The BV magazine, November ‘23
INDEX
We know, it’s a HUGE magazine. So we make it easy for you: just like grabbing the sections you like best from the Sunday papers, just click the number below to jump straight to the section you want. Or just make yourself a coffee and start from the beginning...
36 A Country Living – Orris Leather 113 Announcements 73 Art - Marzia Colonna and Fiamma Montagu 64 Book corner 111 Business news 41 Community News 31 Dorset Island Discs – Cllr Spencer Flower 94 Equestrian 91 Farming 79 Food & Drink 107 Health 114 Jobs 46 Letters to the Editor 50 Local history 4 News 54 Night Sky 86 Out of doors 58 Politics 44 Puzzles 20 Random 19 – Julius Roberts 101 Reader's photography 62 Rural Matters – CPRE 56 Take a hike 65 What's on 98 Wildlife
Contact The BV Team: 01258 472572
Editor: Laura Hitchcock editor@BVmagazine.co.uk Advertising: Courtenay Hitchcock advertising@BVmagazine.co.uk Sub-editors: Gay Pirrie-Weir Fanny Charles Everything else: Try Courtenay, he’s the organised one...
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR I’m going to avoid the ‘state of the world’ commentary this month. I’m bored with trying to find a positive spin on a basket full of nightmares. The two alternatives I have half-drafted are rapidly getting equally shouty. And if there’s one thing literally no one needs right now is one more person shouting about Wrong Things from their corner. So instead, I’m going to talk about some Happy Things. Most people know that Courtenay is a photographer, and many assume that he takes the cover photo each month. He certainly travels the county photographing talented people creating beautiful things. But the cover shot? No. He’s not allowed – and hasn’t been since Issue 2. Because that, dear reader, is all yours. Every month we welcome submissions via our Facebook group and by email. And every month we are inundated with a pop up seasonal art gallery of astonishing photography*. It’s absolutely joyous. By deadline day (the Monday before we publish) we will, in an average month, have received more than 700 submissions. These are whittled down to a shortlist of 30 or so, which we then request as high resolution versions. And then comes my personal highlight of publication week; settling down with C and a mug of coffee to go through them all, comfortably bickering for a while over the merits of each picture as we slowly select the 12 which will make the reader’s photography section (unless we make an exception – there’s 13 this month!) – plus the coveted cover shot. The sheer talent of our local photographers never fails to astonish us. And I know they bring the same joy to every BV reader. But what’s even nicer is the support and appreciation in the group – everyone’s just there to enjoy them, and every submission is welcomed, no matter the subject, the style or the experience of the photographer. From phone shots to macro insects, astrophotography to drone stills – everything’s welcome. We’ve never set a theme, but by accident seem to have fallen into the embarrassment of riches that is Dorset wildlife and landscapes. And honestly? That’s fine by us! And if you sometimes miss out the photography section .. maybe don’t? You also might just want to flip back and take a closer look at that glorious front starry cover from William Evans, too.
(*I mean, I do tell C he’s welcome to submit like anyone else ... but I also warn him it’s seriously stiff competition out there.)
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