Sherborne Times February 2022

FEBRUARY 2022 | FREE

A MONTHLY CELEBR ATION OF PEOPLE, PLACE AND PURVEYOR

ON A ROLL with chef Mateo Zielonka

sherbornetimes.co.uk

Image: India Hobson

WELCOME

T

here is a tree on the southern boundary of Pageant Gardens, that each year offers an early sign of the changes afoot – its white blossom a whisper of light in the dark. We wake to the tune of passive-aggressive ditties as the more eager of songbirds begin their land-grab anew. Woodpeckers rattle grubs loose of their hideouts and a determined sun wills the bulbs from their beds.

And so to February… Laurence Belbin lingers in the half-light, Paul Maskell celebrates Bowie and Fernando Velázquez glows with pride. James Curtis loses himself in the library, Paula Carnell seeks the truth and Peter Littlewood makes a bioplastic man. Sasha Matkevich serves the starter, Mat Follas prepares the main, David Copp’s in Uruguay and Ryan Terren considers the energetic conditions of time. Jo and Katharine meanwhile spend a morning in the kitchen with Mateo Zielonka, the Dorset chef, commonly now known as The Pasta Man by his 234,000 mesmerised Instagram followers.

Have a great month.

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

CONTRIBUTORS Editorial and creative direction Glen Cheyne Design Andy Gerrard Photography Katharine Davies Feature writer Jo Denbury Editorial assistant Helen Brown Sub editor Jemma Dempsey Social media Jenny Dickinson Illustrations Elizabeth Watson Print Stephens & George Distribution team Barbara and David Elsmore The Jackson Family David and Susan Joby Mary and Roger Napper Mark and Miranda Pender Claire Pilley Ionas Tsetikas

Laurence Belbin laurencebelbin.com Elisabeth Bletsoe Sherborne Museum sherbornemuseum.co.uk Richard Bromell ASFAV Charterhouse Auctioneers and Valuers charterhouse-auction.com Mike Burks The Gardens Group thegardensgroup.co.uk David Burnett The Dovecote Press dovecotepress.com Rob Bygrave Sherborne Science Cafe sherbornesciencecafe.com Paula Carnell paulacarnell.com Cindy Chant & John Drabik David Copp

01935 315556 @sherbornetimes info@homegrown-media.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk

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4 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Annabelle Hunt Bridport Timber bridporttimber.co.uk Lucy Lewis Dorset Mind dorsetmind.uk Peter Littlewood Young People’s Trust for the Environment ypte.org.uk Chris Loder MP chrisloder.co.uk Paul Maskell The Beat and Track thebeatandtrack.co.uk Sasha Matkevitch The Green Restaurant greenrestaurant.co.uk

Rosie Cunningham

Harriet McKay & James Curtis Sherborne School sherborne.org

Jemma Dempsey

Gillian Nash

James Flynn Milborne Port Computers computing-mp.co.uk

Mark Newton-Clarke MA VetMB PhD MRCVS Newton Clarke Veterinary Partnership newtonclarkevet.com

Mat Follas Bramble Restaurant bramblerestaurant.com Simon Ford simonfordgardening.wordpress.com

1 Bretts Yard Digby Road Sherborne Dorset DT9 3NL

James Hull The Story Pig thestorypig.co.uk

Andrew Fort Fort Financial Planning ffp.org.uk Jan Garner Sherborne Scribblers Craig Hardaker Communifit communifit.co.uk Andy Hastie Cinematheque cinematheque.org.uk Alex Hennessy Dorset Wildlife Trust dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Simon Partridge SPFit spfit-sherborne.co.uk Jonathan Simon Church of the Sacred Heart and St Aldhelm Val Stones bakerval.com Mark Strachan BEM Choir of the Earth choiroftheearth.com Lucy Suttle Sherborne Breastfeeding Group Emma Tabor & Paul Newman paulnewmanartist.com Ryan Terren BA FSSA LifeHouse lifehousefengshui.com

Lucy Hepworth BVSc MRCVS Friars Moor Vets friarsmoorvets.co.uk

Peter Thomas peterthomaslivingwood.co.uk

Penelope Hester Sherborne Literary Society sherborneliterarysociety.com

Fernando Velázquez Sherborne Preparatory School sherborneprep.org

Mike Hewitson MPharm FFRPS FRSPH MRPharmS The Abbey Pharmacy theabbeypharmacy.com

Julia Witherspoon julianutrition.co.uk

70 6

Art & Culture

FEBRUARY 2022 62 Antiques

122 Finance

16 What’s On

64 Gardening

124 Tech

18 Community

70 Mateo Zielonka

126 Short Story

26 Family

80 Food & Drink

128 Crossword

40 Science & Nature

90 Animal Care

129 Literature

52 On Foot

98 Body & Mind

130 Pause for Thought

58 History

112 Home

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01929 448 708 newowners@dorsethideaways.co.uk dorsethideaways.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 5

Art & Culture

ARTIST AT WORK

No.39: Peter Thomas, Yew Bowls, approx. 22 x 16 cm

I

spent my working life as a farmer, always in close contact with Nature in all her forms. After retiring my interest in and love of trees grew, leading to a fascination with woodturning that became an obsession.

I now work as a woodturner and stick dresser.

I realised that the diverse nature of our local trees is largely ignored, with much attention given to ‘exotic’ timbers from abroad, often from non-sustainable sources, i.e. rain forests. Whereas timber from local, sustainably sourced trees is often undervalued and under-utilised.

My woodturning has subsequently developed into a mission, to promote what our countryside and in particular our trees and their timber have to offer,

6 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

using only wood sustainably sourced from dead or storm-damaged trees.

The excitement of finding beauty hidden within the tree never ceases. Once on my lathe I reveal different colours, varied grain patterns, growth rings and features that give an insight into the whole history of the tree, knowing that every single piece will be unique.

Peter will be taking part in Dorset Art Weeks 14th - 29th May 2022 dorsetartweeks.co.uk peterthomaslivingwood.co.uk

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Art & Culture

ON FILM

Andy Hastie, Yeovil Cinematheque

C

inematheque has two films coming up this month, and we are back into Europe for both of them, after excellent and emotionally engaging trips to Lebanon and Colombia in December and January. For the first we turn to Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, always a favourite with our members.

We have shown Talk to Her (2002), Volver (2006) and Julieta (2016) to great acclaim, and his work just gets better and better. His oeuvre now boasts 21 films over 40 years, and has evolved from the early provocative and rather (pleasingly) vulgar Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980), up until his latest Pain and Glory (2019), which we show on 9th February. Almodovar is adored by female actors because of his reputation for writing scripts with strong female roles, full of independence, energy, but also seductiveness. He has been vociferous in his support of the #MeTo movement recently as well.

Pain and Glory (2019) is a beguiling tale of a veteran film director, Salvador Mallo, affected by 8 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

multiple ailments and physically unable to continue filming. He spends most of his time flat on his back, drifting in and out of slumber, which transports him back to his 1960s childhood, his first adult love, and his relationship with his mother. He slowly begins to make sense of his past and is consequently able to address his present and seek salvation. Antonio Banderas plays Mallo, looking remarkably like Almodovar himself (of course!), whilst Penelope Cruz plays his young mother from his childhood.

This is a fascinating portrait of an ageing director looking back on his life, linking transparent autobiographical elements from his own past with tantalising fictitious passages; a film maker at the top of his craft. ‘Witty, intelligent and sensuous’, Peter Bradshaw, the Guardian. ‘Bittersweet perfection’, Mark Kermode, The Observer.

Our second film, showing on 23rd February, is the gorgeous Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), a

Pain and Glory (2019)

heartbreaking French period drama from director Celine Sciamma. This is a beautifully shot, elegant story of a female portrait painter Marianne falling in love with her subject, Lady Heloise. In 1770, a painting is one of the only ways a prospective suitor may see his intended bride. However, Heloise has no intention of getting married or painted, but is tricked into believing that Marianne has been hired as her walking companion. Looking, especially so intently in order to memorise details to be later painted at night, becomes a profoundly intimate act between the two women, and a romance ignites.

This clever, multi-layered love story, raising issues of cultural barriers and women’s independence in a world made for, and by, men, is devastatingly effective in describing how historically women have had limited control over their own bodies and actions. Adele Haenel plays Heloise, and Noemie Merlant, Marianne, both winning awards for their performances, whilst the

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

film won Best Screenplay at Cannes. ‘Gorgeous’, Clarisse Loughrey, the Independent, ‘A powerful original story of art and love’, Dave Calhoun, Time Out magazine.

Two intelligent, sensual films to enjoy this month.

If you would like to become a member or try us out as a guest, check details on Cinematheque’s website. We’d love to meet you! cinematheque.org.uk swan-theatre.co.uk

___________________________________________ Wednesday 9th February 7.30pm Pain and Glory (2019) 15 Wednesday 23rd February 7.30pm Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) 15 Cinematheque, Swan Theatre, 138 Park St, Yeovil BA20 1QT Members £1, guests £5

___________________________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 9

Art & Culture

CONFESSIONS OF A THEATRE ADDICT Rosie Cunningham

T

he Bridge Theatre, at the southern base of Tower Bridge, opened in 2017 and is owned by the London Theatre company – a startup, independent producing company founded by Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr. The challenge was to put on new work that is ambitious, adventurous, and stimulating. Should anyone be undecided about visiting the theatre, this modern venue has masses of leg room, the layout is well-spaced, the air-conditioning works and there are plenty of loos! (A friend of mine designed the theatre and his wife was quite insistent!)

La Belle Sauvage is on at The Bridge Theatre until 26th February. This is the first part of Philip Pullman’s trilogy titled The Book of Dust and is set 12 years before His Dark Materials. If you haven’t heard of Philip 10 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Pullman, the award-winning best-selling fantasy author, it really doesn’t matter because this play is a glorious piece of theatre that will entertain everyone. When I went, the audience was totally multi-generational, and the theatre was buzzing with chat about the extraordinary play which was unfurling before us.

The story follows 12-year-old Malcolm Polstead, played by Samuel Creasey, who is so like a young, very talented James Corden. Malcolm and his accomplice Alice Parslow, acted by Ella Dacres, find themselves in the middle of a terrifying manhunt as they try to save baby Lyra Belacqua (a real baby on stage), from the clutches of the Magisterium, which controls the country. There are baddies too, namely Marisa Coulter, the baby’s mother, and Gerard Bonneville, an ex-con

Centre L-R: Holly Atkins (Mrs Polstead) & Samuel Creasey (Malcolm Polstead) in La Belle Sauvage. Image: Manuel Harlan

villain. The fantasy theme is demonstrated through the ownership of a daemon, an animal which each person acquires as a baby, that reflects their personality and soul. Daemons can talk and offer advice, cannot be physically apart by more than a few feet and if their human is tormented and tortured, the daemon suffers too, and vice versa. Not only was the acting brilliant from every cast member but the skills of the puppeteers who brought the daemons to life was magical. If you enjoyed War Horse, this was equally as impressive. Lastly, the illusions, created by Filipe J. Carvalho, which played across the stage and the backdrop screens, brought the adventure to life. The canoe, La Belle Sauvage, appeared to pilot through tempestuous storms, tumultuous rivers of water and falling debris, the graphics were so

expressive and lifelike. This play was unusual, creative, and quite exceptional. Do try and go.

Punched, was an evening of survivors’ stories held at The Criterion theatre to support activism against gender-based violence. All the short pieces were written by the cast who included Donna Air, Sam TaylorJohnson, Annie Lennox and Sadie Frost, and covered sex trafficking, sexual abuse, domestic violence, coercive control and subjugation. It was a powerful evening and raised much needed funds for shelters and refuges in the UK. The figures raised speak for themselves.

bridgetheatre.co.uk refuge.org.uk thecircle.ngo

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 11

Art & Culture

AN ARTIST’S VIEW

R

Laurence Belbin

ecently, I have been looking more at skies having seen some very inspirational spreads of colour above me. It’s the evening skies that have caught my attention.

Not just the classic sunset with the orange/crimson ball hanging just above the horizon, nice as it is, but the banks of blue-grey cloud that block out vast areas of sky but which allow the reds and yellows to creep around the edges. That half-light renders the land to subdued purples and warm greys, so that all one’s attention is fixed on the light.

I often paint on location in these low-light conditions. You have to work very fast as the light goes quickly. With that in mind, several small panels have to be readily to

12 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

hand in order not to miss too much. There comes a time when everything happens so fast all you have time for is to put down patches of the colours you see so you have a record of what was going on. These panels of colour help when working in the studio at a later date. The small oil sketch shown here is inspired by one such evening and as I was only looking it was executed later in the studio from memory. I am fortunate to have trained myself to mix colours in my head and remember them later – this helps considerably. Some people tell me they don’t see those colours in the sky. I feel sorry for them, because they are all there! As a professional painter it is important that you paint what you see in the landscape, not what someone else sees. You have to have your own vision to be able to sustain it otherwise all you are doing is copying and your pictures will lack feeling.

I often take a break from the studio and go for a wander round town with my sketch pad. I was out on New Years Eve and did this drawing of Finger Lane by the Abbey.

I sometimes mark out using a pencil to get the rough proportions if the subject is involved, just so I know where I am with it, then, I do the drawing in ink. I don’t pencil then go over with ink as that loses a certain amount of spontaneity but just put down a few key points, angles etc. It’s very easy to miscalculate and run out of room for the interesting bit! Whilst I was doing this one a very nice lady called Mary came along and we had a lovely chat. She said she’d like to be able to do it but felt she was ‘too old’ to start now. I hope I managed to convince her to have a go as it is very rewarding no matter what standard you reach. I know that for a fact from those who attend my drawing classes. So, New Year, New Page!

Just a thought, does anyone know why it is called Finger Lane? laurencebelbin.com

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 13

Art & Culture

COUNTER CULTURE Paul Maskell, The Beat and Track

No.6 David Bowie: 50 Years and Still Hunky Dory

5

0 years ago during December 1971 David Bowie recorded arguably, and no doubt it will be argued, his best album Hunky Dory. The 50th anniversary of this album is being marked by its re-release on picture disc highlighting its iconic cover. The album was Bowie’s fourth and saw the backing band include Mick Ronson for a second time. The record was deemed a change in style for Bowie and focussed on the lyrical content and melody of the songs. Composed initially 14 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

by Bowie on piano the album was warmer than his previous hard rock effort of The Man Who Sold the World.

Joining the band for additional piano duties would be the later Yes keyboardist, Rick Wakeman.

Subject matter for the songs would range from artistic re-invention, Occultism, US icons and Bowie’s son Duncan. The album starts with what would become a statement of intent from Bowie as Changes deals with his obsession with reinventing himself. This theme

would run through his whole career as highlighted by his becoming Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Halloween Jack amongst others.

Oh! You Pretty Things, although a Bowie composition, was originally recorded by Peter Noone from Herman’s Hermits after being given the demo by Bowie himself.

Noone’s version hit number 12 in the UK singles chart in April 1971. Bowie recorded his version later that year and it found its way onto Hunky Dory. The song reflects the teachings of Aleister Crowley and Friedrich Nietzsche with regard to the theory of the Ubermensch (Superman). Eight Line Poem is exactly that. Set to a country-tinged guitar line by Mick Ronson it simply depicts a room in which a cat is playing and a cactus sits in the window. This short piece acts as the perfect calm before the storm that is…

Life on Mars?, in my opinion is one of the best Bowie songs that he’s ever written, if not one of the best songs ever written. The song includes a chord sequence stolen from Frank Sinatra’s My Way in the opening few bars as a slight to Paul Anka who scuppered a publishing deal of Bowie’s and eventually wrote My Way for Frank Sinatra. This was acknowledged on the liner notes as ‘Inspired by Frankie’.

Bowie penned Kooks on the birth of his son Duncan (Zowie) and its light heartedness captures Bowie’s feelings on becoming a father. This was followed up by the somewhat nihilistic composition of Quicksand, all multilayered acoustic guitars and more Nietzsche ‘supermen’.

Side two of the album holds tributes to three of Bowie’s artistic heroes. Andy Warhol (who apparently wasn’t impressed with the song), Bob Dylan and a song inspired by the Velvet Underground, and specifically Lou Reed, Queen Bitch. A rocking stomp reflecting Reed’s streetwise attitude, the liner notes state: ‘Some V.U. white light returned with thanks.’ Side two also

EM_ST.qxp_Layout 1 08/01/2022 16:08 Page 1

included a cover of the Biff Rose song Fill Your Heart and the final track on the album The Bewlay Brothers.

The latter is thought to be a composition about, in equal parts, Bowie’s schizophrenic half-brother (Terry) and the relationship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

As well as being an incredible album, the songs paved the way to what was to come, bringing together what would end up being Bowie’s (Ziggy’s) backing band – The Spiders from Mars. Mick Ronson also proved that he was not only an amazing guitarist but also handled all the string arrangements on the album, giving it real depth.

The irony of Hunky Dory is that even though it included the singles Changes and Life on Mars? it was at first not widely regarded as a good album, suffering from very poor sales. Indeed, the album failed to chart and looked as though it may stand to be a black mark against the integrity of who would later become one of the biggest icons in music history. In fact, it actually took the release of Bowie’s follow-up album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars to help promote his previous work. The subsequent release of Life on Mars? in 1973 gave Bowie a number three single in the UK charts and helped catapult the album from which it spawned to the heights that it deserved – top 10 album in the UK. The album has remained a constant influence to musicians throughout the last 50 years and will, I have no doubt, be an influence to artists for another 50.

Had Bowie still been alive he would have just turned 75, his birthday at the beginning of the year. Looking back he would see this album as a turning point for his career and art and that everything turned out just ‘Hunky Dory’. thebeatandtrack.co.uk

EVOLVER MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENT

WESSEX MUSEUMS GUIDE 2022 Don’t miss the rst edition of the WESSEX MUSEUMS GUIDE, a pull-out supplement in the current issue of EVOLVER MAGAZINE, the FREE Wessex Arts and Culture Guide Pick up your copy at arts venues, galleries, museums, art shops, cafés, libraries and tourist information centres (etc) throughout Dorset, Somerset, East Devon, West Wiltshire, Bristol and Bath Or subscribe online at evolver.org.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 15

WHAT'S ON usual suspects) in a spoof homage.

____________________________

____________________________

Every Thursday 7.30pm-9.30pm

Sunday 13th 3pm

Scottish Country Dancing

BSO Resound – Winter Warmers

Long Sutton Village Hall

Sandford Orcas Village Hall

Anita on 01460 929383 or email

audience of all ages introduced by a

Sunday 20th 10am-5pm

Bizet, Copland, Campkin and more.

Oborne Village Hall. Voice playshop.

artsreach.co.uk

01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com

For more information please contact anitaandjim22@gmail.com

____________________________ Wednesday 2nd 10.30am The Probus Club of Sherborne – Did Hitler Die in the

Recommended 12+. 01258 820381. £10, £5 u18s, £25 family. artsreach.co.uk

____________________________

A special winter performance for an

Saturday 19th -

BSO presenter. Music by Mozart,

Angels of Sound

01963 220208 £10, £5 u18s, £25 family.

Find your soul note. £70 bookings

____________________________

centreforpuresound.org

Fuherbunker - with guest

Wednesday 16th 10.30am

speaker William Christopher

The Probus Club of Sherborne

Saturday 19th 10am-2pm

The Grange Hotel, Oborne

– Future Roots - with guest

Repair Cafe

New members always welcome.

speaker William Christopher

Contact John Hutchings (Club Secretary)

Cheap Street Church Hall, Sherborne

01935 813448. probus-sherborne.org.uk

The Grange Hotel, Oborne

____________________________

New members always welcome.

Contact John Hutchings (Club Secretary)

Wednesday 2nd 3pm & 7pm Sherborne Art Society –

01935 813448. probus-sherborne.org.uk

____________________________

Treasures of the Fan Museum

Thursday 17th 7.30pm

Digby Hall, Hound Street

____________________________

Bring household items to be repaired and avoid landfill. Not for profit

organisation. Volunteers and repairers needed repaircafesherborne@gmail.com or

@repaircafesherborne

____________________________

Follow me Down: Songs from

Tuesday 22nd 10am

A talk with the museum’s curator Jacob

the West with Steve Knightley

Theatre Fideri Fidera –

Moss. All welcome. Non-members £7

Oskar’s Amazing Adventure

theartssocietysherborne.org

Grange Hotel, Oborne

____________________________

Multi-award-winning singer-songwriter/ musician and founder member of folk

The Exchange, Sturminster Newton

band Show of Hands. Tickets £19.

Good humour, adventure, music and

song. For children aged 2-8 years and

Thursday 3rd 8pm Sherborne Historical Society Talk – Britain’s Gurkhas: Their Place in our History

Available from obornefolkmusic@gmail.com tel. 07866 933736

____________________________

and our Future

Thursday 17th 8pm

Digby Hall, Hound Street. Col. David

Sherborne Historical

their families. Post-show arts and craft

workshop – advanced booking required.

01258 475137. £6, £5 u18s, £20 family. artsreach.co.uk

____________________________

Hayes CBE traces the history of the

Society Talk – Sugar

Friday 25th 7pm

Gurkhas, the most feared and respected

Family Business:

body of fighting men in the British

Digby Hall, Hound Street, DT9 3AA

An Intimate History of

Army, from their origins in Nepal in

Prof. James Walvin explains how sugar was transformed from a luxury to a

John Lewis & the Partnership

necessity, then, more recently, to a global health problem - all via the history of

Digby Memorial Hall, Digby Road

slavery. sherbornehistoricalsociety.co.uk

A talk with the award-winning author Victoria Glendinning. Tickets £9

1815 through to their current operations. sherbornehistoricalsociety.co.uk

____________________________ Saturday 5th 7.30pm

____________________________

members £10 non-members available

Loshn Klezmer Band

Friday 18th 7.30pm

Buckland Newton Village Hall

Company Gavin Robertson –

music of Ashkenazi Jewish culture.

Marnhull Village Hall

Sunday 27th 2pm-4pm

artsreach.co.uk

and Miss Marple (alongside the

Oborne Village Hall

Klezmer trio exploring the traditional

Done to Death, By Jove!

01300 345455. £10, £5 u18s, £25 family.

Holmes and Watson meet Poirot

16 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

via sherborneliterarysociety.com/events and Winstone’s Books.

____________________________ Singing Bowl Soundbath

FEBRUARY 2022 £15 bookings 01935 389655

Digby Hall, Hound Street

v Oxford Harlequins (H)

____________________________

extraordinary creation of the British

v Witney (H)

WWII, culminating in the coup de

Sherborne Town FC

sherbornehistoricalsociety.co.uk

(3pm unless otherwise stated)

ahiahel@live.com centreforpuresound.org

Planning ahead ____________________________ Wednesday 2nd March 10.30am The Probus Club of Sherborne – A Life Stuck in Gum - with

Richard Folkes OBE on the

Saturday 19th 2.30pm

assault glider-borne force during

____________________________

main at Pegasus Bridge on D-Day.

1st XI, Toolstation League 1

____________________________

Raleigh Grove, Terrace Playing Fields.

speaker Chris Nicholson

Sport

The Grange Hotel, Oborne

sherbornetownfc.com

____________________________

Saturday 5th

New members always welcome. Contact

Sherborne RFC

v Oldland Abbotonians (A)

John Hutchings (Club Secretary) 01935

Saturday 12th

813448. probus-sherborne.org.uk

1st XV, Tribute South West 1 East

v Gillingham Town (H)

____________________________

Gainsborough Park,

Terrace Playing Fields.

Saturday 19th

pitchero.com/clubs/sherbornerfc

v Bristol Telephones (H)

– From Nowhere to Normandy:

Saturday 5th TBC

v Wells City (A)

The Rise of the British Assault

v Chippenham (A)

____________________________

Glider Force 1940-44

Saturday 12th 2.30pm

listings@homegrown-media.co.uk

Thursday 3rd March 8pm Sherborne Historical Society Talk

Saturday 26th

Friday Lunchtime Recitals Cheap Street Church, 1.45pm

(unless otherwise stated)

4th February Brass

11th March Pianists II

11th February Woodwind

18th March Wind Band Recital, Big School Room, Sherborne School

18th February Pianists I 4th March Chamber Music

FREE ADMISSION ALL WELCOME sherbornetimes.co.uk | 17

Community

Image: Harriet McKay 18 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

GIVING BACK

E

Harriet McKay, Marketing Manager, Sherborne School

very member of Sherborne’s community is valued, and the School not only acknowledges School-wide news and achievements but also the personal challenges, successes and determination of its individuals. This is certainly the case of Antony Howard. Antony is employed by Amiri Construction Limited and operates the barrier gate next to the Sports Centre, off Acreman Street, ensuring members of our community are kept safe all day, every day. The Sports Centre is currently being remodelled and expanded and will be a hive of building activity until its re-launch in 2023.

When Antony has a spare moment, in between the demands of his day, he can be found making stunning wooden planters, made using the left-over pallets from the Sports Centre build. It came to light that these are being built and sold by Antony to raise money for a charity close to his heart.

On the 9th July 2019 Antony was cycling home when he was involved in a terrible accident, sustaining a serious bleed to the brain. He was taken to Yeovil Hospital where complications began and it was clear he would need further treatment and more significant medical expertise.

After being transferred to Southmead Hospital, Bristol, Antony underwent a life-saving operation involving removing part of his skull, which was later re-grafted. He was then placed in their ICU department and received 1:1 care around the clock, remaining there for several weeks before being moved to Southmead’s neurological ward.

By October Antony was lucky enough to be given a place at the Dene Barton rehabilitation centre near Taunton. It was here they focused on physiotherapy, counselling and basic life skills.

Antony loves playing his guitar and Dene Barton encouraged him to play and to take part in music therapy. He was able to return home for a night or a weekend at a time to see his family, until he was eventually able to return home on a permanent basis at the end of November 2019.

Antony and his family are incredibly thankful and indebted to the member of the public who found him on the day of his accident and to Southmead, for saving his life. As quoted by Antony’s daughter, Samantha ‘Dene Barton was such an important part of his journey and the care that both Southmead and Dene Barton provided not just for Dad but for our family was above and beyond. We truly could not have done this without them, as all of the staff provided care, kindness and compassion in the best way that the NHS does. They are all heroes and we can never thank them enough.’

Antony continues to make the wooden planters at Sherborne School. They come in a range of sizes and can be purchased with or without plants/liners. They cost between £5 - £25 and can be made to order. Just pop by to see Antony at the Sports Centre entrance to place your order – he would be delighted to see you. Amiri Construction Limited have also kindly said they would double any amount that Antony raises for the charity.

Antony and his family have raised £460 to date for the Neurology Department at Southmead Hospital through selling his planters and completing fun runs. They are planning further fundraising activities for both Southmead and the incredible Dene Barton rehabilitation centre.

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 19

Community

EVERYTHING CHANGES YET NOTHING CHANGES

F

Mark Strachan BEM, Founder, Choir of the Earth

auré’s Requiem was premiered in 1888 and has been performed countless times across the world since then. I have the pleasure of singing in the choir for a performance at Sherborne Abbey on Wednesday 16th February conducted by John Jenkins, Musical Director of Sherborne Girls School.

The music has not changed since 1888 and I can imagine that it will still be performed regularly in another 100 years. The music is so lovely and is always the same. So, it seems that nothing has changed.

Yet, everything has changed. Back in 1888, you had to go to the cathedral or church to hear it and when it was over, there was no way of hearing it all again.

You just had to wait until it came round again. Then along came the ‘phonograph’ and we could at last hear recordings. Then a 33rpm LP, then a cassette, then a CD and now Spotify. And we can now listen to many different recordings as many times as we like.

So, whilst the music remains exactly the same, the way we listen and enjoy music has changed beyond all recognition. And there is much more change to come.

When the pandemic hit us in March 2020, I started 20 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

an online choir, thinking we would be joined by a few people from the Sherborne area. We decided to teach the entire Messiah online and, to our great surprise, 3,600 people from 35 countries joined us and we performed it online on 31st May 2020 with coverage on international news channels.

Since then, we have learned and performed the Mozart Requiem, Bach’s St. John Passion, Mahler’s Second Symphony, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, The Beatles, ABBA, jazz pieces and Les Misérables. Oh and Fauré’s Requiem. Of course.

It works like this: the conductor teaches everyone at home using streaming technology, not Zoom. Zoom is wonderful but impossible to use for singers wanting to sing at the same time. We use streaming so that the conductor can be seen and heard clearly in thousands of homes at the same time. The music is taught in separate soprano, alto, tenor and bass 60-minute sessions over several weeks. At the end of this, we invite everyone to sing their own part into their mobile phone and email this to us. We then combine all the voices in the recording studio to create the ‘choir’. Finally, we play

back the result to the choir in a live-streamed concert.

The results are amazing. Nigel Short of the acclaimed choir Tenebrae, who taught us Thomas Tallis’ Spem in Alium with over 2,000 voices, said, ‘Professional choirs had better watch out.’

We have been asked for our music to be played at funerals, weddings and our version of Quanta Quanta was featured on Desert Island Discs.

Why sing from home? It’s true to say it’s not the same as a live concert in Sherborne Abbey. There are though many of us who are worried about the virus, or unable to attend rehearsals for personal reasons. There is no need to be on time and you can watch when you wish and as many times as you wish – you can even have a glass of wine or two during the rehearsal! We cover a lot more music – over 40 pieces of music in the last 18 months and we are one large choral family. And because we do everything from home, we can tackle music which would rarely be performed in Sherborne Abbey.

Take Mahler’s 8th Symphony. It needs huge orchestral forces, two choirs, seven soloists and a children’s choir.

Now while the Abbey is large, I can see significant Health and Safety issues staging this music there. Yet we at Choir of the Earth are doing Mahler 8. With over 1,000 voices from over 35 countries, seven soloists, an entire orchestra and a children’s choir recorded in Mexico, we have learned every note from home and not one performer met another throughout the entire process.

One of our Presidents is Marina Mahler, the composer’s granddaughter, and she is so thrilled to see her grandfather’s music played in this new way by thousands of people from all over the world.

So, nothing has changed – and yet everything has changed. The music is still the same whilst the way we enjoy the music has changed beyond all recognition.

If Fauré was told that hundreds of people would flock to Sherborne Abbey on 16th February to hear his Requiem, he would be pleased and he would nod his head in satisfaction of another successful concert. If, however, you told him that thousands of people from all over the world would learn and record his Requiem to the highest standard and perform it together whilst never meeting, he would surely stare at you with a sense of disbelief and think you were a little mad.

We are told that the only constant in life is change.

You have just read about the change coming to traditional choral singing. choiroftheearth.com

___________________________________________ Wednesday 16th February 7.30pm Choral Society Concert – Fauré’s Requiem Sherborne Abbey. Tickets £15, £12 and £10, available from Sherborne School reception on 01935 812249 or email tickets@sherborne.org

___________________________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 21

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Community

OUR MAN IN WESTMINSTER Chris Loder MP

Image: Len Copeland

I

t has been a long while since I have discussed Coronavirus in the Sherborne Times, but as a number of important ethical decisions have taken place, or are near, I’d like to share with you some insights from the decisions we make that cause much conversation and debate. My primary concern is to make sure that, as the representative of West Dorset, my voice and vote best reflect our needs and address the issues we face at a given time in rural Dorset.

At the end of last year we had three votes in Parliament concerning restrictions. Face masks in public places, mandatory vaccinations for NHS staff and vaccine ‘passports’. There will undoubtedly be 24 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

more soon and of course, the Coronavirus Act 2020 has a two year ‘sunset’ clause which means it will expire on 23rd March 2022 and we will need to decide whether it should cease to have effect or whether it should be renewed. I would say 90% of the time when we talk about Covid, we are concerned with the direct health implications of the virus. It is a frustration of mine that the wider health and economic situation is not more widely shared, particularly with what the Government has to say about it.

I think we need to be careful of the emerging narrative of treating someone differently because they have not been vaccinated. I have been fully

vaccinated and I encourage everyone to be, but there are valid reasons why some people are not, or cannot be vaccinated, and as we busily go about determining someone else’s vaccination status and then form our own view on that person, we need to take care because it is the very beginning of a two-tier society emerging. What difference does it make to me if someone is not vaccinated? It is an important question to ask ourselves. There are quite a few people who have been in touch in recent times to say that they are worried that others in the supermarket or other spaces are not vaccinated, and I can sympathise with the concern that can cause. The vaccine offers very good levels of protection from catching the virus in those who have received it, and the more people who have the vaccine in a given population, the fewer places the virus has to go thus reducing the net spread. Given that 90.4%, 83% and 62% of people in the UK at the time of writing have had their first, second and third doses respectively, we are in a good position. The societal cost of indirectly forcing people into vaccination through passports outweighs, to my mind, the benefit of raising vaccine uptake by quasi-obligation. Doing so corrodes the long-held principle of informed consent in medicine, which is not a step I am willing to take in this scenario.

There was huge concern at the end of last year that Omicron would see our hospitals overwhelmed but that thankfully did not become a reality. This is mainly because most people have been sensible and taken responsibility for themselves, but also because the Omicron symptoms, in general, have been mild compared with other variants. Paradoxically, there is a bonus – and that is because Omicron is so transmissible, the Delta variant appears to have been

driven down and our doctors and nurses are treating patients with much less aggressive symptoms.

The UK Health Security Agency published a report in December which showed in the week before Christmas there were around 8,000 people in hospital with Covid. However, only 29% were being treated primarily for Covid, which meant that 5,680 were there first and foremost for another reason. It is an important difference to fully understand when we hear statistics which might paint a contrasting picture.

After months of campaigning, the NHS re-opened the Yeatman’s MIU earlier last year, only for it to close again just after Christmas. The real difficulty we face with our hospitals here in Dorset at the moment is that there is a considerable number of staff off work – a similar challenge experienced within social care too. Locally, NHS staff pressures are considerable and so it is startling to see that possibly more than 30,000 people on the NHS and social care frontlines could quit or be dismissed by April 2022 on the basis of refusing vaccination. When you simultaneously see that some people in our community are waiting for five or so hours for an ambulance, requiring me to have to lobby behind the scenes for military support, and the Yeatman Hospital MIU has just closed again due to staff shortage, could I really in good conscience vote for a mandatory vaccination policy that could see over 30,000 frontline workers forced to leave their posts on top of the already pressing shortages and their impacts? The answer is no.

The Coronavirus Act is due for review – possibly renewal – later next month. I wonder if you have a view about that and if you do, please do share it with me at hello@chrisloder.co.uk chrisloder.co.uk

Family Business:

An Intimate History of John Lewis & the Partnership

A TALK WITH THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR VICTORIA GLENDINNING Friday 25th February 7pm Digby Memorial Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne Tickets £9 members £10 non-members available via www.sherborneliterarysociety.com/events and Winstone’s Books sherbornetimes.co.uk | 25

elizabethwatsonillustration.com R

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Thornford Primary School

Reception places available for September 2022 For more information or to arrange a private visit please contact the Headteacher, Mrs Neela Brooking on 01935 872706 or email office@thornford.dorset.sch.uk Ofsted “Outstanding”, SIAMS “Outstanding” Boot Lane, Thornford, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 6QY www.thornford.dorset.sch.uk

26 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Making Wealth Management Personal

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UNEARTHED Aimee Collins, Aged 16 The Gryphon Sixth Form

A

imee first discovered canoeing when she went along with her sister to a taster day in Frome. At just nine years old, she developed a love for the sport which has turned into a passion that sees her competing at the top level of the sport.

‘I instantly loved canoeing – it’s like being in my own little world on the water,’ says Aimee. Her commitment to the sport sees her train on the River Frome three times a week, whilst spending weekends at either Lee Valley’s Olympic course in London, or the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham. On the days she’s not on the water she’s busy training in the gym or studying.

She competes in competitions across the country, recently securing first place in the Women’s Kayak at Grand Tully in Scotland.

As well as her own training, Aimee teaches others how to canoe, after gaining her instructor award earlier this year. She has recently received a British Canoeing Rising Star award for her work in coaching younger members. Praised for her positivity and resilience, Aimee coaches twice a week, helping to inspire others to get into the sport.

In November, Aimee received the news that she had gained a place in the England National Talent Squad which opens up further exciting opportunities for her. Competing in the national Premier Division, she has her sights set on gaining a place in the GB squad in the future.

Although canoeing takes up a large amount of her time, Aimee is still working hard academically – studying for A levels in Sport, Biology and English Language. She hopes to go to university to study physiotherapy as well as continuing with her canoeing career. gryphon.dorset.sch.uk

KATHARINE DAVIES PHOTOGRAPHY

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

28 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Children’s Book Review Georgia Scannell, aged 11, Leweston Prep

The Hunt for the Nightingale by Sarah Ann Juckes, illustrated

by Sharon King-Chai (Simon & Schuster Children’s UK 2022) £7.99 Sherborne Times Reader Offer Price of £6.99 from Winstone's Books

T

he Hunt for the Nightingale is about a ten-year-old boy called Jasper who loves birds and shares his obsession with his older sister.

When his sister and favourite songbird disappear Jasper sets off on his own to find them both. Along the way he meets new people and uses bird facts to calm himself down when he starts to get stressed. The boy is heartbroken when he listens to the beautiful nightingale’s song without his sister.

I think this book is quite sad, but I learnt that not

Celebrating 10 Years as Sherborne’s Independent Bookseller 2012-2022 8 Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3PX www.winstonebooks.co.uk Tel: 01935 816 128

everything can be just how you want it and other people can help more than you think. I really love the bird facts and pictures in every chapter. I rate this book 88 out of 100 and recommend it for people aged 9 and any age above.

“A love letter to the natural world, Sarah Ann Juckes’ stunning middle grade novel, illustrated by the award-winning Sharon King-Chai will have you turning the last page with tears in your eyes and a heart full of hope.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!

Family

BREASTFEEDING

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 AND LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS Lucy Suttle, Sherborne Breastfeeding Group

T

hey say it takes a village to raise a child, but since the pandemic, never has the concept of this already elusive ‘village’ seemed so tenuous.

As the pandemic forced us to retreat into our own homes, any semblance of a village culture in this country was all but destroyed for so many women and parents.

The loneliness and isolation that Covid-19 wrought on an immeasurable number of pregnant women, mothers, fathers, babies, children and families is so vast and varied it is unquantifiable, and many will have languished in silence. Across the country these past two years, there have been new mothers sobbing over Zoom calls as they struggled to breastfeed their tiny ‘pandemic’ babies and come to terms with the rawness of new motherhood without the support from friends and family, face-to-face visits from healthcare professionals and the opportunity to meet other parents. It’s the little moments too that were missed - a hug from your own mothers perhaps, or those few but momentous words of advice from an old-hand, as they reach out across the table when they see the tears of exhaustion and overwhelm start to drop into your coffee cup.

It surprises many people to learn that the UK has some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world.

According to UNICEF whilst 81% of women initiate breastfeeding, only 24% of women are exclusively breastfeeding at six weeks, and only 1% at six months (The World Health Organisation recommend exclusive breastfeeding up until six months). It is widely agreed that one of the major barriers to successful breastfeeding is inadequate support and information, so providing regular face-to-face support that is readily available in 30 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Tomsickova Tatyana/Shutterstock

the community for free, is critical in order to increase breastfeeding rates. Breastfeeding cuts the risk of common childhood illnesses and infections, as well as diabetes, heart disease and cancer later in life for both parent and baby. Furthermore, it is estimated by UNICEF that even moderately increasing numbers of breastfed babies could save the NHS 50 million pounds annually, as well as preventing many tens of thousands of GP appointments and hospital admissions.

The Sherborne Breastfeeding Group is free, run solely by fully-trained and insured volunteers, and welcomes pregnant women who are considering breastfeeding, anyone who is exclusively breastfeeding or mixed-feeding, or those interested in relactation.

The aim of the group is to provide up-to-date,

accurate and unbiased information, offer emotional support, signpost to healthcare professionals if necessary and welcome mothers and parents into an inclusive and like-minded community. Like many maternity services, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on our group, and we were forced to close our doors for over a year. Although the group ran on Zoom, this was no substitute for being able to support parents as it removed the social element of the group so crucial to wellbeing. Fortunately, the group has recently resumed and the doors are open again. Our peer supporters are there to offer support to those who are struggling with breastfeeding, but also those who just want to come in for tea and a chat. The social aspect is a huge part of the group and there are no structured activities so that

there is a relaxing atmosphere in which attendees can socialise and make new friends. Older siblings (under 5) are welcome to join and there is a great selection of books, toys and games at the venue.

Sherborne Breastfeeding Group meets 10.15am–11.15am every Tuesday at the Children’s Centre, Tinneys Lane.

Please email admindorset@familiesandbabies.org.uk to book a place, or to ask any questions you may have.

If you have breastfed for six months and are interested in volunteering with the group as a peer supporter, please get in touch at the same email address.

National Breastfeeding Helpline: 0300 100 0212 sherbornetimes.co.uk | 31

Family

HOME FRONT Jemma Dempsey

I

’ve always been rather charmed by collective nouns – a murder of crows, a shiver of sharks – they speak to the ultimate nonsense of the English language. But I need to write to the Oxford English Dictionary to ask them to add a new one – a sogginess of spectators. This new label defines those poor parents, not just in Sherborne but up and down this land, who give up their Saturday and Sunday mornings and whatever the weather trudge up to the Terraces or other distant venues to watch their children play football. In the wet. In the cold. In the wind. Now, I’ll be the first to admit I was cock-a-hoop when the youngest declared that he wanted to join Sherborne Town FC, anything to get him off a screen. And seeing his wee face after his ‘trial’ and then getting that coveted place in the team was, of course, wonderful. He even looks a bit like Jack Grealish. It all felt peachy. In September.

Fast forward four months and I’m sat writing this after a truly rain-drenched match on a cold, colourless Saturday in January. My feet are still thawing out. The 32 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

forecast for the day had been single figures and two raindrops all week and the husband and I had been nervously looking at each other as to who would draw the short straw for this one. The normal rule is that whoever does training on the Friday night doesn’t do the game on the Saturday and sometimes if we can’t decide the old rock, paper, scissors trick sorts it for us.

This time round, I lost. So, at 07.00 this morning, when I should have been having a lie-in, I was up having a shower and thinking about suitable footwear for what was going to be a very wet and muddy football field.

It was an away game, half an hour’s drive and we had to be there for 09.30. With umbrellas to keep at least the top half dry, the sorry group of parents huddled along the touchline, their shivering support not muted by the persistent downpour. ‘Just you wait till it snows,’ laughed the manager, as she saw the life slowly seep out of my body and my pointless attempt at moving from foot to foot like an out of shape Irish dancer trying to keep warm. Clearly a newbie, I’m still being initiated

Travelling Jack/Shutterstock

into the finer points of football spectatorship. A flask of coffee is top of my list for next time. And I wouldn’t change it for the world, I love our Saturday mornings - the mud, the sweat, the highs and lows. Guess I must be a masochist.

Sticking with school-related matters...I’m not sure about Grange Hill on the big screen, but if the

newspapers are to be believed Sir Phil Redmond, the man behind the 1980’s show that every kid at my school watched, along with Brookside and Emmerdale, has finished penning the script for the movie due to be filmed later this year. In my head no-one but no-one can play Tucker Jenkins except Todd Carty and he must be in his mid-50s so I’m sure his acne will have cleared up by now. Then there was Zammo, with the impossibly long eye lashes, Trisha who always worked so hard to look cool and like she wasn’t bothered and then Roland, poor Roland, the overweight kid who was caught guiltily snacking and relentlessly bullied. Can you imagine that characterisation and script getting past the powers that be these days? Somehow, I doubt it.

Thing is, Grange Hill was set in some fictitious city, with gritty story lines, hard-case kids and some tricksy teachers. And if I’m honest my alma mater, ‘Lord Digby’s Grammar School for Young Ladies’, which until the Gryphon came along was homed in Sherborne House, was nothing like Tucker and Zammo’s school.

Probably one of the reasons I loved the programme so much. Funny how certain things from your school days stay with you though. For me it was, ‘No talking on the stairs, girls!’ which was the constant refrain from our headmistress Shelagh Hill, who would chant those words from her office at the bottom of the stairs in her vain attempt to get us to respect the precious James Thornhill murals on the central staircase. I’m pretty sure Grange Hill didn’t have murals. Now, it’s being gotten ready for its next incarnation as an arts venue and I’m desperate to know how that’s going. When I first saw the huge trees behind the front wall being felled I was initially horrified, who wouldn’t be, but now I see it as a triumph; the building, once shrouded by the red brick façade and trees now stands proud saying, ‘Hey, here I am, look at me’. From one old girl to another, good luck.

VALENTINES DAY MONDAY 14th FEBRUARY

Don’t forget to order a bouquet for your special someone.

Pop in to our new department – Leaf & Living – to see our range of lovely Gifts, Home & Garden Decor, Houseplants and more...

Ellie Taylor

01935 814 308 occasionsofsherborne@outlook.com occasions-flowers.com 43 Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3PU sherbornetimes.co.uk | 33

Come and visit our warm community in action

Arrange your bespoke visit by contacting Charlotte at admissions@sherborneprep.org | 01935 810911 www.sherborneprep.org

Our Swim School is expanding, spaces now available

Contact reception to book your free swim assessment now.

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34 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

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Family

SIR, I CAN’T DRAW!

A

Fernando Velázquez, Head of Art, Sherborne Prep

rt, of course, is in all of us, manifesting in many different ways. Throughout my teaching career, I have had the privilege to meet many children who are naturally inclined to draw whilst having fun. However, I have also encountered some who are convinced that they cannot draw. My first response to this is to simply ask, ‘So what? Do you want to draw?’ And, more importantly, ‘Why do you want to draw?’ Invariably, they look puzzled. So far, not a great lesson, some would say! The truth is that what they mean is that they cannot draw photographically, accurately, realistically. At this point, I remind them that we are not machines and, that if all of us drew the same way, art would be boring!

What drawing primarily requires is a willingness to make marks on paper, to slow down the process of looking and seeing the world around us. It is about embracing the ability in all of us to create images, however imperfect they may be. It is also about managing the expectation to achieve desired results whilst making small decisions along the way. At the Prep, we believe in the value of individuality in the process of creating and in the power of drawing as part of the journey of learning.

We live in fast-paced times; everything is expected to be done quickly and, yet, drawing continues to be a discipline that takes time. As Paul Klee would say, ‘Drawing is taking a line for a walk.’ Indeed, drawing is a journey from one point to another, a way of constructing a building of lines that creates personal interpretations of reality. Our children today can process visual information at an astonishing rate, responding to what they see faster than ever due to the power of technology.

Drawing slows that process down, allowing different perspectives and true enjoyment. Their appreciation and response to art is not better or worse from that of other generations, just different. It is up to us to adapt to their views, facilitating opportunity and creating an environment free from judgement and constraints.

‘But sir, how do you draw a bird?’ My answer is a question: ‘What kind of bird do you like?’ maybe followed by more questions, ‘What does it look like?’ I ask the children to describe the shape with their hands, and, as they do, they start drawing simple shapes in their mind, and then the next little shape, and the next, until, like magic, a bird starts to appear on the paper. I see this as just the beginning of a journey towards confidence, positivity, freedom, and joy.

‘Sir, I didn’t know I could draw!’ The child smiles and feels empowered whilst the teacher feels proud of his pupils. They are ready for more adventures. ‘Can I draw something else, sir?’ sherborneprep.org

36 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 37

Family

Image: Harriet McKay 38 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

LOSING YOURSELF IN LITERATURE

W

James Curtis, Library Assistant, Sherborne School

hile the days may ever so slowly be getting longer, the cold weather still lends itself to hunkering down with a good book. While not everyone shares this thought, numerous studies have shown that the virtues of reading are extensive.

They range from developing your vocabulary, increasing brain connectivity, improving your memory, and even reducing stress.

Today’s students are surrounded with computer screens, mobile devices, and the ever-present glare of the blue screen. We want to encourage them to take a step back and get back into the comfort of a book.

Where there are direct links between screen time and anxiety, there is no doubt that reading is positive for your mental and physical health.

It was the author George R. R. Martin who wrote: ‘A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen.

The man who never reads lives only one.’ Good news for reluctant readers – whatever you can get your hands on. Studies have shown that it doesn’t matter what you are reading, the benefit comes from reading itself.

Gone are the days where librarians would only suggest the mainstream classics like Dickens, Hardy, Austen, and Bronte! Here at Sherborne we strive to show the boys the importance of reading and to improve their ‘reading resilience’ – ultimately helping their confidence in reading complex and demanding texts, by drawing on critical reading skills. But where to start for those who may not have picked up a book willingly? Whether it is the lyrics to the latest song, a collection of poems, a brainteaser, riddle, or even the latest sports results from your favourite team, the fact that reading is happening is the important thing! We endeavour to widen the students’ reading, by building upon the base they already have.

The next in a series from your favourite author, the same genre of book, or a similar theme – it can be too easy to fall into the trap of picking the same type of book again and again. It always pays to mix it up a little from time to time. What can be better than discovering

a new book – one that may even end up your favourite!

Even if you don’t, you know you have an additional author to add to your library. Some useful resources to find new authors naturally starts with visiting your local library to ask for their recommendations. I know from personal experience that great joy can be found directing people to new things that they might never have considered before. You may even find a copy of ‘Who Writes Like’ on their shelves and browse through that for inspiration. Alternatively, when the next book award is announced, instead of just looking at the winner or runner up, perhaps peruse the long-list of titles nominated. Of course, there is nothing wrong with keeping to the tried and tested favourite authors, but if you find yourself stuck in a book-rut, there are always more options!

I will leave you with a quote taken from the beloved Dr Seuss, a sentiment we in the library believe in wholeheartedly, and one we carry with us in all our work.

‘The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.’ sherborne.org

Some Stand-out Titles For centuries, books have taken us to countless worlds of wonderment and splendour, and 2021 was no different.

Some titles published last year which stood out for us include: For fiction: The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas And for non-fiction: The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of the World by Tim Marshall

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 39

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 40 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Science & Nature

MISTLE THRUSH

Alex Hennessy, Marketing and Communications Officer, Dorset Wildlife Trust

Henri Lehtola/Shutterstock

T

he mistle thrush Turdus viscivorus is a large songbird, commonly found in parks, gardens, woodland and scrub. The mistle thrush is also known as the ‘rain bird’ and ‘stormcock’ as it can often be heard singing loudly from the top of tall trees after heavy rain - typical weather for this time of year.

Visually, the mistle thrush is easily mistaken for the common song thrush, whose song is somewhat ‘squeakier’ and includes repeating ‘phrases’. The mistle thrush is pale greyish-brown above, with a white belly covered in round, black spots. It is larger and greyer than the song thrush.

The common name ‘mistle thrush’ is likely inspired by this bird’s love of mistletoe. It enjoys the sticky berries found on that and other plants and, once it has found a berry-laden tree, an individual mistle thrush will guard it from any would-be thieves such as other mistle thrushes, and species such as fieldfares who also feed on berries. In turn, this songbird helps mistletoe to thrive by accidentally ‘planting’ its seeds while wiping its bill on the tree bark to remove sticky residue.

It also helpfully disperses the seeds in its droppings.

A mistle thrush’s diet isn’t confined to its favourite berries, however, and they will happily devour worms and other insects, as well as seeds and fallen fruit.

42 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Adding seeds and fruit to your bird-feeding selection may help attract these birds to your patch.

The mistle thrush is one of the earliest songbirds to breed and may lay a clutch of three to six eggs as soon as February. It’s normal for a mistle thrush to breed twice in a year and while the male and female share the burden of feeding, the task of building the nest in a fork of a tree, from moss, roots, grass and mud, is the sole responsibility of the female.

To find out more about this fascinating species and what you can do to help the county’s wildlife, visit dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Mistle Thrush Facts: • The mistle thrush is Britain’s largest songbird, at around 28cm in length.

• Mistle thrush numbers in the UK have been in decline since the 1970s, which is thought to be due to increased mortality in the bird’s young.

• Predators of the mistle thrush include foxes, birds of prey and domestic cats.

DRAWN TO THE LIGHT

Small Eggar Moth, Eriogaster lanestris Gillian Nash

Image: Gillian Nash

A

cold weather moth, the Small Eggar is on the wing from January to March. It is a nationally scarce resident species, most frequently recorded in Dorset and Somerset, with scattered erratic sightings elsewhere in Britain and Ireland. Diminishing numbers over the past 50 years is thought to be a result of hedgerow management changes together with increased mowing, particularly along roadside verges where eggs are often laid. The adult moth’s attractive thickset form with rich brown and cream spotted colouration combined with a winter flight season makes identification clear. In common with other species within the family of Eggar moths, the adults are unable to feed.

The male, with its deeply feathered antennae, is easily distinguishable from the larger female that has a thick tuft of grey scales on the abdomen. These scales are shed to cover batches of eggs which are laid on twigs in open situations on a wide variety of hedgerow species, including blackthorn, hawthorn, spindle, dog-

rose and fruit trees. In the following April to July the tiny, newly hatched larvae spin a suspended communal web, increasing its size and making necessary repairs as they grow to accommodate them until their near-final stage when they leave the safety of this hammocklike structure. There are considerable advantages to these large larval ‘nests’. If the temperature falls, heat is generated by what may amount to two or three hundred individuals and if there is too much heat some will move to the outside. Leaving the web often to feed communally by day or night, a moving mass of colours that appears to change shape can prove confusing to predators. Within a few weeks the by now smart velvet-black, orange and white patterned larvae leave the safety of the strongly woven nursery web to continue feeding independently, attaining a length of up to 50mm. By late July a pupa is formed, usually at ground level where it may remain for at least two and sometimes several winters, before the emergence of the adult moth early in the year. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 43

Science & Nature

44 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Image courtesy of SRITA

THE TRUTH

M

Paula Carnell, Beekeeping Consultant, Writer and Speaker

y watchword for 2021 was ‘love’, after a New Year’s Day message from the bees. The word served me well throughout the year, and whenever I was challenged in work or personally I reminded myself to make a decision based on love and mostly it worked. This year I didn’t gain such a clear insight and needed to meditate on the thought for a few days. The words that bubbled up were ‘faith’, ‘clarity’ and most frequently ‘truth’.The following night I dreamt I had a single bee settle on my lips; I was with a group of people and unable to speak, aware that if I opened my mouth the bee may crawl in and sting me. Determined not to ruin my image of a ‘Bee Guardian’, I walked away catching my reflection in various windows, still seeing and feeling the bee on my lips. Impatient that I couldn’t open my mouth I decided to carefully scoop her onto my right hand, at which point she stung me on my ring finger. I woke up irritated with myself for not being patient or even brave enough to see if she would sting my mouth if I opened it. The dream caused me to consider its meaning and how that could relate to my life and my 2022 word. Much of my work is speaking, and hopefully my truth. With that thought I have decided that ‘truth’ is my word for 2022. (I’m not ready for patience!)

The bees have been inspiring me with many insights to what truth is, from their perspective. Humans also have many ‘truths’, depending on our perspectives. Truth is described in the Cambridge dictionary as ‘the real facts about a situation, event or person’. It can also be ‘a fact or principle that is thought to be true by most people’.

The latter could already be seen as something that could later be proven not to be true, when previously hidden facts come to light. In beekeeping it has been true for many years that using miticides protects bees from varroa mites. Now, as more facts have come to light, it is true using such miticides have a negative effect on the fertility of bees. Remember the old advertisements for cigarettes which even in the 1970s claimed to protect your throat from coughs? And the ‘Luckies are less irritating’ quote was verified by Lybrand Ross Bros & Montgomery accountants and auditors, so it ‘must be true’!

When I first started keeping bees and began questioning the conventional thoughts of many established beekeeping practices, I was considered ‘crazy’, ignorant’ and ‘uninformed’. Being true to myself,

despite what those around me thought, encouraged me to learn more to help resolve my inner conflict and whether what I believed to be true really was. I accept many may hold a truth very different to mine, based on their information and facts. After all, with the events of the past two years, truths are being fired at us from all directions. Some prefer to trust others’ measurement of truth and accept the consequences, others need proof of a truth. I trust my intuition, my ‘gut instinct’ and the more I learn about bees and nature, the more I realise we have an underused muscle, an in-built guiding compass for truth which needs to be strengthened. Plants evolved to communicate with bees and other pollinators to let them know when they need pollinating. They use their innate electrical field to send messages out into nature – a massive whisper, or song that calls the bees to the flower. Trees communicate with each other using electrical pulses through their mycelium-coated roots.

The Native Americans, and many other indigenous people who have retained their connection with nature and their environment, receive messages from plants, trees, animals and birds. Records of the first European settlers in North America recount when asking the Natives how they knew which plants were medicinal, replied that the ‘plants told them’. I believe this to be a representation of intuition sharing a natural truth, using an ancient natural method of communication, lost by many modern ‘civilisations’. Humans surely can’t be the only beings in nature that are not connected through the true world wide communication web?

2022 sees us begin a year following two extraordinary years, where so many past truths have been unravelled, and many foundations of society exposed, revealing new truths. A way to navigate and survive this new world is to revert to our own inner guidance system, listening to our own inner truths.

Nostradamous predicted for this year, ‘No abbots, monks, no novices to learn; honey shall cost far more than candle-wax. So high the price of wheat, that man is stirred. His fellow man to eat in his despair.’ My instinct tells me to stick with producing and selling honey, and hopefully that will prevent us from having to ‘eat the rich’. paulacarnell.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 45

Science & Nature

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Peter Littlewood, Director, Young People’s Trust for the Environment

Image: Susan White/USFWS

F

or 2022, YPTE will be sharing some simple ways that parents can help their children learn about our world and the things they can do to help make it a better place. We’ll start by looking at how you can make your own biodegradable plastic using some simple household ingredients.

About Plastic

Plastic is a really useful material. There are about 46 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

50 types of plastic in common use every day, from PVC, which can be used to make transparent and very flexible cling film, through to Kevlar, which is used to make body armour. Look around your home and you’ll find plastic everywhere, from your phone to your computer, to your TV, to your kitchen appliances and food packaging and even maybe some of your furniture.

But there’s a big problem with plastic. What

happens when we don’t need it any more? Well, it can be recycled, but you need all of the plastic you recycle to be of the same type and ideally the same colour. And with so many types of plastic out there, sorting them at a recycling facility can be really tricky!

So, more often, plastic is buried in the ground at a landfill site, or it stays where people drop it, or it ends up in the sea. Plastic doesn’t rot away naturally in the environment, like fruit or vegetables do. It can ‘photodegrade’ - that is, it gradually becomes more brittle when exposed to sunlight for long periods, so when it’s floating in the ocean and it gets knocked together by the waves and currents, small bits gradually break off into smaller and smaller fragments, eventually becoming ‘microplastics’. Some beaches in the Pacific Ocean are covered in little plastic fragments and you can even find lots of plastic bits on UK beaches if you look carefully.

A measuring spoon A microwave A microwavable container An adult (essential! – to help with the microwaving) Instructions

1

2 3

4

A Possible Solution: Bioplastic

New plastics are being created that use natural materials like corn or chicken feathers, which will break down much more quickly in the environment.

Many of them are experimental at the moment and there’s still a long way to go. For example, many dissolve in water, so they’re not great for holding liquids! But we’re getting better at making plastic that breaks down naturally in the environment, so it should eventually become commonplace.

You can try making your own biodegradable plastic made from natural materials, or ‘bioplastic’ at home, using a few simple ingredients…

You Will Need

Corn flour Water Cooking oil

5 6

You can make as much as you like, but the proportions of ingredients to use are 1 tablespoon of cornflour to 1.5 tablespoons of water to 4 drops of cooking oil.

Mix the ingredients well in your microwaveable container until you have a milky liquid.

Put the mixture in the microwave and give it about 30 seconds on high. It should start to bubble and become slightly transparent. If you have made a larger amount of mixture, you may have to heat it for longer to get it to bubble. Keep watching and don’t let the mixture start to burn!

When the mixture is looking slightly transparent, a grown-up needs to take it out of the microwave very carefully. It will be hot, so use an oven glove!

Make sure you let the plastic cool down until you are able to handle it safely. This will take five minutes or more.

Knead the plastic until it feels like play dough. You can now cut or mould it into the shape you want.

Leave it to cure for 24 - 48 hours. It should then be solid and maintain its shape. If you’d like to make coloured bioplastic, try adding food colouring to your mixture before microwaving.

We made a model with ours, but you could choose to make whatever you can shape the plastic into.

Why not try making a biodegradable pot for planting a seedling? You can plant the seedling in its pot and it will gradually dissolve into the soil!

ypte.org.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 47

Science & Nature

Sherborne Science Cafe Lectures Rob Bygrave, Chair, Sherborne Science Cafe

WILD ABUNDANCE IN A TIME OF DECLINE Speaker: Wren Franklin, Manager, Ryewater Farm, Corscombe November 2021 Munfarid/Shutterstock

I

n the 1980s, Clive Farrell, a property tycoon with a keen interest in the natural world, sought a new project to provide an absorbing interest.

He purchased Ryewater Farm, near Sherborne, an estate of 100 acres, with an aim to re-wild the land and bring back diversity. Science Café welcomed Ryewater’s manager Wren Franklin to showcase the pushback against modern monoculture and countryside degradation.

Published in 1962, Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ started the global grassroots environmental movement, highlighting the use of pesticides in agriculture. Many of its themes still echo in our management of the environment today. And according to the ‘UK State of Nature Report’ there has been a relentless decrease in wildlife – of 24 biodiversity indicators reflecting ecological health, 14 are in long-term decline. Current 48 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

research suggests the steep species downturn can be viewed as the ‘sixth extinction’, with five previous very notable ones in the fossil record since the start of the Cambrian period (545Ma); an extinction being defined as the disappearance of more than 75% of the world’s species in a short amount of geological time.

For Wren the most detrimental influences on the land come from agriculture and housing, and in all cases habitat features have been stripped out and ecological niches lost. Most significantly intensive farming’s legacy is nitrogen and ammonium pollution. And all the while there’s climate change, nudging temperatures ever higher at rates greater than most species can adapt.

Globalisation, as author Oliver Rackham points out, brings fauna and flora into contact with novel diseases for which they have no immunity. The most obvious cases being Dutch Elm Disease (1980s) and Ash

Dieback (now), noted by last month’s speaker on plant diseases. For Wren, 1971 was the peak of landscape denudation. The question is, are we bound by these trends or can they be reversed? Governments push policy decisions in the search of beneficial outcomes.

Individuals have also made their own attempts; creating gardens, planting trees or re-wilding large tracts of land, as is the case at Ryewater.

Creating new habitats

Initial planning involved working with artists and locals for development ideas. In preparing the site, the top 12 inches of dark, acidic, intensively farmed soil was removed, revealing the original nutrient-poor Oxford Clay soil. This later supported a widely diverse range of calcareous-loving plants. Different environments were created. Ephemeral pools, good for amphibians soon became home to Great Crested Newts. Ant colonies were established, encouraged by newly prepared mounds of soil, and a newly constructed hop-walk supplied food for butterflies.

Another activity of importance, at summer’s end, is seed harvesting. Seeds with local provenance are a powerful tool in wildlife planting. Once collected, they can be mixed with a carrier and broadcast by hand. During the first summer, annuals flowered in abundance and perennials started their first year of growth. Bare ground specialists, such as grasshoppers were in evidence and orchids were notable incomers.

Also, linkage with suitable soil fungus (another positive indicator) is needed for healthy germination and growth. Importantly, nutrients are not added to soils, which reduces biomass but increases diversity.

Data collection is vital to discover how well the project is proceeding. Butterfly numbers, for example, are surveyed with a walking observational survey carried out weekly in summer. The abundance of various species can be compared with international data sets.

What have we learnt?

The farm is bucking national diversity trends. 19 species show increasing numbers whilst only five (one example being the Cabbage White butterfly) indicate a decline.

120 species of birds have been noted at Ryewater; 48 regularly breeding on the estate (e.g. hobby, kingfisher).

Nightingales, in steep decline nationally, also breed at Ryewater. Ringed birds are frequently recaptured, suggesting Ryewater is a migratory stop-off point. A previously wooded area has been re-seeded to hazel,

willow and ash coppice and is now harvested.

The farm has many different habitats and for Wren, an important part of the project is its spiritual dimension, connecting humans to nature. Observational skills, once well-developed amongst young people, have been largely lost (so-called ‘ecological illiteracy’). Visiting sites such as Ryewater can reawaken those skills. The whole estate is designated an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and SAC (Special Area of Conservation).

The future

Whilst 11% of UK land is urban and 35% protected (good for diversity), the remaining 54% has everything to play for with regard to re-wilding. The natural world can be considered a ‘great tapestry’ but whilst our tapestry looks somewhat worn and thin in places, re-wilding brings a story of hope, suggesting we do have answers to environmental problems, even if we don’t always implement them in practice. The year 2024 will see the enactment of the ELMS (Environmental Land Management Scheme) which may offer better opportunity for those seeking more in the way of landscape recovery.

For individuals interested in re-wilding their own garden, Wren recommended not keeping things too tidy, having lots of environmental niches with piles of dead leaves, meadow rather than lawn and avoiding persecuting flora and fauna. When collecting seeds, pick when you see they have matured. In sourcing seeds commercially (where local sources are not apparent), seek local provenance and avoid cheap mixes.

For Wren, the conclusion of decades of work at Ryewater Farm is ‘create valuable new habits, and new species will establish themselves’. If Rachel Carson was still with us, she might nod approvingly in the direction of Ryewater Farm.

A visit to Ryewater Farm is planned for summer 2022.

Please check website for details. sherbornesciencecafe.com

___________________________________________ Wednesday 23rd February 7.30pm Climate Change and its Denial – with Professor Peter Stott of Exeter University The Church Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne

Copies of Professor Stott’s new book Hot Air will also be

available to purchase on the night. sherborne.scafe@gmail.com

___________________________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 49

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On Foot

52 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

On Foot

MARTINSTOWN AND MAIDEN CASTLE Emma Tabor and Paul Newman

Distance: 5 miles Time: Approx. 2½ hours Park: By St Martin’s church in Martinstown Walk Features: A straightforward, linear route from Martinstown to nearby Maiden Castle. There are some impressive burial mounds to see en-route, giving you a flavour of the age of this ancient, settled landscape, one of the richest in Britain. The route to Maiden Castle is fairly level with a small climb as you enter the earthworks.

There are good views across to Dorchester (Durnovaria), which the Romans settled after conquering and then eventually abandoning Maiden Castle.

Refreshments: The Brewer’s Arms, Martinstown >

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 53

On Foot

E

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

For February we take in some of the ancient remains which mark the landscape in this corner of Dorset. It’s a landscape scattered with features from the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, as well as some Romano-British activity, including the outline of a Roman temple within the confines of Maiden Castle. The southern ramparts of Maiden Castle are particularly dramatic when delineated against a low winter light. It’s also worth visiting Dorchester after your walk to visit the impressive remains of the Roman townhouse at Colliton Park; the townhouse was built in the fourth century AD and has some fine mosaics as well as a hypocaust.

Directions

Start: SY 647 889 54 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

1 Park outside St Martin’s church in Martinstown.

2 With the church on your left, follow the main road in the direction of Dorchester and after 100 yards look for a bridleway sign on the left, by Fisher’s Barn. Turn left up this track and pass between houses. After a few yards, just after a bungalow, you will see a footpath and bridleway sign on your right and a small metal gate. Go through this to go along the right-hand edge of a field. In the far right-hand corner you come to another small metal gate. Pass through this into the next field, keeping to the right-hand edge of the field. Again, in the far right-hand corner, go through a small wooden gate and onto a side road.

3 Head diagonally across the side road and then the main road. After crossing the road, follow the bridleway and footpath signs up a stony track.

Head up the track and soon, on your right, you will see Clandon Barrow burial mound. Keep straight ahead and after 250 yards you will reach

farm buildings. Follow the blue footpath and cycle path signs located on telegraph poles and the sides of the farm buildings as the track threads between the buildings. As you approach an old barn, the track goes to the right and then left around the barn to meet the farmhouse. Go straight past the farmhouse and stay on the track, with Maiden Castle now visible on your right. Follow the track, passing a huge burial mound on your left and walk for another 500 yards to meet the road coming from Dorchester to Maiden Castle. Here, turn right and sharply back on yourself, heading towards the car park near the west entrance of Maiden Castle.

4 From here, it’s up to you which way round the hillfort you go but one option is to leave the car park from the top left corner and follow the narrow footpath which goes left and heads up steeply into the castle, then start to make your way clockwise around the fort. You’ll soon come across the remains

of a Roman Temple. There are various information boards sited around the castle pointing out different features. The south side of the castle is particularly impressive, with the ramparts and ditches making dramatic patterns of contrast and shade in low light.

Continue clockwise around the fort.

5 Leave Maiden Castle via the west entrance, looking for the track which comes up from the car park.

Instead of heading down this track, walk across to a small wooden gate set in a fence, with the west entrance behind you. Go through this gate and turn right, following the path beside the fence between trees and bushes as it heads down towards the car park. After a few yards leave this path and turn sharp left, then slightly back on yourself before bending right and heading back towards the bridleway you walked along earlier. From here, turn left to follow the route back to Martinstown. english-heritage.org.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 55

CHARTERHOUSE Auctioneers & Valuers

Forthcoming Auction Programme

Classic & Collector Cars 3rd March Classic & Collector Motorcycles 9th March Coins, Medals, Stamps, Model Cars & Trains 10th March Clocks, Collectors’ Items & Antiques 11th March Further entries invited

1955 MG TF 1500 in our 3rd March auction

Contact Richard Bromell for advice on single items and complete collections Valuations for Probate and Insurance

The Long Street Salerooms, Sherborne DT9 3BS 01935 812277 www.charterhouse-auction.com

Affordable interior fabrics thefabricbarn.co.uk 56 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

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History

LOST DORSET

NO. 20 SHAFTESBURY

U

David Burnett, The Dovecote Press

ntil the late Victorian period water in Dorset’s towns was provided by private companies, many of them short-lived. In Poole, Beaminster and Shaftesbury the water was turned off every night at six o’clock, and only turned on again at eight in the morning. But all were at the mercy of the weather. Although the sinking of a well on land given by the Grosvenors had solved the ancient problem of providing water to a hilltop town, Shaftesbury’s water was supplied to pumps in the streets, which regularly froze in winter.

Peach’s the barbers were the only people with water in Salisbury Street during a sudden cold snap in February 1895. Note the yoke and 17 gallon milk churns amongst the buckets.

Lost Dorset: The Towns 1880-1920, the companion volume to Lost Dorset: The Villages and Countryside, is a 220-page large format hardback, price £20, and is available locally from Winstone’s Books or directly from the publishers. dovecotepress.com

58 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

OBJECT OF THE MONTH

THE TROUSSEAU Elisabeth Bletsoe, Curator, Sherborne Museum

T

he word trousseau, from the French trusse or bundle, tends to mean the clothes, linen and other belongings collected by a bride before her marriage. It originally referred to the box itself – the Hope Chest or ‘bottom drawer’ but gradually the term changed to mean the contents of the box; anything that a woman from any level of society might have collected and set aside ahead of her marriage in preparation for this life transition. Traditionally this might also include mattresses, pillows, quilts, curtains and towels especially those which were made or embroidered either by female relatives or the bride herself. By the mid-Victorian era the aspiration was for a dozen of everything, and wealthy families embraced the concept of the ‘trousseau tea’ where trunk-loads of linen, china and garments were displayed as part of the wedding festivities. In 1877 Tatler denounced this extravagance: ‘the trousseau’s Monstrous Proportions indicate a Giant Horror from which you will shrink, appalled’.

We know from our records that a woman named Mary Margaret Tootell (soon to become Mrs. Bird) made six of everything and that these items were inked carefully with her name, their number in the series, and the date they were made. Unfortunately they were not donated to us complete but we do have a nightdress, table linen, handkerchiefs (nos. 3 and 4), part of a net curtain, a dress collar, a dress insert (pictured) and a couple of infants’ garments. These last were part of the donation but might not have strictly belonged to the trousseau itself. There is also a tiny pair of Mary’s working scissors, an intimate item providing a direct contact with the past.

The items are made of cotton, fine corded linen or

lawn and all are white, which was more usual, since these could be washed and bleached many times over. Some are beautifully hand-stitched, or embellished with appliqué patterns, handmade button holes, lace trim, pin tucks and, as illustrated, broderie anglaise. This is a whitework technique characterised by patterns composed of round or oval holes cut out of the fabric and bound with overcast or buttonhole stitches.

So, who was the talented Mary Tootell who provided so thoughtfully for her future? We know she was born in 1843, the daughter of an excise officer, and brought up in Chetnole with her aunt and uncle, Elias and Susanna Bullock, after her mother’s untimely death. On 19th February 1867 she married Henry Bird, a miller, at St. Andrew’s Church in Yetminster. They had a long marriage of 57 years, during the early part of which they lived at Heneford corn and grist mill at Melbury Bubb. Together they had 11 children, and all were baptised in that tiny village.

The 1881 census records them living at Lower Stockbridge, a farm of 314 acres in Lillington. Later, two sons worked with them on the land and four daughters assisted in the dairy. Henry Bird, whom Mary had probably known since childhood, died on their wedding anniversary in 1924, aged 81; he was buried at St. Mary’s, Melbury Bubb, where Mary joined him three years later, aged 85. Her last recorded residence was Japonica Cottage in Chetnole.

Sherborne Museum is currently open, free of charge, on winter hours from 10.30am–4.30pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. sherbornemuseum.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 59

History

DORSET’S DEVIL STONES Cindy Chant & John Drabik

Agglestone Rock, Studland

A

ny visit to Stonehenge or Avebury will stir the emotions and leave you in awe and wonder as to why these prehistoric monuments were constructed. Dorset too is steeped in magic, megaliths and stone circles. They attract historians, the curious visitor and modern day pilgrims – some even use these sites for ceremony, as our predecessors once did.

Some are elaborate calendars indicating important times of the year, while others mark the resting place of an influential chieftain, or were important boundary or track markers. Many of these enigmatic stones go unnoticed, but each carry a story, with folklore interwoven with archaeology, astronomy and geomancy.

They were strategically placed and are associated with ley lines and were undoubtedly used for worship, meditation or rituals to enhance fortune or a good harvest.

Who would have known that with the coming of Christianity, the Devil would be found lurking behind these sacred stones? Stories were invented to discredit and stop people from having spiritual experiences at these ancient sites.

Dorset folk were superstitious and did not refer to 60 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Mike Newman/Shutterstock

the Devil by name, but gave him nicknames, such as Old Nick, Owld Lad or Old Harry. There once were two stone pinnacles just off Studland, called Old Harry and his Wife. But sadly, after several thousands of years, the wife was destroyed in a storm leaving him widowed and standing alone.

Nevertheless, the Devil still went about the countryside having fun. He was said to have thrown a large twenty-foot stone, known as the Agglestone, from as far away as the Needles near the Isle of Wight. His intention was to destroy Bindon Abbey or Corfe Castle, but despite his careful aim, he missed.

Near Winterborne Abbas there is a well preserved stone circle known as Nine Stones and sometimes referred to as Devil’s Nine Stones, or the Devil, his Wife and Children. Some say they were once real children, turned to stone for playing ‘five-stones’ on a Sunday. Despite the busy road, this is an atmospheric place and objects can sometimes be found here indicating modern day rituals.

The Devil did enjoy his games. There is a magnificent example of an exposed Neolithic burial mound at Portesham, known as Hellstone - the result

of his indulgence in playing ‘quoits’. He threw these huge stones, from the Isle of Portland and, with some considerable skill, managed to land them in this position. Nearby, there is the Valley of Stones, consisting of a large amount of grey stone laying haphazard on the ground, each supposedly having been flung by the Devil.

On the A356, near the Beaminster turnoff at Toller Down, there are some huge boulders known as the Hoar Stones. Despite their massive size, these stones are easily missed by drivers speeding their way to the coast. It is a mystery as to why our ancestors went through considerable effort to place these stones in this position. One would be forgiven in thinking they may be boundary stones, or the grave of some important personage or, being high on a hill, some form of marker.

But no, it was that wily rascal again, throwing them from Portland in an attempt to block the road.

The Owld Lad sometimes grew tired of throwing prehistoric stones so, not surprisingly, provision was made for his comfort. In the village of Corscombe there is a group of huge standing stones, known locally as the Devil’s Armchair – one does indeed resemble a chair and can be sat upon. They are unrecorded and not shown on any map, and may once have formed the entrance of a long barrow. Another resting place, after a hard day’s mischief-making, can be found on Portland, where a stone protruding from a house is called the Devil’s Stool, or Hags Seat. And on the green, as you enter the village of Evershot, there are three ancient stones actually made into a seat. The story attached to these is that of three dancing maidens, struck dumb and turned to stone, for the usual reasons of making merry on a Sunday.

Well, if it wasn’t the Devil, it was giants having fun hurling huge stones. At Brockhampton Green, near Mappowder, lies a stone thrown by a giant. But some say it was too heavy to be thrown and so the disgruntled giant left it by the side of the road. Near Cheselbourne, two giants were having a contest hurling boulders from the top of Norden Hill towards Henning Hill, to see who could throw the furthest. As expected of this temperamental pair, the sore loser became so embittered with rage that he died, and was buried nearby in a long barrow, known as the Giants Grave.

So, the next time you perchance find yourself near one of these ancient monuments, spare a thought. Feel the age, create a link with the past, and know that your ancestors may once have been here before you.

FREE HOME VISITS Specialist Matthew Denney will be in the Sherborne area on Thursday 24th February to value your objects & antiques

SIR ALFRED JAMES MUNNINGS, PRA, RWS (1878-1959) The Watering Pool, Oil on Canvas, 48.5 x 59cm.

BOUGHT FOR £62,500

Consigning Now for our Spring Sales FREE VALUATIONS ALSO AVAILABLE

Online | Phone | Email | Whatsapp To make an appointment call or email 01460 73041 matthew.denney@lawrences.co.uk Professional Valuations Available for Probate & Insurance Complete House Contents & Attic Clearances Arranged

lawrences.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 61

Antiques

The 4ft x 3ft James Bond Casino Royale collage picture £100-200 in the Charterhouse two day 10th & 11th March collector’s auction.

BUYERS LOVE TO BID

I

Richard Bromell ASFAV, Charterhouse Auctioneers

took my first auction in 1985. Since then I have lost track as to how many lots I have put under my trusty gavel, but it will be a big number.

Over the decades I have probably seen just about every reaction possible to buyers successfully bidding on a lot. Some with jubilation, some indifferent and some almost disappointed!

Our jewellery auctions are always popular, with 62 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

our next such sale on 3rd February. At the viewings our specialists are on hand to give help, advice and guidance. The best help I like giving is when we are asked to advise on engagement rings. Occasionally there are big smiles when the engagement ring has been successfully bought, although I never seem to get a wedding invitation!

Sometimes, when selling items for a deceased

estate, family members buy back items as memories.

More often than not having bid against other family members, close or distant, they are always pleased with their purchases whilst the underbidders suffer from bidder’s remorse.

But bidder’s remorse can take on other forms. In our catalogue descriptions we endeavour to note damage, restoration or repair. We also take measurements as many people today do not attend auctions but are armchair bidders sitting at home, in the office or out in a coffee shop when the lots they are interested in go under the hammer in our international online auctions.

Despite all the information available, some buyers see what they want to see and this happened to a seasoned auction-goer who bought a James Bond collage picture from the 2006 Casino Royale film at another firm of auctioneers. Most items Bond-related have a large and loyal following. This collage picture featured signed photographs of Daniel Craig (the last James Bond) and Mads Mikkelsen (villain Le Chiffre) with Heineken Casino Royale playing cards and three Casino Royale gaming chips. All mounted on green card – I assume to represent the top of the casino card table, and set in a nice frame ready to be hung on the wall of a living room, study or man-cave.

When the owner, who lived near Leicester, viewed the lot in a catalogue online it certainly ticked several boxes for him so he decided to have a few bids to try to buy the picture. Having been successful he arranged to have it delivered to his house. As a collector, he was excited as the delivery date drew near and finally arrived. Over the decades he had bought many items at auction and his house was pretty full, so when the doorbell rang with his latest purchase, he opened the door with great anticipation but that changed to immediate disappointment.

Quite simply, he did not appreciate just how big the picture was, measuring a whopping 4ft high by 3ft wide. With little wall space available to hang it, he had little option but to re-sell the Bond picture.

Despite living near Leicester, we regularly see him as a client at our Sherborne salerooms. On his last visit he brought the collage picture to us and entered it into our 10th and 11th March two day collector’s auction. Estimated at £100-200 hopefully the next buyer will realise how big it is or have enough wall space to hang it!

Castletown Landscapes

Spring is on its way!

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You may even be aiming to enhance your curb appeal if you are planning to sell or rent, or you may have moved into a new house already.

We, at Castletown Landscapes, provide complete garden care and landscaping services that can breathe new life into your garden projects, whatever they are.

No job is too small. We do it all.

Competitive rates and free, no-obligation quotes.

Please call Paul on 07739 121430 to get the conversation started or email paul@castletown.uk

charterhouse-auction.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 63

elizabethwatsonillustration.com

Get ready for Spring With Spring in sight, it’s time to lay the foundations for many happy months of gardening ahead.

Green fingers can be put to work chitting seed potatoes or potting dahlias, pelargoniums and begonias, while tidying, composting and sprucing up the greenhouse will get you ahead of the game.

Open seven days a week, we have seeds, bulbs, pots and gardening equipment in store now.

Monday to Saturday: 9am – 6pm Sunday: 10am – 4:30pm You can order online at store.thegardensgroup.co.uk Free delivery within 25 miles

Castle Gardens, New Road, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 5NR www.thegardensgroup.co.uk

thegardensgroup

64 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

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sherbornetimes.co.uk | 65

Gardening

Uduhunt/Shutterstock

66 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT Mike Burks, Managing Director, The Gardens Group

F

ebruary can be a month of optimism but if the weather is against us, it can also be a little frustrating in the garden. It’s the shortest month of course and soon will be over but to keep the gardening juices flowing, and for a little treat, there are some wonderful plants to keep your spirits raised.

I associate the scent of primroses with my mum as she used to grow crops of them in polytunnels when I was growing up. There are an extraordinary rainbow of colours, and they bring hope to the borders in the garden or to pots. In wilder areas in the garden the ordinary primrose is a delight with its purity popping up in places that you’d forgotten about.

The cowslip is also fabulous – it became rare in the 70s and 80s as it’s a victim of indiscriminate use of nitrogen fertilisers which fed the plants around it, whereas cowslips are able to thrive in the poorest of soils.

This meant that it was also a difficult plant for nurseries to grow in pots but in recent years the skills have been acquired and we have some wonderful plants available.

Winter pansies and violas too start to come back in force as the days lengthen, sunlight increases and yields a bit of warmth which accelerates their flowering. After a long winter they may benefit from a foliar feed of seaweed fertiliser which will give them a boost. There are some wonderful varieties now including the pansy/ viola cross known as panolas. These have the hardiness of the viola but flower for longer and are even more reliable than their parents.

A traditional early spring bedding plant is the cultivated daisy Bellis perennis. These were a forgotten plant and out of fashion, but some useful breeding work has brought them back. I love the variety Bam Bam, which is a great name and perfectly describes the sophisticated Flintstone impact that the plants have when in flower! They have large, double flowers, a naturally compact habit, and short, robust stems.

Forget Me Nots too have been forgotten… hmm, but again the blue is very cheery and a hopeful colour.

They tend to get used in tubs for winter and early

spring colour where they hang over the sides and burst into flower just when you aren’t expecting it.

I answered a phone call a year or so ago asking if we had the ‘unusual plant called Aubretia’. We did, of course, and the call was from a new gardener who was blown away by the display of Aubretia and it just reminded me that some ‘ordinary’ plants are quite exceptional and should be spoken about rather than just taken for granted. They creep up on us because there is nothing to see, really, in the winter and then suddenly, a blaze of colour in blues, pinks and purples pop out of stone walls and rockeries. They are very useful in tubs too, as are Arabis with the white a very pleasing and useful addition to any display.

Spring flowering bulbs will be popping up soon especially the early varieties of daffodils and Narcissi.

Of course, this happens earlier and earlier probably due to climate change, but they are reliable and look perfect when all around maybe still a bit untidy. As bulbs they are available in the late summer and autumn for planting, but we do have them as plants (in the green) already growing and often with buds and flower too for an instant boost. I’m a fan of the dwarf iris especially the blue varieties which are a joy.

And then some permanent extra interest can be found with a number of superb hellebores particularly the orientalis types also known as the Lenten rose.

The range of colours found in these plants now is quite superb with pinks, purples, whites and (almost) black and there are a number of doubles too including the Credale strain. There are also varieties including ‘Ice and Roses’ collection which have very interesting foliage on which the flowers are offset.

Gardening is good for our physical and our mental health and so even if the weather stops too much physical work in the garden, getting out there to just admire the early spring flowers will give you a shot in the arm – and without having to queue! thegardensgroup.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 67

Gardening

FERNS

Simon Ford, Land and Nature Adviser and Gardener

W

riting this article on a cold, wet day with the rain beating down and the countryside looking a little grey and bleak, one group of plants in particular stand out. These are the ferns, which still have vivid green fronds, piercing the sad looking banks of the ancient hollow-ways and woods around Sherborne.

Ferns are one of the most ancient group of plants and are relatively commonly found in the fossil records of rocks dating from as far back as the Jurassic period.

In Britain, ferns range in size from a few centimetres to over two metres in height and are surprisingly variable in shape.

The majority of ferns like damp, shady conditions, although some have adapted to much drier and exposed sites. They are unusual in not producing flowers or fruit, but instead reproducing by spores.

Probably the most ubiquitous Pteridophyte is bracken, which can be problematic in some circumstances, such as on moorland and rough 68 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

grassland, where it can smother other grasses and plants and can be toxic to stock. My archaeologist colleagues also take against bracken as it hides earthworks and historic features if left unmanaged.

However, some rare butterflies, such as the fritillaries lay their eggs on violets, which favour the shade of bracken. Another favourite, bluebell, has a symbiotic relationship with bracken, which creates the damp shade that it likes. When I worked in North Cornwall, cliff tops were cloaked in dramatic blue in April, before the bracken fronds unfurled in May, and I have seen similar results in West Dorset.

Walking around Sherborne, it is easy to ignore two rather lovely ferns, which live in the soft lime mortar of ancient stone walls and on garden boundaries.

Maidenhair spleenwort, with its tiny clusters or leaves and black stems is one and the other is the aptly named rusty-back fern, with rufous hairs cloaking the back of them. They do no damage and make a stark stone wall look much softer. These ferns can tolerate exposure to

Romija/Shutterstock

baking sun and drying winds – despite looking brown, crisp and frazzled in the summer, they quickly appear to come back to life after some rain.

For real diversity, the best places to visit are woodlands and shady quarries and cuttings or stream banks.

Although many native wildflowers do not like conifer woodlands, ferns can tolerate the shady conditions and acidic needles and are often one of the few plants (along with mosses and fungi), which grow here.

In the wetter west of Britain, including Devon and Cornwall, Wales, Ireland and western Scotland, our woodlands can rightly be described as ‘temperate rainforests’. The ferns in particular love the cool, humid climate and can look every bit as impressive as more exotic rainforests in the world.

Some of the most beautiful ferns in my opinion are the scaly male ferns and the shield ferns, with their metre-long ‘shuttlecocks’, growing off steep banks. As they begin to unfurl in the spring, the fronds are known as ‘fiddles’, due to their similarity

to the head of a violin. These can look as beautiful in a garden situation as in the wild and we have created a little fernery in our garden in Sherborne, using a mix of native species in a shady spot beside a stone wall.

Very common, but perhaps less architectural, is broadbuckler fern, growing on the floor of the woodland.

With its dark green glossy leaves, the hart’s tongue fern is one of the most characteristic ferns in the woods and roadsides and there are various non-native Asplenium cousins, planted in shady spots in our gardens.

Some ferns are epiphytic (they use trees to grow on).

This includes the Polypody which roots into moss on branches of old oak trees, on fallen trunks and on old stone walls, just as you would expect in a rainforest.

The Victorians particularly loved ferns. (Remember the non-native Aspidistras, so popular in our grandparents houses?!) They also plundered many of our native ferns from the wild. Probably the most spectacular British fern is the well named royal fern, which can grow two or even three metres high and is a staple of stately home gardens around ponds, such as Minterne and Stourhead gardens. This can still occasionally be found in the wild, for instance on Dartmoor, Exmoor and Purbeck, but does get badly nibbled by deer.

Some years ago, I worked for the Australian National Park Service in Victoria and saw tree ferns growing up to four metres in height in deep, shady gullies. It is thought that sailors used their trunks as ballast, when returning home. These then re-sprouted and became one of the ‘must-have’ plants in Cornish gardens such as Trebah, Trengwainton and Heligan.

Concerns over exploitation of these antipodean beauties has meant that they must now have their own passport before being sold in our garden centres.

One of the rarest ferns that can occasionally be found in unimproved damp grassland such as at Golden Cap, is the adder’s tongue fern. This doesn’t look like a fern at all and is only a couple of centimetres tall, requiring a sharp eye to see, but is very exciting to find.

There are quite a few other ferns to look out for in our local woods and stream sides, such as lady fern, hard fern, wall rue. They are generally visible throughout the year, unlike most flowering plants, and despite all being various shades of green, I think they are rather attractive.

Have a wander along our local footpaths and byways and see how many different ferns you can find. simonfordgardening.wordpress.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 69

MATEO ZIELONKA: THE PASTA MAN Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

I

t is a wet and foggy morning as I drive to meet Mateo Zielonka, accompanied by a torrid 40-mile-an-hour wind and horizontal rain now so commonplace in our Dorset winters that I won’t dwell on it. On arrival, the sanctity and calm of Mateo’s newly renovated kitchen offers a warm, dry welcome. We are enveloped by the smooth lines that only Corian work surfaces can provide – a surface well-suited to the work of Dorset’s very own Pasta Man. During ‘Lockdown I’ many of us found sanctuary in our kitchens – a place to occupy our minds, hands and simply pass the time. Food trends became crazes, fuelled by social media and our longing to connect with others. One such trend was handmade pasta. Its potential for experimenting with shape, colour, and flavour is endless, and the dexterous creativity proved addictive. Across the globe, hands were kneading and rolling in a joyful bid to achieve a garganelli, cappelletti, farfalle or pappardelle worthy of the ravenous ranks on Instagram. It was a strangely compelling movement and Matt, as he prefers to be called, was at its forefront. >

70 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 71

72 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Born in Poland, Matt’s first visit to England was at around the age of nine: ‘We came as a family for three months,’ he recalls. ‘I didn’t speak any English and we stayed in Plaistow, East London. It was such a good experience to see how different England is to Poland, how multicultural it is by comparison, and I loved it so much that I knew I wanted to come back.’ Roughly 10 years later, Matt’s best friend Micky was working in the UK. ‘He messaged me and suggested I come and visit.’ Matt arrived with nothing more than a backpack, a few clothes and no idea that he wouldn’t be returning to Poland. ‘I ended up getting a job with my friend at Mishkin’s (a Jewish deli in Covent Garden) as a kitchen porter. I spoke no English – we learn German in Poland – so I started to learn English by picking up the utensils and asking the cooks to name them. But gradually I began to help more in the kitchen and soon became a commis chef.’

Nine years ago, restaurant kitchens were still weighed down in machismo. ‘It was stressful and exhausting,’ says Matt. ‘I used to work an 80-hour week – it was so busy, you’d have no private life, it was long hours for minimum wage – but I enjoyed the adrenaline rush and the sense of teamwork.’

Today, Matt has been showing us how he makes a simple pasta dough – pouring the flour onto the kitchen counter, making a well for the eggs then slowly whisking them into the flour. It’s a perfect marriage of two humble ingredients. When the pasta is made it is wrapped and placed in the fridge to rest so we take a moment to drink coffee and chat. He is looking forward to seeing the new film – Boiling Point – starring Stephen Graham as the overwrought head chef of a restaurant in meltdown. The film is shot in a long, single take, heightening its pressure cooker tension. ‘It’s going to be stressful just watching it,’ he says. Elizabeth his partner joins us. She works from home as a freelance cook-book editor and gets to eat a great deal of pasta.

‘Making dough creates a mental space – feeling the dough in your hands is very therapeutic,’ explains Matt. Dorset, it seems, has had a similar effect. ‘It’s such a great part of the world,’ he muses. ‘The sea, lots of beautiful walks and lovely people.’ I would imagine it is the perfect antidote to the frenetic pace of a professional kitchen, but when did he make the switch to pasta? ‘Well, I first learned about Italian cooking when I worked at Polpetto with Florence Knight. It was there that I learned about the ingredients and > sherbornetimes.co.uk | 73

74 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 75

flavours in Italian food. Inspired by this, I then took a job at Padella, one of the best-known pasta restaurants in London where the pasta is freshly made and served as small tasting plates.’ (There is a branch very close to Waterloo so if you are making that journey it is worth a visit – just be prepared to queue.) Matt didn’t stay in the job for long, but he was hooked on pasta.

Inspired, he bought himself a pasta machine and began experimenting.

‘I met Elizabeth six years ago and she is a vegetarian,’ continues Matt. ‘That changed my way of cooking. I became a more creative cook because for a vegetarian you need to use more spices and herbs and experiment more with vegetables. It’s been a fantastic experience and for me much healthier. When it comes to pasta, it’s such a simple thing – you only need flour and eggs or semolina and water if you are vegan. It can take a bit of practice at first but it’s totally worth it as 76 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

everyone likes eating homemade pasta.’

The simplicity and relative affordability of the ingredients makes it easier to seek out the best.

‘Ideally you will track down Italian 00 flour, available in any supermarket, and also look out for rich-yolk eggs which will make your pasta lovely and golden.’

Living in Dorset he relishes the opportunity to source locally as well as further afield in the west. For flour Matt uses Molino Pasini ‘00’ Pasta Fresca Flour and Molino Pasini Semolina, both stocked at Mercato Italiano in Bridport who also deliver across Dorset for a small charge. It is worth asking too at Ingredients, the deli towards the bottom of Cheap Street. Matt’s eggs are from the hens at St Ewe Eggs in Cornwall where they are fed a diet supplemented with marigold petals to encourage the golden yolks. (Note to self: grow more marigolds.) For herbs and salads he goes to Tamarisk Farm in West Bexington but I know Steve at

Sherborne Market Store carries similar.

‘Really though,’ says Matt, ‘I like simple things, such as a tomato sauce with half a burrata on top.’

What has continued to draw such a huge following to his posts on Instagram and YouTube is Matt’s spectacular use of colour and shape. ‘It’s not very complicated,’ says Matt, ‘for example if you have two beetroot in the fridge you can make purple pasta or use leftover spinach for green – it prevents wasting vegetables and kids love it.’ Matt’s dough has now rested long enough and he heads back to the counter to continue. It is inspiring to realise just how little you need to make good pasta – a few tools, simple ingredients and patience. There’s nothing extravagant about it – it’s just good honest food.

For now, Matt splits his time between Dorset and his job as head-chef at 180 The Strand for The Store X – a collaborative studio and arts space – just

another hop and a skip from Waterloo incidentally and another place worth a visit. There he cooks lunch for around 200 diners on a daily basis and there are usually two pasta dishes on the menu. Matt’s plan is to be in Dorset full-time, sharing his pasta-making skills and drawing on the inspiration of our local produce. In the meantime, treat yourself to a basic pasta machine, pick up a few ingredients from your deli and try this simple fresh egg pasta recipe. The low-carb diet can wait for another year… @mateo.zielonka The Pasta Man: The Art of Making Spectacular Pasta (Quadrille), £15 (hardcover), is available from Winstone’s Books at a Sherborne Times reader offer price of £14. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 77

SIMPLE DOUGH RECIPE FOR FRESH EGG PASTA Ingredients

260g Italian 00 flour, plus more for dusting 2 whole eggs + 3 egg yolks Method

1

2

3

4

5

6

Tip the flour onto a clean worktop or board, make a well in the centre and crack the 2 whole eggs into the middle of it, then add the 3 egg yolks.

Break the egg yolks and start to whisk them, slowly incorporating the flour as you go. When everything starts to come together, use your hands to knead the dough and continue to work it for around 10 minutes.

If your dough is too moist, dust it with some extra 00 flour. If it feels too dry and crumbly, wet your hands under the kitchen tap and continue to knead.

After 10 minutes your dough should be smooth and pliable. Cover the dough with an upturned bowl and leave it to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Take a quarter piece of your pasta dough (leave the rest covered until you’re ready to use it) and start rolling the dough twice through each setting on your pasta machine, starting at 0 and finishing on setting no 7. Rolling twice each time gives you a better, more pliable texture. Now cut the sheets into 25cm lengths – or whatever length you fancy.

Attach the pasta cutter to your machine and guide the sheets through it on the tagliatelle or tagliarini cutter. Fold the cut pasta into loose nests on a tray dusted with a generous amount of semolina. If you’re cutting the pasta more than an hour ahead of cooking, cover the whole tray with clingfilm to keep it airtight, otherwise it will start to dry out.

To boil the pasta, bring a large pot of water to the boil, season generously with plenty of salt, and drop the pasta into the water and boil for 1-2 minutes.

Depending on what sauce you are serving it with, it’s always a good idea to reserve some of the pasta cooking water to loosen your sauce to make it sure it covers every strand of pasta. Buon appetito!

78 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Image: India Hobson sherbornetimes.co.uk | 79

elizabethwatsonillustration.com

FROM FIELD TO

TABLE

Order our homegrown Tamworth produce from the fields outside Sherborne - Buy Local!

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Lavender Cafe & Shop Open Every Saturday - Sunday 10am - 4pm

Enjoy our beautiful views, lavender field, garden and animals together with our homemade cakes, warming drinks, sausage rolls, scotch eggs and much more!

Please contact James and Charlotte | Tel 07802 443905 | info@thestorypig.co.uk The Story Pig, Lavender Keepers, Great Pitt Lane, Sandford Orcas, Sherborne DT9 4FG See more at www.thestorypig.co.uk 80 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

SPROUTING BROCCOLI VINAIGRETTE WITH PENNY BUN MUSHROOMS, BLACK OLIVES AND EGG MIMOSA Sasha Matkevich, The Green

Image: Clint Randall

T

his warm starter-salad is a timeless classic and is especially good when made with homegrown purple sprouting broccoli. Penny bun mushrooms go by many names. You might know them as ceps or porcini.

Ingredients: Serves 4

20/24 purple broccoli flower shoots 200ml red wine 800ml water 10 whole black peppercorns 4 sprigs fresh thyme 3 bay leaves 2 tsp Dijon mustard 2 tbsp cream 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 100ml extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp good black olives, chopped 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped 1/2 small shallot, finely chopped 1 large red radish, finely sliced 200g penny bun mushrooms, washed 1 tbsp small capers 3 organic free-range eggs, hard boiled Dorset sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Method:

1

Trim the broccoli and check that shoots are thoroughly clean.

2 Pour the red wine and water into a large pan and add the peppercorns, thyme, bay leaves and sea salt to taste. Put on a medium heat and bring to a gentle boil.

3 After three minutes add the broccoli shoots and reduce the heat slightly. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, or until tender.

4 Meanwhile, peel the hard boiled eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Finely chop the egg white and place in a large mixing bowl. Grate the yolks on the finest grater and set aside for later.

5 To make the vinaigrette – add the chopped shallot, mustard and cream into the bowl of chopped egg whites. Add salt, pepper and wine vinegar. Whisk together and slowly add olive oil in a thin but steady stream. Whisk constantly to emulsify. Add the chopped olives and parsley and set aside for five minutes to allow the flavours to develop.

6 As soon as the sprouting broccoli is cooked, remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

7 Lay the shoots neatly on top of each other on warm plates and spoon over half of the vinaigrette.

Scatter the penny buns, red radish, capers and egg yolks on top. Season with black pepper and Dorset sea salt flakes.

Drizzle over the last of the vinaigrette and serve. greenrestaurant.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 81

Food and Drink

Image: Steve Painter 82 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

ROCKPOOL SOUP WITH SQUID, CLAMS, MUSSELS, SEAWEED & SAMPHIRE

A

Mat Follas, Bramble Restaurant

wonderfully dramatic dish, and a great talking point at the table. This dish should be reminiscent of childhood holidays spent rock-pooling at the beach. Have fun with the presentation by including some shells and using dark crockery (as pictured) to mimic a rock-pool. Instead of squid, you could use razor clams or winkles, or a whole cooked crab claw.

I buy my seaweed for the restaurant from specialist suppliers but do forage for some at the seashore for yourself – all seaweed in the UK is edible, but some has the texture of a leather belt!

Smell and taste fresh seaweed, and choose from sites well away from boatyards and sources of possible pollution. My favourites locally are sea spaghetti and sea lettuce – both will work well in this dish.

Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Serves: 4

Method:

1

2

3

4

5 6

7

Ingredients:

60g dried seaweed 400g surf clams 800g mussels, cleaned and de-bearded 200ml white wine 2 large brown onions, peeled and finely diced 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced butter, for frying 50g fresh flat-leaf parsley 4 green chillies, thinly sliced 1 litre clear fish stock 1 tsp miso paste a pinch of sea salt flakes 4 small squid or 2 large squid, cleaned and sliced 200g fresh samphire

8 9 10

To rehydrate the dried seaweed, put it in a bowl of cold, salted water and set aside in the fridge for 2 hours. Trim off any thick or coarse pieces and discard.

Put the clams and mussels into a hot saucepan set over a medium heat, then add the white wine – cover and cook until they just open.

Strain the clams and mussels, reserving the liquor for later. Remove the clams from their shells. Put the clam meat and mussels to one side.

Put the onion and garlic in a frying pan set over a gentle heat with the butter. Fry until fragrant and translucent.

Add the parsley, chillies, stock, miso and reserved clam liquor, and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Season with salt, then strain to leave a clear, pale green liquor, or consommé.

Add the squid to a hot, dry frying pan set over a high heat. Cook for 30 seconds, turn over and cook for a further 30 seconds.

Add one-quarter of the consommé, the clams and mussels, then cover.

Dress your serving bowls with the seaweed and samphire, then add the squid, clams and mussels.

You can either add the hot consommé to the bowls and serve, or, for a more dramatic effect, put the consommé in small jugs and pour into the bowls at the table.

Recipe from Fish, by Mat Follas (Ryland Peters & Small) £19 (hardcover) is available from Winstone’s Books at a Sherborne Times reader offer price of £18. bramblerestaurant.com

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 83

Food and Drink

THE CAKE WHISPERER Val Stones

QUAIL SCOTCH EGGS

Image: Katharine Davies 84 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

M

y family love Scotch eggs – crispy, full of flavour and the great thing about them is that you can be creative with additions to the sausage meat surrounding the egg. Finely chopped chorizo, pancetta, as well as herbs and spices, can be added to ring the changes. This recipe can be made vegetarian by using dried vegetarian sausage mix which can be bought very easily. I use panko breadcrumbs as they are crisp and give the Scotch eggs a crunchy shell.

Makes 12 using quail eggs or 6 with hens’ eggs Preparation time: 22 - 28 minutes Cooking time: 10 - 13 minutes What you will need:

• A pan for boiling the eggs – add 2 teaspoons of vinegar and a teaspoon of salt to the water as this will stop the eggs from bleeding out if the shells crack.

• A bowl filled with water and ice cubes.

• 2 bowls deep enough to place in the beaten egg and the breadcrumbs.

• A deep frying pan or sturdy pan to allow 5cm of oil to be used for frying.

• Kitchen paper for the eggs once out of the frying pan.

• A slotted spoon for lowering and lifting the eggs from the pans • Baking tray to finish off baking the eggs.

Ingredients:

12 quail eggs, or 6 free-range eggs 500g good quality sausage meat 2 leaves finely chopped fresh sage 2 sprigs finely chopped fresh thyme 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 large free-range egg, beaten 125g panko breadcrumbs Cooking oil sufficient to come 5-6cm up the pan Salad greens for serving & a chutney of your choice (fig & apple works well) Method

1

Set the oven at 160C fan, 180C. Fill a pan with sufficient water to cover the eggs, bring the water to the boil and then lower the eggs into the pan – boil for 2 minutes for a soft yolk or 6 minutes for a firm set one. Lift the eggs out of the boiling water and place them in the iced water, swishing the water to cool the eggs quickly. When the eggs are cold

remove the shells and dry them in kitchen paper.

2 Place the sausage meat, sage, thyme, nutmeg and cinnamon in a bowl and combine well together.

3 Divide the sausage mixture into 12 equal balls (I weigh out 40g of mixture to create a ball – this ensures each egg is the same size when cooked).

4 With your thumb make an indent in the sausage meat ball and place an egg in the hole, gently enclose the egg in the meat and seal. Finally roll into an evenly shaped ball and repeat for all the eggs.

5 Dip each egg in the beaten egg allowing the excess to drain off, then roll in the breadcrumbs, ensuring each ball is completely covered in crumbs. Set aside.

6 Set the frying pan and oil on the hob and heat to 180C. If you haven’t got a cooking thermometer the oil is sufficiently hot enough when a cube of bread is dropped in the oil and becomes crisp and golden in 30 seconds.

7 Place 3-4 eggs in the oil and gently swish them around for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Lift out and place onto kitchen paper to drain.

8 When all the eggs are fried place them on a baking sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes. These can then be served immediately on their own or with the salad greens and chutney. bakerval.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 85

Food and Drink

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

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t’s dark, dark, dark - 6am on a Monday morning early into the new year. I’ve made a steaming coffee for both of us, lit the fire in the office, the radio quietly garbles away in the background. As the light pushes back the darkness and I can make out the shapes of the hills I pull my overalls on – they need washing again. In fact I need new ones – these hang with many holes and rips flapping open, a broken zip and generally an air of dishevelment that even I can see is coming to an end. Will they see the winter out though? Quite possibly. They are stiff with mud that takes a minute to feel normal as they are yanked on for another day. My wellies are nameless and the mud hides their shape – they are cold and damp and feel unpleasant at first, until my feet have become accustomed to the dampness.

86 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

I let Blue out – he bounces around excitedly as if we have been apart for days. We have our ritual; as long as I have my overalls on he can jump up and plant his paws on me. We have a hug and say hello. I load the Polaris, our trusty steed with bags of pig feed, glancing up at the sight glass on the feed bin - feed has gone up by nearly a third in the last year and it’s our biggest cost. There are four sight glasses at different heights, as the bin empties another glass goes clear. It makes my stomach flip slightly – we will have to order more feed.

It seems to go so quickly.

Then up the drive and into the first pig field, tap the four-wheel drive button and bump my way through the muddy ruts. Even with the engine noise as I approach the first group I can hear the pigs screaming

Image: Katharine Davies

in anticipation. They are waiting at the troughs where they know I will arrive, jostling, biting and pushing each other for the best spot. Now, I have to work fast - stop in the right spot, jump out, pour the first bag in along where the fewest pigs are standing, then back for the next bag. By now the whole group are trying to get to the first feed – they have no manners whatsoever and shove from behind, sometimes pushing the front pigs up in the air and forcing them towards the electric fence. Imagine a rugby scrum with no rules and you might have some picture of the mayhem. As the last bag is emptied, the noise stops as if by magic – they have spread out along the length of the troughs, and apart from some squabbling calm has returned.

I count each group as we go, check the water

troughs and make sure the electric fences are not shorting – they can be quite destructive, digging and pushing mud or straw up against the fences. Then it’s onto the smaller groups – mothers with piglets. We have so many new piglets on the farm – they tear around in a mob stealing their mothers’ food and testing the electric fences. We had varying litter sizes ranging from 6 up to 11 so fairly normal for our Tamworth’s. It’s always an exciting time waiting for them to farrow. I love it when there’s a big heap of piglets – generally if it’s hard to count them there must be quite a good litter. The mothers are ravenous and scream for their food. The piglets are either tiny and stay in their nests, cuddled up to each other in their straw beds, or, as they grow they start to come out with their mothers. Most of the time all is well but sometimes we will find a dead piglet, squashed by its mother – it’s always horrible but unfortunately it does happen. Once all are fed it’s back to the farm and breakfast for us – slightly quieter, calmer and with a few more manners. Pig feeding never changes, it’s a battle every day and definitely harder in the mud.

Outdoor pig farming for the next couple of months is pure drudgery. Short days and mud everywhere makes the simplest of tasks a logistical nightmare. Moving and loading pigs is the hardest – pig hurdles sink into the mud in seconds and big pigs fly around the pen sending smelly mud over anything in their way, usually me!

Pigs aside, I have finally got our polytunnel empty of building materials and finished. I have just to build some staging and then start sowing seeds – I can’t wait.

I need to get some lights strung up and it can be my new happy place. By the time spring comes it should be brimming with new life and plants for you all to buy. Ever since we made our garden we had a problem with standing water on the paths and in the beds, and after two years of umm-ing and ahh-ing we hired a mini digger and put in drainage pipes over the slope to the lavenders. Instant results – no more standing water in the garden.

So, farming carries on whether the cafe is open or not – the wheels still turn and it still rains. Today I saw the first bulbs poking their tips through the wet soil – I love watching out for the first signs of hope.

Admittedly you have to look quite hard at this time of year but the days are already getting a bit longer. Let’s all look forward to next month! thestorypig.co.uk @thestorypig sherbornetimes.co.uk | 87

Food and Drink

ARGENTINA AND URUGUAY David Copp

B

oth wine regions of these countries have developed rapidly over the last 20 years.

Argentina is by far the most interesting, but Uruguay should not be forgotten.

In two decades, Argentina has advanced its reputation for producing very fine wines. I first took notice when celebrated oenologists such as Michel Rolland and Paul Hobbs began to invest their money, time and energy there and reputable journalists such as Tim Atkin MW enthusiastically described what they and others were doing to produce world-class wines. The net result has been the production of some very fine, precise, terroir88 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

driven wines that hold their own in any wine competition.

The top end of the market has been dominated by Catena, Luigi Bosca, Susan Balbo and Zuccardi, but there are many others on their way to join them.

What lies behind their astonishing rise in the world of fine wine? I believe the main factors are superb soils, almost perfect growing conditions and gifted winemakers who sought and found the best advice.

What I particularly like is the freshness and vigour of Argentinian wines. They have a distinctive character which comes from their soils which are well suited for Malbec, but also other varieties which are made with

Alexandr Vlassyuk/Shutterstock

precision and definition, just like the great Clarets and Burgundies.

Ten years on the best wines are more subtle than they were ten years ago: there is less alcohol, extraction is lighter, there is greater balance and subtlety. Research, development, experimentation and hard work has been rewarded handsomely. I think this has been helped by Argentinian winemakers getting out around the world and learning from the more established growers not only in France, Italy and Spain but also Australia and South Africa. Sometimes I am asked if they keep well. They are so well made I

would put my life on them lasting as long as most other great wines from around the world.

When I think of Argentina I think mainly red but their white wines will perhaps surprise those of you that have not already tried them. Torrontés is my own favourite particularly when grown at altitude because the diurnal temperature difference increases fruit flavour and zest. Although Torrontés is Argentina’s signature white wine, they also produce outstanding Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.

I last visited Uruguay about 15 years ago but follow the progress of their wines with great interest. Most of the winemakers I met were descended from French, Spanish and Italian winemakers with winemaking in their blood. Most of them came to Uruguay in the 1850-1900 period bringing cuttings of their native grapes with them including Tannat, a popular variety in southwest France and northern Spain. It settled easily in Uruguay’s soils because the soil and climatic conditions were similar to those of southwest France: Tannat likes a long growing season which allows grapes to get fully ripe. Tannat is now the recognised signature grape of Uruguay, just as Malbec is in Argentina, Cabernet Sauvignon in the Medoc and Coonawarra, Pinot Noir of Burgundy and Oregon, and Shiraz on the banks of the Rhone and in Australia’s Barossa Valley.

The leading Uruguayan producers have refined their wines considerably. When I bought the 2000 vintage, I was recommended to keep the wine for at least 12 to 15 years. It was already a robust wine when I first tasted it: pronounced black fruit flavours, tannic, and happy to be in wood. If I remember correctly, it was quite influenced by the wood. At a tasting of more recent vintages, I found them still robust but rather more elegant and refined. Growers such as Bouza, Carrao, de Lucca, Toscanini, Pisano, and Pizzorno produce very fine wines which show at their best with roasted meats. They have a complex aroma, and an intensity which develops in the glass. I would advise serving in a large glass only a quarter filled.

When I visited Uruguay there were three million people and nine million cows, and we had beautiful beef steaks for breakfast and dinner every single day. I have never found anything better to go with Tannat. But they also make some fine Cabernets and I warmed to these open-faced, earnest and hard-working winemakers who are all football mad.

In case you had forgotten they were the very first winners of the World Cup in 1930. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 89

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Animal Care

A LIFE WELL-LOVED Mark Newton-Clarke MAVetMB PhD MRCVS, Newton Clarke Veterinary Surgeon

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92 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

B

oom, it’s February and if winter is leaving us alone, signs of new life should be returning. I think we all look forward to the next couple of months as light gradually gains ascendency over dark. Photoperiod has a visceral influence on almost all life on this planet – the return of the sun central to survival for so many. Not surprising then that at sunrise on the ‘shortest’ day of the year (which was spectacular) record numbers of people gathered at Stonehenge to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Perhaps the size of the crowd that assembled was a sign that we are starting to re-learn the connection between ourselves and the natural world and hopefully, a greater appreciation of it.

The rhythm of the seasons signposts my year, reminding me of the cyclical nature of life. But life also has a linearity – time in the dimension most of us inhabit going in only one direction.

Good and bad this, as nobody wants to live in Groundhog Day but then again, we don’t want to get any older! But we do and so do our pets, at a rate 5 or 6 times faster than ourselves. Of course there is so much pleasure watching a kitten or a puppy grow up but I think most of us prefer the middle phase of their lives. This seems to go on forever as spared many of the human signs of ageing, it’s easy not to notice the effect of the years on our animal family members. So it was with Trilby, my beloved Border Terrier, who came to me 16 years ago in part-exchange for an unpaid bill. I never received the balance of the debt but Trilby made up for it by being the best dog and having the best life. Should I be sad? Of course I miss him but I am mostly happy for all the memories I have and the fact that he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

Now, when I say that, I mean a sedative-induced sleep and then an intravenous injection of an anaesthetic called a barbiturate. We were at home, in familiar surroundings and Trilby was totally unaware that his life was about to end. As vets, we work hard to engineer exactly this situation to minimise stress for the patient and grief for the owner. This is a difficult subject for everyone who loves their animals, but my aim is to reassure, as for many owners, the process is as daunting as the loss. It’s very important that we make the process as caring as possible so the loss is easier to bear.

Now, I mention this as I want to put a positive slant on the sadness of losing an animal companion. I remind bereaved owners that our pets are the most privileged creatures ever to have walked this Earth, having a far better standard of life than 90% of the world’s human population. We can also offer them a peaceful and pain-free exit from life when the time comes – a responsibility that falls on every owner. I have always wondered if animals can rationalise the privations of old age, as humans mostly can. If not, it must be very confusing being in a body that cannot perform the antics of youth and have a mind that’s unable to understand why.

I can relate to that!

So, I have celebrated the life of my lovely Trilby rather than mourned his passing. He was ready to go and I was happy to help him on his way. The loss of a pet is an important milestone in our own lives, reminding us of our own mortality and the importance of living a good life for the time we have. And how time flies as next month the Druids will be back at Stonehenge to celebrate the Spring Equinox and new life will be ready to burst. Can’t wait. newtonclarkevet.com

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Animal Care

GOOD SHEPHERDS Lucy Hepworth (BVSc MRCVS), Friars Moor Vets

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hilst we can be called to a lambing at any time of year with a high proportion of Polled Dorset flocks (a unique breed for lambing all year), our main lambing season is just around the corner.

One of the most rewarding days of the lambing season is the ‘lambing course’. I ran the first of these courses back in 2008 and they have been an annual practice event ever since; with a constant supply of enthusiastic people wanting to learn more about lambing their own small flocks or to be trained to work as shepherds for commercial flocks.

We have been lucky to run our courses over the last few years on a farm in Gillingham during their lambing time. Participants learn how to feed and vaccinate their ewes for optimal preparation. Using a homemade lambing simulator, we teach people how to deliver lambs and how to correct malpresentations, such as a lamb coming with a leg or head back.

Occasionally, ewes on the farm choose to lamb during the course which is always met with delight!

Participants are always especially keen to learn when to let nature take its course and when to intervene.

Our veterinary technician Steve Place, who has his own small flock of sheep, expertly teaches participants how to stomach-tube lambs, how to tail and castrate, how to inject lambs and use ear tags. We use dead lambs as a valuable teaching aid and there is usually the chance to practice these new skills on some of the recently born Polled Dorset lambs on the farm. There is always a good atmosphere amongst participants sharing their range of experience.

The success of lambing is the culmination of good shepherding throughout the year. For all our sheep clients we use flock health plans to make bespoke calendars detailing vaccinations, parasite monitoring and management tasks. Lamb health gets off to a good start if the ewes have plentiful good quality colostrum; this is determined by the body condition 94 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Goodluz/Shutterstock

of the ewes and protein intake in late pregnancy.

Lambs are completely dependent on antibodies in colostrum for immunity in the first few weeks of life. We would always advise a flock to use a clostridial vaccine in the ewes pre-lambing to boost antibodies in colostrum. A useful intervention three to four weeks before the start of lambing is for us to visit a flock to check protein and energy status of a sample of ewes to assess whether diet is adequate.

Most flocks prefer a tight lambing period to minimise the age spread of lambs which is good for disease control, as well as maximising growth rates ahead of weaning. A tight block will allow better observation of the ewes which reduces avoidable

losses. Flocks can achieve this by using a teaser ram (vasectomised) a fortnight ahead of tupping so that all ewes are cycling well for the fertile tups, as well as having the ewes in the appropriate body condition after recovery post-weaning.

The importance of weather in the success of lambing is clear. Lambs are vulnerable to hypothermia. When grass growth and quality are optimal, farms can spend less on purchased feed for the milking ewe, increasing overall profitability. Ewes rearing twins have high nutritional demands. It is crucial that she gets enough feed to maintain her milk yield, otherwise her lambs’ growth and health are compromised, and she is susceptible to mastitis.

The overall aim for the commercial ewe is to rear her body weight in lambs by 100 days. Last year we had a cold wet May which impacted many ewes at peak production so let us hope for good grass growth in spring 2022 so that our ewes are well placed to maximise rearing their lambs off grass. friarsmoorvets.co.uk

___________________________________________ Wednesday 16th and 23rd February 10am-4pm 2022 Practical Lambing Courses £100 including VAT. For further details, please contact the farm office on 01258 472314. Places are limited.

___________________________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 95

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elizabethwatsonillustration.com 98 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

TRANSFORMATION

Respecting the past, embracing the future In the 231 years since we were established, The Abbey Pharmacy has seen many changes in our society. We continue to evolve and are now, more than ever, committed to meeting the changing needs of our customers.

Our vision for the transformation of The Abbey Pharmacy invests not only in the health of our community but also our high street – we need your support in making this a reality.

To find out more about our exciting plans and to register your support, please visit www.theabbeypharmacytransformation.com

Established 1790

Body & Mind

THE NEXT CHAPTER

Mike Hewitson MPharm FFRPS FRSPH IP MRPharmS, Pharmicist, The Abbey Pharmacy

A

s always, January’s been a strange month in the pharmacy; on the one hand it can be incredibly busy, particularly for people wanting to give up smoking, but on the other its best feature is universally regarded as it not being December! As regular readers will know we are about to begin a new chapter in the 232 year history of The Abbey Pharmacy with an exciting project to transform it and make it into an even more indispensable asset for Sherborne and its environs. Since I bought the business in 2014, we have been hampered by the lack of an accessible consultation room. Try as we might we couldn’t make a useable space anywhere on our current footprint, which was deeply concerning as the NHS increasingly wants to see patients accessing faceto-face clinical services through community pharmacies like ours. In fact, they have said that they will move our funding towards clinical service and away from dispensing which has been the core of our NHS income for decades. We were faced with a clear choice: find a way to incorporate a better consultation room or face an uncertain future. But where? How? For years I have battled this conundrum, but it was 100 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

only when I was walking past the empty dress shop next door that I began to ask myself what if…? And so began what I thought was a crazy pipe dream. Waiting for someone to say no; firstly the landlord, then the builder, then the planners – my idea to expand the business during what has been a disastrous time for town centres everywhere began to take shape. With the help of award-winning designers Black Circle we began to write the future of The Abbey Pharmacy. We began by listening to what our customers and patients thought of us (good and bad), and what they wanted, which was more access to the pharmacist and to a wider range of healthcare services, which was exactly what we wanted to give them! When I saw the first draft of the designs I knew that we had to do this.

It would have been easy to give up after nearly a year of battling Dorset Council’s planning system, but we’ve now received permission to move forward with the majority of our plans. Sadly, we had to concede our 24/7 prescription collection machine for now, as the planners have not sought to understand how public behaviours and expectations are changing in a digital age. That said,

Image: Katharine Davies

we’re happy to be able to proceed with the bulk of the works. In particular, I am looking forward to having two new high-spec consultation rooms, enabling us to offer a huge new range of services.

You don’t need me to tell you that demand for healthcare has never been greater than during the pandemic. What has shifted hugely is public expectation on what they want from healthcare – it needs to make people not only healthier, but feel better.

We want to change your expectations of what to expect from a pharmacy, and from any other healthcare setting really. The physical change to our premises is only one part of this transformation – we’re also looking at how we can use technology to make it easier for patients and the public to interact with us, as well as helping our team to develop new skills which will help to keep you in the best of hands as we move forwards. This might sound quite grandiose, but I truly believe we can deliver one of the best pharmacy experiences in the country. Don’t believe me?

We want everyone to be a part of our story and would like to actively invite the whole community to support us.

We’re an independent, family-owned business and

we’re in this for the long haul. We’ve listened and acted upon your ideas, thoughts and concerns as we’ve been planning our changes and will continue to do so as we move forward. If there is something you think we should be offering drop us a line: pharmacy.fl223@nhs. net. While there is probably a lot of comfort in being part of a huge chain, we have seen during the pandemic that the ability to be flexible and adapt to changes has been vital, and our team has delivered more than 14,000 COVID vaccinations across West Dorset and South Somerset since October. We’ve lead a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and this has been an exceptionally positive experience which we hope to replicate. This has given us more confidence to think big and be bold with our vision for the future.

While there will no doubt be a few bumps on the last few months of the journey, my team and I are incredibly excited to open the next chapter for The Abbey Pharmacy. You can register for project updates on our website theabbeypharmacytransformation.com. theabbeypharmacy.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 101

Body and Mind

THE LGBTQI+ COMMUNITY AND MENTAL HEALTH Lucy Lewis, Assistant Psychologist and Dorset Mind Ambassador

A

nyone can experience a mental health problem.

But those of us who identify as LGBTQI+ are more likely to develop issues such as low selfesteem, depression, social anxiety, eating problems and misuse of drugs and alcohol. They are also more likely to develop suicidal feelings as they battle isolation and difficult experiences coming out to society.

February is LGBTQI+ History Month, where the nation comes together to focus on celebrating and raising awareness of LGBTQI+ history and the many accomplishments of people from the LGBTQI+ community.

But, it’s important to recognise that the fight for equality and respect is far from over. Many LGBTQI+ persons still experience hate crime, stigma and discrimination from prejudiced people today. Simply for 102 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

being who they are and loving who they do.

Sadly, the mental health profession has contributed to this stigma through the pathologisation of people who are not heterosexual or cisgender (someone whose gender identity is the same as their sex assigned at birth).

To understand the issues this community faces, here’s a closer look at the history of mental health professionals versus the LGBTQI+ community.

Pathologisation

Until 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) classed homosexuality as a mental illness in its manual, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). It’s still used to diagnose mental disorders today.

The first edition of the DSM characterised

effects of the pathologisation of homosexuality are still present in society today.

The Present

Unfortunately, the fight towards equality is not complete.

You might have heard of the phrase ‘conversion therapies’ recently in the news. According to NHS England, conversion therapy - sometimes called ‘reparative therapy’ or ‘gay cure therapy’– tries to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The NHS and other professional bodies had deemed all forms of conversion therapy ‘unethical and potentially harmful’.

And yet, it still takes place today. Despite acknowledging the potentially devastating traumatic effects of these ‘therapies’, the APA still have not banned their use.

Research by Stonewall Charity indicates that people from the LGBTQI+ community still experience discrimination in healthcare settings. About 14% of those surveyed avoid seeking healthcare due to fear of discrimination from staff.

Evidence like this confirms that healthcare still has a long way to go to ensure that LGBTQI+ persons can experience the same level of care and respect as everyone else. And particularly in the realm of mental health.

Dorset Mind

Martin-DM/iStock

homosexuality as a ‘sociopathic personality disorder’.

This perspective of homosexuality provided by an influential authority in mental health validated the prejudice of the ignorant and hateful. It gave businesses and the government excuses to discriminate against and repress LGBTQI+ persons.

It is unclear if this pathologisation was simply a symptom of pre-existing prejudice, but regardless, it contributed to the suffering of the LGBTQI+ community. The classification provided medical support for abusive treatments, such as electroshock therapy and lobotomies to ‘treat’ homosexuality.

Fortunately, thanks to the tireless work of remarkable LGBTQI+ activists such as Barbara Gittings, the APA voted to remove homosexuality from the second edition of the DSM. However, the

At Dorset Mind, the charity believes that everyone in Dorset deserves support and respect.

They run a safe, online confidential and accepting space for LGBTQI+ people experiencing mental health issues. The group is called MindOut and it’s delivered pan-Dorset every other week online. It comprises recovery-based peer and guided support. Each session involves a guided relaxation or mindfulness exercise, time to share experiences and concerns, followed by discussion workshops based on group members’ requests that cover a diverse range of topics.

Visit the charity’s website at dorsetmind.uk for more information.

If you find yourself in a crisis, call 999 or the Samaritans FREE on 116 123. If you need emotional support – it’s available 24/7. Alternately, Dorset Connection helpline is also 24/7 and can help FREE on 0800 652 0190 or by dialling 111 and selecting mental health.

For additional non-urgent mental health resources, support, and information, visit dorsetmind.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 103

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Body and Mind

NAVIGATING THE MENOPAUSE

NOURISH

Julia Witherspoon, Nutritional Therapist

I

mentioned briefly last month the four-step system I have developed for managing the menopause mayhem. One of these steps is ‘nourish’ – ensuring we are eating a nutritious wholefoods diet and are well hydrated at all times. And this of course doesn’t just apply to perimenopausal women!

What we eat during menopause transition and beyond really matters, as the hormonal changes taking place at this time of our lives can detrimentally affect mood, cardiovascular health, bone health, brain health and weight long-term. I have already spoken about the importance of blood sugar regulation in preventing chaotic spikes and plunges in blood glucose levels, which exacerbate hormonal imbalances as well as encouraging weight gain. But what else can women struggling with any number of exhausting perimenopause symptoms do in terms of nutrition to mitigate the hormone havoc and future-proof their health as far as is possible?

A great diet to use as a baseline is the Mediterranean diet. This is a pretty well-known diet and is centred around vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruits, wholegrains, legumes, fish and unsaturated fats like olive oil (extra virgin please!) with less focus on meat and dairy and minimal processed foods, sugar and salt. From this starting point, aim for at least 5 portions of fruit and veg per day (nearer 8-10 would be great) and a couple of portions of oily fish per week for those really important Omega 3 essential fatty acids.

Please do not fear the fat! We have been conditioned to think that fat is bad and for over 40 years fat has been blamed for causing obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol and more. Unfortunately, following low-fat diets hasn’t resulted in people controlling their weight or becoming healthier – in fact, the opposite is true. Minimising our intake of some types of fat (like those chemically-altered industrial vegetable oils found in most processed foods) absolutely reduces our risk of several chronic illnesses, but 106 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

eating healthy fats like those found in nuts, seeds, olive oil, eggs, avocado and oily fish are absolutely essential for our health and well-being.

Foods containing phytoestrogens have been shown to be helpful for some women experiencing severe perimenopause symptoms and frequent hot flushes. Phytoestrogens are a group of plant-derived chemicals, molecularly similar to the oestrogen produced in the body. Because they are so similar, they can bind to oestrogen receptors on cells. This can be helpful when oestrogen levels start declining and the receptors are not getting the oestrogen ‘hit’ they are used to and start playing up, causing symptoms. Phytoestrogens are found in flaxseeds, sesame seeds, miso, tempeh, chickpeas, soy beans and edamame beans (avoid GMO soy), tofu, oats, garlic and peaches. If consumed regularly, these foods may be helpful for reducing severity of symptoms.

Eating foods that benefit our good gut bacteria is also important for whole-body health as well as positively supporting perimenopause health, including in relation to the psychological symptoms many women (including myself ) can experience during this time. Serotonin is our happy hormone and almost all the serotonin in our body is

Image: Barbara Leatham

synthesised by our gut bacteria. Research has shown that having a healthy gut can also improve energy levels, and support immune system health and weight management. Our gut bugs love lots of fibre (from wholegrains, veg and fruit) as well as probiotic and prebiotic foods. Probiotic foods contain live good bacteria and include live yoghurt, kefir, kombucha, unpasteurised sauerkraut and kimchi. Prebiotic foods feed and stimulate the growth of our good bacteria and include onions, leeks, garlic, chicory, asparagus, beetroot, blueberries, apples and ginger.

Carbohydrates (which includes sugar) have been given a bit of a battering in recent years as people have become more knowledgeable about their involvement in chronic disease and the obesity crisis in this country.

However, carbs are not all bad and are a vital part of our diet, perimenopause or not, but what is key is to avoid refined ‘beige’ carbs like white bread, white rice, white pasta, pizza etc, as these are the culprits that cause the huge blood sugar dysregulation I’ve mentioned.

Switching to low glycaemic index (GI) carbs will help stabilise blood sugars, which in turn will better support hormone balance during perimenopause. Think wholegrains, legumes, sweet potatoes and other low GI vegetables and salads.

As a woman’s bone density starts to weaken post 40, getting enough calcium and vitamin D is really important. Calcium is needed for bone and muscle strength and vitamin D is needed to help absorb calcium. Vitamin D also supports immune health and can help lift mood. Note: calcium isn’t just found in dairy products! Calcium-rich foods also include leafy greens, nuts, sesame seeds, tinned fish (because the bones are eaten), white beans, tofu and even cabbage and broccoli.

The other part of ‘nourish’ is hydration. Think of every cell in your body like a lovely, plump, juicy grape.

Now dehydrate until it becomes a raisin. I am sure you agree that our cells will be healthier and happier if they are plump and hydrated. A couple of litres of fluids per day (water preferably) is about right.

There are 34 – yes 34! – recognised symptoms of perimenopause and although it is highly unlikely that any women would have that many, the more nourishing the food is that we put on our plates, the easier our perimenopause experience is likely to be.

Next month: ‘restore’ julianutrition.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 107

Body and Mind

EXERCISE REFERRAL Image: Stuart Brill

Craig Hardaker BSc (Hons), Communifit

I

am sure you’ll agree when I say we are incredibly blessed to have some of the best GPs, physiotherapists and other medical professionals not only in Dorset but also in the UK. You only have to look at the vaccination programme that’s been rolled out in Sherborne to see how lucky we are to have such a wonderfully dedicated team of medical practitioners. I know all Communifit members, as well as myself would like to thank them for all their hard work in keeping us safe by making sure we have been able to be vaccinated so efficiently.

They also need to be credited for rolling out an effective local exercise referral scheme within Sherborne and the surrounding areas. For local people recovering from medical conditions or surgery, such programmes are of vital importance. I have been part of the referral programme in Sherborne for the last 10 years and it is a scheme I am both very fond of and committed to.

Sometimes known as GP referral, exercise referral was introduced by the NHS in 2001. It is where a medical professional, normally a GP or physiotherapist, refers you to an exercise professional to help with your requirements. Medication is still of great importance in most cases, with exercise providing a potent alternative or addition – one which can help so many people.

There are many medical conditions that exercise can help with. Two examples are obesity and mental health – conditions which in addition can be sometimes linked. Sensible exercise invariably improves both a person’s mental and physical state and can help prevent an over-dependence on prescription medicines. MIND, a charity focusing on mental health, further highlights 108 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

that our physical health and mental health are closely linked, with many people not getting enough exercise to stay healthy. Exercise can help motivation, low mood, anxiety and stress. Low mood and anxiety can lead to emotional eating. Exercise helps with improving your wellbeing and can help you control your urge to eat.

The cancer.gov website gives detailed information on how obesity can be linked to many types of cancer, including cancers associated with your gut and liver, breast cancer, ovarian and uterine cancer, multiple myeloma and thyroid cancer.

All of our classes here at Communifit welcome exercise referrals. Not only providing a more general opportunity to meet people and stay motivated to exercise, classes may lead to talking to others that are in the same position and can support you through your journey. You are never alone and talking to people is central to recovery.

A talk with your GP or medical professional may lead to an exercise referral, and ultimately to a happier, healthier you.

‘Prevention is the best medicine’ and regular exercise is a positive way to safeguard your future, ensuring you give your body and mind the best chance of being healthy. It is never too late to make a start. The team of medical professionals in Sherborne are here to refer exercise when needed, and here at Communifit we will welcome you with open arms.

Together, let’s ‘strengthen the local community’. communifit.co.uk

KETTLEBELLS II:

HOW TO PROGRESS YOUR TRAINING Simon Partridge BSc (Sports Science), Personal Trainer, SPFit

L

ast month I wrote about the benefits of kettlebells but now I want to drill down deeper into the benefits and how you can progress.

Make the most of your workouts – train smart

Three of the main movement patterns we use in weight training are squats, deadlifts and lunges. But these are not what we use for kettlebell conditioning because they do not take advantage of the key benefits of kettlebells: • Combined cardio and strength training • Developing greater core strength • Improved ankle, knee and hip extension to help produce more power for a range of activities including running and jumping.

One of the challenges as a coach is ‘beginner’ clients rarely try the vast library of exercises beyond the popular common basic exercises. Swings, snatches, jerks, cleans are all big, explosive hip hinge movements from which you will get the biggest gains from kettlebell training.

But while we should definitely focus on these big power moves, kettlebells allow exercises in different planes of movement. This simply means moving in different directions. This is often called functional training – a fitness industry ‘trendy’ word which means it will benefit us in our everyday real life and for those that play sport there will be massive benefits. Many people use machines, dumbbells and barbells in one plane of movements, namely ‘forwards’. But in real life activities and all sports, we have to change direction, twist, rotate, move sideways, backwards and diagonally.

Five ways to progress your kettlebell training:

1 Change your programme: In its simplest format, change the number of reps, sets and shorten your rest periods to challenge your body and mind more.

2 Learn new movements: Once you have mastered basic kettlebell swings and lifts, try more complicated exercises such as lunge snatches and, my favourite, windmills.

3 Use complexes: Try doing kettlebell swings, squat jumps, press-ups and thrusters one after the other with no rest. Then use AMRAPS – which stands for As Many Rounds as Possible – try 10 reps of each of the above exercises in five minutes.

4 Combine kettlebells with other kit: have some fun and create new challenges to get great new results by using a TRX single arm hold while using a kettlebell to do a renegade row.

5 Try the sport of kettlebell lifting: similar to Olympic lifts, this consists of two movements, the jerk and the snatch. Kettlebell sport lifting requires the athlete to complete as many reps as possible in 10 minutes.

And the big catch, you cannot put the kettlebell down during the 10 minutes. Hence, there is a huge cardiovascular component to the sport and there are clearly massive calorie and fat burning benefits.

So, who out there knew that there was actually a competitive sport for kettlebells with a world championship? But whatever your goals are, try more complex kettlebell movements to learn new skills, reap all sorts of benefits and have a whole load of fun. Good luck and be creative. Never get bored. spfit-sherborne.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 109

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110 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

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THE YEAR OF THE WATER TIGER Ryan Terren BA FSSA, Feng Shui Consultant

T

he Chinese Lunar New Year is the original moveable feast. Like Easter, the date is derived from fiddly astronomical calculations and nobody quite knows when it is until the takeaway shuts.

Well, this year it falls on 1st February – that is the new moon nearest to the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.

The traditional Chinese calendar is generally much more complex than our Gregorian system of reckoning, 114 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

Illustration: Ralph Kiggell

concerned as it is with marking astronomical and seasonal phenomena as they occur. Like our calendar, it considers the orbit of the Earth around the sun but also those of the moon and the five visible planets. One benefit of tracking these conditions so comprehensively is the ability to organise life in easy accordance with nature’s rhythms.

There is a vast and rich tradition of Chinese wisdom that is drawn on at this time to make predictions for

the year ahead. This process is made more efficient by the simple fact that time, space and human beings are measured and qualified using the same parameters.

That is to say that Heaven, Earth and everything in between, can be described by some combination of the Five Elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.

As Hamlet suggests, this may be more than is dreamt of in your philosophy so if this is the case you may want to briefly suspend your disbelief while l explain the implications of this for the coming year.

We are now entering the Year of the Water Tiger.

Animal names for the Chinese zodiac were added later but each actually represents a cluster of Elements that describe the energetic conditions of a particular moment in time. Time in the ancient Chinese sense being circular and fractal – so said moment in time could be a year, month, day or hour. Each animal is then qualified by a further Element (in this case Water). I won’t try and explain the intricacies of Chinese metaphysics here, suffice to say that unlike their ancient Greek counterparts the Chinese Elements represent processes not substances.

The Tiger is ostensibly Wood element, with hidden Fire and Earth. The Wood is fed by the Water which creates the dynamic of strong growth and expansion, winter into spring, night into day. A mood of progression could easily become one of aggression if it is frustrated by obstacles of any kind – but here we actually see blockages released and obstacles taken away.

The last two years of Metal Rat and Metal Ox have expressed, embodied and reflected the Metal Element - which has been out of balance.

According to Chinese medicine, the Metal element is manifested organically in the Lungs. Metal also represents containment, protection, constriction, structure, grief, discernment, social control and medical intervention. These ideas might put you in mind of a certain respiratory illness that has been going around, and the accompanying disruption.

The expansive Wood energy of the coming year should be a relief after the strictures of the past two years. Expect to see growth (both economic and psychological), social reform, expansion of the built environment, ambitious creative enterprise, new currencies, group-forming, increased travel and a renewed appetite for independence. This is actually the beginning of an era of social and technological change, similar to the radical reforms of the Edwardian era and the mid sixties. How was the 1962 Water

"I’m not sure if Prince Charles has a Feng Shui consultant, but the Tree-bilee celebrations this year certainly seem timely. " Tiger for you? If you can’t think back that far – or it’s over the horizon – go instead to February 2017 which as a Water Tiger month will have followed a similar, albeit more subtle, energetic pattern. That was the month parliament triggered Article 50 – the Tiger does like its independence.

Chinese metaphysicians will argue over many things, but one thing they agree on this year is that it is a good time for plantings trees! I’m not sure if Prince Charles has a Feng Shui consultant, but the Tree-bilee celebrations this year certainly seem timely. You may extrapolate that it is a good time to begin any creative project, from starting a family to launching a business.

As the Tiger has hidden Fire, that element will become particularly strong this year especially during the summer months. This is welcome in so much as Fire represents sociability, spontaneity and human connection, but there may also be more midsummer madness than is comfortable – flare-ups, misunderstandings, that kind of thing. Sounds ominous, but the Fire can be harnessed of course – enlightened thinking, creativity. The advice here is probably something around not getting caught up, finding ways to cool off and access the stillness which is actually – and surprisingly – at the core of it all.

So, what does this new time portend for the good people of Sherborne? I think we will see a comingtogether of the community into new groups; neighbours and co-workers will find new ways to meet, organise and collaborate. These might be welfare groups, cultural events and celebrations, business projects. This will accompany a kind of spiritual cohesion, an accordance with all that is joyful and useful. There will be an almost post-war kind of feeling – seeing us close together, looking back over the past, and making informed decisions about our future. lifehousefengshui.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 115

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118 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

TAKING YOUR TIME

I

Annabelle Hunt, Colour Consultant, Bridport Timber

don’t know about you, but as soon as the decorations come down after New Year, it feels like a welcome breath of fresh air. There’s something about seeing a familiar room in an uncluttered, pared-back state that starts me wondering if a new scheme might be a good idea.

That said, I am definitely not an impulsive redecorator and am firmly in the ‘slow decorating’ camp where spaces tend to evolve over time. You may think you would rather just get the job done, but when it comes to interiors, there are real benefits to the slow approach. Tight project deadlines can lead to rushed decisions, but when we adopt an unhurried attitude to furnishing our homes, we are less likely to make rash mistakes.

With sustainability in mind, we should all be reducing the amount of fast, throwaway products we buy and instead be thinking about a greener approach. The slow decorating philosophy allows us time to really consider how we can do this. Vintage and antique furniture caters to almost every taste and not only are they a fantastic green option, but many are also handmade items that will last a lifetime. Also, hunting down the perfect piece will add something totally individual to your finished room. If you are buying new though, look for brands which practice responsible design and manufacture or use natural, reclaimed and recycled materials. In fact, often we don’t need to buy at all, but can make effective changes by rearranging, reupholstering or repurposing items we already have in our homes. The trick is to enjoy the process and not feel the need to rush.

Nostalgic references to 1970s and ‘80s interior design is one of the key looks at the moment, which works perfectly with vintage furniture. Whilst full ‘70s retro may not be everyone’s cup of tea, strong greens, sunshine yellows, and warm orange hues give a gentle nod to the era. Sap Green W56, Bancha No. 298, Babouche No. 223, Dutch Orange W76 and Charlotte’s Locks No. 268 from Farrow & Ball are all great for creating this look.

If you prefer a more neutral look, whether classic or more contemporary, bring the natural world indoors with soft greens and plants, natural wood and terracotta tones. A silvery grey-green is perfect for living rooms as it is the colour of harmony and renewal, evoking feelings of calm and relaxation. Try F&B’s French Gray No. 18 or Treron No. 292 with Snow White W1. Introduce warmth with accents of earthy browns and soft terracotta tones –try Salon Drab No. 290 and Faded Terracotta No. CC8.

Beautiful, bold blues are perennially popular. Deep, dark tones provide a fantastic background for paintings and art and are super-stylish on kitchen cupboards and front doors. F&B favourite Hague Blue No. 30 was the most Googled paint colour last year, and for good reason. A more delicate blue is perfect for creating a calm and restful bedroom or a fresh and airy bathroom. For a light and aerial blue try F&B’s Skylight No. 205. By connecting us to the ocean or sky, blue has a positive effect on mood, calming the mind and promoting a feeling of tranquillity. And who wouldn’t want to begin and end the day feeling calm and tranquil? bridporttimber.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 119

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120 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

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This month if you are able, please consider visiting the Just Giving website to donate money, which you can gift aid. Your cash donations are valuable and enable us to buy items for babies, children and people with special dietary needs. www.justgiving.com/sherborne-foodbank Thank you.

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sherbornetimes.co.uk | 121

Finance

THE JARS STRATEGY

Andrew Fort B.A. (Econ.) CFPcm Chartered MCSI APFS, Certified and Chartered Financial Planner, Fort Financial Planning

‘T

o invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ,’ says Warren Buffett. ‘What’s needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework.’

Having identified where you want to be at some point in the future and setting your financial goals, a real financial planner is able to help you calculate the return that is required on your investments and, indeed, the amount that you need to save to reach the goal. Your appetite for risk may be different. A major part of financial planning is reconciling the differences between the risk required and the risk desired. Sometimes it might be necessary to delay the goal to accommodate a desire for less risk when investing.

A vital part of building a financial plan that will deliver success is to identify each person’s ability to cope with financial shocks. The world of investing is inherently unpredictable. Stock market returns are not linear. It is important to understand not just the long-term reward for taking risk but also to fully comprehend the inevitable periods of poor performance. It is also important to understand that taking no risk, leaving all of your money in cash, is likely to mean that your capital will not keep pace with inflation.

At FFP the ‘sound intellectual framework for making decisions’ is what we call The Jars Strategy. Very simply put, we help people to identify how much money they need in short-, medium- and long-term jars. The short- and medium-term jars are held in safe assets such as cash and government bonds. While they deliver comparatively low returns they ensure that money is readily available when it is likely to be needed. Having identified how much needs to be held in cash, for the short-term, and bonds for the medium-term, anything that is left over is money that is not needed for the long-term. The amounts to be held in each jar may change from one year to the next. For example, if you wanted to buy a car in 18 months’ time the money should have been moved out of the long-term jar ahead of it being needed.

The Jars Strategy also helps ‘to keep emotions from corroding that framework’. The study of psychology tells us that we are our own worst enemies. When stock markets are booming people tend to take on more risk than they need or desire. When stock markets are tumbling people tend to panic and take on less risk. The Jars Strategy helps people stick to the long-term plan rather than reacting to short-term bad news. ffp.org.uk

122 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

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sherbornetimes.co.uk | 123

Tech

WFH

James Flynn, Milborne Port Computers

F

ully cemented into 2022 I thought I would give you some thoughts on the working from home situation. Before the pandemic, working from home wasn’t really a thing. It was deemed that people would not be as productive or work as hard or effectively as they would in an office-based environment. We’ve all heard of the shirt and tie on top, and pyjamas on the bottom scenario whilst on video calls. I had also heard through the pub grapevine of some bigger companies with employees who were logging in and then moving their mouse every so often to trigger that they were online, whilst doing other things at home. This is probably still the case with some businesses and their staff, but for others it’s been a bit of a game changer and staff are more time-efficient. This being due to staff not having to commute to work and being able to log on when they like to get their work done. The downside is paying rent on a building when all your staff are working from home and not having the team employee vibe. Now, it’s not so easy for us to work from home because repairing computers must be carried out in our workshop, but we’re lucky our location is quite easy to find and parking is easy for customers to drop things off.

When I bump into most people, and they ask how work is normally I get, ‘You must be busy with everyone working from home?’ At the beginning yes, monitors, webcams, keyboard and mouse sets were the top equipment that we supplied. There was a huge 124 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

demand in laptops for school children and employees working from home to remotely access their computer in the office. We had to be even more savvy on when and where we sourced our laptops. There was a huge drought in webcams as most people who have a desktop PC don’t have one and needed to Zoom/Skype people.

The world of video calling got a huge upgrade and companies were working round the clock to make their apps and software more compatible with all mobile and computing devices. Zoom has been around since 2011, but before the pandemic most people would associate business video calling with Skype. In my opinion Zoom has by far overtaken! Now, when mobile video calling most people would say FaceTime, but this is only available for Apple devices only. Apple have now made it possible for Apple devices to send a link to most other non-Apple devices so they can open FaceTime on a web browser. WhatsApp is most known for its massive group chats and sharing photos and memes, but also has a good video chat system and used to be only available for mobile phones, but again now is useable across desktops and laptops.

I understand that working from home was, and still is, hard for a lot of people, but for technology software it has had a positive outcome for us all to communicate and to share moments in our lives.

As ever, if you need any advice on working from home, you know where to come! computing-mp.co.uk

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Short Story

A WINTER WEDDING

‘F

Jan Garner, The Sherborne Scribblers

ebruary, are you joking?’ Her mother stopped peeling the potato and dropped it into the bowl of water.

‘No, I’m not. It’s all booked for 14th at one o’clock. We’ve been down to St John’s and seen the vicar - he’s delighted by the way. He’s never had a wedding on Valentine’s day before.’

‘Oh but why don’t you wait and have a nice summer wedding, like your sister? That was a lovely day and it turned out just as she wanted.’

‘Yes, it was fantastic; exactly what Lauren and Stewart had planned. But that’s not what Jamie and I want.’

‘But it will be freezing; it may even snow,’ said her horrified mother.

‘That’s what I’m hoping for Mum; wouldn’t it be magical if it did?’

‘Did you hear that, Gregory? Our daughter’s getting married in the middle of winter, and can you believe it; she wants it to snow!’

‘Well,’ said her father glancing up from his newspaper, ‘I can’t see anything wrong with that.

It’s their day after all.’

‘Thanks, Dad, I knew you’d understand,’ she said as she left the kitchen before her mother could raise any more objections.

‘Trust you to agree with her. She always could wrap you around her little finger. Honestly, though, don’t you think a summer wedding would be much nicer?’

‘No I don’t,’ he said. ‘Winter was always her favourite time of year, even when she was a small child. Don’t you remember those bitterly cold days when the pair of us stood and shivered as we watched her toboggan down Pitcombe Hill? Her cheeks glowed like shiny ripe apples.

She was such a tomboy.’ He looked away, a hint of a tear in his eyes. ‘And I can still picture her fingers, like little red sausages poking through the holes in her gloves as she built a snowman in the garden on one of the coldest days of the year.’

‘Ah yes, I remember. I thought we’d all freeze to death. But you’re right,’ she conceded. ‘It is their day after all.’

At breakfast the next morning, her mother was full of smiles. ‘Tell me, have you decided what sort of dress you want for your big day Jess?’

‘I thought something in white velvet with a cloak trimmed with fake fur and instead of flowers the bridesmaids and I could have muffs. What do you think Mum?’ She winked across the table at her father; he’d obviously had a word.

‘Perfect, you’ll look gorgeous love. Just like Julie Christie in Dr Zhivago. And I have been thinking about what I should wear. Would my new winter coat be suitable? Of course I’ll buy some smart new shoes and a posh handbag to go with it.’

‘Yes, that’ll be just the thing, and perhaps we can find you a nice Cossack-style hat to go with it,’ laughed Jess.

‘And what about your going-away outfit?’ Her mother finished pouring the cup of tea and passed it across the table. ‘You are having a honeymoon, aren’t you?’

‘Of course we are. We’re going to Norway. I won’t have to dress up in anything fancy there.

126 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

The hotel we’ve booked is built completely out of ice. I’ll only need some thermal underwear and my warm hiking gear. And guess what,’ she beamed at her mother, ‘for a special treat, Jamie’s paid for us to go sledging with huskies. I’m so excited Mum. It’ll be fantastic, and with any luck, we might see the Aurora Borealis.’

Her mother shook her head as she buttered her toast. She didn’t understand her youngest daughter, but secretly she was very proud of her. Jess had worked hard to get to uni and with a degree in meteorology, had landed her dream job as a weather girl on the local television station.

Jess had met Jamie at a climate change rally and been smitten by his rugged good looks.

But it was his caring and gentle character, together with his love of nature and the outdoors that made her fall hopelessly in love with him. After that first meeting, the pair were inseparable and their engagement in less than a year was no surprise to anyone.

On the day before the ceremony, she was in the studio waiting for the presenter to finish the news bulletin. ‘Just before I hand you over to Jess for tonight’s weather forecast,’ he said, ‘I would like to wish her the very best for her wedding tomorrow.’

‘Ah, thank you,’ she smiled as the camera zoomed in on her. ‘I must confess dear viewers that I have been praying all week for snow, but don’t worry; there isn’t any chance of that happening.

In fact,’ she turned to the chart behind her, ‘as you can see we have some above-average temperatures due over the next few days.’

After she finished the broadcast, she said her goodbyes to the team and headed off to the Royal Hotel in town. The receptionist came out from behind her desk to greet her. ‘If you’d like to come with me, everything is ready. I hope you’ll be pleased.’ As the girl swung open the double doors of the function suite, hundreds of white fairy lights twinkled around the room.

‘It’s beautiful, absolutely beautiful,’ cried Jess as she stepped into the room and spun around.

Glass icicles hung from swags of frosted ivy and pure white roses coated in silver glitter sat on tablecloths dusted with fake snow. ‘Thank you. You’ve done a fantastic job. It’s just as I imagined it; a perfect winter wonderland.’

By noon the next day, everyone except Jess and her father had left for the church. ‘No snow, I’m afraid,’ he said as he looked out over the front garden at the leafless trees and dismal sky.

‘No, but then I knew when we planned the wedding that even with all the long-range satellite technology, it was impossible to forecast this far ahead. Still, I kept hoping. I know mum thinks I’m being silly, but I’ve always hoped and dreamed that it would snow on my wedding day.’

‘Well, never mind love, it will be a splendid day whatever the weather.’ He drew her into his arms and gave her a big hug. ‘And you’re not silly. You should never give up on your dreams. Sometimes they do come true. Now then,’ he said as he spotted the white-ribboned limousine pulling up outside the house. ‘Are you ready? Best not keep that handsome young man of yours waiting.’

It was a lovely service and as the couple made their way back down the aisle the two ushers pushed open the church doors. Jess was speechless; a blanket of snow covered the churchyard and gossamer snowflakes floated silently down like confetti.

‘What did I tell you,’ her father smiled, as everyone came out of the church and took their places for the photographs. ‘Dreams can come true,’ he said, as the man in charge of the snow machine released another shower of snow, ‘with a little bit of help.’

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 127

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ACROSS 1. Beneficial (8) 5. This grows out of follicles (4) 9. Seventh sign of the zodiac (5) 10. Mundane (7) 11. Flexible insulated cables (5) 12. Fruit of a rose (3) 13. Floral leaf (5) 15. Cowboy exhibition (5) 17. Taxi (3) 19. Ski run (5) 20. Policeman or woman (7) 21. Care for; look after (5) 22. Locate or place (4) 23. Matchless (8) 128 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

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Literature

LITERARY REVIEW Penelope Hester, Sherborne Literary Society

I, Mona Lisa by Natasha Solomons, hardcover

(Hutchinson Heinemann, 2022), £14.99

Sherborne Times Reader Offer Price of £13.99 from Winstone’s Books

T

he cover line on Natasha Solomons’ new novel I, Mona Lisa reads ‘You have seen my smile, now hear my voice.’ This reviewer thinks that is not even close. There is so much more than a voice in this Mona Lisa. She is warm. She is real.

She may tell us she is ‘perfect, but never perfected,’ but she is also flawed, a real woman. At times she is variously jealous, outspoken, caring, protective, vulnerable, scared, and of course, hopelessly in love with Leonardo.

When you see her portrait in the Louvre Museum behind its bullet-proof glass surrounded by the milling crowds, she is small. The most famous face in the world, beautiful and enigmatic, it has haunted and confused people for centuries. The words of the 1950s song by Ray Evans spring to mind: ‘Are you warm, are you real Mona Lisa, or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?’

From the novel, she calls back, ‘Yes! He breathed life into me at the end of his brush and I am here.’ And Leonardo agreed, ‘Here you are.’

The story tells of her creation, beginning as a commissioned portrait of the beautiful Lisa del Giocondo, a wealthy merchant’s wife. But as this woman emerged from the layers of paint under the tender hand of Da Vinci, Mona Lisa comes to life – no longer a facsimile of that ‘other woman’ but with her own voice and, of course, those all-seeing eyes.

She moves through Leonardo’s life, set against the background of his bottega. She waits and watches all around her: his assistants, the petty jealousies, the

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construction of the innovative scaffold to create a massive painting of the Battle of Anghari in the Hall of Five Hundred, the problems and Leonardo’s despair. This is history, now lost, but vividly reconstructed.

He tells her of his frustrations, his disappointments, his aspirations to design human flight. She witnesses his investigation into the structure of the human body and his fractious relationships with Michelangelo and Machiavelli. Leonardo’s love brings Mona Lisa to life, and he refuses to be parted from her.

Only a few with the gift can hear her. One of them is Michelangelo, who she confesses to hate because he is so supercilious towards Leonardo; another is Leonardo’s faithful assistant Cecco and there are others along the way. But the despised, temperamental lover of Leonardo, Salai, cannot hear.

Mona Lisa soothes, cajoles and comments.

Sometimes she insults. At times she pleads for her own wishes, her safety and for the companionship of the beautiful Leda of the painting, Leda and the Swan. She tells us her story, of those who admired her and those who lusted to be her keeper. She recounts the horror of being stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and her removal in 1939, to be safely hidden from German acquisition.

Solomons’ prose is lyrical and her detail immense.

No longer can I look at the Mona Lisa without hearing her. But more, now I know her. sherborneliterarysociety.com

WE ARE

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

I

Jonathan Simon, Church of the Sacred Heart and St Aldhelm, Sherborne

n January I celebrated my 69th birthday. I know that it used to be said (based on a psalm in the bible) that a normal life span is 70 years; so it is definitely reasonable to describe me as an old man. I have noticed that in the last few years I have been remembering a lot more about my early life. The world has changed quite a lot in that time. Most of the memories are just about small things from day-to-day life as a child in the 50s and 60s, but added together, they give a picture of a world that was very different from today.

In many ways, if we could go back to that time and place, it would seem like a foreign country. Different ways of speaking, different styles of clothes, and very, very different technology - no computers or mobile phones.

In 2020, after Covid-19 led us into a world of wearing masks, working from home where possible, queueing outside shops, and living with lockdowns, we started to talk about ‘the new normal’, as if what was happening then was going to be happening forever. Now that we have inoculations and boosters our expectations have changed again, and we find it less easy to accept restrictions on our social lives than we did two years ago.

Some of us have lived fairly calm lives, with few great dramas or tragedies; others have witnessed immense change – moved to live in different countries, been caught up in wars or natural disasters like famine or earthquake. All of us have lost friends and family at some time in our lives.

The simple reality is that life is change, and what seems different today becomes ‘normal’ tomorrow. Then, of course, things change again. As we increasingly face the effects of climate change, of international tensions, rising prices, or whatever else comes our way, we can sometimes become fearful or depressed about the future.

Every day, we are living in yesterday’s future, and even though some things are different from yesterday, we are living through variations of the same experiences that millions have lived through before. None of us can control our lives – if we try hard to do so, we just end up restricting ourselves; shutting ourselves off from the unexpected, means shutting out the unexpected good.

My memory tells me very clearly that the best things in my life have come unexpectedly, have come as surprises – making new friends, falling in love, finding faith in God. We cannot always make good things happen to us, but we can choose to respond with hope and enthusiasm to new opportunities.

130 | Sherborne Times | February 2022

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