 2016 received glowing reviews.

David Arnold now lives in the West Country and is one third of the Plymouth Comedy Tours team that hosts a “funny city” tour around the historic naval town.

Another Kanneh-Mason prodigy DORCHESTER

THE Kanneh-Mason clan is a uniquely talented family of young musicians, led by pianist Isata and cellist Sheku, who are already familiar from solo

appearances and concerto performances in major concert halls and at the Proms.

Now, their sister Jeneba, also a pianist, comes for a concert with Dorchester Arts on Friday 29th January at the Corn Exchange at 8pm.

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason is already captivating audiences with her mature performances and interpretations. She recently made her BBC Proms debut with the Chineke! Orchestra, performing the Florence Price Concerto and was heralded by the press as “demonstrating musical insight, technical acuity, and an engaging performing persona.”

Jeneba was a keyboard category finalist in BBC Young Musician 2018, winner of the Murs du Son Prize at the Lagny-Sur-Marne International Piano Competition in France in 2014, and the Nottingham Young Musician 2013. She won the Iris Dyer Piano Prize at the Royal Academy of Music, Junior Academy, where she studied with Patsy Toh.

The sounds of silents

WINTERBORNE STICKLAND

FRANK Borzage was one of the most distinctive of the early Hollywood directors. In an absorbing and poignant glimpse of a bygone time, two of his silent movie ‘shorts’ are brought vividly to life with an original score performed by Sonic Silents, at Winterborne Stickland’s Pamela Hambro Hall on Saturday 21st January.

The Pitch o Chance and The Pilgrim are adventure films that evoke a world of hobos, travelling men, cowboys and adventurous women, and the moral and practical dilemmas to which their precarious lives lead them.

Sonic Silents are a trio of old-time country and bluegrass musicians featuring Kate Lissauer, champion fiddler and leader of The Buffalo Gals, Leon Hunt, widely regarded as the best five-string banjo player in the country, and Jason Titley, one of the UK’s finest bluegrass guitarist.

The films offer an absorbing and poignant glimpse of a bygone time and of the creative forces that shaped the

film-making industry.

Sonic Silents will also be at Studland village hall on Sunday 22nd; both events start at 7.30pm.

I saw Elvis down the village hall SANDFORD ORCAS & BUCKLAND NEWTON SPITZ & Co, whose previous visits to Dorset have been characterised by eccentric and hilarious ventures into Roman life and grand French melodrama, are back with a new comedy, The Elvis Show, on a short Artsreach tour to Sandford Orcas village hall on Friday 13th January and Buckland Newton village hall on Saturday 14th.

Award-winning Elvis impersonator Joe Reeve stars in his own version of the classic Elvis film Blue Hawaii. Assisted by his over-enthusiastic tour manager, Josephine Cunningham, he creates a musical comedy which will leave you all shook up.

Expect the usual Spitz mayhem and lots of audience interaction, plus all your favourite Elvis song. Dig out your best Hawaiian shirt and escape to Paradise!

The show is also at the Allendale Centre at Wimborne on Sunday 15th January. All performances begin at 7.30pm.

New BSO residency

YEOVIL

THE Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra will have a new Somerset residency at Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre, providing greater access to world-class music for local communities, when the theatre, which is managed by South Somerset District Council, reopens after a £29m transformation to become a flagship cultural venue for the South West.

As resident orchestra, local audiences will have access to more symphonic performances by the BSO and its international conductors and soloists, alongside more family-friendly BSO On Your Doorstep chamber-scale concerts, workshops and events.

Sonic Silents celebrates the genius of silent film director Frank Borzage

The partnership will see a regular concert series at the venue alongside an exciting and ambitious education and outreach programme designed to bring world-class musical opportunities to residents and visitors of Somerset.

The theatre plans include increasing the number of seats from 622 to 900, with vastly improved acoustics in the main auditorium and additional performance and participatory spaces. There will also be an arts engagement outreach programme that will create more opportunities for people to engage and benefit from the creative arts through schools, performances, workshops, regular classes and special projects that will focus on those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Octagon theatre manager, Adam Burgan said: “I am absolutely delighted that we can announce this partnership with the amazing Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. As one of UK’s best loved orchestras it will be fantastic to make the developed Octagon Theatre their new home in Somerset. Everyone deserves the opportunity to listen, watch and be inspired by music. Work with BSO’s amazing Participate team will create more opportunities for our communities to have access to and be enriched by BSO’s talented musicians.”

Councillor Mike Best, who is chairman of Somerset Council and South Somerset’s portfolio for health and wellbeing, says: “For too long our residents have had to travel outside of Somerset to experience the type of performances and projects that this partnership will bring.

“Our ambitious and forward-thinking plans to develop the Octagon Theatre into a flagship regional centre of excellence for the arts are already proving to be a catalyst for change with South Somerset designated a ‘priority

place’ for Arts Council England. I am thrilled to see this partnership develop, which I hope will be the first of many.”

Following the success of three BSO On Your Doorstep events at Westlands in 2022, there will be more of these concerts, aimed at introducing people of all ages to live classical music in a relaxed environment, as well as schools concerts this year.

Local premiere for Dorset composer BRIDPORT

THE Bridport-based New Elizabethan Singers will give the first public performance of work by a local composer in their concert on 28th January.

Matthew Coleridge’s joyous and melodic Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis will be featured ahead of its inclusion on a CD to be released in February. Also on the programme is Benjamin Britten’s entertaining and dramatic cantata Saint Nicolas. It’s the same saint who became mythologised as Santa Claus but this is the life-story of the historic fourth century Bishop of Myra rather than of the distributor of Christmas presents. Vaughan Williams’ most famous choral works, his ‘Five Mystical Songs’ completes the programme.

The concert, at St. Swithun’s Church, Bridport starts at 7pm on Saturday, 28th January. Tickets and more information at thenewelizabethansingers.org.uk

Comedy at the Corn Exchange DORCHESTER

WE are all going to need some laughs in the New Year, with the way the world is going, so look out for Mike Wozniak with Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on

Screen Time

with Nic Jeune

Top Six at the Flix

Plaza Cinema Dorchester A Man Called Otto (2022)

The film stars Tom Hanks as the titular Otto, a grumpy widower who enjoys tormenting his neighbours. The original Swedish film A Man Called Ove (2015) is available on Mubi.

The Electric Palace Bridport Call Jane (2022)

“Director Phyllis Nagy has crafted a subdued but affecting portrait of that time, strengthened by deft performances from Elizabeth Banks as a sheltered suburban mother whose eyes are opened and Sigourney Weaver as the leader of an underground abortion-facilitation service.” Screen Daily. Tim Grierson.

The Menu (2022)

“The Menu is a hilariously wicked thriller about the world of high-end restaurants, featuring a stellar cast led by a phenomenal Ralph Fiennes” IGN. Rafael Motamayor.

Bridport Arts Centre Big v Small (2020)

Part of The Bridport Film Society’s season “Joana Andrade’s accomplishments can be framed in simple metrics: She increased gender equity in her sport, she surfed massive waves, but most importantly she came to terms with her trauma. I’m not giving something away by revealing that. I found myself revelling in her journey, framed like the classic Hero’s Journey, and her growth and experience.” Films Gone Wild. Daniel Pappas.

Netflix

The Pale Blue Eye (2022)

An adaptation of the 2006 gothic thriller of the same name by Louis Bayard, about a series of fictional murders in 1830 at West Point Academy, where an odd, young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe is currently attending.

Amazon A Hero (2021)

Winner of Grand Prix at Cannes 2021.

“It’s a superb morality play that immerses us deeply in a society’s values and rituals and keeps us guessing right to its powerful final shot.” Time Out. David Calhoun.

27th January, and the great Rich Hall coming to Dorchester’s Thomas Hardye School theatre on 10th February.

Mike Wozniak will be telling the story of how his Great-Aunt Zusa made it from Poland to Luton with a war nipping at her heels. It may not sound like the stuff of stand-up, but this comedian who has delighted audiences with his appearances on Taskmaster, Channel 4’s Man Down, and BBC’s Would I Lie to You will find plenty to entertain the audience.

Meanwhile in February, fresh on the heels of his critically acclaimed memoirs, Nailing It, Rich Hall, Montana’s transatlantic messenger returns with new rants, knife-edge observations, thrilling musical interludes and his formidable knack for laughs on the fly. You’ll pay for the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge of it.

Close harmony from Vermont DORCHESTER AND WOOTTON FITZPAINE

WINDBORNE, a vocal quartet from Vermont, return to Dorset in January with concerts at Dorchester Corn Exchange on Sunday 15th at 7pm, and at Wootton Fitzpaine village hall on Thursday 19th and Morden hall on Friday 20th, both starting at 7.30pm.

The ensemble specialises in close harmony singing, shifting effortlessly between dramatically different styles of traditional music. Their musical knowledge spans many continents and cultures, but they remain deeply rooted in American folk singing traditions. Their live shows draw on the singers’ deep roots in traditions of vocal harmony.

With a 20-year background studying polyphonic music around the world, Lauren Breunig, Jeremy Carter-Gordon, Lynn Rowan, and Will Rowan share an exciting energy on stage with a blending of voices that can only come

from decades of friendship alongside dedicated practice.

All graduates of the long-established Northern Harmony group, the Windborne ensemble educate as they entertain, sharing stories about their songs and explaining the context and characteristics of the styles in which they sing.

At Wootton Fitzpaine, Windborne will also lead a vocal harmony workshop from 5 to 6pm.

New trustees needed SWANAGE

THE Mowlem Theatre, the arts venue for the Purbecks and Swanage, is appealing for new trustees to join the board.

Under its new and energetic management, the Mowlem has become a vibrant centre of cultural life for Swanage and the surrounding area, taking part in Purbeck Film Festival, showing more than 200 films a year, and putting on around 100 nights of live theatre and music, including local schools and amateur societies as well as professional productions.

The Mowlem has just launched its business plan and entering an exciting new phase in its development. The current trustees are looking for three peoples to join the board. Applicants should have an interest in the arts, and the enthusiasm, skills and commitment to continue the development of the theatre as a central part of Purbeck life.

The trustees are looking in particular for a trustee with a background in HR and health and safety. Further details and a trustee information pack can be obtained from admin@themowlem.com.

The Young Lit Fix

Walker Books RRP £12.99

Recommended by Nicky Mathewson for ages 4 and up.

“DR MORLEY absolutely loves jellyfish. All her life she has been fascinated by the idea of finding a jellyfish which everyone talks about but no one has ever seen: the giant Arctic jellyfish.”

In this new picture book by illustrator Chloe Savage, we join Dr Morley on her expedition to the North Pole in search of the giant Arctic jellyfish.

There is a map of the Arctic Circle, expedition kit and gorgeous double page spreads of cross sections of their vessel, in which we see the crew on board in various rooms doing various activities.

There is a sense of busyness on board which contrasts with the calm depths of the ocean. The journey reveals many northern delights and we are treated to Orcas, Narwhals, Belugas and even the Aurora Borealis. The jellyfish however, is proving to be very illusive, but who is that watching, hiding between icebergs?

Could it be...

Everything about this book from the quality of the paper to the colour palette, is sumptuous. The rich sea blues and greens contrast against the red sea vessel and the crew’s red jumpers. Chloe’s illustration is exquisite, atmospheric and fun, and the story is completely charming.

This magical new picture book is a perfect winter read for children age 4+.

10% off for Marshwood Vale readers at The Bookshop on South Street, Bridport. 01308 422964 www.dorsetbooks.com

The Search For The Giant Arctic Jellyfish by Chloe Savage

Windborne vocal quartet bring their sublime harmonies to Dorchester and Wootton Fitzpaine

To Statin or

not

to

Statin?

That is the Question asked by Christopher Roper

It has never been easier to find advice on how to maintain one’s health, nor harder to decide what advice to accept and act on, and what to reject. I recently received a letter from our general practice, recommending me to take statins, on the grounds that they can reduce my chance of suffering heart disease and strokes.

Whether or not you receive such a letter depends on your QRisk2 score, which is partly determined by your cholesterol levels, but overwhelmingly by your age. It is quite likely that a high proportion of Marshwood Vale readers that are aged 70 or more will be taking a daily statin. The letter, on first reading, seemed quite convincing, but one sentence bothered me:

“The current evidence suggests that if we treat 20 people who have a risk of 10-19% for ten years then we would prevent one person from having a heart attack or stroke”. At 83, in reasonably good health, my chance of living for another 10 years must be worse than 50:50. So improving my chances by half a percent a year doesn’t seem to be a great result.

Furthermore, I have heard anecdotal evidence that statins bring side effects, notably muscle pains and an increased chance of diabetes. I know of one person in our village who stopped taking the pills because they affected his ability to work. However, it is very hard to argue with your doctor who is only doing her job and following national guidelines.

I began to collect further information and a recently retired doctor suggested I read two books by a Scottish doctor, Malcolm Kendrick, who has been raising warnings about statins for many years. Both books are readable and require no more than a fleeting acquaintance with organic chemistry, and some numeracy, to follow his reasoning. I first read A Statin Nation, which convinced

me not to accept the proffered pills, and then A Clot Thickens, which suggests that doctors have been barking up the wrong tree for the past 70 years in their search for the cause of heart disease and how to prevent it.

I have tried in vain to find a book, aimed at the lay reader that counters Dr. Kendrick’s arguments with the same level of lucidity and numeracy. All one finds are unsupported assertions that Dr Kendrick and other statin sceptics are risking lives. Dr Kendrick thinks the argument is driven by money, and he could be right. The annual value of the statin market globally is 14 billion dollars today and projected to reach 17 billion dollars by 2027.

Two parallel examples are provided by the cigarette makers, who spent millions of dollars asserting that cigarettes didn’t harm your health, even after Professor Richard Doll and his colleagues had conclusively proved otherwise, and the oil companies which have only recently slowed their efforts to deny the role of the human use of hydrocarbons in climate change. Possibly statins don’t have malign consequences on the same scale, but the parallels are quite significant.

I should say that I hugely appreciate the value of modern medicine. Without the care I have received at Dorset County Hospital, I would be dead twice over, and not sitting at home writing this article. Without two cataract operations, I would be functionally blind. So I find myself in a bind when I doubt my doctor’s advice.

If I tried to précis Dr Kendrick’s arguments, I would almost certainly oversimplify, and possibly misrepresent them. However, if you are taking statins, or have been recommended to take them, I urge you to read his books. You will certainly have a more informed view of the statin controversy.

SITUATIONS VACANT

Cleaner required Five bed beautiful house, busy family. 5 mins from Bridport. Please call or text & leave message on 07765666775

Gardener required to work approx one day per week all the year around. Good knowledge of horticulture a must. Please call Tina 07720254626 for further information. Thank you.

TUITION

Lime Mortar Repairs One-to-one hands-on tuition. Ben 07497 477817

Pegasus Rocking horse 1970s vintage, with a brown body, can supply photo. £60. 01297 22603. Seaton.

Bike, Gents Dawes, Blue urban/ tourer, 24 Shimano gears, 28” wheel, 22” frame, superb condition, Sprung seat, rear rack, double panniers, front/rear lights, new tyres, lights, pump, spares etc. £15000. 07969 278804 text preferred.

Draper ElectronicSafe £20 01308 422879.

Morphy Richards Fastbake breadmaker. Used only once. In very good condition. Recipe booklet. £30 or near offer. Sidford. Tel 07831316536.

Zest 2m wood garden obelisks £25 each or

FOR SALE

£40 pair, black cast iron boot rack £35, large and small strawberry planters £15 both. 01460 73991. Merriott. Antique pine welsh dresser, 3 glass doors, 2 drawers, 2 doors, 1800mm h x 1300mm w. £200. 01935 891643. Brand new and unused adjustable profile bed usable for disabled person. Deep memory foam mattress, safety rails included, cost £1500 offers around £600. 01258 880027.

Large indoor cage –45cms high x 55ms deep x94cms long with hay rack, bowl and water bottle, suit rabbit or guinea pig. £20. Collection from Ash near

Martock. 07799 006109. Hutch well made, solid, with felted roof. 53cms high x 48cms deep x 115cms long. Separate bedroom and living areas. £40. Collection from Ash near Martock. 07799 006109.

Marklin train set. 1960s vintage 2919 Tin Track with old catalogue. Do not know if even runs. In a box, lots of it. £35ono. 077303 76626.

New Blind by Hilary’s Blinds, pleated pale grey thermal £25, (unused cost £100) width 18” drop 38”. New Teddy Bear 10” tall Burberry scarf £5. 07500 592119.

18” Sony TV, good condition, with remote.

£20. 2nd Crewsaver adult life jackets, unused in original covers. £30. 01297 560251.

Jigsaws, Four 1000 piece by Ravensburger, artist Colin Thompson. Excellent condition. £7 each. £25 the four. 01308 427113.

Boat Anchor Rope, 25m long Polyester 16mm diameter, in good condition, white 3 strand. £25. 07905 627483. Drive 3 wheel aluminium rollator new July 2021, little use, £75ono. 01300 341655. Cerne Abbas. Pair Bang and Olufsen speakers. Three per cabinet. Teak finish, excellent condition. £145. 07745 572196.

WANTED

Vintage & antique textiles, linens, costume buttons etc. always sought by Caroline Bushell. Tel. 01404 45901. Oct 22

Dave buys all types of tools 01935 428975 Jan 23

Coins wanted. Part or full collections purchased for cash. Please phone John on 01460 62109 Jan 23

Wanted - Old Enamel signs, slot machines, advertising, Military items, Interesting Items and collections, 07875 677897 Mar 23

CHIMNEY SWEEP ELECTRICAL

DISTRIBUTION

RESTORATION

FURNITURE. Antique Restoration and Bespoke Furniture. Furniture large and small carefully restored and new commissions undertaken. City and Guilds qualified. Experienced local family firm. Phil Meadley 01297 560335 Mar 23

FOR SALE

Quad 22 Amplifier preamp two power amps. One Quad II; One Rogers. Fully serviced and balanced. Great Valve sound. £845. 07745 572196.

Ladies’ Coats 18 camel, light brown military styles £75 each, waterproof maroon storm cape, new £85. 01308 459039.

Jigsaws Four 1000 piece

by Ravensbruk. Artist Colin Thompson. As new £7 each. £25 the four. 01308 427113.

Free-standing tumble dryer, two settings, thermos-stat and timer. Good working order. £40ono. Phone anytime 07591 058862.

Guitar. CF Martin & Co. Acoustic Dreadnought

reason sale. £325. Dorchester 07719 535094.

Einhell Telescopic Hedge Trimmer, electric with instructions, not used, £60. 01460 72708.

Prodec Advance Telescopic ladder with stabiliser and instructions. Not used. £80. 3.8mtr. 01460 72708.

Gents Dress Suit worn twice size 36/38 £40. Rabbit soft cuddly toy, brand new £15. Gents black leather jacket ex cond. size 38/40 chest. £35. 01935 412892.

Crossword Solver Seiko Oxford ER3600 model, brand new in original box, cost £65. Accept £20. 01305 871089.

Ikea Black metal Futon sofabed with blue/white striped mattress. £100. 01308 897488 (Burton Bradstock).

Levi’s 501 jeans: 34 w Zip Blue Slim, still labelled,2 prs; 34 w

Button Blue 1 pr; 32 w Button Blue 2 prs; 32 w Button Black 1 pr. £100 the lot. 01308 897488.

Kawai Digital Piano CN290 multi function sounds. Full size, floor standing, stool inc. As new £750. 01308 456039. Four saddles, various, all good condition, 16” – 17 ½” all £300 or less. Long boots, 8, £20. Plus others. 01935 473188.

Wheel clamp SAS 10”15” wheels, boxed, key. £25. Cupcake stand 41 piece, new, £10. Brand new tyre, Bridgstone 195/55 15 on five stud wheel. £35. Cable reel 50m 4 sockets. £20. 01460 54578. 07939 553167.

Rocking Horse ‘dapple’ markings, leather saddle+

harness, TLC to main, 45” length, 31” To saddle. Lovely face, heavy. Pics available, lovely condition. £575ovno. 01460 54578. 07939 553167.

Garden table and four chairs, cast aluminium, white painted, very good condition, small repair one chair. Heavy. Central umbrella hole. Pics available. £235 ovno. 01460 54578. 07939 553167.

Hohner Melodica soprano, green/cream spare mouthpiece £35. Central heating controls, Drayton lifestyle controls/ Temp control (instructions) £25. Bosch Drill PSB18 L1-2 boxed, charger, spare battery. £25. 01460 54578. 07939 553167.

Big Button BT telephone, no longer

required, good working order, clean, £10ono. 01759 1058862 anytime. Black Glass and chrome corner TV stand, excellent condition with 2 shelves, ca send photo. £30. 01460 55450.

Bed single, blow up, still boxed, £10. Chair ‘Rest Assured’ make that folds out into single bed,, used for visiting grandchildren, comfy but faded fabric, £15. Lots of plants under £3. 01297 443930. M&S Boxer shorts small new 3 pair packs labelled £10. Sell £5. Girl’s jeans M&S ‘Indigo’ slim leg, size 8 new. Unworn. £10. Men’s England rugby shirt still tagged @ £34.99 size L, £15. 01297 443930. G Plan Teak cabinet circa 1960’s, 2 doors, 2 full size 2 half size drawers, one is lined for jewellery

storage. £45. 01297 443930.

Men’s shirts M&S all new unworn, one XL red tartan tagged £19.50 in wrapper, one XXL green check tagged £19.50, £10 each. One 15 ½ collar blue stripe regular fit, one 15 ½ pure cotton white tailored fit all, all £10. Brand new in wrapper. 01297 443930.

Ikea Pello Rocking chairs cream. Fair condition £30 pair. Marks and Spencer Brookland Side Tables, new £60 pair. 01308 868752.

Decorative Lounge Shelf lights as new. Complete with LED bulbs, both wave dimmers chrome. £10 each. Chair/ sofa raisers, fit all, as new condition, £10. Very sturdy. 01308 423620. PM. Bridport.

FREE ADS for items under £1,000

This FREE ADS FORM is for articles for sale, where the sale price is under £1000 (Private advertisers only — no trade, motor, animals, firearms etc). Just fill in the form and send it to the Marshwood Vale Magazine, Lower Atrim, Bridport, Dorset DT6 5PX or email the text to info@marshwoodvale.com. Unfortunately due to space constraints there is no guarantee of inclusion of free ads. We reserve the right to withhold advertisements. For guaranteed classified advertising please use ‘Classified Ads’ form

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