Bridport Times May 2020

MAY 2020 | FREE

A MONTHLY CELEBR ATION OF PEOPLE, PLACE AND PURVEYOR

LIFE AND LIMB with waxwork sculptor, Mike Wade

bridporttimes.co.uk

WELCOME

I

write this with a dog pacing the kitchen, children gnawing at furniture and a wife teaching her class of 5-year olds via Zoom with what can only be described as awe-inspiring levels of enthusiasm. My eyes are drawn from screen to open window and the world beyond…

It is testament to our neck of the woods that 6 pages of this month’s edition are dedicated to the local independent businesses finding new ways to keep us fed and watered. With Steven Lamb, Gill Meller, Chris Staines, Ilaria Padovani and the award-winning Firepot also on hand, I doubt we’ll be going hungry any time soon.

Anna Powell and Kit Glaisyer seek to fill the vacuum left by Dorset Art Weeks, while a host of writers offer us solace in nature. Among them is the inspiring young naturalist Dara McAnulty and I am delighted to be able to share an extract from his eagerly anticipated book, published by Bridport’s very own Little Toller.

Elsewhere, The Bookshop on South Street provides some welcome suggestions, our man in Westminster gets in touch and we enter the incredible (if not a little eerie) world of waxwork sculptor, Mike Wade.

Keep safe.

Glen Cheyne, Editor glen@homegrown-media.co.uk @bridporttimes

CONTRIBUTORS Editorial and creative direction Glen Cheyne Design Andy Gerrard @round_studio Sub editor Elaine Taylor Photography Katharine Davies @Katharine_KDP Feature writer Jo Denbury @jo_denbury Editorial assistant Paul Newman @paulnewmanart Social media Jenny Dickinson

David Burnett

Gill Meller

The Dovecote Press

@GillMeller

dovecotepress.com

@Gill.Meller gillmeller.com

Kelvin Clayton @kelvinclaytongp greenthoughts.me philosophyinpubs.co.uk

Ilaria Padovani Mercato Italiano @mercatoitalianoltd mercatoitalianoshop.uk

Kathy Dare Melplash Agricultural Society

Anna Powell Sladers Yard

Dee Fenton Bridport Arts Centre @bridportarts

@SladersYard @sladersyard sladersyard.wordpress.com

@bridportarts bridport-arts.com

Ellen Simon Tamarisk Farm

Alison Ferris Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre

@ tamarisk_farm tamariskfarm.co.uk

@CharmouthHCC charmouth.org/chcc

Niina Siwennoinen Dorset Wildlife Trust

John Fisher Firepot @firepotfood

@DorsetWildlife @dorsetwildlife dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

firepotfood.com

1 Bretts Yard Digby Road Sherborne Dorset DT9 3NL 01935 315556 @bridporttimes glen@homegrown-media.co.uk paul@homegrown-media.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk

Antonia Squire Kit Glaisyer

@bookshopbridprt

@kitglaisyer

@thebookshopbridport

kitglaisyer.com

Bridport Museum

@TheOllerod @theollerod theollerod.co.uk

Steven Lamb

Emma Tabor & Paul Newman

@slowlifegoodlifeclub

4 | Bridport Times | May 2020

The Ollerod

bridportmuseum.co.uk

Slow Life Good Life Club

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that the data in this publication is accurate, neither Bridport Times nor its editorial contributors can accept, and hereby disclaim, any liability to any party to loss or damage caused by errors or omissions resulting from negligence, accident or any other cause.

Bridport Times does not officially endorse any advertising material included within this publication.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - without prior permission from Bridport Times.

dorsetbooks.com Chris Staines

Emily Hicks @BridportMuseum

Bridport Times is printed on an FSCÂŽ and EU Ecolabel certified paper.

It goes without saying that once thoroughly well read, this magazine is easily recycled and we actively encourage you to do so.

The Bookshop

@kitglaisyer

dowhatyouloveforlife.com/course/slowlife-

@paulnewmanart @paulnewmanartist paulnewmanartist.com

goodlife/ Chris Tripp Little Toller Books

Dorset Diggers Community

@LittleToller

Archaeology Group

@littletollerdorset

dorsetdiggers.btck.co.uk

littletoller.co.uk Colin Varndell Chris Loder MP

Colin Varndell Natural History Photography

chrisloder.co.uk

colinvarndell.co.uk

Paddy Magrane

Nadiya Wynn

Lyme Crime lymecrime.co.uk

Yoga Space @yogaspacebridport yogaspacebridport.com

66

MAY 2020

6 Community

48 Outdoors

84 Body & Mind

18 Arts & Culture

62 Archaeology

86 Philosophy

36 History

66 MIKE WADE

88 Literature

40 Wild Dorset

76 Food & Drink

94 Crossword

bridporttimes.co.uk | 5

COMMUNITY TAKEAWAY & DELIVERY SERVICES Payment in advance by BACS or

____________________________

____________________________

Baboo Gelato Home

BearKat

Delivery of ice cream to addresses in

Coffee for a month! 250g bags house

info@baboogelato.com with your phone

available). Beans or ground, minimum

Crepe Business Park, Symondsbury.

every week to your door. Email

Mercato Italiano (cheese and cured

DT6, DT7 and DT8. Order via email number and they will call you back

to confirm address, delivery time, and

take card payment. Free delivery with

The Bridport Basket

4 bags per month. 250g delivered

Local supplies to your door including

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for £22.00.

Black Cow Vodka

Balsons Butchers

from local milk. Locally-made cheese

____________________________ West Allington, Bridport. Britain’s

Beaminster. Award-winning vodka made also available to buy online. Currently

oldest butchers. Meat locally-sourced

where possible. Sausages are a speciality and exotic meats available. Collection

____________________________

blend £6.95, single origin £7.95 (decaf

bearkatsupper@outlook.com

a minimum order of 4 x 500ml tubs

by a secure card payment.

offering free shipping with online spends over £15. blackcow.co.uk

____________________________

meats), Selected Grapes (wine),

Wobbly Cottage (bread and pastries), Haypenny Market Garden (veg), The Monmouth Table (fish dishes) plus

more favourites to be added. Home

deliveries on Wednesday and Friday.

Full details available and order via

mercatoitalianoshop.uk 07827 524602

____________________________

and delivery. 10% discount given to

Bothen Hill Farm

Brassica

NHS staff. 01308 422638 richard@ rjbalson.co.uk rjbalson.co.uk

Bothenhampton. Asparagus now being

Beaminster. Takeaway or delivery

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harvested – available direct from the Asparagus Station at 7 Green Lane,

Beaminster, £5 delivery within 8-mile

Bayside Bakery

DT6 4ED. Delivery service available

Bridport. Award-winning chocolate

within Bridport area for a minimum of 5

brownie gift boxes posted nationwide.

Full range and availability on their online shop baysidebakery.co.uk

____________________________

x bunches. Call 01308 424271 or 07870 388304 to place your order for delivery bothenhill.co.uk

____________________________

(£25 min order) Free delivery to

radius. Selection of ready meals and

dry store including pasta, bread, and eggs. Website replenished with new

stock late Weds pm, then possible to

order for following week. 01308 538100 brassicarestaurant.co.uk/meals for menu

BearKat Bistro

The Book and Bucket

Barrack Street, Bridport. Vegetarian.

Cheese Company

Bradpole Village

Order dinner for a neighbour in need.

Store & Post Office

£5 per meal – extra donations welcome

Delivering cheese packages to

– through their Crowdfunder initiative

DT Postcodes. View range on

thebookandbucketcheesecompany.co.uk/

Middle Street, Bridport. Convenience store

Send order to enquiries@

providing groceries and essentials. Open every day including Sunday morning.

via their Facebook page. Delivery only. bearkatsupper@outlook.com

thebookandbucketcheesecompany.co.uk

____________________________

Check Facebook page for opening hours

Thinking of letting your holiday home?

We know that your holiday home is just that – a home.

That’s why our local team is dedicated to managing your property with the same care and attention you would. With tailored services to suit your needs, you can be as involved as you like, so why not get in touch today?

01929 448 708 newowners@dorsethideaways.co.uk dorsethideaways.co.uk 6 | Bridport Times | May 2020

COMMUNITY TAKEAWAY & DELIVERY SERVICES ____________________________ Broadwindsor Community Store Shop Providing groceries and essentials (only 1 in shop at any one time).

Home delivery service provided by volunteers to local residents.

Open 8.30am-3.30 pm on Mondays,

Supplying essential items; milk, bread,

Saturdays. Emergency deliveries on

for Uploders residents’ needs. Delivery

Wednesdays & Fridays, 8-1pm on Tuesday mornings to anyone self-

isolating in Charmouth. Ring 01297 560213 Follow on Facebook.

____________________________

eggs, butter, frozen foods, soups, etc. service - call Karin & David 01308 485356. Follow on Facebook or crownuploders.co.uk for details

____________________________

____________________________

Cherries Ice Cream Parlour

Curious Kumbucha

Bridget’s Market

West Bay. Fruit and veg boxes, meats,

Bridport. Offering home delivery

homemade ready meals - delivered

kombucha. Phone 07907123757 or email

East Street, Bridport Greengrocers.

Also, stockists of eggs, cheese, organic

milk, baking goods, spices, pork sausages, chops and rolled joint from local farm.

Fruit bags and vegetable boxes available.

Collection and delivery 01308 427096 or message via Facebook.

____________________________ Burton Bradstock Post Office and Farm Shop

dairy, bread, dry goods and Cherries’ chilled or frozen to reheat at home -

when you fancy a treat. See facebook

locally of their wholesome gut-friendly curiouskombucha@gmail.com

____________________________

page for menu and details. Call before

Dark Bear

Daily, except Sunday. Minimum order

canned cocktails, bottled group serves,

2pm for next day delivery or collection.

Bridport. Home delivery to DT6 area -

for delivery £25. 01308 301207/07973

spirit drams, beers, ciders and cocktail

631059

____________________________

kits. See full menu on Facebook. facebook. com/darkbearbridport/

Delivery in the village, plus, West

Chickenland and Pizza

Order between 9am-noon Mondays for

Visit chickenlandandpizza.co.uk for menu.

Waytown. Apple juice, craft ciders and

____________________________

shop. Free delivery within ten miles

____________________________

Bexington, Swyre and Puncknowle.

West Street Open 5 -11pm daily.

Dorset Nectar

a Wednesday morning delivery and 9am-

01308 458800.

beers available through their online

noon on Wednesdays for deliveries on

Friday mornings. Minimum order £10.

Chideock Village

com maydownfarm.co.uk

Groceries and essentials. Opening

Felicity’s Farm Shop

Catch of the Day

Saturday 8am - 7pm, Sunday 8am - 1pm.

9am to 2pm, Monday to Saturday.

dorsetnectar.co.uk

01308 897243 maydownfarmshop@aol.

Shop & Post Office

____________________________

hours - Monday to Friday 7am - 7pm,

Morcombelake, DT6 6DL. Shop open

01297 489584

Home-reared pork, other local produce

Bridport. Live lobster, crabs, scallops and

fresh fish. Delivering in and around West

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Bay and Bridport. Van location to be

Copsegate Farm

649939 or FB message. Cash only

local meat (all cuts of beef, pork, bacon

posted daily on Facebook. Contact 07851

Whitchurch Canonicorum. Quality

____________________________

and sausage) and produce including

Cerne Abbas Brewery Bag in a box beer is the perfect solution if you want a proper pint. They are

delivering to Bridport and surrounding areas on Thursdays. Orders need to be

in by 10am on Thursdays. Ring 07506

free range eggs from the farm. Email

copsegatefarm@gmail.com for a full list

and food-to-go including savoury pies

and cake. They are on the premises until

at least 5pm, taking telephone and email orders and collating them, arranging

collections and delivering to those who cannot leave home. 01297 480930

____________________________

of what is available and to order, or call

Five Bells Inn

over £20 in a 6 mile radius

casks of Copper Ale, lager and cider

07840 785783. FREE delivery for orders

Whitchurch. Offering takeaway 4-pint

____________________________

at cost price. Also, a limited menu of

303407, email cerneabbasbrewery@gmail.

Coriander

details and to order

delivery available. 01308 428262

com, or visit our Facebook page for

South Street, Bridport. Indian takeaway

____________________________

____________________________

Charmouth Bakery

____________________________

Crown Inn Uploders

takeaway meals - scampi, cod, sausage (inc vegan) or chicken breast chunks

(all with chips). Place orders by 2pm.

Collection available between 4pm &

6pm (please advise time, when placing bridporttimes.co.uk | 7

COMMUNITY TAKEAWAY & DELIVERY SERVICES orders). 01297 489262. Leave message

on Facebook

and Symondsbury. Call 01308 422600

arranged for those unable to get out

Half Moon

phone for delivery to your door.

Ford Farm Cheesemakers

available Thursday - Saturday and

Kernow Pantry

and home delivery service Visit

and sweets. Free local delivery for

on answerphone. Delivery can be

____________________________ Litton Cheney. Traditional farmhouse cheddar makers. Buy online fordfarm. com/the-shop/

____________________________ Framptons Butchers

____________________________ Melplash. Take-away menu

to place your order and pay over the

____________________________

Sunday roast dinners. Collection

West Street, Bridport. Pasties, turnovers

halfmoonmelplash.co.uk for menu and

min. order £10. Frozen pasties always

to order or call 01308 488 321

____________________________

available; cooked on Saturdays.

Order and pay via card, ring or text

Town Hall, Bridport Butchers. Shop open

Hangers Dairy

Bridport, Beaminster and surrounding

Milkman. Can also supply eggs, bread,

Klin Klan’s

butter and yoghurt. See their Facebook

Facebook page. Home delivery service in

07385168355. See menu on Facebook

8am – 3pm Free home deliveries around

North Mills Trading, Bridport.

villages. Minimum order £10. Call 01308

fruit juices, flavoured milks, cheese,

West Bay. Thai cuisine. Menu on

page for complete product list.

Bridport and surrounding areas. Payment

422995 or message via Facebook

____________________________ Fruit ‘n’ Two Veg Beaminster. Offering a Produce Box

Scheme for collection from the shop

Collection and delivery 01308 423308 or message via Facebook

____________________________

or delivery. Boxes start at £10. Order

The Hare & Hounds Waytown

from 9-12 on weekdays or email

Uxbridge and Netherbury) including

____________________________

via phone. £3 delivery surcharge for

orders under £50. Also, a drive-through system in place at the Durbeyfield car

park for those of you wishing to collect

online fruitntwovegshop.com Phone

Knock & Drop local delivery (Waytown,

fruitntwoveg@gmail.com. Delivery on

Sunday roast £8. Phone for menu and

K. Yeun Chinese Takeaway

____________________________

kyuen.co.uk Order via phone and

Thursdays (order by Tues 12 noon),

your meals from the horse box.

____________________________

times. Delivery only 01308 488203

Bridport. Menu on Facebook and

noon. (order by Wed 12 noon).

Hogs Hill Stores

collect 01308 421992

Fruits of Earth

Open daily. Deliveries to those self-

Leakers Bakery

any one time.

Shop open Monday to Friday 7am-1pm

collect on Friday 2-4pm and Sat 9-12 ____________________________ Victoria Grove. Wholefoods and fresh organic vegetables supplied by local

farms including Tamarisk, Fivepenny

Beaminster. Groceries and essentials. isolation Only 2 persons in the shop at

East Street, Bridport. Artisan bakers.

____________________________

and 6am-1pm on Saturday. Delivery free

and Bothenhill. Collection and home

Holy Cow Organic Milk

and place an order. 01308 425827

open 7am to 7pm. Card payment only.

deliveries. Telephone to find out more

Salway Ash. Self-serve vending machine

____________________________

1 litre bottles available to purchase for

Furleigh Estate Keenly priced wine collections to bring

good cheer. Comes with 25% off and free delivery. Visit furleighestate.co.uk to order

____________________________

£2 on site or bring your own container.

Local cheese, butter, eggs, bacon,

to customers within a 3-mile radius of

the store. Order by phone 01308 423296 between 7am and 12noon for next day delivery. Delivering Monday-Friday morning.

____________________________

yoghurt and apple juice also available.

Leando’s Pizza

____________________________

Instagram. At Salway Ash Village Hall

holycoworganic.co.uk

Beaminster. Menu available to view on

Gelateria Beppino

Ilchester Arms

Bridport. Home delivery: gelato boxes,

Symondsbury. Takeaway menu

on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from

arragostine, pasteis de nata. Minimum

deliveries. Serving and delivering

____________________________

cheese scones, kale & pinenut rolls,

order £10. Order via 01308 422856.

Deliver Fridays and Saturdays. Follow 8 | Bridport Times | May 2020

available on Facebook with home Friday & Saturday evenings only 6pm9pm - Bridport, West Bay, Chideock

4.45-9pm visit leandospizzas.setmore.com to order online and book a time slot.

____________________________ Liberty Dairy Organic Dairy Farm

COMMUNITY TAKEAWAY & DELIVERY SERVICES Halstock. Providing non-homogenised

mercatoitaliano.uk or DM via Facebook

moorethantea.co.uk

cows are milked at 7.30am. The milk is

MDS Meats

Morrish & Banham Wine

pasteurised on-site before being delivered

Merchants

to the retailers the same day. Visit Stella

North Mills Trading Estate, Bridport.

at Bridget’s Market Bridport or Martha

Butchers who raise their own meat locally. Boxes available. Pies and

Local home doorstep deliveries. Order by

savouries a speciality. Collection and

phone 01305 261480, message or email mark@morrishandbanham.com or order

milk through vending machines. The

at Felicity’s Farm Shop, Morcombelake.

Follow on Facebook 07432 156245 judith.libertydairy@btinternet.com

____________________________

delivery 01308 427152 or 07939 244678 mdsmeats@gmail.com

____________________________

online morrishandbanham.com

____________________________

____________________________

Naturalife

Lime Tree Deli

Modbury Farm Shop

West Street, Bridport. Free home

Burton Bradstock DT6 4NE. Supplying

Bridport, Groceries and essential supplies.

chocolates and of course delicious

beef, pork, vegetables and local produce

____________________________

delivery service. Biscuits, jams, chutneys, cheese. Friday evening - Cheesy night in!

Bottle of prosecco, selection of 4 cheeses + crackers with chutney and olives

delivered to your home £25. Message via Facebook or call 07799 267653 limetreedeli.co.uk

fresh milk from own jersey cows, plus

available. Open as usual. Delivery to the

Shop open 9am-5am, home delivery service available. Phone or visit their

Facebook page for details. 01308 459690

____________________________

elderly or those in self isolation within

Nina’s Greengrocers

01308 897193 and leave a message with

Please telephone for more information

the Bride Valley, at no extra cost. Phone

South Street. Lots of stock! Eggs as well.

name and phone number.

01308 422794. Collection only

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

The Monmouth Table

New Inn

Little Pearl

Lyme Regis. Regular pop-up at Soulshine,

Shipton Gorge. Takeaway menu on

accompaniments including their popular

pub and village deliveries available. Offered

West Bay. Commercial fishing boat bringing you fresh fish, hand-dived

scallops and pot-caught crab and lobster.

Available from harbourside to people adhering to social distancing. See Facebook for updates and times.

____________________________ The Marquis of Lorne Nettlecombe. Takeaways available, roasts on Sundays. Order in advance via phone

Bridport. Various fish dishes and

Monmouth Table Fish Pie topped with cheddar (to reheat or freeze) £6. Orders must be placed by 6pm Wednesday for

Facebook. Collections from the rear of the evenings Wednesdays to Fridays and all-

day Saturday and Sunday. 01308 897302

____________________________

the home delivery service on Friday. For

New Inn

text your order to Carlotta 07425 969070,

Call to pre-order 01308 868333

menu choices visit themonmouthtable.co.uk

Stoke Abbott. Takeaway menu available.

pay with the link via text.

and follow on Facebook for updates

____________________________

newinnstokeabbot.co.uk

01308 485236, email info@marquisoflorne.

Moores Craft Bakery

____________________________

(collection only). Moores famous Dorset

Beaminster. Orders taken daily. Locally

order online. Open Monday to Friday

as a selection of ready homemade meals.

____________________________

co.uk or DM on social media.

Morcombelake. Bread & cakes

Nick Tett Butchers

MacSorsons Fish Van

knobs, biscuits, cereals, etc. available to

sourced fresh and cooked meats as well

Fresh local fish, smoked fish and shellfish stall. Continuing to operate in Bridport market under the essential needs (food)

from 9am to 4pm. moores-biscuits.co.uk

____________________________

regulations 2020. Collection only

Moore than Tea

____________________________

Free delivery, minimum order £10. See

01297 32253 macsorsons@hotmail.com

Bridport. Meals-on-wheels service.

Mercato Italiano

facebook/instagram for menu. Call

Crepe Farm Business Park, Bridport.

Italian delicatessen. Collection

and delivery 07827 524602 hello@

Visit Facebook Nick Tett Butcher Ltd for menu of choices. Free delivery to

surrounding area (minimum order £10).

Call 01308 862253 to order. Payment will be taken over phone.

____________________________

07852 273575 with your orders before

S J Norman’s Butchers

Cash or card accepted on delivery.

also deliver cheese, eggs etc. Message via

11.30am every day and they will deliver.

Bradpole. Free home deliveries. We can

bridporttimes.co.uk | 9

COMMUNITY TAKEAWAY & DELIVERY SERVICES Facebook page or ring 01308 423618 for

available. Sourdough a speciality. Please

West Bay. Open Wednesday – Sunday

and offers. £25 meat deal available.

available. Now delivery in the Bridport,

____________________________

more information about our products

____________________________ Palmers Wine Store Bridport. Online orders for delivery via courier palmerswinestore.com

____________________________

see Facebook for price list of items

Beaminster and Crewkerne areas. No

Selected Grapes

4pm. Arrange a collection or delivery

fantastic wine in stock. Orders of 12

minimum spend. Deliveries made from

St Michael’s Trading Estate. Plenty of

07841 523664 or message via Facebook

bottles or more receive 10% discount.

____________________________

The Parlour

Rawles Butchers

Burton Bradstock. Pizza takeaway service

East Street, Bridport. Traditional family

Also offering wholesome homemade

spend £25. Telephone for more

Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings. ready meals which can be reheated or

10am – 4pm. 01308 424496

butchers. Free home delivery, minimum information and to place orders 01308

Operating a free, delivery-only service to

Bridport, Beaminster, Axminster and the surrounding area. Ring 01308 427177 or email info@selectedgrapes.co.uk for details and a list.

____________________________

427590

Shaves Cross Inn

also available. For menu choices go to

Red Brick Café

food, bread and shopping essentials to

theparlourbredyfarm For enquiries and

Meat, vegetarian and vegan takeaway

frozen for a later date for collection on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Wine

____________________________

theparlour-bredyfarm.com or Facebook @

St Michael's Trading Estate, Bridport.

orders call 07810 753708 or email to

see Facebook or Instagram for menu.

enquiries@theparlour-bredyfarm.com Taking orders and payment in advance to avoid unnecessary contact.

____________________________ Pineapple Estate Community Shop Salway Ash. Supplying essential

groceries e.g. dairy products, frozen

ready meals, tinned goods, eggs, etc. To register for the service contact info@

email tom@foxandowl.co.uk

____________________________ Skilling Stores

& Saturday evenings for takeaway and

groceries and essentials. 01308 424434

suppliers where possible. Open Friday

Bridport. Convenience store selling

delivery. Order by phone before 5.30pm

____________________________

for delivery/collection between 6.30

Sophia’s Choice

for takeaway. Delivery 3-mile radius.

Thursday & Saturday 10am-1pm,

and 7.30. Also Saturday 11am-2pm

Beaminster. Shop open Tuesday,

Minimum order £6 (cash only) Phone

stocking organic and natural brands

07868 752329 or 07837 186313.

____________________________ Royal Oak

and they will do their best to make a

9pm Monday - Friday, 12pm to 2pm

option 1. Let them know what you need,

Drimpton. Offering takeaways 5pm -

bespoke order for you.

Saturday and Sunday. Menu on facebook

Prohibition Pizza Club

immediate area. Ring 07508 310180

Produce sourced from local small

pineappleestate.co.uk 01308 488280

____________________________

Shaves Cross. Takeaway/delivery

including specialist teas, coffee, dairy-free milk, dried fruit, nuts, wholemeal, etc.

As well as other essentials contact 07525

662888 info@sophiaschoice.co.uk for orders and deliveries sophiaschoice.co.uk

____________________________

@TheRoyalOakDrimpton 01308 867930

Soulshine Cafe

____________________________

nights, collection and delivery. Menu

07720 9481000

Bridport. Takeaway service on Saturday

delivery. Thursday to Sunday, 5pm to

Sam’s Pigs

available to view on Facebook @

telephone to discuss other addresses and

and sausages (gluten and preservative

Bridport. Pop-up wood fired pizza

9pm. Free delivery in Bridport. Please

Halstock. Freshly produced pork cuts

see our Facebook page for a menu and

free). Also mutton and beef available -

to pre-order. Cash only. 07837 39112 or message via facebook

____________________________ Punch and Judy West Street, Bridport. Traditional bakers.

Bread, cakes, sandwiches and savouries 10 | Bridport Times | May 2020

delivered to your door. Family-run farm and regulars at Bridport Food Festival.

soulshinecafe. Order via Facebook

message or call 01308 422821. Order by 12noon on Saturday afternoon. Pay by

cash on delivery/collection or via PayPal

____________________________

Message on Facebook or call 07769

Straight Off The Boat

____________________________

by West Bay fisherman to enable

187456 samspigs.co.uk

Quayside, West Bay. A new initiative

Samways Fish Shop

their catch of the day to be bought

COMMUNITY TAKEAWAY & DELIVERY SERVICES from them at the Quayside. Follow

page to place order.

Friday & Saturday 10.30-2.30pm. Order

up to date with progress

The Three Horseshoes

or by phone 07775 380797 for collection

Spice ‘n’ Rice

service. On offer - fresh meats, chicken,

straightofftheboat on facebook to keep ____________________________ Offering their curries directly to your home. Freshly made (not frozen) and

individually packed ready for you to eat or freeze. Check Facebook, Twitter or

Instagram for menu, order and pay. Will

____________________________ Powerstock. Providing village shop

West Country Catch

of frozen meals and other essentials.

locally-caught seafood. Free home

Chickerell, Weymouth. Fresh,

01308 485328

delivery for customers in and around

____________________________

The Spyway Inn

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings

available Tuesday to Sunday in Askerwell, Bridport, Burton Bradstock and Shipton Gorge. See Facebook page for menu.

Takeaway and delivery 01308 485250

____________________________ The Station Kitchen West Bay. Weekend afternoon tea

and Sunday roast take-away service.

See Facebook @thestationkitchen

____________________________

eggs, fruit & veg, as well as a selection

Taj Mahal

Askerwell. Takeaway and deliveries

and home delivery.

fish, sausages, bacon, dairy produce,

be delivered to your door.

____________________________

online at wastenotwantnotbridport.co.uk

East Street, Bridport. Take-aways on from 6pm. Collection and FREE

home delivery service for orders of

Bridport, Dorchester, Lyme Regis

and Weymouth with orders over £20.

Check their Facebook page. To arrange

collections and deliveries 01305 259135 westcountrycatch.com/

____________________________

£20 minimum within a 3-mile radius

Westleaze Farm

menu they are offering 2 special menus

packs available at the farm gate or

of Bridport. As well as the take-away

Beaminster. Farm fresh eggs and meat

based upon the popular choices eaten

delivered to homes in Beaminster by

in the restaurant. Each are for 2 people

and will cost £20. see website for details tajmahalbridport.com

____________________________

prior arrangement only. Follow on

Facebook @westleazefarm for details

of what's available. Order via telephone or text to 07768 865094. Collect from

for menu. Orders to be placed via

Waste Not Want Not

for collection. Food will be provided

unpacked, plant-based whole-foods and

The Wobbly Cottage Bakery

collection by appointment. Place your

Craft Centre Tues - Sat 10am - 4pm. Free

farm gate on Thursday.

email station@sausageandpear.co.uk

South Street, Bridport. Organic,

with reheating instructions.

personal care products – open for orders,

Broadwindsor. Open at Broadwindsor

order online at wastenotwantnotbridport.

delivery within a 10 mile radius. Minimum

____________________________ Stephie’s Eggs South Street, Bridport. Free-range eggs

sold on Bridport Market (outside of Smith & Smiths, West Street) Wednesdays and

co.uk or by phone 07775 380797 for collection and home delivery.

____________________________

Saturday, also delivery and collection

Washingpool Farm Shop

____________________________

8am-4pm, Saturday 8am-3pm (if a

service. Phone 07831 615542

Bridport. Opening hours Monday-Friday

Sumtum Thai Café & Takeaway

healthcare or key worker and unable to

Home deliveries in 3 mile radius

(minimum order £30) 01308 420004 thaitakeawaybridport.co.uk

____________________________ The Sundorbun Indian South Street, Bridport. Free home

____________________________

order £10. See Facebook or phone for

product list. Delivery only 07368 200249 (Dani) 07488 313857 (Rich)

____________________________

collect at that time please let them know).

Order and collection service available.

Email order to info@washingpool.co.uk with your requests and your phone number. They will call you back.

____________________________

deliveries within 7 miles radius of

Waste Not Want Not

visit sundorbon.co.uk, call 01308

plant-based wholefoods and personal

Bridport. Open every day from 5pm

South Street Bridport. Organic, unpacked,

425266 or message via their Facebook

care products. Open Tuesday, Wednesday, bridporttimes.co.uk | 11

OUR MAN IN WESTMINSTER Chris Loder MP, Member of Parliament for West Dorset

I

t’s now May and spring is in full flight, making the temptation to venture out into our beautiful countryside and coastal areas even greater. It is at this point that we must all remain resolute in following the Government’s guidance because, so far, our NHS services are coping well here in West Dorset. When I became an MP, I never thought I would appear on TV news and regional radio imploring visitors to ‘stay away’ from our wonderful county, with all the implications I know that has for tourism and individual livelihoods, but that is the position we must continue to take at the moment. Our local hospitals, care homes and GP surgeries are going to incredible efforts to care for us, and I am in touch with them all on a regular basis to ensure they have all the 12 | Bridport Times | May 2020

support they need. We must must continue to protect them, and ourselves, and help save lives.

I am convinced the strength of our local communities will see us through. That has been made so clear through the support I’ve had from hundreds of you for my ‘Scrub Hub’ project, sewing scrubs for our healthcare workers; not to mention the great team at Black Cow Vodka who worked with me to produce 120 litres of hand sanitiser, which I delivered to care homes and surgeries across the constituency, from Bridport and Portesham to Beaminster and Sherborne. So many voluntary groups and neighbourly initiatives have sprung up all over West Dorset – thank you to you all.

You will have seen the news that Parliament is now

Image: Len Copland

‘virtual’, a hybrid solution to keep democracy going as Britain remains in lockdown. Throughout the recess, Parliament’s digital services team worked hard installing technology to allow up to 120 members to contribute electronically, with another 50 participating from the green benches, while observing a social distance. At a time when we’re all relying more on digital contact with our family, friends and colleagues, sharing screens and ‘virtually’ meeting up; this is really the parliamentary equivalent.

These historic measures required approval of MPs returning from recess on 21st April and, after much thought, I decided I needed to be there in person – primarily to ensure a strong voice for West Dorset,

but also to scrutinise this major change to the running of proceedings in Parliament. I raised a question to the Leader of the House, Jacob Rees-Mogg; firstly, to place on record my thanks to our local healthcare professionals. I then spoke on behalf of farming communities, asking the Leader to make provision for a statement from the Secretary of State. This will enable me to challenge Government on the current situation with farming and our food supply chain, which is of great concern to me. I am in weekly conference calls with the National Farmers Union and others; it is very clear that our dairy and beef industries in particular are under great stress.

The situation with our dairy industry is escalating rapidly. There are many dairies unable to pay their farmers because they no longer have a market for their milk. Just a few weeks ago all of this milk had a good home, and hopefully soon those markets will return, but in the meantime we must do all we can to ensure the industry is not irreversibly damaged by this crisis. There has never been a more critical time to support British produce, so please seek it out whenever you can - and remember to add an extra pint or two of fresh milk in your basket when you shop!

Failings in the food supply chain have also been brought home to me through contact with local independent retailers, corner shops and rural village stores. While some wholesalers go the extra mile, it seems others are prioritising supply to larger multiples.

As a result, many local shops are struggling to buy basic household goods and ingredients. Small shops have been the saviours of the Coronavirus crisis; without them, many of us in West Dorset would simply not have managed these past few weeks. Whether the butcher, fishmonger, greengrocer and baker delivering to our doors; the corner shop supplying our everyday basics and daily newspapers, or local pharmacies getting us the medication we need, they deserve our loyalty. That’s why I have written on their behalf to major suppliers and will continue to support them in any way I can.

Lastly, I’m grateful to town councils who have recently reopened our local public gardens. Not everyone is blessed with their own garden and a tranquil walk in a green space offers respite in these challenging times.

So please enjoy the outdoors when you can and look after yourselves, your families and your neighbours as we welcome spring together. chrisloder.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 13

D I S C O V E R | E AT | S H O P

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 shops. Visit the gallery. 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?

S TAY | C E L E B R AT E

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

LESSONS FROM LOCKDOWN Steven Lamb, Co-Founder, Slow Life Good Life

J

ust over a month ago the world changed and an invisible pause button was pressed. At that same moment, all of the work and event dates in my column of the family Gruffalo calendar were erased, cancelled, deleted, rubbed out and scratched off. I am someone who finds comfort in being busy – I like to work because I have a varied job which is sometimes teaching or collaborating with great brands and at other times mucking about on telly, food festival stages, and writing about or experiencing great food. Apparently, I have a ‘portfolio career’ which means I rarely appear in a drop-down category, but I have become used to that.

I fell into food by accident. It was never on my radar as a job, but I have now been involved in the hospitality sector for many years. I don’t come from a particularly auspicious foodie family background either, but I’ve managed to work with some of the best in the business.

Most of the things I have learned about food have been 16 | Bridport Times | May 2020

passed on by working in close proximity to great artisan, passionate practitioners and visionaries. I owe a debt of gratitude to people who, willingly, allowed me to stand looking over their shoulder, hang on to their coattails and slipstream their talent. My great passions in food are the traditional crafts, especially the arts of curing and smoking, making cheese or pickling and fermenting.

I love to cook, but I’m really all about making the ingredients as opposed to assembling the dish. I like the time it takes to create something; the longer the better.

Time as an ingredient rather than ‘quick, quick get it on a plate and away’; I’d be eaten alive in a busy kitchen.

One of my most influential food teachers once told me, ‘I’ve taught you everything you know, but not everything I know!’ which for some might have been a cul-de-sac of doom but for me it spurned me on to learn more and from my own experiences. What I have learned, above anything else, from working in the hospitality sector is

Image: Holly Bobbins

that most people are generous both with their time, but also their knowledge.

There are down sides to working in hospitality too, which for me meant not always being around on weekends. I have a young family of three amazing girls and I don’t think I’ve missed many of their sports days, school plays or award ceremonies which parents with conventional jobs often have to do, but it is the down time of the weekends that I have been away for most.

Doing what I do has even allowed me to go into the girls’ school and teach them to make bread and make sausages, which is a real privilege. However, it was always my intention to try and strike more of a balance between work and family time. And then, when we were all placed in lockdown, family time was all we had.

As pleased and lucky as I felt about being with my family, who are all well, and have access to outside space without fear of socially encroaching, I

was equally concerned for my network of friends and colleagues in the hospitality world that had their income decimated without even for some, the opportunity to benefit from being furloughed. My wife Elli and I had been thinking of ways to try and move some of the things I do online, which was part of our original plan to find more family time together. Then, within hours of the Prime Minister’s lockdown announcement, we were in advanced chats and emails with our friends Beth and Paul Kempton (Co-Founders of Slow Life Good Life) about how we could create a virtual community network that would try to benefit those suppliers, producers, growers, chefs and hospitality workers who were suddenly at a loss.

The response to a call of action has been immense.

Rather than sitting at home wringing their hands and doing nothing, we now have chefs, gardeners, yoga teachers, makers, musicians, fitness teachers and wellbeing gurus posting videos to our website teaching people how to learn, live well, keep connected and staying positive in these challenging times. This forced phase of isolation has produced kindness, positivity, innovation and optimism channelled through stopping, taking stock and re-calibrating.

I miss going to pubs and eating out, but I’ve had some of my best social evenings recently; cooking along live to incredibly talented chefs such as Luke Vandor Mackay and James Whetlor, and following the wonderful, simple recipes posted by my old pal Gill Meller. All from my own kitchen, but messaging people from all over the world who were sharing the same experience. I’ve been buying direct from local suppliers more than I probably would have in normal times. Last week, I cycled down into Lyme Regis to buy seafood directly from the skipper. It was Easter weekend and the beautiful little fishing village of Lyme Regis was deserted except for a small group of people also looking to buy fresh fish, lobster and scallops. It struck me how wonderful the empty beaches looked, but also how I miss the social gatherings.

This dichotomy of balance will be my main memory of these strange days. Isolated and yet more connected to people than before. Terrible news and huge outpourings of compassion and love. Working the hardest I’ve ever worked without income. Dropping old habits like hot bricks never to repeat and making new, better ones never to let go. Deeply affected, but optimistic about the future. slowlifegoodlife.com bridporttimes.co.uk | 17

Arts & Culture

FROM DORSET WITH LOVE Anna Powell, Director, Sladers Yard Gallery and CafĂŠ Sladers

A

t a time when many of us have been forced to stop and look, it seems there has never been a more beautiful spring unfolding outside. The sunsets and moonrises over flourishing gardens and empty beaches have done all they can to distract us from heart-rending news. Whether we can get to them or not, knowing they are there gives comfort and reassurance.

From Dorset with Love is an exhibition of work by artists who celebrate the wonders of the landscape, 18 | Bridport Times | May 2020

communicating through their paintings the profound effect these much-loved places have upon us all. Each artist has a particular way of seeing and painting, and this group is widely diverse, yet each one evokes memories or observations we recognise with a flash and never want to lose.

This is a show that was conceived for Dorset Art Weeks when hordes of people would have been exploring Dorset, discovering and buying art. All of

Vanessa Gardiner Headlands, acrylic on board, 51 x 91 cm

which has now been postponed until next year. So the exhibition has moved online, becoming a thing of imagination and developing into a reflection of our minds in this time of lockdown. How lucky we are to be here in this beautiful spring and how great would it be to pass this pleasure on to those who can’t get here to the sea and the open hills?

The works in this ‘exhibition’ range from the immediate to the deeply considered via memory, music,

process and the accumulation of years of practice.

Frances Hatch’s paintings are made out of materials she gathers and applies in the spirit of a particular moment at a particular place, whether that is Eype or Lulworth, at dawn or at dusk.

Anthony Garratt, the only artist who lives out of Dorset, on Dartmoor, normally spends much of his time outside painting there or just looking and listening. Anthony’s work is full of music and the > bridporttimes.co.uk | 19

Arts & Culture

Anthony Garratt, Geology, mixed media on board, 90 x 90 cm

20 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Julian Bailey Leaving Ridge oil on board 36 x 34"

bridporttimes.co.uk | 21

Arts & Culture

Frances Hatch, Evening Velvet Dungy Head 22 | Bridport Times | May 2020

David West, Low Tide, carved and painted spalted birch, 19 x 70 cm

sounds of nature conveyed through colour, texture and brushstroke. His paintings are of the sea, the moors, rushing rivers and some of the cliffs here at West Bay. Julian Bailey never goes anywhere without sketching and his drawings are absolutely immediate gestural impressions with just a few essential lines and colours.

His paintings are of those same beautiful Dorset beaches and rivers, but here Julian is painting memories, moments and moods that have stayed in his mind. He brings them to us with the spontaneity of his paintbrush in his studio.

The clue is in the titles, ‘When we were young’ or ‘A Summer remembered’; glorious, golden and universal.

Alex Lowery’s process is one of distillation. He visits a place, perhaps Wynford Eagle which he has never painted before or West Bay which he knows better than anyone.

He sees a new angle, possibly makes a gouache study to scale, then goes back to his studio to translate it into his luminous calm visual language. Finding clarity is his gift and he shines it onto our everyday extraordinary world.

Vanessa Gardiner lives and paints in Charmouth with her mind on the untamed dramatic coastal places which stir her imagination. Her stylised paintings are always true to the place she paints, expressing her admiration and respect for Nature, which is so much bolder and

more thrilling than we could ever have imagined.

Martyn Brewster takes his vision of the light over the sea and hills on a journey into colour and abstract form, where paint itself becomes like mood in his mind - evoking the feeling and experience of place. His compelling translucent abstract paintings draw us into his lyrical world in the direct wordless way of great music.

Whether it is the eroded texture in a particular patch of colour on a Vanessa Gardiner painting that transports us to a breath-taking coastal ravine, or the luscious brush strokes of impasto oil in one of Julian Bailey’s paintings, the paint itself is a joy in all these works. All except David West, whose carved reliefs in solid wood have an extraordinary presence. David is fascinated by the patterns in nature, particularly the ripples left by the tide on the beach at Lyme Regis, which he conveys by carving, painting and sometimes gilding wood.

If a work of art really lifts your heart, you will never tire of it. Every time you look at it, it will speak to you, and that is why it is so rewarding to buy art and to support these brilliant living artists.

From Dorset with Love is at sladersyard.co.uk until 21st June. bridporttimes.co.uk | 23

Arts & Culture

IN THE ABSENCE OF ART WEEKS Kit Glaisyer, Artist

Clare Trenchard, Sleeping Hare, Bronze resin 24 | Bridport Times | May 2020

T

his month, I’m writing about a selection of artists who were due to take part in Dorset Art Weeks, prior to the event sadly being postponed until next year. However, I know the artists would still greatly appreciate your support at this difficult time, so we’ve selected some of the most interesting images, along with websites, Instagram pages and videos for you to explore. You can also find many more local artists at bridportopenstudios.co.uk Ceramicist Björk Haraldsdóttir creates tactile and aesthetic art, exploring the interplay between threedimensional architectural form and two-dimensional surface treatment. Her pieces are a conversation between the inherent individuality and imperfection of hand-built objects and the implicit perfection of mathematical pattern and geometry. @ceramics_by_ bjork ceramicsbybjork.com Two exceptional sculptors, based in the Marshwood Vale, are Clare Trenchard and Greta Berlin. Clare crafts leaping hares, inquisitive dogs, skulking wolves and stalking ravens. claretrenchard.com Greta has focused on birds, from the playful to the menacing, constructed from scrap steel. Many of her earlier pieces are of the female figure. gretaberlinsculpture.com Old Timber Yard Studios in West Bay hosts painters Amanda Wallwork, Jon Adam, and ceramicist Richard Wilson. Amanda paints and draws on plaster, referencing archaeology, geology and formation of the landscape - revealing what is not always immediately apparent beyond a surface look. amandawallwork.com Jon Adam is currently creating a new language of abstract paintings, using hand-ground oil pigment on linen jon-adam.co.uk Richard Wilson creates beautiful, colourful ceramics, some of which recently featured in a travelling exhibition in Japan. rwilson-ceramics.co.uk Harland Viney works and teaches at Mangerton Mill. Her work stems mostly from an interest in nature and people’s relationship to it, specifically the boundary between control and disorder. Viney is currently working on several large-scale oil paintings, but also works with photography, film and printmaking. She has exhibits internationally and features in many photography magazines. @harlandviney harlandviney.com In Melplash, Gerry Dudgeon, creates paintings on canvas and produces watercolours and drawings.

Recent acrylic paintings use a semi-abstract approach to landscape, as much about colour and mark-making as they are about place. The strength and variety of > bridporttimes.co.uk | 25

Arts & Culture

Amanda Wallwork, Field Map 9, Oil, graphite and plaster, 60 x 80 cm

26 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Gerry Dudgeon,

colour brings a sense of vitality to the paintings, while the shapes are stylised and abstracted to enhance the rhythmic feel of Dorset’s hills and valleys, the light reflected on French rivers, and the purity of blues in Greek island seascapes. @gerrydudgeonartist Based in Loders, Marion Taylor celebrates Dorset’s landscape and flora, including many depictions of Colmer’s Hill using acrylic and gouache on wood panel or paper. Large floral paintings jostle with landscapes, still life and recent collages on paper. @mariontaylorart Found between Beaminster and Evershot, Red Barn Studios in West Chelborough houses three artists.

Claudia Dharamshi experiments with unconventional media, exploiting the fluid interactions between materials, whilst exploring the texture and layering of her paintings. @claudia_dharamshi claudiadharamshi.com Esther Jeanes's paintings are dominated by the sky, inviting the viewer to step into recognisable landscapes, breathe the atmosphere and wonder in the beauty of the everyday. @esther.jeanes estherjeanes.com Thirdly, Malcolm Giladjian, who studied Art at Brooke House, Trowbridge, colour and landscapes in

Central France, then went on to study and paint with Dennis Perrot. He now creates impressionistic artwork in Dorset. @malcolmgiladjian Sue Jenkins, Wynford Eagle, makes studies of animal’s faces and expressions with textures and splashes of unexpected colour. Layer upon layer, built in watercolour pencil and gouache to recreate life-size portraits of the farm animals and wildlife that surround her home. suejenkins.co.uk Morecombelake’s Barbara Green makes colourful, lively paintings inspired by her surroundings and travel, working in oil, mixed media, collage, collagraph and etching. barbaragreen.co.uk Bridport offers many interesting painters, including emerging artists Ellie Preston and Ella Squirrell. Ellie takes a formal and subtle approach to answering questions posed by abstract painting, driven by a need to discover the consequences of her actions. Ellie also fulfils portrait commissions in her unique style. @Eleanor_preston_artist Based at St Michael’s Studios, Ella is a multidisciplinary artist with a primary focus on painting, working from life, photographs, drawing, memory and > bridporttimes.co.uk | 27

Arts & Culture

Claudia Dharamshi

Ella Squirrell 28 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Ellie Preston

Boo Mallinson

Sue Jenkins

Peggy Cozzi bridporttimes.co.uk | 29

Arts & Culture

Mart Tebbs

Greta Berlin 30 | Bridport Times | May 2020

David Brooke

Harland Viney

Barbara Green

Marion Taylor

writing, she explores both contemporary and figurative abstract painting. Play and experimentation are at the heart of her process. Excited by the element of surprise, she captures not only what is seen in a moment but what is felt, recalled and understood. @ellasquirrellstudio Painter and sculptor, Mart Tebbs creates a range of pieces from his earlier landscape-based style to abstract work whose imagery is derived from naturally-occurring forms and machined parts with biomorphic qualities. More recently producing ‘all over’ abstract pieces @mart.tebbs.1 Ali Tebbs makes semi-abstract collages from paper painted in a free style. The images are imaginative and dictated by the random outcomes of the painting. tripletsgran Boo Mallinson’s paintings act as a way of recording her everyday walks through the landscape. Fragments of memory and ambiguous images from much loved places merge together, allowing her to explore colour and abstraction and move intuitively between the real and

Bjork Harraldsdottir

the imaginary. Boomallinson.co.uk David Brooke weaves influences of mythology and medieval book illumination together in his distinctive, well-crafted, imaginative acrylic paintings @david. brooke.artist Peggy Cozzi follows a journey with the painting, to a point where colour and mark begin to trigger emotive associations - where the paint appears at once tactile and concrete, yet simultaneously having the potential for illusion and the capacity to draw on the unconscious. @peggy.cozzi Then there’s myself, Kit Glaisyer, based at my new studio and gallery at 11 Downes Street. I’ve been busy with my ‘Cinematic Landscape’ series of paintings of West Dorset, as well as my distinctive ‘Drip Figures’ and paintings of the former Café Royal in Bridport.

Kitglaisyer.com @kitglaisyer dorsetartweeks.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 31

SOUNDS INDEPENDENT Image: Elizabeth Sporne

A

t Clocktower Music, on the St Michael’s Estate in Bridport, the hi-fi is constantly on — even more often than the kettle — and both staff and visitors are never short of sounds to play, as there are literally thousands of records, representing all the different genres, in stock. At least, that was the way it had been until the Coronavirus lockdown. Since then, the shop — like most in the town – has been closed to the public with only its owner, Roy Gregory, working solo inside, engineering a limited but unavoidable switch to online trading.

The pandemic peak will pass and trade in the town — and thus its economic health — will at least start to return. Though, unfortunately, this won’t be the case everywhere. Bridport’s independent shops, of which we have a larger share than most comparable towns and are quite rightly proud of, will have taken a collective hit unlike any in living memory. Even during the Second World War, when several local stores sustained bomb damage, few stayed closed for long.

This time it’s been different. This time, ‘nonessential’ public-facing businesses have been ordered to close, in an attempt of slowing the spread of the virus. While many have been promised financial help by the Government, small businesses, in particular, will 32 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Clocktower Music owner Roy Gregory

struggle to come out the other side of this intact. Even in previously vibrant Bridport.

So how does an independent retailer survive this unprecedented blow?

Let’s look, for example, at independent record stores.

These managed to defy the odds, not just to hold on, but to thrive in a rapidly changing industry. Having taken successive beatings, first from cassettes then CDs – formats wildly popular with the general public but leaving something to be desired amongst those who consider themselves true music fans – the advent of downloading, around twenty years ago, should have finally finished off the vinyl sector. However, as music writer Graham Jones points out in his new film The Vinyl Revival, ‘It was the independent record shops… [they] never gave up on the format — and the format saved them.’

It’s a format that’s been getting many furloughed workers through the Covid-19 lockdown. Switching your phone or MP3 player to randomly shuffle through a selection of tracks can give decent-enough background noise to a regular day, but you need to make time to play an actual record and, of late, time is something many of us have had rather more of than usual.

‘There’s a real love affair with vinyl,’ says Rob Caiger

of Charly Records in the film, ‘Something you can hold, something you can see, something you can physically appreciate.’ Vinyl allows for detailed artwork, printed lyrics and explanatory notes, even coloured or picture discs (the latter being especially collectible). Though, it’s mainly about the quality of sound which devotees swear is richer, fuller, more tangible and enjoyable on vinyl.

Nick Mason, of legendary band Pink Floyd, is shown explaining it best: ‘The worst thing about streaming and downloading and all the rest of it is this thing of devaluing music. The vinyl record is the equivalent of whether you have the teabag or the Japanese tea ceremony. The tea ceremony is the right way to approach music.’

So, we may be able to maintain or even build on an appreciation of the product or service, but how do we rebuild the trade itself ?

In the record shop sector, much of the success has been down to Record Store Day, an annual, international celebration with live acts and exclusive releases, involving some 200+ UK shops - plus thousands more worldwide. It’s been running every April since 2008, though of course, has had to be postponed until later this year. This multi-venue event is perhaps best summed up by a phrase uttered in Graham’s film that particularly resonates; that there’s ‘power in independent record shops coming together.’

In Bridport, our independent shops are renowned for supporting each other, even sending visitors on to neighbouring establishments when items might be better found elsewhere. Indeed, a number of the town’s independent traders recently joined together in the ‘Totally Locally’ movement, a collective marketing endeavour with community very much at heart. Of course, that was before lockdown.

But while corporate behemoths have financial muscle and entire departments dedicated to planning for

Music writer Graham Jones, with his book The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen https://youtu.be/0vGYgFdJSH8

emergencies, albeit probably not one quite like this, their very size can make them cumbersome. Whereas small, local concerns, with lighter overheads and fast-thinking owners, might have both the nimbleness and the passion needed to ride the storm. Especially if they pull together.

Perhaps it’s that very ‘independence’ which will make the difference in the ‘new normal’. clocktowermusic.co.uk @ClocktowerMusicBridport

bridporttimes.co.uk | 33

MAY 2020 | FREE

A MONTHLY CELEBR ATION OF PEOPLE, PLACE AND PURVEYOR

INTO THE LIGHT with artist Rob Woolner

sherbornetimes.co.uk

OUT NOW

Read online at sherbornetimes.co.uk 34 | Bridport Times | May 2020

FELICITY HOUSE JOHN MARTIN DAVID PARFITT 15th - 30 th May View exhibition online Interactive catalogue

FELICITY HOUSE

MORNING LIGHT

JOHN MARTIN

www.jerramgallery.com THE JERRAM GALLERY Half Moon Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3LN 07836 549483 info@jerramgallery.com

STILL LIFE (DETAIL)

History

LOST DORSET

CERNE ABBAS

A

creman Street in 1892, now the main Dorchester/Sherborne road, showing a long-demolished row of cob and thatch cottages. The entire street was widened and realigned in 1960 to keep traffic away from the centre of the village, but it was once the poorest part. Cerne’s decline from town to village began with the loss of its fairs and silk mills, partly a knock-on response to being overlooked by the railway network. Yet worse times lay ahead. By 1923 the population had fallen to 511 (from a high of 1343 in 1851). Roofs had fallen in, walls had collapsed, cottages and workshops had disappeared, grass grew in the streets, ‘pigs lived on the ground floors of the houses in Abbey Street, the then vicar’s wife, singing ribaldry, drove a herd of white goats up the street, as her husband conducted his service in the church.’

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

36 | Bridport Times | May 2020

From Dorset with Love

Julian Bailey, Martyn Brewster, Frances Hatch, Vanessa Gardiner, Anthony Garratt, Alex Lowery, Petter Southall, Clare Trenchard, David West + more...

View and buy online until 21 June

CAFÉ SLADERS returning soon

Sladers Yard Contemporary Art, Furniture & Craft Gallery West Bay Road DT6 4EL t: 01308 459511 @sladersyard e: gallery@sladersyard.co.uk

www.sladersyard.co.uk

#TUSSENKUNSTENQUARANTAINE

P

Emily Hicks, Director, Bridport Museum

eople are becoming paintings. During the coronavirus lockdown, museums and galleries across the world are finding new ways to engage with people seeking cultural solace from the strange situation that we have universally entered.

Introduced, I believe, by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Getty in Los Angeles, the public are being encouraged to imitate their favourite paintings and share via the hashtag #tussenkunstenquarantaine: ‘between art and quarantine.’ The Instagram feed already has around 1.4K followers and 500 submissions. I spent a happy hour perusing the creative offerings, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous! There are some definite themes, from the utilisation of children who are going to despair of their parents when older ‘you used me for what?’, to those that celebrate parenthood, some in a rather schmaltzy way, and others that nod to the gruelling hours of home-schooling!

Some are a window into people’s lives – presumably the people in these group images must be isolating together as housemates. There are the ‘obligatory-for-the-internet’ pet pictures, ones that make you go ‘aww’ whilst others are more snigger-worthy. I’m a fan of those where the model mocks their own appearance, or seem to have identified their doppelganger. It reminded me of a thread that centred around finding your own face in an art gallery that went viral a while back. If you’re anything like me, you found some kind of deep-seated psychological satisfaction from the 38 | Bridport Times | May 2020

idea that your equal-in-art-form was somehow out there.

Some people took the instruction to use props quite literally and others employ an undeniably comedic use of vegetables. Familiar in some way to the hilarious ‘Taskmaster’ series on TV where celebrities undertake creative challenges, both reveal the infinite capacity of the human mind for creativity.

There are some clear winners in the popularity stakes, Mona Lisa, Frida Kahlo, and Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’. Why? Is it simply because they are such iconic figures or is there another reason for people wanting to reimagine themselves? In a period of lockdown, it’s allowing us to express our own sense of claustrophobia. Is there something else at play here? Are the beautiful images of serene servants easier for us to connect with than the Lords and Ladies of Gainsborough and Van Dyke?

I enjoy the satirical that create a social commentary; recreations that use toilet paper as an Elizabethan ruff or topical efforts that show models wearing PPE or referencing stockpiling. Although, I only noticed a few that celebrate diversity. I long to see some more which challenge the ‘whiteness’ in Western Art. So why has this idea gone viral? The answer is manifold. With museums, gallery doors and vaults locked down until who knows when, it is a symbol of the cultural craving that many of us have. We recognise, consciously or unconsciously, the deeply human need to

connect with art, and the powerful and beneficial effects it can have on our mental wellbeing.

The #tussenkunstenquarantaine is already like a movement in itself; a kind of democratisation of fine art where the people are taking ownership. More than that, we are literally ‘inhabiting’ and becoming works of art ourselves. It’s a subversion of the age-old and imbalanced power dynamic between artist and model: the model no longer subject to the authority and control of the artist’s vision; the model IS the painting. It’s a powerful statement. In his 1889 essay, ‘The Decay of Lying’, Oscar Wilde rebuffed Aristotle’s concept of ‘mimesis’ (art imitating life), to assert that ‘life imitates Art far more than Art imitates life’. Right now, at least, he’s right.

Even before lockdown, museums have strived to find ways to make their collections walk ‘off the walls’ and into people’s homes. Art UK is one of the best ways to while away a few hours. If you are looking for #tussenkunstenquarantaine inspiration then it would be a good place to start. Additionally, Bridport Museum’s own collection of 97 oils can be found here. I’d love to see one of our paintings re-imagined; if you take up the challenge, send me the results!

Creativity is incredible. We only have to look around us right now to see the outpouring of art and the kindness of those sharing it: from illustrators providing online tutorials for children, to my volunteers who tell me they have finally found the time to pick up a long-put-down paintbrush. Even high-profile artists such as Sir Anthony Gormley and Grayson Perry have now provided resources.

Creativity is a deeply human response to a crisis.

Generosity is sharing. Despite the often noted downsides of social media, this is a time when it demonstrates its power to create communities. The author Leo Tolstoy said: ‘art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them’. When we share these images we are entering into a conversation, and communicating to others that we want to join their ‘community’. The #tussenkunstenquarantaine thread is an acknowledgement and a connection between people across the world - you are going through something really difficult right now, and I understand. Let’s create something together; if it makes someone smile, just for a few seconds, then it has accomplished something wonderful. bridportmuseum.co.uk @bridportmuseum

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@BridportMuseum bridporttimes.co.uk | 39

Wild Dorset

SWIFTS AND SWALLOWS Niina Silvennoinen, Volunteer, Dorset Wildlife Trust

S

wifts and swallows, gliding across the spring skyline, are summer visitors to the United Kingdom from Central and Southern Africa. The two are often confused with each other, but pay attention to the colouring, the sound, and the swallow’s more distinctive, long forked tail, and you will be able to tell them apart. Swifts are brownish soot in colour, appearing virtually black in flight, whereas swallows sport a glossy blue plumage with a red patch under the chin.

Slightly bigger with a medium size wingspan, swifts have a piercing scream, unlike swallows who emit a more pleasant twitter as they perch on the side of a building.

A magnificent flier, the swift is even capable of sleeping on the wing, but with its small feet, rarely lands except for nesting purposes.

Swallows enjoy a range of habitats and can be seen in both urban and rural contexts, preferably near open spaces with water sources and a plentiful supply of insects. They produce two or three broods a summer and can be observed from March to September. The swifts’ annual visit is much shorter for us to enjoy; they head back to their wintering quarters in July, with the fledgling youngsters migrating independently as soon as they leave the nest.

Like many other species, these endearing birds have seen a reduction in their numbers over the last few decades. This is partly due to climate change and changes in farming practices; increased use of pesticides has reduced their vital food source of insect populations. Both are protected, but the deeper loss in swift numbers has resulted in it having an amber conservation status, whilst the swallow is still ‘in the green’.

Nesting sites have also disappeared as new development takes over old barns and farm buildings — favourite nesting sites for both species. These sites need urgent safeguarding and the Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Kingcombe Centre is an annual host to these migrants; our teaching studio, Swallow Barn, is even named after them!

Each year, a gap is left in the barn for the swallows, allowing them to return to their familiar roost. Swifts are not forgotten here, either: the eaves of the Centre’s main barn are strictly swift territory for the summer.

During times of social distancing and staying at home, you may be lucky enough to see these magnificent birds in flight from your gardens or window. Let us know if you do, using #dorsetwildlifewindow on social media. Sign up to our emails for ideas of things to do from home and find out the latest advice for visiting nature reserves at this time at dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

40 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Image: Stefan Johansson bridporttimes.co.uk | 41

Wild Dorset

THE ADDER

T

Colin Varndell, Photographer

he adder, a creature of presence, is not an animal one would give a casual glance to and move on; once seen, it is never forgotten. This reptile has many natural enemies and has endured persecution by man throughout history but, in spite of this, it is still quite common today and especially in Dorset.

A member of the viper family, the adder is closely related to the notorious puff-adder and the awesome rattlesnake. It is one of our longest-living wild animals, with individuals often surviving for up to thirty years. They are well known for the unmistakeable zigzag pattern of thrilling black diamonds on their backs. Male adders tend to have pale grey or green background colours with contrasting black markings. Females are usually duller in appearance, yellowish-brown with dark brown markings. Mature adults reach about 60cm long and males are noticeably slimmer than females.

Adders have red eyes with vertical slits as pupils which, together with the frowning brow, suggests a stern and sinister expression.

Although renowned for their lethal bite, it is seldom fatal in humans. The last known fatality caused by adder venom in the UK was in 1975. A bite from an adder - or rather a stab, as it only has fangs in the upper jaw - causes swelling, drowsiness, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Their fangs are hollow and hinged in the upper jaw, though it has no fangs or teeth, of any description, in the lower jaw. The reptile possesses a series of fangs lined up in reserve. A breakage to a main fang is simply solved by the next one in line being brought into place.

The animal lacks any biological means of its own temperature control and, therefore, relies upon heat from its surroundings. Thus, adders spend a large proportion of their waking lives sunbathing.

As cold-blooded animals, they need to bask in order to raise and maintain their body temperature to at least 25ºc, preferably higher to 30ºc. Favourite sites to recline are where the animal can gain most warmth from the sun, this dictates south-facing, fairly open ground, but with thick vegetation nearby so the snake can escape if threatened. By the nature of the fact that basking sites require specific features, it is not unusual to find two or more adders relishing the sunshine together.

Female adders do not become pregnant until they are three or more years old. In late summer, heavily pregnant females may bask all day, taking advantage of the sun’s warmth to help with the development of their babies. Adders are ovoviviparous, meaning the eggs hatch inside the mother, so the young are born live and perfectly formed. Baby adders are born during the late summer and are entirely independent. As soon as the mother has given birth to 6-12 babies ‘neonates’, she slips away, leaving them to fend for themselves. The birth of neonate adders coincides with the emergence of baby frogs, toads and newts, upon which the young adders gorge themselves.

Male adders are the first to emerge in spring, as their priority is to form sperm in readiness for emerging females. The male of the species are territorial; the famous ‘adder dance’ in the past thought to be mating, is in fact a dual between rival males. A show of strength, the stronger male wins. All adders can last for incredibly long periods of time without feeding, yet another sign of might.

Throughout the duration of my time observing and photographing nature, I have only been ‘rattled’ by snakes twice. Once, at West Bexington, after having stalked a pair of adders basking in spring. Upon my approach, one of the reptiles slid away in the undergrowth; the other managed to stealthily advance on me. I heard its hissing sound close to my left ear. Needless to say, I withdrew very slowly and cautiously without getting the shot! colinvarndell.co.uk

42 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Image: Colin Varndell

bridporttimes.co.uk | 43

Wild Dorset

AMPHIBIOUS FISH Alison Ferris, Deputy Head Warden, Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre

I

f you investigated the rockpools around Lyme Bay, you could be mistaken for thinking you were back in a more primitive time. The first creatures to emerge onto land did so approximately 375-400 million years ago. A strange fossil called Tiktaalik, unearthed in Canada, had the traits of both fish and early tetrapods (four limbed vertebrates) leading to the name ‘fishapod’.

Researchers believe the creature would have pulled itself onto the land, just as present-day mudskippers do by propping themselves up with their fins.

We don’t have mudskippers in Lyme Regis, but you will find two curious fish in the rockpools that can survive out of the water for periods of time. The blenny (also called a shanny) and the goby. We usually have these two fish in our tanks at the Heritage Centre.

In the past, we have had very concerned visitors, who think our fish are trying to escape and can’t breathe. The fish perch themselves above the water line in the tank, usually on top of the periwinkles, and just relax. Our visitors were so often alarmed, that we had to put a sign up by the tank explaining why the fish did it and stating they were not dying!

Blennies and gobies have strong gill arches and, providing the environment is still damp enough, they will hide in cracks and crevices of rocks while the tide is out. They can live out of the water for many hours, hence why our visitors were so troubled. Common blennies can sometimes be observed making their way over the rocks and seaweeds; this amphibious behaviour has led to the blenny also gaining the name ‘sea frog’. Their skin also plays an important part in the exchange of air, so they can breathe out of water. Both the skin and gills are important surviving factors in an estuary or rockpool environment. Some species of gobies are more adapted to living out of the water than others.

As well as being amphibious, both blennies and gobies can change colour to blend in with their backgrounds. We have observed them in our tanks as a sandy colour, when sitting on the bottom; dark brown to 44 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Common blenny. ABS Natural History/Shutterstock

black, when against the rocks, and an almost greenish colour, when against any seaweeds or algae. They also change colour depending on season and for breeding purposes. Both female blennies and gobies lay eggs under rocks in the intertidal zone and the males stay nearby to guard them until they hatch.

Common blennies can live over ten years, possibly even up to 20 years, whereas the common goby may only live a few years. The blennies we have in our tanks have always been very friendly and look as though they are smiling. They can detect our presence, coming out to say hello and normally know when it is feeding time. The gobies are not always as fussed and usually come out when we have put food in for them.

Snorkelling around Lyme Regis and Charmouth,

blennies have always been the more curious and very attracted to my floral aqua shoes!

Both fish tend to eat small invertebrates and worms.

The blennies in our tanks have been seen wrestling periwinkles from their shells a few times too. Just like a crocodile, they grab hold with their sharp teeth and twist until they have their prey. Blennies and gobies can become prey to larger fish and we have seen a scorpion fish trying to make a meal out of them before. Gobies are typically 4-5cm long but can reach up to 9cm.

Blennies can double that in size reaching up to 20cm.

You can see these rockpool creatures in our centre tanks between April and October. You can also see them at the Lyme Regis Aquarium. Kimmeridge Wild Seas Centre also have different creatures in their tanks

from year to year and Weymouth Sea Life also has a rockpool section. Once we are free from social distancing measures, join a rockpool ramble to discover your own amphibious fish with the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre, Lyme Regis Museum, Beer Heritage, Seaton Jurassic or the Wild Seas Centre.

If you are rockpooling, remember to follow the seashore code and always check your tide times. Place enough water in your buckets for the fish and always put them back where you found them. Don’t disturb them if they are hiding in crevices, as you don’t want to harm the creatures. Blennies are not afraid to bite you, so watch your fingers! charmouth.org/chcc bridporttimes.co.uk | 45

Wild Dorset

A CHANGE OF TUNE

O

Ellen Simon, Tamarisk Farm

n a recent brilliant sunny day, I was riding our pony Salix, at speed, up the committee fields to visit the cattle and sheep littered in the fields at the top of the farm; the phrase ‘in May, I sing all day’ came to mind. The road at the top of the hill and the sky above were quiet because we were already in ‘lockdown’. Maybe part of the reason these words came into my mind was that this silence matched the quiet days of my childhood. For me, the words are from a time when the world had less noise and the rhyme from which they derive is part of my primary-school lore: In April, I open my bill, In May, I sing all day In June, I change my tune, In July, away I fly, In August, go I must.

It is about the cuckoo. A story of the year from the perspective of a bird, but it also describes what we hear.

What the rhyme tells us about the call of the cuckoo matches what I observed as a child and the understanding I had then of the cuckoo’s life. I knew they began arriving from their summer haunts, south of the Sahara, sometime in mid-April, and you hear just a few calls. The onomatopoeic cuckoo call

46 | Bridport Times | May 2020

we all know and love, the descending minor third, is the call of the male. In May, they are vying for mates and defining their space, so they sing a lot. The females make a trickling sound which is less familiar.

I understood that in June, the adults leave. They can depart earlier than most migrant birds because they don’t need to stay to rear their young; they manipulate other birds do it for them. This means that in June, the newly grown young males are making their first attempts at their call and doing it without parental tuition. The interval they sing is different from that of their fathers; it is closer than the minor third from earlier in the year, so it appears that the cuckoo has changed his tune.

July marks the departure of the youngsters and there are fewer and fewer calls. By the start of August, even though cuckoos are summer birds in Britain and we feel we are still in high summer, virtually all the cuckoos have left. Some of my understanding I now know is true; some may not be.

Despite research, I have found no certain reason for the June change of tune.

I could count on my fingers and possibly toes the number of times I have seen a cuckoo in my outdoor life. But the number of cuckoo calls I have heard in my life is countless. In my childhood, the days of May were full of it. The memory prompted by the words of the rhyme when I was riding the other day was of lying in the sun on the grass through long hot days with the continuous sound of cuckoo calls from all points of the compass. I recall trying to work out how many I was hearing, judging how close or far away the birds were. Now, I wonder how far the call travels. Knowing, I could have calculated how many male cuckoos we had on our farm and in the acres around our school playing field. Without doubt, there were a dozen or so in both West Bexington and Litton Cheney where I went to school. Now, I think about the children presently at the school and my little great-niece and great-nephew living just across the road from the farm. None of them are likely to hear any cuckoos. I listen out for the call through early summer and hear it once or twice in a year if I am lucky. Many years I hear none; last year only one was heard in Bexington by the birdwatchers. How many cuckoos are there here and around Litton now?

Our farm offers a better habitat for birds now than it did when my parents were farming here back in the sixties and seventies. There is a larger area of grassland and more scrub scattered in it; there are new hedges and the old ones are thicker. Overall, there are more trees. The neighbouring arable land at Labour-in-Vain is part of our farm now, so it is organic, with the resulting improvement in soil fauna. So the foster parents have plenty of nesting sites and plenty of invertebrates to feed the youngsters. The adult cuckoos too, recovering from their journey, have lots to eat.

So why are there so many fewer? At what stage of their life are they struggling? During migration?

Or does their arrival here no longer match the nesting times of the birds they parasitise, perhaps as the climate changes? Is there anything we can do?

The altering pattern of species distribution over my lifetime makes getting older interesting. The brash early-flowering umbellifer, Alexanders, was a rare curiosity when we first saw it back in the late sixties. Now it grows on field and road edges all around here. Fleabane, which covers the land at Cogden, was previously familiar to me only in a few damp corners. I remember in the 1960s seeing the first sleek collared doves, so much smaller and smarter than their cousins, the woodpigeons, and our excitement as we found they were breeding. I recall my father telling me he’d heard a cetti’s warbler in a particular thicket and stayed to see it, the first he’d ever seen. They too can still be found in that same thicket most years, but there are now usually several breeding pairs on the farm; last year, there were thirteen singing males through the season at Cogden. So there are gains as well as losses and we continue to look to the future, both excited and fearful but always fascinated.

Thanks to Mike Morse and Alan Barrett for specific numbers of birds. tamariskfarm.co.uk

bridporttimes.co.uk | 47

Outdoors

HEADSPACE

in conversation with DARA McANULTY

Images: McAnulty Family 48 | Bridport Times | May 2020

I

t all started with picking up feathers. Growing up in Belfast, I was used to being enclosed by massive buildings; to feeling contained and constrained. But there were trees lining the street, a park to run around in, and plenty of pigeons that would drop feathers on the ground as they scurried past. As a small child I’d pick those feathers up and look at them for hours; marvelling at all of the subtly different patterns and colours; finding little bits of wonder in them. The more I saw of nature, the more I wanted to learn.

My earliest memories fall into two categories: either I was spending time inside my own head, or I was amongst the creeping, crawling, fluttering wild things. I’m autistic, and the natural world always made sense to me in a way that people just didn’t. I can still remember lying in bed with my parents, aged three, waiting to hear the early morning notes of the blackbird on the roof; harking from the kitchen extension. Whenever it came, I’d breathe a sigh of relief, because it meant the day had started just like any other. There was symmetry to it. Clockwork.

A lot of young people don’t get the chance to get to know nature, because their parents think it’s ‘dirty’.

I’ve seen parents warn their children: ‘Don’t touch that feather!’ or ‘Don’t go near the mud!’ I’ve lived in cul-desacs alongside families who keep their children indoors and empty-nesters who tend to their lawns with scissors.

If you’re raised to view nature as unclean and unpleasant, you might always see it that way, but if you’re allowed to explore nature from a young age, the likelihood is you’ll fall in love with it, and you’ll continue to love it for the rest of your life.

It doesn’t matter where you live, or how much money you have; all you have to develop a better relationship with nature is to start noticing things. Start small.

You don’t need fancy equipment and you don’t need to live in the countryside. Maybe, next time you’re out on the street, you could listen out for the birds instead of automatically putting your headphones in. Or you could take a look at a street tree, and pause to notice the details like the patterns in the bark. Once you start noticing, you develop that sense of place; that connection.

I’ve always believed that anyone can do this, because everyone is born into this world with an innate yearning to connect to nature. It’s how your life unfolds as you get older that determines what happens next, I think; whether you’ll pursue that connection or lose out on it.

I knew early on that my passions weren’t typical. In primary school, it became apparent pretty quickly. No one else got quite so excited over a fallen acorn. And when I tried to show people the worms I’d found in the playground, they’d run away. I was badly bullied for a while. My inability to break through into the world of talking about football and Minecraft was not tolerated.

But I found solace in writing down how I felt about nature. Internalising it made it more real.

I didn’t start out planning to be an activist for our climate and environment; it was more of a graduation into that space. I guess it began with my blog – Diary of a Young Naturalist. I started it in June 2016 as a way to process my thoughts, and was soon shocked and overwhelmed by the response to it from people all over the world. When I got a few followers, I moved into Twitter because I wanted to really make sure that my message was heard.

I’ve met some wonderful people and have had extraordinary opportunities since then. I’ve pushed myself to the very limits of my comfort zone, doing things I was literally scared to death of doing not so long ago; things I’d previously felt so overwhelmed by I’d get palpitations and want to be sick.

When I won the RSPB medal for my contribution to conservation, I made the mistake of looking at the previous winners (who include some of my heroes, like Sir David Attenborough). I just couldn’t believe I deserved it. I thought it was a joke at first! I’m so grateful, and I hope to use these opportunities to show people that those who are autistic can achieve amazing things if they’re placed in a nurturing environment.

After I found out about the crisis our world is in, I couldn’t stand by and do nothing, but I don’t think campaigning is the magical elixir. We need a lot more than our voices. We need reforms to the education system. We need more places for young people to go. We need governments to listen. We need social justice. All of these things. Only then will nature be fully healed. But I have a lot of hope for my generation. I think it’s a miracle that so many of us are finally waking up to the beauty and fragility of our world.

Recently I’ve started an Eco Group at my school.

There are 18 of us, which is way more than I ever > bridporttimes.co.uk | 49

thought would show up. I was quite shocked at first.

When we get together, I pass on a bit of knowledge about the creatures that live near our school; and what we can do to help them thrive. Recently, we looked at the mudflat, and learned about all the waders and shellfish and gulls who frequent it. It’s been an amazing experience. In previous schools, I’d always tried to set a group up, but there was always a reason not to do it: like not having enough teachers to supervise, or problems with insurance.

Moving to the countryside when I was a bit younger 50 | Bridport Times | May 2020

was an incredible experience for me. For the first few nights, I could hardly sleep because I was distracted by the sound of the cows mooing in the field outside.

I’d never heard anything like it in my life! If you are autistic, change can sometimes feel traumatic. But it depends on what sort of change it is. In this instance, it was such a profound improvement; I’d adjusted to my new surroundings within a week. Now, I go out into the forest with my family most days. If I didn’t do that, I’d probably go insane. I don’t know what I’d do without it. It’s probably one of the best things I can do if I’m really stressed.

It’s hard to choose a particular favourite landscape, because I seek out different things to suit particular moods. If I’m really anxious, I’ll go out into the forest for a bit. If I need some peace and tranquillity, I’ll go up a mountain. It’s hard to explain, because it’s not based on logic. It’s how I am. When I wake up in the morning, my brain will tell me: ‘Okay, this is a day where I really need to go out and get into some woodlands,’ or ‘This is a day where I could really do with being sat somewhere 700m above sea level.’ It’s instinctive, and I think it’s something that you learn about yourself over time, the more you get to know the areas around you.

I have so many hopes and dreams for the future. I hope that our world begins to heal. I hope that the biodiversity crisis is resolved. I hope that people begin to listen to the scientists who are offering up solutions to these problems. I hope the education system is reformed, so nature can play a more prominent role within it. It can be hard not to feel disheartened when we look at the state of our planet, but I’ve seen dramatic changes

happen before my eyes over the last few years in terms of attitudes. And young people are leading the way. I think it’s a miracle we’re finally waking up to beauty and fragility of this world, and working so hard to protect it.

It gives me a lot of hope.

I’m not really sure how to describe the feeling I get when I’m out in nature. It’s a multitude of different emotions, all flooding in at once. A mixture of contentedness, happiness, joy, and wonder. All of them coming in in different ratios, and building up to this overwhelming feeling of amazingness. It’s impossible to describe it in full. And it’s impossible to simulate.

When you feel yourself making that connection, you’ll know. It’s probably the best experience a human can have in this world.

This is an extract from an interview published in the current edition of Scouting Magazine. scouts.org.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 51

EXTRACT

DIARY OF A YOUNG NATURALIST Dara McAnulty (Little Toller Books), £16

Image: Elaine Hill

Friday, May DIARY OF A 11 YOUNG INATURALIST am buoyed by the

assic of he wild in dored it.'

st john

ion: brave, have made young age.'

acfarlane

chronicles the turning of Dara McAnulty's world, from spring to summer, autumn to winter, on his home patch, at school, in the wild and in his head. Evocative, raw and beautifully written, this very special book vividly explores the natural world from the perspective of an autistic teenager juggling homework, exams and friendships alongside his life as a conservationist and environmental activist. With a sense of awe and wonder, Dara describes in meticulous detail encounters in his garden and the wild, with blackbirds, whooper swans, red kites, hen harriers, frogs, dandelions, skylarks, bats, cuckoo flowers, Irish hares and many more species. The power and warmth of his words also draw an affectionate and moving portrait of a close-knit family making their way in the world.

life springing out everywhere, in the garden, in the school grounds, even on the streets around the house. My heart crashes less against my chest.

I feel in rhythm with nature, and I start becoming immersed in every moment again, letting each wave hit me and seep in.

We decide to take a late-evening walk after Scouts, to a little park in Lisnaskea, a small town not 15 miles outside Enniskillen. It’s a balmy evening and the light is hazy with midges, revelling all around, irritatingly to us. Suddenly, punching above the weight of every other song among the reeds and trees, a sedge warbler. It . lly timeless on. y but essentia . It's a diar ion, beauty and connectiial' very pertinent pass really spec 'This book is t enduring, it's about It's really, ham It's abou chris pack

52 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Little Toller Books www.littletoller.co.uk

permeates the airspace. I stop to listen. A moment later, a conversation begins between a sedge warbler perched on barbed wire and another on the willow branch.

One in shade, the other choosing light, their chirps put into song all the giddy amazement I am feeling. I wonder, sometimes, how other people respond to these encounters. Do they have the same sense of privilege on hearing a bird like the sedge warbler? After one continuous flight from the Sahara, it lands right here to embellish our summer with crackling excitement.

Edward Thomas, who fitted a lifetime of poetry into two years before being killed in the Trenches of the First World War, captures it perfectly: Their song that lacks all words, all melody.

All sweetness almost, was dearer to me Than sweetest voice that sings in tune sweet words.

This was the best of May – the small brown birds.

Wisely reiterating endlessly What no man learnt in or out of school.

Above the bulrushes, a cloud of hoverflies. The light is dappled and sepia. I’m dazzled by the delicacy of the moment. My insides explode, words ricochet outsidein. I hold them close, because capturing this on a page allows me to feel it all over again.

Sunday, 13 May

When you visit a familiar place, it’s never stagnant.

There’s always change, and every new day brings a tilt, another view, something that previously escaped you.

That something can be as innocuous as a stone wall. Of course, stone walls could hardly be called that – so much life emerges from the cracks and crevices. Wait and watch a stone wall and I promise you, what emerges is a performance, reserved only for those who stop and look.

Today, though, it wasn’t what was on the wall or inside it, but what was over it.

We’d been walking for quite some time in Killykeeghan Nature Reserve, a small and secret place not far from home. It’s another of the places we always seem to be alone in. Today, we were searching for orchids, listening for the cuckoo call, running over limestone pavements to see if we could spot some mammal scat.

Bláthnaid loves peering over walls, and is drawn to these moments. She has a sixth sense. We both feel it. And she stopped at the most perfect peering spot, because behind the stone wall of an ancient cashel was a hidden pond, reflecting the sky and squiggling with shadows galore, darting in and out of the light. A convulsing mass of tadpoles, and with them the epic cycle of life, anticipation and fascination. We clambered over and surrounded the muddy edge, peering in delight.

The water is bubbling with methane, which makes me think of folklore, of will-o’-the-wisps and banshees, dancing flashes of red light emanating from the decomposition of organic matter. My dad remembers seeing them in Tamnaharry on his great-uncle’s farm, dancing in the dark. These days they are rare because drainage and farmland ‘improvement’ have claimed most of our swamps, bog and marshlands. Whether it’s bioluminescence or the combustion of methane, it’s wonderful to let the mind wander off with banshees and will-o’-the-wisps – folklore and stories are so often inspired by the strange and the beautiful in the natural world, and all these stories bring nature, deeply, into our imagination. Plus I just love staring into ponds, so it must be good for the mind. My head is pretty hectic most of the time, and watching daphnia, beetles, pond skaters and dragonfly nymphs is a medicine for this

overactive brain.

Ripples appear on the surface tension, from no obvious source. I feel the light sprinkling on my head turn into larger raindrops, breaking my trance as they drip from my brow down my face. Bláthnaid and I wander off to find shelter by a hedge, but when the rain stops she goes back to Mum and Dad while I carry on in a different direction, alone.

As the globe turns, there are things we reach for at certain times. Today, I wanted so much to hear the cuckoo – a need for seasonal ‘firsts’ is strong in me.

The first of everything is very special. In my fervour to hear it today, I realise I’ve wandered quite far away from everyone and find myself in a secret spinney of hazel and bluebell. You know when you forget a place and remember it all at once? Being in the spinney takes me straight back to being a toddler, trampling the lilac blooms before Mum whisks me up. Then fast forward a couple of years and I’m fidgeting through a cow pat for dung beetles, and climbing mossy banks searching for unknown things. It almost brings tears to me. Being alone, it’s peaceful enough to feel the past, and to feel it overlapping with the here and now of musky scent, trickles of light passing through the canopy.

The verdant-lapis light illuminates a path through the bluebells and hazel, a secret way. Sometimes it’s good to have a path, for fear of the wrath of faeries, who are said to live inside the bells of these wildflowers – some say that the ominous ring of the bluebell, if heard, will spell death to whoever bares those unfortunate ears.

I tread softly on the wood path. The bulldozing of early childhood is gone. In its place, there is reverence. A bluebell wood takes much longer than our time on earth to get to this carpet of bloom. It is precious and ancient and magical. And it arrives like clockwork, if left alone, casting a charm on so many open hearts. Here since the Ice Age, the bluebell takes five whole years to grow, from seed to bulb. A labour of slow and perfect growth.

A mantle of bluebells, the cycle of spring, and amongst it all, quite suddenly, making me jump out of my skin, the cuckoo sings loud and close. I decide not to chase it, though. I listen. I smile with relief, knowing all is well in this place.

To buy Diary of a Young Naturalist visit littletoller.co.uk/shop. Little Toller are able to continue sending books during lockdown with free postage. littletoller.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 53

Outdoors

An education programme by the Melplash Agricultural Society Kathy Dare

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lthough the Melplash Agricultural Society’s flagship event, The Melplash Show, is cancelled for 2020, the work of the society continues. One of the main aims of the society is to educate and promote agriculture through community involvement. The annual show obviously plays a major role. By bringing farming, businesses and the community together to celebrate the best of agriculture by the sea, it is a platform for the public of all ages to learn more about food, farming and the countryside, whilst demonstrating the importance agriculture has in all our lives. As well as the show, and perhaps not so well-known, is Discover Farming, the Society’s dedicated education programme in place to educate future generations about all aspects of farming, food and the countryside.

The Discover Farming Programme is run by a small team of volunteers who are committed to helping educate youngsters to understand the importance of farming, food production and the countryside in relation to their lives and the economy. Plus, it provides careers advice to recruit new entrants into agriculture and its allied trades. It consists of: The Discover Farming Classroom

The classroom is located at Washingpool Farm Shop, just outside Bridport on the B3162 heading towards Salway Ash in Dorset (DT6 5HP), thanks to the kind generosity of Simon and Vicky Holland and their family. It is available for schools, local clubs and youth organisations to visit.

The overall aim of the classroom is to: • help the younger generation to understand food, farming and the environment • link healthy eating, home cooking, fresh food and farm production • enthuse and inspire young people to take up careers in agriculture 54 | Bridport Times | May 2020

The teaching sessions are run by the Education Co-ordinator, Katie Vining, formerly a primary school teacher. Katie has the Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation (CEVAS) and all the relevant DBS checks. One visit is made per day during the school term. Each is tailored to individual requirements, with activities in the morning and an opportunity to structure the afternoon to link with school topics. As a result of linking up with the Bridport Local Food Group and utilising their ‘Bridport Community Cooking Kit’, the classroom is now able to offer small group cooking sessions for up to 12 children - creating a seasonal dish whilst encouraging the group to think about healthy eating and nutrition. The session is inspired by the current harvest on the farm at the time of the visit.

All visits to the Discover Farming Classroom will be free in 2020 and we provide a small subsidy for transport if it is needed. For more information email katie@discoverfarming.co.uk Like all schools, the Discover Farming Classroom is currently closed but will open again as soon as coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

Explore Farming

As the name implies, Explore Farming encourages students to delve into the many exciting opportunities that have been created by using cutting-edge technology and innovation in farming and across the supply chain.

It is hoped that by doing so it will attract young talent into the agricultural industry. An on-line interactive career wheel has been built to enable students to find out what a fantastic choice of careers there are available to them within the agriculture sector today. The range is endless. As well as working on the farm, jobs in agriculture include working as an engineer, scientist, researcher, business advisor, trader, manager, retailer, food

manufacturer or vet. Each role also included information on the qualifications and skills required for the posts.

The interactive career wheel is available in the ‘Explore’ section of the Discover Farming website discoverfarming. co.uk. Most recently, the Discover Farming team has created a group of young, enthusiastic and informed ‘mentors’ working in many of the different aspects of rural employment. They will act as guides to young people thinking of taking this career path but who need help, encouragement and signposting. Discover Farming also has a small team who attend local schools’ careers events to advise on possible career paths.

Bursary Scheme

The Melplash Agricultural Society offers a bursary of up to £2000 per annum to students aged 17 years and over who live within 12 miles of Melplash village church and are about to embark or who are already studying agriculture or any closely allied topic. Financial support will be extended throughout the successful student’s course if they receive a satisfactory annual report from their college or university. In 2019, £19000 was given to 14 students. An application form is available to download from discoverfarming.co.uk Completed forms should be returned to the Society Offices at 23 South

Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3NT by 1st July.

Those candidates shortlisted will be required to provide scholastic and personal references and will be interviewed in early summer so that finance can be in place for the next academic year.

‘National emergencies always remind us just how important farming and the wider agricultural industry are. All of us in the Melplash Agricultural Society believe passionately that one of our most important tasks is to educate our local young people about food, farming and the environment and to inspire some of the most talented to take up careers in agriculture. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and members, our Discover Farming programme aims to achieve this, not only at our Show but with the combination of our classroom for primary school children, careers advice to secondary schools and then providing bursaries to assist and encourage further education. Despite the current difficulties we will be doing everything possible to maintain and improve these aspects of our programme.’ Marcus Beresford, Society Director and Discover Farming Programme Chairman. discoverfarming.co.uk @discoverfarming on Instagram and Facebook bridporttimes.co.uk | 55

Outdoors

56 | Bridport Times | May 2020

On Foot

REFLECTIONS ON WALKING IN DORSET

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Emma Tabor and Paul Newman

he recent restriction of movement has made it impossible to carry out our planned walk this month. So, instead, we thought we would revisit some of our favourite walks from our first year of writing for the Bridport Times. We’ve selected four walks for their diverse range of interest and we hope they inspire you to plan adventures for when we can all enjoy freedom of movement again.

Dorset’s modest beauty is part of its charm and West Dorset’s character feels especially intimate, with close-knit valleys, hillfort-studded knolls and ridges and open chalk downland. The area is bordered by the impressive sweep of Lyme Bay - from the mysterious undercliff between Lyme Regis and Axmouth, to the geological anomaly of Chesil Bank and The Fleet - with the highest point on the south coast, Golden Cap, in between. The geology of Chalk, Greensands, Oolite, Lias and Limestone underpins the rich tapestry of the Marshwood Vale and its fringes. It is no surprise that the area has inspired successive writers and poets including William Crowe, William Barnes, Dorothy and William Wordsworth, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Geoffrey Household, and John Fowles. Traces of West Dorset’s once-rich natural history can still be glimpsed in places like Kingcombe Meadows, an untouched area of lowland grassland. >

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Waymarked routes crossing the region include the South West Coast Path, The Monarch’s Way, The Jubilee Trail and the South Dorset Ridgeway, which traverses a Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape rich with structures and features built in response to the surrounding topography.

As with any area, West Dorset has its fair share of popular landmarks and locations, but with our walks we have tried to reveal some of the more secretive areas and less-explored routes, sometimes feeling like we’ve set free from time. We’ve enjoyed discovering more about West Dorset’s rich history, natural wonder and folklore and hope the walks have illuminated the particular nature and character of this area - one of encircling hills, old ways and glimpses of deep time.

Sweet Be’mi’ster, that bist a-bound By green an’ woody hills all round, Wi’ hedges reachen up between A thousan’ vields o’zummer green.

William Barnes April 2018- Stoke Abbott, Lewesdon Hill and The Wessex Ridgeway

This walks starts in the picturesque village of Stoke Abbott with a lovely range of old buildings and it’s 58 | Bridport Times | May 2020

unusual natural spring which gushes from the jaws of a lion’s head. The village is hidden away, nestling snuggly beneath Lewesdon Hill, Dorset’s highest point at 915 feet. Approaching tree-clad Lewesdon from the south and then heading over the top is rewarding, partly for the far-reaching views, but also for the wonderful mixed woodland which covers Lewesdon, with a great show of bluebells in spring. The summit has iron age bank and ditch remains, and part of the route to the north of the hill explores a holloway as you head east along the Wessex Ridgeway, giving this part of the walk an ancient and magical feel to it. Continuing east you pass the remains of Waddon Hill, a Roman fort, before reaching the gap at Chart Knolle. Gerrard’s Hill makes a good picnic spot, before leaving the Ridgeway to then explore a magical fern-carpeted woodland dell as you make your way back to the start.

We’ve included the map from this walk as it was not originally published May 2018 - Toller Fratrum and Wynford Eagle

Despite most of this walk traversing open downland, the chalk valleys south of the River Hooke have a clandestine, calming feel to them. This route is studded with small surprising gems which start in Toller Fratrum and the >

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church of Saint Basil with its late Saxon/early Norman font carved with intriguing figures. Heading across High Hill towards Wynford Eagle, the views are panoramic and the bare hills provide a sense of complete remoteness.

Wynford Eagle, like Toller Fratrum is a tiny parish, but also has a handful of fine buildings including the manor house, church and farm which huddle around a stream in a charming setting. A lone burial mound encountered on the Jubilee Trail south of Wynford Eagle also adds to the sense of timelessness and detachment on this walk. The return route skirts Wynford Wood; a good place to see a variety of birdlife including ravens, yellowhammers and blackcaps.

September and October 2018 - Kimberlins and Slingers - The Isle of Portland

We wanted to follow the South West Coast path on its route around the Isle of Portland with the opportunity to explore Portland’s fascinating timeline from geology, through to early settlement, quarrying, military activity and now a haven for wildlife. The Isle of Portland has a unique, enigmatic and idiosyncratic charm which is worth exploring and the route around its coast is a walk through vivid layers of history. There is much to take in on this walk, so it is best to allow a full day to be able to stop and explore places like Tout Quarry Sculpture Park, Portland Bill, Church Ope Cove, Rufus Castle, St 60 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Andrew’s Churchyard, Verne Citadel and High Angle Battery. Part of the appeal of this walk was for us to experience this intriguing 13-mile section of the 630mile South West Coast Path.

December 2018 - Littlebredy, Long Bredy and Poor Lot Barrow Cemetery

Many of our walks are planned around locations that we already have some knowledge of and they always provide us with the opportunity to explore and understand the character of a particular area more deeply. The Bride Valley was an area which we were not that familiar with, but the walk from Littlebredy to Long Bredy and back via Poor Lot Barrow Cemetery has remained one of our favourites to date for its variety of historical interest, views and just the feeling you sometimes get from walking in a particular place.

It is hard to put into words exactly why one walk can be more appealing or interesting than another.

Sometimes this can be the time of day or season, or a chance discovery which can surprise or delight. One thing is certain, walking always lifts the spirits, so we look forward to sharing new walks when we can. All walks can be viewed in the online editions of Bridport Times and we hope to share a selection of these walks, plus some new ones, in a forthcoming book.

30 Days Wild Improve your health and happiness and do something wild every day in June Sign up: www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/30dayswild

DORSET WILDLIFE TRUST Photos © Jane Adams, Tony Bates MBE, Sam Dallimore Katharine Davies & Heather Radice.

Archaeology

ANCIENT DORSET TREASURES SERIES

NO.5: MARVELLOUS MOSAICS Chris Tripp, BA (Hons), MA, Community and Field Archaeologist

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hen writing about the Roman period in Dorset I have mentioned, in passing, mosaics. Here are more details of some of these treasures found in our county.

Dorset has some of the most important examples of mosaic art in the UK. From these surviving examples it has been possible to identify a Durnovarian ‘school’ of makers based at Dorchester and Illchester, producing both regular and unique items for their wealthy clients.

One such client owned the Roman Town House in Dorchester and commissioned many mosaics to adorn the rooms, including two unique ones. In the ‘summer dining room’ a complex mosaic had four faces representing the seasons and although the centre is missing, the mosaic would have had the god Dionysius placed there. There used to be a large room next to this one, but at some point it was divided by a partition and its hexagonal mosaic partially cut away and replaced by a unique striped mosaic set down in the newly created space. The other unique mosaic was found in the ‘winter dining room’ (it had under floor heating!), with contrasting black and white zig-zag circle designs within a border of the more usual interwoven bands of guilloche.

The Fordington High Street 4.8m square mosaic was uncovered at Lott & Walne’s foundry in 1903.

Our Christian churches are built with an apse (that semi-circular construction at the altar end) and this came from the Roman tradition of architecture. The Fordington mosaic also had an apse-shape at one end to fit into its Roman house. Here could be found a fine depiction of the sea god Oceanus/Neptune flanked by two leaping dolphins. The mosaic was not lifted until 1927 and Thomas Hardy left his sick bed to view it, and within three months he was dead! The curse of Oceanus?

Oceanus had turned up much earlier, in 1831, at the 62 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Hemsworth villa site, but in this case he was identified by the legs and claws of crabs on his head, which does not quite have the same romance as dolphins. More sea related imagery was found at Dewlish in 1975, this time showing sea creatures in a procession, called a ‘theasos’. Mosaics were found in several rooms of this substantial structure, including the dynamic image of a leopard killing a gazelle.

The Roman gods officially gave way to the Christian religion in the early 4th century and Dorset has a couple of very early signs of this change in Britain.

When the Frampton mosaics (c.350 CE) were found in 1796 dolphins were again included, but now we also see the Chi-Rho monogram, which is the Greek letters of a reverse ‘P’ and superimposed ‘X’, or the first two letters of ‘Christ-Christos’. This is also found at Hinton St Mary, excavated in 1963, plus probably the oldest depiction of the face of Jesus, fair-haired, cleaned shaven and wearing a tunic and cloak, alongside the popular pagan scene of Bellerophon riding Pegasus slaying the monstrous Chimera. The combination of these images may not be so paradoxical. Bellerophon slaying the Chimera may now be

seen as Christ’s victory over the devil.

Other mosaics found in our county include one from Olga Road, similar in design to one found in Cirencester, a very jolly scene of Apollo playing a lyre and Marsyes playing a double flute, now in the Sherborne House dairy (!) and a large geometric pavement at Durngate Street, with its rare, if not unique, feature of a signature or trademark in the form of a motif of a fruit and a leaf. Is this the sign of the Durnovarian school? dorsetdiggers.btck.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 63

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MIKE WADE Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

N

an Goldin’s bare feet hang pale and lifeless over the edge of a workbench. Madonna’s disembodied head has just arrived in a box, and from high on the shelves I am scrutinised by beatific Indian gurus. It is, I admit, a little eerie.

I am standing in the studio of wax sculptor Mike Wade, where, in the shadow of St. Michael’s Industrial Estate, he creates models of some of the world’s biggest stars for wax museums across the world. Mike has been sculpting celebrities and notable figures for the last 30 years but he didn’t begin as a sculptor in art school. ‘I was working for a builder in the Midlands,’ recalls Mike.

‘He was an Irish genius and in the early 80s he was creating these incredible themed pubs, not in the naff way but pubs with lavish mad-cap interiors. Anyway, one of them was called the ‘Pie Factory’ because of its locality and, one day, he said to me ‘get a pig’s head, make a mould of it and recreate it.’ So, I got the head, went to the library and got a book on how to do it. He liked what I built; a picture of it ended up in a trade magazine. The idea took off and I ended up with a job making pig's heads in plaster.’ >

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Then, in 1987, Mike spotted an advert in the media pages of The Guardian, for a mould-maker at Madame Tussauds. ‘I sent a photograph of my work and got an interview. They asked me in for a three day test; I had no tools, no knowledge — it was really embarrassing, but when I got there and looked through the glass windows, there were all the sculptors in one room, all the makers in another and there was Michael Caine sat at the other side of the window being measured up. That was it; I knew I wanted to work there.’

‘It was like being in an Ealing Comedy working there,’ he continues, ‘really old school, full of men approaching retirement age. They all came from a plastering firm in Hammersmith that was like the ‘Rolls Royce’ of plastering. If No.10 Downing Street needed its cornicing done, they were the guys for the job. But, most of the time, they’d be working on their own projects like building doll's houses for their granddaughters. What they liked about me was that I was fresh blood, and in effect I gained an apprenticeship.’

‘It wasn’t down to being particularly skilled,’ says Mike, although to me, the ability to accurately conjure someone’s head strikes me as extraordinarily skilled. But Mike assures me that ‘it’s just the ability to be able to see

in 3D; it really is a learnable skill, but it is a real discipline.

We do exactly today what they would have done in the 1800s. Although now in some places they use scanners, I still prefer the old-fashioned way.’ Usually he will work from photographs, but it sounds like a form of human geometry when it is sometimes necessary to take up to 200 or so measurements of a subject’s head and body.

Tussauds’ appeal to Mike derived from his love of classic horror films. ‘It began with Hitchcock’s The Birds which I saw when I was 12. My parents would go to bed on a Friday night and leave me watching the weekly horrors. It was the old-school masterpieces starring Christopher Lee and films like Dr. Caligari.

My ambition is to one day make a museum of classic horror films’ ‘For somebody who loved horror films, working at Tussauds was a treat.’ Clearly he enjoys the romance of the macabre as much as the work. ‘People who were going to be models would donate their clothes; there was a wardrobe at Tussauds full of them. You could look through the rack of clothes and find infamous murderer’s clothes such as the murderer John Christie who bequeathed his clothes from the dock before descending below to be hanged.’ > bridporttimes.co.uk | 71

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There was also the other sideline at Tussauds: the death masks. ‘I haven’t got the stomach for it now and I couldn’t get out of it at the time,’ says Mike ‘but back then, the phone would go and the old boys would say ‘Oh Mike this sounds like one for you’ and they’d give me the job. I did one of the author Anthony Burgess, for his wife, and walked it to his widow’s flat, but she didn’t like it — said he looked too peaceful. So, I did a rough sculpture of his head instead and she kept that one. It’s a funny profession being a wax sculptor, you get some strange jobs.’

Some rather cool ones find their way through too.

Recently, Mike travelled to Spain to meet Cristiano Ronaldo at his home in Madrid. He won’t divulge much of what went on, but spending time in the homes of celebrities clearly makes for a varied life. As we chat, Mike unwraps a disconcerting copy of Madonna’s head and hands before carefully mounting them onto her nearby body. The sculpture is destined for a wax works museum in Brazil. It’s a collaborative effort. Mike works with Lisa Hopwood, who does the hair and make-up, while Sue Nicholson makes the clothes. The heads are sculpted by Mike or one of his five-strong team, all of whom are ex-Tussauds.

Creating a head is an arduous process, and this week, Mike had been working on the artist, Nan Goldin’s.

Its clay form stands on a turntable and is built on a framework of rods known as the armature. Creating a head in clay can take 5-8 weeks and once finished, a silicon mould will be made for the wax casting. Wax has been the medium of choice over the centuries due to its skin-like response under light.

Nan’s head is part of an entire body sculpture for a forthcoming exhibition in California. ‘The thrill is to try and get the bodies to look as though they’re breathing,’ says Mike. It’s a tricky business. He visited Nan last year at her home in Brooklyn, NYC for a sitting. Mike is used to working with artists, outside of his work for wax museums; he has produced sculptures for artists including Paul Fryer and Lars Nielsen. For a time, he taught an annual course in wax sculpture and the RCA in Stockholm.

Variety being the spice of life, Mike also produces many models of Indian gurus. ‘A number of them did come over and visit,’ he says. ‘They all stayed in the Wetherspoon pub in Bridport then came and sat for me.’

Now the casts of their heads sit in a serene row on shelves high above us in the studio, like old friends. ‘I think the motivator for me is the odd situations that I get into,’ says Mike with a wry smile, ‘that’s what I really enjoy.’ wadewaxworks.com bridporttimes.co.uk | 75

Food & Drink

LAMB’S BREAST WITH WHITE BEANS & SAMPHIRE Gill Meller, River Cottage

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reast of lamb is an underrated cut. It’s easy to get hold of, relatively inexpensive, packed with depth and flavour and embarrassingly easy to cook.

It’s the sort of fearless cut you can whack in the oven with some fresh rosemary and garlic cloves and forget about for hours. A low, gentle heat renders the rich fat, tenderises the dark meat and crisps up the edges. What you’ll find, in the base of the roasting tray, is something close to godliness, and for white beans there’s nothing holier. I like to serve samphire with this dish because I think its delicate salinity and gentle crunch goes so well with lamb, but if it’s not in season, try purple sprouting broccoli or a kale, instead.

Ingredients Serves 2

1 large lamb’s breast (about 1kg/2lb 4oz) with some good fat and meat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 4 garlic cloves, peeled 4 rosemary sprigs 1 small onion, thinly sliced 1 x 400g (14oz) tin haricot beans, drained 75g (2 1/2 oz) samphire A good squeeze of lemon juice Salt and freshly ground black pepper Method

1 Heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7. Place the lamb’s breast in a roasting tin, season all over and rub in the olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes, then remove the tin from the oven, tuck the garlic cloves and three of the rosemary sprigs under the lamb, add a splash of water and cover loosely with baking parchment.

76 | Bridport Times | May 2020

2 Turn down the heat to 120°C/235°F/gas mark 1/2–1, place the tin back in the oven and cook the lamb for a further 2–3 hours, until very tender. Use tongs to lift the lamb’s breast out of the tin onto a plate. Cover with foil and keep warm in a low oven.

Reserve the tin and everything in it.

3 Set a medium heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Spoon in a little of the lamb’s fat from the roasting tin and, when hot, add the sliced onion and remaining rosemary sprig. Cook, stirring regularly, for 12–15 minutes, or until the onion is soft, but not overly coloured.

4 Now add the drained beans and get them moving around the pan. Add 300ml (10 1/2 fl oz) of water to the reserved contents of the roasting tin and scratch and scrape at the caramelised sticky bits on the base. Tip all this flavour into the bean mixture and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Cook until the beans begin to break down and thicken, then season, remove from the heat and keep warm.

5 Bring a small pan of water to the boil. Add the samphire, and cook for 1–2 minutes, until the samphire is tender, then drain it and return it to the pan. Add the lemon juice and season with black pepper.

6 To serve, place the lamb’s breast onto a warm plate, spoon the creamy beans out alongside and scatter over the samphire.

From Time: a Year and a Day in the Kitchen by Gill Meller (Quadrille, £25) gillmeller.com

Image: Andrew Montgomery bridporttimes.co.uk | 77

Food & Drink

FOOD FOR THOUGHT John Fisher, Firepot

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ake us back fifty years and we’d never have looked much beyond the horizon to provide for our families. Here in Dorset, it can sometimes feel like we’re still living in that time warp.

We have a beautiful coastline dotted with harbours and smokehouses; we have fields, orchards, pastures and farms; we have a local brewery, and several bakeries. Shops and restaurants have grown up around them, fiercely proud to claim the local provenance of their ingredients. Even during the Covid crisis, our farm-shops and restaurants are doing remarkable work to keep communities supplied.

In this part of England, we know where our food comes from. It’s not unusual to be on first-name terms with the growers, cheesemakers, and fishermen. We’re extraordinarily fortunate. In large swathes of modernday Britain, this contact has been lost. The demand for convenient, low-cost products has driven down prices.

Rising social inequality has reduced choice for lowincome families. The domination of supermarket chains has profoundly eroded farm-to-table connections.

I’ve lived in the Marshwood Vale for over 20 years.

Out of need (I’m a keen hiker), I noticed a gap in the 78 | Bridport Times | May 2020

market for healthy, dehydrated food — the kind you might take camping. What was already out there wasn’t the kind of food I wanted to eat, or feed my kids. To my mind, the only way of changing that was to use the same, fresh ingredients we would buy on our weekly shop — meat from Rawles on Bridport’s High Street, where we’ve shopped as a family for 20 years, and vegetables from Cain’s Farm in nearby Chideock (local wholesalers).

So when I set up a small business in 2017 from the barn at the foot of our field, I made a rule we’ve stuck to: all our fresh ingredients would be locally sourced. After an encouraging start, we moved into the old millhouse in Pymore the following year and converted it. We were doing great, selling in 25 countries worldwide. Then came coronavirus, supply chains faltered, and we could no longer buy certain dry ingredients (pasta, rice, spices). We had to furlough some of our staff.

For all of us, this experience is life-changing.

For businesses and individuals, it is a time of profound re-evaluation.

As the lockdown eases, I think we’ll see a sustained interest in local travel — in British people favouring

Image: Jake Baggaly

our island’s magnificent wild spaces over foreign trips.

Renewed interest in our countryside may also lead to a stronger impetus to conserve wildlife habitats. In just a few short weeks, we’ve seen dramatic evidence of ecological recovery; you don’t have to leave your garden to hear the abundant return of bees. Traffic silence is a beautiful thing. I saw an otter in the stream near our house at the weekend, and listened to a cuckoo all of yesterday — the first time I’ve heard its song for years.

Will the bare supermarket shelves we’re seeing in the Age of Covid encourage people to think more carefully about where their food comes from? And seasonality?

Under lockdown, we’ve all had to think more frugally, to reduce shopping trips to replenish the fridge. Food waste is down. We’re eating less meat. Will this continue when the virus has passed? Out of this terrible crisis, will there be a silver lining? A slowdown in the environmentally devastating consequences of half the world’s dependence on livestock and poultry?

Tim Lang, the UK’s leading expert on food policy and adviser to the WHO, has been reiterating his long-held view that now is the time to forge stronger domestic

supply chains and bolster our lamentably depleted agricultural sector. Just eight companies control 90 per cent of Britain’s food supply, leaving primary producers with five per cent of the final sale price for their products.

I’m proud to live in this corner of West Dorset — and to be part of a community with an authentic value system. Dorset has a strong entrepreneurial culture; prior to the pandemic, our region was the second fastestgrowing area for start-ups in the whole country. I’m hopeful our community will not only adapt to survive, but will thrive. When businesses reopen, I hope we all ‘stay home’ in a different way — not inside the four walls of our houses, but by shopping locally, holidaying in our magnificent ‘Jurassic’ backyard, and getting to know more of our farmers and growers by name. firepotfood.com @firepotfood Firepot meals have a shelf-life of two years. Whilst the kitchen doors are closed, deliveries are still being made to customers up and down the country. bridporttimes.co.uk | 79

Food & Drink

SUMMER PUDDING Chris Staines, The Ollerod

T

he country is in lockdown and it seems everyone is making bread; there really is nothing quite like a delicious loaf of homemade bread, fresh out of the oven. Don’t worry, I’m not going to give you a bread recipe – there are hundreds of fantastic recipes out there – but I will say that the key to great bread is the flour; we use Campaillou to make our much loved Ollerod sourdough rye.

Back to your amazing loaf of homemade bread, only 3 days later…. you might notice that it doesn’t have the same ‘shelf-life’ as supermarket/mass-produced bread, and leaves you with a rather stale end.

Bread and butter pudding tends to be the default for ‘old’ bread, but there is another – the forgotten classic – Summer Pudding.

Summer Pudding will use up all your leftover bread, along with your favourite berries which are coming into season now. I like to add some lemon zest and mint to zing it up a little, but if you prefer to stick to tradition, then leave them out.

What you will need

A pudding basin or deep bowl (about 1 litre capacity) A large pan Either a plate and some weights/food tin to ‘press’ your pudding Ingredients Serves 6

Butter, to grease Half a loaf/8 slices of slightly stale, good quality white bread, crusts removed 900g – 1kg of summer berries (redcurrants, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries – whatever you have to hand or prefer) 2–3 tbsp caster sugar Zest of one lemon A handful of chopped mint

80 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Method

1 Grease a pudding basin or deep bowl (about 1 litre capacity) with butter, and then line it with the bread – cut the slices so they fit snugly with no gaps. Using the remainder of the bread create a ‘lid’ large enough to cover the top (which becomes the base) of the pudding basin.

2 Place the berries, lemon zest and mint into as large a pan as possible, so the berries aren’t piled on top of each other. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of sugar, and add a splash of water. This will become your syrup. Heat gently to simmering point, until the berries start to burst and release their juices. Don’t stir unless absolutely necessary to avoid crushing the fruit.

Taste and add more sugar, if necessary.

3 Pour most of the hot fruit and syrup into the basin, and top with the lid of bread, keeping any excess fruit and syrup for serving. Put a plate on top of the basin, pressing into it, and weigh down with a tin or similar. Tip: I usually place the basin in a shallow tray to catch any syrup that leaks out whilst the pudding is being pressed.

Summer Pudding is best the day after; when it is cool, pop it in the fridge overnight.

To serve: remove the weight, turn the pudding and give it a shake to dislodge it onto the plate (if it doesn’t come out easily, then slide a knife around the edge of the basin to loosen – be careful not to cut the bread) Take the extra syrup and fruit and pour over the top (useful for covering any pale patches). Serve with crème fraîche or lemon sorbet, if you can get some, as it really brings the pudding to life. Or, more traditionally, use double cream, clotted cream or ice-cream. theollerod.co.uk

Image: Andrzej Wawrzyniak bridporttimes.co.uk | 81

Food & Drink

NONNA AMELIA’S RAGÚ Ilaria Padovani, Mercato Italiano

A

closely guarded secret in many Italian families is the recipe for Mamma’s ragú; each generation in turn discussing and disagreeing on what makes ‘the best’ meat and tomato pasta sauce. Even more closely coveted in my own household was my Nonna Amelia’s bolognese, a Veneto classic and family treat. Around the family table as a child, my brother and two sisters would often give a knowing glance in appreciation when Nonna had prepared her specialty for us; she was the best. Later in my life, after settling in the UK and with 3 young children in tow, we took a regular family trip to Italy and visited Amelia in her Veronese flat. After coffee we got talking, and it was here that my partner, permitted by his English anonymity, was able to ask my Nonna for her 82 | Bridport Times | May 2020

recipe for the famed ragú; something I’d taken for granted and thought would always be there, I guess.

Here is my attempt to translate…

In Nonna’s words: Ingredients

200g beef mince (butchers grade) 100g pork mince (butchers grade) 1 onion thinly chopped 2 whole garlic cloves Tomatoes - 1/2 litre passata or 400g tinned tomatoes Butter, unsalted - 1 espresso cup levelled (40g) Salt - 1 full tea spoon Sugar - 1 tea spoon

What you will need

Nonna used an AMC pan; a casserole dish with heavy base will also suffice.

Method

1 Mix the beef, pork, onion, and garlic together in the pan and stir slowly. This process should last 5 minutes with the lid on and always on a low heat.

This will give the ‘rosolare’ (when you colour and bronze the meat).

2 Now add the butter. Tip: A drizzle of olive oil can be added, if desired, for more body too.

3 Leave on a low heat with the lid closed, until the water has evaporated from the pan, continuing to

stir now and then.

4 After 30 minutes, remove the garlic and add the tomatoes.

5 Add sugar and salt in equal amounts and stir.

6 Close the lid - and say bye!

7 Leave for 2 hours on a low heat, stirring occasionally, adding an espresso cup of water if necessary.

Amelia’s tips – ‘don’t rush it, try it on a piece of bread first.

If it doesn’t come as you expected, it will the next time…’ @mercatoitalianoltd mercatoitalianoshop.uk

bridporttimes.co.uk | 83

Body & Mind

YOGA FOR GARDENERS Nadiya Wynn, Restorative Being, Yoga and Mindfulness

‘Your mind is a garden; your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds’ William Wadsworth

H

ave you been spending more time in the garden in recent weeks? If so, you may feel your wrists, shoulders, knees or back are stiff, tired or achy.

Yoga cannot only relieve these symptoms, but also help to prevent them.

Here are a few tips for incorporating yoga into your gardening time, or if you prefer, to try at the end of the day to soothe away any stiffness or tension in your body.

Popmarleo/Shutterstock

84 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Wrist stretch

This will help to increase flexibility and to lower the risk of RSI or injury. On all fours, slowly turn your hands out so the fingers are pointing towards the knees. To ease off, lean forwards. To deepen the stretch, move your weight back. Alternatively, whilst kneeling, extend your right arm out in front of you with your palm facing forwards and fingers pointing up towards the sky. Use your left hand to gently pull your right hand backwards. Hold for 30 seconds. Take 5 or more breaths here. Repeat on the other side.

your arms straightened. Lower your head between your upper arms and keep pressing your hands into the wall, bending your knees to protect the back.

Double knee hug

This is a comforting and massaging posture for the back.

Rest on your back, if necessary have support under your head (keep your chin and forehead at the same height).

Whilst exhaling, draw both knees into the chest and hold the knees with your hands. Hold still and focus on your breath. Roll onto your side to come out.

Soothing rock

Relaxation

A comforting and soothing posture for the back. Come on to all fours in a neutral table top position; head in line with the spine; knees under your hips and wrists in line with the shoulders. Hold still for 10 breaths, then gently, and smoothly, rock back and forth. Rocking encourages the release of endorphins in the brain, helping to improve mood, thus relaxing the muscles and helping to reduce pain.

This encourages you to put your feet up and relax at the end of the day! Lying on your back, rest the lower legs on a chair or sofa with support under your head (blanket height). Stay for 5-20 minutes, allowing your breath to lengthen and deepen. This helps to relax the shoulders and back, rests the feet, legs and heart and encourages the breath to move into the lower part of your lungs. Roll onto your side for a few breaths before coming up.

Child’s pose

A posture to relax the lower back and stretch the tops of the feet and front ankles. By taking your knees wide apart you will be getting a nice stretch and opening through the hips. From all fours take the knees slightly apart. On an exhale, bend at the hips and bring your bottom down towards your heels. Rest your forehead on stacked fists. You should feel a comfortable stretch – if it’s too much, find more height for your head.

Mindful gardening

This exercise helps to improve balance, promotes a healthy spine and encourages easier breathing. From a kneeling position (alignment as above) practise several rounds of cat/cow to gently stretch out and warm up your back and hips. As you inhale, arch your back (Cow) to lift through the chest and sit bones. On your exhale, round your spine up to the sky and gently draw your belly in, tucking your tailbone and chin (Cat). As you repeat this, allow your breath to lengthen so as not to rush and notice the gentle space opening between each vertebra.

The process of gardening itself invites us to slow down; providing an ideal opportunity to also create a mindfulness practice and find our inner calm.

Connecting with nature, getting some fresh air and regular sun exposure is the best way to feel grounded, top up the Vitamin D and boost your mental and emotional wellbeing. Whether you’re weeding, digging, pruning, tidying, sweeping or planting, take time to: • Pause and smell the flowers – taking in the different scents from the plants, flowers and trees • Observe how the soil feels in your hands and between your fingers, noting the texture of the plants or roots, the changing colours and patterns, as the light changes • Notice the insects; tune into the birdsong or the rain falling • Plant your seeds with intention – ‘may you grow’!

• Walk barefoot to feel the grass between your toes and to help feel grounded.

Half downward facing dog

Wishing you a wonderful summer of gardening!

Cat/Cow

For stretching out your shoulders and hamstrings, this position is perfect. Find a wall, fence, shed or any vertical surface. Stand face on and place your hands flat out in front of you on the surface at hip height. Slowly walk your feet back, so they are under your sit bones and

If you have any health concerns or back injuries, please consult your GP or health practitioner first. restorativebeing.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 85

Philosophy

FASHION

Kelvin Clayton, Philosophy in Pubs

T

he plan had been, prior to a certain virus bringing the majority of the world to a standstill, for the Bridport Philosophy in Pubs group to support this year’s Green Fortnight by discussing the philosophy of fashion. Each year, Transition Town Bridport organises a number of themed events to highlight one particular aspect of the transition to a more sustainable way of life; this year, the focus was on fashion. From an ecological point of view, the most obvious way to approach this phenomenon is from the direction of ethics; to raise questions about the working conditions of most workers employed in the production of high street fashion, the pollution that results from this production, and the waste of valuable resources utilised to make garments that find themselves in landfill sites a few wears later.

However, I wanted to take a different approach. I wanted to explore the extent to which the German sociologist and philosopher, Georg Simmel, had been correct when he claimed a link between fashion and identity. Writing in the early 20th Century, he suggested that clothes had become a vital part of the social construction of the self. Our social identity, he argued, was no longer provided by tradition, but instead was being chosen by virtue of our role as consumers.

We are, to a large degree, that which we display to the world. What we wear is the first and most obvious aspect of this display. Even if we choose not to follow what we consider to be fashionable, we still do so in a way that displays something about ourselves to the world.

In this sense, and related to our participation in a consumer society, not only have clothes developed a symbolic value to sit along their obvious utility and economic values, arguably this symbolic value has become dominant. Two suits, for example, may provide an equal amount of warmth and protection, and may be made of material costing equal amounts, but a suit by Paul Smith will, for many people, ‘say more about you’ than a suit with an unknown label. So, for many people, what is sold, what we buy, what we value, is the idea associated with an item of clothing, rather than the item itself; it’s an idea that we want to be associated with; an idea that expresses our identity.

But such an analysis exposes a possible paradox. Understood in this way, fashion contains two opposing elements. On the one hand, the individual fashion consumer who believes that they are expressing their individuality in their choice of clothing- that they are displaying themselves as individuals who stand out from the crowd due to their suit. At the same time, however, this individual shows themselves as a member of a group – as the type of person who wears a suit by Paul Smith. In this sense, fashion has turned us into a walking paradox; one that can’t be evaded by avoiding fashion. As the evidence from any counter-culture shows, rebelling against one fashion or cultural trend simply starts another.

In normal times, the Bridport Philosophy in Pubs group meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month in The George Hotel, South Street at 7.30pm. Anyone can attend and propose a topic for discussion. 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

86 | Bridport Times | May 2020

HOPE EVERYONE REMAINS WELL Although we can’t meet at the moment you can explore next season’s programme at taswestdorset.org.uk

CLOCKTOWER MUSIC ONLINE SHOP We buy and sell all types and styles of vinyl records and CDs. For info please call 01308 458077 or email thecrew@clocktowermusic.co.uk ClocktowerMusicBridport www.clocktowermusic.co.uk St Michael’s, Bridport DT6 3RR

taswestdorset.org.uk

IT'S A TRAP Peter James Millson

From the album Low-Key

peterjamesmillson.bandcamp.com bridporttimes.co.uk | 87

Literature

BRIDPORT PRIZE WRITERS TAKING THE LITERARY WORLD BY STORM Dee Fenton, Operations Manager, Bridport Arts Centre

‘I

have enormously fond memories of the Bridport Prize,’ says best-selling author Kate Atkinson who won with her short story back in 1990. ‘It gave me one of the first affirmations that I could write. I felt I found that elusive thing - my ‘voice’. Without the Bridport Prize, I would probably not have found my agent and quite possibly wouldn’t have written Behind the Scenes at the Museum so I have a lot to be thankful to it for.’

The international writing competition, now in its 47th year, continues to discover new writers, set them on the road to publication and launch careers. The novel award honours Bridport Arts Centre stalwart, the late Peggy Chapman-Andrews. Here are the awards’ latest success stories, the writers to watch and the books to read in 2020.

Deepa Anappara

Deepa’s debut novel, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, tells of three friends who venture into the most dangerous corners of a sprawling Indian city to find their missing classmate. It was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020 alongside Hilary Mantel, Ann Patchett and Edna O’Brien. Published by Chatto & Windus in the UK and Random House in the US, it’s being translated into 20 languages.

Born in Kerala, Southern India, Deepa worked as a journalist in India for eleven years. Her reports on the impact of poverty and religious violence on the education of children won the Developing Asia Journalism Awards, the Every Human has Rights Media Awards, and the Sanskriti-Prabha Dutt Fellowship in 88 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Journalism. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia where she is currently studying for a Creative-Critical Writing PhD on a CHASE doctoral fellowship. Deepa won the Bridport Prize novel award in 2017. deepa-anappara.com Polly Crosby

Polly’s debut novel, The Illustrated Child, is set in the wild Suffolk countryside taking inspiration from where she grew up. It tells the tale of Romilly, a girl who lives in a ramshackle house with her eccentric artist father and her cat, Monty. When her father finds fame with a series of children’s books starring her as the main character, their reclusive life begins to change as fans appear at their door, convinced the books contain clues to a treasure hunt.

As time passes, Romilly’s father becomes increasingly suspicious of the outside world and, with no-one else to help, Romilly turns to the secrets he has hidden in his illustrated books – realising that his treasure hunt doesn’t lead to gold, but to something far more precious…the truth.

Polly now lives in Norfolk with her husband and son, and her much loved rescue cat. She is currently working on her second novel. The Illustrated Child is due to be published in Hardback, Ebook and Audiobook on 9th July. Polly was runner up in the 2018 Bridport Prize novel award. pollycrosby.com

Stephanie Scott

What’s Left Of Me Is Yours is Stephanie’s debut novel and she was recently selected as one of The Observer’s Ten Best New Voices of 2020. ‘The deadlines and judging process gave me the impetus to finish the novel and the courage to send it out into the world,’ Stephanie said. ‘After years of work, I finally felt ready. Just before the prize ceremony, I sent the novel out to agents. I received offers of representation within 24 hours.’

Set in modern-day Tokyo and inspired by a true crime, the novel charts a young woman’s search for the truth about her mother’s life, and her murder. Told from alternating points of view and across the landscapes of Japan, Stephanie probes the thorny psychological and moral grounds of the actions we take in the name of love, asking where we draw the line between passion

and possession. Hailed by Louise Doughty, author of Platform Seven and Apple Tree Yard as ‘a brilliant debut,’ Woman and Home described it as ‘an exquisitely crafted masterpiece you’ll be pressing into the hands of others.’

Awarded a British Association of Japanese Studies Toshiba Studentship for her anthropological work on What’s Left of Me Is Yours, Stephanie was made a member of the British Japanese Law Association as a result of her research. Stephanie was runner up in the 2017 Bridport Prize novel award. stephaniescottauthor.com The closing date for this year’s Bridport Prize entries is 31st May. There’s £20K in prize money across the novel, short story, flash fiction and poetry genres. Judges include Elizabeth is Missing author, Emma Healey. Many writers say they almost didn’t enter the competition, but that being recognised has given them new found confidence and a belief in their writing they didn’t have before. So if you have a story to tell, give the Bridport Prize a try, it really could be you. bridportprize.org.uk bridport-arts.com

PETE MILLSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Portraits by

ATHALIA STEPHENS athaliart@hotmail.com 07967 743153 athaliastephens

petemillsonphotographer.uk 07768 077353 CREDIBLE PORTRAITS FOR PRESS / ARTS / COMMUNITY / COMMERCIAL bridporttimes.co.uk | 89

Literature

A KILLER WEEKEND Erin Kelly

Paddy Magrane, Lyme Crime

Lyme Crime, a brand new crime and thriller festival, was due to launch at Lyme Regis’ Marine Theatre at the end of June 2020. But along with hundreds of other arts and cultural events throughout the UK, it’s been forced to postpone until 2021. Festival director Paddy Magrane talks about the lure of crime fiction, the aims of the festival, and speaks to Erin Kelly, one of the authors who was due to appear.

In 2018, something momentous happened in the world of fiction – crime became the most popular adult genre for the first time ever in the UK. Today, it still reigns supreme. Crime fiction will likely have a large, dedicated section in your local bookshop (when it reopens), and dominate the shelves of your supermarket.

The country’s viewing habits tell the same story. Dramas like Broadchurch, Line of Duty, Happy Valley and Breaking Bad are compulsively watched and discussed, plot twists and turns dissected at water coolers across the nation.

Why the surge in popularity? Unlike literary fiction, crime puts plot, suspense and entertainment first, drawing the reader into the uniquely pleasurable experience of cracking a mystery. It also provides the answers that many of us crave, more so now than ever in these acutely uncertain times. And it allows us to feel fear – but in a controlled, safe way – as well as enjoy the 90 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Image: John Godwin

rush of adrenaline that inevitably comes as a pacey story builds to its conclusion.

With such an appetite for the genre, it’s little surprise that crime festivals have become hugely popular. For crime writers and readers, the much-loved Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate is a calendar highlight. There are also events in Bute, Norwich, Hull, Bristol, London, Newcastle, Stirling, Morecambe and elsewhere. Sadly, many of the festivals due to take place in 2020 have been forced to cancel or postpone, including the inaugural Lyme Crime, which was to launch in June. Crime fans will now have to wait until June 2021 for the opportunity to meet their favourite writers for a relaxed weekend of conversation, panels and book-signings in a beautiful setting by the sea.

Lyme Crime’s line-up for 2021 includes Luke Jennings, author of the Killing Eve novels, Alex Marwood, CL Taylor, Katerina Diamond, Mark Edwards, Mick Herron, Jason Goodwin and Erin Kelly.

Bestselling author of seven novels including He Said/ She Said – a Richard & Judy Club Thriller and a Sunday Times bestseller – Erin Kelly will talk about her latest novel, We Know You Know, previously published in

Paddy Magrane

hardback as Stone Mothers.

An unputdownable, exquisitely written thriller about dark secrets and the past's inexorable pull, We Know You Know centres on Marianne, a young woman who’s exploring an abandoned mental hospital with her boyfriend when they find some old medical notes about an escaped patient – someone they know. Someone they hate. Rather than destroy the records, Marianne and Jesse make a choice that will change three lives for decades, force them to lie to the people they love best, and end in murder.

‘The idea for the book came to me whilst jogging in north London,’ says Kelly. ‘I live near Colney Hatch, which used to be one of the largest and most famous asylums in England. It’s a vast place, wider than Buckingham Palace. I would run around it twice while waiting for my daughter to come out of her 40-minute ballet lesson. I was struck by how appalling it was that such a magnificent building with its macabre history had been turned into lots of beige show homes.’

A friend mentioned another abandoned asylum to Kelly. Here, notes of former patients hadn’t been destroyed but remained in filing cabinets to be discovered by trespassers. As Kelly pondered the

Image: Julia Mear

potential for blackmail, she realised she had the germ of an idea. ‘I wanted to tell a story that brought home the horrors of the asylum but also kept the suspense going until the final page.’

Kelly was a journalist for twenty years, but believes novels can be more effective vehicles than articles or blogs for generating discussion. ‘If you smuggle an issue into a book with twists and turns that is then shared at book clubs, suddenly you’ve got a talking point.’ So in addition to being a compelling page-turner, We Know You Know is also richly threaded with ideas and themes, including a sensitive exploration of motherhood and mental health. There are deeply moving descriptions of the appalling ways in which women were treated in asylums – admitted, more often than not against their will – and the brutal ‘cures’ that frequently led them to become institutionalised.

With a fair wind, Lyme Crime will finally launch in June 2021 and we hope Kelly will be there to speak about We Know You Know. In the meantime, why not get stuck into a crime novel? In unsettling times, a juicy whodunnit may just offer you the comfort you crave. lymecrime.co.uk bridporttimes.co.uk | 91

LOCKDOWN READING LIST

Literature

Antonia Squire, The Bookshop

New and noteworthy titles plus some personal faves at The Bookshop on South Street.

FICTION

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry

Faber & Faber, RRP £18.99 This extraordinary follow up to the 2016 Costa Award Winning Days Without End follows the life of the young Lakota Indian girl adopted by two US Army soldiers in the American Civil War. Raised on a farm in Tennessee

by Thomas and John, Winona has everything she needs to overcome the hardships and trauma of her past; love, stability and education. But when a new tragedy strikes their lives, Winona is left to use all the tools her adoptive fathers have given her to overcome.

Penguin Books, RRP £12.99 A plane crashes with 192 souls aboard. There is one survivor, a 12-year-old boy, whose recovery becomes a national obsession. Edward is just a boy who has experienced the unimaginable trauma of losing his parents and his brother to the crash; his aunt and uncle, childless, try to figure out how best to love, nurture and protect this boy while navigating their own grief. As the years pass, Edward discovers a box his uncle has been hiding from him; inside are letters from strangers, the people who also lost loved ones in the crash. Each one starts the same way: Dear Edward…

NON-FICTION

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal

Picador, RRP £8.99 Set in Victorian London during the time of the PreRaphaelite movement, a young woman agrees to become a model for a budding artist on the condition that he, in turn, teachers her to paint. As she delves deeper into the exciting world of art and poetry, Iris discovers how much more she is capable of beyond the life of service to her mother. Though, her story also becomes one of obsession as a strange collector of curiosities, by the name of Silas, decides that she would be the perfect addition to his collection. This dark and twisted drama has the rich life and colour of any Rossetti.

92 | Bridport Times | May 2020

Recollections of my Non-Existence by Rebecca Solnit

Granta Books, RRP £16.99 A brilliant memoir from thought-provoking activist and feminist Rebecca Solnit, author of the powerful essay Men Explain Things to Me amongst others. From her childhood in a violently abusive home to her training as a journalist and work in art galleries, Rebecca takes us through the winding past that has guided her journey to becoming one of the western world’s leading observers and a powerful voice for change.

SCIENCE FICTION/TEEN

Dean Atta Presents… The Black Flamingo Do you Dream of Terra Two by Temi Oh

Simon & Schuster, RRP £8.99 Brilliant children trained to become pioneers; the first to travel to a new world and trusted to build a new civilisation for humankind. For those that are chosen, their training will continue en route to Terra-Two. But all is not as it seems, with a terrifying accident taking the life of one of their own before the mission even launches. A new replacement struggles to integrate into the team and, as they travel across the solar system for a decades-long journey, their mission becomes far less clear. A brilliant, frightening and intense coming-of-age sci-fi thriller that you won’t want to put down!

Hachette Children’s Books, Teen, RRP £7.99 A stunning book from poet Dean Atta, The Black Flamingo is a triumphant fanfare, a tribal shout to haters and homophobes. The difficult path through childhood into teenage years sees Michael struggle with his identity and his place in society only to blossom in the most spectacular way whilst at university. After joining the Drag Society, Michael finds the self-confidence he needs to really express himself and that confidence comes in the shape of The Black Flamingo, Michael’s drag queen alter ego.

CHILDREN/TEEN The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Hachette Children’s Books, Teen, RRP £7.99

Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valour by Ally Carter

Hachette Children’s Books, Ages 8+, RRP £6.99 When orphan April accidentally sets fire to the Museum she assumes that she will be in terrible trouble. She never expects that she will be spirited away to a huge mansion where she, along with four other rather remarkable orphans, will be able to explore and experiment to their hearts’ content. Little does she know that danger lurks within the mysterious disappearance of Gabriel Winterborne – the millionaire orphan who set up Winterborne Home. It is up to April and her friends to discover what happened and eliminate the threat – but at what cost?

A feminist retelling of The Brides of Dracula, this beautifully gothic tale follows the fate of twin sisters coming of age during restless times. On their Divining Day, local mystic, Old Chirani, would look at the sisters’ palms and tell them what their futures would hold, but the ceremony never comes to fruition as their township is burned to the ground. Taken captive they are determined to escape, but dark forces are at work in more ways than one and the future looks very bleak for twins Kizzy and Lil.

Although The Bookshop is closed during the COVID-19 Lockdown, customers can browse the shop stock at dorsetbooks.com using the ‘Online Shop’ tab; search specific books through the website; or use the ‘contact us’ tab to request a specific title. bridporttimes.co.uk | 93

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APRIL SOLUTIONS

ACROSS 1. Disturb (8) 5. Soothe (4) 9. Cuban folk dance (5) 10. Rebuttal (7) 11. Variety of rummy (7) 12. Theme for a discussion (5) 13. Occurring in spring (6) 14. Sheep known for its wool (6) 17. Red cosmetic powder (5) 19. Frees from an obligation (7) 20. Rich sweet roll (7) 21. Form of oxygen found in the atmosphere (5) 22. Anxious; nervous (4) 23. Careless (8) 94 | Bridport Times | May 2020

DOWN 1. Irretrievable (13) 2. Type of conference (7) 3. Clearness (12) 4. Immature insects (6) 6. Greek writer of fables (5) 7. Spite (13) 8. Unofficially (3,3,6) 15. Make better (7) 16. Move back (6) 18. Exploiting (5)

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