Sherborne Times June 2017

J UNE 2017 | FREE

A MONTHLY CELEBR ATION OF PEOPLE, PLACE AND PURVEYOR

e Exclusiv er reader offLBEING

& WEL STYLE SHOP plus R O W K o at

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT with Fiona Gerardin of Bere Marsh Farm

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk

ner for tw WIN din ury Hotel b The East

WELCOME

T

he rain might be hammering down, but we won’t let that dampen our spirits. The grass is greener for it, so we turn up Laura Marling and make another pot of coffee.

Sipping on a fresh brew of Giles’s finest, sleeping dog at my side, I find myself thinking of Fiona Geradin’s young goats. Not fans of inclement weather, I imagine them huddled together in their barn, one big furry family on a bed of fresh straw. In a previous life, as director of a design agency across the border, we had a goat visit our offices when it rained.

‘Rosie’ would stand patiently at the door until one of us took pity and let her in. She’d then make herself at home – and we were happy to have her.

When the rain had passed, Rosie would be on her way. They’re fascinating creatures, goats, and I can see why Fiona has fallen for them in such a big way. We visit Fiona and her herd of boer x cashmeres at Bere Marsh Farm in Shillingstone, a tranquil, sprawling landscape and one steeped in history.

This month, Jo Denbury and Katharine Davies tell its tale.

Meanwhile, closer to home, we look forward to Sherborne’s inaugural Summer Festival, on Saturday 17th June at Purlieu Meadow, which promises to be quite an event. Congratulations are in order, too, to local retail royalty Thelma Drabik and her team at Melbury Gallery, who last month received the national award for Best Gift Retailer of Jewellery and Fashion Accessories 2017.

Have a great month.

Glen Cheyne, Editor editor@sherbornetimes.co.uk @sherbornetimes

CONTRIBUTORS Editorial and creative direction Glen Cheyne Design Andy Gerrard Sub-editor Julia Chadwick Photography Katharine Davies Feature writer Jo Denbury Print Pureprint Distribution team David Elsmore Christine Knott Sarah Morgan Alfie Neville-Jones Maggie Pelly Claire Pilley Geoff Wood Contact 01935 814803 07957 496193 @sherbornetimes editor@sherbornetimes.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk PO Box 9170 Sherborne DT9 9DW Sherborne Times is printed on Edixion Offset, an FSC® 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.

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that the data in this publication is accurate, neither Sherborne 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. Sherborne 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 Sherborne Times.

Additional photography: contributor's own, Shutterstock and iStock 4 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Sarah Attwood Thrive Health and Wellness @thrivehw thrivehealthwellness.co.uk Alex Ballinger @lexBallinger Simon Barber Evolver Magazine @SimonEvolver evolver.org.uk Simon Barker Knight Frank @kfsherborne knightfrank.co.uk

Peter Henshaw & Mike Riley Riley’s Cycles @rileyscycles rileyscycles.co.uk @DCNSherborne dcn.org.uk Mark Milbank Sherborne Scribblers Sarah Hitch The Sanctuary Beauty Rooms @SanctuaryDorset thesanctuarysherborne.co.uk

Councillor David Birley

James Hitchen Dorset Wildlife Trust @DorsetWildlife dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Richard Bromell ASFAV Charterhouse Auctioneers and Valuers @CharterhouseAV charterhouse-auction.com

Neil Holden Oxley Sports Centre @OxleySports oxleysc.com

Mike Burks The Gardens Group @TheGardensGroup thegardeneronline.co.uk

Nicky King The Eastbury Hotel & The Three Wishes @eastbury_hotel theeastburyhotel.co.uk thethreewishes.co.uk

Victoria Strode Mogers Drewett Solicitors @mogersdrewett md-solicitors.co.uk Gillian M Constable DWT Sherborne Group @DorsetWildlife dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk David Copp Jenny Dickinson Dear to Me Studio, Fine Stationery @DearToMeStudio deartome.co.uk Giles Dick-Read Reads Coffee Roasters @reads_coffee readscoffee.co.uk Jimmy Flynn Milborne Port Computers @MPortComputers computing-mp.co.uk Andrew Fort B.A. (Econ.) CFPcm Chartered MCSI APFS Fort Financial Planning ffp.org.uk Millie Furby The Slipped Stitch @ThSlippedStitch theslippedstitch.co.uk Paul Gammage & Anita Light EweMove Sherborne @ewemoveyeovil ewemove.com Janine Gates Sherborne Preparatory School @Sherborneprep sherborneprep.org Mark Greenstock Sherborne Literary Society sherborneliterarysociety.com

Colin Lambert colinlambert.co.uk Loretta Lupi-Lawrence The Sherborne Rooms sherbornerooms.com Sasha Matkevich The Green Restaurant @greensherborne greenrestaurant.co.uk Kitty Oakshott Upstairs Downstairs Interiors @updowninteriors updowninteriors.co.uk Lindsay Punch Lindsay Punch Styling @stylistmum lindsaypunchstyling.co.uk Dr Tim Robinson MB BS MSc MRCGP DRCOG MFHom Glencairn House Clinic glencairnhouse.co.uk doctortwrobinson.com Jane Somper Goldhill Organics @GoldhillOrganic goldhillorganics.co.uk Val Stones bakerval.com Reverend Jono Tregale St Pauls Church stpauls-sherborne.org.uk Wayne Winstone Winstone’s Books @winstonebooks winstonebooks.co.uk

56 8

What’s On

JUNE 2017 52 Gardening

104 Tech

18 Unearthed

56 FIONA GERARDIN

106 Directory

20 Shopping Guide

64 Food & Drink

110 Folk Tales

24 Wild Dorset

74 On Foot

112 Short Story

28 Family

76 Cycling

113 Literature Review

36 Pattern

79 Exclusive Reader Offer

114 Crossword

38 Film

80 Body & Mind

115 Pause for Thought

40 Interiors

93 Property

118 Councillor David Birley

50 Antiques

102 Finance www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 5

Luxury. Technology. Affordability.

£349 per month £999 customer deposit

Mead Ave

Yeovil Audi

Av e M ea d

Lu ft on W ay

e Western Av

Houndstone Business Park

Way Stourton

Houndstone Retail Park

fton Way Yeovil Audi. LuLook No Further.

Preston Rd

ASDA 6.3% APR Representative

When purchased on a Solutions Personal Contract Plan.

At the end of the agreement there are three options: i) retain the vehicle: pay the optional final payment to own the vehicle; ii) return the vehicle; or iii) replace: part exchange the vehicle, finance subject to status.

Offers available for vehicles ordered between 1st April 2017 and 30th June 2017. Further charges may be payable if vehicle is returned. Offers are not available in conjunction with any other offer and may be varied or withdrawn at any time. Available to 18’s and over. Subject to availability. Terms and conditions apply. Finance subject to status. Accurate at time of publication [May 2017]. Freepost Audi Finance. A6 Saloon 2.0 TDI SE Executive ultra, Duration 49 months, 48 monthly payments of £349.00, Customer Deposit £999.00, Yeovil Audi Deposit Contribution £8,421.76, Retail cash price

£349 per month £1,750 customer deposit

The new Audi A6 from just £349 per month.

The A6 range combines supreme luxury with cutting edge technology. One of the smoothest executive cars, the new A6 range features technology like Audi Drive Select, allowing you to adjust the characteristics of engine, transmission, steering and suspension at the touch of a button. And right now you can drive one away from Yeovil Audi from just £349 a month.

Perhaps affordability is the ultimate luxury.

Yeovil Audi Houndstone Business Park, Mead Avenue, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 8RT 01935 574981 yeovilaudi.co.uk  

£33,880.00, Acceptance fee £0.00, Optional final payment £12,397.50, Option to purchase fee £10.00, Total amount payable £37,581.26, Total amount of credit £25,458.24, Representative APR 4.8%, Rate of interest 4.84% (fixed). A6 Avant 2.0 TDI SE Executive, Duration 49 months, 48 monthly payments of £349.66, Customer Deposit £1,750.00, Yeovil Audi Deposit Contribution £9,000.00, Retail cash price £37,510.00, Acceptance fee £0.00, Optional final payment £13,941.25, Option to purchase fee £10.00, Total amount payable £41,484.93, Total amount of credit £26,760.00, Representative APR 4.8%, Rate of interest 4.84% (fixed). Ocean Automotive Ltd (t/a Yeovil Audi) acts as a credit broker and not a lender.

Images are shown for illustration purposes only. Official fuel consumption figures in mpg (l/100km) for the Audi range: Urban 16.1-65.7 (7.5-4.3), Extra Urban 30.4-83.1 (9.3-3.4), Combined 23.0-76.3 (12.3-3.7). CO2 emissions: 287-97g/km. Standard EU Test figures for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results. Optional wheels may affect emissions and fuel consumption figures.

WHAT'S ON Listings

Architecture, Gardens and

____________________________

Tea Culture

Tuesdays & Thursdays 10.30am

Digby Hall, Hound St, Sherborne.

Sherborne Town Walk 1½-2 hrs with Blue Badge Guide Cindy.

Tuesdays cover central Sherborne &

Thursdays cover upper Sherborne and

Saxon Hound Street. Both walks start from Sherborne TIC, Digby Rd. £5, 01935 815341 sherbornewalks.co.uk

____________________________

Suzanne Perrin presents a fascinating

in the church. Entry £2 (12 and under

go free) to include a lucky programme.

01300 345450

____________________________

look at Japanese architecture and

Sunday 11th 9.30am-11.30am

with its elegant rituals which are still

NetWALKING group

welcome. For further information visit:

Expand your business network, share

gardens as well as Japanese tea culture,

and Thursday 15th 6pm-7pm

widely admired today. New members are

Meet outside Oliver’s Coffee House.

sherborne-dfas.org.uk

ideas and gain inspiration through

____________________________

walking, talking and coaching. £5 per

person, contact hello@yourtimecoaching.com

Saturday 3rd and

Thursday 8th 7.30pm

Sunday 4th 2pm-6pm

Sherborne Gardeners Assoc.

Nether Compton Open Gardens

meeting and talk: Where our

Many beautiful gardens open in aid of

Favourite Plants Came From

Monday 12th 9.30am-3.30pm

church roof. Tea, plants and tickets for

West Country Embroiderers -

sale at village hall (£6 each - children free)

Digby Hall, Hound Street, Sherborne.

Frilly Flowers

____________________________

Talk by garden designer and planting

consultant, Marion Dale. £2 for visitors.

01935 389375

Digby Hall, Hound Street, Sherborne.

____________________________

We meet monthly on 2nd Monday of

each month, with an optional workshop,

Sunday 4th 11am-4pm Sherborne Steam & Waterwheel Centre Open Day

Friday 9th - Friday 30th 9.30am-

Oborne Road, Sherborne DT9 3RX. An

5pm

inc. the 26ft diameter waterwheel built

Katherine Swinfen Eady

____________________________

Sherborne. Open daily Monday to

extensive collection of Victorian engineering,

Exhibition of new work by

in 1869. 01935 816324 sswc.co.uk

The Jerram Gallery, Half Moon Street,

Monday 5th 7.30pm

Saturday. All gallery stock can be viewed

The Vicar’s Tale Memorial Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne

to express interest

____________________________

£15 booked in advance. New members

are welcomed. Details: Ann 01963 34696 ____________________________

online. 01935 815261 jerramgallery.com

____________________________

DT9 3NL. Talk by Revd Nelva Moss

Friday 9th 7pm for 7.30pm

how female ministers were first received.

Barnes, The Dorset Poet

Close. 01935 812452

A celebratory evening with The William

on how she came to be be ordained and

Life and Works of William

£5 from the Parish Office in the Abbey

Raleigh Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne.

____________________________

Barnes Society. Wine and canapés.

Wednesday 14th 7.30pm

or on the door

Memorial Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne

‘Tyneham & Slapton Sands’

Saturday 10th 1pm-4pm

Slessor Club, Long St, Sherborne. New

Glanvilles Wootton Fête

returns to India as an adult to find the

01935 851641 or david@covert-house.net

Sherborne DT9 5QE. Traditional village

Wednesday 7th June 10.15am Probus AGM with guest Rod Harris speaking on

Tickets £5 from Winstone’s Bookshop

Sherborne Artslink Flicks: Lion

____________________________

DT9 3NL. The true story of Saroo who

members welcome. Further information:

Church Farm, Glanvilles Wootton,

____________________________

fête with stalls (cake, books, bric-à-brac)

Wednesday 7th 2pm and 8pm Sherborne Decorative and Fine Arts Society - Japanese 8 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

parents he was separated from as a child.

Tickets £6 from Sherborne TIC. Pre-

film supper £12 sherborneartslink.org.uk

____________________________

games for all, raffle, BBQ, Pimms bar,

Friday 16th 6pm-9pm

festival and photography competition

Garden Party

tea, steel band, fun dog show, flower

Friends of the Yeatman Hospital

JUNE 2017 Corton Denham House. Open to Friends and their guests. Raffle. Preview garden at

Sherborne Castle. Entry online:

Weaving and Birdman

raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org

of Kingsbury

include first drink and light refreshments.

Monday 19th 7.30pm

Sherborne. A talk and demonstration

(or tel. 01305 361523 part time) to book.

Memorial Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne

Saturday 17th 12pm-11pm

Berners-Wilson, the first woman to

Saturday 24th 7.30pm

Church of England. £5 from the Parish

Spirit of England

cortondenhamhouse.co.uk Tickets £10 to Email admin@friendsoftheyeatman.org.uk

Sherborne Summer Festival Purlieu Meadow, Sherborne. Expect

medieval warfare, live music, longbows, fly-fishing, Artslink, a dinosaur, a

Catholic Church Hall, Westbury,

The Chaplain’s Tale DT9 3NL. Talk by Revd Preb. Angela

given by Maurice Fawcett. New

members and visitors always welcome.

____________________________

be ordained to the priesthood of the

Sherborne Chamber Choir:

Office. 01935 812452

Sherborne Abbey. Tickets £5-£16, under 18s free of charge, available

helicopter flypast and much more!

from Sherborne TIC, 01935 815341 sherbornechamberchoir.org.uk

Saturday 17th and

____________________________

Sunday 18th 2pm-6pm

Saturday 24th 2pm

Cerne Abbas Open Gardens

The King is Dead: the Royal

Approximately 25 private gardens will

Tombs of Great Britain

charities. Tickets £6, accompanied

Society, The Parade, Cheap Street,

be open, the proceeds will benefit local children free, tickets available in the

Somerset and Dorset Family History Sherborne. Dr Aidan Dodson will

car park (open from 11am) or in village

Monday 19th - Saturday 24th

stall. cerneopengardens.org.uk

A wide range of healthy living activities

square from 1pm. Tea, cake and a plant

explore the royal tombs of Great Britain

LiveWell Sherborne Week including free health checks, trial

training events, healthy eating and diet

programmes, exercise classes, Sherborne

walks and more around the town. 01305 233105 keith.harrison@dorsetccg.nhs.uk

which will include Sherborne Abbey.

Dr Dodson is a Senior Research Fellow in the department of Archaeology &

Anthropology at the University of Bristol.

Price: SDFHS Members: £8. Non-

members: £10. 01935 389611 sdfhs.org

____________________________

livewelldorset.co.uk

Saturday 24th 7.30pm

Race for Life 5k &

Wednesday 21st 2.30pm

Under Milk Wood

10k Cancer Research UK

W.I. Talk: Somerset Willow

Frampton Village Hall. Twenty four

Sunday 18th

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School -

Box Office:

01258 475137 Old Market Hill, Sturminster Newton, Dorset DT10 1FH

The Christians

Rhythm of The Dance

www.stur-exchange.co.uk

Live in concert.

The National Dance Company of Ireland.

Saturday 1st July, 8pm. Tickets £19

Sunday 16th July, 7.30pm. Tickets £22

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 9

WHAT'S ON hour peek into the lives and loves of the

Thursday 29th 7.30pm

Tuesdays and Thursdays

likes of Captain Cat, Polly Garter and

Sherborne School

7.30pm to 9.00pm

Willy Nilly has enthralled its audiences

Leaver’s Concert

Summer Evening Art for Adults

ever since its debut performance. 01300 320347. £10, £8 u18s artsreach.co.uk

Tindal Recital Hall, Sherborne. An

Wheelwright Studio, Thornford. Tutored

____________________________

evening of solo & ensemble performances.

Free event, followed by a drinks reception.

abilities and beginners. Pay as you go,

____________________________ Friday 30th 7.30pm Sherborne School: Gala Concert The Big School Room, Sherborne

School. Free event featuring the Concert

art with Ali Cockrean. Suitable for all £10 per session (tuition only) or £15

(materials included). Limited places.

Please call 07742 888302 or email

alicockrean@gmail.com. alicockrean.co.uk

____________________________

Orchestra, Radio Orchestra, Wind Band

The Slipped Stitch

____________________________

To book: call 01935 508249, email

and Chamber Orchestra. 01935 810518

Planning ahead…

The Julian, Cheap St, Sherborne.

info@theslippedstitch.co.uk, or online theslippedstitch.co.uk

Sunday 25th 3pm

____________________________

Wessex Strings Summer concert

Sunday 2nd July 10am

Children’s Workshops (6+) –

Cheap Street Church, Sherborne.

‘Paws in the Park’ - sponsored

Needle-felted Monsters £9

Programme includes Handel Concerto

dog walk for Weldmar Hospice

Saturday 3rd 10am-12pm

Grossi Op 6 No1, Mahler Adagietto

Spin Club with Jean £13

for Strings, Satie Gymnopedie Nos 1

Grounds of Sherborne Castle

Saturday 10th 10am-1pm

and 2, Parry An English Suite. Tickets

This walk is approximately five miles, taking you through beautiful open

Free-hand Machine

parkland and the deer park. To take part

Embroidery with Jessalli £25

in the dog walk, register online via the

Saturday 24th 10am-4pm

Weldmar website at www.weld-hospice.org.

Needle-felted Dormice

uk/paws or you can phone 01305 261800.

with Mary Jane £45

____________________________

Tuesday 27th 6.30pm-8.30pm

in advance £9 (includes tea afterwards)

from Sherborne TIC or £10 on the door.

18 years and under free

____________________________ Wednesday 28th 7.30pm Biofuels: Fuelling the Raleigh Hall, Sherborne. Science Café

Workshops and classes

____________________________

____________________________

Future or Big Fraud?

Talk by Professor David Read.

Friday 2nd 10am-2pm

Improvers Crochet with Holly – Crochet Blocks £20 Plus Knit and Natter runs every Tuesday and Thursday 10am-12pm. ____________________________

A NOIR CRIME THRILLER “Buy this book, read this book, love this book.

They don’t write books like this anymore.”

- Mr N. N. Light “... a fantastic read...the pace is relentless...”

- David Shearer

BEAUTIFUL BOOKS PERFECTLY PUBLISHED 10 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Go Fast is available in local bookshops including Winstone Books and online at: www.ratstales.co.uk

JUNE 2017 Saturday 3rd 10am-4pm

arrangements. Suitable for all levels and

Pannier Market

the door/£25 for 3 consecutive workshops.

____________________________

all instruments. £10 in advance/£12 on

The Parade

laurelswift.co.uk Julia: 01935 817905

Thursday mornings 9.15am-11.15am

____________________________

Country Market

exploring shibori and natural dyeing.

Thursday 15th 7.30pm-10pm

Church Hall, Digby Road

01935 815899. sherborneartslink.org.uk Tuesday 6th 7.30pm-10pm

versatile wardrobe with the best clothing

Farmers’ Market

your natural features, whilst giving you a

____________________________

ArtsLink Naturally Dyed Silk Scarves with Shibori workshop Digby Hall, Hound St, Sherborne. Join Annabel Wilson for a full day class

£70 or £60 (Friends rate) from ArtsLink

Colour Analysis Class with Lindsay Punch

Every third Friday in

____________________________

Sherborne Venue. Learn how to build a

each month 9am-1pm

and make-up colours to complement

Cheap Street

youthful glow. £40 - price includes colour

Every fourth Saturday (exc. April

co.uk or call 07969 557004 to book

Saturday Antiques & Flea Market

Shape & Style Class with Lindsay Punch Sherborne Venue. Avoid making

expensive mistakes by discovering the best styles to suit your figure, lifestyle

and budget info@lindsaypunchstyling.co.uk or call 07969557004 to book. £30

____________________________

swatch. Email info@lindsaypunchstyling.

and December), 9am-4pm

____________________________

Church Hall, Digby Road

____________________________

____________________________

Fairs and Markets

Friday 9th 9.30am-4.30pm

____________________________

Antiques & Collectors’ Fair

Style Matters to Body & Mind

Thursdays and Saturdays

Memorial Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne,

The Eastbury Hotel, Sherborne.

Saturday 10th 10am-4pm

Lindsay Punch, Image Consultant,

and Anne-Marie Walby, Lifestyle &

Business Coach, are here to help inspire you to become your best self, improve

confidence, have more energy and find

more balance and joy in your day-to-day life. Email info@lindsaypunchstyling.co.uk or call 07969 557004 to book (See our Exclusive Reader Offer on page 75)

____________________________ Saturday 10th 10am-4pm ArtsLink Ink Drawing Workshop Digby Hall, Hound St, Sherborne.

Join Diana Pilcher for a full day class exploring the versatility of ink as a

medium and extend your drawing and

painting skills with brush or pen. £55 or

£45 (Friends rate) from ArtsLink 01935 815899. www.sherborneartslink.org.uk

____________________________ Sunday 11th 1.30pm–4.30pm Sherborne Folk Band workshop Digby Memorial Hall, Digby Road,

Summer Evening Art for Adults

Tutored art with Ali Cockrean Suitable for all abilities and beginners Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7.30pm to 9.00pm Wheelwright Studio, Thornford Pay as you go £10 per session (tuition only) or £15 (materials included) Limited places.

Please call 07742 888302 or email alicockrean@gmail.com www.alicockrean.co.uk

Sherborne DT9 3NL. Learn to play folk

tunes by ear, experiment with chords and www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 11

WHAT'S ON ____________________________ DT9 3NL. 1000s of collectables,

Sherborne Cricket Club

for everyone. Free entry. 01749 677049

Dorset League Premier

antiques and crafts. An old fashioned fair

Terraces, Gainsborough Hill DT9 5NS

westcountrycraftfairs.co.uk

Matches start at 1pm

____________________________

____________________________

Saturday 10th 10.30am-3.30pm

Saturday 3rd

The Handmade Fair

Wimborne & Colehill v

Digby Hall, Hound St, Sherborne. Quality

Sherborne

goods by local artisans. kcgirl@live.co.uk

____________________________

____________________________

Saturday 10th

Saturday 17th 9.30am-4pm

Sherborne v Shillingstone

Bookfair

____________________________

Memorial Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne

Saturday 17th

antiquarian books. 01803 613356

____________________________

DT9 3NL. New, second-hand and

Swanage v Sherborne

colinbakerbooks@btinternet.com

Saturday 24th

____________________________

Sherborne v Martinstown

Saturday 24th 8.30am-3.30pm

____________________________

Vintage Market Memorial Hall, Digby Road,

Sherborne. 30+ sellers of quality

____________________________

____________________________

Compton Park, Over Compton, Sherborne

vintage items. 07809 387594

Sport ____________________________

Compton House Cricket Club Dorset League Division 2 Matches start at 1.30pm

____________________________

Every Tuesday and Thursday

Saturday 3rd

7.30pm–8.30pm

Compton House v

Mixed Touch Rugby

Ferndown Wayfarers

Sherborne School Floodlit Astroturf, Ottery

____________________________

per session, first four sessions free. For more

Cranborne v Compton House

Jimmy on 07887 800803

Saturday 17th

Lane. DT9 6EE. Novices very welcome. ÂŁ2

Saturday 10th

details go to sherbornetouch.org or call

____________________________

____________________________

Compton House v Witchampton ____________________________ Saturday 24th

To include your event in our FREE listings, please send details (in approximately 20 words) to advertising@ sherbornetimes.co.uk 12 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Shillingstone 2nds v Compton House ____________________________

JUNE 2017

Children

In association with sherborneparents.com. Please share your recommendations and contacts via facebook.com/Sherborne-Parents or email mail@sherborneparents.com ____________________________

____________________________

Fridays 10.30am-11am

Wednesdays 10am-10.45am

Rhyme Time under 2s

Aquatots Leweston School Pool

Sherborne Library

Parents and toddlers, 3 months to 3

Babies and toddlers under 2 with their

parents and carers. Sharing nursery rhymes, action songs, musical instruments and

years. No need to book. £3.50. 01963

210783 or email office@leweston.dorset.sch.uk ____________________________

board books. It is fun, interactive and noisy!

Sunday 4th 12pm-10pm

____________________________

Bradford Abbas Sports Club

1st Saturday of the month

Charity Event

10.30am-12pm

Family friendly fundraising event for Breast

Sticky Church Cheap Street Church Hall. FREE

group for playgroup and primary school age children - making, stories and

Cancer Care. Music, stalls, face painting, cake sale, tarot reading, mega raffle, and much more! Under 14s free, adults £2

____________________________

singing. 01963 251747

____________________________

DAYS OUT & HOLIDAYS with TAYLORS COACH TRAVEL Day Trips ____________________________

____________________________

Dunster & Minehead Railway

Stratford on Avon & Boat Trip

Sunday 18th June

Saturday 15th July

Adult £28.00, Club £26.00

Adult £32.50, Club £30.50

Bombay Sapphire Distillery Tour

Houghton Lodge & Gardens

Saturday 24th June

Saturday 22nd July

Adult £30.00, Club £28.00

Adult £34.00, Club £32.00

____________________________

____________________________ Padstow & Port Isaac

____________________________

____________________________

Saturday 24th June

Holidays

2017 Day Trips & Excursions

Adult £21.50, Club £19.50

____________________________

brochure now available. To join

____________________________

Italy – Lake Como

our mailing list for our 2017

Bicton Botanical Gardens

8 Days

brochure call the office now!

Sunday 2nd July

7th – 14th October

Adult £19.00, Club £17.00

From £765.00 per person

01935 423177

____________________________

____________________________

www.taylorscoachtravel.co.uk

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 13

PREVIEW In association with

THE WESSEX ARTS AND CULTURE GUIDE

Twelfth Night Sunday 25th June, 7pm (refreshments from 6pm) Maumbury Rings, Dorchester DT1 1QN. dorchesterarts.org.uk Widely acclaimed for their magical open-air productions,

Before long, chaos ensues as mistaken identity, love, pride

Rain or Shine Theatre Company are sure to delight with

and alcohol set a host of much-loved characters on a series of

hilarious cross-dressing comedy Twelfth Night, as they

pompous steward and fools galore abound in one of William

their production of Shakespeare’s cross-gartered and

transport you to a land where nothing is quite what it seems.

An ideal choice for family audiences from 6 to 96, the

production is the first of this year’s Dorchester Arts outdoor theatre events, bringing classical theatre to Dorchester’s Maumbury Rings on Sunday 25th June.

“What country, friends, is this?” Have you ever found

yourself in a strange place, surrounded by strange people, taking extraordinary measures to find your way? That’s the situation

in which Viola finds herself, when, shipwrecked and separated from her brother, she sets foot upon Illyria’s sandy shore. Lost and alone, she disguises herself as a man and sets forth.

14 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

hilarious adventures. Hopeless romantics, drunken knights, a

Shakespeare’s most celebrated comedies. “If music be the food of love, play on!”

Don’t forget to bring along low-backed seating or rugs, and

a picnic to maximise enjoyment of the al fresco performance.

Tickets are £12 full price, or £10 for members of Dorchester

Arts, under-18s or those on low income, or £35 for a family

ticket (maximum 2 adults) and are available from the Dorchester Arts box office on 01305 266926, in person at the Corn

Exchange (weekdays 10am-4pm) or via dorchesterarts.org.uk

evolver.org.uk

DORSET LETTINGS ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF AN EXCITING NEW RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SALES DIVISION Over the last 30 years, Dorset

Lettings has established a reputation for Integrity, Expertise and Service Excellence; a company you can trust.

In response to the evolving property market, Dorset Lettings is making some significant changes to its business.

From 1 April, we will be offering a full residential property sales service to the same exacting standards as our core lettings and property management services. To accommodate the new service, Dorset Lettings will change its name to Dorset Property.

NEW NAME, NEW SERVICE, SAME OUTSTANDING COMPANY VALUES The market is changing:  A new property investor market has evolved from the expansion of the Buy-to-Let sector The emergence of internet-only  agents offering a basic property listing service.

Dorset Lettings is evolving to meet the needs of the changing market.

We will offer more choice… a better more flexible service:  • An efficient, competitively priced basic sales service • An added-value full estate agency service offering real value for money.

How will the new service be different?

In short, by applying Dorset Lettings integrity and service standards to the new residential service:  Following industry best practice   Providing honest expert  professional advice. (Less scrupulous agents often over value properties to win business).  Fair competitive pricing to offer  real value  Being pro-active – pursuing all  opportunities, taking prompt action, being attentive to detail and providing regular communication  Always acting with integrity in  the customer’s best interest  By being dedicated to providing  the best service in Dorset  Our priority is to sell your  property not just list it.

Dorset Property will pursue two potential sources of buyer:  Traditional house buyers  Property investors, including  exclusive access to Dorset Lettings database of some 1500 landlords.

EVOLVING TO MEET CHANGING MARKET CONDITIONS

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We’re dedicated to being the best at what we do, for you.

UNEARTHED TILLY MUNDAY, AGED 12 Sherborne Cricket Club and The Gryphon School

A

s the new cricket season gets underway and the evenings echo to the sound of ball on bat, a diverse group of Youth players from Sherborne Cricket Club (SCC) are setting out on a journey of discovery. One of these players is Tilly Munday, who is one of a growing number of girls taking up the sport and has been playing at the club for several seasons. She first started playing at Buckland Newton Primary School, where her ability was first spotted by teaching assistant and SCC coach Caroline Durston.

As her game developed, Tilly was selected to train in the senior girls’ programme at North Dorset alongside other District and current County players. This season will see her play as part of the club’s U13 team. Also a keen rugby player, Tilly is bereft come June and the cricket season offers a well-timed antidote. Tilly is happiest when she’s busy, filling her spare time with dance, youth club, dog-walking and helping her conservationist mum maintain the family’s wildlife garden. Somehow, her mum assures me, Tilly still finds time for all the schoolwork that comes with being 12!

Sherborne Cricket Club welcomes all players in the Youth and Seniors sections. The Youth currently train on a Friday evening; U9 from 5pm-6pm,U11/U13 and girls from 6pm-7pm. All equipment is supplied. This season will see the new ECB ‘AllStarsCricket’ at the club, for five- to eight-year-olds from Saturday 20 May. To register go to ecb.co.uk/play/all-stars or for more information email sherbornecricketclub@outlook.com.

KATHARINE DAVIES PHOTOGRAPHY Portrait, lifestyle, PR and editorial commissions 07808 400083 info@katharinedaviesphotography.co.uk www.katharinedaviesphotography.co.uk

18 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

THE SEARCH FOR INCOME

Many of us invest to generate an income.

But in a world of lower investment returns, how do you create the right long-term plan that balances your income needs with the risks you are prepared to take?

The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise.You may get back less than you invested.

For more information about investing for income, contact:

PETER HARDING WEALTH MANAGEMENT Principal Partner Practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management Email: peterhardingwm@sjpp.co.uk Web: www.peterhardingwm.co.uk 40 High Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 8JG 9 Cheap Street, Sherborne, DT9 3PU

Tel: 01747 855554 Tel: 01935 315315

The Partner Practice represents only St. James’s Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of advising solely on the Group’s wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out on the Group’s website www.sjp.co.uk/products. The title ‘Partner Practice’ is the marketing term used to describe St. James’s Place representatives.

Peter Harding Wealth Management is a trading name of Peter Harding Practice Ltd. H2SJP25277 03/17

Fascinator, £125 (Perri Ashby)

Necklace, £35 (Abbey Brides)

Cake topper, £36.95 (Filigrana Cakes)

BRIDE AND JOY Jenny Dickinson, Dear To Me Studio

With wedding season in full swing, the independent shops of Sherborne can help with those all-important details to help create the perfect day deartomestudio.com 20 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Teapot, £45 (The Circus)

Belt, £105; and tiara, £98 (Abbey Brides)

Confetti, £5 (The Circus)

Baron de Marck Champagne, £26.99 (Vineyards)

Champagne flutes, £60 (Almondburys)

Wedding book, £19 (The Circus) www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 21

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

AIR DAY

ROYAL NAVAL AIR STATION YEOVILTON SATURDAY 8 JULY 2017

AT THE BESPOKE GIN HOUSE, NEWTON SURMAVILLE, YEOVIL First event 7th July 2017ENTRY BY TICKET ONLY cost £40 per person, TO INCLUDE 3 COURSE MEAL AND LIVE MUSIC. FOR FURTHER DETAILS, DATES AND TICKET SALES PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE

A SPECTACULAR FAMILY DAY OUT!

SAVE WITH ADVANCE TICKETS

TICKET LINE 0330 100 3656

Advance Ticket Prices: Adult 16+ yrs £22 (£28), Child 5-15 yrs inc £7 (£10), Child U5 Free Please quote ‘RP’ when booking. Tickets also available from Sherborne information Centre.

BOOK NOW at royalnavy.mod.uk/yeovilton-airday

Robbie Williams Tribute Night Friday June 23rd

£35 per person Price includes Dinner & Disco The fun starts at 7.30pm for 8.00pm Pre-booking essential Why not stay the night?

B&B £80.00 per room George Albert Hotel Wardon Hill, Evershot, Nr. Dorchester, Dorset DT2 9PW Tel: 01935 483430 www.gahotel.co.uk 22 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

THE DORSET OPERA

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26, 28, 29 July at 19:00 Sung in French with English surtitles

Le Comte Ory Gioachino Rossini A light-hearted rom-com

25, 27 July at 19:00 MatinĂŠe 29 July at 14:00 Sung in French with English surtitles

Coade Theatre Bryanston Blandford Forum DT11 0PX

Box Office: 01202 499199 | Online Booking: dorsetopera.com

Wild Dorset

RETURN OF THE LADYBIRD SPIDER

T

James Hitchen, Warden, Dorset Wildlife Trust

he success story of the endangered ladybird spider returning to Dorset is one to give us all hope for the recovery of declining species. This wonderful, tiny spider has come back from the brink of extinction, despite being awarded the title of ‘Britain’s most elusive spider’ by Guinness World Records.

First recorded in the UK in 1816 with populations restricted to Dorset heaths, the ladybird spider was thought to be extinct in the UK for over 70 years. In 1979 a small colony was rediscovered and, thanks to conservationist Dr Peter Merrett, this isolated colony was brought back from extinction. The fate of these spiders still hung in the balance as numbers dropped to just seven during a heather beetle infestation in 1982.

In 1993 the last remaining ladybird spider population was recovering and stable at 60 spiders, but concerns over their vulnerability by a chance event, such as fire, led to the decision to translocate them to a new site.

Thanks to the success of the translocation, there are now over 1,000 ladybird spiders across 13 locations in South Dorset, including DWT’s Tadnoll and Winfrith nature reserves.

Ladybird spiders live underground in silk-lined burrows and are notoriously hard to see. They construct a canopy web over the burrow entrance to which they attach trip wires. When the trap is sprung, the spider bites through the canopy and drags its prey – mainly beetles – back to its lair. Besides eating, the other best time to see the male is when they emerge from their burrows to mate. Attracted to the female’s burrow by her pheromones, mating is a risky business for the male – if he is not quick enough or too tired, the considerably larger female will eat him!

The story behind the survival of these fascinating spiders is a great conservation success, demonstrating that conservation methods and management can reap wonderful results for wildlife.

THREE FACTS • As part of the translocation process, ladybird spiders are captured and then humanely overwintered in individual terrariums.

• This is the first year DWT has captured spiders from our own sites – the first step in spider sufficiency!

• Relatively long-lived, the males are sexually mature at 3+ years and the females 4-5 years.

dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk 24 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Image: Male ladybird spider Š James Hitchen www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 25

Wild Dorset

SHERBORNE DWT

I

Gillian M. Constable

n April, the Sherborne DWT group had its first field meeting of 2017. In September last year Nicky Hoar spoke to the group about the Great Heath Project. Nicky is DWT interpretation officer for the project and, on a pleasant spring morning, she led our walk on Upton Heath Nature Reserve, part of the Great Heath. Upton Heath is home to all the British reptile species but sadly only some of the group saw one rapidly departing common lizard. We were successful with one of the heath’s special bird species, the dartford warbler.

One progressed along the top of a series of gorse bushes and everyone had good views. We were told that in the summer another special bird to see there is the nightjar.

The walk enabled us to get the feel of the western side of the heath. The eastern edge is formed in part by the Castleman Trailway, a 16.5-mile route for walkers and cyclists. If you plan to discover this area Nicky says the best source for the latest information about the wildlife, as well as maps and details of three circular walks on Upton Heath, is the DWT website.

A recent copy of the journal ‘British Wildlife,’ under the general heading of Classic Wildlife Sites, has a paper entitled ‘Chesil Beach and the Fleet.’

This area is described as having remarkable wildlife, 26 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

geology and landscape. DWT owns some of the area and has a centre at Chesil Beach. The centre is open daily from 10am-5pm and organises various walks and other events and activities over the summer, including boat trips on the Fleet Explorer, catering for all ages.

Do take advantage of these events to get to know this remarkable area better.

The Portland Bird Observatory website reports that April was the best month ever for records of returning willow warblers; in the observatory garden they ringed 1699 during the month. This exceeds most previous annual totals, with no increase in the amount of effort.

I hope some head our way, since the song of the willow warbler is one I particularly miss when out walking.

Some 30 years ago they, like many species, were very much an accompaniment to a country walk. Over recent years on local walks we seem to have heard more nightingales and not just at Alners Gorse Butterfly Reserve, though in mid-April we heard three singing at Alners in daylight. We also saw a handsome male common redstart on that walk; this is another species whose numbers have fallen. dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Would you like to help us write about international property?

We are looking for bloggers and article producers to help create super-engaging content for our blog and social media

Business Development & Marketing Manager Elementum is an independent publisher of nature writing based in Sherborne. We launched in 2016 and are now looking to diversify and expand both in the UK and internationally.

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We’re looking for a Business Development & Marketing Manager to join our team at this exciting time. For more information please email: careers@elementumjournal.com

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EDITORIAL ASSISTANT (Freelance, 15 hours per week)

In response to our continued organic growth and ongoing commitment to produce a local publication of high production values, integrity and substance, we are seeking a talented Editorial Assistant.

You will support the editorial team in all aspects of bringing a monthly publication to fruition. You will be articulate, IT proficient, highly organised and detail oriented to the point of obsession. Working to very tight deadlines, you will co-ordinate schedules, provide administrative assistance and liaise directly with writers, photographers, advertisers and designers.

Please send your CV in the first instance to editor@sherbornetimes.co.uk Closing date 30th June 2017 www.sherbornetimes.co.uk www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 27

Family

COLOURING PAGE

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 29

Family

THE HISTORIANS OF TOMORROW

Janine Gates, Head of History, Sherborne Preparatory School

I

have always been fascinated by history – I enjoy nothing more than delving into the intricacies of an era and trying to understand events and decisions in context. This is in spite of the fact that in my schooldays, teaching was mostly concerned with memorising dates and facts. I often speak to adults who are less than passionate about the subject due, in most part, to the way in which they were taught. All too often I have heard people say, “History is so boring, so irrelevant to me.” On the contrary, as the historian Penelope Corfield has said, “History is inescapable.” It informs everything about the world around us, from the wider picture of why and how we are governed, to the smaller picture of how Sherborne became what it is today!

History is no longer a ‘stuffy’ subject for a Tuesday afternoon, wholly concerned with remembering dates and places and reciting them by rote. It is a far more dynamic and exciting experience, full of enquiry and investigation. These days, history as a subject is all encompassing. It has long been an accepted fact that art, literature and history go hand in hand, but history can also be viewed somewhat scientifically, particularly when contemplating causation. Newton’s Third Law states that, ‘for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction’; in history, every action certainly has a reaction. It may not be equal or opposite, but it definitely helps students understand that nothing can happen in isolation. There are always causal factors leading to an event and, along with their consequences, it is these causal elements that must be analysed if a comprehensive understanding of history is ever to be achieved.

Pupils at Sherborne Preparatory School are encouraged to question, to test the evidence. They become detectives, able to interrogate source material, recognise propaganda, identify bias and acknowledge

30 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

the intricacies of interpretation. Our children also learn through a variety of traditional and interactive techniques. Debates, re-enactments, specialist discussions and visits are all part of the rich programme of the history department. Our ethos is to inspire students to enjoy history, to make it interesting and more than just another subject, to ignite their interest and then fan the flames until they turn to passion. So far we have been lucky enough to enjoy much success doing this – and long may it continue!

Recently in our Horrible Histories Club, whilst learning about ancient Egyptian culture and beliefs, we have been busy making canopic jars. It has been a pleasure to see how excited the pupils have been about the topic. We are also looking forward to our very own History Festival. On this day we will be joined by members of the English Civil War Society, who will be putting pupils through their paces via pike drills and demonstrating shooting muskets, as well as giving an interactive demonstration of what it was like to live in Stuart England. Throughout the day, pupils will take part in many other history-themed activities and the festivities will finish with a medieval jousting tournament.

I very much hope that bringing history alive for our children will give them a strong grasp and interest in the subject throughout their lives. Perhaps those who are lucky enough to go on to become leaders of tomorrow will stop, think and look to history books to ponder the outcomes of previous decisions taken in the boardroom, on the battlefield, or by governments – and possibly avoid the same mistakes. After all, in the words of Winston Churchill, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” sherborneprep.org

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 31

happy enthusiastic independent

For more information or to arrange a visit please contact the Registrar Aurora Mercer 01935 810911/registrar@sherborneprep.org/www.sherborneprep.org

30 Days Wild Improve your health and happiness and do something wild every day in June

Sign up: www.mywildlife.org.uk/30dayswild 32 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

DORSET WILDLIFE TRUST Photos Š Jane Adams, Katharine Davies, Christine Endicott

Family

Children’s Book Review

Wayne Winstone, Winstone’s Books, Independent Bookshop of the Year 2016

The Hypnotist by Laurence Anholt (Corgi Childrens) £7.99. Ages 12 + Exclusive Sherborne Times reader offer price of £6.99 at Winstone’s Books Officially endorsed by

I

n the dead of night, Pip is plucked from an orphanage and hired as a farm hand. But Pip is black. The farmer and his wife are white. And this is 1960s America, where race defines you.

Jack Morrow has left his native Ireland, dreaming of a new life in the American Deep South. He has certain skills that he mostly keeps hidden. Skills in hypnotism and mind control…

Pip’s and Jack’s lives become inextricably linked, as the heat of racial tension builds to a terrifying storm.

Part thriller, part love story, this extraordinary debut novel looks at where life can take you when your expectations are great.

Compelling stories for curious minds

"The Hypnotist explores what it is to be kind, to be curious, to love and to express yourself – to be human, in other words – in the face of intense racial and sexual bigotry, cruelty and violence. It’s a passionate, important novel.”

Amnesty International Laurence and Catherine Anholt have three grown-up children – an artist, an actor and a United Nations worker – and twin grandchildren. They live in a rambling house above the sea in Devon. winstonebooks.co.uk anholt.co.uk

'Independent Bookseller of the Year 2016’ 8 Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3PX www.winstonebooks.co.uk Tel: 01935 816 128

Family

FARMS AND DIVORCE

Victoria Strode, Head of Department & Associate Solicitor, Mogers Drewett

A

farm can be one of the most treasured family assets. In a great many cases, the farming way of life will have been passed down through generations and the farm will often form the hub of generations of family history.

However, when farming couples divorce after a long marriage, all assets are placed into one ‘matrimonial pot.’ The assets are then divided so as to achieve equality. This can include the family farm. The Court will consider the need to rehouse both parties and, when there are children involved, the Court will want to ensure that they are rehoused in an adequate property.

When there is no liquid capital, the Court will have to consider whether it is necessary to sell the farm. Obviously, many families will want to prevent this from happening.

In the event of divorce, farms can be more complicated than other assets.

They are often inherited by one party prior to a marriage and can be owned by various members of a family. As such, there can be other parties’ rights and interests to consider. Additionally, many farmers will want the asset to be retained, because it generates their income.

It is usually necessary to have the farm valued and then assess the financial situation as a whole. This will enable a solicitor to determine whether a settlement can be reached without the need to sell the whole or parts of the farm.

It is possible to come to constructive solutions without recourse to the Court. If parties are able to enter into negotiations, then the complexity of the farm can be considered and flexible solutions can be reached.

Furthermore, many of these issues can be prevented if the parties enter into a pre-nuptial agreement before they get married. It is also possible to come to a similar agreement during the marriage; this is known as a postnuptial agreement. The agreements create the opportunity to discuss what would happen to the family farm in the event of separation and can be very persuasive when coming to a financial settlement. This can also prevent lengthy solicitor negotiations or Court proceedings at a later date. md-solicitors.co.uk

34 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

FAMILY MEDIATION SERVICES Relationship breakdown is inevitably a difficult time for all involved. Choosing a constructive way to resolve any issue arising from a separation can help make the process easier.

With the assistance of a trained specialist, Mediation allows a couple the security and space to have discussions, with the aim of reaching joint decisions that meet your family’s needs.

If you would like more information please contact: VICTORIA STRODE ASSOCIATE SOLICITOR

T 0800 533 5349

Bath: 01225 750000 Sherborne: 01935 813691 Wells: 01749 342323 Email: vstrode@md-solicitors.co.uk

ON YOUR SIDE. AT YOUR SIDE md-solicitors.co.uk

Family

CROCHET FLOWER Millie Furby, The Slipped Stitch

T

his year Sherborne in Bloom is going national and, to celebrate, I have designed a knitted and crochet flower for you to make. At The Slipped Stitch, we are creating a floral display using knitted and crocheted flowers in purple, pink, blue and white – this year’s Sherborne in Bloom colours. If you would like to help, you can drop flowers off with us up until 30th June, or join us any time on Saturday 24th June to make some together. The flowers will be sold off for a donation that will go to Sherborne in Bloom for the beautiful flowers across the town next year.

You will need:

A small amount of yellow for the centre of the flower (C) 25g King Cole Dolly Mix DK main colour (M) 4mm hook Sewing up needle Abbreviations

sl-st – slip stitch, ch – chain, dc – double crochet, tr – treble crochet, dtr – double treble crochet Using C, make a slip knot. Make 4ch and join with a sl-st Round 1: 1 ch, 9 dc in to ring, sl-st to join. Fasten off.

Round 2: Petals.

Join M colour in any dc from previous round.

(3 ch, 1dtr, 1 tr) in next stitch, 1dc in next stitch. * (1tr, 1dtr, 1tr) in next stitch, 1dc, Rep from * 3 more times Sl-st to join. Fasten off.

Weave in ends.

36 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Knitted Flower You will need:

25g King Cole Dolly Mix DK 4mm needles Sewing up needle Button for centre Abbreviations

Kfb – knit into front and back of stitch, k – knit, k2tog – knit 2 together, s1 – slip 1 stitch, psso – pass slipped stitch over Petals – Make 5 Cast on 3 stitches.

Row 1&2: Knit all stitches Row 3: Kfb, K1, Kfb (5sts) Row 4: K Row 5: Kfb, k3, kfb (7 sts) Row 6: k Row 7: kfb, k5, kfb (9 sts) Rows 8-10: K Row 11: k2tog, k to last 2 stitches, k2tog Rows 12 – 14 K Repeat rows 11 – 14 until 3 sts remain.

Next row: s1, k2tog, psso.

Fasten off.

Weave in ends. Join all 5 petals together in the centre and sew a button on. theslippedstitch.co.uk

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Summer Fun Both adults and children are invited to enjoy the use of Leweston’s extensive grounds and facilities this summer

SUMMER CLUB

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10 July - 30 August

24 July - 25 August

Enjoy membership of Leweston’s Summer Club with access to the swimming pool, tennis courts and extensive grounds – perfect for family bike rides and picnics

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So many activities available including swimming, team sports and accredited Forest School

NEW Inflatable sessions running from Friday 11 August - Sunday 27 August in the school pool (booking essential)

Beautiful baby clothes and gifts

Details and bookings via

www.leweston.co.uk

Open 9-5 Monday to Saturday 41 Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3PU Call 01935 816111 | natasha@gingerandpickle.co.uk

www.gingerandpickle.co.uk www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 37

Film

THE 1905 SHERBORNE PAGEANT FILM “The mother of all pageants.”

Alexander Ballinger, Film Writer

A

few months ago I was moseying around Sherborne’s splendid museum (sherbornemuseum.co.uk) when I came across a digital photo gallery in one of its ground-floor rooms.

Scrolling through a treasure trove of visual material I was held spellbound by eight minutes of blurry blackand-white 35mm motion picture film. Remarkably, the Sherborne Pageant of June 1905 had just come to life in front of me. I had to find out more.

The Sherborne Pageant was the vision of composer, playwright and polymath Louis Napoleon Parker, whose multi-faceted career – outlined in his picaresque and entertaining autobiography Several of My Lives – started at Sherborne School in the 1870s. Returning as pageant master in 1904, the indefatigable Parker threw himself into writing, scoring, choreographing and orchestrating 38 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

a history of the town “expressed in dramatic form,” from its “remotest origins to a date not too near the present.”

This folk play – made up of eleven historical episodes, a closing tableau and grand march-past – celebrated 1,200 years of Sherborne’s history since its foundation by St Aldhelm in 705 AD. Under the directorship of the ubiquitous Parker, who was an eminent Wagnerian, it would become his Gesamtkunstwerk. The cast was made up from 900 local men, women and children, with cloth costumes and props the responsibility of each; plus fifty handsome horses in heraldic finery, all set in the seven-acre site of Sherborne’s ruined old castle. 30,000 people attended its seven performances, sitting in or standing around the vast grandstand built specially for purpose and most of the Dorsetshire constabulary was on hand to

With thanks to Barbara Elsmore

oversee the event.

Luckily for me, and generations of Sherbornites, The Charles Urban Trading Company sent its top cameramen to film the pageant dress rehearsal free of charge. The resulting 17 minutes of footage can be viewed in Gerald Pitman’s documentary Mother of All Pageants, produced by the Windrose Rural Media Trust (windroseruralmedia.org). Fulsome descriptions of each episode appear in Cecil P. Goodden’s The Story of the Sherborne Pageant (F. Bennett 1906). Thanks to the work of Barbara Elsmore and Patricia Spencer at the Somerset & Dorset Family History Society (sdfhs. org) and the resourceful archivist of Sherborne School, Rachel Hassall (oldshirburnian.org.uk/sherbornepageant-1905), fascinating biographical details of pageant participants are coming to light.

Even though the film doesn’t capture the highly coloured costumes, ranks of narrators, choirs, orchestra and sheer noise of the pageant, it does hint at the magic of those 1905 June performances.

In Episode II (845 AD) the English overpower the attacking Danes and, observing the realistic hammerto-shield combat, it’s hard not to imagine that some real local rivalries were being settled. Never one to let historical accuracy stand in the way of a comic interlude, Parker included the Earl of Huntingdon – (aka Robin Hood) and Maid Marian – in Episode VII (1437 AD) to sort out dissension between Sherborne town and monastery. Compromise reached, there follows the “gayest of Morris dances” and “Friar Tuck, Little John and two other outlaws, curvet and prance as grotesque hobby-horses.”

Episode IX (1539 AD) sees the dissolution of Sherborne monastery and exile of the monks, to the dismay of clerics and townspeople. So convincing are the performances, especially the remonstrations of a poor woman, played by Olivia Frances Grove, that the sequence equals the dramatic impact of a silent classic by the likes of Griffith or De Mille. A fine balance of the comic and the dramatic is reached in Episode XI (1593 AD) with the introduction of high-profile Sherborne residents, the Raleighs. Sir Walter, played by John Robert Phelips Goodden, left alone with his pipe and his Spenser poems receives a dousing of ale from his buffoonish manservant, who thinks his master is on fire.

It is a sequence that wouldn’t seem remiss in a Lumière Brothers film.

The last known public screenings of the pageant film were at Sherborne School Commemoration Day in 1946, the Carlton Picture Palace in Sherborne in 1959 when it was threatened with closure and at Dorchester in 1965. Perhaps it’s time to persuade the National Film and Television Archive to strike a new 35mm print in time for an opening night screening at the new Paddock Gardens Arts Centre. Now there’s a thought.

The most lasting legacy of the 1905 pageant and its film – which was first released before the event in London for publicity purposes – is something familiar to every Sherbornite. A huge commercial success, the pageant made a profit of £1,872 and suggestions were proffered for the disposal of the money. Was it going to be a town hall? A swimming bath? Or, as somebody suggested, “A really good public lavatory?”

None of the above. It was to be the sublime Pageant Gardens, just in front of the railway station. www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 39

THE

FABRIC BARN

Interior fabrics with fantastic savings! www.thefabricbarn.co.uk • Call: 01935 851025 Curtains, Blinds, Shutters, Fabrics, Ready-Made Curtains, Fitting Service and more...

Seattle Wooden Shutters

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Luxaflex Duette Blinds

Forever Spring - Eau de Nil

Dorchester: 01305 250990 19 High West Street, DT1 1UW 40 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

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OPEN 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM, 33 CHEAP STREET, SHERBORNE DT9 3PU PHONE 01935 816551 www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 41

Interiors

FESTIVAL FEVER

S

Kitty Oakshott, Upstairs Downstairs Interiors

ummer is now almost here, bringing with it the promise of hazy days, long evenings soaking up the last of the sun and a lot more time outdoors. So many of us will have been scrambling for a Glastonbury ticket a few months ago – were you one of the lucky ones? If not don’t fret, because you can create the festival atmosphere at home! Summer brings a great opportunity to liven up the garden and there is a huge array of accessories we can add to bring fun and entertainment into our lives. How about a big, bright parasol to bring colour even when the skies are overcast?

Deckchairs covered in bright stripes add to the fun and that’s not forgetting vibrant table mats, seat cushions, fairy lights and a sprinkling of lanterns dotted around.

With a bit of imagination, you can turn so many storage items into outdoor furniture and seating arrangements. For example, take something quirky such as a discarded beer barrel. This can easily be converted into a seat with foam cut to size and a cushion cover in a fun outdoor fabric.

Now not only do you have extra seating but, as it has an empty cavity, your stool can provide storage for all sorts of items. Crates and pallets can also be converted into tables or footstools. There is so much that can be done!

When the party’s over, the fun doesn’t have to stop.

How about a funky roller blind in the bathroom, or a wall of crazy wallpaper to keep the festival spirit alive?

Summer is the perfect time to start on those winter projects that have been on your to-do list – now that the weather is more cheerful, take items outside and get painting! Now is the time of year to upcycle all those tired pieces of wooden furniture with a lick of chalk paint. How about adding a distressed finish, or jazzing up the piece with some funky knobs? There are some lovely ceramic Indian handles on the market, as well as animal heads to put a smile on your face!

So clean up the BBQ, get your invites out, re-do your plant pots – and let’s give Glastonbury a run for its money! updowninteriors.co.uk 42 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

And Mary

KATHERINE SWINFEN EADY 10 th – 28th June

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Antiques

MINTED

L

Richard Bromell ASFAV, Charterhouse Auctioneers

ast month I wrote about silver and this month I am going to up the ante and write about gold.

Well, gold coins, rather than silver.

I started to have an interest in coins over 40 years ago.

No, not pocket money, but collecting coins. Needless to say gold ones were well out of my price range back then, but I still enjoyed collecting coins. I loved going to coinand-medal fairs, but could only afford to rummage around old Quality Street tins full of cheap coins – usually 10p each, with a deal to be done if bought in bulk.

Whilst my collection expanded, I never recall buying a coin and making a major international discovery. At the time, my father worked for Barclays Bank in Cheap Street and would often be working over the weekends. Probably to get me out of the house, I would go with him and if I behaved myself – which I always did – he would get some bags of 10p (or florins) and 5p (shillings) coins out of the safe for me to look through. Fascinated by the dates and various monarch heads, I was allowed to swap coins out of the bags I wanted – replacing them, obviously! I would often come across pre-1947 silver coins. These are worth much more than post-1947 ‘silver’ coins, as they have a genuine silver content. Up until 1920, silver coins minted had a sterling silver content – that is to say, they were 925 parts per 1,000 silver. After 1920, the silver content was reduced by 50% and, in 1947, ‘silver’ coins were produced in cupro-nickel – and generally not too exciting.

After 40 years or so of interest in coins, being the coin specialist at Charterhouse is one of my favourite aspects of the business. I regularly run valuation days for coins, medals and stamps – yes, I have a fascination, passion and interest for all these departments! Recently a client came into our saleroom with a shopping bag of coins for valuation, requesting to go somewhere more private than our reception. When she unpacked the bag, I could see why.

50 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

It contained a large selection of gold sovereigns. There were coins minted over a timescale of 150 years and, though similar to look at, to me they were all different.

Most of the sovereign coins are decorated with Saint George the Dragon Slayer. This is perhaps one of the world’s best-loved coin designs and first made an appearance in 1817, but there are also some coins featuring the – in my opinion, more attractive – shield, commonly known as the shield-back. This gives us two types of coins to collect straightaway. You can then add into the equation the monarch’s head, which is stuck on the other side of the shield or Saint George. When Queen Victoria inherited the throne aged 18, her portrait looked like that of an 18-year-old – but, in a clever ploy, she kept this young head portrait for another 60 years! It changed in 1887, her Golden Jubilee year, when a more ‘up-to-date’ portrait was commissioned.

Known as the Jubilee Head, it was changed again in 1893 with the Veiled Head, also known as the Old Head, which was used until her death in 1901.

Next up, we can add in another variation for collectors – where the coins were minted. In the Victorian era, coins were not only minted in London, but Sydney, Perth and Melbourne too. So if you are a collector looking to amass a collection of Victorian gold sovereigns minted, it might take you longer than anticipated. It might also be quite hard on your bank balance.

The client left 12 of her sovereigns for our two-day June auction on Thursday 22 and Friday 23. There are Young-Head Victorian Saint-George-slaying-thedragon sovereigns through to Queen Elizabeth II shield sovereigns up to 2006, with the collection estimated to sell for up to £3,000 when it goes under the hammer. charterhouse-auction.com

CHARTERHOUSE Auctioneers & Valuers We are now accepting entries for our forthcoming auctions: Classic & Vintage Cars Sunday 18th June Wine, Port & Spirits Thursday 22nd June

1936 Alvis Speed 20 £100,000-120,000

Medals, Coins, Stamps, Clocks & Collectors Items Friday 23rd June Contact Richard Bromell for advice or Justine Jackson to arrange a home visit The Long Street Salerooms Sherborne DT9 3BS | 01935 812277 www.charterhouse-auction.com

Gp Capt C Stanbury CBE DSO DFC £20,000-30,000

Summer Events at Castle Gardens Saturday 3 June Illyria performance of The Emperor’s New Clothes Doors open at 6:30pm for 7:30pm start Tickets available in store Saturday 24 June - Sunday 2 July Art Exhibition by Horizon Painters in the Butterfly House

Castle Gardens, award-winning garden centre and restaurant Everything you need to enjoy your garden all year round The Gardens Groups is proud to be supporting the Watch Your Back campaign, raising awareness of the importance of protecting your skin in the garden.

Tuesday 11 July Illyria performance of Lost World Doors open at 6:30pm for 7:30pm start Tickets available in store Wednesday 19 July Wildlife Friendly Gardening Awards Organised by Dorset Wildlife Trust Tickets available in store Sunday 23 July Sherborne Town Band From 2:30pm-4pm Open Monday-Saturday 9.00am-6.00pm Sunday 10.00am-4.30pm (tills open at 10.30am) Castle Gardens, New Road, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 5NR www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 51

Gardening

WATER WAYS

Mike Burks, Managing Director, The Gardens Group

52 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

T

o keep any plant in good health it needs water.

How much really depends on several factors, such as the type of plant, time of year, where it’s planted, soil type and of course weather conditions.

Water is a finite and precious resource, so it’s also important to use it wisely.

Using water economically will not only ensure you’re getting the most out of it, but also helps you to understand the needs of your plants – which will only come from experience. Sometimes I’ll be asked to water the crops in the polytunnels in the nursery at the weekend, which I really enjoy doing. The first time I do it I’m always unsure as to whether I’ve given too much or too little. Then after some time, I start to get a feel for it, as the thirsty plants will obviously look like they need more water and those that are more sparing in their use will still look moist.

At this time of year, potted plants and hanging baskets need watering every day – even if we’ve had rain, as most of the downpour will have been deflected from the compost in the pot by the foliage. The retention of water can be helped by using a moisture-retentive gel, which can be added to the compost. However, even this is a small help and won’t stop the need for a good soaking.

Established plants in borders will usually have a root system extensive enough to find their own water, but if not they can be quite tricky. Help for such plants is best achieved by laying on a mulch such as chipped bark or, better still, composted bark. This will reduce the amount of evaporation from the soil surface and will also trap in moisture. As the mulch breaks down it gets incorporated into the soil, improving its structure and helping to hold onto extra moisture for when the plants need it – another great advantage.

New plants will need extra care and attention and a really good soak three or four times a week until they’re established. A common method of watering will be with a hosepipe, although this has its drawbacks. It can give the illusion that everything in the garden is fully watered as it all looks wet, but plants can sometimes get very little of the water. My suggestion is to use half a watering can for each plant, which will ensure each plant receives the right amount of water. If you prefer using a hosepipe, you could measure how long it takes to fill half a watering can and spend that amount of time watering each plant.

Furthermore, when planting anything new, using a

product called Rootgrow around the roots will really help it to obtain water and nutrients. This substance contains a naturally occurring and beneficial fungus that attaches itself to the plant’s roots. This can protect the plant against soil-borne diseases such as honey fungus.

For me, nothing beats watering plants – I simply love it. Then again I’m easily entertained, so for those who may get bored, there are devices that can relieve the load. Soaker, seep or leaky hoses are excellent for this. You might think yours already leaks, but the type I’m describing doesn’t involve splashing around with a hosepipe. These hoses leak water gently through holes along the entire length and are laid out winding through the plants in the border or vegetable garden, ensuring an even water distribution.

Also available are mini irrigation systems, which involve a supply pipe carrying water around the garden through a network of pipes. A variety of tubes can be attached to the end of a main pipe, such as fixed drip nozzles. These can be placed in pots, hanging baskets, grow bags and even dotted through the border. At the tap end of the system a timer is positioned so that watering takes place at a specific time of day for a specific period.

Due to the ease of moving the emitters around, it is perfect for getting a precise amount of water close to the roots of the plants – a great example of efficient watering.

Collecting and storing what water you can is also a wonderful way of economically watering the garden, while being kind to the local wildlife. Rainwater can be collected from the roofs of most homes and garages and is excellent quality and better for plants than the stuff in the tap. For extra volume, water butts can be used to collect water from close and open drain pipes. Although the pressure won’t be great, hose pipes and seep hoses can be connected.

One of the most common discussions is the timing of watering and, once we get to this stage of spring and summer, it can be very tricky to get right. I suggest watering in the early morning to avoid losing water to evaporation during the day and scorching of the leaves.

The evening can be just as effective. Of course, this is all dependent on having the right weather and, having said all of this, I’ve probably jinxed it and we’ll be in for a wet summer! Ho hum. thegardeneronline.co.uk

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 53

NEVER MISS A COPY If you enjoy reading the Sherborne Times but live outside our free distribution areas you can now receive your very own copy by post 12 editions delivered to your door for just ÂŁ30.00 To subscribe, please call 01935 814803 or email subscriptions@sherbornetimes.co.uk

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54 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

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FIONA GERARDIN Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

L

ong summer days are meant for being outdoors. In languid meadowland, where the cow parsley gives way to golden hay and dandelion seed heads drift gently in the breeze, is Bere Marsh Organic Farm. Tucked away in a golden corner of Shillingstone, this precious gem in Dorset’s cabinet of idyllic farms is owned by Fiona Gerardin. She was once a dairy farmer but in 2010 she turned her hand to goat farming – "I like my animals to be smaller than me and easier to handle," she jokes.

“It started with three in-kid goats that I bought in January 2010,” Fiona says. “By keeping the females that were born each year and selling the male kids for meat, I have ended up with 30 breeding does.” The goats are a mix of boer – Rooney the buck is 100% boer – and cashmere. Boers are ‘meat’ goats, bred for their weight; lean kid meat, known as ‘capretto,’ is very low in cholesterol. Cashmere goats, of course, are known for their silky hair. “The birds truly live in luxury around here,” laughs Fiona. “All their nests are cashmere-lined.”>

56 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 57

58 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

These beautiful goats are all lovingly reared and tended by Fiona. We have arrived early – they are still in the barn, where they sleep every night and spend the winter. “They’re not as hardy as sheep,” she explains. As we open the doors to the barn, the kids all leap and flip in excitement. Each one looks freshly laundered in splendid white-and-tan coats and there is a delicious smell of dry straw.

Big Mamma is the leader of the herd. She has even been known to break up a fight between the kids when things have got out of hand. The goats all carefully give her some space. The barn doors are soon opened and the herd dutifully files in behind Big Mama, as she takes the lead towards the meadow grass and beckoning dandelions.

There are over 800 metres of riverbank on the farm and, at this time of year, the Stour meanders its way only slowly towards the coast. Fiona is keen to show us round. Before we know it we are standing in an ancient barn, examining a barn owl’s pellets for what might be the tiny skull of a shrew, the remains of last night’s dinner. The owls regularly nest in the barn. Curiously, they seemed not to mind the hornets that built a nest

next door to their box last year. The hornets have since vacated their home and, happily, the barn owls remain.

Onwards through the hay meadows towards the river and we clamber down to what Fiona calls her ‘beach,’ a place where she and her family swim in the summer. A host of trees along the bank create a secret sanctuary where wild mussels grow in the riverbed.

Fiona’s farmland runs roughly between the river and the old railway line. Of the 80 acres making up this organic farm, about 5 of them are woodland. As we wander through the trees, we catch glimpses of the Iron Age fort, Hambledon Hill. “It’s incredible to think that it was once kept as white chalk,” says Fiona, stopping to admire a view she has grown up with.

Fiona was brought up on this farm, which was dairy at the time. Her mother was the pioneer naturalist Angela Hughes OBE, who died in 2009. Angela set up the Dorset Wildlife Trust, championed wildlife-friendly farming and was also responsible for introducing a number of species to the area, including otters to the River Stour. There is such an array of wildlife here at > www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 59

60 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Bere Marsh – including rare butterflies, birds and wildflowers – that the Countryside Restoration Trust (CRT) is in talks to ‘buy’ the farm as part of the Gordon Beningfield legacy. Beningfield, who died in 1998, was an illustrator and conservationist, who championed the protection of the English countryside and its wildlife. If the trust does take over the farm, it would maintain a permanent exhibition of his work, plus an educational centre.

Dame Judi Dench, patron of the CRT, recently visited Bere Marsh and remarked that it was “the most perfect farm.” One of its most perfectly peaceful areas is the woodland burial ground, started by Fiona’s mother. This sits high among the ancient oak trees, with long views of Hambledon Hill beyond. In fact, it is believed that these ancient trees saw the Roundheads in battle against the Dorset ‘Clubmen,’ a group of local men armed with clubs and scythes, who sought to defend their land from the Parlimentarian advance in 1645. The Clubmen were easily overcome by Cromwell’s dragoons and dubbed “poor silly creatures” by Oliver himself. The plot is tranquil today, however, with no echoes of historic conflict emanating from the distant hill. Fiona continues to maintain it as a soothingly beautiful alternative resting place.

With so much history, it will surely be a wrench for her if the CRT buys the farm. However, Fiona is very happy to see its future potentially in such caring hands, where the integrity of the land will remain. Her plan is to buy another organic farm and build up a larger herd.

“Goats are such intelligent, lively animals,” she says.

“They always keep me busy, as they are very naughty and are always trying to escape.” Fiona tries not to get too close to the kids, because ultimately she must sell them for meat. However, she knows they have the best possible life, leaping about in the organic meadowland and not weaned until at least five months’ old.

Looking down from the woodland burial ground at the top of the hill, I hear Fiona’s distant sing-song call – her kid goats tugging at lush grass and chasing each other through the same organic meadowland Fiona played in as a child. Sunlight rolls towards us across the neighbouring Hambledon Hill and, for a moment, it all makes perfect sense.

Orders for goat meat are taken in advance of the autumn.

Fiona is always over-subscribed, so it is advisable to order as soon as possible. Pre-booked wild camping is also available. beremarshfarm.co.uk hamdown-greenburial.co.uk www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 61

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62 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Food & Drink

MONKEY BUSINESS

Giles Dick Read, Reads Coffee Roasters

The Asian palm civet 64 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

W

ith a whiff of politics in the air, as the Election and those noble men and women of Westminster take over the airwaves for the month, I’m inexplicably reminded of that most infamous of brews, Kopi Luwak. Most of you will have heard of it, some may even have tried it, but ‘weasel coffee’ – by way of closest British equivalent – seems a topical subject, given the hot air blowing our way from some quarters.

‘Kopi,’ meaning coffee in Indonesian, and ‘luwak,’ being the civet (more cat than monkey), combine in selective and digestive harmony to create what is generally regarded as the world’s most expensive coffee.

Like many other things famed for their obscurity and novelty, Kopi Luwak appears to be more for ‘show than go’ as, in coffee terms, it’s not really all that good.

The theory behind the bean lies in the fact that the civet picks the ripest, juiciest cherries on the coffee plant and munches them down. While it’s snoozing off its feast, its busy digestive system, full of useful enzymes, tweaks the structure of the otherwise indigestible coffee seeds – beans to you and I – making them less acidic and theoretically smoother to taste in the cup.

Hang on, I hear you say. What about the missing part where the bean goes from civet to cup? Well, a lucky chap – possibly paid as much as £18 a day for his trouble – gets to collect all the civet dung together and pick out the beans. Somewhere along the line I imagine they get a good scrub before being packaged up, exported, roasted and sold to you for around £20… for 50 grams! That’s £4 per cup, if you make it in your own kitchen. That’s even more expensive than Nespresso, quite something!

The part of the story I struggle with is what, exactly, was someone thinking when they came to try the ‘Civet’s Own’ blend for the first time? I can get my head round the concept of a young Ethiopian goatherd spotting that cherries from a certain plant got his goats all frisky and giving them a chew for himself, thus discovering coffee a very, very long time ago. But how

someone thought it a good idea to filter through monkey poop for a cuppa rather than pick the cherries and beans straight off the tree he was standing under, leaves me rather perplexed. Maybe he was looking for something else at the time and just happened to stumble – if that’s the right word – over the coffee beans? Who knows…

I hate to say it, but I expect the harsh truth lies in the fact that the beans were the only coffee available to the otherwise exploited workers in 19th century Dutch Indonesian plantations, a very long way from the glamorous image the beans seem to have these days.

It’s not just the civets who are straining away for the coffee-drinking connoisseur. The Brazilians favour the jacu bird for their poop brews, whilst in Thailand you’ll find more monkey business as well as wild bat coffee – not ingested, you’ll be relieved to hear, just selected remnants in the form of chewed bat-spat beans. Topping out the squeezed bean chart, though, has to be ‘Black Ivory,’ another product of Thailand, with the processor being none other than the elephant. At $73 for 35 grams, I’d expect to find Babar himself at the other end, but somehow feel I might be left disappointed. In theory, these methods are implemented, in the animal’s natural habitat. Sadly, however, despite the best efforts of some genuine people in the coffee industry, when prices get this high the temptation to exploit wealthy wallets by farming civets and other such profit-generating creatures means there are many caged and mistreated beasts having a miserable time of it.

I’m delighted to tell you that you won’t be able to buy any of the aforementioned beans from us here at Reads, but maybe there is a slightly mischievous part of me that wonders what we might get if our office coffee plant bears fruit and I can persuade one of the ponies to chomp through the cherries. Watch this space, ‘Reads Pony Poo Brew’ may yet hit the shelves…and reassuringly expensive it shall be. readscoffee.co.uk

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yetminstergallery.co.uk oliverscoffeehouse.co.uk www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 65

Food & Drink THE CAKE WHISPERER Val Stones

SUNBLUSH TOMATO, GARLIC AND BASIL FOCACCIA

Image: Katharine Davies 66 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Method

I

n our family, we love garlic, sunblush tomatoes and basil. The rich, sweet taste of the tomatoes and the pungent taste of garlic coupled with the fragrance of basil always reminds me of summer. When you combine these three flavours into bread, they make a perfect accompaniment to a summer meal or picnic.

Ingredients

500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting 8g salt 15g instant dried yeast 100ml olive oil, plus 100ml extra for drizzling 300ml tepid water 200g sunblush tomatoes, chopped small 4 plump cloves of garlic, finely chopped A good pinch of paprika A handful of basil, torn, with a few whole leaves set aside 150g small cherry or plum tomatoes A large pinch rough sea salt

1 Put the flour in a bowl, then add the salt on one side of the bowl and the yeast on the other.

Make a well in the middle and pour the oil in.

Combine with a wooden spoon, add a third of the water and continue stirring. Work the garlic, tomato, paprika and basil into the dough, add a further third of water and mix for a minute until combined.

2 Add as much water as is needed to make a soft dough and knead for 5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, pour a little oil onto the work surface and your hands.

3 Put some olive oil in a clean bowl and swish the dough around until it is coated. Cover loosely with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until it has roughly doubled in size.

4 Take a baking tray (approximately 35cm x 26cm x 4cm) and oil it well. Punch the dough a little to knock out some of the bigger air bubbles, roughly shape into a rectangle and, using your fingertips, push the dough evenly into the tray.

Place cherry tomatoes evenly around the dough and then splash with more olive oil.

5 Place the baking tray in a loose plastic bag and prove in a warm place for about an hour.

6 Set the oven to 200C, gas mark 7 and bake for 25-35 minutes on the middle shelf until golden around the edges.

7 Place on a cooling rack, sprinkle with a little more olive oil if you like plus a generous pinch of sea salt and, when cool, tear and scatter your reserved basil leaves. Serve with a green salad and a glass of Italian red wine. bakerval.com

T

his October Val will be walking the Great Wall of China walk with three friends in aid of NSPCC, Childline and Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Donations can be made via justgiving.comTeamValGBBO2016 All proceeds will be shared equally between the two charities. www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 67

Food & Drink

SALAD OF LAMB, GREEN BEANS AND BABY FENNEL WITH CANDIED CHILLIES AND BLACK OLIVES Sasha Matkevich, Head Chef and Owner, The Green with Jack Smith, Apprentice Chef

Ingredients

100g fine green beans, trimmed 6 baby fennel, trimmed 1 lemon 2 middle loins of lamb, boned Olive oil, for cooking Fine sea salt Freshly ground black pepper 80g wild rocket 80g mizuna, or Japanese mustard greens 80g curly mustard leaf 40ml extra-virgin olive oil 2tsp freshly grated Parmesan 2 large red chillies 100ml stock syrup 2tbsp black olives, diced Serves 4 Method

1 First make the candied chillies. Deseed two chillies and cut them into very thin strips or julienne, blanch in a little salted boiling water and refresh in iced water. Place in a small saucepan together with stock syrup, bring to the boil and set aside in a warm place for at least 40 minutes. This is one of my favourite 68 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

2

3 4

5

6

ways of preserving chillies – it makes a great garnish for salads and vegetarian dishes and you can keep it in the fridge in stock syrup for up to three weeks.

Blanch the green beans in the salty water for four minutes, drain, refresh under cold running water and set aside.

Slice baby fennel very finely and place in a bowl of iced water with a little lemon juice.

Season the lamb very generously with salt and pepper, then place a medium-sized non-stick frying pan on the heat with a little olive oil. When the oil is smoking, add the loins and cook for three minutes on one side without moving, turn and cook for two minutes on the other side. Remove from the heat, cover loosely with foil and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Wash and pat dry the salad leaves. Place in a bowl and dress with the lemon zest, the rest of the juice, extra-virgin olive oil, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

To assemble, drain the baby fennel and pat dry and cut the meat into 1cm-thick slices on the diagonal. Arrange the salad leaves on individual plates and layer the fennel slices, beans and lamb on top. Add candied chillies and scatter with olives. Serve immediately.

greenrestaurant.co.uk

CHICKEN AND LEEK PIE WITH FILO PASTRY

S

Jane Somper, Goldhill Organics

ometimes we just crave the comfort of pie. This super chicken-and-leek recipe can be made ahead of time and kept chilled until ready for heating up. Serve with lightly boiled new potatoes drizzled with melted butter, plus greens of your choice. Our long, sweet, elegant new-season leeks are crisp, fresh and straight from the fields.

Ingredients

10-12 sheets filo pastry 75g butter 1 tbsp plain flour 2-3 carrots, sliced into small chunks 2-3 leeks, sliced into discs 3-4 tbsp thick double cream 1 tbsp Dijon mustard 350-400ml chicken stock Pinch salt and ground pepper 400g cooked chicken breasts, cut into large, bite-sized pieces. We poach ours for extra moistness.

Method

1 Heat 25g of the butter over a low heat. Add the carrots and leeks and cook gently for 12-15 mins until soft, but not mushy. Once cooked, add the flour, coating all the vegetables, then slowly add the chicken stock, stirring to avoid any lumps. Continue to cook on a gentle heat for 8-10 mins.

2 Stir in the cream and mustard, add the chicken pieces, season and then pour into a baking dish.

Heat oven to 180C. 3 Add the remaining butter to a pan and melt. Lay pastry sheets out flat and coat one by one with the melted butter, then scrunch up and place on top of pie mixture. Repeat with all the other sheets. Keep a damp cloth handy and place on top of the sheets if they begin to dry out. Cover the pie mixture with scrunched-up filo sheets and pour any remaining butter over the top.

4 Place the pie in the heated oven for approximately 25 mins until pastry topping is golden and crisp and serve with vegetables of your choice. goldhillorganics.co.uk www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 69

Food & Drink

70 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

GREAT VINTAGES

T

David Copp

he standard of modern winemaking is so high that we hardly notice wines from less good vintages. However, if you are a real wine enthusiast who likes to lay down and mature a few bottles of your favourite wine, it makes sense to earmark bottles from great vintages that will develop with keeping and reward your investment.

This short piece attempts to summarise what makes a great vintage and provides a few notes on recent great vintages in some of the world’s leading wine regions.

What makes a great vintage? The short answer is perfect climatic conditions at every key stage of the growing season – no frost at budding or flowering, gentle summer rains, preferably at night, light and warmth at the onset of ripening, or veraison, no sudden mid-summer heatwaves and clear, dry weather at harvest. Perfect conditions come round once or twice a decade. It is rare but not unusual for two great vintages to follow each other, as in bordeaux in 1989 and 1990, 2009 and 2010, and 2015 and 2016.

Climate is vital, but one cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. In other words, the vineyard site and the grapes varieties must be in harmony. Mother Nature has seen to it that the Médoc is one of the world’s best sites to grow grapes.

At the end of the ice age, rock gravel and clay were washed down from the Massif Central and from the Pyrenees by the rivers Dordogne and Garonne respectively. As the velocity of the two rivers slowed down and merged into one river at Bordeaux, a lenticular deposit of stony material – commonly referred to as gravel mounds – was piled up on the left bank.

That was a wonderful gift, but there were two others of equal importance. The first was bedrock of limestone embedded with shellfish fossils, which secrete natural rainwater and feed it back to the vine roots. The second was alternating layers of clay, marl, silt and fine gravel sediment, which allow vine roots to push deep to find the water and the minerals they need for a healthy life.

Thus the hydric regime allows deep roots and encourages control of vegetative growth to the advantage of fruit flavour. The net result is more flavoursome and

complex wines, whose properties harmonise when stored in good wood for a period of between one and two years and in bottle for a further period.

The 2015 vintage was regarded as being very successful in Bordeaux, Burgundy red and white, Rhine and Mosel, Barolo, the northern Rhone, South Africa and Central Otago. If you like German wine, this is a vintage to lay down. Riesling keeps as well if not better than red grape varieties.

The 2016 vintage was equally successful in England, notably for the sparkling wines, and in Marlborough, New Zealand, where the sauvignon blancs don’t really need cellaring but the excellent red wines do benefit from some. Then there is Southern Rhone and most of the famous South Australian regions, such as the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra, Langhorne Creek, Eden Valley and Clare Valley. Rioja 2016 looks to be exceptional, although we will not see the reserva wines on the market for five years. Don’t be too upset, though, because the 2010 reservas are now being released!

One region that has had five great vintages in succession is the Napa Valley in sunny California. We are seeing more and more sophisticated Californian wines in the UK and it seems that California lives up to its reputation as the sunshine state.

Chile has not been quite so lucky and, in 2016, El Niño disturbed her wine-growing season. However, the cooler weather intensified the flavour of the best wines. I would never ignore Chile when considering wines to lay down, because I find the value for money so good.

Finally I commend to you beaujolais, a wine that historically has not been cellared for long. The 2016 beaujolais cru wines are gorgeous and worth putting down for two to three years, but in the meantime console yourselves with the 2014 vintage.

As always with fine wine, I recommend talking to your wine merchant and seeking advice from the various online sources. Getting the vintage right is important, but equally so is finding the growers for whom everything went really well in the vintage.

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 71

On Foot

FONTHILL

Nicky King, The Eastbury Hotel and The Three Wishes

S

pring is my favourite time of year. It is such a wonderful experience to be out walking in the Dorset countryside amongst the newborn lambs, calves and just-sprouting, recently sewn fields. I’ve mentioned before how part of the pleasure of walking for me is stopping in lovely pubs, sitting in the gardens and having a bite to eat and a refreshing drink.

Prior to our son’s return to university last weekend, we did exactly that and headed halfway back for him to Wiltshire, where we did a wonderful walk around the Fonthill Estate. This part of the country can rival Dorset for stunning countryside and views as well as charming, if slightly gentrified, pubs. The walk we did is from a series of leaflets called the Freehouse Walks and was

H

WIN DINNER FOR TWO AT THE EASTBURY HOTEL

aving spent some time thinking about getting more of you to come along to our lovely restaurant at the Eastbury, we have decided to rebrand it and give it an identity all of its own. The launch will take place on what is officially the first day of summer, 26th June. In preparation, we have compiled a wordsearch.

The first person to bring in the correct answers will win dinner for two with a bottle of house wine and the next 10 runners-up a voucher for a complimentary glass of Prosecco for two with any lunch or dinner eaten at the Eastbury.

AUTUMN

CHILI

EASTBURY

SPRING

SUMMER

WINTER

PEPPER

surprisingly easy to follow. I failed to take a map with me, which would have upset my father terribly as he always insisted on being armed with an OS map when walking with just a written leaflet to follow. He quite rightly said that if you do take a wrong turn, it is very difficult to get back on the right path with a not-to-scale map and a list of directions that simply instruct you to turn right at the next beech tree! The walk was a very reasonable five miles, took in lovely views and passed by beautiful country estates and properties. It was definitely a walk with something for everyone. Looking at the rest of the series of Freehouse Walks there are some much closer to home, but all seem moderately difficult and about five miles long – the perfect length for a pre-Sunday roast stroll.

RESTAURANT

SALT

theeastburyhotel.co.uk 72 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

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MIKE@RILEYSCYCLES.CO.UK www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 73

Cycling

SOCIAL LIFE CYCLE

C

Peter Henshaw, Dorset Cyclists Network Mike Riley, Rileys Cycles

ycling is social. Like lots of outdoorsy activities, it’s perfectly possible to cycle on your own and there are times when a solitary cycle ride is just the thing. However, pedalling with others brings its own benefits. It could be pacing the group in a SherbDorchester pelaton – it’s easier to keep spinning when everyone around you is doing the same – or just having a chat with whoever happens to be cycling alongside you on a quiet lane, and we’ve got plenty of those outside town.

The good news is that there’s a whole range of cycling groups in and around Sherborne, so there’s no need to cycle on your own if you don’t want to.

There’s no formal membership, no rules and certainly no compulsory Lycra, just small groups of like-minded people, catering for everyone from complete beginners to heads-down keen types.

Digby Etape falls into the latter category, though it’s described as ‘fastish’ and often splits into two groups (‘fastish’ and ‘very fastish’) to cater for different paces.

They ride on Wednesday evenings and some Sunday mornings, usually covering 20-30 miles. If you were wondering about the name, their HQ is the Digby Tap… Sheer genius.

If the Etape is all about speed, then the Caundle Vélo Club (CVC) is more about distance, though they describe their typical pace as a ‘brisk’ 11-13mph. That’s the thing with average cycling speeds – they’re always less than you think. An average of 11-13mph doesn’t sound much, but keeping that up is brisk indeed, since 10mph is a decent average for a more leisurely ride and 14-15mph is heads down. Anything more than that and you’re into Chris Froome territory. Anyway, CVC ride Friday morning and do all-day Mondays, aiming for 70-90 miles on a Monday in summer. If the sound of 90-odd miles without a break sounds daunting, they do include a pub lunch and, if you’re lucky, a tea shop stop.

Bradford Abbas has had a few cycling groups over the years and the current one should have restarted their Wednesday rides by the time you read this.

“We like to cater for people just starting out or 74 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

coming back to cycling, so it’s pretty leisurely,” organiser Alan Fall told me. “There’s usually a pub stop and we do a maximum of 15-20 miles. If anyone’s had enough before then, one of us will turn round early with them and take the short way home. And if it’s stair rods, we change our plans!” They start from Bradford Abbas Sports and Recreational Club on Wednesdays at around 6.30pm.

Finally, I’m the Sherborne rep for Dorset Cyclists’ Network, which has 600 members across the county and campaigns for – or encourages – cycling all over Dorset. Membership is £6 a year – cheap at the price,

if you ask me – though you don’t have to be a member to join the rides. We ride every Thursday evening between April and September, meeting at 6pm in Culverhayes car park. Distances and speeds depend on who turns up on the day and, like the Bradford group, we positively welcome anyone coming back to cycling or trying it for the first time – the pace and route will be tailored to you.

If you would like to come out as the pedalling passenger on the back of a tandem, that too can be arranged.

We also do longer rides most Sundays, either from Sherborne or van/car-assisted trips further out.

See you on the road.

Club contacts Digby Etape (Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, fastish): The Digby Tap, 01935 813148 Caundle Vélo Club (Mondays and Friday mornings, brisk): Tom Eden, 01963 364447, tom.eden141@btinternet.com Bradford Abbas (Wednesday evenings, leisurely): Alan Fall, 01935 425747 Dorset Cyclists Network (Thursday evenings and Sundays, leisurely): Peter Henshaw, 01935 389357, sher@dcn.org.uk dcn.org.uk rileyscycles.co.uk www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 75

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e Exclusiv er ff o r e d a re

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For more information please contact: Lindsay Punch info@lindsaypunchstyling.co.uk | www.lindsaypunchstyling.co.uk Anne-Marie Walby Anne-marie@amwalby.com www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 77

Body & Mind

WHAT TO WEAR Lindsay Punch, Personal Stylist

T

he British summer social season is upon us.

With Royal Ascot, Wimbledon, Henley Royal Regatta, Chelsea Flower Show, Goodwood, the Cartier Queen’s Cup at Guards Polo Club and Glyndebourne Festival, not to mention the inevitable plethora of weddings and summer balls, there’s plenty of opportunity to get your frock on. If you haven’t already splashed out for an occasion you may find the high street sizes depleted, as we’ve come to the end of fashion retail’s summer season. You may be able to find your perfect look in the sale, but before you are enticed to buy that bargain outfit, ask yourself – do you love it and would you pay full price?

It sounds so obvious, but always double-check dress codes. I’ve seen many women turned away red-faced for baring too much leg at some events! When it comes to deciding what to wear, opting for a dress might be the most effortless solution. You may, however, have the challenge of not knowing which dress is most flattering for your figure. Knowing how best to showcase your body shape can save a lot of time and stress in the changing room. The most important thing to remember is, it is not what you wear, but how you feel in it.

Embrace your figure, dress the lines of your body and accentuate the bits you love. If there are areas you are conscious of, however, there are tricks to help you look and feel more confident.

The most universally flattering shape is a wrap dress. It can also be styled throughout the summer for all genres of events. The semi-fitted style follows your curves and accentuates a waistline, or nips you in if you don’t have one. Medium-weight, soft woven fabrics drape well without any clinginess.

If your aim is to tone down a bust, open necklines have the most slimming effect. If enhancing a bust is 78 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

your goal, higher necklines will give them a boost.

If you are slender and want to encourage curves, defining details like pleats, ruching and ruffles all add volume. However, if you like the straight up and down look, a shift dress is a chic choice. Why not try this season’s lace trend, in any colour from light to dark?

Fit-and-flared, belted and Fifties-style dresses will all show off a waspish waist and glide over the hips nicely.

If you are conscious of your midriff then shift, empire-line and seamless A-line dresses are your best options. Oversized tent dresses may be your choice for comfort, but they add volume and will not make the most of your figure.

For effortless style and to elongate the body, wear one colour from head to toe, with matching dress, hat and lipstick. Blush is a popular shade this season, or opt for red for a punchier look.

There will always be the challenge of trying to ooze elegance and sophistication when you are trying to battle the unpredictable weather. Sometimes a smart, dark dress is the safest way to go if you are facing grey skies. If you have to wear a coat, try to make it tailored and colourful. Finally, mini-block-heeled sandals or a delicate wedge keep you from sinking into wet grass.

The simplest way to lift any outfit will be your accessory choices. Clean silhouettes and neutral dress colours can be enhanced with a statement handbag or shoe. When in doubt, opt for metallic accessories – they can be mixed and matched for any event. A nude court shoe is your most versatile option and can be worn with anything.

Whatever you buy as your quintessential summer dress, be yourself and be confident. lindsaypunchstyling.co.uk facebook.com/lindsaypunchstyling

LIGHT AND SHADE Sarah Hitch, The Sanctuary Beauty Rooms

M

elanin is the skin’s pigment, which journeys up from the base layers of our epidermis where it is made.

The amount of melanin synthesised in our skin is determined by our genetics. It colours our skin, hair and even our eyes. As melanin has the ability to absorb UV radiation, its primary function is believed to be protecting the skin from sunlight. Melanin production is stimulated when the skin is exposed to UV radiation; the pigments cluster together, forming a protective cap over the skin cell, resulting in a suntan.

Hypopigmentation, or vitiligo, is a decrease in melanin production, leading to white patches.

Unfortunately there is currently no treatment for this.

However, certain triggers can lead to over-stimulation and surface colour-clumping. Hyperpigmentation refers to your melanocytes – or pigment-producing cells – producing too much pigment. Often referred to as age spots or liver spots, they are usually benign. However, they can be unsightly and unwanted, becoming increasingly more evident with age. It’s not just an age thing: there are a number of triggers that can lead to over-stimulation of melanin.

Hormonally-induced pigmentation can result from stress, usage of prescription drugs and elevated oestrogen levels in women. The latter is particularly prominent on the top lip or as melasma – sometimes called the mask of pregnancy – which can stretch across the cheeks and forehead. Melasma, whether mild or severe, can affect up to 75% of women during pregnancy and about 33% of women on birth control pills.

Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation is caused by the melanocytes’ exaggerated response to skin injury

such as acne, infections or surgical wounds. The deeper the injury and the longer the tissue remains inflamed, the more intense the hyperpigmentation and the more difficult it is to treat.

Frequent and excessive unprotected exposure to UV rays can cause an abnormal distribution of melanin in the skin tissues. If caught early, hyperpigmentation induced by UV rays alone tends to respond well to treatment, while melasma and other hormonal influences are more difficult to treat. But both hormonal and postinflammatory hyperpigmentation are intensified and prolonged by sun exposure.

The good news is that you can address pigmentation problems. Intensive and frequent exfoliation is one of the most important steps you can take, as it helps slough off the layers of skin cells that contain excess melanin, encouraging the skin to produce new, undamaged cells.

There are also products and treatments designed to boost healing and skin cell renewal, whilst shielding the skin from new UV stimulus. Micro-dermabrasion is fantastic for this, whilst retinol and specific peptides have powerful skin brightening qualities and control the erratic activity of melanin-producing cells. Professional skin treatments will deliver key ingredients deeper into the skin and, with follow-up homecare products, you can see improvement in between two and four months. Treating hyperpigmentation is progressive and can be continual depending on the cause.

Having some idea of your personal triggers can reveal the best treatment path and enable a skincare therapist both to set reasonable improvement expectations and advise on a skincare routine. thesanctuarysherborne.co.uk

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 79

Body & Mind

SUPERFOODS WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT? Loretta Lupi-Lawrence, The Sherborne Rooms

“Every single person in the world, every culture, every language, every country, every person knows it – you are what you eat.” David Wolfe

R

ecently I have completed a detox. It felt like hell for the first week, with intense and sometimes unbearable headaches as well as the battle with relentless cravings. In truth I can’t remember feeling so miserable and sorry for myself, as I realised that my body had become completely reliant on sugar, caffeine, white carbohydrates and the odd glass of red wine! Alongside this cleanse and to aid my new journey came real organic meals cooked from scratch, morning and evening mindfulness to detox my mind and a long jog three times a week. As the detox went on, it did get somewhat easier – but my body did not feel it was recovering too well from being unhooked from the bad stuff. Though my natural rhythm was awake again, the tiredness that comes with a body devoid of stimulants was hard to battle with a young family and a business to run. It was time to consider supplements and superfood blends.

So what is a superfood? Well, the term refers to any food that is rich in nutrients, antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins and minerals. It is often referred to as a marketing term and it can get some some negative press from sceptics. However, superfoods are a great way to supercharge your inner health – either as part of your diet or in supplement form. In simple terms, they boost your insides for better wellbeing.

Wanting a boost myself, I reached for my Neal’s Yard Remedies Organic catalogue and ordered the superfood blends. I decided to start with the ‘Cleanse’ organic fibre blend which is in essence for healthy digestion. My experience is that it worked magic on my inner health

80 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

and I really do feel stronger and more rested. However, most importantly for me, I no longer felt those cravings for stimulants. Based on its success I have now added into my daily routine the ‘Radiance’ and ‘Rebalance’ blends too.

‘Radiance’ is an organic berry blend containing vitamin C, which helps to support the formation of collagen and normal skin function – wrinkles be gone! ‘Rebalance’ does just that – addresses the equilibrium of body and mind with mood-enhancing cocoa and helps the body address daily stress with vitamin B and adaptogens.

Detox completed and all the hard work has stayed with me – for now! I can smugly say I feel pretty amazing – thinner, certainly, but mainly much healthier and bursting with energy. Who says you can have too much of a good thing?

Try this delicious hot chocolate recipe:

1 scoop ‘Rebalance’ / 1 tsp raw cacao / 200ml milk (dairy or otherwise) or water / 2 tsp coconut oil / Honey to taste. Once warm, whizz together and consume – preferably curled up on the sofa with a good book!

“This carefully blended superfood complex is rich in B vitamins – to help support the nervous system – and pantothenic acid, to reduce tiredness and fatigue. Natural health and nutrition are an important part of our holistic approach to health and wellbeing.” Susan Curtis, director of natural health at Neal’s Yard Remedies Organic sherbornerooms.com

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Bradford Road, Sherborne DT9 3DA www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 81

Body & Mind

EXERCISE AS MEDICINE Neil Holden, Health and Wellbeing Coach, Oxley Sports Centre

W

ith the NHS under ever-increasing strain, doctors’ appointments becoming harder to come by and antibiotics becoming less and less effective, we may be forgiven for thinking that we are running out of options; that we just have to ‘deal’ with conditions that affect quality of life for many people on a day-to-day basis. But there is a solution that can help manage many different conditions and improve the lifestyle of hundreds of thousands of UK citizens… exercise!

82 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Exercise has many well-known benefits, including assisting with body fat loss and improving wellbeing and self-confidence. However, it does not stop there. One of the key health benefits of exercise is that it helps to regulate glucose levels by increasing insulin sensitivity.

This is perhaps the most important factor in optimising your overall health and wellbeing and preventing chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Just 30 minutes of moderate intensity movement three to four times a week

ANOTHER LITTLE WORLD can go a long way in improving the quality of life of people suffering from these conditions.

Due to advancements in medicine and more awareness of quality nutrition, our life expectancy is ever increasing. As we live longer, demands on our bodies increase and we gradually wear down the efficiency of our bones and joints. Because of this, more and more people are suffering from osteoarthritis or needing total joint replacements.

This can be a drawn-out and often very painful process that can begin to take over everyday activities, leaving people feeling isolated and helpless.

In order to avoid this, partaking in exercise is crucial.

It increases strength and flexibility, reduces joint pain and helps combat fatigue. On top of this, exercise increases the secretion of synovial fluid into our joints. Synovial fluid is a viscous substance found in the gaps between our bones in synovial joints. Its job is to reduce the friction between the bones that make up the joint, thus making the joint more efficient, less painful and more manoeuvrable.

Sometimes a total joint replacement is unavoidable, especially as we get older. The more painful a joint is, the less we use it. This leads to the muscles surrounding the joint becoming weaker which can cause issues with posture and skeletal imbalance, leading to back pain and further joint deterioration. After a total joint replacement operation, rehabilitation is essential. The muscle tissue surrounding the joint needs to be strengthened in order to support the new joint. This can be done in a variety of ways, all of which require exercise.

Exercise is such an important component of medicine, the NHS has teamed up with sports and fitness centres all over the country, giving local communities an affordable option to control existing medical conditions using exercise. The exercise referral scheme is aimed at people who are currently inactive, but feel as though exercise may help them to control existing conditions on a daily basis. If you feel this may be you, please contact your GP or Oxley Sport Centre to see if you meet the criteria to begin this scheme. oxleysc.com

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www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 83

Body & Mind

INCREASING IMMUNITY

T

Sarah Attwood, Cert. ASK, Systematic Kinesiologist, Thrive Health and Wellness

his cold snap appears to have clung on mercilessly, leaving many people struggling to shake off cold and flu bugs that have invaded their immune systems. Viruses love cold weather and humidity, which is why so many of us get sick in the winter months. On average, adults get two colds per year and children three to four times that.

To function properly, an immune system must detect a wide variety of agents known as pathogens and distinguish them from the organism’s own healthy tissue.

It usually does a great job of defending against germs and microorganisms every day, working hard to fight off the invaders. However, there are around 200 viruses that

84 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

cause colds and just 3 that cause flu, so our body has a tough time keeping up.

Our immunity may be compromised by any number of underlying health conditions and lifestyle factors, including poor diet and nutrition, lack of exercise, excessive alcohol, smoking and lack of sleep. We don’t often know how strong our immune system is until we get sick. However, we do know that prevention is better than cure.

Dr Rangan Chatterjee, NHS GP and BBC One’s Doctor in the House, believes lifestyle and nutrition are the keys to good health. He promotes the four pillars of good health – eat well, move well, sleep well and

relax well. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But I wonder how many of us are actively taking care of ourselves in these areas? How much fresh air and exercise do you get a day? Do you understand the importance of relaxation to allow your body’s immune system to repair and regenerate?

At the first sign of an attack on our immune system, there are many things we can do to support it. Quick supplements include echinacea (Neal’s Yard Remedies) and collodial silver (‘Biosilver’ by Metabolics), as well as simple dietary changes such as increasing our intake of vitamin C and eating more fresh fruit and vegetables – particularly leafy greens such as spinach or kale.

Natural techniques include rubbing the spleen’s neurolymphatic points, which are on the side of our body in the middle of the ribs (the bra line is an easier way of finding it) and thymus tap (gentle tapping in a waltzing rhythm around the top of your sternum).

Try to reduce your intake of caffeine, alcohol and sugar, as these are viewed as stressors and disrupt your immune system’s response to the virus. I know we all reach for comfort food when we feel low, but try a hot mug of elderberry tea, made with elderberry syrup, ginger and lemon, or superfood brownies with Neal’s Yard Organic Greens Complex to perk you up.

Supplements are incredibly beneficial, but remember that they do only that – supplement your health – so those lifestyle choices above are important.

We all know vitamin C and zinc help strengthen our immune systems, but are you also aware of the importance of increasing antioxidants? They are the good guys that support a healthy immune response and clean cells of pollutants and free radicals. Iron, selenium and vitamin D are also vital.

It can be confusing knowing which supplements you need. Disciplines such as kinesiology can muscle-test to find the most effective nutritional support for your body, as well as checking for any underlying symptoms. Everyone is different. The most important thing is finding something – be it lifestyle, dietary or nutritional – that works for you and helps you feel better. thrivehealthwellness.co.uk

Kinesiology

Neal’s Yard Remedies

Nutrition

Kinesiology appointments and taster sessions available Health talks | Wellness workshops | Neal’s Yard pamper evenings Food intolerance testing | Nutritional supplements

Thrive Health and Wellness, Sherborne Sarah Attwood Cert. ASK 07708 926000 www.thrivehealthwellness.co.uk sarah@thrivehealthwellness.co.uk

LONDON ROAD CLINIC Health Clinic • Acupuncture • Podiatry and Chiropody • Osteopathy • Manual Lymphatic Drainage • Counselling • Soft Tissue Therapy, • Physiotherapy Sports & Remedial • EMDR Therapy Massage Therapy

Tel: 01963 251860

www.56londonroad.co.uk Email: info@56londonroad.co.uk 56 London Road, Milborne Port, Sherborne DT9 5DW Free Parking and Wheelchair access www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 85

Body & Mind

ADVERSE EFFECTS TO WHEAT – ALLERGY OR INTOLERANCE? Dr Tim Robinson MB BS MSc MRCGP DRCOG MFHom, GP and Complementary Practitioner, Glencairn House

A

n adverse effect to wheat is an extremely common problem. Patients can experience a range of symptoms that may include abdominal bloating, excess wind, variable bowel habit, gurgling and cramping pains of the intestines. They may be immediate or delayed, sometimes occurring the following day.

If these symptoms are new to you, it is important to consult your GP to ensure that there is not a sinister underlying cause such as bowel cancer or colitis. This is especially important if there is associated weight loss or blood in the motions.

Once these conditions have been excluded, the underlying cause of the symptoms precipitated by wheat can be investigated. The commonest causes of adverse reactions to wheat are wheat intolerance, wheat allergy and coeliac disease. Wheat allergy and coeliac disease are due to the body’s immune system reacting to wheat proteins. Wheat intolerance is due to sensitivity to some component of the wheat, the mechanism of which is not understood.

In order to discover whether you have wheat allergy there are two reliable and scientific tests, namely ‘specific IgE’ blood testing and skin prick testing. The validity of these tests is backed up by studies and evidence-based medicine, unlike kinesiology, Vega testing and the postal finger prick testing, whose results are inconsistent and misleading. Coeliac disease is diagnosed with a blood test for antibodies to gluten.

Unfortunately there is no reliable test for wheat intolerance. The only way to test for this is dietary

86 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

elimination, excluding wheat-containing products from your diet for three weeks. This means cutting out wheatbased cereals, bread, pizza, pasta, cakes and biscuits, sauces and gravy, as well as processed foods. In their place you should eat corn or rice-based cereals such as cornflakes and Rice Krispies, rye breads, oatcakes and products made from wheat flour substitutes, including rice, potato, soya, chickpea, quinoa and maize. There is also an impressive ‘free from’ range of food in most supermarkets that is worth exploring. Reliable sources of information on a wheat-free diet can be found on foodmatters.com, wheat-free.org and coeliac.org.uk.

While you are on this strict wheat-free diet, monitor your gut symptoms as well as general wellbeing.

Discovering the cause of your adverse effect to wheat is helpful in order to be aware of what to expect in your condition. Protein allergy tends to be more troublesome than intolerance; it is a more immediate reaction, which is potentially more extreme. There are usually a number of other food trigger factors for an allergic reaction. Strict management of coeliac disease by gluten elimination is important to avoid complications such as weight loss and osteoporosis. But perhaps the most important reason to discover the cause of adverse wheat reaction is to minimise or hopefully eliminate the troublesome symptoms, the worst of which is abdominal bloating and distension. doctortwrobinson.com glencairnhouse.co.uk

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When your family suffers the loss of a loved one, we are here to support, guide and reassure you – every step of the way Call Daniel on 01935 812647 100 Lenthay Road, Sherborne DT9 6AG Email: daniel@wsbrister.com www.wsbrister.com 88 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

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www.dorsetgaragedoors.co.uk www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 89

The Old Vicarage Leigh, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 6HL

01935 873033

care@tovic.com

We are delighted to announce that following our recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission we have been awarded a rating of Outstanding. This means we are in the top 1% of care homes in England.

The Old Vicarage CQC overall rating

28 January 2016

Set in its own secluded, beautifully landscaped gardens, woodland and meadow, and with stunning views overlooking the Dorset countryside, it’s hard to resist the charms of the Old Vicarage. As soon as you step through the front door of this charming country house, you’ll discover an oasis of comfort, warmth, calm and relaxation.

Our highly trained staff ensure that everything - from the mouth-watering food and drink and the stylishly cosy bedrooms to the wide range of activities - will make the Old Vicarage truly a home from home. We have been recognised by the Cinnamon Trust as being one of the best pet friendly care homes in the country.

To arrange a visit please call on 01935 873033 or email care@tovic.com 90 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Nr Chetnole Lettings & Property Management

Wanted A number of clients are looking for short and long term grazing land and outbuildings.

Please call our office to arrange a valuation

Independent Letting Agent representing town and country property throughout Somerset and Dorset 5 Tilton Court, Digby Road, Sherborne DT9 3NL T: 01935 816209 E: info@stockwoodlettings.co.uk

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Lovely family home, four double bedrooms, three bathrooms, two reception rooms, large kitchen, gardens and outbuildings.

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Sherborne Period family home, five bedrooms, three bathrooms, three reception rooms, kitchen with Aga, outbuildings, gardens, stables and grazing.

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A family run Letting Agency providing all the benefits you would expect and without high street charges Landlords, compare our fees.

Are you paying too much to your agent?

Testimonials available T: 01935 389589 • M: 07436 267989 E: lettingsinsherborne@gmail.com lettingsinsherborne www.lettingsinsherborne.com

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 91

Property

FIRST IMPRESSIONS How to sell your home, fast

I

Simon Barker MRICS, Partner, Knight Frank

f you’re looking to sell, taking the time to properly stage your property is one of the most important, yet often overlooked, things you can do. First impressions are everything.

Whilst this hasn’t changed since I started in the property market over 25 years ago, it is possibly more important now than it’s ever been, due to the increasing role that digital marketing plays in selling property. Great photography is key and if your property stands out from the crowd, all the better for attracting potential purchasers.

We have identified a top-10 list of steps you can take to make a lasting impression – one that could help you secure that all-important offer.

1 A tidy and welcoming entrance will ensure your viewing gets off to a good start. Keep your front entrance swept clean and repaint the front door of your property. Replace a worn doormat with a new, inexpensive one and plant some hanging baskets or flower pots. Keep your car out of exterior photos.

2 Minor improvements such as replacing rusty taps, updating door handles and putting out new towels and rugs before viewings can freshen up a home in no time. Unless your agent advises it, there is no need to undertake major renovation work at this stage.

3 Keep your pets out of the home on viewing days.

Remove litter trays and animal cages and ensure your home is ventilated to dispel pet odours a couple of hours before a viewing.

4 Fresh flowers instantly lift a property. Put out new arrangements in the kitchen and master bedroom for colour and fragrance. Similarly, scented candles will ensure that the surroundings are welcoming and pleasant for viewers.

5 Outdoor areas hold huge appeal for potential buyers, so as well as weeding, trimming and replanting any sparse flowerbeds, demonstrate how your garden areas can be used as extensions of living space – you could set up outdoor dining furniture, for instance.

92 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Also ensure that lawns are mown.

6 Wear and tear is inevitable and, while you may not notice scuff marks or peeling window frames, your potential buyers will. An afternoon of paint touchups and replacing broken light bulbs will be time well spent.

7 Viewers are often keen to check water pressure and plumbing. Ensure your boiler is in good working order and clean shower heads and plugholes before viewings start.

8 If you have a spare room that isn’t in use, show its potential by investing in affordable furnishings.

Large areas of unused space such as landings or hallways could be maximised by adding a comfortable armchair and a reading table with neatly stacked books or magazines.

9 Strike the right balance between having too many personal items on show and too few. You want viewers to be able to picture themselves living in your property, but without alienating them with too many family photographs and mementoes, or excessively individual interior design. Neutral colours with some tasteful accents and decorations are a good compromise.

10 Organise your storage spaces. Even if your property has ample storage, untidy cupboards or brim-full boot rooms will give the impression that you don’t have enough space. Storage is one of the most critical things buyers look for, so ensure you show off the full potential of your home.

Having sold a variety of properties across Dorset and South Somerset over many years, we know that these same principles apply when it comes to selling any home. Whether it is a small town house, village property or country estate, keep it neat, keep it tidy and, if in doubt, keep it out of sight. knightfrank.co.uk/sherborne

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 93

Property

THE LANDLORD’S TOP TENANT TICK LIST Paul Gammage and Anita Light, Ewemove Sherborne

I

’ve said it before and I’m happy to say it again: no tenant is better than a bad tenant. It’s understandable to think of the monthly rental income hitting the bank account and assume that everything will be OK, but what happens if due diligence has not been conducted?

In the worst-case scenario you could end up having to evict your tenant. The likely cost? A lot of time and money. I read a report this week that estimated the cost to be nearly £2,000 and nine months. These costs involve serving the appropriate notice, seeking a Property Possession Order – which can take up to six months depending on how busy the court is – and the services of a High Court Bailiff. In difficult cases the services of counsel as well as a solicitor may also be required, which adds a considerable amount to the £2,000.

Then factor in the potential loss of nine months of rental income and whether or not, as a landlord, your finances are able to withstand it. You can see how that figure could get a lot closer to £10,000 – or even exceed it!

What’s the solution?

Employ a letting agent that you trust not to put the first person with a pulse and a bank balance into your home. It’s all well and good wanting to minimise the void period, but at the risk of the above please do not circumvent the appropriate amount of care.

Credit checks and guarantor

Make sure your agent credit checks the prospective tenants and their guarantor. I say guarantor, as this provides another level of security. Normally the guarantor would be a family member of the tenant and own their own home. They would also sign an agreement that, in

94 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

effect, covers any financials the tenant cannot cover.

References

Once happy that the credit checks are satisfactory, references should be sought. These can be employers and previous landlords or letting agents.

Home visit

The final check we make is to the prospective tenant’s home. At this visit we will check their Right To Rent identification to ensure they are legally entitled to rent in the UK and take them through all the appropriate paperwork prior to moving in. What this also allows us to do is check the condition of their current home and the way they treat it. This is surely the best indicator of how they will treat yours.

Schedule of condition

Now we’re in a good place, as all the above has been checked out. Of course, excepting fair wear and tear, accidents can happen – and when the tenant vacates the property there may be some dispute as to the condition of it.

To negate this, make sure your agent compiles a robust Schedule Of Condition, preferably on a digital application. It should have a comprehensive set of photos detailing walls, floors, ceilings, doors, windows, hardware etc, room by room. The condition should be graded along the lines of New, Good, Used or Worn. If there are any blemishes, these should also be noted. This document serves to protect both the landlord and the tenant and should be referred to if there is any doubt when the tenant vacates the home. ewemove.com/sherborne

How Our Customers Felt After Choosing EweMove

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Total Transparency and Honesty Anita & Paul run an estate agents like none you will have ever experienced before and believe me I have tried quite a few over the years! There’s total transparency & honesty at all times combined with expert communication – I knew what was going on every single day, not when someone decided I needed a weekly update. I had more viewings in 6 weeks than I had in the previous 6 months but from people who actually were interested in my property.

Save your time, hassle and money and go to the best in the area – that’s exactly what I will be doing next time!

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Anita & Paul Are Incredibly Professional Don’t be put off by their lack of ‘high street presence’, how often do people nowadays buy houses by looking in estate agents windows?

They are much more flexible than a typical agent, literally offering a 24/7 approach, being contactable by phone/text/e-mail, even in evenings and at weekends which I found invaluable. Don’t waste time thinking about it, these are the guys to go for, contact them now!

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Selling is a stressfull time. On this occasion however, I was lucky to discover EweMove who took the stress out of it by providing a brilliant service.

They were constantly in contact and kept us up to date with everything. They are professional in what they do, yet put me at ease so I felt confident to ask them anything. Other more traditional agents are either unavailable or slow to respond. The photos, description & presentation of our house for sale have been superb. This has been a significant factor in securing us a buyer within hours of being marketed. I can’t recommend Paul & Anita highly enough Paul Slator, Shelley Close, Yeovil

Sherborne’s Most Trusted Estate Agent Based On Hundreds of Independent Customer Reviews on We know choosing the best estate agent can be difficult.

One of the things our customers said which helped them decide was hearing real life stories from existing customers.

Anita Light & Paul Gammage, Branch Directors Call: 01935 350 350 Visit: www.EweMove.com/Sherborne

Residential Lettings and Property Management

Trent Dorset £725pcm

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Extremely spacious and light 3 bedroom maisonette with sun terrace, parking for 2 cars and situated in a popular location close to Westlands, Yeovil hospital and local amenities. Offered unfurnished, GCH, double glazing.

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James Oliver DipPFS CeMAP Independent Financial Advisor Pensions and Retirement Planning • Investments • Inheritance Tax Planning • Mortgage and Equity Release • Life Assurance and Protection

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Strategic Solutions is a trading style of Strategic Solutions Financial Services which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, number 525733. Principals: Kevin Forbes: Jefferson Fawcett: Giles Wellington: Allan Cruse.

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE

Your Life, Your Money, Your Future Trusted, professional, fee based advice We live in a complex world. At FFP we aim to remove complexity, replacing it with simplicity and clarity so that our clients can enjoy their lives without worry

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T: 01935 815008 E: info@huntsaccountants.co.uk W: huntsaccountants.co.uk @Hunts_Sherborne The Old Pump House, Oborne Road, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3RX 100 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Finance

BUCKET LIST

Andrew Fort B.A. (Econ.) CFPcm Chartered MCSI APFS, Certified and Chartered Financial Planner, Fort Financial Planning Real financial planning is about identifying what you want to be doing at some future point in your life and taking the necessary steps to enable you to achieve that. One of the concepts that FFP uses is “the bucket.”

Everyone has a bucket, although some buckets are bigger than others. Your bucket contains your liquid assets – accessible, readily realisable money, such as bank savings, cash, ISAs, shares, unit trusts and investment bonds. The list includes anything that is liquid, or that can be converted to cash within a fortnight or so – as you must be able to get at it, to spend it.

Everything else that we have is outside the bucket. Our home is ‘tied-up’ money that only becomes available to us if we downsize at some point. While it is an asset, it is also a liability, as it costs money to run. Pension funds are also outside the bucket and will remain so until you are old enough to access them! Even then, the funds generally only drip into your bucket as you tend to draw a monthly income from it, although you may also have a tax-free lump sum to add. Current income including your salary, rent from a second property, interest from your savings and dividends from your investments all flow into your bucket. In the future, your salary may stop and be replaced by your pension. Eventually you will also receive a state pension.

Your bucket has a tap, representing your expenditure. The cost of your current lifestyle you will know. When you retire, the early years being active years, your expenditure will change, so your bucket has another tap. It will often increase, as few activities are free. In later years it may reduce as you become less physically active. It may, of course, increase if you need to pay for help within your house or for long-term care.

Real financial planning takes into account all current and future inflows and outflows to show you whether your bucket will run out or overflow. Either way, it provides you with the necessary information for you to take action. If your bucket is going to run out, you need to accumulate more while you are working, to spend less and/or to obtain a better return from those liquid assets. If your bucket is going to overflow, you may choose to spend more or give some of your money away to your family or good causes.

What’s going to happen to your bucket? ffp.org.uk

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 101

Tech

I

know I keep banging on about this, but during the last month I have had two clients fall victim to a ransomware encryption virus – one with a good outcome and one without! Neither of them are stupid, but both had a momentary lapse of concentration and clicked on the link in a spoof email… it’s that simple!

Most people have two types of data on their computer – email data and file data, otherwise known as pictures, documents and music.

So, let’s look at email first. If you want to be safe against computer failure, virus encryption or accidental loss of emails, you should be using a synchronous webbased email system like Gmail, Outlook.com or even the much-maligned BT Email using the IMAP method.

All of these systems store your email on web servers and your computer just replicates that data. If you fall victim to data loss then you simply have to re-synchronise the data on the server. Most businesses use a product called Microsoft Exchange for their email that is very similar to the above, but includes more bells and whistles. My victim with the good outcome used Exchange!

Older email servers such as Orange, TalkTalk and Eclipse use the POP system simply to collect mail from the web server and store it locally on the computer. No lasting copy is left on the server so data loss on the PC is unrecoverable, as there is no alternate store. My less fortunate victim used this system and did not have such a good outcome. However, they did have a backup of sorts, so let’s move on to file backup.

My less fortunate client had a removable backup 102 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

disk that was used to make a copy of all their data files, including the emails. However, the last backup was taken at the end of January and the virus hit in April.

We were able to recover 100% of the backed-up data and emails up to January, but sadly nothing else. This is the problem with this type of backup – it is only as good as the last time it was used and the onus is on you to remember to do it regularly. Even then, you’ll still lose something since the most recent event.

Better is an online backup system such as LiveDrive, where your precious data is constantly kept up to date on a remote server. Should the unthinkable happen, all you have to do is download your data from the server again. It is always running, always up-to-date and never forgotten. My fortunate victim used this type of backup and, whilst it did take several days to download it all, I think we managed to recover 99.9% of it. Emails were unaffected thanks to the Exchange system.

Beware of relying on Dropbox, OneDrive or iCloud, as encrypted data on your computer is faithfully uploaded to the server. If you pay for DropBox then they will helpfully recover your data for you if you ask nicely, but free users will have lost it all. These systems are NOT backup, they are just file-sharing utilities.

As always, if in doubt or if you need help, you know where to come!

Coming up next month… Limited storage netbooks computing-mp.co.uk

J. Biskup

Property Maintenance Ltd

TO-DO LIST ✓ Kitchen & bathroom installation ✓ Tiling ✓ Flooring ✓ Wallpaper removal ✓ Painting and decorating ✓ Plastering

✓ Wall repairs ✓ Roof repairs ✓ Loft insulation ✓ Carpentry ✓ Window renovation ✓ PVC guttering and facia boards

BEST PRICES ON THE MARKET FREE QUOTATIONS SHERBORNE Tel: 01935 815712 • Mobile: 07912 145988 Email: jm.biskup@gmail.com www.jbiskup.com

DESIGNER

Extensive range of wool

Buttons, ribbons & crafty bits

Hats for Ascot!

Outfits for Weddings & The Season!

Find us in Half Moon Street, Sherborne, opposite the Abbey

Yarn, haberdashery and workshops

01935 812 927

1 Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 3PT

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Tel: 01935 508249

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See website for workshops

EMDR - a supportive, effective therapy.

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Small Business Support

Networks & Cabling

New PCs & Laptops

Wireless Networks

Repairs & Upgrades

Broadband Setup

Virus Removal

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The Weighbridge • High Street • Milborne Port • DT9 5DG www.mpfix.co.uk Therapy & Addiction Services

BRYAN C. COOPER LTD TRADITIONAL BUILDERS - Since 1968 -

A family run Sherborne business established for over 45 years Renovations, Extensions and Alterations, Patios, Boundary Walls and Fencing _________

Purpose-made Joinery, Internal and External Decorations, Bathrooms and Kitchens _________

Wall and Floor Tiling, Repairs and Maintenance, Roofing and Fibreglass Systems

96 Newland, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3DT Email: bccooperltd@btconnect.com Web: bryancooperbuilders.co.uk

Tel: 01935 814946 104 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

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Training & Behaviour Ltd Sarah Easterbrook CoPAS GoDT, IACP Member Qualified and experienced dog trainer & pet behaviourist Phone now on: 07769 705807 Or email: sarah@thepetexperience.co.uk www.the-pet-experience.co.uk

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106 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

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FOLK TALES with Colin Lambert

JOHN AND PAULINE MILLER Sherborne Voluntary Ambulance

J

ohn Miller and I have much in common. We both like nicotine, albeit in different forms. We both eat too much. We both had messy divorces that left us with trust issues and the empty feeling in your belly when you haven’t seen your kids for 20 years. Most importantly, it taught us never to give up on what the universe has in store.

Call it God, Buddha, Mohammed or even Leeds United, it’s all the same; we all want to be loved and happy.

I’m at John’s home and a sign on the door says, ‘No traders welcome.’ I ask about the sign. “Endless phone calls are part of life, but it’s too much when they’re knocking on the door offering to cut my hedge, or sell me new windows.”

Pauline, John’s partner and co-manager of the Sherborne Voluntary Ambulance (SVA), offers me a chair. Pauline dotes on her son, an engineer in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) and away at sea for months at a time. Coincidentally, I was rescued by the RFA whilst crossing Lyme Bay recently. But that’s for later.

John was born in the Mendips. The eldest of seven, his parents met while his Army father was stationed at Gillingham. They married quickly and Dad went straight off to war – Mum didn’t see him again until it finished. John’s father died in 1995. His mother, diagnosed when young with a dicky heart, died last year 108 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

aged 96. Ignoring advice, she worked hard and smoked from age 16. John lights up.

He inherited his mum’s work ethic and smoking habit.

Aged eight, he worked Saturdays with a local baker, delivering bread. This complemented his paper round and work on his best friend’s farm. Aged 16 he wanted to fly, his sights on the RAF. He passed his medical but, two weeks later, an accident whilst riding his beloved motorbike ended his flying career before it started. The RAF offered him alternatives, but John was devastated.

John went back to the bakery. Still too young to drive the van, he created new recipes and, when perfected, showed the bakers how to make them. He passed his driving test on his 17th birthday and his lifetime love of being behind a wheel began. First came an earlymorning milk round, moving onto lorries at 21 and then back to delivering, building himself a successful career.

Now married, John found himself working even harder to renovate a tumbledown cottage in the Mendips and bring up four children. Long hours, out early and back late. One day he came home unexpectedly early and…

Divorce and a bitter court battle ensued. Estranged from his children ever since.

John was now living with his parents, commuting to Yeovil for a 3am start at the bakery. Pauline, meanwhile,

lived in Sherborne as a nursing home warden. Marriage also on the rocks, she always said hello to the funny man delivering bread and provisions to the home. Their friendship blossomed and turned to love and they moved in together with two cats as housemates. The cats passed on, to be replaced by budgies.

John went back on the road, delivering hampers. Airlifted to Yeovil Hospital following an accident, he spent four days unconscious, finally coming round to hear the devastating news he would never walk again. John refused to believe it. Two years of physio, sheer grit and determination meant he can now walk short distances and, more importantly, drive again.

The universe answered his prayers – the Sherborne Voluntary Ambulance needed helpers. He hasn’t looked back. He loves it, entertaining his passengers with singing and jokes and brightening the lives of folk in the Sherborne area. Pauline manages the paperwork and bookings and oversees the day-to-day events of the SVA. “We organise theatre trips, river and canal cruises.” Wow! John lights up again. “I don’t want any whingers on my trips, that’s what they are getting away from. Some have health troubles, some family and some financial. My trips leave those problems at home, we just enjoy the day.”

How do you switch off, I ask. “Pauline downloads

songs. André Rieu is our favourite,” responds John. His other hobby is driving racing cars. Donington Park, Silverstone, Thruxton… Quite fast cars, by all accounts.

As I mentioned, Pauline dotes on her 50-year-old son, currently away at sea in the RFA. The universe is clever.

Backtrack two weeks. I’m moving my old yacht from London to Dartmouth, via Weymouth. First time at sea for a while and a bit rusty, I miscalculate the fuel in my main tank (plenty in auxiliary) and splutter to a stop in Lyme Bay. Open spare tank, change filters and bleed injectors.

Easy peasy, until a trip switch goes on ignition and now no power either. An hour later the words, “Pan Pan, this is Yacht Frangi,” leave my lips. After two more, what looked (from my tiny vessel) like a battleship sent over two engineers. Job done. Rescued by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary – and who knows, it could have been Pauline’s son!

A big thank you to John and Pauline for sharing their Folk Tales. We will all be chatting live on Sunday 11th June at 11am in the Abbey104 studio. Listen online at abbey104.com or FM 104.7, in the Sherborne area.

For more information regarding hiring or using Sherborne Voluntary Ambulance please contact Bute House Surgery on 01935 810900 www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 109

Short Story

AN ACT OF KINDNESS Mark Milbank, Sherborne Scribblers

T

hey were not real war veterans; just young thugs rounded up, given some free booze, drugs and a bit of cash and told to go and harass us. There was usually a real war vet in charge of them and, in our area, he was a real baddy called Fanuel Chigwadere. I knew him well and we had once been friends.

It was 2000 and Mugabe, having just lost an election, unleashed a reign of terror on the white farming community in the hope of currying favour with the electorate by giving them our farms.

It was frightening. We had no one to turn to for help. The police ignored us and the courts were stuffed with Mugabe cronies. So we barricaded ourselves in the house, agreed not to go anywhere after dark and relied on fellow farmers to give us, at least moral, support.

Friends were murdered, neighbours were severely beaten up – but so far we had only been subjected to gangs of youths, often led by Chigwadere, shouting abuse from our farm gate and leaving all the gates on the farm open.

Life had to continue, though, and my wife had to do a bit of shopping occasionally. Our nearest shop was 37 miles away down a lonely road and one afternoon she said she had some urgent shopping to do.

“Be sure to be back well before dark,” I reminded her.

“I’ll radio when I leave town,” she replied, referring to the small, portable radio that was connected to a large set in our house. No cell phones worked in our area.

At 5.15pm I heard my radio number being called. Sure enough, it was my wife saying she was on her way home and should be back well before dark, at about 6pm.

I relaxed, as this meant that she should be well past Bedford’s Bar before it produced too many drunks. This was a notorious bar on the side of the road some 15 miles from us and it was from this den of inequity that a gang had moved in on the nearby farm owner, Richard, and severely beaten him up, forcing him to leave his farm.

By 6pm I was starting to worry. By 6.30pm I was very worried. By 7pm I was desperate, but did not know what to do. I thought of going to look for her, but then I

110 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

would miss any message sent over the radio.

Suddenly the telephone rang. I rushed to it and immediately heard a lot of shouting and laughter. Then an African voice came on the line.

“Mr Milbank? Your wife’s car has broken down and she wants you to come and help.”

“Thank you, but where are you?” I stammered.

“In Bedford’s Bar. Your wife is nearby.” The phone went dead.

My first thought was that this was a trap to lure me out. Why no radio call? Obviously I had to go. I wanted to call my son who farmed next door, but I remembered that he and his young family had recently moved into town for safety.

At 7.30pm I set off, just as it started to drizzle. I dreaded to think where my wife was. In that bloody bar, surrounded by drunken thugs? God forbid.

Approaching the bar, I could see our car on the side of the road. As I got nearer I could make out my wife, sitting in the driver’s seat. What a relief ! Then I spotted another figure sitting in the passenger seat – who could that possibly be? My heart sank.

I turned my pickup round to face home and went up to the driver’s door. As I grasped the handle my wife opened the window.

“Oh darling!” she sobbed. “The battery on my radio has gone flat, I got a puncture and the spare is also flat. I was in big trouble until this gentleman came to my help.”

I looked up at the scruffily dressed African with a tattered hat sitting in the passenger seat and found myself staring into the face of Fanuel Chigwadere. So it was a trap.

Before I could do anything, Chigwadere spoke.

“Good evening, Mark. Don’t worry. We may want your farm, but we have no quarrel with Nikki. Take her home and I will keep an eye on her car until you can fix it.”

A true act of kindness, from an unlikely source.

P.S. Chigwadere did eventually get the farm!

Literature

LITERARY REVIEW Mark Greenstock, Sherborne Literary Society

Red Sky At Noon by Simon Sebag Montefiore (Century) £16.99 Exclusive Sherborne Times reader offer of £15.99 at Winstone’s Books

W

hat is the difference between historical fiction and fictional history? After reading this novel, I’m not sure it matters. Published this month, here we have the third in a trilogy set in Russia during the Second World War. The first two instalments, Sashenka and One Night In Winter, have already won critical acclaim but, unlike Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy, each one stands alone, negating the need to be read in chronological sequence. Benya Golden, a RussianJewish middle-aged writer, finds himself caught up in the atrocities involved in the German advance of 1942 towards the River Don and Stalingrad. Owing to the shortage of tanks, he has been enrolled in a brigade of shtrafniki, Stalin’s ‘penal battalions’ of imprisoned Soviet citizens released for cavalry training. The action swings between the broad grassy plains where the fighting is taking place and the city of Moscow, where Stalin’s daughter Svetlana is feeling the stirrings of adolescent passion. Dr Montefiore handles the plot like an old hand. The easy pace of the writing and dialogue belies its dynamic intensity. The characters spring into life and remain consistent yet surprising. There is a considerable cast of participants, some historical like Stalin, Beria

and others, but mostly fictional or based loosely on real people. There is plenty of wanton cruelty and there are interludes of love, but none are described merely for their own sakes. The author’s credentials as a first-class historian allow confidence in the essential verisimilitude of the narrative, though in the author’s note he insists that, “it should be enjoyed as a novel, no more, no less.” Anyway, it’s no mere potboiler.

Within a short fragment of human history, adjusted to suit the story, all humanity is here – whether in the relentless struggle for national and personal domination, or in the still greater forces of freedom and love. It’s hardly War and Peace – for one thing, some of the language could be said to lack Tolstoyan gentility – but it shows impressive versatility from a writer and TV presenter who has given us Catherine the Great and Potemkin, The Romanovs and much else. I shall definitely turn up to hear the author himself later this month – if there’s room.

Meet the Author

Talk and signing with Simon Sebag Montefiore, Wednesday 21st June, Cheap Street Church, 6.30pm for 7pm. Tickets £5, available from Winstone’s Books.

Book launch, signing and interview with author and historian

'Independent Bookseller of the Year 2016’ 8 Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3PX www.winstonebooks.co.uk Tel: 01935 816 128

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Wednesday 21st June, Cheap Street Church, 6.30 for 7pm

Simon will be discussing his new novel Red Sky at Noon with Tom Payne (ex-deputy literary editor of the Daily Telegraph and now teacher of Classics at Sherborne School) Tickets £5. Refreshments provided.

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Yeovil Samaritans, 25 The Park, Yeovil • www.samaritans.org You could change someone’s life – maybe your own

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PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

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Reverend Jono Tregale, St Paul’s Church

’ve recently returned from a cycling holiday in Cornwall with my family. We love Cornwall and we love our bikes. In the area around Bodmin there are plenty of fantastic cycle-only tracks, many along former railway lines. Avoiding too much exertion, it proved to be a very relaxed time spent in beautiful countryside. Slowly ambling along – or whatever the correct term is when you’re on a bike – stopping regularly to take in the view or just to listen to the silence was a wonderfully refreshing experience. Whether walking or cycling, just getting away and out and about restores our energy and focus. Beside a gently flowing stream, looking out over the sea or taking in the view from a mountain top offers us the chance to stop, to think, to rediscover perspective. For many people of faith, they will speak of getting closer to the creator God in such times and in such places.

I’ve come across a number of articles recently about why getting out and going for a walk helps us in making big decisions of life. The prime minister, it is claimed, made her decision to call a general election during a walking holiday in North Wales. Whether we agree with her decision or not, the experience of needing to get away from it all in order to think clearly is not uncommon.

The author of the local walking guide says that, in stopping in a beautiful place on a walk, “The body reacts to this pause. You can be thinking about something important when you are walking and then when you stop, often the issues that have been going through the mind come together more easily.”

As your blood gets flowing in going out for a walk, your body releases endorphins. Some researchers suggest that the endorphins help ease your stress and allow you to think more clearly about how to solve the problem you’re facing. In the book Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit, she writes, “Walking, ideally, is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned, as though they were three characters finally in a conversation together, three notes suddenly making a chord. Walking allows us to be in our bodies and in the world without being made busy by them. It leaves us free to think without being wholly lost in our thoughts.”

Such wisdom is well known in the Christian Bible. Psalm 46 encourages us with the words of God: “Be still and know that I am God.” Key characters in the Bible are frequently found going out into the beauty of creation to find fresh perspective on life, to seek clarity of mind in prayer. Walking and pausing – but also in praying. Are you wrestling with big decisions? Go for a walk – or a gentle cycle. Pause when you are ready and pray for God’s wisdom if you feel able to. Then from a place of peace, both around and within, make your decision and move on. Try it. stpauls-sherborne.org.uk

www.sherbornetimes.co.uk | 113

OUT AND ABOUT

Councillor David Birley

I

t is not long now until our Summer Festival on 17th June. This year with the kind permission of Sherborne Castle Estates we are moving the event to Purlieu Meadow. There is sure to be something for all ages. Attractions for the young include a bouncy castle, a human dinosaur, face painting, a balloon fairy, storytelling and painting with ArtsLink. There will be a shopping mall with some exciting stalls. There will be more food and refreshment stalls. You will be able to have a go at fly-fishing, try your hand with a longbow and watch the mediaeval warfare team.

There will be two stages erected – one for the bands and for performances by our schools and community.

There is so much talent around and, in my just-ended year as mayor, I was lucky enough to be invited to many school concerts and performances, so I know just how high the standard is.

Admission is FREE so we hope you will all come and have a great time. My committee and I are most grateful to all those who have kindly supported this event, including the bands and performers, the schools, the Town Council, the Simon Digby Memorial Trust, the private donors and all the businesses who have advertised in the programme.

We hope to make both this Summer Festival and the Easter Fun Day, which we started this year to great success, regular annual events. Of course, as these events grow there is more organising to be done and we would be very grateful for your help. If you think you could spare some time to help us, please contact Millie Furby of the Slipped Stitch, at the top of town.

114 | Sherborne Times | June 2017

Being young these days is not easy. There is so much pressure to do well academically and also, regrettably, from peer groups via social media. Sadly there are all too many tragic stories in the press about young people who have not been able to cope with these pressures. We in Sherborne are very lucky to have the dedicated team at Tinneys, the Sherborne Area Youth & Community Centre, and I am delighted that they were the main beneficiaries of the money raised by our QE90 event last year. We are also very lucky to have The Rendezvous and their fantastic helpers, based under Cheap Street Church.

Getting a place at the university of your choice and finding a job are two more big hurdles our young have to deal with. Personally I don’t believe a university degree is a must for everyone. When I had my own businesses, I was much more interested in a job applicant’s character and talking to them about their aspirations, so I am delighted to see that apprenticeships are making a comeback. These enable our young to nurture a skill that will give them lifelong employment and which they can take to any other country.

I am particularly pleased that I was able to help with the Opportunities For All event at The Gryphon last month. The aim was to show year-11, -12 and -13 pupils the great range of jobs available in our area, including ones for holiday-time, school leavers or future graduates.

Despite being put together in a very short amount of time, it was a great success. I am very grateful to all those at The Gryphon and our local companies who helped with the event. We are now planning a much bigger event for October, aimed at next year’s leavers.

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