Never been to the races? Me neither.
Editor Laura experienced her first race day this month – and you can read her hot tips on what to wear, how it works, and whether she liked it. P.8
Hidden away in a fold of Cranborne Chase outside Shaftesbury, Gritchie Brewery is crafting a fine reputation. P26
P.30
Self-taught wood-turners Peter Thomas and Trevor Ball tell Tracie Beardsley how they have turned retirement into a new careerP.32
In this year’s Christmas recipe special, Heather’s sharing four side dishes that are simple to make and can all be made in advance to help bring that little extra – stress-free – to your Christmas table. P.74
The BV’s Andrew Livingston remembers his mentor, BAFTA-winning writer, chef and, most of all, fisherman Nick Fisher, who passed away this month P.20
Gritchie Brewery is more than just a famous name
Here we are on our third Christmas issue – and here
I am, just like I am every month, trying to find something sensible, meaningful and worth saying late late on a Thursday night (we publish in a few hours).
I was going to mention The Eggs Issue – but Andrew Livingston beat me to it, and was far better. I was going to talk football – but Pat Osborne beat me to that. Again, better, too.
And actually, I think I just need to take a brief last-one-of-the-year moment to mention the team of people we have the genuine pride and pleasure to work with. Courtenay and I thank you all. The BV simply could never happen each month without you.
A special thank you has to go to Rachael Rowe and Andrew Livingston – neither of them seems to know how to say no, and they always find the story. Also to Tracie Beardsley for traversing the county to speak to ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and for being really rather special. To my own personal cheerleader Heather Brown and her frankly rubbish cooking and photography. To Roger Guttridge, not only for his encyclopaedic local knowledge, but for his ever-ready help and advice. And of course the powerhouse duo of Fanny Charles and Gay Pirrie-Weir – for their advice, support ... and my perennial shame at my grammar failings. Between you and me they are mean and ruthless sub-editors (fret not, I’m safe, they don’t edit this bit) (I also now have anxiety that I’ve left a comma somewhere it shouldn’t be). Thank you to every single one of the columnists, all of whom have become friends in my inbox, each of them tolerating my own brand of email chaos. Special mention to Barry Cuff, whose email is probably my favourite of the month. Two words he sends me. ‘Yer tiz’. Lastly – thank you, for being here too. We hope you have a good month, a wonderful Christmas, that you worry less and laugh more. And we wish you a peaceful and happy 2023.
‘A bugger’s muddle’ was the only way that West Dorset egg producer Tim Gelfs would describe the state of the egg industry at the moment. Walk down the baking aisle of your local supermarket and it is either bare of eggs, limiting the purchasing of eggs or (worse) stocked with European imports. As with most farming at the moment, costs to produce eggs have soared since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For months, egg producers have pleaded with supermarkets to increase the price they pay so that farmers can break even.
Tim, who has 16,000 birds, is thankful he isn’t affected. He cut ties with supermarkets more than a year ago to sell to North Dorset egg packers Foots Eggs, who deliver to smaller independent shops and restaurants locally. Nevertheless, the Beaminsterbased egg producer has been speaking passionately to news organisations to ensure his fellow farmers have a voice: ‘The supermarkets haven’t increased the price [they pay farmers] – they use the excuse that with the cost of living crisis the consumers wouldn’t be able to afford it. But they have put up the [price of] eggs. They just haven’t passed the increase on to the producers.’
Nobody came Thanks to the supermarkets actions (or lack of), the situation really is a “bugger’s muddle”. In April, the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) called a crisis meeting with the supermarkets, to be held
at the Pig and Poultry Fair in May. Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys, Marks & Spencers, Waitrose, ASDA, Aldi and Lidl were all invited. Not one attended. Warnings duly ignored, the supermarkets now have no eggs and are continuing to anger farmers by blaming the shortage on the Avian Influenza outbreak.
‘They’re using that as an excuse,’ says Tim. ‘The consumers are very frustrated. The supermarkets are using it as a smokescreen against the real reason, which is that they simply haven’t paid for the eggs.
‘What we are seeing now is only the tip of the iceberg. We’ve lost nearly five million pullet placings
A swift look at the baking aisle in your local supermarket will tell you that the UK egg industry is in crisis. Andrew Livingston reportsTim Gelfs’ white eggs, as featured in Eggism (The BV, May 21 Image: Heather Brown
where people haven’t invested in a new flock over the past ten months. We won’t really feel the effects until next year.’
Edwina and the eggs
The national flock has decreased by 13 per cent. Sheds that previously housed thousands of birds now sit empty, waiting for the price of eggs to rise to a point where farmers can make a profit. In the last two weeks, the cost of eggs has risen in supermarkets by more than 20 per cent – and it will continue to rise as the number of eggs decreases. ‘Already, Sainsburys have been importing Italian eggs,’ says Tim ‘I reckon by Christmas they will all be importing eggs, which is quite frustrating as they are all committed to Lion Coded British eggs. So they have thrown their commitment out the window.’ European eggs do not have the same vigorous salmonella testing as the UK industry, meaning that vulnerable people (children, pregnant women and the elderly) shouldn’t eat these eggs runny. Farmers are now worried about the irreparable damage that is being done to consumers’ confidence in something as simple as an egg.
In the 1980s the industry experienced a similar situation when Edwina Currie, the then Health Minister, said that there was a Salmonella epidemic in British eggs. She later had to resign from her position due to the damage she caused to the
industry with her false statement. ‘It’s taken us 30 years since Edwina Currie and the Salmonella threat in the 80s to get the eggsper-capita back to where it was.’ says Tim. ‘Where is it going to be at the end of this crisis? People will switch from eggs and go and buy something else and we will struggle to get them back.’
The National Farmers Union has called for the government to intervene and ensure that farmers’ livelihoods are secured, but the new DEFRA Minister Mark Spencer has said that the Government will not step in.
However, West Dorset MP Chris Loder has been in direct communication with his constituent Tim and has taken the matter to Westminster. He gave an impassioned speech at the Westminster Hall Debate Support for British Farming: ‘The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) – the regulator for supermarkets, farmers and price controls –needs to be given more teeth and to have greater control so that our farmers are not suppressed. Most of my local farmers in West Dorset tell me they don’t want to receive government subsidies. ‘But they have to. And why do they have to? More often than not, they are forced into that
position because the GCA is not doing its job and is allowing supermarkets to dominate the field … In my opinion the Government is ultimately subsidising supermarket profits. That has to stop.’
Tim Gelfs is calling for new legislation to give farmers the confidence to invest in producing food. He says: ‘I think the government needs to be serious about food security and introduce some legislation to take some of the power away from the supermarkets and give it back to the farmers.
‘That’s not just eggs, that’s all products, else we’ll be back at this point again when we have another crisis. And I think the crises are going to be more often because of climate change and civil unrest around the world. ‘When there’s fights in aisles over eggs like there were over toilet roll, then the government will step in. At the moment it’s all lip service because although we’ve got a shortage of eggs, it’s more of an inconvenience than a disaster. But it’s only going to get worse.’
At the Westminster Debate, Chris Loder concurred with his constituent’s view on the outlook for the British egg industry: ‘I am afraid this is the beginning of a ticking time bomb. If ever there was a time that this House had to urge the Government to give the Groceries Code Adjudicator the teeth it needs to sort this mess out, it is now.
‘If we think there is difficulty in the market today, I can assure this Chamber that in less than 12 months’ time we will not be in a situation where we have a reduction in eggs available for sale to consumers—we will be lucky if we have any eggs on the shelves at all.’
‘In my opinion the Government is ultimately subsidising supermarket profits.’
A trip to the races always looked like it might be fun. But … to be honest, it isn’t really for the likes of me, is it?
My dad was a milkman and we lived in a big Essex town – horses were as much a part of my home life as art, ballet and opera. Not. And yet I grew up horse-mad, absorbing everything I could from books – Ruby Ferguson’s Jill series? The Pullein-Thompson sisters’ entire back catalogue?
Misty of Chincoteague (though I still have no clue where that actually is) – I had them all).
I paid attention, I studied riding theory just in case. I finally got on a horse for real in my 20s –turns out that you can learn a surprising amount from books, but a real horse definitely helps. Children’s books about gymkhanas and showjumping abounded, of course, but horseracing? Not at all. If you’re not introduced to it or grow up with it, then it’s frankly a closed, mysterious and mildly intimidating world, even to a grown up.
So when we were invited to Wincanton Racecourse for Badger Beers Chase Day, of course I was keen but swiftly went looking for help – we’re incredibly lucky to have a pair of the UK’s top Thoroughbred breeders, Lucy and Doug Procter, writing for us.
The biggest question
The first worry, obviously, was what do you wear to go racing? Well, apparently, on your average weekday race meet, it’s pretty much anything goes ‘You’ll see
My first visit to a racecourse – on a windblown and wet November day in Wincanton – wasn’t at all what I expected, says Laura Hitchcock
Never mind the weather - everyone wears a hat and ignores the rain.
All images: Courtenay Hitchcock
a lot of tweed,’ said Doug ‘but mostly because it’s what most farmers wear most days! Go with anything practical for the weather – a racecourse is an exposed place in November’. But we were attending on one of the biggest racedays in Wincanton’s racing calendar, which is slightly more dressy. Lucy offered some helpful hints on the ladieswear front: ‘Go for long boots with dark trousers or a skirt and woolly tights. I always opt for a thick polo neck sweater (or three!), and then add a scarf. There’s nothing more miserable than being inappropriately dressed for the weather, so a weatherproof coat is a must: most people will be in a tweed or plain coloured long wool coat, or a Barbour-type/beige waterproof overcoat. And if you’ve got a cap or some kind of hat it’s much easier than juggling an umbrella when it’s raining.’
Feeling confident from our pro what-to-wear tips, we headed to the main gates on race day. It was busy and as we watched the queue we were fascinated by who was there. Because it actually seemed to be everyone. Tweed-clad country types hunkered against the rain in their battered wax jackets and flat caps. Sharply-suited men, clearly there for a ‘lads day out’ queued noisily behind retired couples
happily chatting. We saw wellies and trainers lined up alongside Dolce et Gabbana and Dubarry boots. Doug was right – there really isn’t a type of person who goes racing. It was rapidly obvious that everyone goes. We’d clearly been missing something.
Once inside the gate, we bought a racecard (£3.50, and DO get one, even if you’re not planning on betting; the whole day makes sense once you have one), and soon worked out the system for what to see. Obviously the day revolves around the races, but we quickly understood that it actually starts in the parade ring (sometimes called the paddock). Head there first and see the
horses circling as they wait for the jockeys. I was surprised at just how close we were able to stand, and swiftly became aware that racehorses are... stunning. Powerful, elegant and very very different from the horses grazing in a field on your Sunday walk. Now’s the point you want to look at your racecard and decide who you’re rooting for. The card’s a bit overwhelming at first – if you’re a statistician you’ll feel right at home – but there’s a key to what all the numbers mean, from the weights the horses are carrying to the names of the owner, trainer and jockey, how far they’ve travelled and a rough guide to current form. But if you’re a racing ‘pro’ like me, you’ll obviously eye up the horses as they walk past and … pick the prettiest one.
Once the jockeys arrive and mount up, the tide of the crowd flows back towards the track. Usually the viewing areas are separated according to your ticket entry (the closer to the finishing post, the more expensive the entry price), but Badger Beers Chase Day was a
It’s frankly a closed, mysterious and mildly intimidating worldFrodon to victory in the 61st Badger Beer Handicap Chase Frodon in the winner’s enclosure
Single Enclosure Day, meaning anyone could stand anywhere.
The stand was packed as most people chose to shelter from the weather, but, working on Doug’s advice, we headed for a gap at the side of the track, ignoring the shivering-sideways rain. I’ve obviously watched the odd horserace on the television – who hasn’t had a bet on the Grand National? – but the experience of standing right there on the track was very new and entirely unexpected.
Suddenly feeling it The crowd, the weather –suddenly horseracing was tangible, something very physical. And then the horses pounded past on the first circuit – mere feet away from where we stood. The noise from the stand began to build, the weather was forgotten, and we found ourselves cheering with the crowd as the pace picked up for the second circuit, eyes glued to the big screen until they rounded for the final straight and came into view. We could actually feel the horses
approaching. It’s a cliché to talk about the thunder of hooves, but what other word is there?
The noise was visceral, sandwiched as we were between the horses galloping past and the wall of sound from the crowd hollering them home.
As they passed the finishing post I was beaming – and keen to head straight back to the parade ring and do it all again.
This time I tried an actual bet – again, don’t be afraid. The bookies make it easy, and the solid advice was ‘if you’re not sure, just go for the favourite. They’re tipped to win because they’re judged to be the best horse on the course, so it’s never a bad idea’.
Nearly all the course bookies had banners declaring their minimum bet as £1 or £2, so don’t be ashamed to put on even a tiny amount, it really doesn’t matter (and some are contactless if you, like us, forgot to bring some cash. Just look for the sign on their board).
We actually spent more on coffee than we did on betting, but it was a lot of fun choosing a horse,
cheering them on and then going to collect our winnings (which we promptly bet on the next race, of course).
We were part of the crowd jumping and cheering local horse Frodon to victory in the 61st Badger Beer Handicap Chase. We picked a couple of winners, we grabbed a (really good) burger from a stand, a warming coffee from another, avoided the busy bars and forgot to worry about the weather. We bumped into some old friends and saw many others doing the same.
It turns out that horseracing isn’t about having a slightly seedy day of gambling, nor is it just for the poshest of hat-wearers politely
It isn’t a slightly seedy day of gambling, nor is it just for the poshest of hat wearersThe packed stand at Wincanton on Badger Beer Chase Day
chatting over a whisky. It’s just a really fun, relaxed, sociable day – and the attitude to us as blatantly-obvious absolute race virgins, was friendly and welcoming. There’s always someone who knows the answer to a question – just ask the nearest person who looks like they might know what they’re doing.
On top of which you get to be up close to some of the most beautiful animals on earth. So – the big question. Would we go for another day at the races? The answer to that is that we’re already marking the calendar, and booking up friends to come with us next time ...
We had a chat with the nice people at Wincanton Racecourse, and persuaded them to offer a BV reader the chance to experience the next big race day for themselves. If you’re looking for something fun to do on Boxing Day, then click to win TWO premier tickets for the Boxing Day races!
It’s the most popular fixture of the year at Wincanton Racecourse, and we have two premier tickets to give away, worth £30 each. They allow racegoers exactly the same experience we had: access to all the public areas of the racecourse, to be part of the action as horses enter the parade ring, and they also include a variety of prime viewing spots from the main grandstand right up to the winning post.
A pretty, period family home offering five-bedrooms, versatile accommodation and a delightful landscaped garden with swimming pool.
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Shaftesbury Rotary Club was established on 8th March 1963, and will be celebrating a happy 60th birthday in 2023. The club makes donations of between £20,000 to 30,000 each year from the money they raise, with three main events leading their year-long fundraising campaign.
The North Dorset Cycle Ride was started a few years ago to raise awareness of prostate cancer; the popular ride that takes in the amazing natural beauty of the towns and villages around the Blackmore Vale, is Shaftesbury Rotary Club’s biggest fundraising event of the year; few people are aware that Shaftesbury Rotary Club is one of the biggest donators to Prostate Cancer UK. The next North Dorset Cycle Ride is on 14th May 2023, and will once again include three routes: the six mile family fun ride, plus the more strenuous 25 and 50 mile routes (registration is now open here). No matter which route you choose, all rides end one way – up Gold Hill to the finish line at the top!
The Gold Hill Festival (previously Gold Hill Fair) has now been running for more than 30 years –the popular one day festival enjoys
A Chicago attorney called Paul P. Harris formed the Rotary Club of Chicago (one of the world’s first service organizations) on 23rd February 1905.
In 2022 The Rotary Foundation has 1.4 million members in 35,000 Rotary clubs across 200 countries. It spends $1,000,000 a day on community projects and charitable causes throughout the world.
an eclectic line-up of local music acts as well as local producer stalls, food and drink.
The third big event in Shaftesbury Rotary Club’s calendar is the annual charity golf day at Rushmore Golf Club – last year a record number of 27 teams entered.
From the funds raised throughout the year, the club has given donations to local causes such as Westminster Memorial Hospital, Somerset & Dorset Air Ambulance and Mosaic; as well as national charities CLIC Sargent, ShelterBox (Disaster Relief Charity), Sight Savers and the Ukraine Crisis Appeal. Shaftesbury Rotary Club also makes an annual donation to the Rotary International project PolioPlus, which aims to eradicate polio on a worldwide basis.
In addition, the club supports KidsOut, an organisation working with women’s refuges across the UK to provide toys and games to children who have witnessed or experienced domestic violence. It also organises the local support for the Shoebox Appeal, which gives
support to less fortunate people at Christmas, as well as many other projects.
The club has also launched a couple of projects with local young people. Youth Speaks is a new debating competition for secondary school students, and in 2023 the second area competition will be hosted in partnership with Shaftesbury School. Shaftesbury School will also be the venue for the Young Chef competition in 2023.
A local RotaKids club was launched this year at Abbey Primary School; with the club members’ support, a number of activities and projects aimed at supporting the local community are being planned.
If you are interested in meeting new people, forging new friendships and making a real contribution to the local and wider community, then the Rotarians would love to hear from you!
In addition to supporting community events they meet fortnightly, and are keen to welcome new members.
After three years, panto season is back with no restrictions. The FTR’s Gay Pirrie-Weir has rounded up your pantomime options this year
It’s pantomime and Christmas show time again, with a full house for the first time since the pandemic, and some changes to the traditional timings. Several productions are starting earlier than usual – Panto was a Christmas Eve thing once!
As always, some theatres rely on big stars of television and stage to bring in their audiences, while others have learned that regulars are what brings families back year after year. The stories, of course, are the old favourites, with their happy endings, heroes and villains, comic baddies, a fat man in a frock (aka The Dame) and lots of chances for the audience to join in, hiss, boo and shout It’s Behind You until they’re hoarse.
Often reckoned to be the most popular story of all, Cinderella’s reputation is borne out this year with three productions. See it at Bristol
Hippodrome with Craig Revel Horwood, from 2nd to 31st December. It’s at Poole Lighthouse from 8th to 31st December, and is ‘traditional pantomime fun, with plenty of songs, laughter and more magic and sparkle than you can shake a wand at’. Starring sitcom star Tyger Drew-Honey, making his panto debut as Prince Charming and Lighthouse favourite Chris Jarvis. Salisbury Playhouse started early on 26th November and are running to 8th January: ‘This year’s Cinderella is packed with songs to sing along to, plenty of adventure, sparkle and laughs (for youngsters and their grown ups!) with this rags to riches tale. It’s a festive treat for all the family - do not miss out.’
The one about the lazy son of Widow Twankey who falls in love with a princess, but is duped by his wicked uncle into going into a dark cave full of treasure, where he meets a genie who
can answer all his dreams. Aladdin is on stage at Bath Theatre Royal from 8th December to the 8th January, with favourite performers Jon Monie and Nick Wilton joined by Tom Lister. Aladdin is also at Wimborne Tivoli from 16th December to 1st January.
Beauty, Dick and The Nutcracker Beauty and the Beast has been chosen by Bournemouth Pavilion – starring Emma Barton, it runs from 3rd December to 2nd January. At Yeovil Octagon, old favourites Thom Ford, Gordon Cooper and Jack Glanville are back to tell the story of Dick Whittington, the boy who left the west country to go to London to find his fortune. Of course, he falls in love with the boss’s daughter, but then has to rely on his super-hero cat to help him rid the city of a plague of rats, before heading off on board ship to an island full of treasures (and foreign rats too). It’s on from 9th December to 1st January. Further afield you can see Jason Donovan leading the cast in Goldilocks and the Three Bears at Southampton’s Mayflower from 10th to 31st December, or something different at Bristol Old Vic, where the show is The Nutcracker, from 24th November to 7th January. It stars Tristan Sturrock and musician Gwyneth Herbert, and is ‘a bold and wild theatrical re-telling of The Nutcracker, full of magic, adventure and show-stopping music numbers’.
Tickets for all the Christmas productions are selling fast, so it really is necessary to book early if you don’t want to disappoint the family. Not
only is the annual pantomime the ‘banker’ for theatres going through difficult times, but it is the perfect way to introduce young audiences to the joy of live performance, especially as it’s the one time they are positively encouraged to join in and make noise. Oh yes it is!
Since I heard of Nick Fisher’s tragic passing last month I have been taking the time to delve deep into his archives of film and television.
I went straight to YouTube and there, hosting ITV’s agony uncle show Dear Nick, was the man I knew. Fewer wrinkles and odd grey hairs, but still the charming, engaging man who moved into our village of Hooke when I was a child.
‘Welcome to Dear Nick, the show with more problems than you can shake a stick at, but at least we can talk about them.’
His 1996 words resonate loudly with me today as I stare at the screen and remember my 63year old friend, whose body was found in a hotel in Dorchester early in November.
Entertaining mundanity Nick became well-known when celebrity TV chef Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall reeled him as fishing expert on Channel 4’s Dorset-based River Cottage. But, as a child, I just knew him as the funny man down the road with the oddly apt surnameprofession combination.
Beginning his writing career in the 80s as an agony uncle for Just Seventeen magazine, Nick moved on to screenwriting for television in the 90s. In 1993 he moved in front of the camera to present his first television show –Screaming Reels on Channel 4, a light-hearted look into the world of fishing.
Just like Dear Nick, I had never seen Screaming Reels before, but thanks to YouTube there he was again, the fishing-obsessed man I would end up knowing.
Much like his writing in the Marshwood Vale Magazine that came later in his life, in
Screaming Reels Nick found the hilarity in the mundane. But this time he got to talk about fishing. From the age of four he had been obsessed with fish, and watching him on screen you can see his passion. Nick fished all over the world, holding a commercial fishing licence, a charter skipper’s licence and being a certified yachtsman. But I saw him most frequently bobbing on his mooring in West Bay Harbour.
Nick developed an incredible way with words and it was through this that I got to know him much better – in later life he would mentor me as I tried my hand at journalism.
Living with a Willy: The Inside Story is a hilarious book of Nick’s that I read during puberty. The blurb probably says it best: “This book isn’t going to teach you a lot of long Latin words ending in m, but it might just help you understand what it really means to own a daft tuft of flesh shaped like a chipolata.”
However, I mostly consumed Nick’s writing via the television. Growing up in a time before Netflix, as the credits rolled on so many BBC programmes we’d say, ‘Oh, Nick wrote that!’ Eastenders, Casualty, Holby City, Hustle and New Tricks to name a few.
He also created his own show, The Giblet Boys, and won a BAFTA for Best Children’s Drama in 2006. He dedicated the award to his three sons, who inspired the writing. He said there was nothing on TV for them to watch. In 2016, Nick once again proved his versatility as he tried his hand at writing fiction.
Pot Luck is a brilliant story of crime, drugs, greed and, of course, fishing – specifically
commercial crab fishing. It is set in Weymouth and has been so popular that it has recently been commissioned for television.
The last time I saw Nick we stood and chatted on his drive for half an hour about chickens. The fox had just been through his backyard flock, so I donated a couple of our 16,000 hens. Those few birds were nothing compared with the time he had given me, just to help a young writer develop.
Knowing now that it was our last conversation, and having now looked deeper into his life, I wish we could have talked about anything but chickens! But I wasn’t to know what was going on inside his head.
Nick’s death has been a stark reminder that we don’t know what people are going through. In the lead-up to this Christmas I’m going to make a conscious effort to check in more with the people around me.
And wherever we go when we die … I just hope Nick has got his rod and tackle with him.
On Saturday 12th November, Clayesmore School’s Combined Cadet Force (CCF) assembled at Sturminster Newton. The detachment was to be awarded new badges, announcing its affiliation to the town’s Royal British Legion (RBL) branch.
Ian Rockett is an ex-Royal Engineer currently working as a school staff instructor at Clayesmore School’s Combined Cadet Force. He approached Trevor Legg, the Sturminster Newton RBL branch chairman, to discuss the possibility of an affiliation between the two groups a year ago, and Trevor was equally excited at the prospect. ‘The affiliation is great for the cadets,’ says Ian. ‘Apart from the obvious pride in the new badge –they all love a badge! – they enjoy the contact with the veterans. We currently have a smaller cohort in the detachment than in previous years, due to a new timetable which has meant cadets have to choose between a variety of activities. But the cadets are keen to participate and are committed to their cadet journey. Some have aspirations of a career in the services, but others simply enjoy the participation and the enormous range of activities cadets can enjoy.’
Once the paperwork and checks were completed, the weekend of Remembrance Sunday was chosen for the formal parade. The mustered Clayesmore cadets were inspected and addressed by Lt Gen Sir David Bill KCB, President of the Sturminster Newton RBL Branch, who presented each cadet with their affiliation badge and had a few words with each of them.
General Bill said that it was great to see the younger people having an interest in the Legion, ensuring the future of the organisation. Reductions in the size of the UK Armed Forces mean it is vitally important to engage with the next generations.
Trevor Legg expressed his delight at the new affiliation: ‘We hope it’s very much a jointly beneficial relationship. We provide the obvious opportunities to the cadets for their volunteering and Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, but also, I hope, by sharing our personal experiences and broad range of expertise with them. In return they support us with fundraising work, at community events and also join our parades’.
A few cadets stayed in town to continuing fund-raising for the Poppy Appeal, raising about £180 in just a few hours.
Youth groups and organisations (uniformed or otherwise) can become affiliated with any Royal British Legion branch to support fundraising projects and more. How can RBL help youth organisations?
• Offering opportunities for The Duke of Edinburgh Award Programme
• Fundraising under the name of the youth organisation
• Offering experience on military knowledge, such as providing an instructor/ lecturer from within the branch
• Providing free educational resources
• Raising awareness about the Royal British Legion, and encouraging young people to take part in our activities
How can youth organisations help?
• Help raise funds for the Poppy Appeal
• Become Branch Standard Bearer (adult and youth)
• Attend Remembrance services and parades
As thoughts naturally turn to gifts and Christmas shopping, we checked to see what’s happening at one of North Dorset’s largest family-owned local businesses – which happens to also be one of its best-known secrets.
Neal’s Yard Remedies started life in Covent Garden in 1981, founded by natural health advocate, Romy Fraser. The Kindersley family, passionate organic advocates, bought Neal’s Yard Remedies in 2006, after the company’s move from London in 2005 to the new purpose-built eco-factory at Peacemarsh in Gillingham
Unlike many large beauty brands, Neal’s Yard Remedies make their products in small batches to ensure they are as fresh and effective as possible. The Gillingham production team fills, labels and packages before checking every bottle, jar and tube by hand to ensure quality and consistency.
Strangely, however, many locals outside of the Gillingham area are still unaware that the
award-winning eco-factory has a shop on site – there’s no longer a need to go to Covent Garden! The Peacemarsh factory has acres of organic gardens, fields and meadows – it’s right here that head gardener Fraser and his team grow the organic calendula, St. John’s wort, verbena and lemon balm used in many of their most popular products.
And if sustainability is top of your shopping list this year, Neal’s Yard Remedies has this year attained its ninth consecutive Ethical Company
Award from The Good Shopping Guide, continuing to achieve a perfect 100/100 score in the Ethical Company Index.
This year’s Christmas campaign marks a shift from Neal’s Yard Remedies’ iconic deep blue packaging to a new forest green, created to symbolise the brand’s long-standing commitment to environmental initiatives.
Neal’s Yard Remedies has also reduced its packaging (already entirely recyclable) by 15 per cent this year.
However, if you are a Neal’s Yard fan, you’ll be delighted
to know that the iconic blue glass bottles used to store the products are remaining. Blue helps protect the products from damaging ultraviolet light, and they can all be recycled.
All of the Neal’s Yard cosmetics are organic, and no animals are used in testing. The company also has Soil Association accreditation. Several products are suitable for vegans. So what have the team got for those festive shopping lists? Neal’s Yard Remedies staff have some insider suggestions:
‘The Wild Rose Beauty Balm is one of our bestsellers. The rose oil comes from a FairWildcertified farm in Serbia and the balm can be used in seven different ways. Apply it as a cleanser, toner, cuticle softener, moisturiser, and more.’ (Ideal if you are looking to econo, mise on too many cosmetics).
‘The nourishing organic duos are another idea for a gift (or selfindulgent treat). For example, the Dreamy Nights Sleep Duo is perfect for anyone with insomnia and is made from lavender sourced from the French Alps. Likewise, the Bee Lovely Bath and Body duo is a delightful bath or shower gel and hand cream made from organic Mexican honey and oranges from Italy and Mexico.’
Neal’s Yard Remedies have a few suitably festive-scented gifts to get you in that Christmassy mood. Their frankincense collection is made with the
world’s first certified organic Boswellia sacra (frankincense) from the Dhofar region of Oman. Interestingly, the historic harvesting of frankincense was responsible for the development of some of the world’s most ancient trade routes. The sacred trees that produce Frankincense and Myrrh are almost impossible to grow outside of the Arabian Peninsula, which meant they were constantly in short supply and high demand. The Frankincense Intense AgeDefying Collection has been clinically proven to reduce signs of wrinkles and ageing skin and is very popular.
As well as its anti-ageing properties, frankincense is known for its calming effects; ideal for reducing all that Christmas stress. I’m wondering whether the three kings knew about its anti-ageing properties
The Neal’s Yard Remedies packaging has changed to green – but the iconic blue bottles are staying
when they gave their gifts on the first Christmas ...
There is a gift box available, but the individual products could work well as a stocking filler. Another popular seasonal scent is mandarin, and the innovative people at Neal’s Yard have combined it with frankincense for a really Christmassy smell. You can scrub up well with the Mandarin and Frankincense shower cream, or go for the body lotion.
So, what about that dilemma we all have each Christmas with the “difficult to buy for” person or “the one who has everything.” Amy has the ideal solution: ‘Our reviving shower scents packs. They smell wonderful, contain essential oils, and everyone uses shower gel, so they are a practical gift.’
Looking forward to 2023, the team at Neal’s Yard Remedies are already working on new lotions and potions, so there will be lots of new treats to buy. We’re really fortunate to have a truly global, yet innovative and ethical ‘local’ business right here in the Blackmore Vale.
Here they grow the organic calendula, St. John’s wort, verbena and lemon balm used in many of their most popular products
Hidden away in a fold of Cranborne Chase outside Shaftesbury, Gritchie Brewery is crafting a fine reputation. Laura Hitchcock reports
Ask North Dorset residents about Gritchie Brewery and you get one of two answers. The first is usually: “Oh, LOVE their beer!”
The second is: “oh, that’s Guy Ritchie’s, isn’t it?” – and to be honest, it’s often said with a mildly belittling tone.
Because yes, this IS film director, producer and screenwriter Guy Ritchie’s company.
But it’s very clear that this is no vanity project. Beyond the local area, where people know that Guy Ritchie lives on the estate just north of Shaftesbury, the Gritchie branding is never advertised with Guy Ritchie’s name. The beer is expected to stand on its own merits (though perhaps with a little A-List movie advertising help – watch
the opening scenes of The Gentlemen closely, and you’ll see Matthew McConaughey enjoying a pint of Gritchie’s English Lore before he leaves the pub and passes a Gritchie delivery van) –and the business is entirely self-
supporting. ‘It’s a bit frustrating in some ways’ says Gritchie Brewery’s Nick Brown, who spent nine years as a police officer in Dorset before emigrating to Australia with his wife to serve in the
Australian police. They returned to the UK as COVID restrictions lifted, and, looking for a change in career, Nick applied to Gritchie Brewery. Now he’s overseeing sales and running the brewery’s busy schedule of attendance at events – their horsebox bar is a familiar sight at shows and fairs across the south.
‘Everyone thinks it’s a massive boon to have this famous name behind the brand,’ Nick continues, ‘but actually it’s almost like we have to work twice has hard to have the beer taken seriously by some people. So many celebrities just put their name on someone else’s product and await the financial return. But Guy’s a very exacting boss. He is in the office most days that he’s here in Dorset – he’s really hands-on with the business’.
Working from Gritchie’s Ashcombe estate, tucked away in the chalk hills behind Shaftesbury, the Gritchie Brewing Company staff have a daily view that many would envy. Standing in the yard, surrounded by the usual rural sounds of birds, running water and a distant tractor, there is no hint that a busy brewery is inside the buildings surrounding the peaceful courtyard.
‘We do everything here except canning and bottling,’ says Nick. ‘We did try bottling ourselves, but the machinery takes up so much space. Economically it was better to outsource it. But the Maris Otter Barley is grown on the Ashcombe estate, we draw water from a bore hole on the estate, we brew the beer here, and everything is packaged in these buildings by the team. We even do all our own deliveries where possible, serving all the local outlets ourselves, right along the south coast, plus weekly runs
to London for Guy’s Lore of The Land Pub in Fitzrovia. We literally follow the product from field to bar.
‘We have a huge drive to be as environmentally conscious as possible. Even the kegs are ours, so they can be constantly recycled and reused.’
Head brewer Alix Blease explained the basic brewing process, starting with the sacks of barley arriving back at the farm as malt.
It is poured into the mash tun with hot water to create a mash. After 45 minutes, the sweet liquid wort is washed into a kettle, or copper, where it is boiled for an hour, and the hops are added at various stages depending on which beer is being made.
‘Local hops would be cheapest, obviously, but British hops tend to be dark and musky flavoured. Great for traditional British bitter ales, but a modern IPA needs a bright, zesty flavour, so we have to go further afield.’
The now-redundant grain isn’t
We believe in Do it once, do it right
The view into the brewery from the oldest part of the farm complex
wasted. It’s collected by a local farmer to use for animal feed. Gritchie brew 4,100 litre batches – limited by the size of their tanks. Every part of the equipment and process is carefully selected and controlled. ‘We’re all about consistency.’ says Alix. ‘We believe in Do it once, do it right. An independent craft brewery lives and dies by the reputation of its product. Because we’re making relatively small batches, we can be really responsive and brew to demand, which also means very little wastage.’
Nick agrees: ‘It’s no good us selling the beer into a pub, and having the landlord tell us the customers don’t like it this week because it’s not as good as last time. They trust us to always provide the same product. If their customers like it, the landlords will buy it. If we’re reliable in our product, we get loyalty from our customers in return. It’s good for everyone.’
It’s been a tough year for beer. There has been a 40 to 50 per cent increase in raw material costs since last summer. Heineken recently announced that they are increasing their prices by 15 per cent in January. But Alix is feeling positive. ‘Because we do so much ourselves, a lot of our costs are negated, using our own water from a borehole, for example, and selling more cask beer which doesn’t require CO2. We don’t plan to raise prices at all if we can possibly help it.’
Nick feels they also have some business advantages over their bigger competitors.
‘We don’t have their scale, obviously, but we’re a small team of seven; three in production, two on deliveries, Sally in the office and me.
And no matter what our official job is, really we all do everything – we were all labelling
this morning, getting product packaged up. But that means we have a very close relationship with our customers and can react quickly to their needs.
We’ve been able to offer local pubs smaller casks, for instance – many of them are reducing their opening hours due to their own staffing and cost issues, so they don’t want a large keg opened which they only have three days to sell through. We can also respond swiftly – we can generally get stock out to them within 24 hours, often same day if they’re not far. And we’re always on the end of the phone for advice and a chat.’
The whole team is aware of the need to balance the cask ales and traditional tastes of their rural heart, while also serving the city palates of their London fans.
Alix is constantly looking at new flavours and ways to develop – but for now keep your eyes peeled for the new Galaxy New England IPA. We finished our tour in the Break Room (opposite top) with a swift half of the new beer, and it’s light, slightly citrusy, explosively smooth and astonishingly delicious.
You can buy Gritchie Beer at the following local outlets:
Dikes supermarket
Ansty PYO Farm
Shaftesbury Wines
Udder Farm Shop
Shaftesbury Abbey Morrisons Shaftesbury or online at gritchiebrew.com/shop
Or ask your local freehouse landlord if he’ll stock it.
There are worse places to work ...Gritchie Brewery’s head brewer Alix Blease
North Dorset resident Alice Plunkett is one of the leading horseracing presenters for ITV. She is a former eventer and National Hunt jockey herself – beginning with local point to points which led to her riding in the 1993 Fox Hunters’ Chase at Aintree. She was just 19 and riding Bold King’s Hussar, bred by her grandfather. It was only her fifth ride on a racecourse and she finished fourteenth. Alice went on to ride winners on the flat, over hurdles and fences. Switching to eventing, she rode at Badminton Horse Trials and represented Great Britain as part of the Under 21s team at the European Three Day Event Championships. Alice is the only woman to have ridden at both Badminton Horse Trials and over the Grand National course at Aintree. Her broadcasting career began when she became a runner on Festival Radio; she moved on to having her own show there, at The Derby and Royal Ascot. Following Royal Ascot she was asked to do a screen test for the Racing Channel, where she continued to present until it closed. Alice was on the main Channel 4 Racing team from 2001 to 2016 and then moved to ITV when they took over racing coverage in 2017 – she soon became one of the lead presenters for National Hunt Racing coverage. Alice has also been the Radio 5 Live equestrian correspondent and has hosted equestrian events for Eurosport, Sky Sports and Horse and Country. She has also presented two series of the equestrian-interest show Horse Tails on Animal Planet.
Alice is married to top eventer William Fox-Pitt, and they have four children.
1. What’s your relationship with Dorset?
I’ve lived here for 20 years! I’m a partner in a farm, and involved in a leading equestrian yard just outside Sturminster Newton.
2. What was the last song you sang out loud in your car?
Ed Sheeran’s The Shape of You. Though to be fair, singing is a stretch. Wailing would be better.
3. The last film you watched? Oh, it was the latest Marvel movie in Dorch with the boys ...
Black something … (That’ll be Black Adam - Ed) (And actually it’s the DC Universe, not Marvel - Sub Ed). I nearly always get dragged to see them by 15 and 16 year-old boys and nearly always end up thoroughly enjoying myself!
4. It’s Friday night – you have the house to yourself, and no work is allowed. What are you going to do?
I am calling the girls round to drink vodka! Black Cow vodka, obviously.
5. What is your comfort meal? Roast chicken. With cheesy leeks, roast potatoes, onion gravy and as many different veg as I can squeeze onto the plate.
Actually, the Sunday roast at the White Horse in Hinton St Mary is amazing – I’ll happily go there for my roast chicken.
6. What would you like to tell 15 year-old you?
Try to put some structure into your life. And write lists!
7. The best crisps flavour? Smoky bacon
8. And the best biscuit for dunking? Digestives!
9. What book did you read recently that stayed with you?
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van der Valk. Just so so good – it’s about trauma, and the effect it has on our adult lives and bodies.
It’s a fascinating, insightful read that has stayed with me.
10. What’s your secret superpower? Relentless positive energy!
11. Your most annoying trait? I am a liability. I have an infuriating deep-seated belief that everything is possible. Which means I try and do far too much … In my defence I do get loads done, but I also end up dropping a lot of balls in the process.
12. What in life is frankly a mystery to you?
Tidiness …
13. What shop can you not pass without going in?
Ooohhhh … Hambledon Gallery in Blandford. Caroline Nicholls
in Sherborne. Gallery One in Sturminster Newton. All three are simply amazing shops – more so when you consider they’re all in such a small, sparsely-populated rural area.
14. Tell us about one of the best evenings you’ve ever had?
It was in Tokyo in 2019. William was asked to ride in the Olympic test event so we took our boys out on an adventure. We then had the most surreal night out in Shibuya city in Tokyo – it was like the movie Lost in Translation!
15. Chip Shop Chips or Home Baked Cake? CHIPS!
16. Your top three most-visited websites? Racing Post er... Racing Post... and Racing Post!
No, I do also visit At The Races and Sporting Life ... Oh, and Amazon. That counts!
17. Your favourite quote?
Winston Churchill: “No hour of life is lost that is spent in the saddle.” Simply because it is so true.
18. What was the last gift you either gave, or received?
I gave a potion-making kit to my niece. Oh, and I gave my son tickets to see comedian Jack Whitehall at the BIC for his 16th birthday. He was VERY excited – I actually got the most positive teenager reaction I’ve ever achieved, there were real words, not grunts!
19. You have the power to pass one law tomorrow, uncontested. What would you do? Free school meals for ALL children.
When octogenarian actors Derek Jacobi and Clint Eastwood worked together on the drama Hereafter, Jacobi asked Eastwood how he coped with age. Eastwood famously replied: ‘Don’t let the old man in!’
In a tiny village in Dorset, talented 84-year-old Peter Thomas and 70-year-old Trevor Ball are keeping the old man well and truly out. Former colleagues on Rampisham Manor estate, Peter as farm manager for 15 years and Trevor as gamekeeper and woodsman for 20 years, both are retired and now
work happily every day on their “addiction’’ – woodturning and stick dressing.
Although they never intended to set up a business, both men now have a hugely satisfying second career.
In his charming 17th century cottage in Rampisham, Peter has a gallery of their stunning creations. On display are beautiful bowls, begging to be touched, alongside lampstands and ornaments that would take pride of place in any swanky London gallery.
There are exquisite walking sticks
with ornate heads fashioned from ramshorns and sika deer antlers. The art of stick dressing, a carryover from when countrymen made their own shepherds crooks and walking sticks, is practised by Peter, who was taught the skill by his grandfather.
He says: ‘The day after I retired from farming, I saw a second hand lathe advertised. I bought it and for the next few weeks, all hell let loose! Eventually I taught myself how to use it properly and began woodturning.
‘I became completely hooked. I
Self-taught wood-turners Peter Thomas and Trevor Ball tell Tracie Beardsley how they have turned retirement into a new careerPeter Thomas bought a second hand lathe when he retired from farming. Now 84, he has a successful second career.
had a workshop built in my garden and then bought a top-of-therange “big boy” lathe with some of my retirement funds.’
Trevor shares Peter’s addiction. His cottage is near Peter’s and he’s converted part of his kitchen into another Living Wood gallery.
Trevor says: ‘I learned a lot by watching Peter wood turning, which is an art in itself. He’s ambidextrous, switching effortlessly from one hand to the other while the lathe is turning at a furious speed.
‘Like Peter, I bought a shed and a lathe. I started by making bowls and became totally hooked. Wood captures you and draws you in. I finished as a gamekeeper on the Friday and on the Saturday I was exhibiting as part of Dorset Arts Week!’
We go where the wood takes us This companionable double-act of self-taught heritage craftsmen are now award-winning exhibitors. They display at county shows across the south west, as many as 60 days of fares and events in a year. Both are also leading lights in the Dorset Art and Crafts Association and the Dorset Coppice Group.
Peter and Trevor use solely locallysourced wood for their creations. “In this day and age we are so quick to discard anything that isn’t perfect,” says Peter. ‘We use dead, diseased and storm-damaged wood. When we begin woodturning, there’s no preconceived ideas about what we’ll make. The natural edge of the wood evolves on the lathe. We go where the wood takes us.’
Peter, calling himself a Luddite when it comes to technology, has also set up a successful online shop. ‘Just this week, I’ve posted walking sticks to Poland, America, and France’, he tells me. Trevor had one couple from Boston buy 14 pieces of his work to take home. ‘That’s a real compliment as there are a lot of good turners in America where it’s seen as much more of an art form,’ says Trevor.
A small sample of the products made by Trevor and Peter from locally-sourced dead, diseased and storm-damaged wood
Wives Sarah and Jenny are happy woodturning widows! Trevor says: ‘You lose track of time, finding yourself lost in the zone. Both our wives are always asking us if we’re coming in for dinner!’
Peter adds: ’Jen would go mad if I was in the house all day. I’m sure I wouldn’t be alive today if I hadn’t started this hobby when I retired. Woodturning gives second life to a tree that has already lived for a few hundred years. We won’t outlast our creations, but making them has certainly given us a similarly new lease of life.’
Follow Peter and Trevor on Instagram as PeterLivingWood, on Facebook as RampishamTurner, or view the online shop on the website peterthomaslivingwood.co.uk.
Trevor: A-list dinner party guests?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – and Peter (he’d be at the head of the table).
Peter: What book are you reading? I’ve got piles of books everywhere! The Wisdom of Trees by Max Adams is top of my pile.
It’s 35 years since Mike and Louise Burks opened Castle Gardens – now their Christmas displays are a staple of the region’s festive calendar
Mike Burks is managing director of The Gardens Group, and with his wife Louise has spent the past three decades running three multi-awardwinning garden centres, three restaurants and a farm shop in Dorset and Somerset. During the 2020 lockdowns, Mike, as chairman of the Garden Centre Association (GCA), played an essential part in co-ordinating the industry’s emergency response. His biggest success was persuading the government that garden centres should be treated as essential retailers for the health of the nation. Both Mike and Louise graduated with honours degrees in horticulture from the University of Bath. They founded The Gardens Group in 1987, opening Castle Gardens in Sherborne, The group has since expanded with the opening of Brimsmore Gardens in Yeovil in 1992 and Poundbury Gardens near Dorchester in 2006.
One of the biggest challenges
‘Garden
He also believes the wide use of ‘multi-purpose’ compost is a big issue ‘Whether it is woodchip, coir or worse, peat, the ingredients in multipurpose are scarce and should not be wasted on the veg patch. Other, more plentiful, materials are available.’
A visit to Castle Gardens at Christmas is a December ritual for many families.
for modern garden centres, Mike believes, is their stance on environmental issues –peat, plastics, water, pesticides
and carbon emissions:
centres should be guiding customers to a peat-free world, for example.’Laura Hitchcock Mike Burks, managing director of The Gardens Group
Mike and Louise’s garden centres are renowned for their Christmas displays, and they have won the top national award in the GCA’s annual Christmas competition on numerous occasions.
The displays now have a purposefully environmentallyconscious focus: they have been built using re-purposed and recycled materials. The decorations and gifts have been deliberately sourced from small-scale makers and fairtrade businesses.
Recycled candles, plastic-free toys, soft toys made from recycled plastic and recyclable gift wrap are all available throughout the displays. Decorations made of glass, wax, paper and cardboard have replaced plastic. They are chosen for their quality so that they will be brought out year after year and hopefully be passed down through families.
And so to Mike’s eight music choices, in no particular order, along with how and why they stuck in his life:
I come from a big family, and we are all still very close. We
had to work hard at home – a small farm in North Devon which turned into an organic market garden – but it was good fun. We didn’t have a television for many years, so the record player was in fairly constant use. My older brothers and sisters especially would bring home records from a wide range of genres from John Denver and Neil Sedaka through to The Stranglers. But Cadillac Walk always reminds me of family times at home.
Reasons to be Cheerful Ian Dury and The Blockheads University was another time in my life when I found a lot of new music, through people from all over the UK – many of whom we’re still in touch with. It’s also where my wife Louise and I met.
Ian Dury was a genius, a poet really, but he was also a controversial figure at the time. Louise went to buy his album New Boots and Panties as a Christmas present for me, only to be told loudly by the assistant in a packed record store that they didn’t stock it
because it was banned under the Obscene Publications Act!
Moving to Sherborne to set up Castle Gardens lead to my involvement with Sherborne Rugby Club, which swiftly dominated life when we weren’t working! We have met a whole load of great people, some of them foolish enough to be persuaded by me to get involved in revues and pantomimes. This was a huge amount of fun and stretched my music collection even further (as fondly remembered by our kids who recall short clips of obscure tracks that I was selecting for these rugby events). From our panto The Wizzer D’ovos, based loosely (and I do mean very loosely) on The Wizard of Oz. I have chosen Lollipop, Lollipop just because it makes me laugh every time I hear it, instantly taking me back to a song-anddance routine performed by a large sweaty Lion, an even larger and sweatier Toto the dog, a Germanic Tin Man and an unusual Scarecrow.
Dorothy and some witches were around too but that is a whole other story...
My mum and dad were very fond of music, but especially jazz. I remember going to a concert at the Bournemouth International Centre with them in the late 80s or early 1990s to see Stephane Grappelli. I was amazed that it was a packed house with a huge audience. An elderly man in his 80s shuffled onto stage in slippers – on his own, without any announcement – and just started playing his violin. Just stunning. He was accompanied
after a while by two young guitarists who, after an hour, took a break while Stephane played the piano, followed by another hour of violin. So many to choose from but Sweet Georgia Brown is a personal favourite which has other stories attached!
Louise’s parents also loved jazz and we went to see many live shows with them in various places. They were fans of Lianne Carroll, a brilliant British pianist, but they also introduced me to lots of older jazz from the last century. Listening to Nellie Lutcher’s Lake Charles always brings back good memories.
Our children William and Sophie love music and enjoy some of the things that we have played for them over the years, but they also keep us up to date with new, contemporary bands. They are both fans of an Australian band called The Cat Empire and we have been to see them live on a number of occasions. The first time William went to see them was when he was still at the
Gryphon school and he asked us one morning if we’d like to go with him and a couple of friends to see The Cat Empire play at the O2 in Bristol that evening. We agreed – but were then told when he got back from school that he had sold our tickets, but could we give him and his mates a lift anyway!
Their song No Longer There was one I used at the threeday annual Garden Centre Association conference when I was chairman in January 2020. The song is a lament on climate change and, as the conference was on sustainability and the environment, it was the perfect theme tune. Not their jolliest song by any means but it takes me back immediately.
As a family and with friends we’ve been many times to the Edinburgh Fringe. We’ve come across several superb ones in tiny venues – and some terrible acts too!
Many of the former have gone on to be very successful, including Mischief Theatre and
Also, though, we have seen some great stand-up comedy. Spencer Jones’ humour is just bizarre, and he also makes up little songs which are ridiculous, especially What you Doing in My Cave. I’m not sure it was even properly published as he used to copy the CDs and wrap them in A4 sheets of handwritten paper!
In recent times I’ve been given some Sonos speakers and been introduced to Spotify, which has meant that I have been able to resurrect some old
favourites as well as find lots of new stuff I wasn’t really aware of before.
One great find has been JJ Cale. Of course I recognise the name, but I somehow missed out on some wonderful music. However, linking back to when I lived at home in Devon, I’ve been listening to lots of Johnny Cash and after watching Walk
The Line with the extraordinary Joaquin Phoenix I also became aware of June Carter and her amazing voice.
As to my luxury item I think I would like to take our talking reindeer Reg. He is an essential part of our Christmas display at the garden centres. Reg is, at best, downbeat shall we say, and his dour view of life would cause me to be always cheerful in response.
And my book would need to be A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin; our daughter’s first book, it was a Sunday Times best seller.
Click here to listen to Mike’s entire playlist on YouTube
As a mature student, Caroline Parrott secured a place for her Applied Arts degree by telling her interviewer that she ‘wanted to make people happy’ with her designs – and she’s still working to that plan today.
Caroline’s chosen metal is aluminium, working around its limitations by hand printing, dyeing the surface, experimenting with designs, colour and recycling. She also teaches how to colour aluminium to create jewellery and other items, including sculptural forms and swarms of butterflies. Caroline shares the
little studio, wittily entitled ‘Nutty Parrott Studios’ with long-time friend and silversmith Wendy Nutt, whose style shows in her simple elegant patterns. She uses various techniques such as piercing, photo etching and enamelling to create her timeless pieces of silver jewellery.
Their studio-shop is just inside Walford Mill, the beautiful listed building on the outskirts of Wimborne.
When commercial milling stopped in 1966, the premises became successively a coal yard,
builders’ yard and furniture showroom. After the death of Henry Bankes in 1982, the mill was included in the Bankes Estate bequest to the National Trust, along with Kingston Lacy House, Badbury Rings and Corfe Castle. In 1983, the old East Dorset District Council bought the mill along with 13 acres of land designated for development.
In 1995, the Walford Mill Education Trust took over the centre which it continues to oversee. Artists now hire their own studios. Alongside the workshops, pop-
up exhibitions and special projects with schools, there is an exhibition area where, until Christmas Eve, visitors can enjoy the “buying feast” that is Nutty Parrott’s Christmas Cracker. Caroline and Wendy have gathered together more than 20 artists and makers, offering a diverse range including ceramics, jewellery, textiles, glass and handmade decorations. Various artists will also be demonstrating and selling their work in popup spaces. True to Caroline’s ambitions, browsing the gift suggestions is bound to create a happy and festive frame of mind!
Nicole Purdie is a printmaker and illustrator who owns and runs Prints By The Bay from Bridport. She says ‘Linocut is a handmade and traditional method. Unlike modern digital illustration styles, one can really feel the connection between artist and image by seeing and responding to the mark making and imagery. As an illustrative medium, it perfectly suits strong visual narratives and storytelling, which are key to driving my work in print.’
Much of her work addresses ideas of nature, climate and our environmental connection. Linda Rowe is a distinctive glass artist based near Cranborne.
She creates a range of vibrant, contemporary designs whose inspiration comes from natural forms and colours. These include framed “Tiffany” pictures and sun-catchers, vibrant fused glass jewellery, glass hangings, coasters and bowls. She is captivated by the glass’s light,
texture and colour combinations and explores the traditional techniques of stained glass, copper foil Tiffany, mosaics and glass fusing. No visitor can resist a surge of happiness in the wonderfully eccentric world of Bournemouth-based potter Emily Stracey, who specialises in humorous animal ceramics, textiles and illustration. Her ceramic cats are great fun and are bound to bring a smile to any cat-lovers face.
Caroline Buckman is a Dorset printmaker who lives ‘between the sea and the countryside,’ inspired by the surrounding nature. Her bold, stylised prints simplify the intricate shapes of flowers and foliage that she finds on her walks. She says she is ‘firmly rooted in my happy place. My designs are purposefully
pared down to evoke a feeling of simplicity and calm … I hope they bring that same sense of joy and tranquillity wherever they find their home.’
The talented Jo Burnell creates individual hand-thrown earthenware pottery, beautifully decorated with lively colourful designs, featuring cheerful spotted birds and hares – all inspired by nature and the Dorset countryside.
A visit to Walford Mill’s Nutty Parrott’s Christmas Cracker will be a key stop on the festive shopping itinerary for many who are looking for a unique present. There is always something going on, a great sense of community and the makers are happy to talk about their work.
Caroline and Wendy hope you will feel happier when you leave!
Nutty Parrott’s Christmas Cracker is open until Christmas Eve: Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm; Sunday 10am to 4pm. www.walfordmillcrafts.co.uk
For a little too long for comfort, the important policy initiative of Levelling Up has been translated in the media, by commentators and by much of the voting public as being solely reserved for towns and cities north of Birmingham. No one will doubt the desirability of making our former industrial towns attractive places to live, work and socialise; in so doing we better balance the national economy but also relieve pressures for house building and economic development south of Birmingham. However, to see it as Northernfacing only is a mistake and it is one where the Government needs to be doing more to demonstrate that there is something in Levelling Up for everyone, irrespective of where they live in the country.
If buses come along in threes, then so do Dorset Tory MPs seeking to catch the eye of Mr Speaker in an important recent Commons debate on Levelling Up our rural areas. Messrs Drax, Hoare and Loder – the political equivalent of the Three Musketeers – spoke up for our county. I spent most of my time talking about the need to ruralise the rubric. This is not the sexiest of topics but it is vital.
One could be forgiven for thinking that too many central government funding equations are still rooted in calculation methodology which specifically ignores the pressures of delivering public and other
services in rural areas. Steps have been taken recently to recognise this in terms of school funding; I spoke up for such changes in Parliament on many occasions and we are now seeing the benefit of the rural location of schools being taken into account.
Too many of our funding rules have been written in Whitehall for Whitehall by people who think that a country walk is a saunter round Hampstead Heath. In my speech I called for Government to appoint a Rural Tzar (or Rural Squire?) who would have a crossdepartmental brief to ensure that policies had been ‘rural proofed’.
What do I mean by that?
Well, that it has taken into account a sparser population, the fact that the age profile is older and that delivery of, for example, in-home adult social care is more difficult given that customers may live many miles apart.
That our village school buildings are older and therefore more expensive to heat and maintain. That housing is less plentiful and therefore more costly, making it more expensive for youngsters starting out on their careers to get on the local housing ladder.
That our police and ambulance services face geographic challenges – four policemen in central Manchester, for example, cover far more people per square mile than the same in rural Dorset.
When it comes to flood prevention works carried out by
the Environment Agency, they need to assess the bang they get for each buck per head of the population.
£500k spent on a scheme that benefits 200k people meets the funding test but a (just as much needed) £500k scheme that benefits 1,000 people does not, simply because rural populations are smaller.
If everyone is paying their taxes, there is clear merit in ensuring that there are urban hurdles for proposals to overcome and there are rural hurdles to overcome: they just cannot be the same hurdles.
The Minister replying to the debate told us all that he understood the message. It wasn’t just the Three Dorset Musketeers making the case but every rural MP who spoke. . There was no doubting the passion and commitment we all felt on these important issues. The Prime Minister, representing a rural seat in North Yorkshire, gets it too. The message has been delivered. Pressure will be maintained. Watch this space.
Westminster policy has a habit of ignoring the less populated rural areas of the country, says MP Simon Hoare
Well, this 12 year bush tucker trial is beginning to come to a head. I am no celebrity but what with Royal Mail, nurses, ambulance and rail strikes, the cost of food, energy, services (you name it and it is up), the immigration mess, the ineptitude of Brexit implementation, water quality, social care misery… I am minded to get out of here! We won’t go, though. We will persist and adapt. We will listen and work with people with shared values to define a much better future.
The thought leadership of the nation does not reside with the Conservative party. Time and again their focus, their whole strategy, is to cling on to the people who voted for them, a minority of the population. There are two hard years ahead, though. Despite having less than any mandate at all, this government will cling on until the last possible moment. It will continue to use the tactics we have already seen in the autumn statement of postponing the more acute funding pain until after the next election. Remember that note left by Labour in 2010, “There is no money”? We will continue to see swathes of Tory MPs, including the new crop, declining to fight again. In sum, they know they are losing so they are setting up
the next government to fail and meanwhile they are looking after their own. They are frail, fraught and full of fractious factions. Vote them off the show now, I say!
So, to the positives: at our Annual General Meeting we were delighted to welcome Sarah Dyke, Somerset Councillor and prospective parliamentary candidate for Somerton and Frome. It was inspiring to hear how our neighbours are bringing new, radical ideas to bear, including, for example, the principles of Doughnut Economics. We are familiar with economic models based on the flow of work and money between employers and employees which results in the supply of – and demand for – goods and services. Simple enough. The problem is that we are trashing our environment as we go and leaving a trail of inequality and want in our wake.
Doughnut economics seeks a fair social foundation for the economy whilst not breaking our planet’s ecological constraints. We need to maximise the re-use of goods and services and properly harness and recognise the value of the unpaid inputs we make as parents, in running our households, in helping others in our communities and at work. This isn’t the wokerati at work. This is the sustainable future of the human race at stake. Without thinking like this, the nationalists, the plutocrats, the factionalists get to win. They do not create, they destroy. Witness poor Ukraine.
Mike Chapman Liberal Democrats Blackmore ValeThey are frail, fraught and full of fractious factions.
With Putin’s warmongering having further exposed the fragility of our food supply, it is worth reflecting on another Vladimir, Lenin, who wrote over a hundred years ago that ‘Every society is three meals away from chaos’. During the COVID pandemic people fought in shops over loo rolls – imagine the reaction if we were to run short of food. Some Tory politicians think the UK doesn’t need to worry about growing its own food, because we’re relatively wealthy and can buy what we need from other countries.
North Dorset’s MP Simon Hoare recently wrote about the need to sustainably increase UK food production, but he focussed entirely on livestock farming and claimed there is no ‘argument to
sustain’ a decline in the livestock sector. West Dorset MP Chris Loder has similarly written about how effective pastureland is as a carbon sink, and said that science does not support a plant-based diet. I respectfully suggest they both need to look more closely at the evidence, perhaps starting with DEFRA’s reports.
Livestock is presently the major part of Dorset’s farming industry, but we can and must change that. At present we have to import so much else of what we eat. Animal farming is a hugely inefficient way of producing food, using large areas of land to produce relatively little food. Around 71 per cent of UK land is used for agriculture, and 72 per cent of that is grassland for grazing. Most
of UK-grown wheat, barley and oats is used for animal feed, while we import almost half our fresh vegetables and 84 per cent of our fruit. That cannot continue. With the changing climate we cannot rely on other countries to be able to grow what we need. We have to recognise that farming is the most important occupation, bar none. Farmers must be properly rewarded for their efforts, and we need to encourage younger people into the profession. We must incentivise farming that produces more of the food varieties we need, and in organic ways that regenerate the health of our depleted soils, make our waterways clean again, increase biodiversity and capture carbon. It can be done, and our healthy future depends on it.
Ken Huggins, North Dorset Green PartyIt won’t have escaped anyone’s attention that there’s a World Cup going on in Qatar right now.
The first World Cup I remember was Mexico ‘86 when Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ was etched into my memory forever. But, as a trade unionist and LGBTQ+ and feminist ally, this is the first World Cup since then that I actually considered not watching.
Ever since I was a kid, football has formed an important part of my weekly ritual.
When the old man was still alive, he would call every Sunday evening to talk about the football results. It’s often said that men –particularly those over a certain age – aren’t good at expressing their feelings. But through those exchanges, Dad and I would get a pretty good understanding if there was something bothering
one of us, and I like to think that we always found a way to give one another the support we needed. Sometimes we find a different way to communicate: ours was football.
For me and many other football fans, the beautiful game creates a prism through which we can project our own beliefs and values and put them to the test in a uniquely safe and public space. Perhaps that’s why some have condemned the actions of sportsmen wishing to express their own beliefs and values by shining a light on injustice. Perhaps they realise their own values are destined to fail the test when the lads on the pitch
that carry the weight of their hopes on their shoulders make it abundantly clear that they stand against their bigotry and hatred and division.
In the end, I decided to watch.
I decided to support my country and the English values of solidarity and inclusion that our national team represents.
I am proud that they continue to take the knee.
I am proud of them for using their platform to shine a light on racism, sexism and homophobia and the rights of workers building stadiums.
I am proud to be English.
COME ON ENGLAND!
Pat Osborne, for North Dorset LabourFarming is the most important occupation, bar none
Sometimes we find a different way: ours was football
Sherborne
Sherborne will once again light up for Christmas with a free-entry Festive Shopping Day on Sunday 4th December 2022 from 10am until 4pm.
The day will include:
• Church services in The Abbey
• Festive shops and stalls
• Street entertainers
• Sherborne Town Band
• Other music and choirs.
• Santa’s Grotto
• Children’s competition
• Dorset’s Farmers Market
• Christmas tree festival
• Parade and lighting of the tree at 4pm
Organised by volunteers from Sherborne’s Chamber of Trade
and Commerce, the event offers a great family day out. Sherborne’s Festive Shopping Day is always well supported with the main shopping area of Cheap Street closed to traffic. Visitors can take the opportunity to browse more than 80 street market stalls of local makers, producers and traders, as well as the range of independent shops for which Sherborne is known. All of them will of course be offering some great ideas for Christmas gifts, treats and pampering as well as countless places to enjoy something to eat or drink in the coffee shops, restaurants and pubs the town has to offer.
And while in the town, don’t forget to make the annual trip to see the award-winning Christmas display at Castle Gardens too (just five minutes drive from the town centre)
There will be free parking in the following car parks: Acreman Street, Coldharbour, Culverhayes (short stay and long stay), Culverhayes (commercial), Newland North, Old Market Yard and The Digby Hall.
Enjoy some of the greatest arias and ensembles from the operas of Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, and Gilbert & Sullivan. Starring the baritone Philip Blake-Jones and the London Festival Opera. Fundraising evenings for The Vale Pantry and The Exchange.
Join Neil Sands for a dazzling sleigh ride of yuletide memories, filled with over 60 of your all time favourite Christmas songs and Carols that will have you singing along from start to finish and bringing back so many wonderful memories of Christmases past.
More than a Feline
Told entirely through song and rhyming couplets, Living Spit’s new version of Puss ’n’ Boots promises all the usual frolics, festivities and foolishness, plus the answers to such burning questions as: Is Stu’s Irish dancing actually any good?
Founding members of Los Pacminos JAMIE MOSES and DREW BARFIELD team up as Dos Amigos! They will be performing some Los Pacaminos favourites as well as a range of well known classics from the 60s to Present Day. An intimate gig with two legends of the industry!
The interior of the old NatWest bank in Sturminster Newton has been veiled in secrecy for many months. Passersby couldn’t see through the boarded up windows, and the solid bank doors remained firmly closed to casual onlookers. The Sturminster Newton Benefit Society Ltd (SNBS) took over the lease of the old building last year, and have been promising an ‘indoor market of artisans’. The BV got a sneak peek inside ahead of the official opening –and it was a rich and beautiful surprise.
that no one knew was there. The history of the building has been used as a feature, not hidden and decorated over, creating a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. The space is light and airy, and is as far removed as possible from the simple jumbled collection of local makers items that was clearly expected by the invited guests. Instead the inviting interior showcases an ‘eclectic bank’ of more than 30 carefully-selected artisans.
for profit Gone is the dull, austere banking interior. Instead the building has been stripped back to its elegant, airy bones – even revealing an original fireplace
1855 was officially opened by Sonnaz, Repair Shop expert, on Friday 25th November at 4pm and everyone is warmly invited. ‘Every single trader is connected to the Blackmore Vale area.’ manager Cheryl Basten told the BV ‘The one exception is Wolf Wine who are based in
The eclectic new browsing bank of artisans and traders has proved an instant hit in the town. Laura Hitchcock reports
Bath: however, they have links to Sturminster Newton’s only winemaker, and next year will be stocking Sturminster’s own wine. ‘We do still have a few trader spaces available, but there is an application and interview process to go through – whether for an artist, an artisan craftsperson, a drinks producer or a trader. The product has to sit well in the store, complement the other traders and be of an equivalent high standard.’
The result of this due care and attention to detail is a vastly varied mix of items which oddly work together in a room comfortably filled with bare brick, wood, and wire cages strewn with industrial lighting. ‘Traders pay a very small rent for their space,’ said Cheryl ‘and then SNBS take a 10 per cent commission on all sales. We’re a non-profit, however – after costs are covered, ALL profits go back into regeneration projects for the town.’
The old bank manager’s office to the right of the entrance is currently filled with a range of bespoke cabinets by the Sturminster Newton furniture maker Original Crate Furniture –who has been creating distinctive bespoke wooden furniture on Sturminster’s Butts Pond Trading Estate for almost 10 years, and
yet is little-known in the town. In the main shop area, each of the individual traders has a distinctly designed section to display their products.
The tall free-standing glass case full of Elizabeth Shewan’s beautiful bronze jewellery caused more than one casual browser to pause. Lilypea’s beautiful candles and melts are next-door neighbours to local artist Beth Wood’s wildlife paintings. Stunning wooden sculptures from Jamie Hart stand alone in the centre of the floor, with a background of jewel-like coloured fabrics from Treasures from the Silk Road.
‘It’s just wonderful!’ commented one browser.
‘It’s so welcoming, and such a surprise. Between you and me
I did NOT expect it to be this fabulous!’ said another. ‘I’ve already bought something!’ said a third.
It is very clear that 1855 will quickly become a destination shop for the town, offering such a wide range of choices – every browse around the shop reveals a new item. Late night opening for the weekends will allow a visit after work for a bottle of wine or a last-minute gift, and Sunday opening will hopefully encourage more trailway visitors to continue their walks up and through the town.
1855 is open:
• Mon and Tues 10am to 4pm
• Wed to Fri 10am to 7.30pm
• Sat 10am to 4pm
• Sun 11am to 3pm
Christmas gift buying needn’t be stressful!
As always there are a wonderful range of book ideas that make perfect presents – I’ve rounded up some of my top suggestions below, and naturally they’re all available from your favourite local independent bookseller (that’s me, by the way). Have a good Christmas! Wayne PS - Just click the book covers to buy. And you can see all my previous Book Corner recommendations on the BV website here!
The Countryman by Johnny Scott £17
From the toad to the bumblebee, the cuckoo to the pheasant, the life cycle of the dragonfly, the attractions of the nightjar and the dove, the development of sheep breeds and the value of the cottager’s pig – these are just some of the characters of the natural world as described by Johnny Scott.
The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama £25
The former First Lady shares her practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in today’s highly uncertain world.
The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer £17 – signed copies available. The muchloved comic proves adept at noir-ish fiction in a debut whose surrealist humour sets it apart.
And Bob’s other half Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves) ...
Birds by Jim Moir £15 Jim loves birds. His popularity as a painter has soared. The simplicity and sincerity of his bird paintings have given them cult status. Now, for the first time, one hundred of these beautiful paintings are gathered together in this exquisite book.
A Ukrainian Christmas £17 ‘History, stories, recipes and beautiful illustrations’ - Olia Hercules ’Christmas brings the indestructibility of hope in times of the greatest hopelessness. As long as we celebrate this holiday, we can neither be defeated nor destroyed. This is the message that Ukraine is trying to convey to the world. A donation of the sale of each book is made to the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal
For those of us with busy lifestyles and little time to spare, slow cookers are a priceless helping hand in the kitchen - with as little as ten minutes spent preparing a dish at the beginning of the day, you can enjoy delicious food a few hours later without slaving away at a hot stove.
The Lost Orchards : Rediscovering the forgotten apple varieties of Dorset £18
About two-thirds of Britain’s small, traditional orchards have been lost since 1960. This is a loss in ecological diversity, in community knowledge and the intricacy of local distinctiveness. In 2007 the pomologist Liz Copas and cidermaker Nick Poole began a quest to find and identify old varieties of cider apple trees around Dorset.
At the age of 61, with no farming experience, Roger signed on as a part-time labourer on a beef cattle farm to tell their side of the story. The result is this lyrical and evocative book.
The Book of Dog Poems by Ana Sampson £13
The relationship between us humans and our dogs has inspired some of the world’s greatest poets. Sometimes funny, sometimes moving, the poems in this beautifully illustrated anthology are a true celebration of the faithful, affectionate, delightful dog. The perfect gift for dog lovers.
Book of Cat Poems by Ana Sampson £13
This beautifully illustrated anthology of cat poetry is a celebration of the world’s most loved pet by the world’s best loved poets. The purrfect gift for cat lovers (sorry).
Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams £10
Gobbolino has sparky whiskers and magic tricks, but he wants to be a simple kitchen cat. Reissued for its 75th anniversary with illustrations by the awardwinning Catherine Rayner, this classic tale has been loved by generations of children.
The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher £8
In this timeless picture book adventure. Christmasaurus wants more than anything to be able to fly, and help pull Santa’s sleigh across the sky on Christmas Eve. But flying turns out to be much harder than he thought, even with Santa’s help! One special Christmas, however, he falls down a chimney and meets a dinosaur-obsessed little boy who teaches him the magic of believing ...
We’re fortunate to have some amazing contributors to The BV. Carl Bovis often allows us the use of his amazing photography, and I’m always proud that writers Gay Pirrie-Weir and Fanny Charles are part of the BV team.
Deepest Somerset £25
The perfect Christmas gift for past and present residents of Somerset – and for all those who love the county. Deepest Somerset celebrates the food and history, the wildlife and the landscape, the iconic places, and the fascinating people who live and work in the county. The beautifully illustrated hardback, with an introduction by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales), is a gorgeous addition to any bookshelf. And all proceeds go to three Somerset charities. Fanny Charles spent a day with one of the world’s great cheese-makers, George Keen, at Wincanton, to learn how his family has been making traditional, clothbound, unpasteurised Cheddar for more than 100 years. Gay Pirrie-Weir talked to Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis about his lifelong Methodism. Julian Temperley talks about his historic victory over the EU to be allowed to use the word brandy for his distilled Somerset Cider.
Their first book, Deepest Dorset, is now sold out, but Deepest Wiltshire is still available. Both books make wonderful gifts for anyone with a connection to the counties, and are available from independent stockists, or direct from the Deepest Books website: deepestbooks.co.uk
100 More Birds by Carl Bovis £19
This is the follow-up to Carl’s wonderful 100 Birds. It features another 100 of his best, or most interesting, bird photos, coupled with fascinating information from Carl about how, when and where he got the shots, some information about the birds, plus personal stories and experiences relating to the birds.
The book is a simple format across 200 pages; one side of each is a full page bird photo with its own page of personal reflection from Carl opposite. Buy direct from Carl’s website carlbovis.com and don’t forget to have a browse of his site for other gifts while you’re there. His jigsaws and calendars always sell out at Christmas. His pack of blank greeting cards, in packs of ten, are perfect notecards to keep in your drawer.
These days its main raison d’être is ornamental, although it can also serve as a temporary shelter during a storm or shower.
But in its 500-year history,
Sherborne’s grade-one listed Conduit has had several other uses, mostly in the 19th century.
It was built by Abbot Mere in the early 1500s as a washroom
for his monks and originally stood in the northern alley of the Abbey cloister.
Some sources say it was built by ‘Albert’ Mere but I suspect this is an error that began with someone mishearing or misreading ‘Abbot’.
It pays not to believe everything you see in print... In 1560, a couple of decades after Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Conduit was moved to its present site in the Parade towards the bottom of Cheap Street.
The hexagonal building originally had a short cross on its roof but that is long gone. The addition of windows and a door in 1834 made the Conduit a lot less draughty and enabled its next use as a
reading room. Later it became an early Victorian police station and in 1861 a penny bank. One thing that is not welcome there today is the bicycle – a sign tells us that the parking of cycles is prohibited. The nearby village of Bradford Abbas once had a smaller version of the Conduit but it was ‘taken down by the
overseer’ about 1800, ‘to the great regret of many of his neighbours’.
My ‘then’ pictures from Barry Cuff’s collection show the Sherborne Conduit from three still-recognisable angles. The one looking up Cheap Street in about 1900 (opposite, top) shows a horse-drawn milk
cart in the foreground, albeit possibly super-imposed in the darkroom.
At the junction with Long Street (far right) is Durrant’s grocer’s shop, whose tall delivery vans were a familiar sight in the Sherborne area. According to David Burnett’s book Lost Dorset: The Towns, Henry Durrant was a champion of Dorset Blue Vinny cheese when it was going out of fashion.
I’ve heard that the original Blue Vinny needed prolonged exposure to the bacteria of a manure heap to reach maturity, but for some reason this is now against public health regulations!
Henry Durrant was also a councillor and a magistrate but a 1931 Directory of Dorset lists him as an antique dealer in Long Street.
The second picture (above) looking along Long Street
towards the Conduit and Conduit House, with the Abbey literally towering majestically above all, also dates from about 1900. Far right is Edwin Childs’ Cycle Works. Like many people in that business, he moved with the times and later opened a garage for motor
vehicles further along Long Street on a site later replaced by the Cloisters housing development.
J H Short, pictured outside the shop next door, was a family grocer. Opposite are the Castle Hotel, a favourite haunt of carriers, and the National Provincial Bank.
The coats worn by the couple in the final picture looking towards South Street (above) suggest it is post-war, possibly 1950s.
Frisby’s, the shoe shop chain, occupied the tallest of the buildings on the left side of South Street.
Almost 250 years after the funeral of the young
remain about whose “body” was actually
According to the Milton Abbas parish register, the funeral of the Honourable John Damer took place on 21st August 1776. Amid much pomp and wailing, the body of Lord Milton’s eldest son and heir was laid to rest in the family vaults beneath the north transept of Milton Abbey church. But were they?
Milton Abbas villagers had serious doubts. Persistent rumours suggested that the young Damer not only survived his own funeral but was often seen out and about in later years. There is also cause to suspect that the coffin that today sits beneath the memorial to Lord and Lady Milton may contain something other than their son’s mortal remains.
As a young man, John Damer was the very definition of profligate. His costly pastimes included gambling and horse racing and his estranged wife Anne’s biographer Percy Noble described him as ‘one of a wild, foolish set about London, whose whole glory in life was centred in the curl of a coat-collar and the brim of a hat’.
Noble added: ‘These young fops made up for a want of wit by the most extravagant display of ridiculous eccentricity.’
Three times a day, Damer appeared wearing a brand-new suit, and after his alleged death, his wardrobe was sold for the collossal sum of £15,000 (roughly £1.3m today). He ran up debts estimated at £70,000 (over £6m in 2022) – well over twice the annual income of his father’s Milton Abbey Estate. By 1776, his creditors were
closing in and Lord Milton – who also had two other extravagant sons – had run out of patience and was refusing to bail him out.
In the early hours of 15th August, 32-year-old Damer apparently shot himself in the head at the Bedford Arms in Covent Garden. At an inquest in the same pub later that day, a 22-man jury concluded that he had killed himself while not of ‘sound mind, memory or understanding, but
lunatic and distracted’. But the circumstances were not straightforward. Innkeeper John Robinson explained that Damer had earlier dined in an upstairs room along with five entertainers he had requested – four women who sang and a blind fiddler called Richard Burnet.
The ladies left at 3am after which Burnet was asked to leave the room and return in 15 minutes. Twenty minutes later, the
sightless fiddler told Robinson that Damer had not spoken since his return to the room and that there was a ‘disagreeable smell’ he thought might be from a candle that had fallen over. When the landlord joined him, however, he found Damer dead in his chair, bleeding from a head wound with a discharged pistol at his feet.
On a table was a suicide note, which stated: ‘The people of the house are not to blame for what has happened, which was my own act.’
Damer’s house steward John Armitage told the coroner his master had been in ‘oppressed spirits’ of late and Burnet confirmed he was not his usual cheerful self.
If there is anything in the stories that Damer did not die that day, he must surely have had an accomplice or two and a replacement body waiting in the wings.
This would not have been difficult to arrange, especially if the body was ‘borrowed’ to be returned later. In 1776, it was normal for a
coroner and jury to view a body, but it’s fair to assume that none of them knew Damer personally so would not have known if it was not his.
Given that Burnet was blind, it appears that Robinson and Armitage were the only people in a position to identify Damer’s body.
Both had served him loyally for years. Could it be that they also co-operated in some elaborate scheme to fake his death?
On the face of it, that is no more than speculation.
A hundred years later, however, one Frederick Fane of Fordingbridge added substance to the story.
During a visit to Milton Abbey, Fane heard about the legend of the ‘bogus funeral’.
As it happened, his visit coincided with some repair work on the north transept, and the clerk of works invited him into the vaults, which were usually inaccessible.
Among numerous coffins was one bearing John Damer’s name and the date of his death, and Fane was invited to lift it.
‘This I found impossible due to its extraordinary weight,’ he later recalled.
Invited to lift a second coffin, Fane did so ‘without the slightest exertion’.
‘There, sir,’ the clerk told him. ‘This one contains a body gone to dust. The other one is full of stones, as it was supposed by the old villagers would be the case if any opportunity occurred for investigation.’
Once the works were complete, the vaults were re-sealed and their coffins left to sit undisturbed indefinitely. Perhaps one day a need will arise to open the vaults once again. Until it does, the mystery of John Damer’s death will continue to remain a mystery.
• Roger Guttridge’s books Ten Dorset Mysteries (1989) and Dorset: Curious and Surprising (2016) both include a chapter on the Damer mystery.
... Whose whole glory in life was centred in the curl of a coatcollar and the brim of a hat
It all goes back to Abraham Case, a soldier who fought in the Wars of Religion that ravaged Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries. He saw soldiers replace buttons on their uniforms by twisting a piece of cloth over a form and fastening it with a thread, but he may have been influenced in part by Brussels lace. He was also impressed by the skills in the buttoner’s art, seen in the work of Northern French and Belgian button makers.
He realised that Dorset had all the raw materials readily at hand: fabric, discs cut from the horns of Dorset Horn sheep and thread. Although originally from the Cotswolds, Abraham married a local girl. He set up his business in 1622 in Shaftesbury, going on to open depots in Bere Regis and other mid-Dorset villages. The catalyst for growing demand
was the change in mens’ fashions at this time, from the old doublet and hose to a more modern waistcoat and breeches – which required buttons, of course.
By the middle of the 18th century, nearly 700 women and children worked for the Case company alone, while up to 4,000
buttoners were employed in the industry around Shaftesbury and 3,000 around Blandford. The workforce were mostly outworkers; women and retired farm workers were able to make buttons from home.
In North Dorset button making was the biggest industry, albeit
The original Dorset High Top (left), and a Dorset Knob button.
Image: Anna McDowell
a cottage one, and second only to farming in employment. Tracy Chevalier’s book, Burning Bright, features a character, Maisie, who makes money from buttony.
The first buttons were called High Tops, and were mostly used on women’s dresses. The horn disc was covered by material and made into a conical button using a needle and thread. Flatter versions were called Dorset Knobs, and were possibly the inspiration for the local baked biscuit of that name.
In 1731 a Yorkshireman, John Clayton, was brought in to reorganise the business after a bad fire at the Bere Regis depot. He used his contacts with Birmingham wire manufacturers to switch to metal rings, which were cheaper than horn. Some of these buttons were made using wire twisted on a spindle, called Singletons. Other variations, using a ring and thread, were called Blandford Cartwheels. The town’s earlier Huguenot lace industry was by then in decline, but the button makers had found a new use for the fine lace thread.
The highest quality buttons were mounted on pink card, and exported, while seconds came on blue. The best buttoners could make a gross a day, earning three shillings and sixpence, much more than the day rate for an agricultural labourer.
The quality of Dorset buttons was noticed in London, where High Tops soon adorned the waistcoats of courtiers.
There is speculation that Charles I went to his execution wearing a waistcoat made with Dorset buttons. Much later, Queen Victoria had a dress trimmed with Dorset Knobs. Cartwheels are probably the most popular buttons made today.
Unbuttoned
Sadly, the Industrial Revolution destroyed many cottage industries, including Dorset’s button-making. Benjamin Saunders began making machined buttons from his London workshop and took out a patent in 1813 for his fabric buttons. The death knell finally came with John Aston’s patented button-making machine which was demonstrated to great effect at the Great Exhibition of 1851. There was no way the Dorset buttoners could compete. There was acute distress across mid-Dorset, and from Shaftesbury alone 350 families were sent to the colonies at government expense.
The situation had been made worse by the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1840 and the arrival of cheap food from the colonies, bringing in its wake a long-lasting depression in rural Dorset in the late 19th century.
Farmers were forced to mechanise to compete and laid off thousands of agricultural labourers. Thomas Hardy’s tragic novels of rural hardship were based in this period, and the effects can be seen in the
parish censuses of the time. At Winterborne Tomson, where I live, there were 53 inhabitants in 1841 but by 1891 this had halved. Those who left either emigrated or went to work in the factories of the North.
New buttons for MPs Florence, the Dowager Lady Lees, tried to resurrect the button industry, learning from women who had been button makers long before. In 1908 she set up a small business making Parliamentary buttons for Dorset MPs in the constituency colours, but it died with the onset of World War 1.
Today Dorset buttons are a heritage craft, but there has been some renewed interest – in particular Anna McDowell of Henry’s Buttons, near Shaftesbury, aims to help keep the history and skill of the Dorset button industry alive, organising workshops and talks.
There is a permanent display of Dorset buttons at the Gold Hill Museum in Shaftesbury, and I recommend Thelma Johns’ book Dorset Buttons: Hand Stitched in Dorset for over 300 Years.
We welcome photography submissions from readers - the only rule is that they must have been taken locally in the last month. Our cover shot is usually selected from our submissions pile. If you’d like to join in, please do: • Share it in the BV community Facebook Group • Or simply email it to photos@ theblackmorevale. co.uk.
If you’re looking for a beautiful quiet circular walk near Blandford, try this stroll above the Winterborne valley. This was honestly a surprise of a route – literally plotted in under 10 minutes for a spontaneous last-minute afternoon walk. But what a brilliant find; we’ll absolutely return to do this one again and again. Despite being so close to two busy main roads (they’re the reason we’ve not walked here before – the A354 through the Winterbornes and the A350 through Spetisbury), the walk was peaceful and unhurried, with some far-reaching views on all sides. You circumnavigate Gorcombe Farm Activity Centre – I’m going to guess on a busy weekend the noise from quad bikes could be irritatingly close by, but we were entirely undisturbed for the whole gentle 4.5 mile stroll on a Sunday afternoon.
We have always created and recently walked the routes we feature (See all previously published routes here), so you know you can trust them. We aim for unpopulated routes with no roads and BIG VIEWS! You can see all our routes (including many which are unpublished in The BV) on Outdoor Active, and all include a downloadable gpx file. All images © Laura Hitchcock
We all know that you can be overwhelmed with jobs at Christmas, especially if it’s your turn to host friends and loved ones. There are many lovely products on our supermarket shelves that can help take some of the burden. But if you fancy trying your hand at perhaps just one thing homemade this Christmas, I’m sharing four side dishes that are simple to make and can all be made in advance to help bring that little extra – stress-free – to your Christmas table.
Heather x
PS - you can see all of last year’s Christmas baking recipes here, and don’t forget my foolproof Christmas Cake recipe - it reliably gives that delicious deep Christmassy flavour whether you make it two months or two days before Christmas. You can find more of my Christmas recipes here, including my famous mincemeat, the easiest sausage rolls to impress and the super-Christmassy star-topped jammy biscuits.
Ingredients
• Fresh Brussels sprouts
• Good quality olive oil
• Salt
• Balsamic vinegar
Method
• Preheat the oven to Gas 6/180º fan. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
• Wash the Brussels sprouts, cut off the bottoms, remove the outer one or two layers of leaves and slice in half from top to bottom.
• Place the Brussels sprouts onto the baking tray and generously drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Give the Brussels sprouts a good rub with the olive oil to make sure they are coated but make sure they finish up with their cut sides face down on the tray.
• Bake in the oven for 17-25 minutes until they are crispy and golden brown. You can then drizzle them with a little balsamic vinegar.
• To spice them up further, you can also add crispy bacon bits or parmesan cheese. You can also sprinkle finely grated parmesan cheese onto the tray while it is baking for an even crispier Brussels sprout.
To make ahead …
Roast the Brussels and then once cooled (and before any of the extra flavours), place in an air tight container in the fridge.
To refresh, place on a baking tray with a light sprinkle of olive oil and pop in the oven to reheat for five minutes. Then drizzle with extra flavours (like balsamic etc).
If you wanted to add Parmesan, roast the Brussel sprouts plain and then when reheating, sprinkle with grated parmesan and cook in the oven until the cheese has melted.
‘I’m not sure any Brussels sprout recipe will entirely convince me that they are a delicious vegetable, but this at least makes them edible (to me) – the actual sprout lovers in the house devour this dish!’all images © Heather Brown
Shaftesbury.
personal favourite – the croissants really elevate what is basically bread and milk to a decadent and luxurious sauce for your turkey (plus it uses up any stale croissants that you may have lying around from a festive brunch. Win-win!)
• 500ml milk
• 3-4 croissants (stale is fine!)
• 1 white onion, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• Salt and pepper
• 50ml cream
• In a saucepan, place the milk, thyme, onion, ground cloves, salt and plenty of black pepper (either whole peppercorns or freshly ground).
• Place on a medium heat and bring to the boil. As soon as it begins to boil, remove from the heat and leave for 15 to 30 minutes so that the flavours infuse into the milk.
• Strain the milk into a fresh bowl.
• In a food processor, blitz the croissants until they are crumbs and stir these into the milk.
• You can make this the day before and leave in the fridge at this stage.
• To serve, gently reheat the mixture in a saucepan on a low heat. Add some cream to loosen the sauce as it may have thickened as it cooled.
• Give it a taste and add some salt if it needs it. You can also add a small squeeze of lemon to ‘brighten’ the taste at this stage.
‘My
‘Once you’ve tasted your own, I promise you’ll never go back to the jarred stuff. It’s ridiculously easy, and tastes SO good!’
• 100g brown sugar
• Juice of roughly three oranges, you need 100ml
• 400g cranberries (fresh or frozen)
• Pinch of salt
• Glug of sherry
• Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and stir together. You can also add the zest of the oranges if you wish. Turn onto a high heat and leave to come to a boil, stirring occasionally to melt the sugar into the rest of the ingredients.
• Allow the sauce to boil, enough to reduce slightly. The cranberries will begin to lose their shape and soften (after about 7-8 minutes if using frozen berries, less if fresh).
• Take off the heat and leave to cool. Don’t worry if the mixture looks runny, it will thicken as it cools.
• The sauce will keep for up to a week, just place in a lidded container in the fridge.
Dorset is known as a natural larder, from meat to dairy and veg to cakes. Caz Richards of Dorset Food & Drink suggests some seasonal favourites
Unless you’re the most organised person on the planet and have done your Christmas shopping by Hallowe’en – the sudden realisation that we are only a few weeks from Christmas Day can send us into a spin. It’s OK. Relax.
We’ve got a holly jolly basket full of local Dorset loveliness that won’t break the bank and if we choose to buy Christmas gifts and groceries from local makers, producers and retailers, we can all make a genuinely big difference to our small businesses and independents.
Whether it’s local cheese, funky craft ales, free-from sweet treats, chocolate, wine or something made by talented artisans – there’s plenty to choose from in Dorset, and you can shop small or large depending on your budget. It’s a great way to support your local producers, many of whom have won multiple national awards for their products! Keep it local, and get to know the people who make, bake, brew, cook, sew, grow, craft and create beautiful things.
The Wasabi Company’s take on the classic Limoncello
has a rather good farm shop loaded with Dorset products and local food? A visit would not only be a great choice for your festive table, but also perfect for sourcing if you fancy putting together an amuse bouche of tasty local treats as gifts for friends and loved ones.
Our top pick for Christmas condiments takes us to the far east via Dorset! Spice up your festive faves with a contemporary twist from The Wasabi Company – the only grower of fresh wasabi in the UK, with farms in Hampshire and Dorset. Try the Yuzu mustard – delicious with mini roast beef yorkie canapes. For a festive tipple, try the amazing Yuzucello; whole yuzu fruits from Kōchi distilled into The Wasabi Company’s take on the classic Limoncello. Cheers!
Warm winter wishes from everyone at Dorset Food & Drink. x
P.S. Don’t forget to use up all your festive leftovers. There are lots of ideas at Love Food Hate Waste!
Let’s begin with bubbles and get things started with a sparkle. Although a very welcoming aperitif, a glass (or two) of fizz can absolutely sing with a smoked salmon starter – opt for a bottle with a little more flavour, so it can handle the cured character of the fish, a blancs de blancs Champagne is a favourite. Made with 100 per cent Chardonnay grapes, its high acidity handles the saltiness of the smoked salmon perfectly – same goes for oysters!
Of course, fizz doesn’t need to finish at the beginning of proceedings, and there’s a very special reservation for a glass of prosecco with a slice of traditional panettone – it’s the merrier version of a cuppa and cake, with the fruitier notes from the Italian sparkling wine pairing beautifully with the dried fruits tucked inside the sweet cake.
Among all the rich indulgence of the holiday, it’s nice to serve up a lighter fish dish for a refreshing respite. The classic pairing for a lightly grilled or baked fish would be a crisp chablis, but if you look to other French whites, you’ll find a couple of pairings that will last you a lifetime.
The first is the magnificent Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, a wine made from the lesser-known Melon de Bourgogne grape in the west side of the Loire – it’s light and crisp, and has delicious, zippy notes of citrus that work in harmony with the salinity of the fish. Saltiness in food really sings when drunk alongside a wine with real acidity.
Alternatively, pour a Picpoul de Pinet for your guests, one of the oldest grapes of the Languedoc. With its alluring, delicate notes of acacia, citrus, pear and honey blossom, it positively charms fish dishes with its well-structured
acidity that is freshly balanced on the palate.
A traditional turkey is more gamey than its pal, the humble chicken, and it needs a wine that has some real structure to it. A traditional choice would be Rhône red such as a rustic Chateauneuf du Pape. But if you are looking to make a more interesting white wine choice that isn’t a buttery, oak aged Chardonnay from either Burgundy or the new world, then a barrel-aged Hungarian Dry Furmint from Tokaji makes for a stunning selection. It’s fruity yet robust, has a lively acidity yet a round body, with luscious, silky – almost creamy – notes from its time spent in oak.
In short, gamey birds do well with complex layers in the glass – also bearing in mind that your turkey will most likely have other robust flavours beside it on the plate, such as cranberry sauce or
‘22
chestnut stuffing. All things are wonderful in moderation, and we all enjoy the richness of Christmas dishes. Indulgent meals cry out for big and bold wines to meet them head on – it’s good to remember this when the Boxing Day curries, or various goose fat potatoes make an appearance over the festive period.
Sweet Treats Pudding wines are still underrated, even though they are one of life’s greatest pleasures. When dealing with the sweeter end of the spectrum, there is one key principle: ensure that the wine is sweeter than the dessert. Otherwise, it will all be a bit ... flabby. Though when it comes to the timeless tradition of a Christmas pud with its dense, winter-spiced dried fruit and sticky consistency, we find that a marriage made in heaven is found with a sherry –
of the Pedro Ximenez (PX) variety to be precise. A good PX mirrors the flavours on the palate, in the glass – it’s almost a pudding in itself! If you want a lighter dessert with all the flavours of Christmas, a good glug of PX Sherry over some vanilla ice cream is fantastic, and a great alternative to the usual affogato, which does the same with coffee.
A well-deserved toast!
All that’s left to do is raise a glass to each other and the year that we’ve just come through. It seems like it’s been a bit of a whirlwind for everyone. Pop in and see us in Sherborne (9 Old Yarn Mills, DT9 3RQ) and we’ll help you source some of these delicious wines. We earned our Harpers Wine ‘Best Indie Wine Merchant of the South West 2021’ award and overall ‘No.5 in the whole of the UK’ for a reason!
Sadie & Hannah
Heading out to judge the entries is one of the best parts of running an award. As you can imagine, tasting and sampling all the delicious Dorset creations from our food and drink producers is a total pleasure. And it’s at this time of year that the Love Local Trust Local judges head off to the four corners of Dorset to do just that. One team has been visiting the new farm shops category, for which there is stiff competition. Lots of inspiring and innovative ideas for small, independent businesses that are offering something more special than your local supermarket. Then there’s the hospitality category, another new one for 2022. The judging team have already been out to visit Les
Enfants Terribles and Black Cat Catering, both seriously impressive entries.
Here at Love Local we are all about telling the amazing stories behind our local food and drink producers, promoting their businesses, and helping spread the word about Dorset’s produce in these very challenging times. There’s lots of exciting things coming in 2023!
Over the next few weeks, we will be out seeing every single one of our entrants in person and then gathering up
Whilst we’re talking awards night – put Thursday, 9th February 2023 into your diary. It’s the night of fine frocks and celebrations at the Love Local Trust Local Award Ceremony, which this year will be hosted at Kingston Maurward College. A night NOT to be missed! We would also like to take this opportunity to wish everybody a very happy Christmas – let’s hope 2023 will be a great year!
As the Love Local, Trust Local Awards closes, founder Barbara Cossins is excited that the serious business of judging has begunLLTL founder Barbara Cossins LLTL judges in action
As winter’s cloak settles on the British countryside and wisps of mist float among the treetops, a walk among some of our oldest organisms is a must. Entering the woodland winter realm evokes a calming sense of contentedness. As you descend deeper into the recesses of canopy and understorey, you retreat from the elements outside, whether environmental or anthropogenic. Immerse yourself and let your imagination run wild with the history of these most ancient of habitats – the large herbivores of Britain’s past sheltering among the trees and grazing in woodland clearings; our distant relatives coppicing and working the woods for fuel and building materials; and for many of us of a certain age, Enid Blyton’s faraway tree, sheltering its magical folk. These old, mainly broad-leaved woodland habitats in Dorset are home to an incredibly diverse range of wildlife. The towering canopy of trees, often oak ash or beech, supports thousands of species. In winter, bird song is scarce, but the crisp air is occasionally pierced by the high-pitched peeping of troops of long-tailed tits, flitting from tree to tree in search of food. Although deer in some areas currently pose a threat to the natural regeneration of woodlands, winter is a good time to see and hear them, especially as they rut, as the vegetation dies back.
As you walk, take time to contemplate the ‘wood wide web’ beneath your feet, a combination of fungi, bacteria and roots, all interconnected. This network allows the altruistic sharing of food and
As winter sets in, Dorset WildlifeTrust’s
Reserves Ecologist Steve Masters urges us all to go down to the woods todayIsothecium myosuroides, commonly known as slender mouse-tail moss Image: Ross Hoddinott 2020VISION
communications between trees and other plants. In winter though, you may need to delve a little deeper for your wildlife fix and notice the more introverted of woodland species.
An important cog in the woodland ecosystem, fungi are key to recycling organic matter and helping to lock up carbon. Each time you place your foot on the woodland soil you are standing on miles of underground fungal mycorrhizae – what we see above ground is just the fruiting body of the fungi. One spectacular iconic species to keep an eye out for at the moment is the fly agaric, with its bright red cap and bright white stalk. Its colour is nature’s warning of its toxic nature.
These ancient plants, relics of times when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, are often overlooked. Their reproduction is reliant on moisture, so they often inhabit the shadier parts of woodland. Sometimes they will be perched high above your head, growing epiphytically on mosscovered tree branches. One of the most common species to look out for on your winter walk is soft shield fern, a typical shuttlecock form growing on the woodland floor. They can be large plants,
but their surprisingly delicate fronds are divided several times to give a soft, feathery appearance.
One of the oldest lineages of plants on our planet, this diminutive floral is abundant across our woodlands, often forming cushioned mats across trees, rock and woodland floor. Their amazing structures are often difficult to see with the naked eye but are really brought to life with a magnifying glass. One species which you’re likely to come across is mouse-tailed moss, growing around the base of trees. It gives a lovely, cushioned spot to sit for that coffee break!
We are lucky in Dorset to have a wide variety of woodlands. Dorset Wildlife Trust looks after a number of them: Powerstock Common and Bracketts Coppice in West Dorset; Kilwood and Stonehill Down in the Purbecks; Girdlers Coppice and Ashley Wood in North Dorset. So, take some time, find a spot where the signal is strong, connect yourself into the Wood Wide Web and down your load.
Find out more about Dorset Wildlife Trust’s woodland nature reserves: dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/nature-reserves
Fly agaric – if eaten it can cause hallucinations and psychotic reactions
Wildlife writer Jane Adams is on the lookout for a winter wild bee fix - even in December you can find them, she says
I’m not a massive fan of winter. With the onset of colder, shorter days and lower light levels, it isn’t long before I’m itching to see some summer wildlife again. I miss the insects. The very thought of bees humming and butterflies flickering across the veg patch is enough to make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. But did you know you can still get a wild bee fix in the depths of winter? Even on Christmas Day? You just need to go in search of winter active bumblebees.
This isn’t as barmy as it sounds, I promise. Typically, bumblebee nests die out at the end of summer; the new queens have hatched, left the nest, mated, and gone into hibernation.
But one species of bee has been trying something different.
Since the late 1990s, people who study insects have been spotting buff-tailed bumblebees flying and feeding in the middle of winter. It appears that if they have a reliable source of food, a safe place to nest and a mild winter, some buff-tailed queens can set up a winter nest instead of hibernating. Although severe and prolonged cold weather would doubtless kill them, these tough bees can fly at temperatures of nearly zero degrees centigrade, so they can survive short cold snaps. One problem they do face is a lack of wild native flowers. But as luck would have it, we’ve been unintentionally solving this problem for them. Planted in our gardens, parks and around supermarkets, and bearing a mass of yellow pollen-rich flowers throughout winter, is a veritable bumblebee-buffet called Mahonia. It’s a common,
What to look for and where to see buff-tailed bumblebees in winter:
• Try to spot the large queens in October, November, and December
• Look for smaller worker (female) bumblebees from November onwards
• Fairly small drone (male) bumblebees can be seen from January (did you know that male bumblebees don’t sting?)
• Look closely at winter flowering plants such as Mahonia, various winterflowering heathers and winter honeysuckles where bees might be foraging for pollen and nectar
• Look in town gardens, parks, car parks, around supermarkets, garden centres and various amenity shrubberies.
• For the best chances of seeing one choose a bright, sunny but mild day.
non-native, rather prickly, winter-flowering shrub. Now, if you were to trundle ‘up north’, you’re still unlikely to bump into a winter-active bumblebee. But in the climatechanged south, especially here in Dorset where we’re experiencing very mild winters, with fewer and fewer days of snow and frost, you stand a very good chance of seeing one. So, the next time you encounter some bright yellow flowers, take a closer look. You might find a black, white and yellow-striped reminder of summer softly humming to itself. Even on Christmas Day.
Do submit any sightings to the Bees, Wasps, and Ants Recording Society and there’s a fascinating downloadable BWARS information sheet on winter-active bumblebees.
A black, white and yellow-striped reminder of summer softly humming to itselfA rather soggy buff-tailed bumblebee queen
On Wednesday 2nd November, the NFU hosted the seventh Back British Farming Day at Westminster. Throughout the year we ask MPs to show their support for farming, and Back British Farming Day is a chance to celebrate all things great about the British agricultural industry, with politicians, NFU members and the public.
As part of the day, the union asked MPs to wear the NFU’s iconic lapel badge to show their support for British farming.
During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) a sea of wheatsheaf badges could be seen on MPs’ lapels on both sides of the chamber, signifying their support for the role that British farmers play as food producers and caretakers of our environment.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak voiced his support for British farmers and everything they do for our rural communities both during PMQs and on social media.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also showed his support for the day by wearing the wheatsheaf badge throughout PMQs.
On social media thousands of farmers and members of the public posted photos and
messages to say why they value British farming so highly, the hashtag #BackBritishFarmingDay reached more than six million people, helping us trend at number five on Twitter in the UK.
As part of the day, the NFU hosted a breakfast reception in the Houses of Parliament, with more than 100 parliamentarians in attendance, including North Dorset’s Simon Hoare MP. During the reception, the regional winners of the NFU’s Community Farming Hero awards were announced. DEFRA Secretary of State Therese Coffey and Farming Minister Mark Spencer presented
the awards. The Community Farming Heroes, farmers who have gone above and beyond for their communities, were nominated by their MPs. A wealth of nominations were received from across the South-West region, with Andrew and Alison Musson declared the winners. Beef and sheep farmers from Devon, the couple foster children and have played an invaluable role in providing a safe and supportive home for some of Devon’s most vulnerable children.
Over the years they have looked after around 90 children.
November saw the seventh annual Back British Farming Day with support across Westminster, says NFU county advisor Gemma Harvey
If you keep poultry or captive birds, they are at risk from Avian Influenza (bird flu). There are a number of steps that you can take to reduce the risk of your birds being infected by this notifiable disease. Good biosecurity practices such as an enhanced hygiene routine are central to this. Use the following top tips to make sure you are doing all you can to protect your birds…
Tick all of the following practices that you are already doing and think about how to implement those you are not.
You should house your birds in line with government guidance Ensure that wild birds, rats and mice cannot access the area where your birds live Check for any leaks in the roof to prevent water getting into the area where your birds live
Cleanse
Regularly cleanse and disinfect hard standing areas your birds can access
Thoroughly cleanse and disinfect all equipment, such as feeders and drinkers regularly
Do not feed or water your birds in areas which can be accessed by wild birds
Always clean up any feed spillages to discourage wild birds, rats or mice
If you feed wild garden birds, make sure you do this in a separate area, as far away as possible from your captive birds
Prevent your birds from sharing nearby ponds and waterways with wild birds. For example, by netting areas of standing water, such as ponds, preventing bird access
General Carry out effective rodent control
Limit the amount of people who have access to your birds
Speak to your vet if you are worried about the health or welfare of your birds
Ensure that all clothing and footwear are washed thoroughly before you come into contact with your birds
Use specific footwear when accessing the area where your birds live - do not access the area where your birds live wearing footwear you have worn elsewhere, e.g walking the dog as this can increase the risk of cross contamination
For more information visit - www.countrysideonline.co.uk/birdflu
Sadly, this year will be the first time in years that we as a farm aren’t growing our own turkeys. With Avian Influenza (AI) continuing throughout the year we couldn’t risk having 30 or so turkeys potentially contracting the disease and infecting our shed of free-range layer hens. I miss the sight and sound of the gobbling giants down our drive, but I am definitely going to enjoy a plucking-free Christmas this year!
It hasn’t been a good year for the turkey industry. Last year, Norfolk, the traditional home of turkeys, survived AI; this autumn the county has been decimated with cases. The Animal Plant Health Agency’s map of cases is horrific viewing. Turkeys and geese are more affected by AI than other poultry, which means that when one farm goes down it’s just a matter of time before neighbouring farms fall to the disease.
If you can’t do without a turkey on the table this Christmas, my personal suggestion is that you buy early and have a frozen one
on standby; waiting for freshfarmed turkey is a game of Russian roulette this year.
One point of good news for the industry is that the government this year reintroduced the process of superchilling. Reserved for seasonal birds such as turkeys, geese and ducks for Christmas, super-chilled birds are frozen rapidly and then defrosted in December to be sold on the supermarket shelves. Superchilling storage has no effect on the meat taste or texture. Of course, just because your turkey is in the fridge doesn’t mean it’s actually fresh. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is advising consumers buying turkey, duck, capon or goose products in the run-up to Christmas that they may have been previously frozen and defrosted before being placed on sale as chilled. The products should be clearly labelled as ‘defrosted’ and are suitable for home freezing if the label says so. So if you are picky, choose carefully and read the smallest print on the label.
Ultimately, it’s a bit late for this Christmas, but this means that next year birds can be slaughtered in the summer,
frozen and then defrosted for Christmas to avoid the risks of bird flu. Further ahead, there is brightening news that Norway has begun using AI vaccines on their birds. The government will have to make a sharp U-turn on the vaccine policy, but something needs to change as compensating farmers is costing the country millions of pounds.
Currently poultry is not vaccinated due to the risk of bird flu going into the food chain and infecting the public.
Like the Covid vaccine, the AI counterpart doesn’t stop birds from catching the disease but just prevents death. The risk is then what effect the disease has on humans if they eat infected meat. You could say turkeys voting for the vaccine is the same as them voting for Christmas, but I have heard first-hand accounts of the effect of the disease on a flock of birds and it is harrowing.
It’s not just the financial implication for farmers … it’s the mental strain of having thousands of birds culled by the APHA - if they haven’t all died before they get there.
If you’re lucky it may be turkey for Christmas this year.
But if something doesn’t change soon, prepare to be carving Christmas trout on the big day!
Guaranteeing a fresh turkey for your Christmas table may be a tricky call this year, says Andrew Livingston
As the season turns, life in the Tarrant Valley slows. James Cossins finds it’s a time for looking ahead – to TB tests, feed stocks and some stability
With more than 200mm of rain (eight inches in old money!) in November, the Tarrant has finally decided to start flowing again; Tarrant Rawston had been dry for five months. I am sure that we will need more rain to top up groundwater levels as the borehole level on the farm is still below normal. The countryside looks particularly green for this time of year; the grass and winter crops are still growing as the temperatures remain mild with very few frosts to date. On the farm we are getting settled into our winter routine. With most cattle now housed there are the daily feeding and bedding up tasks to carry out. The cows are milking well with good quality feed stocks available, but there is a concern as to how long they will last through the winter. With the long, dry summer, our grass and maize harvest yields were down on average, and with winter feeding starting earlier than usual we will have to do some careful calculations to determine our feed stocks. There are local forage auctions in the area during the winter, so buying in feed may have to be an option.
We will be carrying out a TB test on all our cattle early this month, having been clear for six months. Fingers crossed that we do not have any reactors. It seems that with the current control measures in place there has been a 50 per cent reduction in new cases and where there is a breakdown, fewer cattle appear to become infected. I certainly can’t wait
for the cattle vaccine to be available, so that cattle can be protected and not needlessly infected and then have to be slaughtered. I believe the vaccine is still three to five years away, although trials are happening now.
A lot of media attention has been given to the shortage of eggs in the supermarkets. Egg producers have been saying for many months that there will be a shortage of eggs unless a realistic price is paid to them. Feed and energy costs have risen considerably but the supermarkets appear unwilling to pay more. What is even more frustrating is that the price to the consumer has actually risen but that increase has not been passed on down the chain. Many egg producers have either stopped producing entirely or have cut back production, which is all about completing the cycle. If farmers feel it is not economically viable to produce then they won’t start the next production cycle. A certain supermarket (which proudly ‘supports British Farmers’) are now importing eggs from Italy.
More than 80 members of Dorset NFU heard President Minette Batters going through the issues we face and how we are trying to address them. She said she was on her fourth Prime Minister and third Minister for the Environment – let’s hope for some stability and some clear agreed policies on the way ahead for food and farming.
Though the garden is quiet in the middle of winter, getting on with some jobs now will get you well ahead for the spring and will ensure your garden is ready as the seasons turn towards the warmer, brighter months.
Winter digging can continue, weather permitting – just don’t dig when the soil is too wet or frozen. To feed the soil and improve the structure, use garden compost, well-rotted manure and leaf mould.
Pruning all the climbing roses and any tall ones will help reduce wind rock during the worst of the winter weather. Prune old flowered rose shoots to a third of their length, and check all climbers to ensure they are adequately supported. Now is also the right time to prune your Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) if required
Bring your potted plants into the greenhouse, or failing that at least move them into groups – this will help protect them from harsh winds and frosts.
Sow your sweet peas and micro greens seeds in the greenhouse. Also sow some alpine plants now – these can be very easy to grow in a cool greenhouse, and don’t worry about the exposure to low temperatures before germination some alpines need, an average UK winter should provide the right temperatures. If you already have alpines in the flower borders, it’s also a
good idea to put some gravel around them now to prevent them getting waterlogged.
Fungal spores and many pestpupae overwinter in the soil at the base of plants, ready for action once spring arrives and growth begins again. Remove (and compost) all old mulches in all areas of the garden, and lightly dig around the base of plants to expose any resident pests to predators (birds love grubs!) and winter weather.
If you have a pond, ensure plenty of light is getting in through the winter months by removing any overhanging shrubs and trees. This will help your pond plants to replenish oxygen levels in the water. Always ensure there is a ball or similar to help prevent the
surface entirely freezing over during any cold snaps.
Christmas decorations Harvest the winter berries on plants like Holly if you intend to use them for wreaths or garlands for Christmas displays, before the birds and the weather get them all. They should be fine if you put them in buckets of water until you are ready to use them.
And what NOT to do:
Avoid disturbing large piles of leaves now. Leaf piles are amazing for wildlife, providing shelter and a great nesting spot for hibernating animals, such as hedgehogs, small mammals, frogs and countless insects. Lastly, just leave your Hydrangeas’ spent flower heads on the plants! They help protect the new flower buds that are forming lower down the stems.
Unusually for November, growth of weeds, grass and some vegetables continued through the month due to the unseasonal weather, with high daytime temperatures, mild nights and high rainfall (about 7½ inches recorded locally). The only frost during the month occurred on the 19th and it killed off a few of the most tender plants, the French beans and the courgettes.
As a result of the long, dry summer, despite the high rainfall it was still possible to walk on the soil without doing any harm. Weeds could be removed by hoeing as some were still seeding, especially groundsel and the dreaded Gallant Soldier.
Five trailer-loads of two-year-old horse manure for the whole site was delivered by a local farmer on the 9th November, all of which had been ordered and paid for by plot-holders in advance. We spread the first of our part of the order on to the plot which had been potatoes, and will be legumes, squashes and sweetcorn in 2023. The remainder will be put in heaps waiting for the ground to be cleared.
Of course some will not be spread until the crops, such as leeks, brassicas, parsnips and carrots, are cleared in the spring.
Sturminster Newton Town Council carried out an inspection of our site early in the month to ensure that plot-holders are complying with the tenancy agreement which they sign annually.
We continued to harvest vegetables throughout the month. Carrots, leeks and parsnips were dug as required, normally about every seven days to ensure a fresh supply for the kitchen. Celery and celeriac keep well in the fridge and are normally gathered at longer intervals.
Salads are cut about every four days. These currently include mustards, wintercress, corn salad, rocket and radicchio together with the colourful and tasty autumn radishes.
Due to the mild weather we had to chimp* our potatoes. They were dug back in August and stored in our garage, and some had 2-3 inch shoots!
Over the last month we have been inundated by the seed companies with offers of seed at £1 and 89p per packet. It’s very good value from some of the biggest seed houses – Kings, Thompson & Morgan, Suttons and Dobies. We only succumbed to buying a few packets of tomatoes and cauliflowers, as we are already well stocked up with seed for next year.
A quick stock check showed we had packets of about 70 varieties covering a range of about 30 different vegetables!
*I asked Barry, who says ‘it’s an old Dorset dialect word – to chimp is the act of removing the sprouts (chits) from the taters.’ – Ed
Barry has continued to harvest both vegetables and salads throughout November. Image: Barry CuffIt’s that time of year and I thought perhaps some of my personal favourites might be useful to know this month. I’m often asked what my favourite or most-used garden tool is –hands down with no hesitation or second thought required it’s my Hori Hori knife!
A Hori Hori knife (below left) is a Japanese digging, weeding, bulbplanting all round brilliant hand tool. I love mine and I often give one as a present. I bought mine from Niwaki, a company near Shaftesbury – do check their opening hours. They offer a great online ordering service.
My other favourite tool is my golden spade. This was actually a Valentine’s present from my husband (he knows me well). It’s small and incredibly lightweight and it makes digging tasks an absolute pleasure. Again this is available from Niwaki (image above) and in checking the link I have just noticed they now have a shovel and a square spade too. They’ve just been added to my own Christmas list!
Snips you can see
Garden snips are next on my list. Burgon and Ball sell a FloraBrite range which have fluorescent coloured handles –
really not a thing of beauty but when you put them down you can find them! WHY do they usually make them with green handles? That’s just camouflage!
Next on my list are my Carhartt bib overalls, or dungarees as us Brits call them. These are a game changer because they keep the small of your back warm (apologies, I’m in danger of sounding like my grandmother) plus they have loads of pockets so you get to do that great pat-yourself-down pocket dance!
A good penknife is another essential – Opinel is my favourite. You can also get the blade or handle engraved so it becomes a lovely personal gift. Garden twine is another musthave, no one ever has too much! Nutscene is where to go for that – they have some lovely sets which make another great gift.
We made it! It’s here. Every year it feels like it arrives sooner, but December is upon us and the Christmas spirit is in full swing! As we said last month, we’re having our biggest Christmas ever with more events than any previous festive season at Thorngrove! A grotto, a fairytale forest, and wreath making classes too! Oh… and did you see our official Christmas advert? You can watch it on social media now!
It can be difficult trying to “sell” in times of economic uncertainty – we’re all only too aware of the difficulties many people are facing this year. Which is why at Thorngrove we’re doing our best to offer not just the usual Christmas essentials, but make ourselves a place that you can also come to create memories that will last forever. We have already had our first Santa’s Grotto days and we had amazing feedback from those who attended. Our grotto was put together entirely by our staff, and our Employ My Ability students and service users got involved building the snowman! It was real team effort to get
the grotto up and running and we hope you all enjoy it; it’s on every weekend until Christmas. You can turn up without booking but we do encourage booking beforehand as the last two weekends are already looking especially busy and close to selling out! Find all the details on our website.
Theatre at Thorngrove
Dorset based company Angel Exit Theatre (angelexit.co.uk) are transforming an indoor area of Thorngrove Garden Centre into a beautiful wintery forest.
Visitors will learn the secrets of this snowy land as they venture through pine trees on a sensory journey filled with fairy tale magic. They will meet the effervescent Mary Godmother played by Lynne Forbes and hear news of their favourite fairy tale characters in her stories, songs, and gossip.
This event is FREE and no booking is required – dates on our website.
The café is hosting a Christmas Menu on select days in December too, with Ben and his team offering some delightful options. The Taste of Christmas will be in the Secret Garden Café and more delicious than ever before.
We look forward to seeing you all this December, and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
At Thorngrove this year, the team have been building you memories - you just need to come along and make them, says Kelsi-Dean Buck
We really do wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Just click to complete! If you get stuck, there’s an icon at the top of the screen which reveals the completed picture for you to refresh your memory.
Want to reply? Read something you feel needs commenting on? Our postbag is open! Please send emails to letters@theblackmorevale.co.uk. When writing, please include your full name and address; we will not print this, but do require it.
I’m writing on behalf of the Trustees of Cedars Castle Hill to confirm that we’ve reluctantly concluded we have to close Castle Hill House (CHH) and combine our residential and nursing activities under a single roof at our other care home, the Cedars. This move is a pre-emptive response to the financial, staff and fundingrelated challenges that are threatening to overwhelm the care sector. Essentially we will offer the 11 current residents of CHH a transfer to a ground floor room at the Cedars where they will be surrounded by those they know well and cared for by staff familiar to them. All this is to be smoothly achieved by Christmas. In the meantime CHH will be ‘mothballed’ (but continue to provide office facilities and accommodation for staff) while we search for a longer term solution for the building. We recognise that closing CHH may well cause some uncertainty and personal upset. Naturally, we’re sorry about this - but we’re a small charity, facing significant challenges, and feel we have to take action before we’re overwhelmed by events. However, we firmly believe that this move will strengthen our position - to the benefit of residents, staff, families and the local community.
Mike Hall
For and on behalf of Trustees of Cedars Castle Hill
I was delighted to read the article about Sonnaz, the upholsterer, in your latest edition (The BV, Nov 22). I attended an upholstery course with Sonnaz in Wimborne four or five years ago, where she gave me the very best advice on recovering two wing chairs, which have been greatly admired, she is a lovely person. Then I turned over a few pages where I read the article by Roger Guttridge about the workhouse in Shaftesbury. We recently went on a Great Rail Journey holiday to Italy and a gentleman, who was on the tour with us, overheard us saying we came from near Shaftesbury. We couldn’t
believe it when he told us his parents were the last people to run the workhouse in Shaftesbury and he had gone to school in Motcombe! We didn’t even know there had been a workhouse in Shaftesbury let alone where it was, and that a workhouse was still in operation until relatively recent times.
Thank you for a good read.
Sandy Milne by emailI do love your ‘Random 19’ column - it’s always fun and never fails to teach me something I didn’t know about the interviewee. I have always been a fan of BBC’s The Repair Shop, but I had no idea that Sonnaz was from Dorset! You rather skimmed over it in your introduction, but the fact that she moved to Dorset as a presumably very young person with no connection here beyond her work, and then took on a position as the only female apprentice at Sunseeker - what strength of character that shows.
I attended the opening of 1855 in Sturminster Newton this week, just to meet her in person (the shop was excellent too, and I’ll definitely be back!) – and she was just as lovely as she has appeared in your column.
Thank you Janet Moone WimborneFurther to Roger Guttridge’s excellent article on the family emigrating from Sturminster Newton to Australia (some of our members had never see the house they lived in while in Dorset) on 16th January 2023 it will be 230 years since the arrival of Thomas and Jane Rose and their four children as the first family of free settlers. Our Society is holding a series of events culminating in a re-enactment of their arrival aboard the Bellona, taking place aboard a Tall Ship coming into Sydney Cove on the morning of the 16th January.
Thomas and Jane Rose Family Society Australia
Life’s complicated. Instructing a solicitor shouldn’t be
I am the secretary of Kilmington and Stourton WI and we recently held our Christmas celebration meeting where we had a buffet for members, carols and readings. This year we asked our members to bring an item or two to donate to the Gillingham Foodbank and they more than responded! (see image above) We were delighted to deliver all the food to the Foodbank and the money we raised for our raffle ticket sales on the night – £110 – will also be going to them.
We always make a charitable donation at Christmas as a WI but this year with the cost of living crisis ever more apparent, our members were delighted to be able to help such a worthy cause.
Here are the committee members, all volunteers, who organised the evening in a photo with all the donations from our members.
Bernie Isted Secretary, Kilmington and Stourton WI
Wincanton U18s need
Could you be a sponsor for our Under 18s football team for the 2023/24 season?
We desperately need donations towards – and sponsors for –Home/Away kit, training kit and tracksuits, training and match balls and equipment, registration and insurance costs.
For more information, please contact Sean Corney on 07763 708125 or email me on seancorney@gmail.com
We know that we have readers in more than 100 different countries - we’re fascinated, and would love to know where you are, and why you read The BV every month!
Did you used to live here? Do you have relatives here still? Are you just a fan of Dorset? Please email letters@theblackmorevale.co.uk and we’ll share some of the stories!
Because no one can predict the future, we can help you prepare.
When it comes to protecting you and your family, we can help. Whatever you require, we will advise you with clarity and efficiency and offer value for money.
Christmas is a time of giving, but don’t give yourself a New Year’s headache with bills and debts you can’t afford, says a Citizen’s Advice local expert
It’s so easy to overspend, with tempting offers and pressures to buy. But you must decide in advance just how much you can afford. Planning, budgeting and organisation are key to avoid getting into debt. If your spending runs out of control at Christmas, debt can easily become a way of life. If you do get into difficulties, get advice as soon as you can from your local Citizens Advice Bureau (0800 144 8848) or from another free confidential debt advisory service such as Stepchange or National Debtline Here are our top tips for avoiding a Christmas debt hangover:
1. Plan early, be realistic and budget accordingly. Manage your family’s expectations as to what you or Santa can give and try to resist pressure to spend more than you can afford. You won’t enjoy the day if you are worrying about how much you owe.
2. Work out how much you are going to spend on each person and stick to it. Many families agree in advance limits on the amount to be spent on each other, making a game of a £5 gift limit for example. Others decide to only buy gifts for the children, to make all their gifts, or to have a ‘day out’ as a family instead of buying expensive presents.
3. Don’t forget the bills. Rent, mortgage, utilities, food and other existing debts still have to be paid – and the consequences can be severe if you slip behind. You may have received a lump sum payment to help with the cost of living crisis: this is to help with the increased cost of fuel bills. Even though it’s Christmas, get your priorities right.
4. Don’t bank on an overdraft. If you do need more money, don’t just run up an overdraft without talking to your bank first – it will be more expensive. Try to avoid taking out a short-term pay day loan – the interest rates can be extortionate.
5. Keep things simple. If you can afford to pay for your goods outright by cash, cheque, or debit card, don’t be persuaded to take out credit agreements unless they really are cheaper.
6. Shop around. Try as many different places as possible to find the best price. Buy what you want and not what other people say you need.
7. Be wary of extended warranties. The cost of a repair could be less than the cost of the warranty.
8. Buy safe to be safe. Whatever the deal, whatever the temptation, don’t buy
from unauthorised traders and don’t borrow from unauthorised lenders. Take care with internet purchases, especially from online market places.
9. Read the small print. Check for hidden extras in any credit agreement. Work out the total amount payable. Ensure that the monthly instalments are within your budget before signing. Interest free credit can seem attractive, but if you don’t pay on time, or miss a payment, you could have to pay a lot more.
10. Do your own credit checks. If you are going to use a credit card, shop around and compare terms. Some cards charge high interest rates, but provide interest free periods or discounts. Budget for all these costs and put the payment dates in your diary
11. Be organised! There’s a lot to remember at Christmas. If you’ve borrowed money don’t forget that it won’t be long before you have to make a payment. Make sure you pay on time, even if it is only the minimum, or you will face additional charges.
12. Start planning for next year! Once it’s over, look at what you did well and what you didn’t. Learn from your mistakes and start planning how you will do things differently next year. Now’s also a good time to start saving for next Christmas.
Berwick St John Country Fayre has raised the largest amount of money in its 30 year history. The organisers announced the total raised and presented the funds at a special presentation event which took place at the packed-out Berwick St John Village Hall on Sunday, November 20th. They revealed that a total of £63,117.18 had been raised for the Salisbury District Hospital Stars Appeal. The two-day event, which took place in September featured rural crafts, tractors, full size and miniature steam engines, classic cars, horses, the famous beer and tea tents, along with many other attractions and was attended by tens of thousands. Berwick St John Country Fayre co-chair Richard Pocock says: ‘Words can’t describe the feeling of what has been achieved. It is mind blowing.’ Guest speakers at the presentation event included 12-year-old Florence Burgess, who was treated at Salisbury Hospital after being diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. She shared how the Stars Appeal made a difference to both her
and her family during her long stays in hospital.
Dr Ridley, a paediatric consultant who works on the Children’s Ward at Salisbury District Hospital and is a Stars Appeal ambassador said: ‘Every day, I see how the work of the Stars Appeal makes a huge difference to our patients, their families and staff.’
The Stars Appeal funds a range of projects at the Hospital including additional equipment such as state-of-the-art monitors, hospital chaplaincy, free Wi-Fi, accommodation for parents of babies and children, entertainment and companionship for older people, and support for the hospital’s
hard-working staff.
Show Secretary Louise Hall says: ‘Berwick Fayre is unique in many ways, not least the incredible people who make it happen. I cant thank everyone enough. This marvellous announcement is a result of everyone’s tremendous efforts, dedication and commitment.’
The Berwick St John Country Fayre has been running every other year since 1992, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for a wide variety of charities over the years, before committing long term support to the Stars Appeal in 2012. The next Country Fayre will next take place in September 2024.
The Sherborne Classic & Supercars show team have presented cheques to a total value of £60,000 to 13 local charities (the total profits from the show held at Sherborne Castle this summer).
The main beneficiary of the 2022 show was Children’s Hospice SouthWest.
Other beneficiaries were Yeovil Opportunity Group, Freewheelers, PromiseWorks, Sherborne Area Youth & Community Centre, The Children’s Air Ambulance, Family Counselling Trust, Somerset
& Wessex Eating Disorders Association, The Balsam Centre, Water Survival Box, The Rendevouz Sherborne, Somerset Sight and Sherborne Good
Neighbours. Organisers extend their thanks to all the volunteers, sponsors and visitors. Next year’s Classic & Supercar show will be on Sunday 16th July 2023.
Hello everyone, I hope you’re having an amazing day! This month I’m sharing my three favourite pubs and restaurants to visit in North Dorset –whether it’s a meal out or trying a new pub that you haven’t been in before I hope try these and like them too!
At The Chapel atthechapel.co.uk
At the Chapel is a fantastic pub to visit in Bruton because they do amazing pizzas, and they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
You must book a table in advance, but they also have rooms so if you’re thinking of staying overnight after dinner this is a fantastic opportunity.
The Buffalo Inn hall-woodhouse.co.uk
The Buffalo Inn is a pub that’s in Gillingham and it’s a wonderful place to go at night. The menu selection is incredible; I like it because they do Italian food like spaghetti bolognese and pizza, and you even get breadsticks served on the table.
The Old Brewery Café & Kitchen theoldbrewerycafe.co.uk
The Old Brewery Café is a wonderful place to visit in Gillingham. It has changed so much during the COVID 19 pandemic with a bigger kitchen and much more indoor seating available. There’s also a nice art gallery within the cafe. The Christmas lunch includes the option of one, two or three courses, with Turkey and all the trimmings priced at only £13!
I hope you enjoyed this article and have a wonderful day.
Preparations are well under way for the hugely popular annual Santa Stride organised by Sturminster Newton Rotary Club. It’s a brilliantly fun community event in which all participants put on Santa Suits and set off to run, walk (or just stroll!) along the Trailway from the Sturminster Newton station car park to Shillingstone – or just go as far as you like, as there are marked and marshalled turnaround points at regular intervals all along the route for those who need a shorter distance.
Despite rising costs – and to avoid adding to the everincreasing cost of living – the Rotarians have decided that the entry fee (which includes your Santa Suit) will remain unchanged: adults are £5 each, children aged six to 12 years old are £2.50 and under sixes go free. In addition every person registered receives free entry into a prize draw, and will receive a commemorative medal.
The traditional pre-Christmas
fun event raises money through sponsorship and donations for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.
For more details or to register please go to www.stursantastride.co.uk .
You will also be able to register on the day at the desk on the forecourt of the Original Factory Shop in Sturminster Newton, or in The Exchange on 3rd December. So please, come along and join the Jolly Jogging Santas on Sunday December 11th. We look forward to seeing you there!
Back in 2018 the North Dorset Rugby Club made the decision to host an Allianz Inner Warrior Camp as a way of reintroducing and rebuilding the senior ladies rugby team. The programme was (and still is) aimed at trying to encourage more women and girls to play rugby. The beauty of this programme is that you don’t have to have ever played rugby before – I certainly hadn’t when I turned up. Whether you are new to the game or have just had a break from it, the programme is inclusive to all.
From October 2018, when I attended that first inner warrior session to the present day the senior ladies team has thrived, though I would be lying if I said numbers were consistent throughout those four years. COVID, for one, definitely put a spanner in the works in the development of the team, as it did for everyone. It’s also natural that commitments change and it’s always sad to see players and coaches go that have helped shape the team. The team have, however, been fortunate
join – both players and coaches – that have helped the team on their journey to where they are today. It’s the commitment of these players and coaches, past and present, that have kept this wonderful team of women going. From playing a few friendlies
league ato this season playing in their first ever competitive league (NC3 South West (North)). A league in which the North Dorset women are currently top of. Not only that but they are dominating all the friendlies and remain undefeated so far this season!
All the hard work, on the field and behind the scenes, from both the players and the coaches is definitely paying off. They truly are a force to be reckoned with!
North Dorset Rugby Club Women’s Team are always keen to see new players. Whether you currently play, used to play, or have never played rugby before, everyone is welcome.
Training is every Wednesday, 7pm to 8:30pm in Gillingham Contact head coach Zac on 07508 954397
Women’s contact sport is on the rise – and the North Dorset Rugby Club Women’s Team is having quite a moment, says Mel MitchellMel Mitchell plays for North Dorset Rugby Club Women’s Team
It’s not always the most wonderful time of the year. Mental health blogger Melissa Boyle has some reminders for those who find it more stressful than joyful
The food, the friends, the twinkly lights and laughter ... Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Right?
Well, no, not always. As an introvert and someone with OCD and a phobia of vomiting (sorry), for me, like many others, the festive season can be challenging for a whole host of reasons. With a social battery that needs recharging more than most, coupled with anxieties that are naturally heightened during the winter months, Christmas for me is sometimes far from the picture-perfect scene depicted in Hallmark holiday movies. So here are my top tips for enjoying Christmas without getting overwhelmed.
Want to, not should do
Over the coming month, do things because you want to … not because you feel you should. The films you watch, the dishes you cook, the events you attend – sometimes Christmas can feel like you’re ticking off a giant to-do list. So stop. Are you doing these things because you genuinely want to?
Just because something has become a tradition doesn’t mean you can’t drop it when it stops bringing you joy.
Similarly, don’t reject an activity because it doesn’t feel ‘festive’ enough. Fancy watching a horror movie or playing video games instead of roasting chestnuts on an open fire? Go for it!
Christmas is about unwinding and being happy, whatever that looks like for you.
No unnecessary pressure
Christmas, when you boil it down, is just another day of the year, and everything doesn’t have to go perfectly for it to be a success. So what if you ruin the gravy or forget to take a perfect family photo by the Christmas tree? Those aren’t the things you’ll remember when you look back – or if you do, you’ll laugh about it.
It’s those little pockets of easy contentment, your first cup of coffee on Christmas morning or a spontaneous hug from someone, that end up standing out in your memory.
So ask yourself this. Does every single moment of Christmas Day need to be spectacular? No. Does it matter if things go slightly wrong? Again, no. Do your celebrations need to look like something out of a Christmas movie?
And once again … really, no!
Family pressures and feelings of obligation crop up a lot this time of year. Of course, spend time with loved ones and do things that make other people happy. But you should also think about what will make you happy. Why not let yourself be the one to choose the Christmas film, board game, or location for the Boxing Day walk?
Remember that your wants and needs are just as valid as anyone else’s.
There’s no way around it – December always ends up being a busy month. Especially after everything we’ve been through over the last few years, it’s only natural that people are going to want to let their hair down and really go all out this year.
As the invitations start to pile up, remember that you don’t have to say yes to everything. Do the things you want to, and spend enough quality time
with the people you truly care about. For everything else, you’re entitled to be selective. It’s perfectly OK to say no to a night out or a shopping trip.
Navigate your own stress
Personally, one of my biggest challenges at Christmas is the food. Specifically, a buffet – with all the double dipping and unwashed hands potentially touching everything – is my worst nightmare. I often find it overwhelming going to events where I know food is going to be the focus. So to manage this, I try to always eat before events if I’m unsure what the food situation will be or whether I’ll be comfortable with it. I also remind myself that it’s OK to turn down food – again, it’s all about exercising boundaries.
Christmas can be tough if you suffer from any sort of disordered eating. I appreciate it’s also a tricky one to navigate if, for whatever reason, you’re not drinking alcohol or have one of a myriad other anxieties. There’s no easy solution that I know of, I can only say what works for me:
• Please don’t be afraid to say no – to food, drinks or just an invitation
• Bring your own food or a bottle to parties if the option is there
• If in doubt, eat beforehand so you don’t end up going hungry!
Most importantly, if you feel uncomfortable, talk to your friends and family about how you feel. My friends are all really understanding and do whatever they can to make me feel more relaxed.
Be organised
I have a confession to make. This one might be a little controversial, so I can only apologise in advance.
I start my Christmas shopping in July. There. I said it.
Hear me out here. There’s reasoning behind this that goes beyond just really, really enjoying buying presents for people.
I hate battling the crowds in December. I also hate having a big chunk of money leave my bank account in one go.
And I truly can’t think of anything less enjoyable than frantically wrapping presents two days before Christmas.
So, I just start early. I gradually wrap as I go and try to keep a record of what I’ve bought for people. It saves me so much stress, spreads the cost, and helps me feel in control.
I’m too late to help much this year, but set a reminder for next summer to make a start!
In the meantime, lists are a great way of staying organised – and that means
feeling in control, which is great for keeping the feelings of being overwhelmed at bay.
Don’t spend beyond your means
Especially during these difficult and uncertain times, please don’t feel like you need to spend beyond your means on gifts for other people. Your loved ones care more about your wellbeing than what’s sitting under their tree on Christmas morning. You could jointly agree a price limit, suggest homemade gifts, or do a family Secret Santa so you’re buying one main gift rather than something for everyone.
Ultimately, Christmas isn’t about how much money you spend. Prioritise the things that matter more, like spending quality time with the people you love.
‘Tis the season to be jolly kind to yourself
Above all, remember that you’re human. It’s natural to feel overwhelmed or sad sometimes, and Christmas is no exception. Don’t beat yourself up for not being full to the brim with Christmas cheer 24/7 and acknowledge that the festive season can be a lot to handle. Give yourself some quiet time if you need it and don’t be hard on yourself. I’d like to wish you a happy and restful festive season – whatever that may look like for you! Come and chat to me on Twitter: @geekmagnifique
Dorset Mind has 1-2-1 and group support that you can access via their website: dorsetmind.uk/help-and-support/
Christmas should be about unwinding and being happy, however you like to do it.
It’s the time of year for some food indulgence. I’m all about people having a healthy relationship with food, even sweet foods in moderation from time to time – and celebrating with loved ones is the perfect occasion. Forget your selfimposed rules; nothing should be off the table unless someone has a serious underlying condition.
Herbs and spices are one of the most underrated food groups; they are the unsung heroes in the nutrition world, jampacked with high amounts of antioxidants per gram of weight and are often anti-microbial in nature. Before modern science was introduced, herbs and spices were used frequently for medicinal purposes. Here is the lowdown on my
favourite spices frequently used at this time of year:
Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
Ginger contains more than 400 natural compounds; one of the critical ones is something called gingerol. When people ask me for my favourite superfood, ginger is always near the top of the list (after liver, since you ask), and I could probably write a whole feature just on ginger’s benefits. It belongs to the Zingiberaceae family and is closely related to turmeric, cardamom and galangal. With my clients, I use it primarily for digestive issues, including nausea, regular bowel movements, bloating and gas. It’s also a key component of many natural arthritis supplements due to its anti-inflammatory benefits. I encourage clients to use it liberally in cooking for all-round immune support.
Ginger tea is a perfect drink if you plan to over-indulge this month or you have a seasonal gastric upset. Handily, ginger is used liberally in desserts this time of year. As well as my recipe opposite, there is a recipe for ginger switchel on my website, a delicious alcohol-free drink.
Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum)
One of cinnamon’s key compounds is cinnamaldehyde, known for its medicinal properties.
I use cinnamon daily; a teaspoon on my Greek yogurt or in my stewed, sugar-free apple, not only because I like the taste of it but for its blood sugar balancing properties. There have been studies on diabetes patients showing a reduction in blood glucose between ten and 19 per cent – powerful stuff. And cinnamon is easily found at
Don’t deny yourself this year – our seasonal treats often come with a whole host of health benefits, says nutritional therapist Karen Geary
this time of year, as it is hugely popular at in festive baking.
This is a very expensive spice, but you only need a very small amount. It is packed full of antioxidants. Two compounds I would pick out are safranal and kaempferol, both backed up by research showing promise for anxiety and depression. While I use the stamens for cooking, saffron can be bought in supplement form.
Studies on star anise are limited but it has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. One compound, shikimic acid, is having a moment for potential pharmacological use due to its anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties.
My mum used to give me cloves to chew on when I had toothache as a kid! The compound eugenol is a natural anesthetic as well as being antiseptic.
Though poorly researched, mostly in animal studies, nutmeg is known for its antioxidant, antiinflammatory and anti-microbial properties. Studies in mice indicate that it may enhance sex drive and performance, but sadly I didn’t find any studies on humans to support it!
Merry Christmas and thank you so much for your support this year. Please enjoy my recipe and if you like it, download my free e-book on my website. It contains 25 festive treats that are simple, all vegan and almost all gluten free.
NB This is double the quantity than in my e-book, because we couldn’t stop eating the first batch!
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 3 tbs molasses (high in iron!)
• 1 cup of almond or peanut butter (about one small 170g jar)
• 2 cups of oats
• 2/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp salt
• One egg (if not catering for vegans).
1. Oven on at 165º and line a small baking pan. I used a 20cm square pan.
2. Mix the nut butter and maple syrup together (plus the egg if using) until thoroughly combined.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir to mix and ensure everything is well combined. It should be quite stiff.
4. Pour into the prepared pan and then use wet fingers to smooth it down with your hands.
5. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
6. Let it cool for 20 minutes and then chill in the fridge until completely cold (another hour). If you are tempted to cut it before, it just breaks up, so wait!
7. Cut into squares or bars. Technically this makes 16, but it’s up to you how big you want them...
The Gillingham Primary School choir performed at the Riversmeet Christmas Fair on Sunday 27th November – the choir’s first performance in a public venue for three years due to COVID restrictions.
Many of the children in the choir are new members and had never performed either in such a large venue or in front of such a large audience.
There were 35 children performing, ranging from children ranged from Year 1 five-year-olds to the 10-year-olds in Year 5; the majority of the children were under the age of seven.
The choir was under the direction of Gillingham Primary’s music lead, Mrs Mawer, who was assisted by Mrs Shanks and Mrs
Avery on the day. They sang many Christmas songs but the highlight for everyone had to be the 12 days of Christmas – complete with actions!
Headteacher Mrs Early says: ‘So many members of the public
commented on how nice it was to see a school choir performing and it was a lovely opportunity for the children to gain confidence and enjoy singing –something that has been missed by so many over the last few years.’
With the ever-popular Great British Bake Off on our televisions the wellbeing team at Sherborne Primary School thought it would be a wonderful idea to have their very own Staff Bake Off Challenge. Participants were asked to bake a sponge cake with an autumnal theme.
The cakes were baked at home and brought into school to be judged by the school council representatives, with marks being awarded for both taste and appearance.
The children were amazed at the standard of the cakes and thoroughly enjoyed tasting them! Among the entries there were cakes designed to look like a lit bonfire, a hibernating hedgehog and a crackling woodland chocolate delight. The overall winner was Sue Read who baked a magnificent Cake entitled Mouse House.
The cakes, along with some donations baked by members of the school council, were all sold after school and they
raised a total of £119.66. A wonderful time was had by all and there’s now talk of an Easter Bake Off Challenge ...
On Friday 11th November we went down to the Zeal’s war memorial with our prayers and pictures, to participate in the service and to remember and respect the people who died in the war protecting our nation.
Remembrance Day by Carson Today we gather to remember the countless deaths of millions of men and women who did their job to keep us safe. We also remember the animals that charged onto the battle, the factory workers who made the
ammunition, the farmers who grew the rations, the doctors and nurses who helped the wounded and the survivors who’s
life changed for ever. We will remember them.
Amen Carson, aged 10
For Children in Need this year St Mary the Virgin Primary (Gillingham) followed the theme of ‘SPOTACULAR’ and came to school in something spotty: spotty jewellery, spotty clothes and even spotty faces. The children all looked fantastic and we had lots of Mini Pudsies walking around the school!
A special assembly was held to teach the children why they raise money and about some of the work that Children in Need does. Each class also found out about a charity that is supported by Children in Need, producing work that is displayed in school. With everyone’s support we raised almost £200 –thank you to everyone who donated.
A fabulous Children in Need Day was had at Charlton Horethorne Primary. The children came to school looking wonderfully SPOTacular – with some terrific homemade spotty outfits.
The sun shone for a whole school welly walk and the children had fun playing in the Millenium Green. It was lovely that many parents, relatives and friends joined in to enjoy the ramble.
The day ended with a Children in Need cake sale, which swiftly sold out, raising over £130. A great effort for such a little school.
Above is a couple of pages of the first edition of the Piddle Valley CE First School newspaper. The reporter was Georgie in Year 4. Pupils from the school will be out Christmas
Carolling around the village of Piddletrenthide near the school on the evening of Tuesday 6th December from 5:00pm. Headteacher Jayne Brown hopes villagers will come out and join in.
Paralympian Katrina Hart inspired pupils at St Andrew’s Primary School, Fontmell Magna when she visited. Katrina, who was born with cerebral palsy, is a multi-medal winning 100m and 200m sprinter, and has won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Olympic, world, Commonwealth and European IPC games.
Katrina was at the school to promote the importance of exercise and fitness. During the afternoon all pupils in the school (and a few keen members of staff!) took part in a circuit in the hall. The children also got to hear about how Katrina’s disability affected her during childhood and how her PE teacher at school inspired her to never give up and to become a World-class athlete.
Katrina says: ‘That is how I got into sport – at school. I hope that the children will be encouraged to try different sports, as one size doesn’t fit all and
there are so many to choose from.’
The event raised £1,800, some of which will help support Katrina in partaking in international events but more than 50 per cent will be reinvested in the school in improving playtime facilities.
There’s
Like me, I am sure you are fed up with the constant depressing news coming from the media. Yes, we know it’s a very challenging time; a cost of living crisis, soaring domestic and business energy costs, huge inflationary pressures and spiralling interest rates. This is on top of the current recruitment crisis and the longterm challenges that have been thrown at businesses by Brexit, COVID and now, the terrible events in Ukraine. These are all very serious issues and it’s easy to feel despondent if you watch the news.
We recently held a business exhibition with over 200 business people attending and it struck me how resilient businesses are. So many of the people I spoke to shared their concerns regarding the doom and gloom but were also very
clear we need to get on with things and maintain a positive, can-do approach. Business has to continue and to look to the future. We must keep business going. Ultimately the event was alive with energy and optimism and I came away inspired.
Of course, there’s no hiding form the fact that it is a challenging climate, that should not be overlooked. But there are practical steps that businesses can take. Cashflow needs to be carefully managed – but we must keep cash circulating around the economy and I would encourage all business to treat their suppliers fairly in this respect. Obviously all businesses need to look at efficiencies and see where savings can be made. Unprofitable areas of activity within businesses should be identified and corrected. However it is important to keep
looking forward. Businesses should maintain a focus on their marketing and future plans. I’d strongly suggest all businesses look at their digital platforms such as websites and social media channels to ensure any and all opportunities are being maximised.
Businesses also need to look after their staff in this challenging climate to ensure core capability and skills remain in the business. And I’d urge businesses to work together and support each other. This is vital, and a core offering of Chambers of Commerce. We will get through this.
It’s hard to believe Christmas is upon us already. I’d like to wish you and your loved ones a happy Christmas and peaceful and successful New Year.
Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has issued its latest insights on the current labour market and employment situation in Dorset.
The report, which analyses detailed national and local data from July to September as well as an overall view of 2022 thus far, looks closely at the latest economic and labour market developments.
Unsurprisingly, financial volatility, rising prices and mortgage rates and a decline in real terms earnings all feature. A continuous decline can be seen in labour demand across Dorset, coming after almost two years of unprecedented growth. Overall, vacancies across the county for the first three quarters (circa 79,500) was a third higher than the same period last year – and nearly double the figure from 2020. The report also captures:
• Homeworking – the number of work from home vacancies increased exponentially over the past two years in Dorset, but markedly slowed down in the last quarter.
• Employment – employment in the county fell, but remains comparable to the national rate. There was a significant drop in the proportion of economically inactive people who want a job but a big increase in those who are not seeking
• Top employers – the NHS remains by far the largest employer in Dorset, followed by BCP and Dorset Councils alongside key finance and tourism private sector businesses.
• Who’s hiring – over the first nine months of 2022, vacancy growth continued across most sectors of the economy in Dorset. The largest was recorded in ‘accommodation and food service’, which more than doubled. There were almost 15,000 vacancies in ‘human health and social work’.
• Occupation trends – the high-skilled labour market continues to be strong, with the scale of professional job vacancies now reaching prepandemic levels.
• Top jobs – carers and office assistants overtook nurses and software developers as the jobs most required in Dorset. Other roles such as customer service, chefs, cleaners and kitchen staff continued to be in demand.
• Skills – the most frequently requested soft skills in advertised job descriptions were communication,
customer service, management, sales, detail orientation and marketing.
• Salaries – advertised vacancies appear to suggest that wages are not markedly increasing
• Demographics –approximately 19 per cent of hospitality businesses said the proportion of over-50s in their organisations had increased in the past year
Vinita Nawathe, Executive Director of Dorset LEP said: “The results are set against the volatile political and economic backdrop of the last quarter. The impact of rising prices has largely eroded any increases in wages which is also reflected locally. ‘The fact that UK hospitality businesses are increasingly turning to older workers to plug staffing shortages is interesting, reflecting shifting demographics. The continued demand for people to fill care roles is only expected to increase as the county’s ageing population increases and shortages continue.”
The full report is available to read/ download on the Dorset LEP website
Harling Taylor, a leading independent property management and lettings agency covering the Dorset and South Somerset areas, has been announced as the Gold Winner of The British Property Lettings Award for Sherborne. The team performed outstandingly throughout the extensive judging period, which focused on customer service
levels, and has now been shortlisted for a number of national awards which will be announced towards the end of year.
Richard Comstive, Managing Director and owner, says: ‘I am delighted that our team has been rewarded with this accolade and recognised for the care and attention we place on all our clients.’
Now in its third year, entries for the Sherborne Business Awards closed in mid-November and they are now with the judges. Entries and nominations for the first year of the Shaftesbury Business Awards closed in late November. Sherborne saw an increase on the record number of entries in 2021, while Shaftesbury was 20 per cent higher than the expected number for its first year.
Both sets of awards break the mould when it comes to awards events. Up until recently business awards have always covered large areas and focused on promoting large businesses rather than the smaller traders. Said Nigel Reeve of the
organisers, MW Events, ‘Local businesses and SMEs drive the economy in this country.’ he says ‘Large or small, they are the backbone of the UK economy.
The idea of a series of hyper-local business awards first evolved during the first lockdown, when it was clear that small local businesses were really suffering.
‘The first Sherborne awards were one of the test areas and our idea of simple grassroots awards just seemed to take off.
It’s important to us that they are always free and simple to enter, with categories reflecting the range of local businesses in the specific area.
The Shaftesbury awards are the eleventh of this type of awards to
be launched by Nigel, all of them in Dorset.
‘Our funding is purely from the sale of category sponsorship. We have had over seventy local businesses supporting and sponsoring categories across all the awards to date. Without them this would not have been possible.’
The Sherborne awards ceremony is at lunchtime on Thursday, 12th January at the Oborne Grange Hotel, Oborne and the Shaftesbury awards ceremony is at lunchtime on Thursday, 26th January 2023 at the Grosvenor Arms Hotel in Shaftesbury.
Efforts to help more young people with disabilities or special educational needs to find work in Dorset have taken a major step forward with the launch of a dedicated one-year programme. Dorset Careers Hub has launched the Removing Barriers initiative to raise the number of locallybased employers who are confident about taking on and supporting young people aged 16 to 19 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The Hub, jointly funded by Dorset LEP and Careers and Enterprise Company CEC, has appointed Andrew Holland of consultancy sendme2work.com as project manager.
Andrew says: “We want to change mindsets and encourage more employers to come forward and recruit and champion disabled
talent. We will be running a series of events to reach out to employers and will provide training, mentoring and coaching. Employers should know there are grants available to help when you take on and retain people with disabilities and special education needs.
Chelsey, an apprentice in business administration spoke of how the opportunity to start a supported internship two years ago had changed her life. ‘It really helped me with my confidence,’ she said. ‘Everyone at SAMEE made me feel really safe and secure. My manager always gave me extra time which meant that I wasn’t rushed, and they always made sure that the workplace was quiet and calm around me which made me feel really relaxed.
‘Everything they did for me meant I could concentrate on doing my best work, and I was really excited when they offered me my first paid job as their official Business Administration Apprentice.’
We need enthusiastic, hard working team members to join an established upholstery workshop in Castle Cary and our own frame making workshop in Shaftesbury in 2023. A relevant qualification and/or work experience would be an advantage but is not a requirement.
You will receive training and mentorship from highly skilled craftsmen who are making fine hand made upholstered furniture using high quality and sustainable materials.
You will receive good rates of pay and benefits, including a nine-day working fortnight.
For more information, or to book in for our January 2023 open days, please send your CV with a covering letter to careers@soane.co.uk.
The closing date for applications is 6th January 2023.
Have a lovely Christmas!
Laura & Courtenay x
