Bridport Times July 2019

J ULY 2019 | FREE

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And when you’re rowing well, why it’s nearing perfection – And when you reach perfection you’re touching the Divine. It touches the you of you’s, which is your soul.”

George Yeoman Pocock, oarsman and boatbuilder (1911-1976)

CONTRIBUTORS Editorial and creative direction Glen Cheyne Design Andy Gerrard @round_studio Sub editors Jay Armstrong @jayarmstrong_ Elaine Taylor Photography Katharine Davies @Katharine_KDP Feature writer Jo Denbury @jo_denbury Editorial assistant Paul Newman @paulnewmanart Print Pureprint Distribution Available throughout Bridport and surrounding villages.

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1 Bretts Yard Abbey Corner Sherborne Dorset DT9 3NL 01935 315556 @bridporttimes glen@homegrown-media.co.uk paul@homegrown-media.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk Bridport Times is printed on an FSCÂŽ and EU Ecolabel certified paper.

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4 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Simon Barber Evolver @SimonEvolver @evolvermagazine evolver.org.uk Alice Blogg @alice_blogg @alice_blogg aliceblogg.co.uk Molly Bruce @mollybruceinteriors mollybruce.co.uk David Burnett The Dovecote Press dovecotepress.com Kelvin Clayton @kelvinclaytongp greenthoughts.me philosophyinpubs.co.uk Alice Chutter Yoga Space @yogaspacebridport yogaspacebridport.com Kit Glaisyer @kitglaisyer @kitglaisyer kitglaisyer.com Charlie Groves Groves Nurseries @GrovesNurseries @grovesnurseries grovesnurseries.co.uk Emily Hicks Bridport Museum @BridportMuseum bridportmuseum.co.uk Annabelle Hunt Bridport Timber and Flooring @BridportTimber @annabellehuntcolourconsultant bridporttimber.co.uk Sophie Johnson Bonhays Retreat Centre bonhays.co.uk Little Toller Books @LittleToller @littletollerdorset littletoller.co.uk Will Livingstone @willgrow willgrow.co.uk

Nicky Mathewson The Bookshop @bookshopbridprt @thebookshopbridport dorsetbooks.com Gill Meller @GillMeller @Gill.Meller gillmeller.com Anna Powell Sladers Yard @SladersYard @sladersyard sladersyard.wordpress.com Dave Rickard Bridport Town Council bridport-tc.gov.uk Ben Scriven Tamarisk Farm @ tamarisk_farm tamariskfarm.co.uk Niina Silvennoinen Dorset Wildlife Trust @DorsetWildlife @dorsetwildlife dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Charlie Soole The Club House West Bexington @TheClubHouse217 @theclubhouse2017 theclubhousewestbexington.co.uk Emma Tabor & Paul Newman @paulnewmanart @paulnewmanartist paulnewmanartist.com Cass Titcombe Brassica Restaurant @brassica_food @brassicarestaurant_mercantile brassicarestaurant.co.uk Nicky Trevett Burton Bradstock Festival of Music and Art burtonbradstockfestival.com Chris Tripp Dorset Diggers Community Archaeology Group dorsetdiggers.btck.co.uk Colin Varndell colinvarndell.co.uk

52

JULY 2019

6 What’s On

48 Archaeology

82 Gardening

18 Arts and Culture

52 B RIDPORT GIG ROWING CLUB

88 Community

34 History 38 Wild Dorset 44 Outdoors

62 Food and Drink 70 Body and Mind 76 Interiors

89 Philosophy 90 Literature 94 Crossword

bridporttimes.co.uk | 5

WHAT'S ON Listings

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Philosophy in Pubs

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Tuesdays 6pm-8pm

Mondays 10am-12.15pm

Heritage Coast Canoe Club

George Hotel, South St Read Kelvin

Watercolour Painting

Westbay Watersports Centre,

for Beginners

Clayton’s monthly article on page 89

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Fisherman’s Green, West Bay. Age 12+

Every Thursday 6.30pm

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Soulshine Cafe, 76 South St. Bookings

westbaykayak.co.uk 01308 862055

The Monmouth Table - Fish Tapas

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Tuesdays 7.15pm

Mondays (term-time)

Uplyme Morris Rehearsals

07425 969079 themonmouthtable.co.uk

6.30pm-8pm

The Bottle Inn, Marshwood. Facebook:

Every 1st Thursday

LSI, East St. 07881 805510

marion@taylormade.demon.co.uk

Bridport ASD & Social

____________________________

Uplyme Morris 07917 748087

10.45am-11.45am

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Free Community Coffee Morning

Bridport Children’s Centre.

Tuesdays 7.30pm-9pm

St. Swithun’s Church Hall, Allington

Anxiety Support Group For teens, parents & carers

Bridport Sangha

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Meditation Evenings

Every 3rd Friday 10.30am-3.30pm

Mondays 7.30pm-9.30pm

Quaker Meeting House, South St.

Bridport Embroiderers

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01308 456168

Bridport Dance Club

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07950 959572

St Swithun’s Church Hall, Allington

Folk dancing with recorded music.

Every 2nd Tuesday 7.15pm

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WI Hall, North St, DT6 3JQ. 01308 423442

Bridport Sugarcraft Club

Every Saturday 10am-12pm Chess Club

Mondays 7.30pm-9pm

Ivy House, Grove Nurseries, West Bay Road, DT6 4AB

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LSi Bridport, 51 East St. Free/donation.

Women’s Coaching Group

Every 2nd Tuesday 7pm-9pm

lsibridport.co.uk/chess-club-on-saturdays-2/ ____________________________

67 South St.

Co-operation Bridport

Saturday 29th June – Sunday 7th July 10am-5pm

Mondays 7.30pm-9.30pm

Free. 07974 888895

cooperationbridport.eventbrite.co.uk

Colours of Dorset Art Exhibition

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bridportchoral.wordpress.com/Facebook

Tuesdays 23rd July -

Eype Centre for the Arts, Bridport

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27th August 10am-1130am

DT6 6AR. 07958 756368

Mondays 8th & 22nd 7.15pm

Bridport Summer Yoga

Wednesday 3rd 7.30pm

Biodanza @ Othona

Ballroom, The Bull Hotel. £7. Mixed

Summer Concert: West Dorset

Bridport Campfire -

____________________________ Bridport Choral Society

____________________________

ability. 01308 485544 corrievanrijn@aol.com

Community Orchestra & Local

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Vocals Community Choir

01308 897130 biodanza-bridport.co.uk

Wednesday or Thursday 9.30am-

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12.30pm (term-time)

St John’s Church, West Bay. Free

Tuesdays 10am-1pm

Painting & Drawing Art Classes

Art Class

Mangerton Mill Artist Studio.

Othona Community, Coast Road,

Burton Bradstock DT6 4RN. £8-10.

Town Mill Arts, Lyme Regis DT7 3PU. 07812 856823 trudiochiltree.co.uk

Wednesdays 7pm-10pm Bridport Scottish Dancers

Walking the Way to

Church House, South St. 01308 538141

01305 252222 sarahdavies@dorset.gov.uk 6 | Bridport Times | July 2019

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Tuesdays & Thursdays 10.30am

Starts from CAB 45 South St.

Refreshments & raffle. 01308 456297

07505 268797

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Health in Bridport

admission, retiring collection.

bridportscottishdancers.org.uk

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Thursday 4th, 11am

Every 4th Wednesday 7.30pm

Juliet, Naked (15)

THE DORSET OPERA

MMXIX

Country House opera with internationally-renowned soloists, a full orchestra and a chorus of 70 Marquee bar | Posh Picnics | Formal Dining Giuseppe Verdi

NABUCCO

23, 27 July at 19:00 | Matinée 25 July at 14:00 Sung in Italian with English surtitles

Gaetano Donizetti

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

24, 25 July at 19:00 | Matinée 27 July at 14:00 Sung in Italian with English surtitles

OPERA GALA CONCERT Friday 26 July at 19:00

Box Office: 01202 499199 Online Booking: dorsetopera.com The Coade Theatre Bryanston Blandford Forum

WHAT'S ON Bridport Arts Centre, South Street

Nurseries, Bridport. £25. 01308 807053

Thursday 11th, 11am

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Bridport Arts Centre, South Street

grovesnurseries.co.uk

Barefoot in the Park (PG)

Thursday 4th 7pm

Saturday 6th 8.30pm

Salway Ash Village Fete Bingo

Bridport Soul Club Night

Box office 01308 424204 bridport-arts.com

Salway Ash Village Hall. Top prize £50

Masonic Hall, East St. Tickets from

Box office 01308 424204 bridport-arts.com

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Bridport TIC/Bridport Music

____________________________ Sunday 7th 7am-5pm Bridport Dagger Sportive – selection of routes Symondsbury. Entries close Thursday 4th beyondevents.org.uk

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Thursday 11th, 11am

Sunday 7th 3pm

Happy as Lazzaro (12A)

Thursday 4th, 7.30pm

Alice Dilke Memorial Concert

Sometimes Always Never (12A)

Church of St Candida & Holy Cross,

Bridport Arts Centre, South Street

Bridport Arts Centre, South Street

Box office 01308 424204 bridport-arts.com

Whitchurch Canonicorum. £10, includes

Box office 01308 424204 bridport-arts.com ____________________________

tea & cake

Friday 12th 6.30pm

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Art History Talk: JMW Turner in

Friday 5th 6.30pm

Sunday 7th 6pm-8pm

Dorset & the West Country

Supporting Versus Arthritis

Therapeutic Writing Workshop:

Concert

Poetry & Emotion

Slader’s Yard, West Bay DT6 4GD.

Loders Church. Piano, organ, mezzo-

Bothenhampton Village Hall. £15. 07747

01308 863690

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soprano. Refreshments, raffle. £15.

£10/£28 with dinner. 01308 459511

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142088 george@georgegottcounselling.co.uk

Friday 12th - Wednesday 31st

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10am-5pm

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Monday 8th 10.50am

Colour, Line & Thread

Friday 5th 7pm

Srebenica Commemoration

2019 Art exhibition

Jurassic Coast Feast

Bucky Doo Square, Bridport.

The Malthouse Gallery, Town Mill,

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Old Dairy Kitchen, Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU. £35, booking essential.

bridportandwestbay.co.uk

Lyme Regis, DT7 3PU. Free entry.

07999 923089 olddairykitchen.co.uk

Wednesday 10th 7.30pm

Saturday 13th 12pm-2.30pm

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People in a Landscape –

Summer Garden Party

Saturday 6th – Sunday 7th all day

Poetry for a Summer’s Evening

Powerboat Racing

Slader’s Yard, West Bay DT6 4GD.

St Swithun’s Church, Allington.

West Bay. Free. ocrda.com

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£12/£30 with buffet dinner. 01308 459511 ____________________________

Free entry/parking

____________________________ Saturday 13th 1pm-5pm

Saturday 6th 1pm-6pm

Uplyme & Lyme Regis Summer

Tipping Point

Show and Country Fayre

LSi Building, 51 East St. Sound

Uplyme Village Hall & Playing Fields.

acoustics. Free/donation. lsibridport.co.uk

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installation & activities exploring eco-

£2.50 adults; U-16s free ulrhs.wordpress.com

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Saturday 13th 1.30pm-4.30pm

Saturday 6th 7pm

Eric Ravilious, Artist &

Tiki Cocktails & BBQ Night

English Romantic Modern

Ivy House Restaurant, Groves

Church House, Bridport. £25,

8 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Speakers include:Liz Earle MBE Gelong Thubten Mac Macartney Tiffany Francis and many more...

Tashi Lunpho Monks Yoga Meditation Sound Therapy Pilates Creative Spaces Evening music performances

19th - 21st September Wellbeing by the Lakes is a 3-day festival exploring what it means to be mindful and live well in this fast-paced modern world. A curated blend of experts talks, meditation, movement sessions, art, live performance and healing therapies will open your eyes to fresh experiences for wellbeing.

Set in the picturesque sculpture park nestled in 26 acres of Dorset’s glorious countryside, the event brings together a wide-ranging programme to inspire and revitalise you. Broaden your knowledge, sample innovative and traditional practices for wellbeing and enjoy a playful, restorative day out.

BOOK NOW - Advance tickets from ÂŁ20.00 www.wellbeingbythelakes.co.uk office@sculpturebythelakes.co.uk +44 (0)7720 637808 Pallington Lakes, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 8QU

WHAT'S ON refreshments included. 01300 321715

Free. Booking essential. 01297 631113

The Influence of Art Upon

____________________________

____________________________

Uplyme Village Hall. £10.

chris.pamsimpson@btinternet.com

trillfarm.co.uk

Thomas Hardy The Writer Free parking. 01300 321715

Saturday 13th July 4pm-6pm Fermented Foods Workshop

chris.pamsimpson@btinternet.com

Sophia’s Choice, 9 Hogshill Street,

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Beaminster DT8 3AE. £20. 01308

Saturday 20th 2pm-5pm

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Stalls, entertainment, dog show, cream

862586 sophiaschoice.co.uk

Stoke Abbott Street Fair

Saturday 13th 7pm

teas. In support of local charities

Whitchurch’s Got Talent

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Whitchurch Canonicorum Village Hall.

Thursday 18th, 11am

Saturday 20th and

£5/£2.50 to include light supper.

The Dish (12)

Sunday 21st 2pm-6pm

01297 489185

Powerstock Open Gardens

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Bridport Arts Centre, South Street

Sunday 14th 10.30am-12.30pm

Box office 01308 424204 bridport-arts.com ____________________________

both days; accompanied children free

Kimmeridge -

Teas, plant stall, free parking. £5 to cover ____________________________

A Walk On The Beach (DWT)

Sunday 21st 11am-5pm

Meet at museum car park.

Summer Market

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market stalls, food. theollerod.co.uk

Booking: 01308 422538

The Ollerod. Free admission. Live music, ____________________________

Thursday 18th, 7.30pm First Man (12A) Bridport Arts Centre, South Street Sunday 14th, 2pm

Box office 01308 424204 bridport-arts.com ____________________________

Sunday 21st, 2pm

The Kid Who Would Be King (PG)

Thursday 18th 7.30pm

The Gleaners and I (U)

Bridport Arts Centre, South Street

Bridport & District Gardening

Bridport Arts Centre, South Street

____________________________

WI Hall, North St.

Box office 01308 424204 bridport-arts.com

Club Talk: British Bees

Sunday 14th 2.30pm-4.30pm

Free (non-members: small fee)

Monday 22nd 11am-2pm

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Bridport Connect

Salthouse, West Bay DT7 4HD

Saturday 20th all day

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West Bay Gig Club Regatta

St Andrews Rd, DT6 3BJ. Drop-in

Sunday 14th 7pm

bridportgigclub.org.uk

Cream Teas at the Salthouse

An Interesting Mixture of Things

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Box office 01308 424204 bridport-arts.com ____________________________

event for people with learning disabilities & carers. 07902 528895

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WI Hall, North St. Free – donations

Saturday 20th 9am-3pm

Monday 22nd 7.30pm

welcome. Various singers

Arts & Craft Fair

Story Café: Martin Shaw

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‘Into the Marvellous‘

Wednesday 17th 10am-12.30pm

Bridport Town Hall DT6 3LF. Free.

01308 424901

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Lyric Theatre, Barrack St,

Saturday 20th 2pm-3.30pm

DT6 3LX. £10. 01308 424901

aloadofstuffandnonsence.co.uk/lyric

Botanical Stroll with Mike Lock Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU. 10 | Bridport Times | July 2019

JULY 2019 £1. U-12s free. Free parking

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Friday 25th, 11am and 7.30pm

Tuesday 23rd 9am-5pm

Fisherman’s Friends

Creepy Crawly Day

Bridport Arts Centre, South Street.

Saturday 27th 7.30pm

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Box office 01308 424204 bridport-arts.com

In Concert Featuring 4

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Dorset-based Musicians

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Thursday 25th 2.30pm-5pm

Tuesday 23rd 2pm

RNLI Raft Race & Cream Teas

Burton Bradstock Village Hall,

U3A Talk: Why Diets Don’t Work

River Brit, West Bay/teas in the

Grove Nurseries, 74 West Bay Rd. £3.

01308 422654 grovenurseries.co.uk

Speaker: Dr Tony Davis. Bridport United Church Hall. Free (non-

Salthouse. 01308 423090/07790 713156

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Church St, DT6 4QS. Tickets £14 in advance only. 01305 873299

songsfromthehalls234@gmail.com

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members: £2) u3asites.org.uk/bridport

Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th

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10am-4pm

Wednesday 24th 6pm-8pm

Lucie Milner

Good Fit, Bad Fit

Exhibition/Sale of Work

Essence Lingerie, 3 Barrack Street.

The Reading Room, Burton Bradstock.

ssencebridport@gmail.com

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Tickets: 01308 422798 e

Original Artwork & Decorative Pieces

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Monday 29th 10am-11.30pm Dorset Poetry Walks

Thursday 25th 10.40am Stepping Into Nature –

Friday 26th - Sunday 28th

Exploring The Old Railway Line

10.30am-11.15pm

Meet at Discovery Centre. Free but

Bridport Folk Festival

manager@westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk

Bridport TIC. bridportfolkfestival.com

Thursday 30th 7.30pm

Mountfield, Rax Lane, Bridport.

Booking essential. sarahacton.co.uk/dorsetpoetry-walks-and-workshops

donations welcome. 01308 427288

Various venues. Tickets/wristbands from

____________________________

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Laughs at the Lyric

Saturday 27th 10am-4.30pm

Lyric Theatre, Barrack St DT6 3LX.

Model Railway Exhibition Colfox School, Bridport. Adults: £5, Children: £1. ukmodelshops.co.uk

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Donations welcome. 01308 424901 aloadofstuffandnonsense.co.uk/lyric

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Wednesday 31st 10.30am-12.30pm

Saturday 27th 2.30pm-4.30pm

Creative Writing Walk

Puncknowle Fete

Trill Farm, Musbury EX13 8TU

Manor Gardens, Puncknowle DT2 9BX.

£45. 01297 631113 trillfarm.co.uk

bridporttimes.co.uk | 11

WHAT'S ON ____________________________

Planning ahead

bar, teas, brass band. £2. U-12s free

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Bridport Vintage Market St Michael’s Trading Estate, DT6 3RR

____________________________

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Fairs and markets

Thursday 1st August 11am-3.30pm

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Local Produce Market

Try Your Hand at Boat Building

Every Wednesday & Saturday

West Bay Discovery Centre.

Weekly Market

Customs House, West Bay

westbaydiscoverycentre.org

Every Sunday, 9am-3pm

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Free but donations welcome.

South, West & East Street

Saturday 13th

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Vegan Market

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Second Saturday

Thursday 1st August 4.30pm

of the month, 9am–1pm

Town Hall

Talk: All Boats Have

Farmers’ Market

a Story to Tell

Bridport Arts Centre

West Bay Discovery Centre. Tickets £3 from Discovery Centre/Bridport TIC.

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________ Every Saturday, 9am–12pm

To include your event in our

01308 424901 westbaydiscoverycentre.org

Country Market

FREE listings please email details (max 20 words) by the 1st

Saturday 3rd August 2pm-5pm

WI Hall, North Street

____________________________

of each preceding month to

Last Saturday

listings@homegrown-media.co.uk

Loders Fete

Loders Court DT6 3RZ. Stalls, games, of every month, 10am-4pm ad.qxp_Layout 1 30/05/2019 10:43 Page 1

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Photo: David Greenshields

10 – 18 AUGUST 2019

Six days of brilliant classical, jazz and world music with internationally acclaimed performers and a nine-day exhibition featuring some of the finest art and ceramics in the South West.

BB

St Mary’s Church, the Village Hall, Burton Bradstock

www.burtonbradstockfestival.com

12 | Bridport Times | July 2019

D I S C O V E R | E AT | S H O P | S T AY | C E L E B R AT E

Welcome to Symondsbury Estate, set in the beautiful Dorset countryside just a stone’s throw from the Jurassic Coast. Join us for lunch. Browse our home, garden and gift shops.

Explore our fabulous walks and bike trails. Relax and unwind in our holiday accommodation.

Celebrate your wedding day … … isn’t it time you discovered Symondsbury Estate?

DIARY DATES Colmers Hill Run, 7th July

SY M O N D SBURY E S TAT E

+44 (0)1308 424116 www.symondsburyestate.co.uk The Estate Office Manor Yard, Bridport, Dorset DT6 6HG

What's On

BURTON BRADSTOCK FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ART Nicky Trevett

T

he picturesque village of Burton Bradstock is a jewel of the Jurassic Coast. With its beautiful 14th century church, picture postcard cottages, unspoilt beaches and dramatic cliff scenery, it doesn’t have to work hard to attract admiring visitors all year round. However every August excitement starts to build as the local community turns out in force to prepare for its annual festival of music and art.

This joyous occasion draws musicians from the UK and abroad to fill the ancient church, lawns, gardens and winding lanes with the sound of music. Six days of concerts and recitals begin with a tea party in the rectory gardens at 3pm on Sunday 11th August, ending with a gala concert at 7pm on Friday 16th in the church.

The music is accompanied by an eight-day exhibition and art sale featuring some of the finest art, ceramics and crafts in the south west. More than 50 artists and craft people exhibit each year and, over the past decade, it has become a significant part of the local art scene.

‘It’s always worth multiple visits,’ says chair of the art committee, Wendy Hart. ‘We do not operate a ‘red dot’ approach like other exhibitions; replacement items are displayed as soon as any sales are made, so there is always something new to see and buy.’

The village is an idyllic setting for a celebration of brilliant classical, jazz and world music delivered by over 30 performers. Each year artistic director David Juritz – a professional violinist and member of the London Tango Quintet – weaves a magical musical entertainment combining popular favourites with the new and the quirky. This year is no exception.

14 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Image: David Greenshields

Highlights include classics by Debussy, Schoenberg and Haydn, inspired by the romance of the moon and the stars. There will be a chamber version of Beethoven’s Eroica symphony as well as performances of jazz and more contemporary pieces celebrating different musical cultures. The climactic gala concert includes popular and atmospheric pieces

by Haydn, Offenbach and Borodin, alongside Chris Ball’s Scenes from a Comedy and an interlude with Zoltán Kodály’s Napoleonic hero, Háry János.

‘It’s a mix of the new and familiar,’ says Juritz. ‘I want to entertain people with music they love but also help them discover exciting and unusual but accessible music they’ve never heard before.’ He’s particularly excited about the world première of a concerto for guitar and accordion by pianist and composer David Gordon, as well as the return of the sensational Kabantu quintet from Manchester with their unique marriages of world music. ‘It’s also a real thrill to welcome the UK’s foremost jazz violinist, Chris Garrick, on what would have been the legendary George Shearing’s 100th birthday.’ Also appearing this year are The Atéa Wind Quintet, one of Europe’s top young ensembles who have played with leading orchestras in venues including the Wigmore Hall, and there is a welcome return of the well-known London Tango Quintet presenting a mix of Golden Age and Nuevo tango with music by Piazzolla, Pugliese, Salgán and Troilo.

The Burton Bradstock Festival of Music and Art, which has been running for almost 40 years, was

founded by the distinguished flautist Mary Ryan and her husband Ron Gilham, who owned a house in the village. They brought their friends, who numbered some of the UK’s finest musicians, down to Burton for a series of weekend concerts. These friendly gatherings have evolved into a fully-fledged festival, with the addition of the art exhibition nine years ago.

The music is superb but what makes the festival so special and unique is its small-scale, friendly atmosphere.

‘It’s very much a community affair,’ confirms Bill Cain, chair of the festival committee. ‘More than 50 local volunteers will be on hand to help 1,000 audience members find their seats in the church and to present the art exhibition in the Village Hall. Throughout the week 200 bottles of wine will be enjoyed at the intervals and 400 cups of tea poured at the rectory tea party. Up to 500 meals will be served by our volunteer catering

team to musicians and concert goers. It all adds up to the Number 1 music and art festival during August in West Dorset. We are grateful for the support of our twenty sponsors, including private patrons, commercial organisations and our 130 Friends of the Festival.’ burtonbradstockfestival.com

____________________________________________ Saturday 10th - Sunday 18th August Burton Bradstock Festival of Music and Art Classical, jazz and world music with internationally

acclaimed performers and a week-long art exhibition.

St Mary’s Church and Burton Bradstock Village Hall.

Tickets from Gill Redford on 01308 897203. For details of all

musical performances, including times and prices, download the festival brochure from the website.

____________________________________________ bridporttimes.co.uk | 15

PREVIEW In association with

Paul Cleden, Wet Walk, seven-block lino print

THREE PRINTMAKERS This year’s summer exhibition at Gallery on the Square,

in collagraphy, experimenting with different materials in such a

accomplished printmakers.

working in Dorset, she relocated to the west coast of Scotland

Poundbury, in Dorchester, focuses on the work of three

Paul Cleden, who lives in Dorchester, uses a number of

different techniques including lino multi-block, and more

way that her work is constantly evolving. Previously living and in 2012, but Dorset themes still run through her work.

recently a mixture of collagraph, monoprint and lino-etch. His

evolver.org.uk

Tschudi and the Grosvenor School.

____________________________________________

wood engravings and lino-cuts, working mainly with the

Three Printmakers

re-worked for each colour involved.

Dorchester DT1 3BL. 01305 213322 gallerypoundbury.co.uk

style echoes the artists of the early 20th century such as Lill Robin Mackenzie, also based in Dorset, concentrates on

‘reduction’ process in which the same block of wood or lino is Sarah Ross-Thompson currently works almost exclusively

16 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Saturday 20th – Monday 26th August, 9.30am - 5pm Gallery on the Square, Queen Mother Square, Poundbury,

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P R I C E M AT C H G U A R A N T E E D | I N T E R E S T F R E E C R E D I T | B I G G E S T S E L E C T I O N O N V I S P R I N G B E D S

andsotobed.co.uk | 01308 426 972 And So To Bed Bridport Pymore Mills, Bridport, Dorset, DT6 5PJ

Arts & Culture

IGNITING SIGHT

Anna Powell, Director, Sladers Yard Gallery and Café

T

his summer much of Bridport has its focus on the great JMW Turner who visited the town on his West Country tour of 1811. His watercolour of West Bay entitled Bridport, Dorsetshire, painted about 1818, will be on show at Bridport Museum from June to September. To celebrate Turner in Bridport, Sladers Yard is exploring his influence on the painters of today.

Taking three of the artists in our exhibition Igniting Sight this month, and three next month, we can trace how Turner’s techniques and ideas are being carried forward by contemporary artists.

The work of Fred Cuming RA, with its light effects, wide skies, mountain scenes or long beaches, boats and distant figures, has always been equated with Turner.

As Richard Holmes wrote in the introduction to Fred Cuming’s book, Another Figure in the Landscape, ‘Fred Cuming RA belongs to the great, descriptive tradition 18 | Bridport Times | July 2019

of English Romantic landscape painting which has flourished for two centuries since Turner and Constable (“the two insidious masters” he calls them respectfully), but which is now - like the landscape itself - under threat. He will joke (again) that he belongs to a disappearing world, "we're set in amber, really”.'

Richard Holmes continues, ‘But the essential thing about Cuming is that he is also, and perhaps primarily, a visionary painter. Though he has developed the most delicate, painstaking descriptive techniques, what he really does is re-invent the world through colour. It is both a recognisable place, which can be visited, and yet a completely transformed object of poetic intensity. His world feels as if it has been dreamt, or remembered from a dream, suffused with feelings that can never quite be named.’

Recognisable yet completely transformed are words that also aptly describe the paintings of Alex Lowery.

Alex Lowery West Bay 289, 2016

From his studio in Charmouth, Alex has painted over 300 numbered pictures of West Bay, each time finding a new poetry in the familiar landscape. His other main fascination is with Portland and its stark contrast of buildings against the massive rock itself and the timeless sea and sky. It is the marine light that Alex seems able to capture in moments of transcendence, taking the most normal of contemporary streets, roofscapes and beaches into an atmospheric, dream-like world.

Alex Lowery’s paintings are full of the evidence of humanity but almost always absent of figures. The people seem to have just walked away, leaving only feelings that seem to catch your breath. His use of colour is confident now and unconventional. It makes you see things you might not have noticed. Street furniture – bollards, lampposts or railings – demarcate his compositions in subtle rhythmic passages, while the planes of light sing

through colour and tone.

Artist Luke Elwes writes, ‘Some years ago I chose Turner’s Evening Star for an Artist’s Eye talk at the National Gallery, a work that remains a touchstone for me, as it has done for other painters: Rothko studied it and Sean Scully made it the starting point for his current exhibition Seastar. It shares with much of Turner’s later work a provisional quality, in which a luminous field composed of sea and sky apparently draws on a particular moment and place yet remains timeless and open-ended.

It is an elemental space, animated by Turner’s “weather” and illuminated with a fiery radiance.’

This ‘luminous field composed of sea and sky’ has occupied Luke Elwes for many years now. Recently his work has been inspired by a trip on the River Ganges.

Light on moving water is interpreted in rhythmic, almost abstract, contemplative canvases which seem > bridporttimes.co.uk | 19

20 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Fred Cuming Tuscan Landscape bridporttimes.co.uk | 21

Luke Elwes, Waterline, 2017

____________________________________________

to emit light, or reflect it, just like water. A moon hanging midway on a canvas might be in the sky or reflected in the water, magical and mysterious either way. Alongside his oils and watercolours, Luke is showing a series of small watercolours he made at sunrise on the banks of the Ganges where the fiery light and loose wash of colours speak directly of Turner’s many watercolour sketches made outdoors wherever he went. The language of light crosses centuries and continents to reach us here in West Bay this summer.

Saturday 6th July - Sunday 8th September

sladersyard.co.uk @sladersyard

For tickets call 01308 459511

22 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Igniting Sight: contemporary artists inspired by JMW Turner Fred Cuming RA, Luke Elwes, Vanessa Gardiner,

Frances Hatch, Janette Kerr RSA Hon and Alex Lowery Sladers Yard, West Bay Road, Bridport, DT6 4EL

____________________________________________ Friday 12th July 6.30pm.

JMW Turner in Dorset and the West Country A talk by art historian Nick Reese from the Turner Society Sladers Yard, West Bay Road, Bridport, DT6 4EL.

____________________________________________

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Arts & Culture

THE LIE OF THE LAND

T

Kit Glaisyer, Artist

his summer, Bridport is enjoying a series of events and exhibitions to complement the loan of a J.M.W. Turner watercolour painting to Bridport Museum. One exhibition I’m personally involved in is Bridport Artists Celebrate Turner for which several artists based in Bridport and Symondsbury will be opening their studios over the weekend of 13th-14th July. This two-day open weekend will be an opportunity for the public to explore the influence and inspiration that Turner still brings to bear on contemporary artists including Peter Hitchin (Symbondsury Manor), Ella Squirrell, Rob Morgan & Russ Snedker (St Michael’s Trading Estate), Marian Young (4 St Michael’s Lane) and myself (11 Downes Street). You can pick up a brochure about the associated Turner events from the Tourist Information Centre and find up-to-date details about our July Open Weekend on our website. >

Mirella Bandini 24 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Suzy Moger bridporttimes.co.uk | 25

Arts & Culture

Allan Green

We’re now busy putting together the 48-page guide for our annual Bridport & West Dorset Open Studios event, which runs from 7th to 15th September with over 70 artists taking part. Our Assistant Director, landscape artist Suzy Moger, is also showing in a group exhibition Lie of the Land, which runs from 26th June to 10th July at The Ollerod, Beaminster. Details on their website.

The other artists showing with Suzy are ceramicist Mirella Bandini, printmaker Moira Baumbach, and painter Allan Green; together they form a collaborative group known as ‘Two Valleys Art Circle’.

All four artists live or work around Beaminster and have been drawn together by their mutual interest in their immediate environment, each displaying differing responses to the land.

Suzy Moger is a painter based in the Bride Valley.

Her ongoing Surfacing series explores subject matter from the depths of the sea, through the coastal landscape and into abstraction. Her work uses distinct markmaking and a bold palette to examine our relationship 26 | Bridport Times | July 2019

with the environment. Suzy strongly believes that art is for everyone and that finding a personal creative outlet is a powerful way to explore and express oneself. She is currently working on a series of workshops which are, she says, ‘primarily focused on mark-making and the use of creative art practice to explore expression, aiming to encourage those who may not have the confidence to express themselves through the visual arts.’

Mirella Bandini is an emerging artist who grew up in South Africa and studied landscape architecture before turning to fine art. Her unique upbringing and education are highly influential on her work and contribute to its underlying emotive qualities. She works primarily in ceramics, often coupled with or inspired by found objects, with a love of old rusty metal, gnarled wood, wire and cotton thread. She follows an intuitive process of making: an impulsive communion between clay and the human hand, exploring the spontaneous, often surprising, results of her random and unique creations. Her pieces are frequently figurative in nature, >

Ella Squirrell

bridporttimes.co.uk | 27

Arts & Culture

Moira Baumbach

usually bound physically or contextually to a specific place, and seek to create an emotional continuum between mind, space and object.

Moira Baumbach explores her acceptance/resistance to the evolutionary process through the development of an extensive body of work on endangered birds. Her current project is being informed by the text of Simon Schama’s Landscape and Memory and the development of ideas around what is here now and what is disappearing from our world. She is also working with the local RSPB team to bring awareness to the plight of the 67 threatened British birds on the RSPB Red List. Born in Totnes, Devon, Moira returned to study painting, drawing and printmaking after raising four children and pursuing a twenty-year career in the Civil Service, and now shares a studio with her partner, Allan Green, at Brooklands Studio on the edge of Beaminster. She is a member of the Double Elephant Print Workshop in Exeter and has previously exhibited at Alfred University in New York, the Black Swan in Frome and with Drawn to the Valley Artists in Devon.

28 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Allan Green makes paintings that are often exuberant studies of the effects of light, weather and seasonal changes on a familiar and well-trodden landscape and he has become fascinated by Dorset’s ancient trackways and ‘holloways’. He says, ‘I need to be fully acquainted with a landscape, to have walked it often, before I can start to paint it. It takes time. I return to favourite spots frequently and paint again, each successive painting informed by what has gone before, a gradual uncovering, a gradual understanding, which allows my response to become less intellectual and more intuitive, more familiar, like greeting an old friend.’ He studied Fine Art at Falmouth School of Art, taught art at secondary school in Market Harborough and has also worked in sculpture conservation. He has exhibited extensively in Devon and has had successful one man shows at Cove’s Quay Gallery in Salcombe in 2006 and 2008. bridportopenstudios.co.uk 2valleysartcircle.com Kitglaisyer.com

Inspired by the natural world

E

Elementum Gallery

Alex Lowery West Bay 310

I G N I TI N G S I G H T Contemporary artists inspired by JMW Turner

Fred Cuming RA, Luke Elwes, Vanessa Gardiner, Frances Hatch, Janette Kerr RWA RSA Hon, Alex Lowery (6 July - 8 September), Richard Batterham pots, Petter Southall furniture

South St, Sherborne

@elementumgallery

Organic farm & education Relax, be inspired, soak up nature, learn a new skill, expand your horizons.

We offer courses in sustainable living and nature connection.

Get in touch to find out more post@trillfarm.co.uk 01297 631113 trillfarm.co.uk Trill Farm, Axminster, Devon, EX13 8TU

Fred Cuming RA Sierra Nevada

Sladers Yard

Contemporary Art, Furniture & Craft Gallery West Bay Road DT6 4EL T: 01308 459511 • sladersyard.co.uk • @sladersyard

C AF É SL ADERS

Open every day. Wholesome homemade breakfast, lunch & tea. Seafood. Vegan. GF. Evening events/dinners.

bridporttimes.co.uk | 29

Arts & Culture

TAKING A BREAK FROM IT ALL

I

Alice Blogg

t is often said that people who are self-employed or running a business are ‘lucky’. It is not lucky, it is ‘fortunate’. They have worked very hard to achieve and continue to do so to keep it going. I speak from experience, through hard times and good, when I say it’s not as glossy as it may seem from the outside. Saying this, however, I do feel very fortunate to be doing what I love day in, day out.

We are surrounded by people in Bridport who really believe in their work and dedicate their lives to achieving in business. There is always the question of work-life balance but, when you are passionate about your work, it is your life, and the line between the two becomes blurred. Your work is no longer a chore but a daily obsession: you want to spend time doing it and keep pushing forward. My husband, Fergus, and I are truly head-deep in our businesses but we design all manner of things in our spare time too, when we do take time to rest. We believe in what we do and always want to push the boundaries to achieve the best, not just for ourselves 30 | Bridport Times | July 2019

or the customer, but the future. Having said this, I believe it is good to get away from it all and give yourself time to recharge.

Last year Fergus and I decided to cycle to our friends’ wedding in Bordeaux: a truly unforgettable experience and one we continue to talk about frequently - cycling through hills and feeling as though we were free, on an adventure. This was a real break from it all and we returned feeling on top of the world, ready to fight again and embracing our home of Bridport.

We both have businesses in the furniture and interiors world, and occasionally it’s good to take a trip to somewhere that isn’t directly related, to try and stop the mind from whizzing at 100 miles per hour. Our other passion is food. Although design and food may seem a million miles apart, to us the source and sense of wellbeing is exactly the same in both worlds. Honest, well-presented ingredients, whether on a plate or in a house, are both integral to a good quality of life. This year we decided to take it a little easier on the legs >

bridporttimes.co.uk | 31

Arts & Culture

and take a break in the food capital of Italy, Bologna, otherwise known to the locals as ‘la dotta, la grassa, la rossa’ (the learned, the fat, the red). These names come from three characteristics which define the city: Bologna’s historical university, its mouth-watering cuisine, and the long-standing connection to Italy’s antifascist movement and left-wing politics.

Holidaying for me is about food and culture, seeing what the locals do, where they shop and how they spend their evenings after work. We walked and walked, discovering as we went, seeing the tourist attractions, trying to get to know the place and understand it from the inside. Bologna, a UNESCO site, is large enough to explore and happily not full of tourists. It buzzes with youth, there are plenty of musical events from opera to jazz and it’s full of incredible gelaterias (potentially something to do with the ice cream university there!).

We frequented the Salumieri on the corner near the house where we stayed, buying the local produce.

They are not short of independent shops in Bologna; we walked past one every step of the way through the city. We conversed in the different languages and waved our hands around a lot. One thing I loved about the man at the corner shop was his passion and pride for what he was selling. On our last night, he waved through the window with a massive grin on his face: we had made a friend. This made me very happy and at the same time sad, having to leave after just 32 | Bridport Times | July 2019

getting to know the place and a local.

The moment we returned to our little cottage in Bridport and smelled the scents of the newly blooming roses, I realised how much I love the garden and home we have in Bridport, nestled in the rolling hills of Dorset. I also love the luxury that surrounds us with the independent producers in Bridport and Dorset and the community that supports this. Take your time to walk to the market in Bridport and say hello to the local producers. Make a conversation and be a part of our community. It’s the same as visiting a market or an independent shop on holiday, when our eyes seem to be much wider open.

Visit our local Italian market stall, Mercato Italiano - incredible produce, with so much knowledge and passion for what they are selling. The other day I bought and tried some snow turnips from Haypenny Plot, a couple taking growing into their own hands, creating affordable local produce from their ‘ha-penny’-sized plot up at Fivepenny Farm. The turnips were so sweet and delicious; look out for their red and white striped stall on West Street. These are just two of many local businesses we are fortunate to have.

It doesn’t matter if you’re taking a break from it all or grounded in your home, keep trying and always be open to supporting new ventures in our community. aliceblogg.co.uk

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bridporttimes.co.uk | 33

History

LOST DORSET No. 1: BULBARROW

I

David Burnett, The Dovecote Press

n the late 19th century the General Post Office introduced a halfpenny stamp for postcards with an image on one side and the writing and address on the other. The picture postcard had been born. By 1910 not far short of a billion were being handed over post office counters or pushed into pillar boxes. Many were the equivalent of a modern text message – written in the morning, posted in the afternoon and delivered the following day. Deliveries took place seven days a week, 34 | Bridport Times | July 2019

whatever the weather. Bloxworth’s first postman, Frank Squire, is reckoned to have walked 165,000 miles during his 42 years of service.

Choosing the 350 or so postcards in Lost Dorset from Barry Cuff ’s remarkable 10,000 card collection was never going to be easy. It was not our intention to select only those of a place that is truly ‘lost’ nor to include one of every village in Dorset: there are many for which no early postcard exists. What I have tried to do is give a

"Where are you going to find a good mother when she’s gone? One who’s worked, slaved hard, runned and raced for you, been through bitter frost and snow, finding snitches of wood, buckets of water, through all the ups and downs."

sense of the way of life in rural Dorset in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – a period of upheaval and change as great as any in its history, and one marked by considerable hardship. The postcards chosen may seem a window into a vanished world, but the men, women and children who face the camera in Lost Dorset’s 200 pages helped shape the Dorset we live in today.

Here, over the coming months I will share samples of what you will find in this fascinating book.

To begin then, an example that is surely one of the most remarkable of all Dorset postcards: Doctor Fielding and Nurse Marlowe attending a gypsy birth in April 1906, one of the 17 children born to Lavinia and Arthur Hughes, a ‘rat-and-varmint destroyer’.

Thanks to the work of celebrated folk singers Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, who collected traditional travellers’ songs (Travellers’ Songs from England and Scotland, 1977), more than usual is known about the Hughes family. They were part of an extended Romany community that travelled widely throughout Dorset, settling on Canford Heath prior to its being built on, and which still flourishes today.

Another child, Caroline, born in a horse-drawn caravan in Bere Regis in 1900, became, like her mother, a well-known singer. ‘My mother sang all the time. When she were making clothes-pegs or making we children’s bloomers, shifts and petticoats. We be all around the fire singing these old songs, and I been with my mother listening, listening, and I made her sing them over and over until I learned the lot.’ Caroline, like all the daughters, went hawking with her mother from the age of ten. ‘Where are you going to find a good mother when she’s gone? One who’s worked, slaved hard, runned and raced for you, been through bitter frost and snow, finding snitches of wood, buckets of water, through all the ups and downs.’ Caroline never learnt to read and went on to have 8 children and 35 grandchildren herself.

LOST DORSET: The Villages & Countryside 1880-1920, by David Burnett, is a large format paperback, price £12, and is widely available throughout Dorset or direct from the publishers.

lost dorset The Villages & Countryside

david burnett

dovecotepress.com

The Barry Cuff Collection of Dorset Postcards 1880-1920

bridporttimes.co.uk | 35

History

OBJECT OF THE MONTH

CAPTAIN CODD’S TRAVEL ALBUM Emily Hicks, Director, Bridport Museum

T

he founder of Bridport Museum, Captain Alfred Percy Codd, was an amateur watercolour painter. When he opened the museum in 1932, he bequeathed many of his own paintings for the inaugural displays.

Object number BRPMG 2676 in our collection is a large album of 32 watercolours of scenes of his travels. The index at the front is a rather long gazeteer of the British Isles and Europe, spanning Codd’s home in Beaminster to Heidelberg via Bridgnorth, Bath, Burnham and Barnstaple. The album dates from the late 19th century - a time perhaps when watercolour painting was the Instagram of its day. Although photography had been invented some 50 to 60 years earlier, portable cameras such as the Kodak were only just being developed in the 1880s, so it is unlikely that a man such as Codd, then in his forties, would have carried one with him.

The volume captures one man’s carefully documented pilgrimage, a celebration of the natural landscape and place. The haphazard nature of the travels is reflected in the sense of order he may have been trying to achieve in the index list, with crossings-out, amendments and re-ordering. It feels like a labour of love. Codd had retired from the Army, where he had achieved the rank of Captain, in 1889 when he was only 32 years old. He spent the rest of his life, travelling and painting.

Of particular interest to me is the section at the bottom, ‘Turner Notes - etc.’ Regular readers of these articles will already know that Codd was something of a J.M.W. Turner fanatic. As a younger man, he had spent many days in London at the National Gallery, carefully analysing and copying many of Turner’s paintings.

Several of these are mounted at the end of this album. I have transcribed the list from the index page as follows: Turner Notes- etc.

Turner’s Dudley Castle from photogravure of Ruskin’s Collection 1827-30 18 Copley Fielding-[?Storm] off Whitby (from [?co???]

36 | Bridport Times | July 2019

point) 1930, Richmond (Yorkshire) ‘99 19 Turners- Boston (from photogravure- a long way after Turner), St Denis, Rivers of France (Print) The Temeraire (4 hr sketch from original ’99 Next to [?Bud?] Port) Bridport ’99 Oct ‘32 30 The Red Righi, Town at Dawlish ’35 x Storm in the Aps, A Venice sketch (from originals) ‘99 31 note of a Venice sketch ’95, Lausanne & part of the Folkestone (from originals) ’98, a memory note ‘95 32 Adaptation of a Turner sketch ‘95 x Departure of Columbus (a Long Vignette) Although Codd’s book might technically be called an album, with the individual paintings mounted inside, it still has the feel of a sketchbook about it - the kind that had become popular with artists such as Turner and Constable almost 100 years earlier. When it became fashionable to paint ‘directly from nature’ as opposed to the studio, a sketchbook was the vital weapon in the artist’s armoury, being used to capture scenes, document and observe, as well as to record notes and thoughts.

J.M.W. Turner produced around 30,000 sketches in 300 sketchbooks, now all owned by Tate Britain.

This summer we will ‘reunite’ Codd with his idol when we borrow an original Turner painting of West Bay from Bury Art Museum in Lancashire. The painting will go on display as part of an exhibition between June and September, nestled between the copies made so devotedly by one of Turner’s most ardent students.

Bridport is marking the arrival of the Turner painting with a big cultural celebration of the sea as well as the painting.

New artwork is also in the process of being created by many different people as we continue the tradition of creativity inspired by nature. More information and a full programme of events is available at the Tourist Information Centre. bridportmuseum.co.uk @bridportmuseum facebook.com/BridportMuseum

bridporttimes.co.uk | 37

TRANSLOCATION OF THE DARK EUROPEAN HONEY BEE Niina Silvennoinen, Volunteer, Dorset Wildlife Trust

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his spring and summer the Dorset Wildlife Trust’s (DWT) Kingcombe Centre is embarking on an exciting new project: the translocation of the dark European honey bee (Apis mellifera mellifera). The bees will be transported from an established colony in Sussex, with the aim of creating a stable population and studying their foraging habits and pollen preferences at the Kingcombe’s newly rejuvenated fruit orchard.

The dark European honey bee, also known as the British black bee, is a sub-species of the honey bee which is felt to be our ‘native’ honey bee. The bees’ distinctive features make them particularly suitable for Britain: they are well adapted to flying and surviving in cool weather conditions, and potentially have a greater resistance to disease than other strains of honey bees.

Some people worry that honey bees could compete with wild bees and other pollinators. Whilst this is theoretically possible in a very damaged environment if there were a lot of hives and very few flowers, in reality it is unlikely, especially somewhere like Kingcombe where there are plenty of flowers. We want to see more flowers available for more insects, not those insects we have left having to compete in a depleted landscape.

The bees will be initially looked after by our project 38 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Top Bar Bee Hive kindly donated by Jim the Bee (jimthebee.co.uk)

Wild Dorset

partner, Jim Binning, an established local beekeeper.

Mr Binning is kindly lending his expertise whilst also providing a top bar hive where the bees will be sited.

This is a specialist horizontal hive providing a number of benefits: it allows free range for the entire colony inside the hive and for the bees to build natural-sized combs, whilst eliminating a need for any extra hive equipment.

It varies significantly from a traditional bee hive by mimicking a log, and is considered a more natural process in beekeeping than traditional hives. DWT’s Steve Marsh and Heather Radice will be working with Mr Binning as beekeepers whilst monitoring and recording the progress.

Once the colony is successfully established, the project has the wider aim of creating a teaching package dedicated to helping the visiting public and school groups understand the importance of pollinators. Our translocation project is working in tandem with our Get Dorset Buzzing campaign to encourage Dorset residents to create pollinator-friendly gardens.

The translocation of the bees and the replanting of an apple tree in the Kingcombe orchard has kindly been supported and sponsored by Castle Cameras in Bournemouth. dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Wild Dorset

BRIDPORT: A HEDGEHOGFRIENDLY TOWN Colin Varndell, Photographer

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he hedgehog population has declined in Britain from an estimated 30,000,000 animals in the 1950s to less than one million today. The reasons for this decline are many and complex, with modern farming methods and fragmented habitats at the top of the list. Hedgehogs have been driven from the countryside by changes in land use including arable monoculture and the drenching of crops with chemicals.

As a result, hedgehogs now are mainly found in our towns and villages. Bridport has a hedgehog population which has become isolated and vulnerable and therefore needs all the help we can offer. The Dorset Mammal Group (DMG) started a campaign to help such small hedgehog populations by educating the public and by making towns and villages more hedgehog-friendly.

Bridport became the first hedgehog-friendly town in Dorset and to start this campaign Henry Johnson, the Hedgehog Officer from the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), was invited to speak to the public. Henry gave an illustrated talk to a packed audience in Bridport Town Hall, outlining the project entitled ‘Hedgehog Street’. This is the PTES’ initiative to encourage people across the UK to make their own streets more suitable for hedgehogs. The DMG subsequently adopted the ‘Hedgehog Street’ principles for a wider hedgehog-friendly towns and villages campaign. As hedgehogs are mainly confined to urban habitats, it is in parks and gardens where councils and individuals can help. The DMG is advising gardeners to allow hedgehogs access into gardens by ensuring there is a hole 125mm (five inches) square in solid walls or fences. Local residents are also encouraged to make their gardens more hedgehog-friendly by not using slug pellets and leaving areas to go wild, where hedgehogs can forage for slugs, earwigs, caterpillars and other invertebrates. Log piles or dead hedges made with shrub cuttings can make good habitats for 40 | Bridport Times | July 2019

foraging hedgehogs as well as other wildlife. Feeding hedgehogs is not essential as they do not become reliant upon supplementary food but providing drinking water is very important as hedgehogs need to drink lots, especially during dry weather.

Hedgehogs now face new dangers in urban habitats including drowning in ponds and swimming pools, falling into open drains or gulleys and injuries caused by garden machinery. Hedgehogs often lay up in long grass during daytime in summer and, upon sensing danger, such as the sound of a mower or strimmer, the animal does not run away but curls up into a ball of

Image: Colin Varndell

prickles to defend itself. Dog bites have become one of the most frequent injuries to hedgehogs brought into rescue centres; sadly, these cases are only those which dog owners have been aware of. Dog bites can easily be avoided by taking a dog out last thing at night on a lead, or fit it with a muzzle, or go out with the dog to ensure there are no hedgehogs in the garden.

The Hedgehog-Friendly Towns and Villages Project has grown from just Bridport to include over twenty urban areas across Dorset, with more signing up for the future. Each location has a volunteer local coordinator, through whom hedgehog news and information is

regularly disseminated. Bridport does not have a hedgehog coordinator at present and we would like a person or persons to step forward to consider this role.

It is not a difficult or time-consuming task, indeed it can be fun and rewarding. One aspect of the role is that you will meet lots of other like-minded people and, more importantly, you will be helping hedgehogs.

If you would like to know more about being Bridport’s hedgehog coordinator, please get in touch via email hedgehogs@dorsetmammalgroup.org.uk dorsetmammalgroup.org.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 41

Wild Dorset

CUTTING EDGE Ben Scriven, Tamarisk Farm

O

rganic farms are sometimes seen as trying to hold back the inexorable march of progress.

People may perceive them as, at best, romantic traditionalism and, at worst, luddites clinging to obsolete practices. However, as society has grown more aware of some of the consequences of industrial agriculture, many of the traditional practices that were lovingly sustained by organic pioneers are being rediscovered by agriculture as a whole. Timeless lessons are being looked at anew and used to address issues of water pollution, food security, nutrition, soil degradation and erosion, flooding and nature conservation.

I would not argue that organic methods are the only way to farm. Indeed, ancient civilisations were perfectly capable of overgrazing, deforesting and over-ploughing, damaging the soil to the point of disaster. And this was long before tractors, pesticides and artificial fertilisers 42 | Bridport Times | July 2019

brought other unintended consequences. Technology is promethean fire from the gods: it comes with benefits and with costs. The trick is to strike a balance between these. It’s all very well producing record yields this year and maybe for the next few years, but will you still be able to grow crops in the soil you are using in 50 years’ time as well?

For me technological progress presents the opportunity to pick and choose the tools that best suit the job. For some jobs the most complex, modern or expensive machine is the best but for others a simpler tool will do the job not only more cost-effectively but often better and at the same time may offer me greater satisfaction in the work.

Take the scythe, used to cut hay and harvest corn. It was replaced in the late 19th century by the finger bar mower, drawn first by horses and later by tractor. We have three scythes on the farm which we use but we

wouldn’t dream of trying to cut a year’s worth of hay with one. Nor would we replace our modest combine harvester with scythes and flails. We use a scythe to clear nettles and brambles from around gates, long grass from establishing hedges, charlock from green manures growing to support next year’s vegetables, and to clear paths beneath a newly strung electric fence so the grass does not ‘earth it’. This last is my favourite use. There is a delicious sense of irony when one uses a simple piece of steel on a wooden handle to help erect a fence made from space-age materials and powered by a solar panel and sophisticated circuitry - a fence that would have been impossible to make until recently. We do not do it for the satisfaction of that anachronistic combination but because it works. The scythe is arguably the best tool for the job. Mine is a razor-sharp piece of carbon steel forged in Austria; it is exceptionally light compared

with the scythes that were used historically in England and is more ergonomically designed so I can stand (rather than stoop) to cut semicircles around myself.

If I used a strimmer, the obvious modern equivalent, I would have to wear stifling clothing and use ear protection (or be deafened). I would be splattered with greenery and peppered with stones. The strimmer would cost more to run, it would disturb the grazing sheep and ruin the tranquillity that walkers and wildlife value on our farm, and it wouldn’t even be faster. I would be working in the smell of burning two-stroke oil instead of the smell of honeysuckle and roses. When the sheep are close to the village, the neighbours might not appreciate having an 80-decibel engine hammering away while they’re enjoying a nap in the garden. The loudest sound while I scythe is the hiss of the steel as it slides through the culms of the grass - unless I’m tired, when perhaps my grunting may be louder. I can hear the larks as they rise and the bees as they work the flowers nearby. The tractor and flail mower could cut a path in minutes but it’s lumbering bulk would compact the soil and cut a ribbon three metres wide instead of the slender path I need. It might even take longer to get the machine onto the tractor and greased up than it would to do the job.

One shouldn’t use sledgehammers to crack nuts, and not just because you’d go broke if you always did so.

Scything is definitely hard work, which could be a discouragement, but many people spend money and time on gym memberships. I’d much rather spend some time quietly mowing my swath to develop a suitably Poldark physique.

Scythes are having something of a renaissance, on modern holdings as well as in period dramas. People are discovering the more refined scythes that are every bit as modern as the strimmer I scorn and we know of some very skilled individuals who cut all their hay that way or can hands-down beat someone with a strimmer in a mowing competition (The Scythe Fair, if you want to see for yourself ).

I’m sure people passing through our village who see me walking along with my scythe may think it quaint and rustic. They won’t know that it is a carefully chosen tool which makes the best use of money and time, or that I am using it as part of a modern system using cutting-edge solar powered mobile electric fencing, managing the grazing in keeping with the most up-to-date theories on grass productivity and ruminant behaviour. But you’ll know. tamariskfarm.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 43

Outdoors

44 | Bridport Times | July 2019

On Foot

NETHERBURY AND BEAMINSTER Emma Tabor and Paul Newman

Distance: 3 miles Time: Approx. 1 3/4 hours Park: Parking area in front of St Mary’s church, Netherbury.

Walk Features: An gentle walk following the River Brit from Netherbury towards Beaminster and past the grounds of Parnham House. There are some good views across Beaminster and towards Lewesdon Hill and Colmer’s Hill on different points of the walk. It’s also a good opportunity to explore the hills and valleys alongside the Brit. There is just one small steep ascent up to Edmund Coombe Coppice.

Refreshments: If taking the slight detour into Beaminster, there are many cafés, restaurants and pubs to choose from- otherwise bring a picnic!> bridporttimes.co.uk | 45

E

ach month we devise a walk for you to try with your family and friends (including four-legged members) pointing out a few interesting things along the way, be it flora, fauna, architecture, history, the unusual and sometimes the unfamiliar.

For July, we take a relatively easy route along the River Brit, starting from the 15th Century church and grounds of St Mary in Netherbury, a pretty village with some fine buildings worth exploring. This is a walk with a secluded feel and is easy to lose yourself in as you savour the surrounding undulations and folds of the Brit valley. The section through Edmund Coombe Coppice is particularly splendid and the higher route on the return opens up with views across the Marshwood Vale.

Directions

Start: SY 470 994 1 From the small parking area in front of the church, follow the high pavement to the right of the church, then turn left just past the war memorial onto a narrow path between hedges. Continue following around the outside of the church and the path soon widens to pass the other side of the churchyard, with headstones stretching down towards the River Brit, which you can now hear as well as catch glimpses of. There are gardens 46 | Bridport Times | July 2019

to your left, as you pass through trees and you will soon emerge into a field. Keep ahead and along the right hand side of the field. Where the path meets Norton Lane, and just before a Dutch barn, there is a large metal sheep bridge over the river, to your right.

2 Cross this bridge, turn left and head up a sandy track. As the track starts to bend to the left, take a right, along a footpath then go through a wooden gate. Parnham House and its surrounding woodland and grounds is now on your right. Carry on along the edge of the wood for 600 yards and you will soon reach a metal gate leading into a field. Ahead is Edmund Coombe Coppice. Go through the gate and straight across the field, through a gateway with an old kissing gate to your left and then through the next short section of field to arrive at a wooden gate with another kissing gate next to it. From here it is a short walk into Beaminster if you fancy a detour.

3 Otherwise, turn left in front of this gate and walk straight up a short, steep slope, alongside a wooden fence, towards the coppice. Just before the entrance to the coppice is a good spot for a picnic with views across Beaminster and also towards Crab Coppice. Go through a small wooden gate and head up some steps into the wood. Keep ahead

through the coppice, which contains a lovely mix of trees including some wonderful large and unusual coppiced sweet chestnuts. After 400 yards you will reach the other side of the coppice, exiting through posts and a stile into rough pasture. Walk though this and start heading downhill towards a big metal gate at the bottom of the field.

4 Pass through the gate and turn right onto a farm track. Keep on this track for a short while, ignoring a bridleway sign to the right towards Knowle Farm.

There are views from here towards the west and Gerrard’s Hill and the Beaminster Union Workhouse.

After 600 yards you come to a small wooden gate on your right with a footpath sign, just above and before the section of track you walked up earlier.

5 Turn right and go through this gate into a field.

Make your way diagonally across the middle of the field, down into a corner with a small wooden gate leading into a wooded glen. Follow the footpath and soon you will meet a wooden footbridge on your left, over a stream. Cross this, then over a stile into a field. Turn immediately right into the field, following the stream on your right. After 150 yards, near the end of the field, there is a small metal gate, with a dented top, on your left. Go through this, crossing a

little wooden footbridge over a brook and head up some steps to a metal gate and then into a meadow.

Head for a large metal gate, walking parallel to the valley bottom, and go through this into a field and then through another metal gate into another field; you will see a small metal gate in the far right-hand corner of the next field.

6 Immediately after going through this gate, turn sharp left up some steps and then through another small gate, heading steeply uphill now, keeping the hedge on your left. At the top of this field is yet another perfect picnic spot with a large bench and foot rests carved out of a tree trunk. Behind the bench is a large metal gate, to the left of which is a small metal gate. Take the footpath on the other side of this small gate, which now skirts around the lefthand side of a paddock. Passing houses and a yard, the path then bears slightly left and emerges into a field. Walk along the right hand side of the field, for 250 yards, keeping a hedge to your right until you meet a large metal gate, leading onto a road. Turn left here and head back down the road to St Mary’s church and the start. paulnewmanartist.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 47

Archaeology

LEGACY: ARCHAEOLOGY’S HISTORY Chris Tripp BA(Hons) MA, Field and Community Archaeologist

T

he archaeology of the South West has its own history, developed by generations of dedicated people committed to finding the past of our region.

John Aubrey FRS (1626-1697) was an antiquarian who recorded numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England and who is particularly noted as the first surveyor of the Avebury henge monument. Aubrey worked on compiling material for a natural historical and antiquarian study of Wiltshire in 1656.

William Stukeley (1687-1765) was also an antiquarian and is called the ‘Father of Archaeology’, publishing over twenty books on the subject, including ones on Stonehenge and Avebury. He measured and recorded sites as well as undertaking excavations in the manner of ‘an anatomical dissection’. He recognised the principle of stratigraphy, that different layers of soil reflected different periods in the development of a site. With this insight he recorded field systems on Cranborne Chase, attributed Bokerley Dyke and Combs Ditch to the Belgic Celts (incorrectly, as it turned out) and drew Maumbury Rings and the Nine Stones.

Stukeley noted that the barrows at Poundbury were older than the hillfort and that the Roman road cut through the barrows at Oakley Down.

County historian John Hutchins (1698-1773) was born at Bradford Peverell and later became the rector at Wareham. His posthumously published The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset is the first comprehensive volume of the heritage of the county. Although seized by a paralytic stroke he still finished four volumes.

Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet FRS, (17581838) dug at Oakley Down, Wiltshire with William Cunnington FSA (1754-1810), a self-educated merchant. Both believed that burial mounds should be recorded carefully and methodically. In 1969 a plaque 48 | Bridport Times | July 2019

was found at Oakley Down inscribed ‘WC 1804’.

William’s interest in archaeology was carried on by four generations of the family, including greatgrandson Edward Benjamin Howard Cunnington (1861-1950) who worked on Clandon Barrow and found the famous gold lozenge. His wife, Maud Edith Cunnington CBE, excavated Windmill Hill causewayed enclosure.

Deverel-Rimbury pottery is named after two sites, one dug by William Augustus Miles at Milborne St Andrew and one by Charles Warne (1802-1887) at Rimbury. Both excavations unearthed barrel, bucket and globular cremation urns, published in Celtic Tumuli of Dorset in 1866.

The wonderfully named Lt. Gen. Augustus Henry Lane-Fox, Lord Pitt-Rivers (1827-1900) inherited the estate on Cranborne Chase in 1880 and dug Woodcuts, Bokerley Dyke, Woodyates, Wor Barrow and a villa at Iwerne Minster and published Excavations in Cranborne

Stonehenge, William Stukeley (1687-1765) Stukeley Illustrated (2003)

Chase in four volumes. His assistant, Harold St George Gray (1872-1963), carried on his work at Maumbury Rings and farmer Martin Green still works on the archaeology of this famous area. See the wonderful little Pitt-Rivers Museum located in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Older readers will remember Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1890-1976) from the 1950s TV programme Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, but he also worked on Maiden Castle from 1934 to 1937. Also near Dorchester, Bill Putnam (1930-2008) worked out the sequence of construction of the Roman aqueduct that brought water to the first town.

It is not only individuals that have contributed to the history of archaeology in our area. Dorset County Museum was formed in 1845 and led successful protests against Brunel’s cutting of the Wilts, Somerset & Dorset Railway through Poundbury hillfort. The Ancient Technology Centre at Cranborne replicates structures and ancient skills, with the New Barn Centre at

Bradford Peverell and Upton Country Park, Poole also working to promote interest in the deeper past.

Bournemouth University exists for the academic study of archaeology. Dorset was chosen for a full survey in 1952 by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, published up to 1975. Parish by parish, the description of principal standing buildings and also earthworks of all periods, with photographs, aerial views and plans of buildings, castles, earthworks and field systems was catalogued. The development of the Historic Environment Record continues to grow as a resource for future generations.

There is a continual need to raise public awareness and support for archaeology in the region as pressure grows to reduce government and local authority funding on heritage and cultural services. The work carried out by past generations must be built on by the next. blogspot/archstory bridporttimes.co.uk | 49

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01297 795101 bovishomes.co.uk Photographs depict a typical Bovis Homes interior. Homes subject to availability. Views dependent on plot.

BRIDPORT GIG ROWING CLUB Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

I

t’s a blustery day as members of the men’s squad climb into the Cornish rowing gigs that are bobbing beside the swaying pontoon in West Bay. The waves are tipping white horses at the mouth of the harbour and, beyond, a swell is chasing towards the shore. It’s going to be a bumpy trip but it’s small fry to these men. They’re recently back from the Isles of Scilly Gig Championships, where they enjoyed some success, and are training for the rest of the season’s racing in the Jurassic Coast League. This will be the third year that Bridport, based at West Bay, has participated in the League.

The club was formed in 2007 and the fibreglass gig, Bucky Doo, was their first boat. Since then, the club has grown considerably and there are now over 180 members. The club has two fibreglass gigs and three wooden, competitive gigs. Jason Matthews is one of the club’s early members. He joined about 10 years ago. A Bridport native, Jason grew up close to the sea and spent time in the Merchant Navy. Later he took up marathon running. ‘There came a time when my body had had enough of marathons,’ he says wryly, ‘I saw Bucky Doo and thought I would give it a go. I joined to row. It’s a great way of keeping fit and very social.’ >

52 | Bridport Times | July 2019

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54 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Jason rows on the men’s B or C team but is also a coxswain. It’s an important job, one that the gig rowers can’t do without. ‘It takes understanding, knowledge and patience,’ says Jason. Previously coxswain for the women’s A team, who were recent champions at the Isles of Scilly World Championships, Jason now coxes the C's and Vets.

‘Racing is the greatest thrill for me,’ says Jason, ‘competing over a couple of miles, pushing yourself to the limit, the adrenaline.’ He clearly enjoys it. As Kirsty Wills, joint captain (with Sandy Carruthers) of the women’s team, says, ‘You find the inner grit and push through the pain.’ She also admits that the level of focus required makes rowing a very mindful activity.

But it isn’t all pain and gain. The club’s burgeoning membership includes a general rowers’ and junior group. ‘It’s a very inclusive club,’ says Jason. ‘We have a beautiful coastline here and it’s a privilege to be out there.’ Peter Slimon joined three years ago and, despite being in his 70s, he’s a regular rower. ‘It’s the best way of keeping fit in the fresh air,’ he says. He enjoys the sensory experience of being on the water surrounded by the marine life and birds. ‘I call it a “soul moment”, a breather before you have to go back in and face whatever you have to face.’

Tom Wilson agrees. He joined as a junior at 14 and now, having finished university, he still goes out for a row. ‘A friend at school got me involved,’ he explains.

‘It’s just £2 a row and you get to go on the sea. It’s great exercise and the views are amazing out there.’ We’re standing in the boathouse admiring Blaez and Brydian, two of the wooden racing gigs. Karen BuchananHarlow, rower and membership secretary, is explaining to me how the oars sit between two pins on the gig. This operates as the “rowlock” - one is hard and the other is soft wood. The idea is that if a rower “catches a crab” the

soft pin breaks, rather than the oar taking the rower out.

Soon we’re musing on the meditative ‘clacking’ of wood against wood as the oars move with each stroke.

Sometimes, when training, the rowers will close their eyes and row while listening; the point of the exercise is to keep good timing and is mesmerising. ‘It’s like a metronome,’ says Karen. Tom agrees. ‘It’s a very satisfying feeling, a sensory experience.’

Cornish pilot gigs date from the late 18th century. They were originally used for taking pilots out to incoming vessels from the Atlantic. As a ship approached the harbour, the local gigs would race to be the first to get their pilot on board. If they made it, he would get the job and they would be paid. It was a matter of brute strength and sweat and the teams were proud of their power. The six-man gigs were also used as lifeboats and for general work. Interestingly there was one woman - Ann Glanville of Saltash - who turned out to be an outstanding gig rower. Her husband, a waterman, became ill and, with 14 hungry children to raise, she continued his trade. She also took up competitive gig-rowing and, with a team of four ladies in white lace caps, competed all over the West Country to some success, continuing to row into her 60s.

As Sarah Coombs says with a twinkle in her eye, ‘When you have got super-vets sitting on the start line, be afraid!’ She believes that, whereas the youngsters might have the aerobic power for sprints, the veterans (over 40 years; the super-vets over 50 years) have the endurance power and the sheer bloody-mindedness that comes with age. ‘You get out there and get on with it,’ she says. Sarah loves the fresh air and scenery most of all, as do the youngsters who stick with it.

Gig rowing has become one of the fastest growing sports in the UK and the Cornish Pilot Gig Association > bridporttimes.co.uk | 55

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58 | Bridport Times | July 2019

has over 200 gigs on its register. The gigs must be built according to strict Cornish Pilot Gig Association specifications: for racing, they must be clinker-built with elm planks and oak ribs at a cost in the region of £25,000.

Over the last few years, Mark Vanstone has been the club’s bosun and takes care of maintenance. He also rows and is coxswain for the ladies veterans and juniors. ‘I have always been involved in water sports,’ says Mark. ‘If you are over 50 it keeps you fit.’ Mark is a busy man during the racing season, looking after the 2 fibreglass gigs and preparing the three racing ones for competition. They have to be stripped, painted and varnished. Then there are three sets of oars to maintain, not to mention the three trailers used to transport the gigs to each regatta.

Around two years ago the Club fundraised for and commissioned the shipwright and gig builder Brian Nobbs to build Brydian. Over the five to six months it takes to build a gig the CPGA will make three inspections to ensure the guidelines are adhered to. As Brian says, ‘The gigs become part of the family. When I work on a boat I think about it in the water, racing. They take so long to build that I always hope the club will look after them.

After all gig-building is more of passion than a job.’

He’s more than happy with Brydian’s fate beyond the

workshop and has been down to the Scilly Isles to watch her in the water. ‘Mark looks after the Bridport boats with a passion,’ Brian says. ‘He cherishes the club’s boats and it’s always good to see them race and do well.’

Meanwhile, back at the harbour in West Bay, the men’s squad is coming in from their row. It’s been 60 minutes of high-intensity bursts split between lengthened strokes. It’s all very good spirited with plenty of banter between the two training gigs. As 7pm approaches, the women’s squad congregates, waiting for its turn on the water. The comradeship is clear. These are women from all walks of life who come together to do something they love out in the elements. As squad member Anna Pretty said in a recent Instagram post, ‘[Gig-rowing] is one of the last remaining sports where we are clinging on to the solidarity and spirit of sport for all. And it’s better for that. Long may it remain that way, it’s something very precious.’

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

This year’s Regatta takes place at West Bay on 20th July.

Come and support your local team and join the party after. bridportgigclub.org.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 59

WEEKLY FARM LUNCHES WEDNESDAYS, SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS Served at 1pm, from £15pp

FIRE FEASTING

A family-friendly feast cooked over the fire.

With veggies, meat and fish on the BBQ, there’s something for everyone.

BEACHSIDE BREAKFAST TUESDAY - SUNDAY | 10 - 11.30AM

FRIDAY 2 AUGUST 6.30pm, £25 for adults, £10 for kids

BOOKING ADVISABLE

COOKING FROM THE GARDEN

THANK THE CLUB HOUSE

Using organic produce fresh from Trill Farm Garden, we’ll learn to make unique, creative and delicious vegetarian dishes.

IT’S FRIDAY!

FRIDAY 30 AUGUST 9.30am-4.00pm, £110pp

FOR EVERY TABLE OF TWO

3 COURSES £25PP + A FREE BOTTLE OF WINE

(Includes a veg box to take home)

For full information and to book visit

EVERY FRIDAY 6 - 9PM

www.olddairykitchen.co.uk

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Trill Farm, Musbury, Axminster EX13 8TU

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Food & Drink

OYSTERS WITH SWEET CICELY AND GOOSEBERRIES

T

Gill Meller, River Cottage

he herb garden is breathing in deep and begins to breach. There are pockets of white among all the greens. Sweet cicely in full flush has delicate, milk-white flowers and vibrant emerald leaves.

This herb is sweet by name and by nature, which is why it works beautifully with fresh, sour gooseberries. I like to eat my oysters with something that brings acidity.

Gooseberry and sweet cicely do just that, without having to work too hard. It’s pretty amazing.

Ingredients Serves 2

75g (2½oz) firm gooseberries, topped and tailed 1 tablespoon cider vinegar 2 teaspoons sugar 1 small bunch of sweet cicely leaves, roughly chopped, plus flowers, if available 12 oysters in their shells salt and freshly ground black pepper Method

1 Slice the gooseberries into roughly 5mm (¼in) rounds and place them in a bowl. Add the cider vinegar, sugar, and half the sweet cicely leaves, then season with salt and pepper. Allow the gooseberries to sit in the vinegar mixture while you shuck the 62 | Bridport Times | July 2019

oysters (see below).

2 To shuck an oyster you’ll need an oyster knife (one with a sturdy, short blade) and a tea towel to protect your hand from the sharp shell as you grip it. Hold the oyster cupped-side down in the tea towel with the hinge facing towards you. Hold firmly on a chopping board. Insert the knife tip downwards between the two halves of the shell at the pointed back end, where the hinge is located.

Once you have the tip of the knife in, you can lever the shell open a little. Slip the knife along the underside of the top half of the shell, which will sever the oyster’s adductor muscle, allowing the shell to open fully. Carefully slide the knife blade underneath the oyster to release it completely.

Try to save any liquor in the shell.

3 To serve, place the oysters in their half-shells on a suitable serving plate or board. Spoon a little gooseberry mixture onto each oyster, tear over the remaining sweet cicely leaves and serve with a scattering of cicely flowers, if you have them.

From Gather by Gill Meller (Quadrille, £25) rivercottage.net

bridporttimes.co.uk | 63

Food & Drink

GOOSEBERRY AND ELDERFLOWER FOOL WITH HONEY OAT CRUMBLE Charlie Soole, The Club House, West Bexington

64 | Bridport Times | July 2019

T

his is a fantastic early summer dessert made with these two amazing ingredients which are in season at the same time. It is light, tangy and fruity with beautiful floral notes from the elderflowers.

Ingredients

400g gooseberries (topped and tailed) 200g caster sugar 100ml of elderflower cordial 400ml double cream 1 vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract Juice of half a lemon 1 Put the gooseberries and 120g of the sugar in a saucepan with the elderflower cordial. Simmer it until you have a spooning consistency. Gooseberries have a lot of water in them so this might take about half an hour. Stir the pan occasionally. Don’t worry if the gooseberries turn a slight pink colour this is the natural sugars slightly caramelising. When the consistency is about right, take off the heat and allow to cool completely.

2 Cut the vanilla pod in half and place with the double cream, lemon juice, 80g of sugar and the seeds from the vanilla pod. Whisk until it is almost stiff. Do not over-whisk.

For the crumble topping

150g of rolled oats 100g butter (cubed) 50g soft dark brown sugar 50g runny honey 3 Put all the ingredients in a roasting tray and place in an oven at 160°C for about 20 mins or until golden.

You must check every 5 minutes and stir the mixture so you get an even browning of all the ingredients.

Making the fool

4 Mix 4 tablespoons of the gooseberry sauce in with the cream mixture. Place a tablespoon of the gooseberry sauce in the bottom of a serving glass and layer the cream mixture over it. Top with another spoonful of the gooseberry sauce and finish off with some of the crumble mixture.

ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL

H

ere in West Dorset the lanes and hedgerows are full of elderberry bushes and in early summer they are awash with white flowers. Foraging for elderflowers in the sunshine is such good fun; the scent of these flowers is synonymous with early summer.

Ingredients

2kg white sugar 3 unwaxed lemons 20 fresh elderflower heads 85g citric acid (available from chemists - if you can’t find it, add 2 extra lemons) 1 Put the sugar and 1.5 litres of water into a large saucepan and dissolve the sugar without boiling.

2 Pare the zest off the lemons with a peeler and slice the lemons into rounds.

3 Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the syrup to the boil and then turn off the heat. You need to inspect the elderflowers for any bugs. Try and shake these off. Add to the hot syrup with the lemons, zest and citric acid. Cover the pan and leave to infuse for 24 hours.

4 Lay a clean tea towel or piece of muslin in a colander and place this over a bowl big enough to accommodate the syrup. Pour the syrup through and discard what is in the tea towel.

5 Transfer the syrup into sterilised containers.

The cordial is ready to drink and will last in the fridge for up to six weeks. You could also freeze it in ice cube trays and add to gin and tonics on a hot summer’s day to add a bit of a twist. theclubhousewestbexington.co.uk

bridporttimes.co.uk | 65

Food & Drink

CRAB, FENNEL AND WATERCRESS SALAD

B

Cass Titcombe, Brassica Restaurant

eing a Dorset restaurant very close to the sea, we are truly very lucky to be surrounded by exceptional crabs and seafood. We buy ours whole and live to ensure they are as fresh as possible.

Any good fishmonger should sell you a cooked whole crab and they are generally very reasonable. If you are prepared to pay more money you can buy it fresh and hand-picked. If you can’t find fresh crab for this dish don’t be tempted to use frozen or long-life as it simply won’t be good enough. Lobster would be a worthy, if luxurious, substitute.

You can treat this recipe as a guide and could substitute the watercress for rocket, land cress or a mixture of leaves, ensuring some are peppery with a good crunch. We are big fans of land cress which is grown locally by our growers, Hewood organics, but appreciate it’s quite hard to find.

Ingredients Serves 4

400g fresh, hand-picked crab meat (brown and white meat kept separate) 1 tbsp tomato ketchup 70g crème fraîche grated zest and juice of 1 lemon 1 tsp made English mustard Worcestershire sauce green Tabasco sauce 1 fennel bulb, with leaves if possible, or 1 bunch baby fennel 1 small red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced 2 bunches watercress, picked and washed 2 tbsp olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper 66 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Garlic toasts 4 thin slices bread 1 garlic clove, halved olive oil Method

1 Preheat the oven to 150°C. Put the brown crab meat into a bowl and add the ketchup, crème fraîche, lemon zest, mustard, and Tabasco and Worcestershire sauces to taste. Mix together and refrigerate.

2 Check the white meat for any shell or cartilage, then refrigerate.

3 For the toasts, rub the bread with the garlic and drizzle with olive oil, then bake for 10–15 minutes until crisp and golden.

4 Peel the fennel, halve lengthways and remove the core. Pick and wash the fennel leaves and dry on kitchen paper. Thinly slice the fennel halves on a mandoline (if you don’t have a mandoline, slice the fennel as thinly as you can with a sharp knife).

Squeeze a little lemon juice over the slices to

prevent discolouration.

5 Toss the fennel, red onion, watercress and fennel leaves with the rest of the lemon juice, the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Divide among four plates or put into a large bowl.

6 Scatter over the white crab meat.

7 Place a dollop of brown crab meat on each of the slices of toast and serve alongside. @brassica_food @brassicarestaurant_mercantile bridporttimes.co.uk | 67

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Body & Mind

BANDHAS Alice Chutter

‘Yoga is not just repetition of few postures – it is more about the exploration and discovery of the subtle energies of life.’

(Amit Ray)

T

his month’s article looks a little deeper at one of the traditional techniques practised in yoga and offers an insight into the ‘bandhas’. If you are a keen yogi then the word bandha may be familiar to you but, as both a teacher and student, I’ve noticed that there’s rarely enough time in a weekly class to go into much depth or theory on the subtle and complex nature of the bandhas. This can leave us feeling a bit unclear on exactly what we are supposed to be doing and where to start, so here is an opportunity to shine a light on the subject and encourage you to explore your own connection to the bandhas and how they might support you.

An understanding of the bandhas can be useful to many other practices in life such as running, swimming, rehabilitating from injury/trauma and everyday 70 | Bridport Times | July 2019

natural movements. Learning to control the bandhas can positively affect our body’s nervous, circulatory, respiratory and endocrine systems. Most recently for me, working gently on the mula bandha (base lock) has been part of my post-natal recovery in helping to engage my pelvic floor (a diamond-shaped group of muscles, ligaments and fascia) and core muscles. These are techniques that can benefit everyone at all stages of life, whether you practise yoga or not.

Bandha is a Sanskrit word meaning to hold, tighten or lock. In yogic terms it is thought that ‘locking’ muscles on the physical level leads to an unlocking on the subtle/ energetic level. By engaging physical muscles, the bandhas unlock prana (energy) and redirect its flow. There are four bandhas: mula, uddiyana, jalandhara and maha (which is

lightness and extra energy which helps you to float through your practice. The mula bandha is a useful technique to work on if you are practising vinyasa yoga, balances/arm balances or to enhance many of the standing postures.

Uddiyana (centre) bandha

From the Sanskrit word for ‘flying up’, the uddiyana bandha encourages engaging your lower abdominal muscles – more specifically, the part of the abdominal wall between the two hip bones (anterior superior iliac spine). During pranayama (breath control), uddiyana bandha is engaged strongly when you hold an exhalation. During asana the instruction often includes ‘lower abdominal muscles lifting in and up.’ This bandha can be used to tone and strengthen your core, ease builtup tension and to go deeper/more comfortably into twists when used with your exhale breath.

Jalandhara (throat) bandha

This is the movement of lifting the chest upwards as you draw your chin down towards your chest.

This bandha is most useful when you’re working on pranayama (breath control). A subtle version of this bandha used in a physical asana practice is to ‘keep the back of your neck long.’

Maha (great) bandha

all three of the others put together). All of these take some time (a lifetime?!) to master so it’s a good idea to work on them separately. Don’t get frustrated if you can’t feel them at first or hold them for long. It’s a good idea to practise them when you’re not in poses, e.g. seated or lying on your back. Then, when you have grasped the concept, you can invite them into your yoga (or running/ swimming etc) one movement at a time.

Mula (base) bandha

Engaging your mula bandha involves lifting and contracting the base of your torso, specifically your perineum and anus. Instructions often include ‘pelvic floor gently lifting up’ without clenching the buttocks.

Engaging these muscles can give you a feeling of

The maha bandha is performing all three of the above individual bandhas at once. This one takes practice but is a great way to begin or close a seated meditation. A guide to accessing the maha bandha is to sit comfortably, breathing slowly, with your eyes closed. Breathe all the air out of your lungs and hold the breath. Apply jalandhara, uddiyana and mula bandha in that order.

Hold for a few moments before releasing in reverse order and then slowly inhaling.

Tip: When holding these energetic locks, visualise your energy rising upwards. Regular practice will help to protect your spine and lower back muscles and help you to feel a good flow of energy both physically and emotionally. Take care not to engage the bandhas too strongly – you shouldn’t feel restriction within your body or breath; if you do then ease off, take some deep breaths and return when you feel ready.

Alice is a yoga teacher living in Bridport, currently on maternity leave. @bridportyogawithalice bridporttimes.co.uk | 71

Body & Mind

CLASSICAL QI GONG IN THE MARSHWOOD VALE or: Why does waving your arms about improve your health?

Sophie Johnson, Bonhays Retreat Centre

H

ow can moving slowly and repetitively be exercise? Surely Tai Chi is just for old folk?

These are questions I am often asked when people first come for Qi Gong training. Usually, after their first class, it changes to, ‘Wow! This is hard!’, ‘Why is this so hard?’, ‘I feel great, but why?’

Qi Gong is different from Tai Chi although utilises similar slow, rhythmic movements. It has been around for over 2000 years and was developed to remove pathogenic influences from the body and mind, to build energy for use in martial arts, and for health, meditation and life.

72 | Bridport Times | July 2019

If practised in a classical manner, it will bring the practitioner increased amounts of energy, strength, emotional resilience to stress and discomfort, and improved health, with more bounce, more calm, and supported spontaneity/creativity of expression. This cultivated efficiency of the body/mind is what made the Daoist arts famous for longevity, longevity in this case being understood essentially as efficiency. The more efficient the body and mind, the less it wears out!

Like many eastern philosophies, Daoism has suffered the mixed blessing of popularisation. There is yoga to sculpt your beach body, mindfulness to reduce anxiety

and make the workforce more ‘resilient’, and Tai Chi to relax if you’re old. There is nothing inherently wrong with this but it is only a small thimbleful of the ocean that is true yoga, the depth and breadth of the Buddhist science of the mind and the comprehensive philosophical art form that is Daoism. The important thing is that we know what we are getting. For example, whilst mindfulness is part of Buddhism it is just that: a part.

The classical approach holds that Qi Gong cannot be practiced correctly without the understanding of the tradition from which it

emerged. This must include the reasons behind why we flap our arms about, information that describes in detail the layers of opening we are looking for in these simple movements, and guidance on how to develop the art progressively, gradually introducing more principles into the forms. This information is often withheld, not taught or simply not known and, without this understanding, the student will move the joints around and deepen the breath but ultimately will hit a glass ceiling. These arts are defined as ‘internal arts’ for a reason. The external forms are relatively simple but the layers of activity occurring inside those forms are where the artistry lies. It is up to the individual practitioner to decide how far they want to take it: to stay at the medical health level or keep going deeper into the stillness practices that lie at the heart of the tradition.

Often people seeking a deeper approach are more analytic, are generally deep thinkers and can be put off by the new-age tinge now prevalent within these practices, and this is a shame. How many people who would benefit from a body-based practice, quite understandably, turn away from it?

Our students are of all ages (we regularly train with ages 25–70), curious, adventurous of spirit, bright, willing to work hard and with a high nonsense radar!

There are, it turns out, a lot of people who want to access some genuine training, who recognise an authentic approach to internal cultivation when they see it and are attracted to the fun of the journey. We laugh a lot! We train hard but don’t take ourselves too seriously.

After all, 2000 years of a laid-out path to the Dao, leading practitioners through a step-by-step process of cultivation, is something to approach with openness and respect. Perhaps an ancient tradition should not be broken apart; maybe these sages knew a thing or two, and it’s worth following their lead.

To engage in such a study is certainly fascinating and rewarding.

Sophie is a Senior Teacher and Student of Lotus Nei Gong International, with 30 years’ teaching experience. She continues to study Nei Gong, Nei Dan and Chinese medicine.

A new series of weekly classes for all abilities starts at Bonhays in September including day events, tasters, and regular 3-6day immersive retreats. Visit their website for details. sophieneigong.com bonhays.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 73

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Interiors

SETTING THE TONE

C

Annabelle Hunt, Colour Consultant, Bridport Timber and Framing

olour has an enormous psychological effect on all of us, sometimes in an obvious way but often in subtle ways we don’t even notice. Some colours are distinctly associated with a particular historical period, evoking a definite sense of time or place.

Just as with movie soundtracks, cinematographers manipulate colour as a way of setting the mood of a film in an almost subliminal way. It can be used to create 76 | Bridport Times | July 2019

harmony or tension, establishing a tone or a theme.

There is an online project called Cinema Palettes where the colour palettes of some of the most iconic films have been picked from a single image and arranged into groups of ten shades. This way of using an image as the basis for a colour scheme allows you to see how colours work together without the need for a mood board.

Whether you love sumptuous period dramas or prefer

Scandi Noir, consider how easy it would be to take this idea to create an instant colour scheme to use as the foundation of your interior.

As a child, I was fascinated by the absolute contrast in my grandparents’ taste. Their homes could not have been more different: one pair lived in a large, traditional, red-brick house filled with dark wood, heavy furniture and endless clutter, whilst the others lived in a modern, white, minimalist bungalow with enormous picture windows. I loved both, and each reflected its inhabitants perfectly. Just by thinking of the colours used in each home, I can be transported back to both of these interiors.

The first had an old-fashioned air, a definite pre-war atmosphere. Granny was not a woman of fashion, and as did many people of her era, she reused absolutely everything. The colours were most likely to have been from the first range of British standardised paints, some of which were developed during WWI. There is an archived Farrow & Ball colour simply called No. 9817 - so old it has no name - which matched the strong saturated green they had been used on the exterior alongside a brilliant, sunshine yellow similar to Farrow and Ball's colour, Babouche. Inside, there were more

approachable colours; even though paler, they were still quite strong but all with a good dose of brown. There was also a buttery yellow not dissimilar to Dayroom Yellow, what we might think of as a typically vintage ‘Germolene’ pink and Green Blue, with a rich cream like Farrow’s Cream on the trim. I cannot remember them ever redecorating.

My other grandparents were much more modern in every sense. This grandmother was always redecorating, changing the curtains, even mixing her own particular shade of blue for her kitchen walls. I remember vast curtains that could completely envelop me in glamorous satin damask, with a sofa in something similar to India Yellow. As a child, what I loved best was that each one of the kitchen cupboard doors was painted a different, playful, primary colour. These never changed and if I were to recreate that kitchen now I would use Rectory Red, Charlotte’s Locks, Citron, Yeabridge Green, St. Giles and Pitch Blue. Theirs was what we now know as Mid-century Modern, clean and uncluttered without unnecessary ornamentation. At the time, they were just cool. bridporttimber.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 77

Interiors

A CHANGE OF SCENERY Molly Bruce, Interior Designer

I

have lost count of how often I feel grateful to live in this quintessentially beautiful part of England, especially at this time of year. To be surrounded by the lush scenery of green fields dotted with sheep, to bumble down country lanes accompanied by birdsong, or to swim in the sea against a background of yellow ochre cliffs that tower up to meet a vast expanse of blue sky, is truly a blessing.

Important as it is to appreciate what we have in life, there are moments when we still need to get away from it all. When routines and to-do lists consume us, it is just as important to jump off the merry-go-round, take a break from normality and enjoy a change of scenery. A recent invitation to a launch event in London reminded me how much I needed a creative shake-up. Having finished two projects and being shortly due to start a new one, I grabbed the opportunity to fit in a 24-hour escape to recharge my batteries.

I wholeheartedly agree that ‘a change is as good as a rest’, even if organising a break in a busy schedule, child- or pet-sitters, transport and accommodation can be time-consuming and stressful. When I hop on the train, find a seat and breathe a sigh of relief, it is all worth it. My trip was not a holiday but on my return I certainly felt rejuvenated.

I cram as much as I can into my trips away keeping up to date with all things interiors, attending product launches and design shows and catching up with friends and work colleagues to share news and passion for our craft. For me, inspiration is everywhere, and galleries and museums are as important as my favourite interior shops. So, a trip to London often involves a stop at the V&A museum, and my recent visit to the Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition did not disappoint.

In last month’s article I touched on the link between interior design and the fashion industry, how we can take inspiration from fashion design incorporating colours, pattern, shape, form and texture into our homes to create a striking and truly individual interior design. It is fair to say that Dior’s work itself was literally a change of scenery in the fashion world. If you are interested in design and

78 | Bridport Times | July 2019

haven’t been to this exhibition, I recommend that you go.

I wandered around gazing at the splendour of Dior through the ages, from the first groundbreaking Paris debut collection of 1947, up to the present day with the successors that followed him after his untimely death in 1957. The work processes are laid out with illustrations, photographs and notes, miniature dresses, toiles from the atelier, and the finished pieces beautifully displayed. The lighting and set decorations create a dream-like state as crowds of spectators move from room to room. I admit there were moments where I was moved to tears, humbled by the beauty of the designs and skilled craftsmanship.

The lavish attention to detail is breathtaking - dresses embellished with flowers in all manner of materials and styles, intricate beadwork, embroidery and colour everywhere, accessories - hats, bags, gloves and shoes, lipsticks and fragrances - all there in abundance. I was interested in everything but, with a limited amount of time, I was happy to take it all in at face value, noting the cut and drape of the pieces in a sculptural context.

My train ride home was spent contemplating the many ways we can learn from the talent of others, and incorporate elements of a design to inform and improve our own art, often across very different medias.

So yes, a change of scenery helps to refresh and energise the soul, blowing away all the cobwebs. This also seems true for Dior himself, and I leave you with his words about our beloved part of the planet: ‘There is no other country in the world, besides my own, whose way of life I like so much… I love English traditions, English politeness, English architecture. I even love English cooking.’

Honoured, even if the last sentiment is a little bit cheeky.

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams is on until 1st September 2019 at the V&A Museum, London vam.ac.uk mollybruce.co.uk @mollybruceinteriors

bridporttimes.co.uk | 79

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Gardening

T

SAVOUR THE SUMMER Will Livingstone, WillGrow

omatoes are the ultimate summer crop – everything, from the smell of the vines ripening to that first glimpse of red readiness to their irresistible bursting sweetness, makes growing your own tomatoes entirely worthwhile. The variety available is astounding and, for the home grower, tomatoes are one of the most exciting and money-saving crops to grow.

Most years at River Cottage I grew upwards of ten different varieties, everything from Amish Paste - a huge meaty fruit with a weighty flavour, perfect for grating into a sauce or slicing thickly with mozzarella - to Green Zebra - bright green when ripe, medium in size, with distinctive darker green zebra stripes, which look beautiful in a tomato salad. Whatever you choose, when grown with care, tomatoes are endlessly satisfying and unrivalled in taste, especially when eaten sun-warm and straight from the vine.

Saving tomato seed is the best way to ensure interesting varieties such as these last for years to come, and I would encourage seed-saving to anyone who grows their own. As long as the original seed was open pollinated and not hybridised you shouldn’t have any problems. Saving seed is all about selection so, when choosing a ripe fruit for saving, have a look at the plant first. Did it grow strong and true? Was it a heavy cropper?

Was it healthy and disease-free? Once you have selected your best plant, remove a ripe fruit (late in the season), slice in half along the equator, squeeze all the pulp and seed into a glass jar and leave to ferment for 3-4 days at room temperature, without a lid. After fermenting the seed, rinse and remove the pulp and lay the clean seeds on a non-stick surface to dry. Once fully dry to the touch, store the seeds in wax paper packets and label. These seeds should be viable for germination for the next two years.

Their lifecycle starts in February when they are sown into seed trays (April for outdoor types), about 2cm apart. Tomatoes require temperatures between 20⁰–25⁰ for good germination and need to be hardened off at 15⁰ before planting out. Once they show a couple of true leaves, transplant into 5cm pots, growing on until mid-April ( June for outdoor types) when they are ready to plant out. Transplanting seedlings stimulates more growth and helps push the plants on to bigger and better 82 | Bridport Times | July 2019

things. I always grow our tomatoes in the greenhouse because they are far more productive than tomatoes grown outside. If you are going to grow them outside, be sure to site them in a sunny, sheltered position.

Tomatoes are best grown on strings suspended from the crop bars of a greenhouse or polytunnel. If you are growing tomatoes outside, building a frame over the top of your tomatoes can offer the same support. Once your tomatoes have reached the point where they need propping up, tie a loose loop around the stem of the plant, then run your string up to your support structure and tie off tight. The knot needs to be loose around the stem to allow it room to grow and expand. Going forward, as the tomato heads skyward, wind the vine around the string - this allows you to access all sides and makes it much easier for picking. Keep side-shoots on the tomatoes pinched out, to focus the plant’s energy on truss and fruit growth; this also stops your plant becoming a tangled mess. Side-shoots grow at 45⁰ angles from the point where the leaf truss meets the main stem. This will decongest the plant, increase airflow and help to keep your plants free from fungal disease.

As blight becomes more of a risk later in the summer, I start defoliation of the leaves from the ground up, removing leaves around the ripening fruit. By the end of the season all the leaves have been removed, aiding in the ripening of the last fruit trusses. As much as I love making green tomato chutney, it also nice to have sweet, delicious fruit in the autumn.

Beware that overwatering your tomatoes can be detrimental to the health of your plants and subsequent fruit production. Nutrient deficiency, split tomatoes and curled leaves can be the result of over-saturation. It is important however, to keep the tomato-growing areas damp to maintain good humidity and decrease the risk of red spider mite and whitefly. Most greenhouse pests prefer dry conditions. Planting basil around the base of the plants is a nice way to provide a living mulch, reducing evaporation and the need to water, and makes for perfect, summer salad convenience. @WillGrow willgrow.co.uk

WILL LIVINGSTONE

bridporttimes.co.uk | 83

Gardening

TACKLING WEEDS THE ORGANIC WAY Charlie Groves, Groves Nurseries

I

love July; the flower garden is peaking with an abundance of summer colour, buzzing bees and gorgeous scents. It’s a wonderful time of year for gardeners to sit back and admire their handiwork but, of course, those pesky weeds are flourishing too so need to be controlled before any sitting down!

I know it can be hard work if you don’t want to use chemicals but, in my own garden, I try to take an organic approach to the job even though it’s more effort. At Groves, we are keen to educate customers so they understand there are alternatives to the dreaded traditional sprays. It may mean a bit more persistence but the benefits of organic control methods far outweigh the possibility of adverse health effects from chemical pesticides.

So, the good news is, yes, all weeds can be controlled without the use of weedkillers but first you have to understand the difference between tackling annual and perennial weeds.

Annual weeds come from seeds and, as the name suggests, live only for a year. These are blown around on the wind, dropped by birds or dug up when you dig the soil – things such as chickweed, groundsel, and hairy bittercress. The good news is, being shallow rooted, they are reasonably easy to remove.

Perennial weeds, such as bindweed, dandelions, couch grass and ground elder, spread by their roots so are harder to eradicate, but persistence will win!

My number one tip for annual weeds would be to get a good hoe and remove them while they are seedlings (as Cyril in our shop always says, ‘keep the hoe moving’).

Do it on a dry day and the seedlings will die rather than re-rooting into moist soil.

If you’re tackling perennial weeds with roots, dig them out with a sturdy fork or garden knife after it has rained – they’ll be so much easier to remove entirely 84 | Bridport Times | July 2019

Image: Nature Photos/Shutterstock

from damp soil, avoiding the danger of leaving a tiny root that will just grow again.

Another favourite of mine is mulching with organic material - covering the soil with an extra layer of organic matter can smother and inhibit weeds. With no light, they can’t germinate. You can mulch with compost, bark, wood chips, shredded newspaper or even grass cuttings as all of these will allow bulbs and perennials to emerge.

Another top tip is to plant densely as weeds can’t take hold if there’s no space for them. Try planting dense ground cover plants plus perennials in ornamental beds. Also, the shade and extensive root systems of trees and shrubs can naturally prevent weeds from growing underneath. Green manures are

ideal for this and can be dug into the soil afterwards to provide the soil with some much-needed nutrients.

If you’re trying to clear a more substantial area for new beds, borders or vegetable plots, try covering the area with a plastic sheet or old carpet and leave it for about 5 or 6 weeks, preferably in hot summer weather, and the weeds will bake and die.

You also need to be aware of seeds - don’t let any weeds go to seed. Just cut the heads off and burn them as, amazingly, one dandelion can produce up to 15,000 seeds – that’s a whopping 15,000 new weeds – and the seeds can lie in the ground for years before they germinate.

I’ll share a somewhat quirky method recommended by a gardener friend: it is spraying a mix of ½ a cup of vodka, 2 cups of water and a couple of drops of washing

up liquid on your weeds when the sun is shining. This will apparently dry them out and kill them although it doesn’t work well in shady areas. I’ll give that one a miss as I think I’d rather have my vodka in a long, refreshing summer cocktail!

I’d love you to experiment with some of these suggestions but I know old habits die hard and dropping chemicals for organic routes may seem like a lot of effort.

However, I think considering all the recent publicity on plastic pollution, court trials, declining bee populations and ever-increasing concerns on the impact that humans are having on our environment, we all need to consider new options for how we interact with nature. grovesnurseries.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 85

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Community

A DECLARATION OF INTENT Dave Rickard, Leader, Bridport Town Council

W

e are facing a climate emergency, of that there is no doubt, but then we have been for some considerable time. The United Nations International Conference on Sustainable Development in 1992 reached international agreement on the Climate Change Convention, which in turn led to the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.

It also led to Agenda 21 - a grass-roots, ‘bottom up’, community-by-community approach to the global problems of unsustainable growth, resource use, pollution and ultimately a global catastrophe. Whilst bottom-up solutions are preferable, as they involve engagement rather than coercion, it is imperative that all statutory and legislative bodies such as Councils and Governments become actively engaged as they have a corporate legitimacy and often the power to act.

In the light of that, Bridport Town Council was the first town in Britain to sign the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change back in 2008, resulting in our initial programme of energy-saving and energy efficiency, including the fitting of solar panels to council buildings and facilitating the setting up of Transition Town Bridport to raise awareness of the causes and solutions to climate change and resource management.

Irresponsibly and disappointingly, too many governments around the world have neglected their duty to the next generation to guarantee a safe environment in which to grow up. As a result, it is unsurprising that ‘Extinction Rebellion’ have highlighted the climate emergency which faces us all.

The motion brought to the Environment Committee and passed by Full Council on May 16th was: Bridport Town Council agrees to:

1 Declare a ‘climate emergency’.

2 Pledge to make Bridport Town Council carbon neutral by 2030, taking into account both production 88 | Bridport Times | July 2019

and consumption emissions.

3 Call upon National Government and Dorset Council to provide the powers and resources to make the 2030 target possible.

4 Work with other local councils to determine and implement best practice methods to limit global warming to less than 1.5 degrees C. 5 Continue to work with partners across the Bridport area, via its ‘One Planet Living’ Working Group, to deliver this new goal through all relevant strategies and plans.

6 Review the progress and good work already accomplished since it signed the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change in 2008.

7 Prepare a report within 6 months detailing the actions Bridport Town Council will take to address this emergency.

It varies from many of the motions being agreed by other councils in that it includes actions and a preliminary timetable.

Bridport Town Council has been something of a pioneer in community planning and collaborative working, hosting one of the most successful Local Area Partnerships for over 15 years and building working relationships with a host of local organisations. Bridport Town Council’s ethos is to add value to our enterprise by partnership working.

We recognise that we are all part of the problem and envisage that making any meaningful contribution to further cutting our town’s collective carbon footprint will necessitate not only an in-depth appraisal of our own activities but facilitating others to be a significant part of the solution to that problem. To that end I would like to see Bridport Town Council being a significant player in an ‘Extinction Avoidance Consensus’. bridport-tc.gov.uk

Philosophy

A BLIND EYE

A

Kelvin Clayton

recent Freedom of Information request revealed a document, dated November 2018, that permits British government ministers to ignore torture fears if the potential benefits of intelligence information ‘justifies’ its use. In other words, if the value of the information is considered high enough, ministers can turn a blind eye to how that information was gained – effectively permitting the use of torture to gain intelligence information. Is this ethically acceptable in the 21st century? Can torture ever be justified? And even if it can be, is it ever effective? After all, there is a lot of evidence that people will say anything to avoid severe pain.

These questions were discussed at the last meeting of Bridport’s Philosophy in Pubs group following a brief presentation from an Army veteran and former trained interrogator. As ever, the ethical arguments tended to split between a consequentialist approach, which argues that the ends justify the means, and a deontologist approach, which argues that certain acts are just plain wrong. Whilst the government example cited above is a classic example of the former, there seems to be a widespread view that supports the latter, that views torture as dehumanising and morally unacceptable under any circumstances.

But is it really that simple? Take the following case study that I’ve used with students. The police have very reliable information that a nuclear device has been set to detonate somewhere in central London. They have twelve hours to find and deactivate it. If they don’t it could potentially kill hundreds of thousands of people. The intelligence services have been investigating rumours of such a treat for some time and are very confident that they know the identity and whereabouts of at least one of the members of the group responsible. They immediately arrest this person and start to interrogate them. If you were in a position of power, what interrogation techniques would you allow?

It’s difficult to answer questions that involve personal decisions under extreme pressure. It’s somewhat easier, I think, to answer questions about what the law should allow. Such questions should be decided in a cool and rational manner. And the two answers do not need to agree. In my view, the law should not permit any form of torture, under any circumstances. If it does it moves the argument away from the dehumanising effects of torture onto the conditions that make it acceptable. However, I cannot be certain what I would decide if I was in that position of power. If I did authorise torture, I would like to think that the law would be very lenient on me for breaking the law for a good reason, but my decision should still be illegal and my reasons for acting against the law should be examined in a court of law.

Philosophy in Pubs is a grass-roots community organisation promoting and practising community philosophy in the UK. Discussions take place regularly in venues around the country. Anyone can attend and anyone can propose a topic for discussion. The Bridport group meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month in The George Hotel, South Street at 7.30pm. Attending the discussion is free and there is no need for any background knowledge of philosophy. All that’s required is an open mind and a desire to examine issues more closely than usual. For further details, email Kelvin Clayton at kelvin.clayton@icloud.com

bridporttimes.co.uk | 89

Literature

LITERARY REVIEW Nicky Mathewson, The Bookshop

Armstrong: The Adventurous Journey of a Mouse to the Moon

by Torben Kuhlmann (Simon & Schuster, 2019) £14.99 Bridport Times reader price of £12.99 available at The Bookshop, South Street

B

orn in Germany in 1982, author/illustrator Torben Kuhlmann was a talented draughtsman from an early age. He brings his fascination for machines and engineering and his love of science fiction and adventure stories to his beautifully illustrated books for children. Not only is he able to illustrate unusual mechanical inventions but also he captures the character and movement of living things with such tenderness that I almost feel as though I could reach into the book and touch them.

The subtle tones of his illustrations really give a sense of travelling back in time and in this book we travel back to July 1969 when Neil Armstrong climbed out of the Apollo 11 lunar module to be the first man to step onto the moon. The story is told as much by the pictures as by the text and Torben’s gorgeous illustrations make one want to linger on each page to fully absorb them.

In this story we follow a tenacious little mouse with huge ambitions who embarks upon the journey of a lifetime. His fellow mice are convinced that the moon is made of cheese but he believes it’s actually made of rock.

For mice there is nothing more wonderful than cheese.

Spicy or mild, creamy or hard with holes in it. Cheese runs a mouse’s life. And so for the mice everything was crystal clear: the moon was made of cheese. How else could one explain it?

The moon is a round ball and has holes in it. Sometimes it is as yellow as Gouda, then as white as Camembert, or even as reddish orange as Leicester. And now all of a sudden the moon is supposed to be a ball of stone?

Determined to prove to the other mice that his findings are sound, he is propelled by the knowledge that in days gone by mice had been great aviators but had lost their desire to fly. Well, if they managed to fly in the past, why couldn’t he fly now? Maybe he could actually 90 | Bridport Times | July 2019

go to the moon and prove it is made of rock!

‘So many problems to be solved,’ sighed the little mouse, but he did not allow himself to be discouraged. The first step was to find a way in which he could simply survive in space.

He would have to wrap himself up safe and warm, and take enough air in his luggage to be able to keep breathing.

The little mouse turns out to be quite the engineer but there are many hurdles for a tiny rodent in the world of space travel; he succeeds in burning down his attic room and is even suspected of being a Soviet spy!

In this edition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing there are fascinating

Illustration: Torben Kuhlmann

facts about the Apollo Programme, the Moon Landing and how the study of the moon began. Torben gives us an insight into the first earthlings in space and the Space Race. All of this is illustrated in great detail, he even includes a self portrait! The inside cover is adorned with the little mouse’s designs and sketches for his space rocket and the whole book is such a thing of beauty that it will take your breath away.

This is the second mouse adventure in a series of three books: Lindbergh-The Tale of a Flying Mouse, which has been translated into more than thirty languages

Armstrong-The Adventurous Journey of a Mouse to the Moon Edison-The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Torben Kuhlmann has also written a picture book called Moletown.

Since discovering Torben’s work this year I have become a huge fan and can’t wait to read more of his books. I think all children will love and treasure this book, and if you are at all interested in illustration I highly recommend you treat yourself to Torben’s work, however old you are. dorsetbooks.com bridporttimes.co.uk | 91

Literature

EXTRACT

RING OF BRIGHT WATER

I

By Gavin Maxwell (Little Toller Books) £14

have never been able fully to make up my mind whether certain aspects of otter behaviour merely chance to resemble that of human beings, or whether, in the case of animals as young as Mij was, there is actual mimicry of the human foster parent. Mij, anyway, seemed to regard me closely as I composed myself on my back with a cushion under my head; then, with a confiding air of knowing exactly what to do, he clambered up beside me and worked his body down into the sleeping-bag until he lay flat on his back inside it with his head on the cushion beside mine and his fore-paws in the air. In this position, such an attitude as a child devises for its teddy-bear in bed, Mij heaved an enormous sigh and was instantly asleep.

There is, in fact, much about otters that encourages humans to a facile anthropomorphizing. A dry otter at play is an animal that might have been specifically designed to please a child; they look like ‘invented’ animals, and are really much more like Giovannetti’s ‘Max’ than anything else, a comparison that has instantly struck many people upon seeing my otters for the first time – the

92 | Bridport Times | July 2019

same short legs, the same tubby, furry torso, vast whiskers, and clownish good humour. In the water they take on quite a different aspect and personality, supple as an eel, fast as lightning, and graceful as a ballet dancer, but very few people have watched them for long below the surface, and I have yet to see a zoo that gives its otters a glass-sided tank – a spectacle that I believe would steal the show from the whole aquarium.

Mij and I remained in London for nearly a month, while, as my landlord put it, the studio came to look like a cross between a monkey-house and a furniture repository. The garage roof was fenced in, and a wire gate fitted to the gallery stairs, so that he could occasionally be excluded from the studio itself; the upstairs telephone was enclosed in a box (whose fastening he early learned to undo); my dressing-table was cut off from him by a wire flap hinging from the ceiling, and the electric light wires were enclosed in tunnels of hardboard that gave the place the appearance of a power-house.

All these precautions were entirely necessary, for if Mij thought that he had been excluded for too long, more especially from visitors whose acquaintance he wished to make, he would set about laying waste with extraordinary invention. No amount of forethought that I could muster was ever able to forestall his genius; there was always something that I had overlooked, something that could be made to speak with a crash for his mood of frustration, and it did not take me long to learn that prophylaxis was more convenient than treatment.

There was nothing haphazard about the demonstrations he planned; into them went all the patience and ingenuity of his remarkable brain and all the agility of his muscular little body. One evening, for example, after the contractors had departed for the third or fourth time, leaving, as I thought, an otter-proof situation at last, I had confined Mij to the gallery for an hour in deference to the wishes of a female visitor who feared for her nylons. He appeared, after a few moments, balancing adroitly on the top of the gallery railing, paying no attention either to us or to the formidable drop below him, for his plan was evidently already mature. At various points along the length of this railing were suspended certain decorative objects, a Cretan shepherd’s bag, a dagger, and other things whose identity now eludes me.

Purposefully, and with an air of enormous self-satisfaction, Mij began to chew through the cords from which these objets d’art or de voyage hung. After each severance he would pause to watch his victim crash to the parquet floor below, then he would carefully renew his precarious, straddling progress along the rail until he reached the next. We stood, my visitor and I, waiting to catch the more fragile items as they fell, and I remember that when the last fruit, as it were, had fallen from the bough she turned to me with a sigh and said, ‘Don’t you ever feel that this just simply can’t go on?’ littletoller.co.uk

bridporttimes.co.uk | 93

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94 | Bridport Times | July 2019

DOWN 1. Dilapidated (8) 2. Guttural sound made by a pig (5) 4. Last ___ : swansong (6) 5. Bewitchingly (12) 6. Very low temperature fridge (7) 7. Right to hold property (4) 8. Ruinously (12) 12. Edible snail (8) 14. Total amount of wages paid to employees (7) 16. Irrational fear (6) 18. Traveller on horseback (5) 19. Gull-like bird (4)

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