Out of Doors

By Paul Birbeck, Blue Badge Tour Guide with Sherborne Walks

‘A Walk on the Peaceful Side’

“In recent articles I have considered ‘Sense of Place’. An elderly friend of mine, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent me a poem which captures a journey in the Vale. To me it is an excellent example of how people express their love for, and are inspired by, place. Enjoy.”

White and woolly clouds flying high and fast Wind roaring in the trees as we walk past. Shining through the clouds the sun is still full out Casting light and dapple shadow all about.

The noisy wind creates a silence of its own. Blows away all man made noise; just the quiet of us alone. Husband, wife and family dog strolling in natures protected zone. Absorbing sights, sounds and smells all in a world of our own.

We haven’t paid some vast sum to be here in the open air. ‘’Tis something we have inherited but don’t always remember it is there. Look at that tree. Can you remember when it was only up to my knee? Now ‘’tis just about a lovely full grown tree.

Josh is enjoying this new walk. You can tell by the action of his tail. He dashes this way and then that, picks up a smell which, for a while, stops that tail Now he ambles back to take a sniff at some old sack. Marks it with a cock of the keg. Come on you two, he seems to say. I’m off ahead. Don’t lag. That beech tree with a fallen branch is where I carved my initials a long way back. A squirrel takes off with Josh in hot but useless chase… legal games for him, so no disgrace. But at six years old he is no match for the squirrel with his turn of pace.

A gateway with lush growth of grasses and clover forms a pleasant place for our stopover. Orange juice for us, water for Josh and a while to talk and mull things over. A lovely spot but must not stop too long or aches and stiffness will set in, so we heave ourselves to our feet and set off along our path again.

From fields and tracks we are now in country lanes but what a show, Veils of dog roses and swags of honeysuckle in every hedgerow. Cow parsley - past its best, purple blue vetch in profusion climbing high. All things you will never see as you drive by. Home now across that dreaded Major road onto a wide green lane of dried compacted mud. Usually when we walk this way ‘’tis really very sticky mud as this lane is prone to flood. On either side undergrowth is thick and we know the pheasants are in plenty hereabouts. Josh is tracking hard to flush them out. We are waiting for him to give a “shout “.

Last phase now, through a field of standing rye to a stream where Josh is standing by. Stream is very low with just a pool for Josh to paddle in - the sun will get him dry. Through apple orchards with fruit forming in abundance to make the cider later in the year. This does epitomise our walk so we should raise a glass and say “ Good Cheer “.

Back through a housing estate where once we walked through a quarry. An ugly sign of mans unrelenting need for change but we mustn’t worry. ‘Tis fact of Life we all need somewhere in which to live. So let’s say our thanks to God for we can think of no better place to live.

Thorngrove Expands With Opening Of New Shop

It’s humbling to think how far Thorngrove has come in just a few short years.

With the pandemic effectively halting business for many people around the country these past 12 months, we count ourselves fortunate to have been able to operate in limited circumstances when others could not. We took steps to ensure we didn’t abuse this privilege, and put the safety of not only our staff and customers first, but that of our Employ My Ability students too. Those who know us will be well aware of the ethos we have at the centre of our brand, and we always do our best to ensure this remains apparent. Setting ourselves apart as a business is important - we hope our products say that for us, but truly our focus is on protecting those values of the wellness and sustainability of our team and the local community.

There was a point where our plans for continued development at Thorngrove felt like they may not come to fruition this past year.

Thorngrove’s beautiful new shop is now open, with stylish homewares, stationery, local produce and gifts.

The future was looking very uncertain, but it has been with immense gratitude to our customers and supporters in the community that we have been able to keep the wheels turning on these plans, and this past month saw the big opening of our brand new gifts and lifestyle shop space.

We’re not stopping there either… work continues and you’re going to see more from us in the coming months. As the world slowly gets back to normal, and we embrace the changes needed for us to operate safely, we’re so excited to share more new things with you soon, and perhaps this time next year, we’ll be celebrating a new milestone in Thorngrove’s history yet again.

We’re open 7 days a week, and we look forward to seeing you soon. Visit www. thorngrovegardencentre.co.uk today, or find us on Facebook for info on our latest products and help keeping your garden looking its best!

Produce from local Dorset companies Moores Biscuits and From Dorset With Love.