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THE

© Mary Kahn Photograph by Robin Mills

The best from West Dorset, South Somerset and East Devon No. 296 November 2023

COVER STORY Robin Mills met Mary Kahn in Lyme Regis

© Mary Kahn Photograph by Robin Mills

’I

spent the first 17 years of my life in Winnersh, which was then a small village in Berkshire. As a youngster I helped my mum with Meals on Wheels, visiting a whole host of different people who relied on this support for one hot meal a day. This was my first memory of being involved with community support, something my mum has always done, and is still volunteering at 84.

After A levels I worked in Colorado au pairing for a 4-year-old girl who had the world’s first pig valve implanted successfully for a heart defect. I managed to travel a little in the US, then on my return I started my Registered General Nurse (RGN) training at Guys Hospital, London, learning my profession in the old-fashioned style. We were inspected by Matron before being allowed on the ward.

No make-up, clean nails, polished shoes, hair off our collar, and our hats had to be pristine! I lived in a tiny but functional room in the Nurses’ Home on site right by London Bridge…it really was great fun! Six months after starting training I was left in charge of an acute medical ward on a block of nights, so they really did throw us in at the deep end. Nonetheless, I always felt well supported by the Matron, and the amazing auxiliaries—these days called Health Care Assistants—who had such enormous experience and

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 3

Mary Kahn

didn’t appear to be phased by anything. It was a great way to learn the job, very much patient led. My first salary, which at the time felt like a lot of money, was £2100 per year. During my 3-year training I flat-shared in various parts of south London, Camberwell Green, Peckham, and Sydenham. In those days if you had a student nurse’s card you could get a free lift home in a black cab after midnight, which I made use of many times! I was very proud to qualify as an RGN in 1989.

I worked in Orthopaedics for a while on Queens Ward, right at the top of the tower with incredible views over London. I then moved to Somerset, and then Axminster, left nursing, and worked in the health care industry, initially in pharmaceuticals. Later I worked in orthopaedics for a company that made hip, knee, and other implants.

My husband Bruce and I moved with our children and pets to our current home in 2003. After leaving St. Marys’ RC Primary School, Axminster, our three children went to The Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis. I became involved with the PTFA and then as a governor, a post I held for 12 years. During the last 4 I had the privilege of supporting the school as Chair of the Governing Body. I thoroughly enjoyed this time and learnt so much about education and the challenges our schools face.

In 2011 I completed my back to nursing degree, then worked at Bridport Community Hospital, and at the local hospice. I found it fascinating to return to my first career and see the significant changes in systems and processes.

In 2017 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was the year my husband and I were both planning to celebrate our 50th birthdays, and our eldest daughter was getting married. My diagnosis happened shortly after the wedding. I had an enormous amount of support from family and friends, but when I finished treatment I ‘wobbled’. After my operations and treatment, I was told, “off you go, and get on with your life”. However, I found it really hard to find my ‘new normal’. I went to see my GP, Dr Yvonne Hodges, one of the most remarkable women I know, who said, “you’ve got PTSD, of course you have, you’ve had cancer”. She made it ok not to be ok. She referred me to Dorchester for 6 sessions of counselling, which made a huge difference. It then struck me that where we live is a geographical cul-de-sac, an hour from our main hospitals, Exeter, Dorchester, Taunton, or Yeovil; what happens if you can’t afford the time,

the money, or even the energy, to access counselling. So, I asked Yvonne what she thought about setting up a local charity; she said it would make a real difference. I am truly thankful she believed in me and became our first trustee. Little did I know that 5 years later we would have over 560 people who have registered for support.

We had our first planning meeting round our kitchen table in June 2018, calling ourselves Axminster and Lyme Cancer Support.

Round that kitchen table were many people who are still very much supporting ALCS today—including my mum! We held a fundraising tea party which raised just under £1000, and that October we held our first drop-in.

There hasn’t been a “normal” period since, because as we were beginning to find our feet the pandemic happened. Our first Zoom drop-in was a challenge! The isolation that the pandemic brought created a huge increase in those asking for support, asking to connect. After diagnosis and treatment, people are looking for a connection, and to be reassured that it’s ok not to be ok.

In his book The Community Cure, James Maskell talks about the importance of being with your tribe; when you are diagnosed with cancer, you suddenly have a new, different language to that of your friends who are cancer-free. We often need to find a ‘new tribe’, an additional support network alongside our family and friends.

Although it’s not a club anyone wants to belong to, we help people to connect with others who speak that language.

Since we started the charity we’ve referred people for over £140,000 worth of support, the vast majority of which is for counselling, but it could also be aqua therapy, acupuncture, Nordic walking, or creative writing. We allow people to choose what support they feel they need; all support is free. During treatment people lose control over so much of their lives and become beholden to their appointments, and the side effects of treatment. We like to recommend an approach that helps people think, feel, and move. At any one time, at our drop-ins there could be someone who has cancer, a carer for someone with cancer, someone receiving treatment, somebody with secondary cancer, or someone who’s been bereaved. Our support seems to work in some way for all of them. Since the pandemic many things have changed, and referrals/appointments take much longer in the NHS. I have the most amazing team helping me, all bringing a unique

4 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

© Mary Kahn Photograph by Robin Mills

skill mix that makes ALCS what it is today. We’re just about to move into new premises in Axminster and will be offering support Monday to Friday. We will have 34 volunteers supporting ALCS with a broad range of experience to support local people affected by cancer. Many of our volunteers have had personal experience of cancer and are able to listen while clients talk about what they are finding hard. I feel very blessed to have such a great team of people who are happy to give back to their community.

People are often referred to us by their cancer support nurse, the consultant or their GP, and anyone affected by any cancer can self-refer. We do ask for a short registration form to be completed and this can be done face to face, over the phone or online; we are then able to refer to one of our professional partners for the most relevant support. Some choose to come to our weekly drop-in, and we have seen many friendships form. People are welcomed regardless of how long

ago they had cancer impact their lives.

The film company who produced Ammonite, based in Lyme about the life of Mary Anning (who died of breast cancer), donated a fund to the Town Council to provide a legacy. After applying for the donation, we were delighted to be awarded funds which have provided us with a beautiful beach hut. This has been a massive success for our clients, who can book a day in the hut on Lyme’s amazing seafront to spend on their own or with friends or family. It is booked all year round.

I swim in the sea every day of the year. After my diagnosis I began swimming in the winter, and just kept going. I absolutely love it, I swim off the beach here towards the sunrise, with a small group of people. I now know many people impacted by cancer that find sea swimming beneficial, especially through the winter months! I also love my garden.

Being outdoors is my happy place, my healing place.

6 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 7

UP FRONT Reading Mary Kahn’s story for this month’s cover highlights how much individuals do for local and wider communities. Taking up the slack when the Government or local councils can’t help, the many people out there who are dedicated to making the world a better place are a constant inspiration. Mary was recently awarded the Prime Minister’s ‘Points of Light’ award. Points of Light are ‘outstanding individual volunteers’.

Every weekday the Prime Minister recognises an inspirational volunteer with the daily award.

Mary’s interest in helping people, and her first introduction to volunteering, came when she helped her mother doing ‘Meals on Wheels’ as a youngster. Now at 84 years old, Mary’s mother is still volunteering. Another person we read about in this issue whose enthusiasm for trying to make change is Dr Kate Rawles. Kate is coming to Sladers Yard in West Bay in November to talk about her efforts to highlight the need for urgent, effective, and suitably radical responses to our multiple environmental challenges. After studying philosophy at Aberdeen University, and environmental philosophy at Glasgow and Colorado State Universities Kate became an indoor philosophy lecturer for nearly a decade.

From 2004-2014 she worked half-time as a lecturer in Outdoor Studies at the University of Cumbria—teaching ‘big picture’ environmental issues, sustainability, and environmental education. One of the subjects she will talk about at Sladers Yard is what she learned while cycling 8288 miles in South America from Cartagena, Colombia to Ushuaia in Southern Patagonia—the town they call ‘The End of the World’. Kate built her own bicycle from bamboo that came from the Eden Project in Cornwall and welded it together using hemp soaked in a European eco resin. Her goal was to explore biodiversity— ‘what it is, what’s happening to it, why it matters and above all, what can and is being done to protect it.’ Kate highlights how biodiversity loss and its impact on earth’s life support systems is arguably an even greater threat to our survival and well-being—and those of millions of other species—than climate change.

Fergus Byrne

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

THIS MONTH

3 9 18 19 20

Cover Story By Robin Mills Event News and Courses News & Views Nature Studies By Michael McCarthy Unlocking the Past—Paving the Future

26 26 28 30

House & Garden Vegetables in November By Ashley Wheeler November in the Garden By Russell Jordan Property Round Up By Helen Fisher

32 32

Food & Dining Roasted Monkfish Tail with Chorizo

By Mark Hix

34 34 36 39 42 46 47

Arts & Entertainment The Marshwood Arts Awards winners Galleries Octagon Plans By Fanny Charles Preview By Gay Pirrie Weir Screen Time By Nic Jeune Young Lit Fix By Nicky Mathewson

48

Services & Classified

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Twitter @marshwoodvale

Editorial Director Fergus Byrne

Contributors

Deputy Editor

Fanny Charles Helen Fisher Mark Hix Nic Jeune Russell Jordan Michael McCarthy

Victoria Byrne

Design

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Fergus Byrne info@marshwoodvale.com

8 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Nicky Mathewson Robin Mills Gay Pirrie Weir Ashley Wheeler

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

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

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

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

November EVENTS 27 October

‘Spooky Halloween Trail’ - Gateway Theatre, Seaton, From 11am, £1 per entry on the door. ‘Hotrock Productions – Halloween Party Time’ doors 1.30pm, party 2pm, tickets adults £5, child £8. ‘A Haunting in Venice’ (12A) – Picnic Night screening, doors 6.30pm, film 7.30pm, tickets adults £7.50, Under 16s £6.50. Tickets from 01297 625699, www.thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am - 1pm.

28 October

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

Cattistock in Concert presents The Cornucopia Horn Quartet An evening of music by Handel, Beethoven, Khachaturian and Rimsky-Korsakov, Tickets £10 available on the door or at village shop 7pm Cattistock Church DT2 0JH Contact 07976 853989 Scratchworks Theatre Company present ‘Hags’ – Gateway Theatre, Seaton – live theatre, doors 7pm, show 7.30pm, tickets £adults £13.50, Under 16s £10. Packed full of magic tricks, physical comedy and live music. Tickets from 01297 625699, www. thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am - 1pm.

29 October

East Devon Ramblers Pebble bed Heaths 7 miles leisurely walk.

10.00am. Budleigh. Telephone 07739-392614 ‘Dance with Flavia’ Dance classes – Gateway Theatre, Seaton, tickets £14 pp singles, couples £30 per couple. I hour per class.

Tickets from 01297 625699, www.thegatewayseaton.co.uk or in person Tue - Thur 10am - 1pm.

Divine Union Soundbath 2 pm Oborne Village Hall, Oborne, nr.

Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4LA Please book in advance 01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com £15

30 October

Colour in the Garden without Flowers with Philip Gamble, garden designer, horticultural adviser and nature and gardens photographer. Golden Cap Association. United Church Main Hall, Bridport. 2.30 pm. Members £3, Visitors £5. Contact Mike Nicks 01308 459855.

“Weymouth Lifeboat and the RNLI” by lifeboat volunteer Ken Francis. Teas from 2.00 pm and talk starts at 2.30 pm in Hope URC, Trinity Street, Weymouth, DT4 8TW. Tickets at the door: £2 for members of ‘Friends of Weymouth Museum’, £3 for non-members.

Winsham Art Club 2 pm at Jubilee Hall TA20 4HU. The theme of this practical session is “Becoming more familiar with Brusho technique”. It is a 2.5 hr. session led by a visiting tutor. Small friendly group of mixed abilities. Members £5, non-members £7. Annual membership £15. All welcome. Contact: Email : elfridevaughan@gmail.com for further details.

Colour in the Garden without Flowers A talk by Philip Gamble, garden designer, horticultural adviser and gardens photographer.

2.30 pm in United Church Main Hall, East Street, Bridport.

National Trust Golden Cap Association. Contact: Mike Nicks 01308 459855. Members £3, Visitors £5.

Bridge lessons for new and returning players Bridport Bridge

Club is running a new course of beginner lessons at Bradpole Village Hall starting on Monday October 30th, 2-4.30pm (see intro session listing on 23rd October). Sessions are £5 each, payable on the day. For more information, please contact Martin on 01308 861120; email bridportbridgeclub@gmail.com or visit the club website – www.bridgewebs.com/bridport An evening of Scottish Dancing at Chardstock Village Hall 7.30 10.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug.

No partner required. Cost £3.00 For more information contact David on 01460 65981 www.chardscottishdancingclub.org

31 October

Yeovil Railway Centre Yeovil Junction, Stoford BA22 9UU: Halloween Night, 6pm - 9pm. 01935 410420 for recorded information; www.yeovilrailway.freeservers.com; or on Facebook.

Scottish Country dancing at Horton village Hall Nr Ilminster TA19 9QR every Tuesday evening from 7.30 to 9.30 pm with break for refreshments. Please wear soft , flat , comfy shoes if possible.

Pay on the door £3.00 per evening. For further information contact Anita on 01460 929383 email anitaandjim22@gmail.com or visit our web site at www.ashillscd.wordpress.com All welcome.

1 November

Mr Lowry & Friend - An Illustrated Talk On the 136th anniversary of his birth, we present the intriguing story of one of L.S. Lowry’s most significant and enduring friendships. Ilminster Arts Centre, TA19 0AN. Talk starts 19:30, bar available. Tickets: FREE (suggested £5 donation). To book: 01460 54973. https:// www.ilminsterartscentre.com/performances.

Scottish country dancing Bridport Scottish Dancers will meet on at Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start. Cost: £3.00 Contact: Malcolm on 07790 323343.

Check out bridportscottishdancers for more information.

East Devon Ramblers 13 mile strenuous walk. 9.45am. Sidmouth Triangle. Telephone: 07460-181-656. Bring bus pass.

2 November

West Dorset Ramblers Bridport to Burton Bradstock. 10.00 am, 8 miles contact Janet 07947881635.

Cafe Create drop in café every Thursday morning during term time, come socialise and do some crafting, 10am-12noon, Prout Bridge Project, Beaminster DT8 3AY, info@proutbridgeproject. com/ 07802514171.

Folk dancing at Combe St Nicholas village hall (TA20 3LT) at 1930 hrs. Music will be provided by Ian Bryden Band and the caller is Rosie Shaw. It’s £4.00 per person which includes a cuppa and cake, all welcome and it is a lot of fun! Further details from Elaine on 01460 65909.

Saint Omer (2022, France, 12, 123 mins, S/titles, Director: Alice Diop) Doors 7:00 pm, 7:30 pm start. Clapton & Wayford Village Hall (TA18 8PS).). Membership £25, guests £5 per film. For more details, contact mickpwilson53@btinternet.com or ring Mick Wilson on 01460 74849 or Di Crawley on 01460 30508.

Community Coffee Morning and Sale of Christmas goods 9.30am to 11.00am St. Swithun’s Church Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU.

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November EVENTS

Friends of Lyme Regis Philpot Museum Lyme Regis Museum Friends illustrated talk, ‘A Brief History of Atmospheric Research Flying at the Met Office since WW2’ by Joss Kent at 2.30 pm in the Woodmead Hall, Hill Road, Lyme Regis DT7 3PG. Members £2 visitors £4. Enquiries to David Cox, 01297 443156.

“Organic Control of Pests and Disease in the Garden”, 2.30pm, Morcombelake Gardening Club - A talk by Sally Nex, JH Hall, Morcombelake, J Coates 01297 678303.

Tatworth Flower Club have Ashley Stockton as our demonstrator.

Our doors open at 1.30pm at Tatworth Memorial hall and we begin at 2pm. All are welcome. Non members £7. Arrangements are raffled to the audience and there is cake and a drink to purchase afterwards. Enquiries, Julie Kettle 0146065883.

Halfway ‘round the Bend (How I lost my mind and found it under the kitchen table) An unflinchingly honest and cheerfully anarchic fusion of contemporary writing & stand-up comedy that explores what it really means to live, work and thrive with Mental Illness.

Tickets: £13 Adult, £11 concs. Students 16+. Bridport Arts Centre, 9 South Street, Bridport Dorset DT6 3NR. 01308 424901.

3 November

The Fitzroy Quartet Described as “engaging and responsive to the emotional worlds of each piece in turn”, this prizewinning string quartet will be treating us to Haydn, Debussy and Szymanowski.

Promoted by Concerts in the West. Ilminster Arts Centre, TA19 0AN. Concert starts 19:30, bar available. Tickets: £18 (free to 12 and unders. Students £5). To book: 01460 54973. https://www. ilminsterartscentre.com/performances

4 November

South Perrott Steel Band 3pm St Mary’s Church, Beaminster £5 for adults £2 for children Tickets available from the Church Office, Hogshill, Beaminster and also at the door on the day Tea, Coffee and Cakes Please support The Friends of St Mary’s Church, Beaminster.

The King Of Nothing Monstro and Little Angel Theatre’s latest Puppet Musical is an anarchic re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen’s Emperor’s New Clothes. Tickets: £12 Adults £10 Child.

Bridport Arts Centre, 9 South Street, Bridport Dorset DT6 3NR. 01308 424901.

Fireworks Bonfire Party hosted by Perrott Hill School and North Perrott Cricket Club. The festivities kick off at 5pm This is an online ticketed event only, Tickets available to purchase at https:// buytickets.at/northperrottcricketclub/1021111. Family Ticket £28.50, Adults £12.50, Children £6, Under 3s Free.

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

Friends of Weymouth Library speaker will be Jackie Winters and her subject will be “Exploring the Quiet Lanes and Villages of West Dorset”. The talk begins at 10-30 a.m. in the Library and tickets are £2 for members and £3 for non-members; refreshments are available. All are welcome. Tickets are available from the Library (phone no. 01305 762410).

Little Murmer 3pm at Stockland V.hall-Ex14 9EF. This production

is hosted by Villages in Action and tickets may be purchased online or by ringing Wendy on 01404 881207.

Axminster Repair Cafe 10am to 1pm in Axminster Guildhall. We offer free repairs on broken household items as well as teas, coffees, bacon rolls & cakes. We can be contacted via email: axerepaircafe@ gmail.com or more info at: facebook.com/axminsterrepair Organ Recital 3.00pm Peter Shepherd organist at Colyton Parish Church, will play works by Bach, Walter, Gray and Brown Admission free with retiring collection St. Swithun’s Church Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU

5 November

East Devon Ramblers 10 mile moderate walk in Dorset. 10.00am.

Loders village hall. Telephone: 07759-324849.

Charity Quiz Night to raise funds for the restoration of the bells in Powerstock Church. Teams of up to 6 people; please bring raffle prize. 7pm, Marquis of Lorne, Nettlecombe, DT6 3SY. £2 pp includes half-time nibbles. Contact: thepealappeal@gmail.com

6 November

An evening of Scottish Dancing at 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. For more information contact David on 01460 65981 www.chardscottishdancingclub.org Bridport Folk Dance Club W.I. Hall on Monday evenings from 7.15pm-9.30pm. All welcome, especially beginners. Occasional live music and always a Caller to lead the dances so no experience or partner required. Musicians welcome. Tea and biscuits. Tel: 863552 or 459001 for more information.

“Portland Curiosities” by local historian Geoff Kirby. Teas from 2.00 pm and talk starts at 2.30 pm in Hope URC, Trinity Street, Weymouth, DT4 8TW. Tickets at the door: £2 for members of ‘Friends of Weymouth Museum’, £3 for non-members.

‘St Ives colony of artists’ Monday afternoons in Bridport 2pm or Friday afternoons from 10th November, 2pm on line: Fee is £65 for 6 wks, ‘drop in’ lectures for £13 each. Venue United Hall, East Street, Bridport. Online fee £60. To book and for more information email chris.pamsimpson@btinternet.com Tutor is Pam Simpson MA, Associate Lecturer University of the Arts. Hawkchurch Film Nights in association with Devon Moviola, proudly presents ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ (109 mins, Cert. 12 - infrequent strong language, moderate sex references, drug references). Doors open 6.30pm, film starts 7.00pm at Hawkchurch Village Hall, EX13 5XD. Ticket reservations £5.50 from csma95@gmail.com or leave a message on 01297 678176 (socially-distanced seating available if reserved in advance); tickets also available for £5.50 from Hawkchurch Community Shop or £6.00 on the door (cash only).

Subtitles for the hard-of-hearing provided. Home-made cake and other tasty refreshments available.

7 November

Love According To Dalva 7.45pm. Bridport Film Society at Bridport Arts Centre. Members and guests (£5).

West Dorset Ramblers Symondsbury circular, from estate carpark (DT6 6HG). Starts at 10.00am. 7.5 miles. Leader Jill M no need to book.

10 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 11

Scottish Country dancing at Horton Village Hall Nr Ilminster TA19 9QR every Tuesday evening from 7.30 to 9.30 pm with refreshment break. Please wear soft, flat shoes if possible. Pay on the door £3.00 per evening. Contact Anita on 01460 929383, email anitaandjim22@gmail.com or visit our web site at www.ashillscd. wordpress.com All welcome.

Beaminster Museum Winter Talk Liz Copas, pomologist and author of The Lost Orchards, shares her quest to find and identify old cider apple varieties in Dorset, followed by a book signing.

Beaminster Museum, Whitcombe Rd, Beaminster DT8 3NB. 2.00pm. Entry £5.

8 November

East Devon Ramblers 8.5mile moderate walk. 10.00am.

Powderham church. Telephone: 07484-820895.

Bridport Heritage Forum House History Project meeting, Marsh Barn, Burton Rd. Bridport, 2.00. Up date on the research and discussing any problems. Contact Jane email jferentzi@aol.com.

Bridport Scottish Dancers will meet at Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start. Cost: £3.00 which includes tea/coffee and soft drinks + biscuits. Contact: Malcolm on 07790 323343. Check out bridportscottishdancers for more information.

8 - 9 November

Lion (PG) showing at Kilmington Community Cinema (EX13 7RF). Doors open 6.45 film starts 7.15 on Wednesday. Matinee on Thursday doors open 1.45pm film starts 2pm, advance booking required for this matinee, cream-teas served during the interval but must be pre-booked with your seats @ £3.50. Pre-booked seat tickets @ £5 or £5.50 on the door, booking essential for the matinee. Tickets can be pre-booked by email: wattsjohn307@gmail. com or Tel: 01297 639758 see www.kilmingtonvillage.com/otherorganisations.html for more information.

9 November

Bassett 7:30 Toronto-based folk-roots duo Shipton Gorge Village Hall Tickets £12, £5 (u18s), £30 (fam 4 – max 2 adults) Tickets available online at www.artsreach.co.uk / 01308 897407.

Evening Class Christmas themed pottery Tolpuddle village hall at 7.30pm. £25 includes kiln firing. Pieces will be returned 2-3weeks later. Pre booking only. Please email creativeclayforall@yahoo.co.uk to book your space.

Chesil Bank Writing Shed Do you write? Would you like to be a writer? Whatever you want to write why not come and learn with our creative writing group. New writers always welcome. 7pm - 9pm, Portesham Village Hall. Find out more by calling Linda on 01305 871802.

Chard History Group Frank Bond will be speaking on the murder of Edward II 7.15 for 7.30 at the Pheonix Hotel, Chard for more information phone 07984481634.

Bridport History Society presents, ’80 Years Ago: US 16th Infantry Regiment Arrives in West Dorset’, a talk by Jane FerentziSheppard, Cheryl Ludgate, Nick Pitt, Robin Stapleton & West Bay Discovery Centre. Bridport History Society meets on the second Thursday each month (except July and August) at the United Church Hall, 2.15 for 2.30pm. Visitors welcome £4pp. Membership is £10 individual / £15 couple. For membership enquiries contact Adrienne at af.nantes@btinternet.com; for programme enquiries contact Jane at jferentzi@aol.com or phone 425710; or visit www. bridporthistorysociety.org.uk.

10 November

Mike Denham’s SpeakEasy with Mike Piggott Pianist Mike Denham welcomes special guest violinist Mike Piggott for the next in a series of SpeakEasy duets. Starts 19:30, bar available. Ilminster

Arts Centre, TA19 0AN. Tickets: £20 (free to 12 and unders.

Students £5). To book: 01460 54973. www.ilminsterartscentre.com/ performances.

Ile Valley flower Club Angela Turner National Demonstrator “The Spirit of Christmas” Broadway Village hall (Ilminster) 2 pm Start doors open 1.30 pm. visitors welcome. Tickets £12 available from 01460 75025/67149 East Devon Ramblers 4.5 mile moderate walk. 10.00am. Uplyme.

Telephone: 07966-300919.

The Friends of Beaminster Festival welcome back to St Mary’s Church Beaminster The Madrigal Society and Instrumentalists of Sherborne Girls under their new Director of Music Mark Cracknell.

The concert will include choral items and pieces by the string orchestra.An event not to be missed. Tickets at £12 are available from The Yarn Barton Beaminster;The Book Shop Bridport or through Ticket Source on the Festival web site.Also on the door.

The concert is at 7.30pm.

10 - 11 November

John Law, Jon Lloyd piano and saxophone; European contemporary jazz. Last year, in 2022, John Law and Jon Lloyd toured the UK for the Arts Council, appearing in major cathedrals such as Gloucester, Durham, Truro, Malmesbury Abbey and Christchurch Priory, presenting John’s project Renaissance, which mixes samples of sacred vocal music with electronics and improvised saxophone and keyboard. The result was mesmerising… a sort of Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble meets Ambient Chill!

They are both regular performers here in Tincleton Gallery and they played some of this for us in Tincleton last year, in November of 2022. That first concert led to the start of a new duo project, Naissance, and a stunning new recording set for release in late 2023.

They’ll be sharing some of this music with us on the Saturday. Also on the Friday John Law will be playing some of his solo piano pieces – so note the Friday and the Saturday are two different concerts and treat yourself by coming on both days. Tincleton Gallery, The Old School House, Tincleton, nr Dorchester, DT2 8QR doors open 19:30; concert starts 20:00. £15. 01305 848 909. www.tincletongallery.com.

11 November

Remembrance Concert at 7.30pm,at St Andrew’s Church, Chardstock, hosted by the bell ringers, with Chard Concert Brass preforming. Tickets are £10 and will be available from:- Chardstock Community Shop, Archway Book Shop, Axminster, Top Togs, 12 Holyrood Street, Chard, universe.com or on the door. Further information contact 01460 220503.

Sheldon Singers Faureì Requiem. 5pm, at St Giles and St Nicholas Church Sidmouth, EX10 8LG. Tickets £10 on the door - cash or card.

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 6 mile walk from Musbury. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340.

West Dorset Group of Somerset and Dorset Family History Society, Loders Village Hall, 2.00 ‘Dorset Bridges: Spanning the Ages, a Journey along the Rivers, Highways and Byways of Dorset’ Bernard Paull will be talking about his new book. All welcome, members £1.50 and visitors £3.00. For ore information contact Jane on 01308 425710 or email: jferentzi@aol.com Yukon Ho! Tickets: £16 Adult, £14 concs. Bridport Arts Centre, 9 South Street, Bridport Dorset DT6 3NR. 01308 424901.

12 November

Natural Dye Workshop 10 - 12.30 or 1.00 - 3.30. £90 / £80 THG Friends / 15-25 yrs free - includes full kit of workshop resources plus all natural dyes + refreshments.

12 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Organ Recital 3.00pm Students taught by Richard Godfrey under the Salisbury Dioese Pipeup scheme, from beginners to Grade 8+. Admission free with retiring collection St. Swithun’s Church Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU. Lyme Bay Chorale’s Remembrance concert: Rutter’s Requiem plus Greater Love Hath No Man and organ solo played by Peter Irving. Soprano soloist Oriel Chapman. Lyme Regis Parish Church, 4.30pm. Free with a collection in aid of the Royal British Legion.

13 November

West Dorset Ramblers Coneys Castle to Lamberts Castle. starts 10.00, 7.5miles contact Heather 07798732252.

The Curios Archaeologist 2 p.m. After a short business meeting Gordon Le Pard will be talking to The Dorchester Townswoman’s Guild in Dorchester Community Church, Liscombe Street, Poundbury, DT1 3DF. Visitors £3. Tea and coffee available. Enquiries 01305 832857.

An evening of Scottish Dancing at 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 Bridport Folk Dance Club W.I. Hall on Monday evenings from 7.15pm-9.30pm. All welcome, especially beginners. Musicians welcome. Tea and biscuits. Tel: 863552 or 459001 for more information.

West Dorset Flower Club are holding a Workshop on Leaf Manipulation with Denise Jones at the WI Hall in

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

BY NOVEMBER 10th Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 13

North Street, Bridport at 2.30 pm. visitors £5. For further details please contact the secretary on 01308 456339.

Introduction to Nordic Walking Course 10:00- 11:30, Charmouth, £30.00 (includes hire of poles and first walk with the group). Please contact melanie@lymebaynordicwalking.com for more details.

Hawkchurch History Society Autumn talk at 7pm (doors open at 6.30). Speaker is Robert Hesketh, (who has given us talks several times over the years) on the subject of ‘1918: The Last 100 Days’ The talk will be preceded by a short 30min AGM. Non-members are very welcome, and will be charged £4 at the door. Hawkchurch Village Hall.

“Traditional Music, Stories and Folksong in Dorset” by actor and musician Tim Laycock. Teas from 2.00 pm and talk starts at 2.30 pm in Hope URC, Trinity Street, Weymouth, DT4 8TW. Tickets at the door: £2 for members of ‘Friends of Weymouth Museum’, £3 for non-members.

Winsham Art Club, 2pm at Jubilee Hall TA20 4HU. Members £5, non-members £7. Annual membership £15. All welcome. Contact: Email : elfridevaughan@gmail.com for further details.

14 November

The Lyme Regis Society presents A Talk: Colyton through the Ages by Tony Robinson of Colyton Heritage Centre 2pm on 14th November 2023 at Woodmead Halls, Hill Road, Lyme Regis. DT7 3PG. All Welcome. Members Free. Visitors £3.00. Refreshments Included. Social distanced seating available if desired. Please check website for further information: http//lymeregissociety.org.uk.

Scottish Country dancing at Horton Village Hall Nr Ilminster TA19 9QR every Tuesday evening from 7.30 to 9.30 pm with refreshment break. Please wear soft, flat shoes if possible. Pay on the door £3.00 per evening. For further information contact Anita on 01460 929383 , email anitaandjim22@gmail.com or visit our web site at www.ashillscd.wordpress.com All welcome.

Beaminster Museum Winter Talk ‘A Digger’s life in commercial and community archaeology’. Chris Tripp shares insights on the sites, the people and the making a living from the past. Beaminster Museum, Whitcombe Rd, Beaminster DT8 3NB. 2.00pm. Entry £5.

Parkinson’s Lyme Regis District Support Group Meeting We welcome anyone from the Lyme Regis, Axminster, Charmouth or Seaton area living with Parkinson’s to come along and share anecdotes, ideas and wisdom in an informal, friendly environment.

Complimentary refreshments. 2pm - 3.30pm at the Lyme Regis Powerboat Club, Monmouth Beach, Lyme Regis. DT7 3LE. For more information email lymepdhelp@gmail.com

15 November

‘Garden Design - Keep it Simple’ talk by Sally Leaney. Venue: Colyford Memorial Hall, start 7.30pm. Members free, guests £3.

Information: Sue Price 01297 552362.

East Devon Ramblers 11.5 mile strenuous walk. 10.00am.

Thorverton. Telephone: 07795-479157.

Learn to Draw from Nature Workshop for Beginnersm10 till 12 United Reformed Church Hall, Chard st, Axminster Cost £16 includes ALL materials. Come and learn to draw and paint some natural leaves, berries fruits etc. To book a place contact : gina. youens@btinternet.com Coffee Morning including cakes, scones & savouries, and bacon/ egg rolls (made to order), 10.30am – noon; all welcome. Clapton & Wayford Village Hall. More details from Julia (01460 72769) Bridport Scottish Dancers will meet at Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start. Cost: £3.00 which includes tea/coffee and soft drinks + biscuits. Contact: Malcolm on 07790 323343. Check out bridportscottishdancers for more information.

16 November

Talk on the Occupation of Jersey Martock Fellowship Hall; TA12 6JN Performance time: 2.00pm Tickets: £5.00 at Guardianstickets@ gmail.com /07547 213992/Martock Gallery/ Martock Newsagent (Cash only) www.martockonline.co.uk/events.

Folk dancing at Combe St Nicholas village hall (TA20 3LT) at 1930 hrs. The Robert Blackborow Band will be providing the music and Mary Blackborow will be calling and maybe telling us off! It’s £4.00 per person which includes a cuppa and cake, all welcome and it is a lot of fun! Further details from Elaine on 01460 65909.

South Somerset RSPB Local Group Butterfly Britain An illustrated talk presented by well known wildlife photographer Oliver Smart at 7.30pm The Millennium Hall, Seavington St. Mary, Ilminster, TA19 0QH. Entry: Group members £4, nongroup members £5, under 18’s £1. Tea/coffee & biscuits included – Wheelchair access. Further details from Denise Chamings on 01460240740 or www.rspb.org.uk/groups/southsomerset.

Everyone welcome.

Illustrated talk popular speaker and local author Anne Mosscrop will give a lively and humorous account of her ascent of Kilimanjaro. £6 includes cheese & wine; please book in advance.

7.30pm, at Clapton & Wayford Village Hall. Further information from Mary (01460 74849).

Surf & Turf – The Birds of Peru and Andes a talk illustrated with photos. Bridport WI Hall, North Street, 2.30pm. In support of Bridport Millennium Green. £5/members £4 to include tea and biscuit. Raffle. Tel Sandra Brown, 01308 423078 for details.

Andrew Goldberg, Ricky Romain and John Robertson Clocktower Records Unit 10a, St. Michael’s Estate, St Michael’s Ln, Bridport DT6 3RR. Tel. 01308 458077.

The Bridport & District Gardening Club monthly meeting is at 7.30pm at the W I Hall North Street Bridport when Mike Burks will give a talk on Gardening for Climate Change. Non members are welcome to join our meetings for a fee of £2.00 and more information about the club is available on the club website: wwwbridportgardeningclub.co.uk

17 November

Fun Quiz 6.30pm Tables up to 6 at £5 per person cash includes tea and cake, bring your own nibbles and drinks. St. Swithun’s Church Hall Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU book in advance 07741457505.

Flower Power a talk by Ian Tribe. Surrey University’s plant & gardens director for 58 years. Ian will be giving the talk for Winsham Horticultural Society (after their AGM) at Winsham Community Club (Bakersfield TA20 4JN). The evening is open & free to all (members and non members) so make sure you’re there in good time to get a seat for the 7pm start. For more details please contact Debbie 01460 432815.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry 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

18 November

Climate Cafe, Axminster A respectful space where you can express your feelings about climate breakdown. 10.30am - 12 noon, at Axminster Health and Wellbeing Centre, Chard Street, Axminster, EX13 5DZ. Contact Fiona Anderson fiona.anderson.01@gmail. com.

Wootton Fitzpaine village hall Bingo Doors open 6.45 p.m.. Eyes down 7.30 p.m. Hampers & Cash prizes Raffle in aid of Whitchurch Pre-School.

Art and Craft Fair 10 am - 4pm at Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre. DT6 6LL Free entry. Raising funds for the Heritage Coast Centre, run as a small educational charity.

Dalwood Jazz Club presents “Three Good Men” at 3pm The

14 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

music of Benny Goodman featuring Nick White (clarinettist, Chris Barber Jazz Band), James Clemas - piano and Jim Newton - drums.

Dalwood Village Hall, EX13 7EG (near Axminster) Bar for beer/ wine/soft drinks and teas/coffees etc. Parking at the Village Hall. £12.50p If possible, please book in advance and pay at the door. info: t.mackenney111@btinternet.com Relate Dorset and South Wiltshire Christmas Craft Fair from 2.30pm to 4.30pm at their Centre in Poundbury, Dorchester DT1 3WA. The £1 entry fee for adults will go directly towards helping Relate deliver their wide range of services, from counselling to domestic abuse prevention and supervised child contact.

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

3D Paper Craft Workshop 11 - 3.30 Join Paul Spencer to explore techniques to transform flat sheets of paper/card into make 3D paper forms. No previous experience necessary. All tools and materials provided. £40 / £35 THG friends/ 15–25 yrs free ‘Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep’ A one-man (and one puppet) musical journey through a zombie uprising by The Woodlouse (John Butler), combining live performance and animation. Ridiculous, dark, sometimes gruesome, warm, funny and sad. 7:30pm (Doors and bar 7pm) The Lyric Theatre Bridport www. ticketsource.co.uk/thewoodlouse Axminster and District Choral Society will present a concert of works by Bach, Vivaldi and more. The choir will be joined by professional soloists and orchestra. The performance will take place in the Minster Church, Axminster, at 7:30 pm. Tickets, priced £15 and £12, are available from Archway Bookshop, Trinity Square, Axminster, on line at www.axminsterchoral.co.uk or from members of the choir.

19 November

Groove Den The grooviest, funkiest horns on the planet! Marine Theatre, Church Street, Lyme Regis, DT7 3QB. Tickets: www. jazzjurassica.co.uk East Devon Ramblers 5.5 mile leisurely walk. 10.00am. Budleigh Salterton. Telephone: 07772-069940 Organ Recital 3.00pm Alex Davies, musical director at Lyme Regis Parish Church, will play music by Bach, Barstow and Mendlessohn Admission free with retiring collection St. Swithun’s Church Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU

20 November

An evening of Scottish Dancing at Chardstock Village Hall 7.3010.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug.

No partner required. Cost £2.00. For more information contact David on 01460 65981 www.chardscottishdancingclub.org.

Digital Wisdom Half Day Workshop How to be happier, more secure and private online. Are you unsure about the skills and knowledge needed to navigate the vast potential of the Internet and the Web in a way that is private, secure and more congruent with your values? Find out more at www.lindaph.co.uk.

Bridport Folk Dance Club If you like exercise, socialising and maybe learning something new, then come along to our dance sessions in the W.I. Hall on Monday evenings from 7.159.30pm. All Welcome, especially beginners. Musicians welcome.

Refreshments. Tel:863552 or 459001 for details.

“Local History through Postcards” by writer, curator, lecturer & broadcaster Paul Atterbury. Teas from 2.00 pm and talk starts at 2.30 pm in Hope URC, Trinity Street, Weymouth, DT4 8TW. Tickets at the door: £2 for members of ‘Friends of Weymouth Museum’, £3 for non-members.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 15

21 November

Plan 75 7.45pm. Bridport Film Society at Bridport Arts Centre.

Members and guests (£5).

Scottish Country dancing at Horton Village Hall Nr Ilminster TA19 9QR every Tuesday evening from 7.30 to 9.30 pm with refreshment break. Please wear soft, flat shoes if possible. Pay on the door £3.00 per evening. For further information contact Anita on 01460 929383 , email anitaandjim22@gmail.com or visit our web site at www.ashillscd.wordpress.com All welcome.

22 November

West Dorset Ramblers Ham Hill. Starts at 10.30am, contact Ian 07826150114.

Talk by Prof. Danielle Schreve ‘Life on the Edge, Mammals of the last Ice Age in SW England’. 7pm at Charmouth Village Hall, Wesley Close Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre Free entry.

Donations invited.

Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society AGM and talk.

Uplyme Village Hall 7.30pm. Brief AGM followed by talk ‘The Art of Dishevelment’ by Charles Chesshire. More information www. ulrhs.wordpress.com.

Bridport Heritage Forum, House History Project meeting, Mountfield, Bridport, 7.15. Update on the research and discussing any problems. Contact Sheila email sheilannmeaney@btinternet. com Bridport Scottish Dancers will meet on at Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. Venue: Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start. Cost: £3.00 which includes tea/coffee and soft drinks + biscuits. Newcomers first evening is free. All welcome, no partner required but please wear soft shoes. Instruction on footwork and formations given when necessary in the first half of the evening + simpler dances.

After the break at 8.30 we attempt some more challenging dances for our regular members. Contact: Malcolm on 07790 323343.

Check out bridportscottishdancers for more information.

23 November

Help Our Planet Kate Rawles at Sladers Yard in West Bay The power of adventure to inspire change 7pm (Doors 6pm hot supper and bar available) Tickets: £10 (concessions and under 21s £5) All ticket proceeds to Dorset Wildlife Trust and the Rainforest Action Network Please call 01308 459511 to reserve your tickets now.

24 November

The History of Rock coming to The Beehive, Honiton at 7.30pm.

The ultimate celebration of Rock music through the decades.

Featuring the music of artists such as Led Zeppelin, Cream, Guns n Roses, AC/DC, Queen and many more. Tickets: £25. Box Office: 01404 384 050. www.beehivehoiton.co.uk West Dorset Ramblers Cliff Rd , Burton Bradstock Circular. Starts 10.00am. 8.5 miles, contact Carol 07902 988549.

Mamas Gun The country’s hottest soul band bring fresh cool to old skool soul. Kicking off their UK tour in Lyme Regis. With their unique blend of soul, funk, blues and pop, they’ve thrilled audiences around the globe with their infectious grooves and soulful melodies.

A must see live act. Marine Theatre, Church Street, Lyme Regis, DT7 3QB. Tickets: www.jazzjurassica.co.uk

25 November

Jewellery Making Workshop 10.30 - 12.30 or 1.30 - 3.30 Join jeweller Nicky Barton and learn to shape, saw, texture and solder solid silver to make your own individual pendant / ring / earring to take home. All materials and refreshments provided £55 / £50 THG Friends / 15-25 yrs free.

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

Oddbodies - King Lear 7:30pm. Powerstock Hut. Box Office: 01308 485730 or 07817429907 or www.artsreach co uk.

Tickets: £12, £5 u18s, £25 family.

Cantamus presents a selection of choral music for Advent.

Includes works by Byrd, Rachmaninoff, Warlock and the choir’s director, Peter Nardone. St Mary’s Church, Cerne Abbas, 7pm.

Tickets £12 on the door or from the village shop.

Christmas Craft Fayre at Musbury Village Hall - 10.00 am to 12.30 pm. Proceeds to St Michaels Church Musbury. Enquiries 01297 552440/552711 Plastic Free Axminster’s Christmas Eco Fair 10 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. Axminster Guildhall, West Street, Axminster, Devon Chideock WI Christmas Fayre in Chideock Village Hall. Starting at 12 noon until 3pm. Free entry. Light lunch available plus stalls and raffle. More details - www.chideockwi.org.uk.

White Tara 2:1s Dean Carter and Anna Howard return with this very powerful healing modality, Anna working in the mode of ‘traditional spiritual healing’ (she is a member of the NFSH) with the energy of White Tara, Dean simultaneously providing a pure sound soundbath in the client’s home key. Oborne Village Hall, Oborne, nr. Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4LA 12.30-5PM Ihr individual sessions @ £80/60 concs. Please book in advance via 01935 389655 or email ahiahel@live.com

26 November

Advent Concert given by The Occasional Singers at 3.00pm St Mary’s Church, Edward Road, DorchesterDT1 2HL St Mary’s Church in Dorchester will once again be filled with the glorious sounds of choral music, as the Occasional Singers perform a programme of Advent part songs. Admission is free. There will be a retiring collection in aid of Mosaic a charity which supports local children who have been bereaved. Everyone is most welcome.

East Devon Ramblers 9 mile moderate walk. 10.00am. Colyton.

Telephone: 07719-380718 Candles on St Catherine’s Hill Abbotsbury. This popular atmospheric event returns when we create a pathway up the hill to St Catherine’s Chapel with candle bags lit from within by battery tea lights. Bags are on sale in Abbotsbury shops and also from Bridport tourist information. A workshop will be open in the village hall between midday and 3pm bags cost £2.00 each and the tea light will be added by our volunteers on the day. A service will be held in the Chapel at 3.45pm preceeded by music. All welcome. More info and photos www.abbotsburyvillage.co.uk Divine Union Soundbath Lie down, relax, and allow the Pure Sounds of a crystal and Tibetan bowl soundbath plus sacred vocal overtoning take you into the deeper brainwave states of ‘the relaxation response’, while charging and balancing the aura and chakras of the subtle body, and detoxing the physical body Oborne Village Hall, Oborne, nr. Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4LA 2-4PM £15 Please book in advance 01935 389655 or email ahiahel@live.com

27 November

An evening of Scottish Dancing at Chardstock Village Hall 7.3010.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug.

No partner required. Cost £2.00. For more information contact David on 01460 65981 www.chardscottishdancingclub.org Bridport Folk Dance Club If you like exercise, socialising and maybe learning something new, then come along to our dance sessions in the W.I. Hall on Monday evenings from 7.15-9.30pm. All welcome, especially beginners. Musicians welcome. Refreshments.

Tel; 863552 or 459001 for details.

Winsham Art Club 2pm at Jubilee Hall TA20 4HU. Members £5, non-members £7. Annual membership £15. All welcome. Contact: Email : elfridevaughan@gmail.com for further details.

16 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

28 November

Scottish Country dancing at Horton Village Hall Nr Ilminster TA19 9QR every Tuesday evening from 7.30 to 9.30 pm with refreshment break. Please wear soft, flat shoes if possible. Pay on the door £3.00 per evening.

Contact Anita on 01460 929383, email anitaandjim22@ gmail.com or visit our web site at www.ashillscd. wordpress.com All welcome.

Beaminster Museum Winter Talk Georgia Piggott will be sharing her experiences of researching a historical novel set in plague-ridden 17th century Dorset, followed by a book signing. Beaminster Museum, Whitcombe Rd, Beaminster DT8 3NB. 2.00pm. Entry £5.

Bridport U3A talk at Bridport United Church hall, East Street, Bridport, DT6 3LJ. The talk will start at 2pm and last for about an hour, followed by a Q&A and then refreshments. This month’s speaker is Jonathan Thompson of Co-op Legal Services.

29 November

West Dorset Ramblers White Hill Barn. Little Bredy.

Starts at 10.00am. 8 miles. contact Jill & Simon 07974 756107.

East Devon Ramblers 8.5 mile moderate walk with pub lunch. 10.00am. Dalwood. Telephone: 07719-380718.

Bridport Scottish Dancers will meet at Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. Venue: Church House, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NN. Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start. Cost: £3.00 Contact: Malcolm on 07790 323343. Check out bridportscottishdancers for more information.

30 November

West Dorset Ramblers Winyards Gap Start 10.00am.

Morning walk before AGM at 2.30pm . contact Laraine 07889 921435.

Folk dancing at Combe St Nicholas village hall (TA20 3LT) at 1930 hrs. Dancing Keys are the musical attraction this evening and Rosie Shaw will be calling. It’s £4.00 per person which includes a cuppa and cake, all welcome and it is a lot of fun! Further details from Elaine on 01460 65909.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 17

News&Views LYME REGIS Boat Building Bursaries

The Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy is offering bursaries to Dorset residents covering up to 50 per cent of course fees, with up to 100 per cent covered where the need is greater. The new funding has been made possible due to the BBA achieving charitable status in 2020, subsequent fundraising and through private supporters such as the Alice Ellen Cooper Dean Charitable Foundation and the Valentine Trust. For information visit https://boatbuildingacademy.com.

DORSET Great Big Dorset Hedge

The Great Big Dorset Hedge (GBDH) project, initially developed to survey hedgerows on public rights of way, has expanded to help farmers with the future enhancement of their hedgerows. However, this expansion has created a need for more volunteers. Manager John Calder wants to increase the survey capacity from 175 to 400 volunteers as soon as possible. To volunteer, and to ‘rejoice in the Dorset landscape’ visit https://tinyurl.com/VolunteerGBDH.

EAST DEVON Raising funds for children

Donations from loved ones at East Devon Crematorium could help a local family stay close to their child as they undergo treatment for cancer miles away from home. A total of £20,000 was raised for Young Lives vs Cancer thanks to the generosity of families who agree for any metals which remain after cremation to be recycled. According to Young Lives vs Cancer, this donation could fund 308 nights in one of its ‘Homes from Home’.

18 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

DORCHESTER Mounted patrols for rural areas

Dorset Police officially welcomed its first Rural Mounted Volunteers at a launch ceremony which took place at Kingston Maurward College in October. Rural Mounted Volunteers will be the eyes and ears for rural communities. Like Neighbourhood Watch groups, the team will support Dorset Police to prevent crime in rural areas. To learn more about the Rural Mounted Volunteers initiative, or to apply to be a volunteer, please email contact.vol@dorset.pnn.police.uk

WEYMOUTH Never too late to learn

Three experienced water sports coaches are helping encourage over 55’s to take to the water at the Weymouth Outdoor Education Centre (WOEC). Coaches are helping people try a range of water activities at a relaxed pace. For a subsidised £5 for a two-hour session the Seafarers Over 55 Club have tried everything from sea kayaking to standup paddleboarding and sailing dinghies. For information email woec@dorsetcouncil.gov. uk or phone 01305 784927.

The rowan tree in autumn: magic as well as scarlet berries.

Photo: © Robin Mills.

Nature Studies

By Michael McCarthy

H

ave you ever noticed that spring flowers and blossoms are generally white or yellow, while autumn fruits are generally red or blue? And sometimes it’s on the same branch. For example, blackthorn has sugar-white blossoms and navy blue fruits, which are sloes; hawthorn has creamy-white blossoms and dark crimson fruits, which are haws. Bramble is another such—pale white flowers and autumn fruits so dark blue that we call them blackberries; and elder is similar. And you can find wild roses whose flowers are white and whose autumn fruits are bright red hips.

Alfred Russel Wallace, the Victorian naturalist, noticed this (he was the man who worked out the theory of natural selection before Darwin, but that’s another story.) He carried out a simple but fascinating survey: of 1,143 English wild plants, he found that 753 had flowers which were yellow or white, as opposed to only 290 which were red or blue. But in fruits the position was reversed: Wallace calculated that 113 out of 134 he looked at were red or blue, with only 21 being yellow or white.

The difference is probably there because flowers evolved to attract insects, to pollinate them, and fruits evolved to attract birds, which spread the host plants by eating the fruit and pooing out the seed elsewhere. So we may reasonably conclude that bumblebees and their insect fellows are drawn to yellow and white flowers in spring, and song thrushes and other birds are attracted by red and blue berries in autumn, presumably because these two different sets of organisms see the colours of the world through very different prisms.

I’ve been thinking about this over the last couple of months, enjoying the sight of the autumn fruits in the hedgerows. It’s been a good year for them. My favourite is one of the earliest, the rowan, the small tree sometimes known as the mountain ash. This is another example of white blossoms/red berries, although the word ‘red’ in no way does justice to the colour of the fruits: at their peak they are a most brilliant, almost startling scarlet. You can see them as early as the first week of August and to me they are one of the earliest hints that autumn is coming (along with the disappearance of the swifts, which I wrote about here a couple of months ago.)

An incomer’s discovery of the natural world in the West Country Yet rowan is not just special for its berries. It is often thought of as a magical tree, especially in Scottish Gaelic culture; it was said to protect you from witches and sorcery, so you often see Highland cottages with a rowan growing protectively close by.

But its supposed power was such that you could also use it in a curse, and indeed it figured in a famous curse involving two wellknown literary figures from the mid-20th-century. One was Gavin Maxwell, who 60 years ago shot to international fame with Ring of Bright Water, his captivating account of living with pet otters in his house, Camusfearna, on the coast of the Sound of Sleat between the Western Highlands and Skye; the other was Kathleen Raine, the poet who was his sometime lover.

In the mid-1950s there was a bitter falling-out between the two and Kathleen Raine fled from Camusfearna in rage and fury, but returned secretly at night—as Maxwell, much later, learned to his consternation from her autobiography—and put her hand on the Camusfearna rowan and “cursed him with all the strength of her spirit”, saying “Let Gavin suffer in this place as I am suffering now.” (You can find the story in Maxwell’s final book, Raven Seek Thy Brother, although Raine is not named there).

Maxwell’s succeeding years indeed contained plenty of suffering: he lost his otters, he lost a marriage, he lost Camusfearna itself (burned down in a disastrous fire) and in the end he lost his life to cancer at only 55. Whether or not he attributed any or all of this to Kathleen Raine’s rowan curse is uncertain, although she herself undoubtedly did, with great subsequent regret.

Call it nonsense; call it scary; call it anything you like. I have no opinion on that. I am drawn to the story merely because when I glimpse a rowan tree in autumn I reminded that there is more to it even than those splendid scarlet berries—that it has an age-old, powerful human resonance, one in danger of being forgotten as we leave our knowledge of the natural world ever more behind.

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. Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 19

BusinessProfile

Unlocking the Past—Paving the Future Rampisham Business Centre is a transformation—moving forward with more than a nod to a fascinating past

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estled amidst the picturesque landscape of Dorset lies a historic gem that has witnessed the evolution of technology and communication over the decades. Welcome to the Rampisham Transmitter Station and Business Centre, where history meets innovation, and tradition meets progress.

Key Features of Rampisham Business Centre

A Glimpse into History

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The story of Rampisham Transmitter Station dates back to World War II when it was established as a vital part of Britain’s wartime communications infrastructure.

Throughout the war, it played a pivotal role in transmitting essential radio broadcasts to Allied forces across the globe, providing critical information and a lifeline to those on the front lines.

As time marched on, Rampisham continued to adapt to changing needs. It played a crucial role during the Cold War, relaying broadcasts to Eastern Europe, and even broadcasting the Voice of America to the Soviet Union.

Its legacy as a symbol of global connectivity continued, and it became a part of the rich tapestry of global communication history.

Embracing the Future Today, the Rampisham Transmitter Station has undergone a remarkable transformation, evolving into the Rampisham Business Centre, a thriving hub of innovation and enterprise. While preserving its historic architecture and the stories it carries, this iconic site has been reborn as a modern business centre designed to empower the business leaders and entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

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5.

State-of-the-Art Facilities: Equipped with cuttingedge technology, high-speed internet, and modern amenities, Rampisham Business Centre offers a dynamic workspace for startups, freelancers, and established businesses.

Scenic Surroundings: Enjoy the tranquility of the countryside while remaining conveniently connected to major cities like London, Bristol, and Exeter. The location provides an inspiring backdrop for productivity.

With a selection of spaces suitable for artists, creatives, architects and small businesses including production, storage spaces and open yard storage.

Networking Opportunities: Connect with like-minded professionals and entrepreneurs, fostering collaboration and growth.

Flexible Leasing Options: Choose from a range of units starting from 800 sqft available on short or long-term leases

Join the Legacy Rampisham Business Centre is not just a workspace; it’s an opportunity to be a part of history while shaping the future. Whether you’re a tech startup, a creative agency, or an established business looking for a unique and inspiring location, Rampisham is the place where innovation and tradition converge.

Come, be a part of the legacy, and make your mark in the heart of Dorset’s history. Contact us today to learn more about our available spaces and to schedule a viewing of the Rampisham Business Centre.

Unlock the past and embrace the future at Rampisham Business Centre. Telephone 07768 610 766 for details.

20 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

A home for creativity and innovation WALKING around the Rampisham Business Centre it’s hard not to feel a strong sense of history, which makes it equally hard to believe that the final message sent from the transmission station was only twelve years ago. Following cuts in BBC funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, final transmissions were made to North Africa between 8 and 9 pm on October 29th, 2011. It marked the end of the location for one of the main transmitters of the BBC World Service in Britain.

Constructed in 1942 the Rampisham Transmitter Station was one of several transmitter sites built by the British government to facilitate military communication during World War II. Engineers and technicians involved in the build lived with the constant threat from the Luftwaffe as the Germans tried to destroy the station.

The site, strategically chosen for its relatively remote location and favorable topography, now boasts breathtaking views of the Dorset countryside for the many entrepreneurial businesses located there.

Instead of the sound of dog fights in the skies above, the gentle hum of creativity and commerce fills the corridors and open spaces. From music studios to sculptors, artisanal ice cream to carpentry and restoration, alongside a comfortable and well stocked on site café, the Rampisham Business Centre offers the ideal location to take creative businesses into the future.

Photographs showing the transformation from pylons and original transmission equipment to state of the art studios and cafe

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 21

Appeal launched to save Dorset’s woodlands The Woodland Recovery project is a comprehensive effort to combat the challenges facing Dorset’s woodlands

22 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

D

orset Wildlife Trust has launched a public fundraising appeal to raise £40,000 for its Woodland Recovery project, an urgent initiative aimed at restoring and regenerating woodlands across Dorset.

Woodlands play a critical role in supporting biodiversity, offering refuge to thousands of species and a natural solution to the climate crisis through storing carbon and their potential to limit flooding. But diseases such as ash dieback, development pressure and the effects of climate change have all diminished and divided woodlands. In turn, many wildlife species which depend on woodland habitats for their food and shelter are at risk.

The Woodland Recovery project is a comprehensive effort to combat the challenges facing Dorset’s woodlands through a combination of finding ways to reduce the impact of ash dieback on wildlife and regenerating woodland habitats through traditional management techniques such as coppicing.

Donations to the appeal will also help create more woodland on Dorset Wildlife Trust nature reserves by planting native trees and encouraging neighbouring landowners to do the same. Another aim of the project is to acquire more land to

reconnect woodland areas to give wildlife more space to move freely and safely across the landscape.

Andrew Pollard, Conservation Director at Dorset Wildlife Trust said, “Woodlands are incredibly important for many species of wildlife and essential in the fight against climate change.

But it’s not just wildlife which needs woodlands; they provide inspiration and space for thousands of people of all ages to walk, picnic, climb trees, exercise and simply connect with nature. So, we must do everything we can to protect the health and resilience of Dorset’s woodlands for ourselves and for generations to come. With no known cure for ash dieback and the effects of climate change becoming ever clearer, our work to manage existing woodlands in the best possible way for wildlife and nature becomes ever more crucial. I very much hope that everyone will donate to our Woodland Recovery Appeal if they can.”

To donate to the Woodland Recovery Appeal, visit: https:// www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/appeals/woodland-recoveryappeal

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 23

Kingfisher Ward at Dorset County Hospital gets Stunning new Mural

Marina with her mural on Kingfisher Ward and staff working alongside

A

popular Dorset artist has created a vibrant new mural on Kingfisher Children’s Ward at Dorset County Hospital.

Marina Renee-Cemmick grew up in Dorset, studying in Marshwood and then Hardye’s School in Dorchester before moving to Glasgow to study Painting at Glasgow School of Art (2018). An exciting artist, she has exhibited both nationally and internationally.

Marina is interested in paint and uses multiple techniques to produce eye-catching work with a real attention to detail.

Underpinning all her work is a drawing practice which remains at the core of investigating and representing the spaces she inhabits and draws inspiration from.

This strong artistic practice foundation can be seen in the stunning new mural that Marina has created on the Kingfisher ward at Dorset County Hospital.

In collaboration with the staff and children of Kingfisher ward, the Mural, with images of tigers, rainforest frogs, fish, octopi, penguins and of course a kingfisher, was completed over the course of a week this summer.

Marina Rennee-Cemmick said: ‘It was really a pleasure to do and a joy having everyone involved. I would not have managed to do a 50 ft wall in four-and-a-half days without them! It was wonderful to see how much it means to everyone, and how engaged the children and staff were.’

Sarah Woodward, Kingfisher Matron said: ‘Everybody (on the ward) got involved and had a go, we felt a real part of the project. We have a consultant who loves penguins, so Marina added a penguin in for us!

‘It’s lovely to see young people coming through the corridors pointing at all the different animals and counting them. It creates a really positive feel for everybody on the ward.’

This artwork was made possible by the generous support of The Arts Society, Dorset County.

A representative of the Arts Society said: ‘The charitable aim of the Arts Society is to support the arts and we in the Dorset County branch are delighted to fund the new mural in the Children’s Kingfisher Ward. We knew from the outset that Marina Renee-Cemmick’s creativity would not disappoint, as we have supported her studies and amazing talent in the past. We could not be more pleased to see this mural come to fruition, and to know that it will give pleasure for ongoing years to the many young patients who will visit Kingfisher Ward. It gives us particular pleasure too that the ward staff have been so invested in this project.’

If you would be interested in supporting further arts projects or have any queries, please contact artsinhospital@dchft.nhs.uk

24 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Boat Building Academy gifted the ‘Rolls Royce of saws’ THE Boat Building Academy (BBA) at Lyme Regis now has the ‘Rolls Royce of saws’ for its students, thanks to the generosity of a fellow, local woodworking enthusiast.

Martin Young, founder of the bespoke swing seat company Sitting Spiritually Of Lyme Regis, donated £5000 which enabled Martin Young, (wearing hat) the Academy to founder of Sitting Spiritually with purchase the Felder BBA Director Will Reed. K500 dimension saw. The saw will be invaluable to the students of the BBA’s world-renowned furniture courses, as Director Will Reed explained: ‘This saw is the Rolls Royce of dimension saws and will be used by our furniture making students on the intensive 12-week course. The students will be taught using the machine and will then use it themselves to cut wood to accurate dimensions for their projects, including their final design and make project.

‘It is a real upgrade from our previous saw and means the students will be learning on a top-quality professional piece of equipment. We are incredibly grateful to Martin for his generous gift.’

Martin Young founded Sitting Spiritually in 2004, creating the first wooden swing seats himself, before going on to employ a network of local woodworkers to meet UK and international demand.

In 2012, Sitting Spiritually became the only bespoke swing seat, rope swing and bench maker endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).

Martin said: ‘My father advised me to complete a carpentry apprenticeship as a young man and said it would always stand me in good stead.

‘He was right. My success has been borne out of carpentry and so I love what the BBA does, both through its wooden boat building courses and its furniture making, and I have a great admiration for the many fine tradespeople it helps to produce.’

The BBA introduced a range of new courses this summer. In addition to its world-renowned, twice yearly, 40-week boat building course, is a more compact, six-week Build a Boat Course.

The established 12-week furniture-making course also now incorporates some boat building techniques including scarf joints and copper riveting, alongside its core values of first-class joinery training and design.

Martin Young continued: ‘It’s a real pleasure to fund this piece of machinery and see it here inside the workshop.

It gives me great satisfaction to know it will be used by other craftspeople from across the world, for many years to come.’

120 steps to the top for Portesham Primary School at the Hardy Monument

Hardy Monument, Dorset. Credit National Trust Images, John Miller THE National Trust opened the door to the Hardy Monument for 25 children and teachers from Portesham Primary School this week.

Each child was handed a torch and allowed to climb the 120 steps within the tower to the viewing platform at the top.

“The children loved seeing inside the tower and were rewarded with incredible views from the top. Despite it being very windy everyone loved being 850ft above sea level. It’s been a pleasure working with the local primary school and inviting them to the Monument to learn about their local history said Elizabeth Flight, Partnership and Programming Officer’.

Elizabeth continued ‘It was also lovely to have Rev Margaret Preuss-Higham join the school trip. Revered Margaret from St Peter’s Church Portesham was part of the team who did a charity abseil down the Hardy Monument in 2018 in aid of The Royal British Legion.’

The Hardy Monument has been owned by the National Trust since 1938 and is a 72-foot-high monument built in memory of Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy, the man whose arms Lord Horatio Nelson died after muttering the immortal words ‘Kiss me Hardy’.

The National Trust hope to open the Hardy Monument to visitors more often next year and are asking people to get in touch if they are interested in volunteering at this special site. Please email: elizabeth.flight@nationaltrust.org.uk if you would like more information.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 25

House&Garden

Vegetables in November

By Ashley Wheeler

A

s the energy of the garden retreats into the soil, I too begin to hibernate after working too much through the summer months. Although I still rely on the autumn sun’s energy to keep me going at this time of year, I tend to slow down and focus my thoughts on next season. All of the planting and growing work has been done for the year (bar a few late polytunnel plantings of spring onions, broad beans and peas), and although there is a little hoeing in the polytunnels to be done, most of the practical work involves infrastructural maintenance and improvements.

We will begin to go through notes from the year gone by and feed this into next years’ crop plans. Everything that went well this year will stay the same for the next growing season. Anything that didn’t do so well will either be changed a little - maybe sown a little earlier or later or perhaps planted at wider spacings. Sometimes crops continue in the ground for longer than we had accounted for, so subsequent crops are left without a place to be planted—these are the sorts of detail that we try to record through the year so that we can adjust the plans accordingly.

November is also a time for us to process all of the seed that we have grown for ourselves as well as for seed companies such as Vital Seeds and the Real Seed Catalogue.

This year we have chard seed to process—a mix of different varieties to create our own mix of favourites which we will keep selecting over the years so that we can keep selecting the plants that would best suit our conditions and soil.

We also have parsley, runner beans, amaranth, nicotiana, agretti and helichrysums still to process this year. It hasn’t been the best year for seed growing, so we have had a few crop failures unfortunately. The summer was just not good enough to dry the seed sufficiently for some of the crops, and others suffered from a range of insect pests that we don’t usually see on crops grown for market.

The general process of getting seed from the plants is that we harvest the plant once the seed starts to ripen and we further ripen the seed on sheets or racks in the propagation tunnel - ideally this is through August and September when the sun’s intensity helps to continue to ripen the seed and dry out the stalks etc. We then thresh the plant—which may be a case of rubbing the seed off the plant or often just hitting the plants with a stick (or something like a rounders bat!) which helps to dislodge the seed from the stalks. Ideally this would be done in a way that doesn’t break up too much of the stalk, so that the next stage of sieving and screening is a little easier. We take off the bulk of the bigger plant stalks, once the seed has fallen to the bottom of the pile and we pass the seed, which at this stage has a lot of dried up plant debris like leaves and stalks, through a range of sieves. We start with a sieve that lets most of the seed through but not the larger stalks and leaves, then we might use a sieve that lets through the smaller bits but keeps the larger seed.

This usually gives us a much cleaner seed, but it still needs

All of the planting and growing work has been done for the year (bar a few late polytunnel plantings of spring onions, broad beans and peas)

further winnowing or cleaning. So we then usually use our hoover powered seed cleaner which takes out all of the smaller, lighter chaff and the heavier seed drops through.

The same result can be achieved through dropping the seed from one trug into another from a height big enough to allow the lighter chaff to blow away and the heavier seed to drop straight into the trug below. Ideally this is done with a fan strategically placed to help achieve a consistent breeze to blow the chaff away. It is important to then further dry the seed so that it can be stored in airtight containers safe in the knowledge that it is dry enough to keep for a while.

WHAT TO SOW THIS MONTH: Not a lot! We have made all of our sowings by now, and will start tentatively with a few sowings again in January, but nothing else before then.

WHAT TO PLANT THIS MONTH: OUTSIDE: Garlic (if not planted already) INSIDE: peashoots, sugarsnap and early pea varieties, spring onions, broad beans, garlic (for extra early garlic) OTHER IMPORTANT TASKS THIS MONTH: Don’t be tempted to tidy up too much, as old crops and flowers act as a habitat for many beneficial insects. Start going through your winter job list—whether it’s cleaning glasshouses or polytunnels, tidying up your propagating area, cleaning and oiling your tools or even looking through seed catalogues for a bit of inspiration for next year!

26 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 27

November in the Garden

By Russell Jordan

W

ith the clocks having ‘fallen’ back, at the end of last month, it really feels that winter is almost upon us and gardening can become more of a chore, than a pleasure, during the colder, darker, days. The upside is that there tends to be less urgency in the tasks that have to be performed as plants are generally becoming dormant, less active, so many late autumn / winter gardening tasks can wait until you are in the mood, or the weather is to your liking.

The exception are those tasks which rely on there still being some residual summer heat in the soil and the need for plants to be active enough to make some new root growth.

Chief amongst these is the lifting and dividing of herbaceous perennials, which is a pretty essential gardening task if you are to keep your borders healthy and vigorous. In the days when gardening was generally governed by a series of strict laws, not something we go in for so much now, we were supposed to lift and divide everything in the herbaceous border every three years.

Obviously there will be some border plants that are so vigorous that they could be lifted and divided practically every year, Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii (‘Black-eyed Susan’) being one such plant. Others are best left alone to make impressive clumps without being divided; I find that any Echinacea (‘Coneflower’) that proves perennial in my garden is best left alone and not divided. Hardy geraniums, such as the ever popular Geranium ‘Rozanne’, can be divided frequently, if you want lots of new plants to provide ground cover, or left alone to make impressive clumps as a foil to other border plants with different leaf forms, such as spiky grasses or large leaved hostas.

While you are assessing your borders, to see what you might be able to lift and divide, you might as well cut down any herbaceous plant that has finished flowering and is contributing nothing that might benefit the winter garden.

Interesting seed heads, or a strong skeletal structure, even after flowering, are enough to allow a summer perennial a stay of execution into winter and not be excised until the spring tidy-up. I really like the seed heads of Iris sibirica, remaining stiffly upright throughout the winter and especially good when crowned with a hoar frost, but their strap-like leaves do turn to a soggy mush which may require thinning in order to reduce the number of slugs and snails which would otherwise revel in their slimy embrace.

Once you have found a suitable perennial, for lifting and dividing, then the process is pretty straightforward.

It’s particularly satisfying if your chosen plant is a really congested old clump of something like Alchemilla mollis (‘Lady’s Mantle’) which gets particularly woody after a few years. Once you have dug up your chosen clump, knocking off any excess soil, you may find it easier to take it to a bare area of ground, or onto a protective sheet on the lawn, for the next operation.

If the plant is the sort which is a mass of shoots and fibrous roots, hardy geraniums are a prime example, then the classic method of teasing them into smaller sections is to insert two border forks into the clump, back-to-back (the curve of the tines pointing away from each other).

With the backs of the forks touching, the tines inserted into the congested clump, then the divisions can be made by forcing the fork handles together, being careful not to trap your fingers. This eases the corresponding tines apart and separates the clumps into separate pieces. This process can be continued until you have fist sized divisions for replanting.

Use some to replace the parent plant and some for planting elsewhere, or for potting up in fresh compost, providing you with new plants for free, to do with as you please.

If the clump that you have dug up is really congested and woody then the ‘back-to-back’ method may simply break your forks, or your fingers, and in this case it is perfectly acceptable to chop up your perennial with a sharp spade or, in really tough specimens, slicing it up using an old, redundant, hand saw. I find that really ancient clumps of Miscanthus sinensis, more usually divided in the spring, can only be divided into suitably small sections by using and old ‘D’ saw that I keep specially for this purpose.

If you are dividing perennials in order to maintain their vigour, replanting some divisions back into the border, then it’s a good idea to fork some organic matter, plus a small amount of feed, I still rely on ‘fish, blood and bone’, into the border soil where the replanting is taking place. You don’t want to add loads of nitrogenous fertiliser at this time of year, where it promotes leafy growth just when plants are being cut down by frost, but a small amount of fertiliser will help the new divisions make some root growth before the soil becomes really cold. Similarly, it’s a good time for a really thorough weed of the borders, followed by the addition of an organic mulch layer, to keep the soil looking good and weed free until next spring.

Last month I suggested that dahlias are traditionally left in situ until the first frost has blackened their leaves but I think that now is plenty late enough, whether they’ve been frosted

28 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

or not. Lift them from their outdoor positions, knock excess soil from their tubers, cut their stalks down to an inch or two and, if you are following every rule, leave them upside down on greenhouse staging, or whatever drying space you have, to allow moisture to drip out of the severed stems. I’m not entirely sure this upside down stage is really necessary but it can’t do any harm. Once suitably dry the tubers can be stored, labelled correctly if known, in empty flower pots (wooden wine boxes if you’re posh) somewhere frost-free and out of the way. Under the greenhouse staging is suitable only if the greenhouse is equipped with a heating system which keeps it above freezing however severe the winter is. N.B.—now is a good time to check any such heating apparatus!

I’d always believed that the reason for planting tulips later than other bulbs was to try and reduce the risk of ‘Tulip Fire’ although I don’t know how scientifically proven this is. If your tulips have succumbed to this fungal disease in the past (spotty leaves, twisted growth, early death) then the spores will remain in the soil for at least three years and subsequent bulb plantings are likely to get infected whatever time you plant.

Growing them in pots and containers, where they tend to do better anyway, means that you’ll be using fresh compost so they should remain healthy for at least the first couple of years.

Anyway, now’s the time to plant them, wherever you choose to do so, and it’s definitely time to get a wiggle on if you still have other spring flowering bulbs to get into the ground. With luck there should be some nice days of autumnal weather to get outdoors and finish bulb planting amidst the autumn colour - gale force winds and driving rain permitting!

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 29

PROPERTY ROUND-UP

Turn over a new leaf with these Autumn homes

By Helen Fisher

EYPE £575,000

A period cottage in a sought-after coastal village with 2 double bedrooms and uPVC double-glazed windows. Semi-detached with the benefit of a substantial stone outbuilding and wood store. Living room with original inglenook fireplace with bread oven. Garden with summerhouse. Single garage and an additional parking space.

Kennedys Tel: 01308 427329

THORNCOMBE £625,000

A detached 3/4 bedroom period cottage dating back to over 200 years with solid stone walls. Extensively refurbished with new roofing, kitchen and wood burning stove in the living room. Bathroom with roll top bath. Also benefitting from a large attached garage/workshop. Beautiful gardens with far reaching countryside views and an oak framed car port.

Stags Tel: 01308 428000

MORCOMBELAKE £775,000

HENLEY NR CREWKERNE £825,000

A generous sized 4 bedroom bungalow with 2 en-suites. Sitting room with wood-burning stove and a large conservatory with under floor heating. All set in exceptional grounds and gardens with large lawned areas and mature flower beds. Greenhouse, shed and large summerhouse with fantastic far reaching countryside views. Single garage and ample parking.

Goadsby Tel: 01308 420000

This property forms a Grade II* listed central and oldest part of an Elizabethan manor house with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The house and adjacent barns were renovated and converted into 18 separate dwellings. Set over 3 floors with far reaching countryside views. Outside it has a double garage and guest parking plus a private garden and its own orchard.

Knight Frank Tel: 01935 810060

COLYTON £450,000

BRADPOLE Guide £650,000 - £750,000

An opportunity for a lifestyle change with a home and two businesses. Currently run as a successful B&B with 3 en-suite letting rooms and a cafe and bakery on the ground floor. Owners flat on the top floor with a large bedroom with a vaulted ceiling and countryside views. Well maintained throughout with a small courtyard area at the rear and storage shed.

Gordon & Rumsby Tel: 01297 553768 30 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

An unusual opportunity to buy a detached partially completed 6 bedroom 6 bathroom home with potential for a huge open plan living space and a double garage. A paddock surrounds the property on 2 sides plus additional useful brick built former piggeries for storage. The plot goes down to the river Asker. All set in 1.14 acres.

Symonds & Sampson Tel: 01308 422092

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 31

Food&Dining

ROASTED MONKFISH TAIL WITH CHORIZO Chorizo always adds that little zing and spice to firm fleshed fish and shellfish. It’s almost a natural fit and I first had chorizo with fish in the Catalan region of Spain years ago with razor clams and have used the recipe ever since, adding broad beans in season.

If you have a patch of three cornered leek near you that is a perfect wild herb to add to this.

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

•

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas mark 7.

2. Season the monkfish tails and brown them in a little rapeseed oil in a hot frying pan and finish cooking them in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile put the chorizo in a pan with the rest of the rapeseed oil and cook it on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring to break it up whilst cooking. Stir in the three corned leek with a tablespoon of water and the butter for a minute until wilted.

4. Remove the monkfish from the pan and transfer to warmed plates and pour any cooking juices in with the chorizo. Mix well and spoon over the monkfish tails and serve.

•

MARK HIX

• •

• •

4 monkfish tails weighing about 160180g each, trimmed 150g cooking chorizo, skinned and broken into small pieces 2tbs rapeseed oil A handful of three cornered leek (hedgerow garlic), torn in half and washed A couple good knobs of butter Salt and freshly ground pepper Serves 4

32 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 33

Arts&Entertainment

The Marshwood Arts Awards Award winners exhibit with selectors at Bridport Arts Centre EXHIBITING alongside selectors such as Sir Don McCullin, Kate Malone MBE, Andrew Logan and Mike Kus is one of the highlights for the artists and makers showing work at this year’s Marshwood Arts Awards exhibition in the Allsop Gallery at Bridport Arts Centre. The exhibition continues until November 4th.

At a well attended Private View event in October the category winners were announced to cheers from appreciative art lovers.

Bridport ceramacist Franny Owen was a popular winner in the Applied Arts category selected by Kate Malone MBE, while Lyme Regis based photographer Mike McGoran was chosen by Sir Don McCullin for Print Photography. Stoke sub Hamdon based sculptor Chris Dunseath won the Sculpture Award which has been selected by Andrew Logan. Curator Fru Tholstrup, who selected for the Painting & Drawing category, presented prizes and certificates to the winners. She chose Sherborne based artist Fernando Velazquez as the winner in the Painting & Drawing category. Mike Kus’s choice of winner in the Digital Media category was Axminster resident Joff Rees. Joff was also the winner of the John Hubbard Prize. Locally based art lover and entrepreneur Johnnie Boden chose Totnes sculptor Bev Knowldon to receive the ‘Collector’s Prize’.

Cash prizes and certificates were sponsored by Sladers Yard, in West Bay, Sibyl King and the Hubbard family.

The biannual Marshwood Arts Awards invites internationally renowned artists and makers to choose work from an open submission. Those chosen then exhibit alongside the selectors in a major mixed exhibition. To learn more visit www. marshwoodawards.com or email info@marshwoodvale.com to receive updates and alerts about future awards.

Purple Haze by Bev Knowlden, winner of the Collector’s Prize. In the Allsop Gallery at Bridport Arts Centre until November 4th.

34 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Clockwise from top left: Springsong by Franny Owen, Winner Applied Arts. White Avenue by Mike McGoran, winner Print Photography. Emma by Joff Rees, winner Digital Media (and the John Hubbard Prize). Encrusted Light by Chris Dunseath, Climbers by Fernando Velazquez, winner Painting & Drawing.

November GALLERIES

31 October - 25 November

Neroche a group of artists covering a very wide range of artistic talents, including sculptors in stone and clay, and painters in oils, watercolours and acrylics. This will be their final exhibition at the Ilminster Arts Centre, so definitely not one to miss. Ilminster Arts Centre, TA19 0AN. Tues-Sat, 9.30am - 3pm. Free entry. https://www.ilminsterartscentre.com/exhibitions.

1 - 30 November

Kit Glaisyer presents an evolving exhibition of his West Country landscape paintings, with works on show in his gallery and studio, including original paintings, drawings, and prints on canvas. Open Weds & Sat, 10am - 3pm or by appointment. Kit Glaisyer Gallery, 11 Downes Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3JR. 07983 465789 www.kitglaisyery.com @kitglaisyer.

Until 4 November

The Marshwood Arts Awards and John Hubbard Prize featuring Sir Don McCullin, Kate Malone MBE, Andrew Logan, Mike Kus, Caroline Barnes, Helena Barrowcliff, Sasha Constable, Leo Davey, Simon Dodsworth, Chris Dunseath Paul Edwards, Kit Glaisyer, Andrew Haydon, James Kerr, Davies, Monaghan and Klein, Bev Knowlden, Katie Lenegan, W K Lyhne, Peter Mant, Gillian McCormick, Mike McGoran Caroline Julia Moore, Nelson, Franny Owen, Joff Rees, Fernando Velazquez, Alex Wolfe Warman, Emma Saffy Wilson. The Allsop Gallery, Bridport Arts Centre, 9 South St, Bridport DT6 3NR.

4 - 17 November

Amanda Popham Solo Show annual solo show with a new collection of her fantastic and imaginative ceramic figures. Steam Gallery, Fore Street, Beer, EX12 3JB 10am to 5.30pm every day (Sundays to 5pm).

Until 5 November

Drawing 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.

Ever Present at The Malthouse Gallery, Lyme Regis 10am to

5pm daily at The Malthouse Gallery, Town Mill Courtyard, Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3PU.

8 November - 2 January 2024

Unwrapped The gallery’s annual festive 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.

Until 11 November

Many Moons Marzia Colonna and Fiamma Colonna Montagu.

Sladers Yard, 6 West Bay Rd, West Bay, Bridport DT6 4EL. 01308 459511.

South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts Open Exhibition 2023 The 24 consecutive annual exhibition showcasing a wide variety of art and price points in four large gallery rooms. Free Admission 10am - 4.30pm. Kennaway House Sidmouth EX10 8NG 01395 515551. www.southwestacademy. org.uk.

New paintings by Ellen Watson Presenting a second collection of accomplished sea and landscapes from one of Cornwall’s most talented contemporary painters at White Space Art, 72 Fore St, Totnes TQ9 5RU.

Until 15 November

Vanessa Bowman and Mhairi McGregor at The Jerram Gallery, Half Moon Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3LN. www. jerramgallery.com.

Until 18 November

Magic Mountains Tobit Roche. Still Point John Ridgewell (1937-2004) The Art Stable, Kelly Ross Fine Art, Child Okeford Dorset DT11 8HB. kellyross@theartstable.co.uk. 07816 837905.

22 - 26 November

Kit Glaisyer - West Dorset Landscapes An exclusive 5-day Pop-up exhibition with a selection of Kit’s large West Country landscape paintings. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am - 6pm.

36 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Jubilee Hall, Poundbury, DT1 3BW. 07983 465789 www.kitglaisyery.com @kitglaisyer.

25 November - 7 December

Pop-Up Vintage The Malthouse Gallery, Town Mill, Lyme Regis. Open from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm every day. We are only here for 13 days so don’t miss us! All the usual, lovely things which have been sourced, renovated, repaired and upcycled by us so that you don’t have to. Shop at Pop- Up Vintage for a truly sustainable Christmas.

25 November - 20 December

Future Present Bridport Arts Centre’s annual Christmas selling exhibition will bring together a diverse selection of designer makers in a display of contemporary craft and design, including wood, paper, textiles, prints, ceramics, jewellery plus Christmas gifts, decorations and cards. Located in our beautiful Allsop Gallery, Future Present will be a great opportunity to find the perfect Christmas present from a wide range of highquality, handmade items whilst supporting small, local and creative businesses and craftspeople, as well as those from further afield. Get away from the wintry weather and join us in the warm and cosy atmosphere of the Allsop Gallery for a real Christmas treat. Preview: Friday 24th November, all welcome. Allsop Gallery, Bridport Arts Centre, 9 South Street, Bridport DT6 3NR 01308 424901.

Open 10am – 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday, Free Entry.

GALLERIES IN DECEMBER Live or Online send your gallery details to info@marshwoodvale.com

BY NOVEMBER 10th

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 37

November GALLERIES

Until 26 November

SSW Winter Open 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.

Mysterious Adventures: Paintings by David Brooke David Brooke’s intricate acrylic paintings take you on a magical, mysterious journey. Rotunda Gallery, Lyme Regis Museum, Bridge St, Lyme Regis DT7 3QA, Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm, www. lymeregismuseum.co.uk.

1 December - 3 December

Sou’-Sou’-West Art Fair Sou’-Sou’-West Arts Gallery, Symondsbury Estate, Bridport DT6 6HG. Open daily 10:304:30. Free admission & parking. Contact 01308 301326 www. sousouwest.co.uk.

2 - 3 December

Dennis Chinaworks Open Studio weekend. Demonstrations, throw a pot, trials & discontinued designs for sale. Vintage glass shop & delicious free refreshments. Shepton House, Shepton Beauchamp, Somerset TA19 0JT 11am - 4pm www. dennischinaworks.com info@dennischinaworks.com

Until 1 January 2024

‘Gruppenausstellung’ is a celebration of Hauser & Wirth’s Swiss heritage through a playful presentation of over 20 artists.

Durslade Farm, Dropping Lane, Bruton Somerset BA10 0NL.

Until 5 January

Autumn mixed exhibition Consuelo Child-Villiers brings visionary oils. A nautical theme comes from printmaker Colin Moore and Kim Pragnell’s charcoal deftly contrasts curvature of the boats with the linearity of the yard architecture. Hill forts enter by way of landscape monoprints from Bristol-based Ruth Ander.

The Hampshire artist Philippa Headley adds her impressionistic landscape oils to the mix alongside the detailed landscape etchings of Devon-based Mary Gillett. A variety of raku ceramics are with us from London-based artist Alison Wear as well as stonework from Sarah Moore and the fine metal/glass/stone scuptures from Bershire based Johannes von Stumm. Imogen Bittner has some new textile pieces as well as work from London-based guest artist Chloe Fremantle and pieces by local guest artist Sarah Batt. Tincleton Gallery, The Old School House, Tincleton, nr Dorchester, DT2 8QR Opening 10 – 4PM Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon Or by appointment Admission fee: nil. 01305 848 909 www.tincletongallery.com.

38 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Octagon plans will bring investment to Yeovil

An artists’ impression of the redeveloped Octagon Theatre

HUNDREDS of people from Yeovil and the surrounding area showed their backing for the Octagon Theatre at a meeting at Westlands entertainment centre on 10th October. The Yeovil Town Council meeting was called to discuss a possible partnership with Somerset Council to ensure the future of the project to refurbish the Octagon Theatre and enable it to host bigger touring shows, bigger audiences and to support more small scale and local productions and companies.

The Arts Council has promised £10 million towards the ‘cultural hub’ scheme but Somerset Council has now put the £30 million project on hold because of the impact of rising interest rates. The plans include expanding the main auditorium from 622 to 900 seats, back-stage improvements and the construction of a fly tower for bigger sets. The aim is to transform the Octagon into a flagship cultural hub for Somerset. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has already announced its plans to make the reopened theatre its home in Somerset.

After strong statements in support from council leader Graham Oakes and the majority of councillors, with a small minority criticising the potential impact on council tax and calling for the theatre to ‘just reopen’, the town council voted by 12 to two in support of Cllr Oakes’ motion to work with Somerset Council to get the project back on track and to financially support the plan.

Speakers from the floor included the mother of a severely disabled girl who said her daughter’s life ‘revolved around the theatre,’ and the Octagon ‘helped her to dance again.’

Liz Pike, a leading light in the local arts scene for many years and one of the founders of Yeovil Literary Festival (based at the Octagon and this year at Westlands) recalled the crippling financial problems when the original Johnson Hall had been opened in 1974—inflation was running at 23 per cent and mortgage interest was 14 per cent. The refurbishment was essential: ‘Our theatre is there for our wellbeing and for the future of Yeovil.’

Founder and artistic director of Project Dance, 19-year old professional dancer James Bamford said his early experiences in musicals and dance shows at the Octagon had formed his career. The plans to refurbish and redevelop the theatre were necessary to attract bigger companies and productions. The project would be ‘an investment in education, culture and the local economy. It is time to be more ambitious,’ he said, to great applause.

Somerset councillors have asked for alternative plans to be drawn up. Even if construction costs stayed the same, the four-fold rise in interest rates

would increase the costs over the many years of repayment. It was anticipated that the council would borrow £16.3m from the Public Works Loan Board at 1.5%. But with the increased interest rates, there would be a rise in interest rates from £245,000 to more than £1m a year, for the first few years. With tight government restrictions on local government spending, Somerset Council is anticipating an overall £26.1m overspend for the current financial year. This has led to a review of all spending, including capital projects, to ensure that core services are protected.

Independent town councillor Tareth Casey, who is opposed to the Yeovil Refresh town centre regeneration scheme and the Octagon refurbishment, claimed the budget was under-estimated. But he raised an important question about why two of the three original prospective developers had withdrawn from the tendering process.

Adam Burgan, who is Somerset’s entertainment manager, and has been at the Octagon for 15 years, said: ‘I love that building.’

He explained the particular need for improved back-stage facilities for all the groups and companies using the theatre.

Somerset Council wanted to explore the opportunities, he said.

‘Please have a bit of patience.’

Graham Oakes said the Octagon had become regionally important, thanks to Adam Burgan’s leadership. Many audience members ‘came over the border from Dorset—perhaps Dorset Council should be asked to contribute,’ he suggested.

The refurbished and enlarged theatre would attract a wider range of acts and companies, putting on shows which currently require a trip to Bristol or Southampton.

‘If you can put on the big shows, you can afford to put on the local shows—you need one to keep the other going.’

By Fanny Charles

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 39

Handbook and podcast launched to inspire writers WHETHER you’re a professional songwriter, an artist with a dream, a multi-million-selling act, a hobbyist, or even if you’ve never written a song before, a new book and poscast produced by local singer songwriter Elijah Wolf may be the inspiration for your next hit song.

Elijah’s songs have been championed on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 and in MOJO Magazine.

The Songwriter’s Handbook and Podcast aims to help you find the spark to start writing.

All writers sometimes face writer’s block or find themselves stuck for an idea to write a song about and need some inspiration. Perhaps you are writing a new album or you are writing for or with artists and you need ideas to spark new songs into being. Possibly you’re stuck in a bit of an artistic rut and looking for fresh ideas to write about, or perhaps you’ve always felt there is a songwriter inside of you but you don’t know where to begin.

The blank page in front of you can sometimes be overwhelming.

‘It’s a unique and interactive book in which I explore lots of different subjects and topics’ said Elijah. The book asks the reader questions and give them prompts to explore their own creativity and imagination to find the seed or spark of an idea for a song. ‘My deepest desire is to connect the reader to their imagination in the hope they will be creative and write new songs.’

On each page is an idea, something to think about, something to provoke your creativity, challenge or inspire you to write a song. How you write the song is, of course, up to you. How long it takes is up to you and the song. You just have to go where the song wants to take you and enjoy the process. There is no right or wrong: just you and your feelings and whatever words and music come to you. ‘You could start from the beginning of this book, or close your eyes and pick a page at random and see what arises in your mind’ said Elijah. ‘There are appropriate songs by other artists listed at the bottom of each page.

These were chosen by me; they are songs I love and I think they illustrate a unique, interesting and emotive way of writing about each subject.’

‘I’m sure you will have ideas of your own, and it would be great to hear them. Visit us at our YouTube channel ‘Songwriting For Songwriters’. You can upload the songs you’ve written for each subject and join our ever-expanding community of songwriters. The Songwriters Handbook: Songwriting For Songwriters is available on Amazon.

Soul sensations, Mamma’s Gun launch UK tour in Lyme Regis

M

amas Gun, the country’s hottest soul band, launch their highlyanticipated UK tour in Lyme Regis on Friday 24 November.

Known for their captivating blend of soul, funk, blues, and pop, this is a must-see for local soul and R&B fans. They’ll be supported by local soul songstress, Joanna Cooke, who is rapidly making a name for herself on the national circuit.

Formed in 2007, Mamas Gun give old skool soul a contemporary twist.

Their exceptional musicianship and dynamic live performances have wowed audiences wherever they’ve played although it’s their first time in the southwest.

Fresh from lockdown, Mamas Gun released their acclaimed album, Cure the Jones. Rooted in 1970s soul, it’s a unique take on the genre, with frontman Andy Platts and drummer Chris Boot at the helm.

As Andy Platts puts it, ‘Soul music is life-affirming. It’s everything.’ They draw inspiration from legends like Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, and Gil Scott-Heron.

They have three albums under their belt, including #1 hits in Japan and top 10 airplay in the UK and Europe. The Sunday Times, Billboard, The Guardian, and Uncut Magazine have all praised their soulful vocals and catchy tunes.

Having toured the globe and shared stages with icons like Earth, Wind & Fire, Incognito, and Beverley Knight, Mamas Gun is ‘up there’ with some of the best in the industry.

Named after Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun, their music stands alongside neosoul classics like Voodoo, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys’ Songs in A Minor, and Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite.

Julie Sheppard the gig promoter says, ‘This was the best live band we saw last year by a country mile – and we saw lots! Don’t miss Mamas Gun. We’re expecting customers from across the region. Catch them set light to Lyme Regis before embarking on their epic UK tour. It’ll be a night of soulful bliss’.

Mamas Gun, Friday 24 November, Marine Theatre, Church Street, Lyme Regis, DT& 3QB. Joanna Cooke in support.

Tickets: www. jazzjurassica.co.uk

40 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Literary Festival lights up November THE 19th Bridport Literary Festival takes place from 5-11 November in venues all around the town. There’s a dazzling line-up of speakers in all genres, with many events already sold out. But there is still a chance to get tickets for a diverse range of events, with something to appeal to anyone who reads books.

Here are just some of the speakers you can see and hear: Bestselling author Amanda Craig’s latest novel is set against the backdrop of the Tuscan hills.

‘The Three Graces may occasionally teeter on the brink of riotous but it is also witty, sharp-eyed and, in the end, ridiculously enjoyable,’ says Christobel Kent in the Guardian.

Craig is at Bridport Arts Centre on Friday 10 November at Bridport Arts Centre at 12 noon.

Chocolat author Joanne Harris is at the Electric Palace on Friday 10 November at 2pm. In her new novel, Broken Light, Harris’s central character Bernie Moon faces middle age and the menopause.

Ian Rankin describes the novel as ‘chilling, enchanting and thought-provoking’, while Marian Keyes says Broken Light ‘blazes with anger and sorrow’.

In Sing As We Go, Britain Between the Wars, Simon Heffer explores and explains the politics of the period between the wars and puts moments of national turmoil such as the General Strike of 1926 and the Abdication Crisis of 1936 under the microscope. He probes the deep divisions that split the nation, between the haves and have-nots, warring ideological factions, those who promoted fascism in Europe and those bitterly opposed to it. He’s at the Electric Palace on Friday 10 November at 5pm.

Top political commentator Steve Richards will be talking about Turning Points: Crisis and Change in Modern Britain From 1945 to Truss when he appears at the Electric Palace at 6.30pm on Friday 10 November.

Every few weeks in British politics, a columnist uses the word ‘unprecedented’ as a cabinet minister resigns or yet another inquiry is called.

Richards puts the recent chaos into context and takes a step back to explore 10 critical events that shaped modern Britain. He argues that it’s only with distance that we can perceive the tectonic plates shifting.

Locally-based writer Celia Brayfield explores the life of the author of Black Beauty when she speaks at the Bull Ballroom on Wednesday 8 November at 10.30am.

For more information visit bridlit.com or pick up a brochure from Bridport Tourist Information Centre in Bucky Doo Square where tickets are available in person or by calling 01308 424901.

West Dorset Paintings by Kit Glaisyer in Poundbury Pop Up

A

5-day Pop-up exhibition at Poundbury’s Jubilee Hall, from November 22-26 offers a captivating journey through Kit Glaisyer’s lifelong connection to the region, presenting a series of large oil paintings up to 10-foot wide that vividly capture the very essence of West Dorset.

Born in a small village in the Blackmore Vale, Glaisyer learned ‘en plein air’ painting alongside his artistic father, strongly inspired by the expressive watercolours of John Sell Cotman and JMW Turner. Winning an Art Scholarship to Sherborne School led to formative Art Trips and exposure to the great Museums and Galleries across Europe. Thus, influences from Cézanne and the Post-Impressionists sparked his exploration of paint’s tactile nature.

Following art college in Bournemouth and Farnham, Glaisyer moved to London, where an encounter with a Gerhard Richter exhibition led him on a journey into Abstract art that transformed his approach, and then further enriched his landscape painting upon returning to Dorset five years later.

His painting process begins with an Impressionist touch, capturing the immediacy of a fleeting moment. He then methodically applies thin paint layers over several weeks or months, creating vibrant tapestries of light and colour, a patient approach to painting that harks back to 19th-century European Romantic artists and the American Hudson River School.

In ‘West Dorset Paintings,’ Glaisyer offers a moving visual journey, mixing a contemporary exuberance with a steadfast devotion and deep connection to the venerable traditions of art.

Kit also presents an evolving exhibition of his West Country landscape paintings, with works on show in his gallery and studio, including original paintings, drawings, and prints on canvas. Open Weds & Sat, 10am - 3pm or by appointment. Kit Glaisyer Gallery, 11 Downes Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3JR. 07983 465789 www.kitglaisyery.com @kitglaisyer West Dorset Paintings is at the Jubilee Hall, Poundbury, DT1 3BW from 22 - 26 November: 10am – 6pm. 07983 465789. kitglaisyer.com.

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November PREVIEW

Oddbodies’ new solo King Lear

POWERSTOCK & BUCKLAND NEWTON ACCLAIMED performer Paul Morel comes to Buckland Newton village hall on Friday 24th November and Powerstock Hut on Saturday 25th with a new solo version of Shakespeare’s great tragedy, King Lear, by the inventive Oddbodies theatre company.

Armed with only a drum, a guitar, a knife and a chair, Morel follows the tragic trajectory of Lear’s final months from the point of view of his long-suffering and ever-loyal fool. The bastard Edmund, haughty Goneril, vicious Regan, poor deluded Gloucester, oily Oswald, courageous and loyal Cordelia, mad Tom ... all the characters from this sad and sorry tale are brought to life in this fast paced, funny and ultimately heartbreaking production.

Directed by John Mowat, this is an important, imaginative and irreverent reworking of one of Shakespeare’s most brilliant and powerful plays, delivered with Oddbodies’ trademark physical ingenuity and visual flair. Expect betrayal, delusion, deceit, love, loyalty, lust and greed.

Both performances begin at 7.30pm.

Paul Morel in a one-man King Lear

42 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

The Fitzroy Quartet give the November Concerts in the West series

Fitzroy Quartet on tour

CONCERTS IN THE WEST THE November tour of Concerts in the West brings the Fitzroy Quartet to Bridport, Ilminster, Crewkerne and Uplyme, from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th, with a programme of string quartets by Haydn, Szymaninowski and Debussy.

The Fitzroys are Dan-Iulian Drutac and Jure Smirnov Ostir, violins, Matthew Maguire, viola, and Michael Newman, cello. The quartet was formed in 2015 while all four members were studying at the Royal Academy of Music.

Following their studies, the quartet was immediately appointed as Chamber Music Fellows at the Academy while simultaneously being named as Associate Ensemble at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, a position they held for three years.

They have won many prizes and awards and play regularly at the Wigmore Hall, and across the UK, Europe and the world at prestigious venues and festivals.

The programme at Bridport Arts Centre, for the coffee concert at 11.30am on Friday, is Haydn’s String Quartet No 3 and Debussy’s quartet in G minor. At Ilminster Arts Centre at 7.30pm on Friday evening, Crewkerne’s Dance House on Saturday at 7.30 and Uplyme Church on Sunday at 3pm, they will also play Szymanowski’s quartet No 2.

November at 7.30pm. Jennifer Irons’ story is described as a “funny, bizarre, dark and (mostly) true, one-woman, cabaret-style guide to surviving an unbelievably mad life in Canada’s frozen north.”

Yukon Territory, Northern Canada, is where North America’s coldest temperature ever (-63 degrees Celsius) was recorded. It’s where there are more caribou than people, tossing chainsaws is entertainment, barbecued squirrel is food and watching bears forage at the garbage dump on a Saturday evening is a big night out.

But it’s not all sophisticated fun. It’s also a genuinely challenging place to live, where escape is difficult and where many people die tragically young as a result of accidents and the harsh Arctic winters. It’s where Jennifer Irons was born and raised, dreaming of leaving.

Growing up in a tough, isolated mining town with little prospect of reaching “the Outside”, Jennifer found release through performance. Specifically, it came in the unlikely circumstances of dancing the Can-Can in a casino in Dawson City to an audience of drunken miners who threw poker chips at her. Her passion for dance subsequently led to an extraordinary journey out of the Yukon, and around the world.

In Yukon Ho!, in character as ‘Intrepid Jen’, she tells the story of surviving, escape and an eventual reconciliation through reconnection with her homeland.

Yukon Ho! is dark, fearless, original, bizarre and very funny. Expect to laugh, holler, quaff questionable cocktails and learn how to be Bear Aware. And it’s all (mostly) true.

Losing his mind

BRIDPORT COMEDIAN Dan Hagley tackles the complex and difficult subject of mental health in his solo show, Halfway Round The Bend—How I Lost My Mind and Found It Under The Kitchen Table, coming to Bridport Arts Centre on Thursday 2nd November.

The show, lived, written and performed by Dan Hagley, is described as an “unflinchingly honest and cheerfully anarchic fusion of contemporary writing and stand-up comedy that explores what it really means to live, work and thrive with metal illness.”

The show, which begins at 8pm, is directed by Alison Belbin with movement by Natalie Mason.

Life on the Canadian edge

BRIDPORT AN unusual and entertaining one woman show, Yukon Ho! Comes to Bridport Arts Centre on Saturday 11th

The Mellstock Band

The Mellstock Band is back

BRIDPORT SPEND Christmas in Mellstock, sharing in seasonal stories, poems and music from Dorset churches and village archives. The Mellstock Band brings its festive show to Bridport Arts Centre on Friday 24th November at 7.30.

Follow the Mellstock Band as they go their Christmas rounds in deepest Wessex, encountering strange visitors, pious beasts, wrathful squires and sweaty dancers. There are supernatural moments, harmonious song and curious musical instruments, all depicted in the wonderful words of Thomas Hardy and William Barnes.

The long-established period instrument and vocal quartet are Dave Townsend, concertina and violin, Carolin Butler, violin, Tim Hill, clarinets, and Phil Humphries, serpent.

They all sing.

They return to their roots in a show built around the descriptions of Christmas festivities in the works of Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 43

November PREVIEW

Thomas Hardy and his friend, the Dorset dialect poet William Barnes. As always the band performs in costume, with village band instruments of the 19th century including fiddle, clarinet, concertina and serpent.

Haunted at the Corn Exchange

DORCHESTER ACTOR Gerard Logan celebrates Hallowe’en and the Celtic festival of Samhain—the end of harvest and a time of mysterious spiritual experiences in Hauntings, at Dorchester Corn Exchange on Thursday 2nd November at 7.30pm.

Hauntings is a spellbinding evening of three tales of the supernatural, during which the actor will take the audience to a world of invisible, but terrifyingly present, spirits. The evening includes MR James’ classic Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad in which a medieval spirit strikes terror into an arrogant professor.

The show is directed by Gareth Armstrong with music

by Simon Slater

Arsenic and Old Lace

DORCHESTER SPINSTER sisters Abby and Martha are kindly old ladies, happy to share their home with nephew Teddy—who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt and spends much of his time digging the Panama Canal down in the cellar.

But there is more going on in the Brewsters’ basement than you could imagine as the audience discovers in the black comedy-thriller Arsenic and Old Lace, being staged

by Dorchester Drama at the Corn Exchange on Friday and Saturday 24th and 25th November at 7.30pm, with a Saturday matinee at 2.30.

Abby and Martha’s nephew Mortimer is aware of their gentle eccentricity but enjoys visiting, particularly as he is in love with the girl next door.

But ... where is the other brother, the maniacal Jonathan—and what is he up to? And how exactly are Abby and Martha ‘helping’ the local population of lonely old men? Joseph Kesselring’s farcical black comedy is most famous as a 1944 film adaptation starring Cary Grant with Boris Karloff as Joseph. Originally it was a long-running Broadway and West End theatre production.

Home in the rainforest

DORCHESTER CONCRETE Youth, a company specialising in multisensory theatre productions for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), brings a new show, The Whispering Jungle, to Dorchester Corn Exchange on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th November

Chef-comedian George Egg

at 11am and 1.30pm both days.

Tickets for The Whispering Jungle are only available from Dorchester Arts’ box office on 01305 266926. Spaces are limited to six PMLD audience members and their carers per performance.

The Turtle, the Monkey, and the Bird have all lost their home. Men in big, bright, yellow jackets came and chopped down all the trees. Now they’re forced away to fend for themselves, make their own new homes and pick up the pieces of the mess that the humans have left behind. How will the animals cope on their own? What can humans do to make the world better for the animals of the rainforest?

And why is the Turtle so clumsy? The performance includes sensory play and sensory puppets.

The Whispering Jungle is presented in association with Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and supported by Arts Council England, Hull City Council and Back to Ours.

DIY dining with George Egg

WINTERBORNE STICKLAND THE comedian who cooks, the chef who makes you laugh ... George Egg is back in Dorset with his latest show, which scoops the cream of his culinary jokes, Set Menu.

After several Artsreach dates at the beginning of the year and gigging at the Glastonbury Festival, George comes to Winterborne Stickland’s Pamela Hambro Hall, on Saturday 18th November at 7.30pm.

George Egg is the award-winning, multi-sell-out, international-touring comedian who cooks real food (tasty, enjoyable food), often with the most improbable

44 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Environmentalist Kate Rawles with her bamboo bike equipment. Described by The Scotsman as “a culinary Bill Bailey with chopping boards instead of keyboards”, he has created the current show from the best morsels of his three shows over the past five years—Anarchist Cook, DIY Chef and Movable Feast.

He has cooked more than a thousand dishes in front of a live audience and none of them with a kitchen. Revisiting those unlikely environments armed with the chef ’s skills he’s honed (he is entirely self-taught), expect to learn how to make food on a train with a laptop, in a shed with power tools and in a hotel room with the appliances they unwittingly provide you with.

George will serve up three plates of gourmet food prepared in the most unconventional of ways, and with the opportunity to taste the results at the end. It’s time for the funniest recipes and the most delicious jokes.

Bamboo bike ride

WEST BAY FORMER university lecturer Kate Rawles comes to Sladers Yard at West Bay on Thursday 23rd November, as part of the Help Our Planet (HOP) series. Her talk, Adventure in the Andes: The Life Cycle biodiversity bike ride, is the story of her extraordinary journey the length of South America on a bamboo bike she built herself.

Along her marathon route, Kate explored biodiversity: what it is, what’s happening to it and why losing it amounts to as great a threat as climate change.

Formerly a lecturer in environmental philosophy and then outdoor education, Kate now works freelance. Her overall aim is to give a massive wake-up call—raising

awareness and inspiring effective, intelligent action on some of our most urgent environmental challenges.

Kate has written widely on environmental issues including two books, The Life Cycle (Icon Books 2023), which has been shortlisted for this year’s Banff Mountain Festival Adventure Travel Book Award, and The Carbon Cycle, Crossing the Great Divide (Two Ravens Press, 2012; Rocky Mountain Books), based on a bike ride from Texas to Alaska exploring climate change.

Kate grew up mainly in Scotland. She lives in Cumbria with her partner, Chris, and is a keen sea kayaker, hill walker and bookworm, as well as a cyclist. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a member of The Adventure Syndicate, and an ambassador for the Lake District Foundation.

The HOP talks are an initiative started by Philip Howse (Professor Emeritus, University of Southampton) with Professor Sir Ghillean Prance (former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) George Monbiot, Clive Farrell, Dr George McGavin and the late James Lovelock. The project aims to inspire and inform individuals and local communities with tangible actions and the latest reliable information to help combat the effects of climate change and environmental degradation, and to raise money for charities working in these areas.

Each month the charity is chosen by the speaker. The talk is followed by lively discussion with the audience. It begins at 7pm, with a hot supper and bar available from 6pm. Proceeds of the event will be going to Dorset Wildlife Trust and towards the making of the Vicar of the Amazon film.

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Screen Time with Nic Jeune

Top Six at the Flix Bridport Arts Centre Otto Baxter: Not A F***ing Horror Story and The Puppet Asylum (2023) A remarkable double bill comes to the Arts Centre followed by a Q&A with the producer Daisy Allsop. “Baxter has made one of the most unusual horror films you’re likely to see. The Puppet Asylum is a 30-minute short inspired by Jack the Ripper, A Nightmare on Elm Street and, crucially, his own experience of living with Down syndrome….The film is accompanied by Not a F***ing Horror Story, an incredibly moving documentary about Baxter’s life.” The Guardian. Tim Jonze.

Brother ( 2022) “Brilliantly acted Canadian coming-of-age drama….A single mother struggles to protect her two very different sons, growing up in Toronto, in Clement Virgo’s deeply moving film.” The Guardian. Mark Kermode.

Bridport Electric Palace Close (2022) a soul-scorching portrait of boyhood friendship and loss…. The two aren’t brothers, but share a fast fraternal bond – the irreparable severing of which, as the boys move fully into adolescence, is the subject of Lukas Dhont’s overwhelmingly sad and tender new film.” The Telegraph.

Robbie Collin.

The Old Oak (2023) An intimate but ambitiously mounted ensemble piece, The Old Oak ranks among Loach’s foremost state-of-the-nation dramas Screen Daily. Jonathan Romney.

Odeon Dorchester Napoleon (2023) No reviews yet but as one film pundit said after watching the trailer. “The combination of Ridley Scott, Napoleon, and Joaquin Phoenix is too good to pass up.”

Netflix The Killer (2023) If The Killer is chilly-to-the-touch and anchored by a quiet and intensely physical performance by Fassbender, the filmmakers nevertheless wring an awful lot of wit from this frigid world. The Wrap. Ben Croll.

Oscar-winner The Artist on stage

PLYMOUTH ONE of the most highly-praised films of the 21st century, the multi-Oscar winning The Artist, is being brought to the stage next year, with its world premiere at Plymouth Theatre Royal from Saturday 11th to Saturday 25th May 2024.

This new staging of the 2011 French film, famously in black and white, in the style of a silent movie, is being directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie, and will star the hugely popular Gary Wilmot as the studio boss Al Zimmer, with Robbie Fairchild as the great silent movie star, George Valentin (played on screen

by Jean Dujardin.)

Gary Wilmot, who has previously delighted Devon audiences in The Wind in the Willows and BIG—The Musical, is thrilled to be a leading cast member in this adaptation of The Artist. He says: I loved the film when I saw it in the packed cinema, and now that Drew McOnie’s got his hands on it, it’s going to go stratospheric.”

Former principal dancer with New York City Ballet, the Utah-born singer and actor Robbie Fairchild plays the silent movie icon George Valentin. He says: “There are few moments in the life of a performer when you are given the opportunity to play a character that you instantly feel so connected to… that in the process of diving into them, you begin to understand yourself and your own life experiences more. The Artist is one of those moments for me.”

Briana Craig, who is currently touring in 42nd Street and last year toured in Singing’ In The Rain, will play Peppy Miller in The Artist.

The Artist, filmed in the style of a black-and-white silent film and part-talkie, was written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius. Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) falls in love with the silent film star George Valentin (Dujardin) but things change when Peppy becomes a famous actor while George’s career goes downhill with the introduction of talkies. The film won the Academy Award, Cesar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for best picture in 2012. In all it won five Oscars, and many other international awards for best director, best actor, original score and cinematography.

Reviving the village

VILLAGES YOU know about model villages—those miniature recreations of an idyllic rural settlement—cricket pitch, thatched cottages, roses round the door and a smart-as-paint railway station? Welcome to Model Village, the 50th anniversary production by New Perspectives, coming to three Dorset villages from 17th to 19th November.

The model village in this new satirical play from the East Midlands-based company, is an acre of 1930s England where cricket is always played on the green and the miniature railway runs on time. But the waist-high houses that have brought joy and wonder to generations of kids are in decline and visitor numbers are low.

Model-makers Brian and Holly are joined by Cutler, a radical urban artist, to help save the attraction and put the village back on the tourist map. However, not all is quite as it seems as the miniature villagers rebel and an emergency council meeting brings model-makers and residents eye-to-eye at grassroots level. If both worlds are to survive, they must learn to collaborate across divides. But first, they must round up the wolves…

It’s a timely theme—keeping traditional attractions relevant to a 21st century digital-obsessed audience, balancing the need for tourism and traditional rural life—a reviewer at the Edinburgh Fringe said: “New Perspectives has taken on an exciting challenge that proves rural touring companies can produce provocative work of national and international significance.”

New Perspectives have built their reputation over half a century as a theatre company with a strong rural core and this new show underlines that legacy.

Model Village creator Anita Sullivan is a stage and radio playwright whose 2022 BBC radio drama, End of Transmission, won the Tinniswood Award for writing, the BBC Audio Drama for Best Single Drama and was a finalist for the Writers Guild Award. Other recent work includes Silos and Heart of Darkness for BBC Radio 4.

46 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

Anita says: “I grew up in a rural community and first encountered theatre in the village hall. I’m delighted to be turning that full circle with Model Village. It’s written with heart and playfulness. What is a model village today? What do the little people want? I hope you’ll sing along, vote for the village you want to see.”

Vote for the model village YOU want in this playful and subversive new satire as New Perspectives tour to Child Okeford village hll on Friday 17th November, Lytchett Matravers on Saturday 18th, both at 7.30pm, and Litton Cheney Community Hall at the earlier time of 3.30 on Sunday 19th.

The Young Lit Fix

A basic bloke on tour

LYME REGIS COMEDIAN Geoff Norcott—that rarity, a right-wing comedian—is on a tour, called Basic Bloke, including dates at the Marine Theatre at Lyme Regis on Thursday 9th and Taunton Brewhouse Theatre on Friday 10th. Many dates on the lengthy tour are already sold out.

A regular and popular comedian on BBC Radio 4, Geoff Norcott is an unusual voice in the generally left-dominated British comedy scene. Having appeared on Live at the Apollo, Mash Report, Mock the Week and Question Time, he’s built up a significant live following with sell-out Edinburgh runs and two national tours.

Operating outside the usual comedy commentary on politics and social issues, Geoff has carved a real niche for himself. The Guardian, perhaps with its tongue in (political) cheek describes him as “a right laugh”.

His many television credits include Have I Got News for You (BBC1), A League of Their Own (Sky One), The Last Leg (C4), Would I lie To You? (BBC1), Mock the Week (BBC2), Live at The Apollo (BBC2), Offended by Irvine Welsh (Sky Arts), The Mash Report (BBC2), 8 Out of 10 Cats (C4), The Duchess (Netflix) and Backstage with Katherine Ryan (Amazon). He also fronted his own documentary, How The Middle Classes Ruined Britain (BBC2) and has released three Radio 4 specials to date, one of which won ‘Best Comedy’ at BBC Radio & Music Awards.

As well as deputising for Giles Coren on Times Radio and becoming a regular on BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz and The Now Show, Geoff has written for sitcom King Gary, Have I Got News For You, It’s Clarkson on TV, The Ranganation and many more. In 2021 he published his first book, the memoir, Where Did I Go Right?, which was praised by comics including Romesh Ranganathan, Katherine Ryan & David Baddiel.

Swedish folklore from the forests

VILLAGES ANCIENT Scandinavian forests and folklore provide the atmospheric background for Mara, a storytelling tour-de-force by Dominic Kelly, who comes to Dorset in November for two dates with Artsreach at Milborne St Andrew on Saturday 25th and Sandford Orcas on Sunday 26th, both at the village halls at 7.30pm.

It’s 1868. Discharged from the army with malaria, Morten scrapes a living on the edge of Sweden’s ancient forests. Suddenly he begins to suffer nightmares and mysterious visits as he sleeps. A friend tells him he’s plagued by a Mara—a possessed person who visits another in spirit form. To free himself from the Mara, he must discover their identity. But who is it?

He begins to closely watch the world around him. But as he becomes aware of his neighbours’ lives and the life of the ancient forest, his own begins to transform…

Entertaining, unsettling and moving, this solo performance is a mystery, diving into the dreamscape of Swedish folklore, a journey into Europe’s ancient forests, a love story, a playful look at our relationship with sleep and an exploration of what it really means to be awake.

Dominic Kelly has performed at venues including The Barbican, National Theatre, Soho Theatre, The British Museum and festivals around the world from India to the Arctic Circle.

The Missing Piece by Jordan Stephens illustrated by Beth Suzanna Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books £7.99 paperback Reviewed by Nicky Mathewson “The only thing that Sunny loved more than chocolate biscuits was the sweet, dusty chaos of an unfinished jigsaw puzzle” A girl after my own heart! Sunny loves puzzles and experiences great joy and satisfaction when she completes one.

The connecting pieces hugging together tightly to make something whole is a feeling she doesn’t want to let go of. She wants to hold on to that feeling forever and is worried about how sad she would feel if there were no more puzzles left for her to complete. When her latest puzzle is missing a piece she turns to her gran for help and with gran’s wisdom and guidance, Sunny embarks on an adventure to find the missing piece. The adventure is very local, but it takes her from house to house, from family to family in her own neighbourhood, a journey that sparks interest and brings along new friends.

This beautifully told story of reaching beyond what you know and who you know to broaden your horizons, is full of warmth and happiness. The illustrations are a riot of colour which makes that warmth leap from the pages.

I adore this book for the story, the message and the delightful artwork.

GPW 10% off for Marshwood Vale readers at The Bookshop on South Street, Bridport.

01308 422964 www.dorsetbooks.com Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 47

Services&Classified FOR SALE Litre. Neostar. £25ovno.

Camping Gaz table top also large Aloe Vera 34 tel 07398760637. single gas ring in very good inches. 0750 452 9926.

Wolfcraft Folding condition. With carrying Electronic Drum Kit, Workbench, Mitre Saw case. To include 3 spare Roland TD-1DMK (non powered), Workshop gas refill cylinders. £10.

V-Drums, one year old Metal Vice, 2 G Cramps Tel: 01460 242644. as new. £400 ono. 07505 403678.

Belle PC 400 16 “ wacker (8 inch), Motorist Warning ATCO 24 inch cylinder Triangle, Philips DVD mower B24R Professional Recline & Rise arm chair, plate, Honda GX 120 with rear roller seat used 6 months, flect colour petrol engine, bought for Recorder (little used), 3 Drawer Filing Cabinet, Excellent condition £250ono. Tweed green self-build project, now Internal Door (6ft 6in x 2ft £600 Tel: 01935 823906. overcoat made by Combie surplus to requirements.

3in) plain with furniture, Anvil medium size, Scotland £30. Man’s suit £600 Tel 07721 530520.

7 Internal Doors (6ft height 265mm,length navy-grey pin stripe W 42 Apollo Voyager Ladies 6in x 2ft 6in) plain with 580mm,width110mm L 31, worn once, Marks & Bike. Medium Frame. furniture. Photographs can £300 Tel 07721 530520.

Spencers. £30. 1 men’s full Straight handlebars. 17 be emailed. No reasonable Lakeland Touch-Screen length Barberry’s raincoat, Shimano Gears. Rear charcoal £15. Lady’s black pannier rack. Light metallic offers refused. Telephone Soupmaker, hardly used, 01935 881932. £50. Tel: 01297 35992. cape, full collar worn once, Green. Hardly used. In Canvas Bell Tent - used 3 Scheppach ts4000 circular as new. £20. Women’s navy good condition. For sale blazer, s. 18 good order. £25 ono. Collect in person times only so in vgc. I love saw bench incl. take off table and bench fold down £15. 07905 292862.

Crewkerne area. Tel:-01935 this tent but it just isn’t getting used and I have extension. 315mm dia.

G-Plan teak cabinet 881118. downsized, so regretfully blades. 240v. New in 1995. 48”H, 30”W, 2 doors, 2 Beach hut, approx. 6ft Good working order with large, 2 small drawers, x 8ft. Painted white (sides decided to sell it. I don’t have pictures but prepared little wear marks on table. jewellery compartment, and back) and front & to put this up if anyone is Can demo. £850. Tele. £45. Tennis racquet door striped blue and interested, feel sure it’s a 4 01308 427359. Bridport.

Dunlop Max27, £10. white, inside unpainted. metre diameter, big enough Rotavator AL-KO Farmer 01297 443930.

It is currently situated for two single beds, one ‘Hobby’, MH 350-4. Briggs Roll-top desk, oak, on Seaton beach and will need to be removed during double etc. £250 ono call and Stratton Engine. £75. W91cm, H 119cm, D 01395 348024.

Whitford near Axminster 69cm. Drawers on one October. Sides and roof 01297 552477. side. Dismantles for bolted for easy dismantling Downsizing Sale and removal. It is suitable Morphy Richards Luna 12- Ladies cycle with gears, transport £400. 07791 in-1 Steam Cleaner Model good condition £22 or 506129. either as a replacement 720506 plus attachments near offer. tel. 01935 Brand new, boxed, beach hut if you have an 476762. garden shredder, ‘The old one, or as a garden or £30. Janome Model 574 Bosch Vario perfect Handy’, 2500w motor, allotment shed. The site is Electric Sewing Machine leased from EDDC which plus all unused attachments washing machine, capacity unwanted gift. £80. 01297 and carry box £30. Tel: 9.0kg £350 as new, seldom 631808. has a waiting list, so you used, buyer collects. 01460 M.S. White Trainers, will not be able to re-erect 01308 458778.

76545 (Merriott). size 6, £20. Shoe cupboard it on the beach unless you Divan base & mattress 3’ wide. Grey. In excellent Royal Scot Crystal extra £20. Other shoes, dresses, already have a site. £400 condition, only used as large posy vase, 18cm size 14-16 £10 in good o.n.o. Tel 07591 848105.

Camping Gaz Blue Cat occasional guest bed. £40. Elizabeth Rose Earl posy, condition. 01297 270025.

Tel: 01460 242644. brand new boxed £25.

Noma Crystal Pine fibre catalytic heater - only 01308 458533. optic tree, several colour used a couple of times at 7-Foot white artificial Christmas tree. Used Free Loft Ladder, as new changes, 60cm high, Ideal Goodwood Revival! We twice. Perfect condition with all original packaging, for Christmas £8. 01308 don’t camp now so this with stand. Priced to sell. gash on side otherwise 458533. great little heater needs straight away. Bargain. £30. perfect call and collect.

Fleece reversible to go! Photos available 01305 751906.

01460 77993. waterproof bowls jacket and cartridges available For Free nicely covered Emsmorn size XXL £10. at Argos and online. £50. Wooden Cot dropside sofa in pale grey material 01308 425592.

01395 348024 Sidmouth - I solid beech with free with blue double stripe Bowls set Henselite can deliver as far as Lyme, mattresses in excellent condition. 105 cm h front to back. Seats 2-3, Classic II De Luxe, size 5 Bridport. new owner collects. 01308 heavy. £40. 01308 425592.

Table, 2 drawers. Light x 65cm w x 125cm l.

Grandparent sale, so 425976.

Nathan Squares Cabinet, “ash” wood. 103 cms L, hardly used. Offers.

Free to good home, 102cms W 75cm H, 45cm 62 D, 45cms H.picture mobile: 07920382000.

Aconium Arboreum D, two doors with shelf available. £45. Water(Charmouth).

Crassula large 54 inches over. £100. 01460 61005.

Heater, New, Boxed, 2.2 Ex-display sheds, Stables/field shelters, summerhouses, offices, workshops, agricultural 01935 891195 Dec 23

48 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

SITUATIONS VACANT

Garden Work mowing, strimming, landscaping, logging topping small paddocks Lorca Warner 07765666775 Nov 23

SITUATION WANTED

Mature lady offers part time care work in Bridport area.

Experienced (home care, NVQ 2), kind and patient, also trained in dementia care. Tel. 07778921044.

STORAGE One new 20 foot container available, located inside secure building near Beaminster, £36.00 per week including VAT. 07931 269002 Dec 23

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

Dec 23

TUITION Piano, violin, theory tuition at your home.

Highly qualified teacher.

Adults and children welcome. Beginners to advanced. Dr Thomas Gold 07917 835781. Dec 23

To advertise here email: info@ marshwoodvale.com

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 49

FOR SALE 2 Seater Sofa and two matching armchairs, very good condition, dark green colour. Free for collection. Not a fireproof guarantee. 01297 678692.

Electric Bike 20” wheels, 24v, 3 power settings, six speeds, black, charger, keys, foldable, unused. £465. 01460 61005.

Raleigh Stowaway small wheel folding bicycle £15.

07879 880250.

Karrimore walking boots, size 8 in excellent condition, not often used. £25 will go to a charity.

01460 75420.

Men’s Leather Shoes, brown, size 9, never worn.

You collect. £35. Electric lawn mower CIZE heavy roller £40. You collect.

Garden furniture set table six carver chairs, needs TLC, you collect £20.

0777 8190639.

Ercol Golden Dawn nest of three tables, perfect condition, as new £60.

01305 871648 Portesham.

Drive Rollator brand new with a seat. £50.

01297 631572.

Hornby “00” two + one mainline palitoy locos 3 coaches rollingstoke twin controller 63’ plus rail 8 points 15 houses + shops trees. £75. 01308 425495.

Miele Steam oven worktop model 13amp plug family ideal man accessories economical £255. 07966 168274.

Very Old Carver chair £30. Gun cabinet Barbour cartridge bag, sheepskin gun slip £90. Ladderback dining chairs x 6 oak with cane seat. £!80. 01935 892340.

Mobility Classic Walker

£70 ono, Transit ZT-Ted folding wheelchair E-con £145ono. Vintage cast iron kitchen scales, plus Imperial weights, British Scall Co £143ono. 01308 45940.

Tennis racquet Dunlop £10. Squash racquet Carlton £10, both with covers. Shirts M&S unopened tagged £19.50 size XL and XXL £12.

‘Ideal Xmas’! 01297 443930.

England Rugby Shirt, size L tagged £34.99 unwanted gift. £15. M&S Jeans, Indigo size 8. New/ unworn £10. John Lewis white pleated tennis skirt medium 26”w. £10. 01297 443930.

Old Oak cabinet 1930s barley twist legs 36”x30”x15”, formally held gramophone £45.

Glass demijohns for winemaking 4 for £10.

01297443930.

3 Seater sofa/ double bed, dimensions W 170cm D 100cm H 56cm, double bed W 113cm D 178cm foam mattress, condition good, cotton covers, freshly laundered, can send pictures. £300. 01460 54578.

Ercol vintage easychair, low armchair Yorkshire design circa 1960, new webbing recovered in Chintz. As new £500.

Matching footstool £250.

Ercol Windsor Goldsmith carver chair £150. G-plan teak cabinet h 48” x w 36” x d 16”. £45. 01297 443930.

Outwell Mauri Reef canvas tent sleeps 5, well looked after. 350cm wide, 560cm long, 320cm high.

£250. 01308 420764.

Cameras – Polaroid SUN 600 LMS boxed, manual excellent.

Hanimax 35mm RF motorised manual, excellent condition, offers invited. 01297 680560.

Cameras – Voigt Lander 35mm Compur shutter, Skopar lens, leather case.

Light meter remote cable, good condition. Offers.

01297 680560.

G-Plan Drinks Cabinet, mirror lined compartment with shelf over plus side shelves, 108cm W 145cm H 28cms D £69. 01460 61005.

Enigma Ultra lightweight aluminium wheelchair, excellent condition, hardly used, £180. 01305 262021.

Inc Propad cushion optional.

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

Name .............................................. Tel. ............................................

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50 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 Email info@marshwoodvale.com Tel. 01308 423031

ELECTRICAL

WANTED

CHIMNEY SWEEP

Secondhand tools. All trades and crafts. Old and modern. G. Dawson.

01297 23826. www. secondhandtools.co.uk.

Dec 23

Dave buys all types of tools 01935 428975

Oct 23

Coins wanted. Part or full collections purchased for cash.

Please phone John on 01460 62109 or 07980 165047.

Jan 24

LOGISTICS

Do you have a shed / garage full of old tools, car bits, unfinished projects etc? I buy job-lots of vintage items. Also enamel signs & slot machines & complete collections, 07875677897 Jan 24

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

Feb 24

Stamps & Coins Wanted by collector/investor.

We are keen to purchase small or large collections at this time. Tel: Rod mar 24 07802261339

To advertise here email: info@ marshwoodvale.com

FOR SALE Thule Evo Fixpoint Foot pack for Honda CRV 2010 Alloy wheel with new tyre, 18 inch Honda CRV 20082011. 07557 766727.

TV unit from Creamery.

Bristol oak type good

DISTRIBUTION

condition, D18 ½”, W 47 ½”, H 20”. £100 buyer collects Drimpton. 01308 867937.

Three drawer metal filing cabinet £90. 01308 863515.

Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine November 2023 51