RIDING THE WAVE

SPOKESPEOPLE Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

This morning, while walking along Long Street, I was mulling on this very article when two young lads came past me on bicycles, wind in their hair, arms raised (yes, I know, very irresponsible) and singing their hearts out. It was a timely reminder of the joy that cycling brings. Ask any cyclist why they do it and ‘joy’ is no doubt high on their list. The levels of fitness achievable, an estimated 10-year increase in life expectancy and the obvious environmental benefits add to a very long list of incentives. If, like me, you are over 50 then the health benefits are certainly appealing. For younger riders it’s enough to simply be free. While the positives are inarguable, the reality for many, if not most of us, is that our public roads are just too unsafe.

Somebody determined to change that is cyclist, writer and Sherborne old boy Adam Stones. You might have heard Adam deliver an inspiring talk on ‘How cycling transforms people and places’ at the TEDx Sherborne event last year. Adam grew up here, and although he now lives in Amsterdam, he still takes a keen interest in the well-being of his hometown. He is a strategic advisor to BYCS, the international cycling culture change agency that is responsible for the fastgrowing ‘Bicycle Mayor Network.’ Adam’s commitment to cycling took hold at the age of 25, with a coast-tocoast ride across the US. His book, The Limey Project, published this autumn, chronicles his adventure. >

Digby Etape

In 2003, Adam and a friend, Nick Cracknell, set off for the US. ‘We weren’t cyclists, there was no social media and we were very naive,’ says Adam of that time, ‘but we had a lot of fun. We discovered that we were able to achieve much more than we thought we could. That gave us huge clarity and confidence in our lives.’

For Adam it became a ‘personal transformation.’ He suffered from anxiety and the ride gave him strength both physically and mentally. It also opened his eyes to how cycling affects the dynamic of a town. ‘There was an absence of cycling in many places across the US but I noticed that in the places where there was a cycle-culture, the people were much more welcoming. I guess what I am saying is that in towns where there was an absence of cycling, there was an absence of people.’ Car culture, it seems, numbs a town’s community spirit.

Adam’s vision is for Sherborne to become a cycle-friendly community. A town where cyclists can move freely through a network of cycle lanes connecting neighbouring villages. Cycle lanes would allow people to go about their lives: travelling to school, work, friends and the shops, without having to jump in their car or onto a bus. Incidentally, the NHS claims that one in six deaths is due to inactivity and it was announced recently that GPs will soon be prescribing cycling as part of an exercise programme to maintain wellbeing. ‘Sherborne has always punched above its weight,’ says Adam, ‘and research has shown that creating a cycle-friendly town will improve the economy and the health of its residents.’ As part of the town’s proposed post-Covid rejuvenation, we now have a chance to make Adam’s vision a reality.

The timing couldn’t be better. Sherborne Town Clerk, Steve Shield, agrees that this is the opportune moment to consider cycle paths ‘as part of the wider feasibility study for cyclist (and pedestrian) access within the town’s post-lockdown recovery plan.’ He adds, ‘we are looking to hold a stakeholder drop-in session in September where local representatives of cycle groups can be party to that process.’

There is potential to introduce cycle tracks that would connect outlying villages such as Milborne Port and Bradford Abbas to Sherborne. Imagine a cycle-friendly town where workers are incentivised to commute by bike (greencommuteinitiative.uk), a town that actively encourages tourists to arrive by train and explore by bike. ‘Now is the time to find cycling ambassadors within the town,’ says Adam.

Here in Sherborne, we're lucky enough to have two bike shops – Riley's and the charitable partnership, Hope2Cycle. Mike Riley, of Riley’s Cycles, knows a thing or two about the benefits of cycling. Mike was working as an engineer when he felt it was time for a change in life. He bought the business and cycle shop seven years ago and recently, with a view to retirement, has introduced several new business partners. Then came lockdown, the global resurgence in cycling and a three-fold increase in sales. ‘We are in a buoyant position,’ he agrees, ‘but it was largely due to putting in the groundwork.’ Mike’s original motivation to take up cycling remains, ‘It was for physical health and mental wellbeing,’ he explains. ‘I find cycling very therapeutic; I am Type 2 diabetic and am able to manage it through the exercise I get cycling.’

Mike is secretary for Sherborne’s Digby Etape (a pun on Sherborne’s legendary local pub and the Tour de France); a thriving cycle club that meets several times a week. ‘It’s great to see people arrive wound up, full of the problems of the day, and return from the ride joking and relaxed,’ he remarks. ‘During lockdown many people took to cycling because the roads were quieter, but now we have seen a gradual increase in traffic and it’s almost back to normal.’ The safety issue for cyclists has become a problem again and Mike agrees that the cycling gold-medalist Chris Boardman has a point when he suggests that legislation should be changed in favour of the cyclist over the motorist. That is, in the same terms that it is generally assumed that if a driver runs into the back of a car it is the fault of the driver who does so, so it would apply to drivers bumping cyclists - the car driver is assumed guilty until proven otherwise. ‘It might just act as a deterrent and act to curb aggressive driving,’ says Mike.

Dave Hyland is one of Mike’s business partners, a fellow member of Digby Etape and also a keen family cyclist. In recent months he has often been seen out on the roads with his wife Lucy and youngsters Annabel, 8, and Ed, 6, while his older sons Josh, 16, and George, 18, tend to go it alone. ‘I became a cyclist in 2014, when I realised I needed to get fit. I joined the gym at Sherborne Sports Centre and Gary who works there said, ‘Right, there is a sprint triathlon coming up and you’re doing it!’ I did and it got me into cycling.’

Dave is happiest on the open road, ‘I am a road cyclist - I am too old to go on those off-road trails as I don’t bounce as well I used to – but, really, for me, cycling is the freedom and the ability to see different >

Adam and Noah Stones

places, to be outside and not in a car, with a group of friends, chatting. It’s social and healthy.’ So, when lockdown came around, it was an ideal opportunity for Dave and his family to get out on their bikes together. ‘At the start of lockdown, we were able to cycle out of Sherborne on the roads but then people started to get back in their cars and clearly showed no concern for youngsters on bikes. The problem with Sherborne is that there are no cycle paths out of the town, and it is something that must be addressed. We need to find a way to either reduce traffic on certain roads or create cycle ways so that people can safely cycle to and from the town. It’s very clear that if people could cycle to work, countless would.’

So, all power to those young lads I saw this morning, leading the way to a new future: a future where we cycle safely to school, to work, and to the homes of friends in neighbouring villages. This isn’t a fairytale. It is very much a possibility. Now is the time to speak up, form an action group and engage in the council drop-in sessions this month (details to follow on sherborne-tc.gov.uk). Sherborne will be a safer, healthier, happier and more prosperous town for it.

The Limey Project by Adam Stones is available now from Winstones at £9.99.

Adam’s Action List for a Cycle-Friendly Sherborne

Infrastructure (Non-built): Signposting ‘quiet routes’ across the town and - in time - trialling cycling priority streets; producing local cycling route maps with hospitality business sponsorship.

Leadership: Making a public statement of intent by schools, councils and businesses; embedding cycling into the local plan.

Innovation: Opening a pop-up innovation lab to crowd-source local ideas; starting an annual cycling celebration festival.

Activation: Introducing a ‘Cycling Buddies’ scheme to build confidence for people going to school or work; securing grants for bike/ebike support for key workers and elderly residents; promoting local deliveries via cargo bikes; incentivising shoppers to cycle with local voucher schemes; rewarding employees who cycle with extra paid holiday.

THE CAKE WHISPERER Val Stones QUICK AND EASY LEMON CURD

I’m old enough to remember a TV programme called ‘That Was the Week That Was’ and so the loss of March, April, May, June and July 2020 should be called ‘That Was the Year That Was’. It has been the year COVID-19 decimated the world physically, mentally and spiritually but also brought out the best in humanity.

The explosion of baking and cooking was phenomenal as there was little option but to make your own; restaurants, cafes and pubs could only provide takeaway food. It was ironic that the unavailability and closure of all food outlets and restaurants was to reawaken folks’ interests in cooking meals, baking, making and sourcing ingredients. Social media was inundated with sourdough loaves dressed up with exotic patterns or the one slash top. Folk began to dig for Britain and there was an upsurge in the sale of vegetable and flower seeds, and I was one of the many who, with

Image: Katharine Davies

free time, was able to spend more time in my garden.

Summer is the time for making jams, jellies and curds to nestle away for the coming months. One of my favourite things to make is lemon curd; I love the sharp, tangy taste and the smooth, rich texture which spreads so easily. Lemon curd is so versatile; once made, it can be stored for up to six weeks in the refrigerator and used for spreading on bread and toast or is perfect when folded into yoghurt for breakfast. It’s also a basis for many puddings. A favourite cake of mine is a lemon and elderflower cake where the lemon cake is sandwiched with lemon curd and elderflower Chantilly cream.

I used to make my curds in a double boiler, but it took ages to stand and stir the mixture until it reached setting point. I decided to try speeding things up a bit and using my microwave – I found that it worked! I learned early that you need to be gentle heating things up as if I used full heat from the start, the egg scrambled.

What you will need

• A strong microwavable bowl - it could be ceramic or plastic. If you only have plastic, then place 2 bowls (one inside the other) to give rigidity to the bowl, as when the curd begins to bubble it will make the bowl very soft and will be difficult to lift out of the microwave between stirring. • At least 4 clean 1lb jam jars in the oven on 80C fan oven - warming for 10 minutes. • A balloon whisk • A heatproof jug - to pour the curd from the bowl into the jars • Wax circles - to cover the curd before lidding

Ingredients For approximately 4 x 1lb jars Zest and juice of 6 lemons, at room temperature. Tip - if you use lemons at room temperature, they will release more juice. 6 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten 525g caster sugar 340g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes 1 rounded tablespoon cornflour 4 drops of lemon extract (optional and preferably @holylamaspicedrops)

Method

1 Place the cornflour in a small bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to form a smooth liquid. 2 Place the zest, lemon juice, sugar and butter into a bowl and stir to combine the ingredients. Once the sugar begins to dissolve, stir in the cornflour mixture. 3 Place the bowl in the microwave and heat on medium heat for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the microwave and whisk to combine all the ingredients. Repeat this again and you should see the mixture thickening around the edges of the bowl. Whisk the ingredients making sure the mixture is smooth before microwaving again. 4 Microwave on medium for a further 1 minute and whisk again. 5 Microwave for 2 minutes on full power and whisk again; the mixture should be thickening at this point.

Time to test the set…

Remember that the heat will make the curd seem to be thinner than it is and as it cools, it will thicken further. 6

7

Take a wooden spoon and stir the mixture so that the back of the spoon is well coated. Using the handle of a knife or spoon run it along the back of the wooden spoon through the curd to leave a trail. After half a minute, if the mixture hasn’t run back and the gap remains open, then the curd has reached setting point.

N.B. If the mixture runs back, microwave again on full power; at this point, it may need one or two more minutes cooking.

When you are happy with the set…

8

9 Pour the curd into the jars, using a heat-proof jug. Fill to within quarter of an inch of each jar as the curd will shrink back a little. Cover each with a waxed circle and then lid, label and date. Leave to cool completely before storing in the fridge.

If you have my recipe book Val Stones, The Cake Whisperer you will find the lemon and elderflower cake, and on my website, there is a recipe for a really quick and delicious lemon syllabub.

I also make an apple curd and a lime curd both of which can be found on my website.

STRACCI WITH RABBIT AND WILD MUSHROOMS Sasha Matkevich, The Green diced onion. Cook until just soft. Add the rabbit legs to taste and stir in the leg meat. 14 Cook the stracci in salted, boiling water for 1

An Italian classic – a little labour intensive and does require a pasta maker, but it’s a simple, comforting dish and rather satisfying at this time of year.

Ingredients Serves 4 1 whole rabbit, oven ready 1 saddle of rabbit 1 celery stick, diced 1 carrot, diced 1 leek, diced 1 onion, diced 1 large tomato 1 garlic clove, crushed 90g unsalted butter 1 large onion, finely diced 500ml vegetable stock 90g fresh spinach pasta dough 90g fresh plain pasta dough 90ml white wine 40ml cold pressed olive oil 200g sliced wild mushrooms (ceps, chanterelle, pied de mouton)

Tip: Ask your butcher to joint the rabbit and bone the saddles for you – keep the bones for the recipe.

Method

1 With the rabbit bones, make the jus, using diced celery, carrot, leek, onion, garlic, tomato and icecold water. This should take you approximately one hour although good jus can also be found at your local supermarket. 3 Preheat the oven to 150 C. 4 In a roasting pan heat 35g of butter, add the legs and brown all over. Season well with salt and black pepper. 5 In a large pan, heat 20g of butter with the finely and vegetable stock to cover. Cover the pan with kitchen foil and cook in the oven for 40 minutes. 6 In the meantime, make the pasta (stracci)… 7 Roll out the spinach and plain doughs to setting #2 on your pasta maker and cut with a knife into triangles. 8 Set aside on a tray, dusted with semolina flour and cover with a cloth. Back to the rabbit… 9 Remove the rabbit legs from the oven and strip the meat from the bones. Discard the bones and set aside the tender meat, keeping it covered and warm. 10 Heat 10g of butter in a pan, season the rabbit saddle meat and sauté for about 5 minutes. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside (it should still be pink inside). 11 Pour off the butter from the pan and add the white wine to deglaze. Bring to the boil. Add the rabbit jus and let it to reduce for 5-7 minutes. 12 Whisk the remaining butter into the sauce, season 13 Heat the olive oil in another pan, add the mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes. Add to the sauce.

2 Cut the saddle meat into small pieces, about 1cm x 1cm.

minute until al dente. Drain and mix with the sauce. 15 To serve, divide the pasta and sauce among four warmed plates and top with perfectly cooked rabbit saddle meat. Serve immediately.

Buon appetito!

A MONTH ON THE PIG FARM James Hull, The Story Pig

It’s smoulderingly hot! We are experiencing incredible temperatures at the moment; the rain is coming ‘they’ say, but it’s not here yet. The farm is coated in a layer of fine dust, the fields are dry and the hills we look at have burnt up to a crisp. It’s too hot for me and the pigs; they are not keen on these high temperatures and regulate their body temperature by lying in cooling mud and then rolling round to coat themselves. Then, they lie in the sun and bake with their sunscreen on until they begin to sizzle, and the cycle starts again.

We are glad we invested in wallow troughs for them this spring, although what actually seems to happen is that they make their own wallow next to the bought ones – normally, undermining the main trough in the process! There’s me, watching daily, waiting for the inevitable tipping point to arrive. Then, I have to dismantle the troughs, re-site them and start again. Pigs and heat are a real welfare issue and this year, with the new troughs, we have noticed the pigs are less stressed and happier.

We have a large group of new additions to the herd, 7 sows farrowed just before the temperatures soared, giving us about 60 new piglets; some were born outside in the fresh air - their mothers choosing to give birth under a tree and the stars - rather than a pig ark. Who can blame them in this heat? Now, all 7 litters have joined together to form a huge gang; they streak about mob-like, running flat out and squeaking and then hiding. I have to move them in the next few days, that’s going to be fun!

All pig jobs are having to be done during the early mornings or later evenings, it’s just too scorching in the day. The last two days have been taken up with hauling straw for the winter months to keep the pigs snuggly and warm - very nice to be in our air-conditioned tractor but a shock when you get out! Blue, our most faithful dog, has followed me, trip after trip, like his life depends on it, and when we get back to the stack, he doesn’t stop to rest. No, he chooses to run up and down the pig fence, as only a collie would, barking at the mud-covered pigs - they ignore him!

Since my last article, many of you have asked about our shop, it’s not here yet, but you can pick up from us - just ring Charlotte or myself, place your order and we will have it ready for you.

It’s a quiet time for our little flock of sheep at the moment, they just get on with things, eating and lying under our big oak tree. Such is life.

Finally, the lavenders are starting to grow -hang on, that’s not fair - they have doubled in size! But they grow stealthily, quietly with no fuss, and suddenly we look at them and there they are... bigger. We can’t wait to share them with you all, and our beautiful garden too, it’s full of flowers and veg at the moment.

Doesn’t it sound idyllic down on the farm? Maybe, one day, I will write about the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff; the borrowing of money, the dealing with our local planning authority, the non-stop work, the unplanned deaths… not now though, it’s nicer to write about lavender!

thestorypig.co.uk

HOME SOIL David Copp

Rebecca Hansford and Ian Edwards of Furleigh Estate

Ireturn to the subject of English wines again because Dorset and Hampshire have firmly put their marker down, alongside Sussex and Kent, as the recognised leading producers of the nation’s most attractive sparkling wines, increasingly exported to USA, Canada, Scandinavia and other markets.

Sussex and Kent attracted a lot of investment because their well-drained south-facing Southern downland offers superb conditions for the Champagne grape varieties. Their proven ability to make top-class, fine wines has been established. I have followed the progress of Ridgeview, Nyetimber, Furleigh Estate and Camel River because they quickly proved themselves by winning top medals in international competition. The competition is fierce so it is good to see the quality of Sherborne Castle Estate being recognised.

Wines in the west country are nothing new. It is true that the Romans first preferred West Sussex, where they built their smartest villas, during their 300 years of occupation. The next lot of invaders to our islands seem to have preferred beer to wine. But when the Normans took control after 1066, there was a resurgence of interest in wine, thanks to a little bit of encouragement from above.

William the Conqueror admired one of his priests, Roger de Caen, because his sermons were shorter and sharper than other clerics. Firstly, he made Roger Bishop, then Chancellor of England. Bishop Roger was left in charge of England when William had

Image: Katharine Davies

to return to France to sort out domestic disputes in Normandy. Headquartered in Sherborne, he built the original castle to house his Norman administration and planted vines to make them feel at home. Thanks to the Domesday Book, that marvellous record of English property, we know the precise details of vine plantings in England.

Once the Normans had settled the country and turned their attention to governance, vineyards were usually created and maintained by the monasteries (the main users of wine) until Henry VIII made his infamous land grab after which winemaking in England seems to have fallen into decline. It was not until 1981 that John Wingfield Digby, a landowner devoted to farm diversification, planted vines on his estate at Wake Court near Sherborne, that vineyard planting began to increase again.

Today, more than 5000 acres are planted, mostly with the grapes that produce top quality sparkling wine. England and Wales are generally considered cool climate white wine producers. Eighty per cent of English wine production is white wine and most of the balance, rosé. Bottle-fermented sparkling wines are our strongest suit, so Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, the long-established key varieties of Champagne, are the preferred grapes.

I am delighted to report that in the 2019 International Wine Competition, English sparkling wines won 10 gold medals. The 2020 competition has

had to be re-arranged, but when it is held, I expect even better results because the 2018 vintage was one of the best yet in England.

Why have English winemakers been so successful? I think there are four main reasons. Our well-drained, chalky downland soils, with gentle south-east facing slopes, are ideal for making top quality wines. At Sherborne, the limestone soil is basically limestone overlain with clay loam and helps the vines push deep in their search for minerals and water. The second reason is that vines like long hours of gentle sunshine to fully ripen the grapes. Our summers are getting warmer and drier. Thirdly, the best sparkling wines are made from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier; the ‘Champagne grapes’ that contribute fruit flavour and freshness to the healthy acidity generated by the soil and climatic conditions. The fourth reason is that we have found some extremely gifted winemakers, often trained in France or elsewhere in the fine wine world, who carry out the viticultural practices essential for fine winemaking.

Great wines come from well sited vineyards that are deep ploughed for aeration in the autumn followed by good pruning on the appropriate vine training scheme. At Sherborne, the Geneva double curtain system is used to train the leaf canopy downwards in two parallel cordons. By reducing the amount of shade and allowing more direct sunlight, growers get higher quality grapes and higher yields.

Winemaking is a year-round task but, inevitably, the most decisive action takes place at harvest time, usually the beginning of October. The grapes for sparkling wine need to be at the winery as quickly as possible after picking. Sherborne Castle wines are made by Steve Brooksbanks at his winery near Shepton Mallet.

It is essential that grapes for the finest, most delicate sparkling wines get into the fermentation vats as soon as possible after picking and are processed carefully to meet the standards required for regional certification. Sherborne Estate retains its own fermentation vats, which are prepared for the vintage. Since acidity is vital to freshness, the pressing and fermentation is carried out without any delay and when the fermentation is complete, the wine is bottled, probably in the early Spring, then brought back to Sherborne for maturation.

I like the Sherborne Castle rosé for its fruit flavour (Pinot Noir and Seyval Blanc) and am not surprised it was so highly rated by my colleagues judging the English Wine Awards. Pinot Noir established its reputation in Burgundy as a classic red wine variety, but it has produced some excellent rosé wines in the west Country. I am sure that as climate change warms up our southern vineyards, they will be producing very acceptable Pinot Noir red wines within a few decades.

The other wine I shall be watching carefully is the Sherborne Castle ‘Special Reserve,’ a crisp, dry, fruity white wine made from four relatively unknown varieties chosen for their suitability to English growing conditions. Now our coastlines are providing us with fresh sea fish and shellfish, we can expect an increase in demand for this style of wine.

Sherborne Castle wines are of particularly interest to me because they reveal the benefits of a wider approach to the diversity of farming in our region. Bishop Roger may have started his first vineyard to make his fellow Normans feel at home in Dorset, but he also indicated where his imported vines grew best.

Global warming may not please everybody, but the winemakers of Dorset will have nothing to complain about if they continue to get enough warmth to fully ripen their grapes every year. As yields increase, prices will fall and those who have had the courage and skill to invest their money and time in English wines will get due reward.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Sherborne Castle Estate Sparkling £23, Vineyards A fantastic, locally-produced fizz that completely over delivers on style and flavour. Some real complexity for an English sparkler.

Sherborne Castle Estate ‘Special Reserve’ White £11, Vineyards A fresh and fruity dry white wine, predominantly the Seyval grape which grows very well in England. It’s like having all the stone fruit of a Viognier, but the freshness of an Albariño.

vineyardsofsherborne.co.uk