The Blackmore Vale September 21

NEVER PRINTED September ‘21 1

ISSN 2634-8810

POLITICS

Good People in this issue

SIMON Gudgeon He's wrong about dunking, he's wrong about crisps, but he has an excellent taste in films and inspirational quotes..

Andy PALMER Obviously.

Rachael ROWE Who foolishly said yes to EVERYTHING. And then managed it.

THORLAK HALLETT Who works as late as I do - and whose crop circle images were seen by 34,000 people on Facebook this week.

TRACY Chevalier Because apparently she's not one to ignore a challenge

Thomas HARDY

Ah Thom. Again. With some help from Dr Tracy Hayes.

Always free - subscribe here Front cover: ‘Even the sheep are wondering where the sunshine went’. Dan Pitman

INDEX

These are clickable short cuts: just click the number to jump to the page

A Country Living

Animals

Art with Edwina Baines

Barry Cuff | Voice of the Allotment

Book Corner

Business News

Charity pages

Citizen's Advice Q&A

Community News

103

Deaths

Equestrian

Farming

Food & Drink

Health

Letters to the Editor

Looking Back | Roger Guttridge

Meet Your Local

News

Night Sky

Out of Doors

Photography

Police News

Politics - Chris Loder MP

110

Property

Puzzles

Random 19 - Simon Gudegeon

Rural Matters - CPRE

107

Situations Vacant

Take a Hike

Tales from the Vale | Andy Palmer

Then & Now | Roger Guttridge

What's on

Wildlife

September is an odd month. It always feels like an ending – the embers of summer and all its potential. The weather wasn’t fabulous, but soon we’ll not even be thinking about barbecues, beach trips and spontaneous picnics. But it also feels like a beginning. A new school year, a new season, a ‘back to it’ atmosphere; many of my friends have teenagers heading off to university; a whole new life stage for both teen and parents. Plus there’s the new potential of autumn to look forward to; mist on the river, thick jumpers, crunchy leaves, and wild windy days. But the quiet enjoyment of the turning of the seasons has been tempered this year – watching what is happening in Afghanistan has left many of us horrified and desperate to help. I received many letters asking me to drive a campaign to gather offers of housing for refugees. I, like many others, was keen to help. However aid is usually most effective when it is organised and collective, so I spoke with Dorset Council to see if there were ways the public mood could be put to good use. Housing is needed – Dorset Council is supporting the government’s scheme to resettle eligible families safely in the UK. However, this is not a case of simply offering up your spare room. The council needs standalone housing, and it needs to be available for at least a 12-month period. No social housing will be used to home refugees as the council balances the incoming needs with that of the families within Dorset already on the housing register or in need of emergency accommodation. If you are a private landlord or own a second home and may be able to help, please contact afghanfamilieshousing@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk. And if you, like so many, are keen to help but aren’t sure where to start, then Care4Calais needs money for new underwear and socks, and for the cost of hiring storage units and van transport. You could also donate to the Refugee Council, which has an appeal to help Afghans resettling in the UK. The British Red Cross is appealing for donations and is already supporting hundreds of people newly arrived from Afghanistan. If you do have a spare room that you were willing to offer a refugee, then perhaps you might consider offering it instead to one of the many charities trying desperately to help young people, the homeless or ex-service personnel needing a fresh start. Have a wonderful month – and don’t miss this month’s letters page, it seems as though Andy Palmer has really started something.

NEWS

by Rachael Rowe

What Do You Get If You Cross A Dedicated Volunteer With A Leftover Sandwich And A Purpose Built Barn? Answer: Who can fail to be inspired by the fluffy white face of a barn owl or the sight of these magnificent birds out hunting for prey? Although owls are formidablelooking creatures, the environment they need to survive is actually a fragile one. It takes a lot to create the optimal conditions needed for barn owls to settle in a place and breed. A barn owl typically lives in the wild for four years, and roughly 70 per cent of baby owls do not survive their first eighteen months of life.

Pairs have been around Bere Marsh Farm in Shillingstone for 20 years which is remarkable. So what happened that made a difference? Farmers used to encourage owls into barns to breed and control vermin. Barns are increasingly disappearing (think of all those Grand Designs barn conversions) – 80 per cent of owls now live

in nesting boxes. Last year, the Countryside Restoration Trust (CRT) launched an appeal to fund £30,000 worth of repairs to the roof of a tumbledown Victorian barn at Bere Marsh Farm which was threatening to collapse and force the owls out of their home. Many local people supported the initiative – North Dorset loves good conservation projects and wildlife.

Barn Owls often hunt on the edges of woodlands and hedgerows, scouting for food from a perch or while in low, slow flight. As soon as they see or hear prey, they swoop down to catch it, or dive onto it with their talons extended. image: Alan Wicks

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by Rachael Rowe

Photographer Alan “Woody” Wicks branches, old tiles, spent grain, volunteers at Bere Marsh Farm and even leftover sandwiches and took a special interest in inside the barn. The rodents duly the barn owls. He has dedicated arrived for the party. Now the birds time to tracking had a ready made and filming these ‘...spent grain, larder they settled, beautiful birds and and even leftover and crucially, had a is an expert on the food store for wet and sandwiches subject. His amazing stormy weather when photos and videos inside the barn. it is impossible to hunt are a testament The rodents duly - a barn owl’s wings to capturing these are not waterproof. A arrived for the moments when wet winter can kill off party.’ the barn owls have barn owls, who simply been active, and are starve to death waiting an insightful appreciation of their for dry weather. With parent owls beauty. assured of food, the owlets grew Alan described the owls continuing healthy quickly. to use the barn while workmen were restoring it. The baby owls also now had an “They stayed even while the environment in which they could workmen mended the roof, learn to hunt, watched by mum returning some evenings to rest. and dad from the perch above It was quite a relief when they them - as well as developing their stayed on once the barn had been flying skills (see video above). They restored as they could easily have have grown quickly into healthy moved with the disturbance.” youngsters with adept flying and hunting abilities - vital for survival But it was what Alan did inside the as they flew the nest early in July. barn with his expertise of barn owl habitats that made a massive The project has highlighted the difference to what happened next. fragile existence of birds like the barn owl and the importance of “The CRT decided to not use the conservation initiatives. To have barn for storage but as a dedicated a traditional barn dedicated to wildlife habitat for the owls. We these birds is an authentic means had around 4-5 weeks to do of encouraging more wildlife to something with it or the owls could the local countryside. With the have left.” expertise of people like Alan and the team at Bere Marsh Farm, we Alan set about building a ‘magnet’ can look forward to hearing more for small mammals like mice, conservation success stories in the voles, and rats with hay bales, future.

Barn Owls have lop-sided ears; one is higher than the other, which helps them to pinpoint exactly where tiny sounds are coming from. They usually hunt at night, and even in total darkness they can find the smallest vole using their supersensitive hearing. Image: Alan Wicks

by Laura Hitchcock POLITICS

A New Crop Circle in Blandford

Images of the Blandford Crop Circle at sunset © Thorlak Hallet THF Computer Services Dorset

Hot on the heels of the crop circle that appeared on Okeford Hill a few weeks ago, a stunning new design appeared in a field close to the trailway just outside Blandford. Last month the NFU spokesperson told us the Okeford Hill crop circle caused over £600 of wheat damage. Additionally there is always the concern for the landowner over more costly damage being caused by visitors to the site trespassing and trampling further crops. The Okeford Hill circle was in a quiet location and didn’t draw massive crowds - however the Blandford circle caused more concern. Despite there being no public footpath or legal access to the field, it was easily accessible alongside the popular trailway walking and cycling route, and close to a busy road. Crop circles and their origins have spawned years of debate and speculation, and continue to hold massive interest - no matter your belief in their mysterious creation. Crop circles can be innately beautiful and cryptic, and inevitably fascinate people. Some believe that crop circles are used as a message from a foreign species, that perhaps they represent some sort of alien language. Others believe that they are simply a hoax by

creative people who wish to scare or stun the people who view them. But whatever the belief in their source, crop circles have a long and vibrant history with many legends swirling around them. The first appearance of a crop circle was in England 1678; the “Mowing Devil” was the first reported incident of a crop circle, and the farmer who found the circle said that there was ‘a devilish entity that visited his field’. Doug Bower and Dave Chorley created hundreds of crop circles in the ‘90s, and openly explained how they did it; yet people continued to believe that it was done by aliens. In the early ‘70s, when the first modernized version of the crop circle appeared, the best way to complete it was with a rope and plank (Creating a centre poiint with a post, then tying a string to it to work out from there to maintain the symmetry and geometry). However, GPS is now accepted as playing a major role in the creation of the circles.

Professor Richard Taylor, director of the Materials Science Institute at the University of Oregon, said that advanced technology could be the source for the shapes. “The modern patterns which involve elaborate geometric shapes suggests that circle makers have upped their equipment from the simple plank and rope to something more technologically sophisticated. GPS systems could help the circle makers cover vast spaces and keep the pattern intact”. With freely-available modern technology, it doesn’t seem unlikely that a human could make such a sophisticated design in crops - but crop circle artists aren’t going to give up their secrets any time soon. Whether the creation is supernatural or not, the mystery behind the creation of the circles is still key to holding people’s interest in the beautiful designs. In the case of the Blandford crop circle, the farmer acted swiftly; cutting the crop just as the images began to be seen on social media, preventing any further damage.

POLITICS

Crop circles and their origins have spawned years of debate and speculation... a long and vibrant history and many legends swirl around them

The Blandford Crop Circle at sunset Image © Thorlak Hallet THF Computer Services Dorset

NEWS

by Laura Hitchcock

Guy’s Pitchie! Guy Ritchie opens Shaftesbury’s £500k 3G football pitch. Excited crowds turned out to watch world famous film director Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) when he stepped in at the last minute to open Shaftsbury’s new £500K 3G football pitch last month. Hundreds of parents, football club members and town supporters showed up to watch the ribbon cutting and to celebrate the official opening of the new all-weather pitch. The new pitch was a joint project between the town council and Shaftesbury FC, and creates provision for children’s football in the town for the first time, making it more accessible for

the whole community. Saturday morning football is now available within walking distance of Shaftesbury town centre for over 150 children. Guy Ritchie joked with the kids as he cut the ribbon, encouraging them that “If football doesn’t work out for you, that’s okay. You can turn into movie stars!” Guy Ritchie has lived in Berwick St John, just outside Shaftesbury, since 2001, launched his own local brewery Gritchie Brewery there, and is open about his love for the area. As the hundreds of supporters and sponsors looked on, Ritchie’s opening speech was short, friendly and to the point as he approached the ceremonial ribbon: “It’s a great looking pitch! Thanks very much – where are the scissors?” Piers Brown was one of a number of Shaftesbury

councillors present, and has been a driving force behind the project. He was visibly moved as he watched the town’s youngsters play on the new pitch “This. This is what we’ve all been working so hard for. No more Saturday mornings for parents having to find the time and resources to trek the kids out to Guy’s Marsh – now they can simply walk into town to play. “Historically, we’ve had the best part of 200 children going out to Guys Marsh to play football on a Saturday” 3G pitches are made up of long synthetic grass (usually 4065mm) filled with a cushioning rubber as a performance infill and sand as a stabilising infill, which allows better grip, smoother playing surface, shock absorption and excellent ball performance. This allows for continual back-to-back use continues on p.10

NEWS

by Laura Hitchcock The new Shaftesbury 3G football pitch means almost 200 local children will no longer need to be driven to attend their Saturday morning football sessions. Image: Courtenay Hitchcock

compared to the one game a week the original grass pitch could host. Plans are already underway for a walking football club and a BTEC registered football academy providing post-16 vocational education to make use of the greater flexibility of the 3G pitch. The pitch has been self-funded, and much of the 30-year £350,000 loan will be paid off through the income from two new car parks currently being constructed adjacent to the football pitch site in the centre of the town. This will both help the lack of parking in the town, and also support the retail businesses. Future replacement and maintenance costs will be covered by the fees of hiring the facility, ensuring the pitch will be available for generations to come and will require no taxpayer funding. The pitch is available to hire by anyone, and will become a town resource for more than just footballers - the digital BV has been informed that the pitch diary is almost entirely fully booked already.

“Where are the scissors?” joked Guy Ritchie Image: Courtenay Hitchcock

Benefits of a 3G Football Pitch 1. All-Weather Surface - no more waterlogged pitches. Any rainfall will drain through the perforated backing, leaving the surface free from standing water and puddling. 3G pitches can also withstand long periods without rainfall and won’t die in the summer months. 2. Environmentally Friendly - surprising. But unlike natural grass, synthetic turf requires very little water. Excessive water consumption is not only bad for the environment, but financially damaging for football clubs and schools, too. Nor does artificial grass require any form of fertiliser or pesticide to keep it in a usable condition. 3. Reduces the Risk of Injury - the underlay will absorb the impact of trips and falls, and lower the stress put on the players’ joints. 4. Looks and Feels Like Natural Grass - Gone are the days of the horrible plastic ‘Astroturf’. It’s difficult to tell the difference between real and fake grass, and it also plays much like the real thing, too 5. Can Be Used Frequently - 3G artificial turf is capable of withstanding intensive usage. This means that it can be used virtually around the clock without showing any signs of wear, meaning it can be booked throughout the day and well into the night. 6. Low Maintenance - Artificial turf simply doesn’t require the intensive maintenance that real turf pitches do; a single member of staff with the correct equipment can manage. No mowers, strimmers or aerators are required, and line markings are a permanent addition.

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NEWS The illustration on the front cover is a wood-cut by the distinguished artist Howard Phipps, who lives on Cranborne Chase.

The Deep, Dark And Enchanting Secrets Of Somerset Are Revealed In Beautiful New Book The media is currently preoccupied with Somerset as a Notting Hill-inthe-country rural idyll, where a South African billionaire has reinvented beautiful Hadspen House and its gardens as The Newt, close to uberfashionable restaurants at Bruton and celebrities “living the dream” (until the cows walk down the lane or the cockerel crows at dawn). Somerset is, and always has been, much more complicated and interesting. Deepest Somerset is the latest book in the respected Deepest Books series by journalists Fanny Charles and Gay Pirrie-Weir. As with other Deepest books, it is a wideranging portrait of the county which is still often overlooked by those on the headlong dash to Devon and Cornwall. The introduction by His Royal

Highness, the Prince of Wales, reflects on the importance of the connection between people, farming, food and the landscape. Deepest Books began with the publication of Deepest Dorset in September 2016. The full colour hardback approached the county from a varied perspective, weaving stories about the people through the wide history and evocativie

landscape, adding quirky facts, places to visit and how to make the most of time spent there. The Deepest Books are all funded by a charitable foundation, with proceeds going to charities in their respective counties. So far more than £65,000 has been raised with the Dorset and Wiltshire titles. Proceeds of Deepest Somerset will support the work of Somerset Community Foundation, the Children’s Hospice South West and the Farming Community Network.

Cider apples at Worley’s Cider. Photograph by Len Copland

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NEWS Hunky punk is Somerset dialect for grotesque carvings on the sides of buildings, especially Late Gothic churches. Though similar in appearance to a gargoyle, a hunky punk is an architectural feature that is purely decorative, with no other functional purpose (often referred to as a grotesque). A gargoyle is not strictly a hunky punk because it serves to drain water off the roof through its mouth. © Copyright Michael Garlick

Read Deepest Somerset and discover the dramatic gorges and rocky hills of the Mendips which bear the marks of 2,000 years of industry. Find the curious, ugly and utterly fascinating little hunky punk carvings (see image top above) around the church roofs. Of course there is cheese the traditional farmhouse Cheddars made by the Keens at Wincanton, Tom Calver at Westcombe, Montgomery’s at North Cadbury, and Barbers at Ditcheat. A few years ago, apple orchards were being grubbed out and cider was a mass-produced shadow of the real thing. Now there are artisan and craft producers all over the county, led by Julian Temperley at Burrow Hill, the man who won the right to call his apple spirit Somerset Cider Brandy, a famous victory over the EU. Other contributors include Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Michael Eavis, the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Mrs Annie Maw, Costa Children’s Book Award-winner Jasbinder Bilan, conductor

Charles Hazlewood, Mulberry founder and champion of spelt grain Roger Saul, National Hunt champion trainer Paul Nicholls and the bird photographer Carl Bovis.

biotech project at Watchet, from hunky punks to Hinkley Point – dig into Deepest Somerset. For more information or to buy Deepest Somerset, visit www.deepestbooks.co.uk or telephone 01963 32525.

There are beautiful photographs by David Blake, Len Copland, Ian Sumner and Matilda Temperley, and archive pictures, including horrifying scenes from Ilchester Gaol at the time of the Monmouth Rebellion and the persecution of the Quakers. From the fashion designers Alice Temperley and Terry Macey to traditional potters John Leach and Rob Ellis, from the horse hair factory at Beautiful early medieval hinges at the church at Meare Castle Cary to a said to be the finest floral hinges in the country

NEWS

by Rachael Rowe

The Joy In Photography Is In ‘Waiting For The Unkown’ Young local wildlife photographer has first exhibition in Blandford

Almost within touching distance image: Jasmine Shiner

It was the antlers that first caught Jasmine Shiner’s eye as she walked down Okeford Hill. Creeping closer, she waited patiently and focused her camera, being rewarded with a magnificent photo of a stag in a cornfield. The picture is one of several photos displayed at a small exhibition in Scruples Cafe, Blandford Forum.

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NEWS She puts her beautiful kingfisher photo down to luck. “I was down by the River Stour in Blandford Forum and I spotted the kingfisher having a rest on one of the bramble bushes - I just managed to get that perfect shot. I then took many more as it darted back and forth up the river for another couple of hours or so. I’ve been waiting for a shot like that for years, since I started photography.” Jasmine, 25, lives in Okeford Fitzpaine and has always been keen on photography, inspired by walks with her family, looking out for wildlife and learning about them from her dad. It’s the unknown factor that drives her. “What I love most about photography is the excitement of never knowing what you’re going to come across and capture, and then getting that amazing shot and doing that little dance of joy. Sometimes you’ve gotta take hundreds of pictures just to get that perfect one! “

You can see the images by Jasmine Shiner (below) on display in Scruples Cafe, Blandford Forum. Follow Jasmine on Instagram for more photography, or on Facebook here

A beautiful misty spot to watch the sun go down , Okeford Fitzpaine image: Jasmine Shiner

Daisies. image: Jasmine Shiner

by Rachael Rowe

COMMUNITY

Watching the sun set over the Blackmore Vale from the summit of the Iron Age hillfort on Hambledon Hill. This hill is one of the six apex points of The Wessex Astrum, the huge landscape hexagram discovered by Peter and Toni Perrott, which involves Stonehenge, Glastonbury and Avebury. Image: Laura Hitchcock

The Ley of the Land

The early morning mist rises on Hambledon Hill, revealing the spectacular Blackmore Vale below. It is the perfect time for walking before the heat of the day arrives. Treading through the uneven ground and ancient ridges, it is easy to imagine others taking the same route thousands of years ago. But there’s something more about the hill with its magnificent ridges and views that runs deeper than time itself. Hambledon Hill is one of several Leys. But what exactly are they? places in Dorset sitting on a Ley line. There are hundreds of A Ley line is a straight route them all over the world, linking across the landscape, generally landmarks from the Pyramids of invisible to the naked eye, but Giza to Notre Dame Cathedral one that connects landmarks. in Paris. A Trees, ponds, century ago in church spires, ‘Exactly 100 years 1921, Alfred ago, in 1921, Alfred cathedrals, castle Watkins was mottes, and Watkins was standing standing stones standing at a at a viewpoint in viewpoint in are examples Herefordshire Herefordshire and of features on and noticed noticed how certain Ley lines. Alfred how certain Watkins saw them hills and settlements hills and as prehistoric appeared to run in a trading routes settlements appeared or navigational straight line’ to run in a markers. Once the straight line. He went on to concept emerged, they fuelled write The Old Straight Track in the public imagination around 1925 detailing his thoughts on the mystical element. It wasn’t

long before druids and other spiritual believers saw them as powerful energy lines. Many scientists dismissed Watkins’ theory, stating the lines were purely coincidental and completely unconnected with the spiritual ways of life.

North Dorset’s Ley Lines It’s no secret that the Blackmore Vale is one of the best places to live but were you aware the area is full of Ley lines criss-crossing the landscape? Hambledon Hill, once a neolithic burial site and Iron Age Hillfort, has several Ley lines traversing

by Rachael Rowe

COMMUNITY The church at Knowlton, and left, the church seen from the air sitting inside the ancient neolithic henge complex.

it. It is one of the six apex points Okeford is also reputed to be connecting the mystical Wessex at the centre of several Leys, Astrum to in its position ‘One of Britain’s largest at the foot of Stonehenge, neolithic sites, the Avebury, and Hambledon Hill. Glastonbury. Dorset Cursus is an Stand at the Considered ancient processional top of the hill, one of Britain’s route running six miles largest neolithic and several landmarks are sites, the in length along two in alignment, parallel tracks on the Dorset Cursus from the is an ancient Cranborne Chase’ neighbouring processional Iron Age hillfort route running Hod Hill to local churches. Child six miles in length along two

parallel tracks on the Cranborne Chase. Although there are a few neolithic barrows left in place today, it can still be walked. The Cursus is aligned to Ley lines and also with views of the winter solstice. Close by is the neolithic henge complex at Knowlton, famed for its Norman church inside the ancient structure. There was quite a community here in medieval times but the village was decimated by plague in the 15th century and abandoned. continues next page

COMMUNITY Several Leys run through the henge and it is believed to be one of the most atmospheric and haunted places in Dorset. What drew believers of different faiths to the area across the ages? Early morning haze over Hambledon Hill, as seen from Hammoon. Was it the Image: Rachael Rowe. views of the equinox iconic landmark is on a Ley line. sunrise from the nearby Great In the village itself a sacred Barrow or an unseen energy of spring and the church is also aligned places? Or, was there aligned with the Ley. The Cerne some deep sense of spirituality Abbas Ley runs seven miles here? cross country to Holwell and to There are all kinds of theories St Laurence’s Church in the tiny surrounding the Cerne Abbas parish, named after a holy well. Giant, but the hill above the Coincidental places or deep

spiritual energy? Whatever your thoughts on the Ley lines and their connections, there’s one thing for sure. These lines are among some of Dorset’s most beautiful places and a good excuse for getting out and about and appreciating more of the county.

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SAVE THE DATE: 10th – 18th September Unmissable factory sale at Neal’s Yard Remedies eco-factory in Peacemarsh

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Visit the Neal’s Yard Remedies stores at their Peacemarsh eco-factory between 10th and 18th September to stock up on your favourite natural and certified-organic ranges, with up to 75% off.

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POLITICS

On Afghanistan by Chris Loder MP I was hoping to spend two entire days at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show but was forced to return to the House of Commons on the Wednesday for the debate on the Afghanistan crisis. Some may ask why a rural MP from Dorset feels it important to return to take part in such a debate. The answer is that the rapid developments in Afghanistan concern all of us. The consequences of the situation are serious for us here at home as well as abroad. Events moved faster than anticipated But first I’ll recap the lightning events of recent past which may go some way to explain why we are where we are today. First, the President of the United States, on July 8th, was categoric that what has happened in Afghanistan at the point of transition of US withdrawing would not happen! That was wrong. Either there was a systemic breakdown of intelligence on the ground, or the President was advised

that these events would not materialise. Not only does this cause us concern for the integrity of US intelligence, but it also raises questions for us to consider about the relationship between our two nations; and this in turn gives us concern for our foreign policy in the future. Our Foreign Secretary Many people have commented upon our Foreign Secretary being away when this first happened. I can assure you that Dominic Raab would not have been away if this was expected. But it further goes to question the integrity of US intelligence in Afghanistan and our reliance on it. And we must remember that

since April our Government recommended British citizens to leave Afghanistan because of the risks of western forces withdrawing from that country. Animals v humans You may have heard of man called Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing – a former Royal Marine turned founder of the Nowzad dogs charity. I have valued his work, especially with my interests in animal welfare ,and I don’t criticise lightly. We have broad sympathy for his cause (animal welfare in Afghanistan) but I find it morally questionable that the Government bowed to his threatening behavior to officials to use airplane space for cats and dogs rather than vets and nurses – or the most vulnerable people needing to get out – who will likely be executed, as my colleague Tom Tugenhat MP said last week. I wholly agree with Tom and encourage you to refer to his powerful speech in the House of Commons on August 18. colleague Tom Tugenhat said last week. I wholly agree with him and encourage you to listen to his powerful speech in the House of Commons on 18th August (video on left). Always free - subscribe here

by Rachael Rowe

COMMUNITY

Why We Have Food Poverty In North Dorset It’s almost a year since the first rural food pantry in England opened in Sturminster Newton; back then, a lot of people were surprised at the numbers of people needing support. That level of need hasn’t gone away, but there are several stories to celebrate from Vale Pantry, demonstrating how it is making a big difference to people’s lives. Carole Jones is passionate about Vale Pantry which she set up with the Blackmore Vale Partnership. “It’s the best thing I have ever done,” she says. Today, 190 families or individuals are being supported. They pay £4.50 a week and can collect a range of foods from the pantry in Sturminster Newton. Fruit and vegetables are free. Since starting last year, 149 individuals or families who were originally helped, no longer need the services of Vale Pantry as they have been successfully supported through a difficult patch in their lives for example, or found work. Carole and her team have also been looking deeper into the underlying issues that cause food poverty and why it is happening in North Dorset. They found several common threads. Carole explained: “A number of our clients have autistic children or a child with special educational needs. Typically, these children are not diagnosed until five years old. Up to then there is no firm diagnosis so the mums are often isolated. They cannot work or join the usual play groups, are embarrassed and isolated because of the child’s behaviour.

such as a supermarket visit can become a major experience. They are very isolated and stressed and can get depression. We also see older mothers with an autistic child now in their 30’s or 40’s - they are completely on their own. What we have done is set up a support group for these people and their children so they can share experiences and learn coping strategies. The kids can make as much noise as they like and it won’t matter.” The group will start in September. Carole’s team have also encountered people who are unsure how to cook a family meal. They have started producing recipe bags with an instruction card and all the ingredients they need to produce the dish. This week it’s tuna pasta bake. The team are very appreciative of the donations of fresh food from farms and allotment growers. Gold Hill Organics are just one of the local businesses

providing fresh vegetables. Carole explained the difference that can make to someone. “We had a couple using the pantry. She was unwell and her husband was unable to leave her. They had a budget of £20 for food and had to bulk buy in Lidl so could afford very few fresh products. The Vale Pantry gave them access to fresh fruit and vegetables as well as other foods. As a result their physical and emotional health and wellbeing has improved.” It’s remarkable how making nourishing food more accessible to vulnerable people can make a big difference to their well-being. And by getting under the skin of the causes of food poverty, people can be supported in a more sustainable way.

Follow the Vale Pantry on their busy Facebook page here. To contact Vale Pantry email thevalepantry@gmail.com or call 07968 348481.

“Things we take for granted

by Laura Hitchcock

A COUNTRY LIVING

Seeing Beauty And Use In Other’s Discarded Junk.

Steve Dimmer in his workshop at Spire Hill Business Park near Stalbridge image: Courtenay Hitchcock

Steve Dimmer is a familiar face in North Dorset, having spent many years working for Harts of Stur in their garden centre department. But his heart has always been in working wood; a couple of years ago he had the opportunity to buy a workshop, complete

with the larger tools he’d always wanted – the lifestyle choice was made, and now Steve spends his days happily coated in sawdust and wood shavings.

statement pieces of furniture – desks, coffee tables plus a lot of garden benches over the summer. And he’s finding there’s a real market for his work, often selling items via social media as fast as he can make them.

“I was taught woodworking from around 8 years old; by “I was being Perhaps it’s the 14 I was making my taught own fishing boxes. unique look of his At 17 I was making woodworking materials - Steve timber frames for from around prides himself on customising my car. creating new purpose eight years I’ve been good with from the wood others old; by 14 I reject; my hands for as long as I could hold was making “it’s the bits with a hammer. My dad character that I see my own let me help when I potential in. I’m fishing boxes” happier with the live was tiny - and my sons watched me in edge (pieces with the workshop. Both my boys bark still on), with knots and and my stepson are as good interesting grain like pawprint as me. You learn from doing it! oak.” “The first thing I ever made was a tea towel holder – the Steve refuses to waste anything ones with marbles in the – old doors and floorboards become mirrors and clocks. Long A restored cast iron mangle base, slots? I’m still making them!” twisting branches can become topped with planks of the rescued He holds one up and waves London Plane, oiled and sitting it. “My hobby has become my cheese boards or hook racks. in the sun to dry. This table was living – and I’m happy.” Even small offcuts can be made priced at £300, and sold instantly Steve creates bespoke into stylish tealight holders. image: Courtenay Hitchcock

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by Laura Hitchcock There is a pile of old, ageblackened wood sitting to the side of Steve’s yard – upon having it examined he found it is London Plane. The saw marks show that it was potentially cut around a hundred years ago – the marks match a traction engine saw blade of 24” diameter, and this method of belt-driven saws powered by tractors was replaced in the early 20th century timber yards by modern machinery with different blade types. This pile of wood was perhaps cut a century ago – and has not been used since. It’s not just about the woodwork, however – Steve’s stylish furniture pieces carefully pair wood with vintage metal components which he restores. He has just completed a magnificent desk, constructed from a pre-1930’s mangle base topped with yew (in image below). Old unwanted cast iron parasol bases make terrific coffee tables. A recently finished garden bench was built with Victorian railway station bench

The small showroom at Steve’s workshop, with his clocks and mirrors on the walls, one of Steve’s completed benches, and just behind it the yew-topped mangle-based desk (£350). image: Courtenay Hitchcock

A COUNTRY LIVING ends, restored as they would have been when new on the platform. He scours the internet for useful items he can recycle - not just wood, but cast iron vintage objects which can find a new purpose, unwanted items simply in need of some traditional skills. Steve takes on a lot of bespoke commissions – Vintage cast iron bench customers either come to ends in Steve’s him with a loose idea, or workshop waiting they have a very specific to be treated and restored. image: Courtenay Hitchcock request, and he works with them to create a Prices vary according to unique piece of furniture which they can be confident has the commission, but as a rough guide best environmentally-friendly restored cast iron garden benches credentials. start at £250. When he’s not in his workshop, Steve can usually be found out fishing – he has plans for a busy eventual retirement, taking a small camper van with Elvie the Jack Russell on a long road trip to fish the best carp lakes in the British Isles.

Find Steve as ‘@stevestuff_uk’ on Facebook and on Instagram. His workshop is at Spire Hill Business Park near Stalbridge, and Steve welcomes visitors by appointment. Do call him on 07721530672 to discuss your own bespoke requirements.

Steve in his workshop - image: Courtenay Hitchcock

RURAL MATTERS - monthly column from the CPRE

The Ash Tree Crisis: A Disaster In The Making

England fell into mourning in the 1970s as Dutch elm disease spread across the country. Yet we are reacting with complacency to a far greater natural disaster; ash dieback.

fungus called Chalara fraxinea, extolled is changing for the but it is a slow death for the tree. worse, and the Blackmore Vale is It is carried on the wind and by no exception, with ash being one transportation of infected trees. of our major hedgerow trees. All ash trees are vulnerable, but particularly younger ones, while One of our other concerns is older and more that local authority isolated ones can planning teams are “There were survive. Look for not considering the around 170 leaves developing adverse impact on million ash dark patches in the screening of trees in the summer, which then new development wilt prematurely, UK a few years projects. About 60 million elm trees died, and long diamondago, and the with a devastating impact on the shaped lesions How can you help? landscape. But we are witnessing girdling small expectation is the slow death of many more ash branches and twigs, that up to 80% If you have an ash trees, albeit spread more widely. which starve the tree in your garden, will die. ” There were around 170 million leaves above of gather up and burn ash trees in the UK a few years water. It affects new all the dead leaves, ago, and the expectation is that growth in particular. however healthy the tree up to 80% will die. appears. The Dorset Area of Outstanding The Woodland Trust estimate it Natural Beauty estimates that will cost the UK £15bn to clear Out walking, please clean your ash accounts for 12% of the up dying trees and to offset the shoes before and after visiting a county’s woodland, close behind impact on the environment, wood. oak. such as the reduced level of water purification and carbon Everyone is being encouraged The disease was first discovered sequestration. This is higher than to plant new trees to offset in South East England in 2012, the reported cost of the footclimate change, but few have but already and-mouth disease taken onboard the extra need to “...ash accounts for outbreak in 2001. half of Dorset’s replace the ash trees. 12% of the county’s ash trees are infected, dying There will also be Dorset CPRE are funding Trees woodland, close or have died. a major impact for Dorset to plant new trees in behind oak... already All over the on wildlife. Ash Purbeck, and North Dorset CPRE half of Dorset’s ash trees provide an county the are open to requests for funding raucous sound trees are infected, important habitat to support planting in North of chainsaws for more than Dorset on public land (please dying or have died.” are heard as 1,000 species email rupert@hardyfinancial. loggers and including birds, co.uk). Get planting! tree surgeons remove the trees. beetles and mammals such as the Hazel Dormouse. The Dorset Rupert Hardy, Chairman Ash dieback is caused by a landscape that Thomas Hardy North Dorset CPRE

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ON THIS DAY

On This Day: How War Was Declared On this day, 3rd September 1939, at 11.15 a.m. Mr.Chamberlain, Prime Minister, had broadcast to the nation the following statement announcing that a state of war existed between Britain and Germany. It still stands as a masterpiece in oration and elegance of clarity and reasoned emotion. We publish his brief but historical speech in full. “This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final Note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o’clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany. You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has failed. Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different that I could have done and that would have been more successful. Up to the very last it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and honourable settlement between Germany and Poland, but Hitler would not have it. He had evidently made up his mind to attack Poland whatever happened, and although He now says he put forward reasonable

proposals which were rejected by the Poles, that is not a true statement. The proposals were never shown to the Poles, nor to us, and, although they were announced in a German broadcast on Thursday night, Hitler did not wait to hear comments on them, but ordered his troops to cross the Polish frontier. His action shows convincingly that there is no chance of expecting that this man will ever give up his practice of using force to gain his will. He can only be stopped by force. We and France are today, in fulfilment of our obligations, going to the aid of Poland, who is so bravely resisting this wicked and unprovoked attack on her people. We have a clear conscience. We have done all that any country could do to establish peace. The situation in which no word given by Germany’s ruler could be trusted and no people or country could feel themselves safe has become intolerable. And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will all play your part with calmness and courage.

At such a moment as this the assurances of support that we have received from the Empire are a source of profound encouragement to us. The Government have made plans under which it will be possible to carry on the work of the nation in the days of stress and strain that may be ahead. But these plans need your help. You may be taking your part in the fighting services or as a volunteer in one of the branches of Civil Defence. If so you will report for duty in accordance with the instructions you have received. You may be engaged in work essential to the prosecution of war for the maintenance of the life of the people - in factories, in transport, in public utility concerns, or in the supply of other necessaries of life. If so, it is of vital importance that you should carry on with your jobs. Now may God bless you all. May He defend the right. It is the evil things that we shall be fighting against - brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution - and against them I am certain that the right will prevail.”

COMMUNITY

Brilliant To Be Back - The Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show

How terrific it was to spend hours exploring North Dorset’s Turnpike Showground, surrounded by thousands of people simply having a great time at the biggest Agricultural Show in the area: finally the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show 2021 was back and reuniting the rural community. For the first - and allegedly last - time the Gillingham & Shaftesbury show ran over two days this year - Wednesday and Thursday. It feels like it’s been a long, long time – but the amazing turnout felt like a jubilant celebration after the last eighteen months of hard work.

the crowd over with their rubbish cheekiness.

The display rings seemed to have a permanent crowd of clapping cheering onlookers as a quad bike flew through the air, polo ponies flaunted their skill and beauty, hawks frankly showed off, ferrets raced and heavy horses made their elegant way around. The dog agility show was unmissable – we watched a brilliant succession of dogs getting it wrong, sneaking off for the treats and generally winning

The stall aisles were busy too – nowhere felt overwhelmingly packed with people, but it was lovely seeing so many small indie businesses being well supported. From leather hats to stunning wood turning, and wrought iron gates to wellies there was something for everyone.

The show may be a big draw to tourists, but it has lost none of its agricultural roots either - with a packed schedule of livestock competitions, major suppliers doing brisk business and a lot of chatter over tea and pints.

There was spontaneous singing with the cheery crew from Gillingham Medical Practice (yes,

really…) to juggling stilt walking chefs at the BV Dairy stand. I spent rather too long examining prize winning eggs and looking at mad chickens in the poultry tent. And shouty ducks. Lots of fun. And of course there’s the food areas – plentiful and varied, and so well-supported; queues were long at lunch time. We waited until 3.30 to get ours (a terrific veg curry), and were genuinely spoiled for choice. The atmosphere was universally warm, fun and friendly. Every person I spoke to spontaneously exclaimed how simply lovely it was to see everyone together again. It was oddly soothing in its safe normality after the last eighteen months. Always free - subscribe here

No one can resist when the heavy horses start showing up.

Couldn’t resist this - spot that cheeky doggo!

The Fuel 10k Adrenaline Tour kept everyone entertained - we saw plenty of people not intending to watch who couldn’t resist just stopping to see.

We missed the sheep shearing demonstration - but this little lad didn’t mind, he was happy just to stop by for a chat.

Ice cream and steam engines. That’ll do.

There was egg judging of course.

COMMUNITY

It Was A Happy 15th Birthday For The Oak Fair at Stock Gaylard.

The August Bank Holiday weekend saw the 15th anniversary of the Oak Fair at Stock Gaylard. From the small acorn event of 15 years ago, the two day country event now hosts over 200 exhibitors. It’s not all about wood (though there is a lot of that), but it IS all about skilled craftspeople and country living. You won’t find the array of non-eco friendly retail stalls typical at big shows at the Oak Fair. The emphasis is on renewable, skilled, independent

eco-conscious businesses. And yes, there is admittedly a lot of wood. Arranged over the beautiful Stock Gaylard parkland, the resident ancient giant oaks become part of the annual event.

The Oak Fair, laid out in Avenue, Lane and Row, has a unique atmosphere - here is not the bustle of typical county shows. Our unhurried pace was matched by the crowd at large, the stall holders and visitors seemed to chat more and the gentle atmosphere made for an enjoyable and peaceful day. For many the fair has become a family tradition; kids disappear to throw axes, light fires and enjoy tractor rides, whilst adults watch the craftspeople work, or sit ringside to enjoy the displays in the Arena. Even our teen was happy to join the fun in the ring and be flown over by a Hawk!

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COMMUNITY All images: Courtenay Hitchcock

POLICE

How To Make His Life Harder

More people signing up to our Dorset Alert Scheme will reduce rural crime, says Dorset Police’s Community Co-ordinator. As young Becky Smith* went to get her car out of the garage near her flat one morning she noticed something wrong. Someone had used a crowbar to break-in and try to steal her car. The lock had been smashed and the metal door had been forced. Although the attempt had failed – the burglars obviously were scared off by something - she faced a bill of £566 for a new lock and repairs to the doors. And the garage was left unlocked until the repairs were made. But Becky immediately reported the crime to the police using the free and simple-to-use Dorset Alert messaging service available by text or phone. The criminals had obviously identified Jayne’s car as being valuable so they diligently found out where she kept it overnight. It was a horrible and scary incident but Becky was reassured by her local police who, with other community partners, stepped up vigilance to deter similar crimes in the area. So far it has worked. There have been no reported incidents near Becky. And, through the local Crime Watch coordinator, which the police put her in touch with, Becky bought a standalone garage police-approved alarm

for just £12.50 (also practical for garden sheds). These devices are available to everybody, not just people who have experienced a break-in. This is all part of a coordinated approach to crime by the police which involves the whole community. The Dorset Alert scheme allows all citizens and the police to keep on touch of suspicious behavior in real time. The local police teams spent two great days at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show explaining to visitors on our stand how they can help each other to deter criminals and catch those responsible for illegal behavior. We were there to raise general awareness of rural crime, and also to develop community safety through all the types of ‘Watch’ schemes. Our Community engagement and Rural crime team were also on hand to explain and discuss community safety matters.

He’ll soon be out of a ‘job’ thanks to the new and highly effective Dorset Alert messaging service

evident during the COVID measures and convert that in your local area to a ‘Watch’ scheme. A scheme where we focus on people and look out for family, friends and neighbours; because “My Community Matters” If you would like to join or start a Watch scheme in your local area, please contact me on; preventiondevelopment@dorset. pnn.police.uk *name changed for personal safety reasons.

Report suspicious activity either by calling 101 or via the police website https://www. dorset.police.uk/do-itonline#report If a crime is occurring or a life is in danger phone 999. Do also follow the local north Dorset policing teams on social media to stay up to date:

I was particularly pleased that over the two days we had new recruits to ‘Watch’ and many others signing up to Dorset Alert, our crime messaging system. As the area Community Police Coordinator, I am keen to capture the community spirit Always free - subscribe here

POLITICS

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READER’S PHOTOGRAPHY

TALES FROM THE VALE

Tales From The Vale with Andy Palmer

I expected a storm of complaints about my last column which had a bit of a go at ‘famous Dorset novelist’ Thomas Hardy - he of the droopy moustache and even more wilting marriage to a woman who (understandably) rather went off him. I rattled on about his misery and bleak view on life. And I explained the rather ludicrous plot of his most famous work, Tess of the Ds. But almost everybody who bothered to read the piece and who then had the even greater misfortune of seeing me, said they agree. A female friend in the village said, ‘you’re right, he’s a miserable bastard.’ My friend is rather well spoken and abhors swearing so you can see the strength of her view. And my old mate (MA in English Lit) said, ‘Have you read The Mayor of Casterbridge? Give us your opinion in the next Blackmore Vale.’ Well, yes I have read it – and it wasn’t the most uplifting few hours of my life. In fact by the time I arrived at the predictably bleak end (after the dreary beginning and unlikely middle) I felt like summoning Jeeves and calling for a restorative Brandy & S (not that I like brandy. Or have a man servant). And I’m happy to tell you the

by Andy Palmer plot. It’ll save Do my eyes deceive me, or is Mr Palmer attempting you reading it. mockery of my life’s work again? But first, let’s image: Clive Holland, Public domain, via recall Tess. Wikimedia Commons In Tess, you’ll remember that the tale implausibly hangs on the fact that twofaced wimp (this is proper nonLondon book reviewing, this is Dorset book reviewing) Angel Clare was given a letter from Tess explaining (before they got married) that she’d been raped and the ensuing child (called Sorrow, not the greatest start in life) had died. But the letter was slipped under his door and went under a past will never be known, so rug and was unread. We’ll leave aside the fact that she and Donald (he’s still Scottish) enjoy marital bliss and that it’s literally impossible to a public aura of spotless virtue? do this. I have tried. Pity Thom Logic again suggests that Hardy didn’t – might have had a happy perhaps, just ending and sold ‘But no. That’s perhaps, should more copies. His too sensible. have Henchard wife might have It’s not Thom’s personally putting thought he was the incriminating tops. way. There’s a the letters directly danger of a happy into the hands of In the Mayor of Lucetta. ending.’ Casterbridge, you But no. That’s too won’t be surprised sensible. It’s not to learn that the plot hinges Thom’s way. There’s a danger of again on letters going awry, in a happy ending. this case by disgraced ex-mayor Michael Henchard returning Henchard, although now incriminating old love letters unemployed and idle, is ‘too to his ex-flame, Lucetta, now busy’ to do this (obviously he’s the shiny new wife of the new playing Grand Theft Oxen-Drawn mayor, Donald Farfrae (he’s Haycart V) so he hands the Scottish, you’ll note). letters over to a known wretch, How does Henchard convey these explosive letters to Lucetta Jopp, who Henchard himself continually belittled, then fired, in a way that ensures her sordid Always free - subscribe here

by Andy Palmer and therefore might, just might, have a grudge against Henchard. Result: Jopp takes the letters down the pub, probably Ye Olde Wetherspoons, hands them around and, despite literacy at the time being negligible for such people, everyone has a good read (pointing out grammatical errors, howlers with syntax, clever use of tautology) and the disgraced Henchard ends-up dying in a hovel on Egdon Heath. And poor Lucetta and Donald are made figures of fun probably but I skipped the end due to the unremitting misery and pressing the bell for Jeeves again. By the time the reader gets to the end she/he realises that that’s another few hours they’ll never get back, all thanks to Hardy being cited as ‘Dorset’s Great Novelist.’ So, for me, while interesting for its historical sociological points, Hardy don’t cut the mustard as literature. I don’t care if it’s artisan mustard lovingly hand-made and sold at a typically successful function in Mappowder village hall, but he don’t cut it. And he could have cheered up a bit. And trimmed that ‘tache. Further academic notes on great novels that’ll help students sail through GCSEs are available on application from Vale University Audiobooks (Copyright). ***

Further on the topic of novelists, this time a great, hugely successful living novelist, and a young female one at that. I refer to the world famous Tracy Chevalier who, as I write this, is in the Piddle Valley working on her next book which I have no doubt will be another international best seller. But her response in this issue to a reader’s letter in the last issue (see Letters page 34) did make me smile. What really tickles me about this

TALES FROM THE VALE is Ms Chevalier, despite working hard every day on her new book, and also dealing with a thousand requests from literary magazines and university students all over the world, was still intrigued enough to go out and buy different flavoured crisps to see if her initial judgement that ‘Plain is Sane’ is correct. ***

Perhaps a mistake?

And on the subject of misreading, there’s a vegan Thai restaurant in Dorch called B8 Café off Trinity Street. You pronounce the name bait (B Eight) - slang for ‘obviously good’. It’s a great name as the food looks absolutely fantastic – see their website. (Ed, can you link to it?) (yes - Ed) Their website says it is still open for takeaways but the restaurant is remaining closed’ then they add, ‘we apologise for the incontinence.’ I’d like to think they meant inconvenience. My wife says they’ve done it on purpose so they get talked about. Seems to have worked. ***

Brief Encounter

There’s a charming note in the window of the lovely old sweet shop by the Abbey in Sherborne. The advert is from ‘Dave’ who got talking to a lady on the train from Bath to Sherbers. Obviously they got on well, but love-lorn Dave was too embarrassed to suggest they swap phone numbers. But in the note he asks the lady to give him a call (number provided) as he’s keen to meet up.

Him: “I heppen to be aye doctor – aye’ve studied med’zin” Her: “You make me so vay, vay heppy”

Now, it takes courage to do that - I dearly wish Dave and the lady meet up, continue to get on, get married and have lots of happy children. If he reads this perhaps he’ll let us know. All reminiscent of the 1945 film where Trevor Howard, helping Celia Johnson remove a piece of grit from her eye, says, ‘Aye heppen to be aye doctor’ in that affected upper-class voice used at the time. They go on to meet regularly – a bit saucy in 1945 as the lady was married. Celia, very upset by the painful farewell with Trevor (‘Aym going to Efrica’, don’t think he’s that specific. Maybe it was Elgeria) and returns to her dull-but-worthy husband who, knowing something’s afoot, says ‘Whatever your dream was, it wasn’t a heppy one was it.’ No. ‘You’ve been a long wey awey …thenk you for coming beck to me’ and gives her a hug, which maybe he should have done before she strayed. I’m pretty convinced that in the film, Celia’s husband, reads out a crossword clue which is from the poet Keats ‘...huge cloudy symbols of a high……’ (7). Well, that’s the clue. What’s the answer? Here’s another clue - the answer is what is missing in their relationship. First correct answer out of the hat, Laura the editor will give you an M&S chocolate biscuit. Just one. She’s like that, you see.

by Laura Hitchcock

Meet Your Local: The Swan Inn, Sturminster Newton

Our regular column in which you discover the faces and stories behind the pub sign. This month we’ve been chatting to Geoff and Emma Dunne who run the Swan Inn, Sturminster Newton.

How did you end up at The Swan Inn? Emma and I originally applied to take on the Upton Inn at Upton Cheyney in the Cotswolds, but coincidentally that is where our predecessors have moved to and it was already a done deal; which in turn made The Swan Inn available. So here we are! Geoff & Emma Dunne love to escape the pressures of running a pub by climbing Hambledon Hill with Monty their Westie.

What’s your favourite local place to visit on an afternoon off? Our favourite has got to be the delightful Bank House Brasserie here in Stur, and then maybe walk off all those calories up at Bullbarrow Hill or Okeford Hill with our Westie called Monty. We are so spoilt for choice with walks here, from just walking out of the pub and along the river bank to Fiddleford Mill, Hambledon Hill or Emma’s all-time favourite (and Monty’s) Piddles wood.

Tell us about your pandemic? Well - what an introduction to the world of publicans! We took over on July 1st; took three weeks to get ourselves together and we reopened the pub on July 27th 2020. In August the

‘Eat Out to Help Out’ campaign really got our restaurant off to a flying start - we had diners from all over Dorset enjoying our fine dining a la carte menu. Restrictions were quickly imposed - table service only, masks and social distancing all put a lot of people off and it went very quiet very quickly until the second lockdown in November. Then of course the third one in late December so Christmas Parties didn’t happen, and likewise New Year.

The whole winter season impact of COVID19 hurt pubs and restaurants in particular, and we were no exception. Government grants and the Furlough scheme helped but we still had considerable costs and cashflow was a major concern. We were lucky though - unlike many we had considerable support from Hall & Woodhouse, the family-owned Dorset brewer, but even so it was a long and hard enforced closure. Always free - subscribe here

MEET YOUR LOCAL

What’s been your biggest challenge since taking over? What are you proud of? Our biggest challenge (after Covid of course) has been recruitment. Covid and (allegedly) Brexit have wreaked havoc on the hospitality sector and nowhere more so than with kitchen staff. It is proving very very difficult to recruit quality Chefs and support staff - where are you all?! I think there are two things I’m deeply proud of; one is the work Emma carried out in our nowamazing garden, and second is quite simply surviving the lockdowns and still being here at the end (we hope this is the end...).

What part of the pub is your absolute favourite? Obviously I love the whole building - it has such a rich history and you can feel that wherever you are. But... for me this has to be out in the garden. Even though it’s late summer now (did we have summer? I might have blinked and missed it...) and most of the flowers and shrubs have had their better days, it’s still brims with some very pretty flowers, and there’s nowhere better in my view to

Having suffered recruitment issues over the summer, the Swan’s restaurant is now open again

sit and enjoy a glass of wine in a quiet moment.

Which dish is your most popular? Without a doubt our Sunday roasts. It is the most booked up meal time of the week and hugely popular, a very substantial meal and enjoyed universally both for price and quality.

So what’s next - do you have big plans on the horizon? We did have big plans for our restaurant but these have been shelved whilst we consolidate following the financial hit of the various lockdowns and trading restrictions. Right now it’s really a matter of building our business; the food, the beers and our very well appointed accommodation, recruiting another chef and

taking our food offer to 7 days and perhaps expanding the menu. Quiz night has returned and is now every Monday night (we were amazed at how many Quizzlers there in and around Stur!). We have Jason and the Alco-Noughts performing live on Saturday 18th at 8:00pm. We’ve four teams planned for the local Dart league (recommencing in October) as well as our own Darts Knockout Competition due to take place in September. Finally, we hope, an amazing Christmas and New Year to make up for last year’s washout!

Geoff ’s exceptionally proud of the hard work Emma put in to make the Swan Inn’s garden such a great socialising space outside.

Landlord Geoff Dunne is usually found behind the bar with a ready smile.

THEN AND NOW

by Roger Guttridge

A Tale of Two Number Plates by Roger Guttridge

Stickland’s ironmonger’s shop (now Crocker’s) and Gillingham’s first car in 1904

My 1904 picture of Gillingham High Street is historically interesting on several fronts, not least because it features the town’s first car and its rather significant number plate. The dark green and black Humberette is seen parked outside E R Stickland’s cycle shop and ironmonger’s. It appears to be of great interest to Gillingham’s Edwardian residents, judging by the large crowd gathered on the other side of the road.

The car belonged to Mr Stickland and carried the registration number BF 89. It was registered on January 4, 1904, very soon after the introduction of vehicle registration the previous month. The allocation of BF numbers to Dorset did not go down well in some quarters due to the inference that the county’s early motorists were ‘bloody fools’.

By the time the sequence had reached BF 162, Dorset had been issued with an alternative and vehicle owners could apply to the county council to switch from BF to FX. Many did but Mr Stickland stuck with his BF number. The other striking thing about these pictures is how little the shop has changed in 117 years. The original balcony survives complete with pillars and ironwork and even the shop windows appear the same. The bicycles have gone but the shop’s use as a ‘traditional ironmonger’s is retained. This rare example of shop front

conservation owes much to former ironmonger and local historian Peter Crocker, who still owns the property and organised its authentic restoration in 2012. Peter, now aged 77, tells me the building dates from the 1870s and the ironmonger’s business was founded by Edwin Roberts Stickland, his great-grandfather, in 1882. It later passed to Peter’s grandfather Jack Stickland. Peter himself worked in the shop as a schoolboy, became manager in the 1960s and bought the business in 1972. Although he retired in 1996, it is still called Crocker’s.

The shop has changed remarkably little in 117 years Always free - subscribe here

LOOKING BACK

by Roger Guttridge

The Milborne Martyrs - The Day They Were Brutally Evicted. The above historical picture, dating from April 1874, provides a rare photographic glimpse of the agricultural turmoil and early trade unionism that played such a big part in Dorset’s nineteenth century history. It was taken at Milborne St Andrew, just a few miles from Tolpuddle, whose Martyrs were famously transported to Australia forty years earlier for swearing an oath of loyalty to a labourers’ union (trade unions were no longer banned, but under an old law secret oaths were illegal).

The picture shows about 100 ‘As there is a general strike of villagers gathered to watch labourers in the village, there the ‘evictions of agricultural was a good muster of men, labourers, members of the women and children, attracted union’, from their thither by the “novel tied cottages. the farmer and and interesting” Milborne St spectacle,’ reported his two sons Andrew was the Dorset Free carrying out the Press. home to the first poor people’s Dorset branch of An eyewitness said: the Agricultural goods into the ‘I never saw such a Workers’ Union, ditch by the road scene in all the days formed two years of my life. – two families earlier, and its ‘There was the members were with lots of little farmer and his two striking for more children, one a sons carrying out the money. poor people’s goods baby very ill in into the ditch by the Contemporary the cradle newspaper reports road – two families tell of Milborne St with lots of little Andrew families children, one a baby being ‘forcibly ejected’ in 1874 very ill in the cradle. and ‘their goods and chattels put ‘Two more families are to be into the road’. ejected tomorrow, and eight of

get in touch with Roger: roger.guttridge@btinternet.com

LOOKING BACK

by Roger Guttridge the squire’s tenants have received notice to quit from his agents.’ In a scene reminiscent of the annual Tolpuddle march that is held to this day, another report describes a procession through the village, led by a band. Men, women and children carried flags and banners and the strikers themselves wore blue ribbons and rosettes in their hats. A closer look at the photograph reveals three musicians in the centre, one with a fiddle, another holding an accordion, a third carrying a drum or tambourine. At least two men appear to be drawing attention to the ribbons on their jackets. The strikers were demanding a wage increase above their current 12 shillings (60p) a week. One sympathiser described the treatment by their employer, Mr Fowler, as ‘brutal’.

‘Unfortunately, a very large portion of the cottages of Dorsetshire are held by the labourers as part and parcel of their wages,’ he added. ‘The occupants therefore can be ejected at almost a moment’s notice, without the trouble of going through any legal process.’

‘After being evicted, he went to Yorkshire with his 21-yearold daughter, Charlotte, and his son, George, who was two years younger. Later they went on to Bolton, Lancashire, where He was born in according to one the Weymouth of his grandWorkhouse, taught daughters he himself to read and became manager of a slate works.’

write and joined the Metropolitan Police

The evicted labourers included Alfred Martin, whose great-great grandson, Graham Baldwin, and his wife, Bridget, were living in Bournemouth in the 1990s and told me more about Graham’s ancestor.

‘I think Alfred was one of those that stirred them all up to strike for higher wages,’ said Bridget, who had researched the background.

Charlotte Martin eventually left Lancashire in 1879 and went to London to marry James Cox Stroud, whom she had known at Milborne St Andrew. ‘He was born in the Weymouth Workhouse, taught himself to read and write and joined the Metropolitan Police,’ Bridget told me. ‘He ended up conducting the police band. He and Charlotte had six children, all of whom lived to a great age.’

Bring your goals a step closer. Putting together a plan early in the tax year to utilise the savings allowances and exemptions available can have a big impact towards achieving your long-term goals. When it comes to investing, you might want to take action now to give your money longer to grow – or set up a regular savings plan to invest a little each month. The key is to plan ahead and take advantage of the tax breaks available to keep you heading in the right direction.

LEE WALKER

Director

DipPFS

WALKER WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD

Partner Practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management

Tel: 01202 087499 | lee.walker@sjpp.co.uk www.walkerwm.co.uk

The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested. The levels and bases of taxation, and reliefs from taxation, can change at any time and are dependent on individual circumstances. The Partner Practice is an Appointed Representative of and represents only St. James's Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of advising solely on the group's wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out on the group's website www.sjp.co.uk/products. The 'St. James's Place Partnership' and the titles 'Partner' and 'Partner Practice' are marketing terms used to describe St. James's Place representatives.

SJP11763o V3 (05/21)

EQUESTRIAN

Stud Life Lucy Procter, co-owner of the Glanvilles Stud, shares a diary of life on a Thoroughbred stud. This month - the mischievous gang of foals.

It’s September, and the first lot of early foals born in February and March have turned five months, are weaned and roaming their thickly hedged and tree-lined paddock in a mischievous gang. Weaning is a gradual process which starts at around three months, with the introduction of a special youngstock cube mixed with chaff, a selection of chopped up dried grasses and alpha, which helps stop them bolting their feed. With abundant, good grass, the mares only need a small quantity of a nutrient dense feed with minimum calories. So to stop the mares eating more than they need, the feed for the foals is put inside a creep feeder; a low metal ring or portable fence with foal-sized openings, which the foals can fit under or through, but the mares cannot. These foals are all young Thoroughbreds, bred specifically for jumps racing; aiming to first get to a racecourse in their ‘four

year old’ year. We supplement eating well and spending less their natural summer grass to and less time at its dam’s side, encourage them to grow that we catch the mare and lead her little bit taller and ‘Small horses can to the other end stronger so that the farm, out of make perfectly of the bloodstock earshot. good racehorses, agents will be more inclined to but buyers are Within a very short buy them at the mostly after tall, time, most foals sales – small horses have settled back well matured can make perfectly with their mates youngsters with and all is calm. The good racehorses, but the buyers lots of winning mares will often are mostly after pace the field they racehorses in tall, well matured have been moved their extended to for the first youngsters with family’ lots of winning couple of days and racehorses in their this, combined with extended families. reduced grass for a week or two, To have any chance of making a helps dry up their milk. The field profit when it comes to the sales, group sizes vary but six or eight it’s all about size and pedigree. mares with foals at foot in a group is ideal, with two or three Once a foal is five months, is mares being taken out at a time.

To stop the mares eating more than they need, the feed for the foals is put inside a creep feeder; a low metal ring or portable fence with foal-sized openings, which the foals can fit under or through, but the mares cannot. image: Courtenay Hitchocck

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EQUESTRIAN group is then left to properly settle again for a couple of weeks before the next mares are removed; we aim to make the whole process as stress-free as possible.

The foals are a boldly curious group, keen to find out what’s happening. image: Courtenay Hitchocck

This is also the time of year when we start looking towards the autumn sales and helping our clients analyse their broodmare bands (a collective of mares owned by one individual/group used for the purposes of breeding). It’s the time to consider whether any mares have been underperforming, with offspring either not making a profit at the sales or, ultimately, not winning races. Time to decide whether there are mares that should be sold or bought, always with an eye to improving the quality of the

mares being bred from. Finally, September is the month for the final tidying of both paddocks and buildings to get ready for the winter and,

whilst we’d like to be picking blackberries and sloes, we spend most of the time praying for a long dry Autumn so the horses can stay out as long as possible.

Once the foals are over five months old the mares are gently removed to the far side of the stud, out of earshot of their temporarily-objecting offspring. image: Courtenay Hitchocck

EQUESTRIAN

by Sara Greenwood, BHS Assistant Bridleways Officer

The Realities of Riding the Countryside How many of us have met barriers at the end of a bridlepath, usually where the Parish boundary has turned the route into a footpath? Or an unclassified road, maybe marked as an Other Right of Public Access (ORPA), that is unrideable?

Where a bridleway becomes a footpath image: Sara Greenwood

on a route doesn’t mean it’s recorded and protected from being removed. In England, horse riders only have access to 22% of public rights of way; the more of the off-road network we lose, the more horses will have to be ridden on today’s ever more dangerous roads.

The British Horse Society are committed to protecting and preserving the equestrian offroad network. Working together Your local Bridleways Access we can ensure that the routes Officer may be able to help - or you ride are accurately recorded you might be able to help them as safe off-road routes. by following these steps below. Here is our step by step guide to check your On 1 January routes On 1 January favourite 2026, bridleways and rides in England and 2026, all are recorded Wales that aren’t correctly: footpaths & formally recorded bridleways in 1. look at will be lost to the an Ordnance England and Survey explorer public. Our aim is to safeguard Wales that 1:25,000 scale bridleways for aren’t formally map. It is public use so recorded will important to that equestrians take the time to be lost to the understand the today and in the future have safe public. key to the map. off-road routes to You can view ride on. the OS map for free by using Bing Maps These unrecorded routes (click on the road actually exist in law, but have icon in the top right never been registered on the and select ‘Ordnance definitive map, the legal record Survey’. of public rights of way. 2. Find the routes Just because you currently ride you ride and check

to see if they are marked as a Bridleway, Restricted byway or a Byway open to all traffic (BOAT). If the route is marked correctly you do not need to do anything else! 3. If your route isn’t marked as one of the above, or if it is marked as something different, you can double check on the local authority’s map - see Dorset’s here 4. Check if the route is marked as a Bridleway, Restricted byway or a BOAT. If the route is marked correctly you do not need to do anything else, it is safe! 5. If you have followed these steps and you do not think the route you ride is recorded correctly, you can log your route using the BHS form here or save the route yourself using the BHS’ ‘2026 Toolkit’.

If you would like to find out if someone has already applied for a Definitive Map Modification Order please click here.

This Unclassified Road was rideable in the 1980s image: Sara Greenwood Always free - subscribe here

WILDLIFE There are three species of brown carder bumblebees in the UK. The species you are most likely to see in gardens is the Common carder bee. But you might spot the others on your travels, especially in the wider countryside. - the Brown-banded carder bee and the Moss carder bee. Image: Brigit Strawbridge.

The Common Carder Bumblebee

By our local wildlife columnist Brigit Strawbridge Naturalist, wildlife gardener, well-known British environmentalist and bee advocate.

It seems hard to believe that Autumn is just around the corner. There are few tangible signs yet to herald its imminent arrival… trees and hedgerows are still fully clothed in vibrant lush greens; the garden is abuzz with insects; and swallows are swirling and swooshing in the sky above our house, showing no sign whatsoever that they are soon to begin their 6,000 mile journey back to Africa. But change is in the air. Though there are still plenty of bees collecting nectar and pollen from our flowering plants, I am beginning to notice fewer types of bumblebee visitors. The lifecycles of most bumblebees are now over for this year. Fresh new queens have already emerged, mated, and gone into hibernation - while workers, males, and colony-founding queens are no longer with us. There is one particular species though, that always lingers longer than the others; Bombus pascuorum - the Common Carder bumblebee. Common Carders are one of my favourite bee species. I can’t quite put my finger on why this might be, something to do with their gentle demeanour perhaps - and the fact they never complain when disturbed. Not to mention their pretty

colouring, which is usually come across an active nest, in an referred to as ‘ginger’ but actually old stone wall in the lane near varies from foxy orange, through our house, and the bees weren’t rusty brown, to even slightly put faded gold. The ‘Common Carders are out as I filmed hairs on their one of my favourite their comings and sides are mostly goings. bee species. I can’t creamy white, but sometimes decide on why this Old stone walls yellow. These might be, something are not where I bees vary hugely would expect to to do with their gentle find this species in size as well, demeanour perhaps’ nesting (which so you would be forgiven, as is why I was you watched a group foraging filming them), as they are noted together on a flowering plant, for for nesting above ground, often thinking you were looking at half in tussocky grass, where the a dozen different species. founding queen makes use of moss and dry grass to cover their Common Carder bumblebees nest. have one of the longest life-cycles of any bumblebee; the colony So if you see a beautiful gingercarrying on producing new looking bumblebee this month in workers, males, and daughter your garden, or while you are out queens well into September, and and about on your walks, take often into October too. a closer look; she’s probably a In fact I have this very afternoon Common Carder bumblebee.

WILDLIFE Bottlenose dolphins are the most familiar of our dolphins and most likely seen from British shores. They are very social animals and can often be seen in small groups of up to 15 dolphins. They love to jump out of the water and will happily approach boats to bowride. How to identify: A chunky, fairly plain grey dolphin, darker above and paler below. Their beak is short and stubby and their dorsal fin is large, sickle-shaped and often marked with notches and scratches. Bottlenose dolphins are often sighted close to shore alone or in small groups. Look out for boisterous splashing and breaching!

Where to Watch Dolphins in Dorset Few sights are more magical than a pod of dolphins off the beautiful Dorset coast.

One of the best times to spot these enchanting sea creatures is right now in the early autumn. Twenty-eight species of whales, dolphins and porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans) are recorded along the UK coastline, of which fourteen are recorded here in the south west.

from clifftops, beaches, harbours and boats along the coast. Excited seabirds are a clear giveaway of surface activity. Keep your distance, use binoculars, be patient and look out for an irregular wave, a splash or even a dark fin breaking the surface.

Where to see dolphins

On the Isle of Purbeck, Durlston Head and Old Harry Rocks at Handfast Point are both renowned lookouts for pods of dolphins swimming off the iconic chalk cliffs.

The most common type reported in Dorset is the ‘Look out for playful and highly Moving further intelligent bottlenose pods of dolphins west, one of the dolphin. Studies county’s most swimming off have shown that the iconic chalk celebrated dolphin these beautiful watching spots is cliffs’ creatures can solve the Kimmeridge problems, show Cliffs, providing a empathy and display emotional breathtaking vantage point with intelligence; traits commonly spectacular views across the bay. seen in humans and primates. Dolphins can be spotted swimming, hunting and playing

The Dorset Wildlife Trust organises regular Dolphin Watch events at which you can join the

Marine Wardens to learn more about the different species of dolphins in Dorset and get tips on how to spot them. Last but not least on our list is Portland Bill, Dorset’s most southerly point and a wonderful place to see dolphins swimming in the shallow reefs and rocky outcrops.

Support Dorset’s marine wildlife

Despite having few natural predators along the Dorset coast, dolphins are nevertheless at huge risk from an increase in pressure from human activity. Dolphins get injured by speed boats, caught in fishing nets, affected by plastic pollution or other interactions with people. Find out more about the ways that Dorset Wildlife Trust protects and supports dolphins by visiting our website dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk Hazel Ormrod Dorset Wildlife Trust Always free - subscribe here

VET

A Vet’s View of North Dorset’s Biggest Show

POLITICS

by Lucy Closier, Damory Vets.

Well what a change it was to be able to get out and about again. It was so lovely to be able to catch up with clients new and old at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury show. There was such a buzz of excitement in the air and looking out from the tent seeing families and friends reunited was truly heartwarming after such a tough year with all the lockdowns and isolations.

Robert Luther enjoying tea and a chat with the Damory team,

The show for us is an opportunity to take five minutes out and have a good old chinwag with our clients and prospective clients - something we often don’t get a chance to do in today’s busy society. Our new face hole photo board featuring some of our wellknown vets went down an

The Damory Vets team - L-R: Laura Sage, Lucy Closier, Christina Chionidou, Imogen Deacon, Charlotte Luther.

absolute storm. It was great seeing everyone get involved. We had a fabulous hog roast by Rich Tory of Golden Pig hog roasts and Ice cream made by Pamphill Dairy using one of our very own farmer’s milk, Allen Valley whose milk vending machines you will no doubt have seen around, including in our own car park. We like to support local businesses at events like these it is often too easy to just order everything online. We had beer from Barefaced Brewing in Blandford, Cider from Purbeck Cider and all our awesome stickers and banners were speedily printed by the amazing team at Oldfields Embroidery. Without all of these local businesses we simply wouldn’t

be able to pull together such a great stand. It takes an immense amount of work and time to set up a stand and we are so lucky to have a great team here at Damory Vets that pull it together each year. The two days were hard work but so rewarding (especially when we got to sneak an ice cream or two). The final pack up was interesting as it started to chuck it down! We were totally soaked - right through to our undies - and we battled in the heavy rain to get the marquee down, even with the help of a local knight in shining armour (thank you David from Redlynch Tractors), but we still had smiles at the end and that’s what its all about. We look forward to seeing you all again next year!

Dillon the Herdwick Ram (with Charlotte Luther)

In the rain (L-R: Lucy Closier, Charlotte Luther, Imogen Deacon (Behind them - David from Redlynch Tractors and Robert Luther.

RESCUE ANIMALS

Do you have the room and the time to give one of these cats a forever home? Click a Cat to go see if they’re a match for you.

Poppy

Garfield

Age 10.

Age 14.

Mr Tubbs

Ethel

Age 7.

Age 8.

Caine Age 13.

Karma

Kiri

Age 13.

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FARMING

The Dorset farmer whose pregnant Highland cow was chased to its death by dogs has been gifted nine Highland cattle by a fellow Dorset farmer. In June we shared how Cameron Farquharson’s cow Gladis sadly made national news when she fell more than 30ft on Eggardon Hill in May. She was due to calve in a couple of days, but her unborn calf died with her. After hearing the story, Stan Sadler, who lives in Dorset, got in touch. He owned a fold of cows kept on his uncle’s farm in South Lanarkshire. Mr Sadler has lived in Bournemouth for 24 years, working in mental health, but pre-oandemic would commute back to Scotland every month to work on his family farm. He said: “When I read the story

on the news, I was shocked. I decided instead of selling my cows I would gain far more satisfaction by giving the animals to Cameron.” The herd was delivered to Eggardon Hill on Thursday, August 12 and consists of one bull, three cows, two heifers and three calves. Mr Farquharson said the gesture had “restored his faith in humanity”. Gladis had been raised from a calf by Mr Farquharson’s teenage daughter. Mr Farquharson said: “It was tough for the whole family, because

they are like pets. It’s like losing a member of the family.” He described the arrival of Mr Sadler’s cows as “an amazing outcome”. Mr Farquharson launched a petition for “Gladis’s Law”, requiring dogs to be on a lead when livestock are in a field. This has been heavily backed by West Dorset MP Chris Loder and Farming Minister Victoria Prentis among othersget the law passed as early as May 2022.

Specialist rural property solicitors. “A cut above the rest: very proactive, efficient and excellent at giving advice in rural and agricultural property, particularly farmland.” If you are a rural business, property or land owner, there are numerous legal complexities to consider. Trethowans provide a complete range of agricultural legal services, including: • • • •

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FARMING

But What Has the NFU Done For You? Unlike any other industry, everyone has a connection with farming. Why? Because the food you eat has been produced by farmers. The National Farmers Union (NFU) was set up in 1908 to represent the interests of farmers and today we are still here to give our British farmers a voice. UK farming has challenges ahead; we need to continue to produce the food we eat, while meeting the challenges of climate change and food security. To manage these while rearing and producing animals to the high standards that the UK public expect, then farmers need a level playing field. It is our role at the NFU to ensure the industry is granted this, and it has never been a more important role than right now as trade deals are being negotiated; we work hard to ensure our sector is not undermined by food imports that fail to meet its high ideals. The NFU has a network of more than 300 local offices (jointly with the NFU Mutual). Here in Dorset, there are six local offices, with two in the Blackmore Vale – Sturminster Newton and Sherborne. Jude Green and Justin Pinder lead the Sturminster Newton office and Shelley Goodfellow leads the Sherborne office. These NFU Group Secretaries provide professional advice and help to local NFU members, supported by the extensive national network. For farmers, one of the biggest impacts of COVID-19 has been from the loss of the restaurant,

pub and takeaway trade - what are continuing to work hard to the industry refers to as the ‘out make sure we have the food we of home’ sector. This accounts need alongside managing our for up to half the fresh produce great British countryside. that is sold in the UK – the proportions vary depending on Above all we must protect the what is being supplied, but it is a high standards of food safety, crucial market for meat, animal welfare ‘it has never milk and vegetables. and environmental been a more protection that the The NFU continues British public value important to work tirelessly role than right so highly. to support farmers now as trade We look forward through the problems deals are being to supporting and we continue to face, and to make sure that negotiated’ contributing to the after the coronavirus digital BV and we has passed, we re-build hope we will bring a more resilient and sustainable you along with us during this domestic food and farming exciting and challenging time supply chain. ahead for the farming industry. We look forward to discussing Alongside this, our team the farming issues of the day scrutinise trade deals; address with you as well as introducing workforce shortages; lobby to you to some of the farmers in grant more resource for rural our area and their businesses. crime; act as ambassadors for farm safety; bring farming It is also a chance for us alive in the classroom through to highlight some of the our education work and deal farming campaigns such as with species re-introduction the #LoveLamb Week running proposals. now – 1st to 7th September Our work is certainly varied! - showcasing the delicious, nutritious, and climate-friendly There are many challenges British lamb. facing the industry now, but Louise Stratton farmers – who are nothing if not NFU Dorset county adviser resilient and resourceful –

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FARMING Harvesting on Rawston Farm in the Tarrant Valley in the 1970s. Image: James Cossins

Voice Of A Farmer by James Cossins, a fifth generation farmer in the Tarrant Valley.

The first three weeks of August were particularily challenging in getting this years harvest underway. With a considerable lack of sunshine the crops were slow to ripen, and the weather conditions didn’t help the machinery or the operators. The last week of August has improved with some sunshine and warmth, but nothing like that one week of heat we had in July. The yields have therefore been a bit variable, but I think overall we are having slightly above average yields - especially our winter wheat - and with prices continuing to remain high this will help to offset the cost of drying the majority of crops. The machinery has so far performed well with only a few minor breakdowns which our machinery dealers were able to rectify promptly.

yields, showing the variation in performance within individual fields so that we can then look at how to improve the overall performance of each field. On the dairy side of our farm we have started calving once again; so far with not too many issues, but it is early days. We are currently using sexed semen on our cows which means that we can virtually quarantee female calves to be born, and then retained as replacements for our milking cows. Once we think we have enough female calves the remainder of the cows can produce beef-breed calves for our beef enterprise for the farm butchery. We have yet another TB test coming up in September - fingers crossed that we can achieve a

clear test after many months of being under movement restrictions. Landowners, farmers and growers are facing a challenging time trying to understand the various new schemes DEFRA have put out. They include the Agricultural Transition Plan, Farming in Protected Landscapes, The Sustainable Farming Incentive Scheme and the Environmental Land Management Scheme. I can see a lot of time is going to be spent in the office going through all this information, deciding what is the right way forward for our farm. It will be a challenging decision for the many of us trying to get the balance right on our farms between producing food and looking after the environment.

Our next task will be to assemble all the information gained by the combines on the mapped

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FARM TALES

by Andrew Livingston

Agriculture deemed the most dangerous industry Of all the major industrial industries, it is farming (agriculture) that is the most dangerous, with fatalities being around 20 times higher than others.

them. The farmer. are both mature and responsible A farmer must know the ins and with farm equipment. outs of their tractors, trailers Proportionally, the highest and telehandlers and how to use percentage of deaths come in them safely. the over 60s. They must Last year, 30% ‘As tiredness understand their increases, it only of deaths were cattle and how to aged over 60, takes one mistake whilst they as an handle them - beef for a job that and dairy cows weigh age bracket only between 750kg to make up just 11% you’ve done a 1100kg. Poor control The month of July was thousand times to of the workforce. whilst running or host to Farm Safety Week. be fatal’ sorting cattle can lead A lot of this Unfortunately, in the following to death by either comes down fortnight, another four deaths crushing or trampling. to complacency. Whether it’s were recorded across Great lambing season, harvest or Britain. As a workforce farming Currently, kids turnaround for us, farmers accounts for ‘The most lethal aged just 13 can frequently work 12 hour days in just 1% of Great item on the farm drive tractors on constant succession. As tiredness Britain’s working increases, it only takes one population, and isn’t the cattle or their farms and land before going mistake for a job that you’ve yet accounts for the machinery, on the roads with done a thousand times to be nearly a quarter it is the person the smaller tractors fatal. of all workplace tasked to control and trailers at 16. The highest percentage of deaths fatal injuries, Thirteen is a young on the farm come from falls giving it the them’ age. I was probably from the top of ladders, roofs or poorest safety still building Lego tractors at that bales. But what is more worrying record of any occupation. age - let alone driving them. And is that a large proportion come yet, kids this age may go a little from incidents on All-Terrain A wise head once told me that Vehicles (ATVs) like quadbikes, the most lethal item on the farm wild at Young Farmer’s events, but when it comes to working just because farmers refuse to isn’t the cattle or the machinery, on the farm, kids in agriculture wear helmets. it is the person tasked to control Only one in three farmers wear a helmet every time they go out - excuses range from ‘they rush and forget’, ‘they don’t need one’ to stating that ‘they look silly’. With the machinery and animals used across farms in Great Britain, incidents will happen - it is unfortunately inevitable. But do we need so many deaths to feed the nation? Something needs to change.

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POLITICS

Farming. It’s a Risky Business.

POLITICS The last straight track is a parallel course to the Ox Drove above the Shire Rack - by taking it you avoid the road stretch up to the Drove from Middle Chase Farm, but the track is dead straight and high-hedged all the way: slightly monotonous. On a stifling hot day I’d be inclined to take the Ox Drove instead to make the most of the views.

The ‘Moreton round the ‘Puddles’ 12 or 6(ish) miles (The pinch point in the middle is an easy point to split the route in two - if you don’t want a 12 mile day hike, then there’s an obvious option to cut across from the Southover Heath Plantation to Pallington Clump via the Hardy Way, and you’ll end up with a nice 6ish miles instead.) Although long (unless you chop it in half), this is a really easygoing walk, mostly on broad well-marked trails. There are small sections on open heathland, but majority of this walk is through the forests - probably mucky underfoot in winter, but cool and shady on a hot day, with a lovely ford to splash hot feet in when you’re done! Do stop at the Walled Gardens for tea & cake, too.

Take a Hike... The routes we feature have always been created and walked recently by ourselves, so you know you can trust them - we aim for unpopulated routes with as little road and as many views as possible! You can always see the route and follow it yourself via the free Outdoor Active app - see all our routes here.

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CLICK THE MAP TO SEE THE INTERACTIVE ROUTE ON OUTDOOR ACTIVE

The ford over the river Frome at Moreton this was taken early evening on our return leg. On the way out the water was busy with children playing and splashing. Oh the ancient giants. This beauty was at least fifteen feet in diameter - I always ponder about the people who have walked beneath them over the centuries.

Spending most of the day in deep forest means the odd breaks onto open heathland are welcoming windows

There is plenty of free parking at Moreton - the overflow parking for the walled gardens closes at 8pm in summer months. The area does get busy in the holidays - the first couple of miles were busy with young families. The terrain is relatively flat for Dorset. Footpaths through the forests have been subverted by the forestry tracks (our route was created from our footsteps on the actual paths available, not the public footpaths on the OS map)

Much of the day is on the wide easy-going paths whoch crisscross this area of native Dorset heathland.

OUT OF DOORS

Dahlia Mania

Charlotte Tombs, an experienced Dorset flower farmer at Northcombe Flowers in Sturminster Marshall, shares her growing year and seasonal thoughts with us.

Dahlias are a lot like Marmite - you either love them or hate them! A lot of people remember them from their grandparents, the couple next door or someone growing them on their allotment. Well I’m here to tell you that you are to forget those horrors

The Labyrinth Dinnerplate Dahlia - one of Charlotte’s personal favourites. It brings a garden alive with huge flowers of wavy petals in shades of apricot, pink, yellow, and raspberry.

of the 1970’s and embrace the new varieties of the 2020’s. They come in all shapes and sizes... and this is where it begins to get quite technical, I promise I won’t bore you - stick with me.

and beige, ‘Wizard of Oz’ with a pale pink centre and a white tiny pom pom called ‘Small World’. Each year I have a new favourite. One year it was a dahlia called ‘Labyrinth’ which has pink and peach petals but this proved incredibly difficult to get hold of as a warehouse in “...Well I’m the Netherlands was burnt to the ground, here to tell destroying hundreds that you are of thousands of to forget those tubers. However I horrors of managed to track the 1970’s and it down, and I’m always so happy to embrace the see it flower.

I believe there are 14 classification groups in the UK and America has 20 (well they would, wouldn’t they). Dahlia bloom range in size from a tiny pom pom at around 5cms diameter - these are the tight ‘ball dahlias’ new.” - to a whopping It amazes me how 25cms or more, often referred to as ‘dinner plate such ugly looking potato-like dahlias’. They really are the size tubers produce such amazingly beautiful flowers and such huge of a dinner plate, often bigger. plants. Dahlias are so simple to Dahlias don’t have a very long vase life, which makes importing grow; pop them in the ground after all signs of frost have them from the Netherlands or passed, maybe scatter your elsewhere almost a waste of chosen form of slug repellent time - which is great for English growers! Nonetheless they make (I don’t use the chemical kind) and sit back and be rewarded a great statement flower and with vase after vase of beautiful certain varieties are in huge demand with brides as the ‘must blooms. have’ flower in your bouquet. (or even better, order a bucket The chosen ones at the moment of these beauties from me! are ‘Café au Lait’ which has https://northcombe.co.uk) beautiful tones of creamy pink Always free - subscribe here

ADVERTORIAL

Why Our Hearts Are Beating Faster

to enhance the reputation of the area with a garden centre you can be proud of. We attend the show to meet new people, and celebrate with old friends. Events such as this feel more special than ever, and we assure you that we don’t take our presence there for granted. The diversity in stalls and attractions was truly something to behold. Seeing the smiles, breath away. We’ve been to and that sense of ‘normality’ the show in the past, but of we’ve all missed really made course, with an absence of the it one of the most enjoyable show last year, seeing it return weeks of the year so far. in all its glory, The world has “The show to us bigger than ever changed as we isn’t about making push towards over two days, money... We attend the exit of this was a vibrant reminder of just the show to meet pandemic, but how brilliant the new people, and the determination communities in and hard work celebrate with old of the residents the area are. friends... Events here to put on The show to us such as this feel this fantastic isn’t really about more special than community event making money. Of is something ever” course we bring we had to give products for sale acknowledgment - but simply as a sample of what to. We hope everyone had as we offer at Thorngrove Garden much fun as we did, and we Centre. In truth, we’re there can’t wait to do it all again next because we want to represent year! ourselves, and Gillingham, Kelsi-Dean Buck and the efforts of our staff Thorngrove Garden Centre The vibrance of summer on display at Thorngrove Garden Centre’s stand.

We’ve spoken before about how the community here in Gillingham and the surrounding areas is so important to us, and how proud we are to be a part of it. We occupy a small space, and are working to expand our reach, but our heart remains in Dorset and recently we felt it beating with more joy than it has in a very long time. August saw the return of the Gillingham and Shaftesbury show, and it really took our

Thorngrove were awarded first prize by the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show judges for best small stand! (Chris and Diane pictured with the certificate!)

Claire, Mark, and Tom - the team manning the Thorngrove stand.

In association with OUT OF DOORS Barry’s allotment has been thriving in the damp condiitons this summer

The Voice of The Allotment with Barry Cuff The rain of the last few weeks has done more good than harm. On farms it has delayed the wheat harvest and caused some loss of grain quality. On our plot it has meant excellent potato yields, despite the early arrival and spread of blight and the need to remove haulms to prevent spores reaching the tubers. Picasso, Rooster and Desiree did exceptionally well. Earlies and second earlies had been dug a few weeks earlier. All are now stored away in paper sacks. July-planted vegetables romped away in the wet conditions. These included celeriac, two varieties of leeks, spring cauliflower, Savoy cabbage and Cardinal purple sprouting broccoli. Our squash patch became a jungle with some plants trailing between the sweetcorn and raspberries. The lack of sun during the wet spell has delayed the ripening of the sweetcorn. Last year we picked the first cobs on the 20th. With a sunnier spell of weather now (25th) we will be harvesting

the first cobs at the beginning of September. Our Moonlight runner beans continued to give a profusion of pods, many of these being given away to friends. The Safari dwarf French beans were not so keen on the lower temperatures and ceased to produce but could pick up again with warmer weather. By the middle of the month all our currants had been picked and we started to harvest raspberries. With about half of our plot now cleared of crops we have a lot of bare soil. The leeks were planted into part of this, and more has been sown with Autumn cropping salad leaves and roots. These should produce through to early Winter and possibly beyond. The remainder will be sown with rye and Phacelia for green manure.

difficult to remove them without disturbing the pea plants. Some had gone to seed; the worst being Fat Hen, Many-seeded Goosefoot, Gallant Soldier and one very large Thornapple. We appear to be the only plot on the site to have Gallant Soldier, which we think we imported in soil on the roots of plants from a relation’s garden in Bournemouth. The beginning of September is forecast to be much drier and we are looking forward to our first sweetcorn and cauliflower. Gallant Soldier is yet another alien plant accidentally foisted upon Britain by Kew Gardens, Surrey in 1860, the year it escaped from there. Claim to Fame: Along with Shaggy Soldier and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) this plant has the fewest outer petals of any member of the Daisy and Dandelion Family, totalling a meagre five.

The rain has meant phenomenal weed growth - for us especially where the lines of peas stood, as it had been Always free - subscribe here

by Pete Harcom Head Gardener at Sherton Abbas Gardening

Garden Jobs for September

Well, Autumn is nearly here... now is the time to think ahead and plan for Winter and Spring.

Dead heading, Dividing and Planting To keep your garden flowers coming, continue with the deadheading of roses, dahlias, and penstemons.

Planning Take some time to sit and plan ahead. Think about what has worked this year (and what has not!). Maybe sketch some ideas for future plants. Ensure you use the knowledge gained from where the sun lands and lasts and if there are any shady areas. This is vital knowledge for ensuring plants will be successful when planted in position.

Now’s a good time to plant container-grown trees. If they are planted now whilst the soil is still warm it will help them to get their roots established, so they can grow well next Spring. Mix in good compost in the planting hole, and mulch with compost in the Spring.

Pruning Prune climbing and rambling roses (unless they are the repeat flowing ones. If so, leave till later in the year). Also prune wisteria if you missed it last month! Trim conifer hedges to keep them under control - don’t cut in too deep, if you expose the inner brown twigs they rarely grow back!

Prune out dead, damaged or crossing stems from shrub roses. Aim to create an open-centred framework to encourage good air-flow through the plant. Shorten the stems of tall bush roses to reduce wind-rock during winter gales, as this can loosen and damage the roots. Cut stems just above an outward-facing bud wherever possible.

Recycling tips: •

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Perhaps divide Herbaceous perennials such as Agapanthus, Anemone, Euphorbia, Geranium, Hostas, Iris and Lily of the Valley to name just a few. Plant Spring flowering bulbs: Daffodils, Crocus, Bluebells, Snakes head Fritillaries, Hyacinthus and Alliums. Take cuttings of Fuchsias and Pelargoniums. Leave sunflower seed heads on the plant for the birds to feed on.

•

Empty plastic water and fizzy drink bottles can be used as mini cloches and/or propagators. Or carefully cut a large hole in the side and use them as mini terrariums - they can be hung up by the neck of the bottle using string. Cardboard toilet roll tubes can be used as seed pots. Fill them with soil and simply sow seeds on the top! The whole thing can then be planted straight into the ground when the seed has grown, the cardboard tube will decompose in the soil. (this is a good idea for the Spring perhaps). Plastic milk cartons can be carefully cut down at an angle (keep the handle intact) to make a compost scoop. Stick plant cuttings into used sandwich bags and add some water. Zip mostly closed and hang them out of the way. You can see when roots have formed.

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THE RANDOM 19 QUESTIONS

The Random 19 with Sculptor Simon Gudgeon

Simon Gudgeon is a worldrenowned sculptor and founder/co-owner of the popular Dorset attraction, Sculpture by the Lakes. His sculptures are owned by rock stars and royalty alike, with many exhibited at the serene settings of Sculpture by the Lakes

1. What’s your relationship with the Blackmore Vale (the area, not us!)?

3. What was the last movie you watched? Would you recommend it?

We came to live in the Blackmore Vale area by chance. We were searching for a venue to exhibit my sculptures and came across a fishing lake in Pallington. We absolutely love it here, especially all the wildlife – from the birds in the trees, to the animals on the ground, and to the fish in the water.

Mule with Clint Eastwood. I’d recommend it, but only for adults! It’s a film about an old World War II veteran who became a drug courier for a cartel in his 80s.

2. What was the last song you sang out loud in your car? Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd. Especially the chorus.

4. It’s Friday night - you have the house to yourself, and no work is allowed. What are you going to do? I love to cook, so I’d put some logs on one of my handmade firepits/firebells and get barbecuing. I’ve recently started making these firepits to sell now as well.

5. What would you like to tell 15yr old you? Live your life, don’t be scared to try new things.

6. Who’s your celebrity crush? Clare Balding. She came to Sculpture by the Lakes to interview me for an episode of Ramblings on BBC Radio 4 recently and was an absolute delight. 7. Chip Shop Chips or Homebaked Cake? Home baked cake, especially the caramel brownie I make!

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THE RANDOM 19 QUESTIONS 8. If you were sent to an island for a year and could only bring three things, what would you bring? (the island is already equipped with a magical power source and a laptop) • • •

‘Search For Enlightenment’

Barbecue, A herd of cattle, A crate of Paulliac wine (ideally 1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild if money is no object. Thanks!)

9. What book did you read last year that stayed with you? Fantastic Fungi by Paul Stamets.

10. What in life is frankly a mystery to you? The fact that we rely on the natural world for our survival but continue to destroy it. 11. What shop can you not pass without going in? A good butcher’s shop 12. Favourite quote? Movie, book or inspirational - we won’t judge. Use what talents you possess; The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. – Henry van Dyke

13. What’s the best evening you’ve ever had? Honestly - a picnic with a bottle of wine on The Island here at Sculpture by the Lakes. 14. A penguin just walked in the door wearing a panama hat. Why is he here? Checking out the other birds that we see at Sculpture by the Lakes perhaps? It would certainly alert more people to global warming… 15. Your top three mostvisited or favourite websites (excluding social media!)? 1. Simon Gudgeon sculpture 2. Dorset Wine 3. Thread.com

16. Favourite crisp flavour? Cheese and onion 17. The best biscuit for dunking? I don’t. I’d rather enjoy a nice biscuit and a good cup of tea or coffee without ruining either of them. 18. What’s your secret superpower? Being able to make things. 19. You have the power to pass one law tomorrow, uncontested. What would you do? Ban anyone from becoming an MP unless they have 20 years’ experience working in the real world and not the public sector. ‘Hare’

BOOK CORNER

Voice of the Books

Sherborne’s independent bookshop Winstone’s has won the ‘British Book Awards South West Bookseller of the Year’ four times and was winner of the ‘Independent Bookseller of the Year’ national award in 2016. Owner Wayne Winstone is one of the three judges for this year’s Costa Prize for Fiction. This year Wayne was selected as one of the top 100 people in the Book Trade’s Most Influential Figures listing.

“As we move effortlessly into Autumn there are some excellent titles coming into paperback that didn’t get a fair shake due to the stop-start 18 months we have just had, so I thought I would bring them to your attention again. William Boyd is one our best loved novelists, and has written a fascinating book set in the sixties. James Rebanks (barrister-turned-farmer) continues to write about the challenges of balancing modern farming and sustainable husbandry in the wild and beautiful Yorkshire countryside.” - Wayne

(just click the book covers to head to Winstone’s and buy - Ed)

Trio by William Boyd - £8.99 A producer. A novelist. An actress. It is summer in 1968, the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. There are riots in Paris and the Vietnam War is out of control. While the world is reeling our three characters are involved in making a Swingin’ Sixties movie in sunny Brighton. All are leading secret lives. Elfrida is drowning her writer’s block in vodka; Talbot, coping with the daily dysfunction of making a film, is hiding something in a secret apartment; and the glamorous Anny is wondering why the CIA is suddenly so interested in her. But the show must go on and, as it does, the trio’s private worlds begin to take over their public ones. Pressures build inexorably - someone’s going to crack. Or maybe they all will.

English Pastoral An Inheritance by James Rebanks £9.99 As a boy, James Rebanks’s grandfather taught him to work the land the old way. Their family farm in the Lake District hills was part of an ancient agricultural landscape. And yet, by the time James inherited the farm, it was barely recognisable. The men and women had vanished from the fields; the old stone barns had crumbled; the skies had emptied of birds and their wind-blown song. English Pastoral tells of how rural landscapes around the world were brought close to collapse, and the age-old rhythms of work, weather, community and wild things were lost. And yet this elegy from the northern fells is also a song of hope. Of how, guided by the past, one farmer began to salvage a tiny corner of England that was now his, doing his best to restore the life that had vanished and to leave a legacy for the future.

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READER’S LETTERS

Letters to the Editor Want to reply? Read something you feel needs commenting on? Our postbag is open! Please send emails to letters@theblackmorevale.co.uk In the August Letters, P Bone of Shaftesbury took me to task for saying I prefer Plain Salted crisps to any other flavour (see the Random 19 July issue), declaring that Smoky Bacon and Prawn Cocktail were the only correct answers to that question. Even just reading of those flavours made me turn pale, but for the sake of the scientific method, I sampled both. The Smoky Bacon reminded me – and not in a pleasant way – of the Bac-os Bacon-Flavored Bits that used to be served at salad bars across my native USA. As for the Prawn Cocktail – I draw a veil over my reaction. However, PB has perhaps sensed that I was not entirely truthful in my original reply. The only thing that could cleanse my palate of those crisp flavors was tortilla chips (plain, lightly salted, of course). I far prefer them to crisps. Maybe that’s the American coming out in me again. Or, maybe they just do things differently up in North Dorset. Tracy Chevalier Piddle Valley

***

(NB - If you missed Andy Palmer’s August column, you may wish to click & read it here before continuing. A hornet’s nest was stirred) As ever I enjoyed reading Andy Palmer’s article in the August BVM, not least about the delights of Mappowder Village Hall events (cannot remember why I missed the curry night - and there are loads of proper china plates in the corner cupboard in the kitchen if you had looked Andy, rather than use paper ones).

Yes I agree Thomas Hardy is not the author whose works should be the first books you grab if you are feeing a bit depressed. I dont agree with him being a mysoginist though - his works do spell out a few home truths to his Victorian middle-class readers about the subordinate position of women at that time, and the double standards operating even more then than now. Hardy the feminist? And thanks for the plug for The Emporium Andy, just one of our four excellent “charity” shops in Stur busily recycling once loved goods. Cllr Pauline Batstone Sturminster Newton

*** Despite being a Thomas Hardy fan of old, there are times when the author’s relentless pursuit of misery does rather crush one’s spirits. For Andy Palmer to single out the story of Tess as an award winner in the category of Wretchedness is fair, and one could go as far as to say that despite using every means at his disposal to lay bare the hypocrisies of Victorian society, Hardy could just be the Morrissey of the mid to late 1800s, without the blunt rudeness. Matthew Coldicutt Hardy Country resident

*** This is the first time I have felt compelled to write in about an article in a magazine. I thought Andy Palmer’s article decrying Hardy for being a ‘little bit miserable’ was refreshingly honest but perhaps reckless living

as he does in Hardy’s Vale. My main concern, being Mr Palmer’s neighbour, is that offended Hardy fans don’t target our house by mistake. Maybe I’ll put a sign up, ‘Mr Palmer resides next door’?

Derryl Darling (Location withheld for Ms Darling’s own safety...) *** Rather than write in the royal ‘we’ as if I represent the entire Thomas Hardy Society (though as the Secretary and general dogsbody perhaps I might get away with it!), I am writing in the capacity of a sometime Hardy academic and an all-the-time lover of Hardy’s works. Your article asking why Hardy is so popular produced more than a couple of smiles across my visage, but I do wonder exactly how much of Hardy’s oeuvre Mr Palmer may have perused? I grant that Tess of the d’Urbervilles is not one of Mr Hardy’s chirpiest novels, and Jude the Obscure is indeed a tad bleak – one critic summed it up as follows: one cousin marries a bimbo while the other marries a rather misguided teacher. Bimbo does a runner, teacher grants a divorce so that the cousins may marry, cousins don’t marry but have offspring, one of whom turns up on the doorstep claiming to be from cousin #1’s marriage #1. Being a rather miserable little chap he proceeds to kill his half-siblings and then himself. Cousin remarries returned bimbo, other cousin remarries deluded teacher after a still-birth, cousin #1 coughs up blood and dies, cousin #2 spends rest of life self-flagellating. Divorces 3, Deaths 5. I ask you, what is not laugh-aminute about this plot? Alas it seems to be these rather tragic stories that are most Always free - subscribe here

loved by Hardy readers, instead of those containing his dry wit and genuinely lough-out-loud moments, such as the novels The Trumpet-Major (the character of Festus Derriman is a creation of comic genius) and The Hand of Ethelberta. Or the short stories such as ‘The Thief Who Couldn’t Stop Sneezing’. The subject of Hardy’s poems include drinking cider, dancing and flirting. Indeed his poem ‘The Ruined Maid’ is utterly hilarious; so much so that the Dorchester Town Crier Alistair Chisholm adapted it to a male perspective, calling his version ‘The Roué’, which is, if anything, even funnier than Hardy’s original! Mr Palmer, I only hope that your good self and your plethora of devoted readers do not conflate Hardy’s supposed miserableness with those of us from the Society who are his mortal representatives on Earth! We’re actually an ok bunch who quaff vast amounts of cider, partake in barndances and other general silliness, and engage in lively debates on social media, where we ask such pressing questions as: ‘if you could sit on a bench with any Hardy character, who would it be and what would you say?’ (My own answer – I would ask Marty South from The Woodlanders why she didn’t give Grace Melbury the enormous slap she deserved) I encourage you and your readers to come and join our convivial community and attend one of our events. I can’t guarantee that you will drink cider, dance or flirt, but at last one of the three will inevitably be engaged in! Dr Tracy Hayes https://www.hardysociety.org/ ***

Dorchester’s Hardy statue during the first lockdown. image: Dr Tracy Hayes of the Thomas Hardy Society - see letter on previous page

Just to say I very much enjoyed the latest issue of the BV - but I don’t THINK (I may be wrong) that the first of the ‘Readers’ Photographs’, though lovely, is Compton Abbas church? C Owen

I spoke to Benn Churchill the photographer of the image in question, and he confirmed the picture features St Mary the Virgin’s church, Compton Abbas. Ed. ***

I was surprised that you gave so much space in your magazine to the vandals who created that crop circle near Okeford – you mention that it cost the farmer

£600 in lost wheat. Do you not think you’re glorifying willful destruction which will only encourage more lost crops? Name withheld

It was a story of public interest and our stats show that a huge amount of readers spent a lot of time on those pages – probably due to the high quality photography. We took great care to dicuss the issue regarding the agricultural and financial damage, and the illegal access and trampling issues; hardly glorifying it. In the same issue we also reported on an incident of alleged illegal hare coursing – balanced discussion is not glorifying. Ed. 67

CITIZENS ADVICE

A Citizen’s Advice. A local expert from Citizen’s Advice answers a question from the public. This Month: How to cope with the upcoming cut in Universal Credit.

Q: “ I’m a single parent and lost my job during the pandemic. I applied for Universal Credit which has covered some of the income I’ve lost but I’m very worried about the upcoming £20-a-week cut to Universal Credit - I don’t know how I’ll be able to pay for the school meals if you get certain school uniforms and benefits. You can see the full list shoes, especially as of eligibility requirements on the my children seem to Citizens Advice website here and you can apply for free school grow so fast! Is there meals via the Dorset Council any other support out website here . there to help plug the gap?” Transport If your children are aged A: If you’re on a low income or unemployed, between five to 16, your local education authority might offer you might be able to free or lower cost transport if get help with some of you don’t live near school or your child’s unable to walk there. You the costs of sending can find out more about school your child to school, transport on the Dorset Council including school website here. meals, transport and Uniforms and other uniform. costs Free school meals Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 automatically get free school meals. If you have older children you can apply for free

You may be able to get help with some other costs, like uniforms, music lessons or trips and activities. There may also be local charitable schemes to

help with these costs, it’s worth checking with the school to see if it knows of any. Schools can also sometimes also advise on finding secondhand uniforms.

What’s next If your child is staying in education after year 11, you must tell HMRC’s Child Benefit Office if you want to continue receiving child benefit and any extra support for children within means-tested benefits (mainly tax credits or Universal Credit). When your child turns 16, HMRC will send you a letter asking whether your child will stay in education or training. You must reply to this letter to keep getting Child Benefit. For more information, call the Dorset Adviceline on 0800 144 8848 or visit www.citizensadvicedorset.org.uk for details of your nearest Citizens Advice. Always free - subscribe here

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CHARITY PAGES POLITICS

How The Arts Reach The Village Halls of Dorset Since the launch of its first programme in March 1990, Artsreach has been committed to working with volunteers across Dorset to overcome the barriers of rural isolation by providing communities with access to professional arts events. Dorset’s touring arts charity Artsreach have brought professional live theatre, music, dance, circus, family shows and more to the heart of rural communities across the county - and this summer was no exception! Despite the ever-present COVID difficulties, Artsreach presented a 2021 programme featuring outstanding theatre and circus in a variety of openair locations, allowing audiences to return safely to events once more. Highlights included performances by Bec Applebee, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Dave Mynne, Bash Street Theatre, Pirates of the Carabina and Simple Cypher. A

programme of exciting creative workshops for children also ran throughout the school holidays. Artsreach Co-Director, Yvonne Gallimore said “After such a difficult period it is a joy to see people coming together socially once more and enjoying live performances in the heart of their community – that is what Artsreach is all about!” Artsreach also plays an important role in providing a source of income to the community venues in which it works, with all venues keeping a percentage of the box office and often making extra income from refreshments and raffles. Passionate about connecting communities through professional arts experiences, Artsreach has now launched its new Autumn Programme, and audiences can expect more than 60 performances from over 20 exciting artists taking place in village halls, churches, pubs and other community spaces right across Dorset before Christmas. Music lovers can enjoy a real medley of styles and genres from both national and international musicians set to visit the county, including Cornwall’s leading bluegrass band Flats and Sharps;

award-winning jazz violinist Chris Garrick with guitarist John Etheridge; BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman and Senegalese kora player Amadou Diagne and guitarist Cory Seznec. Various ensembles of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra will also tour the County and the Ridgeway Singers and Band return with their heartwarming Christmas concerts of local song and poetry. For theatre goers, Farnham Maltings return with ‘The Syrian Baker’, a new play about the world told with affection and irrepressible humour; Kuumba Nia Arts present ‘SOLD’, winner of Best Ensemble Music Theatre Award at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe and Dave Mynne invites you to celebrate the festive season with his adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’. With storytelling from Emily Hennessey, cabaret from Bowjangles, children’s theatre during half term, internationally acclaimed dance and much more, there really is something for everyone! Visit the Artsreach website today to book tickets, or sign up to receive a copy of the programme in the post. Always free - subscribe here

Ward Goodman specialises in the charity, community and not for profit sector. Ward Goodman has a dedicated team of accounting and auditing professionals delivering a comprehensive range of POLITICS services to registered charities, community groups and not for profit organisations. The team are trained specifically to carry out charity accounting, auditing and reporting and to communicate effectively with Trustees, management and volunteers. Contact the team today for a free consultation.

The Dorset charity creating new training and employment opportunities for 18-24yr olds. Since 1943 Dorset Youth Association (DYA) have been providing support for Dorset’s youth organisations, as well as direct opportunities for young people.

qualification needs for each role. The aim of these roles is not only to provide support to the youth sector in Dorset, but to upskill individuals and provide them with the skills and experience to get them where they want to be. Applicants will be mentored throughout their journey by qualified and experienced individuals, given time and support to make the most of their experience.

DYA currently have three strands of support: • the Family Link Workers - providing “nine months The roles are as varied as hands-on, practical of full-time the employers and intensive support employment, – ranging from to complex families. social media with all the • the 0-25 VCS Forum and media/ - bringing together relevant marketing the voluntary and training and roles, to community sectors qualification coordinating working with children in the county. and experienced youth volunteering • the affiliated youth mentoring” opportunities, club/group network. health and/ Strong, practical or wellbeing support, assistant support for youth clubs and groups is at the heart of DYA. youth workers and more. The roles will be available with the Volunteer Centre Dorset, The DYA are pleased to The Horse Course, SPACE announce a brand new range Youth Project, some of DYA’s of genuine employment opportunities for 18-24 year olds affiliated youth clubs (including Dorchester Youth & Community in the county. Centre and Blandford Youth Club) and Dorset Council. These opportunities will provide nine months of full-time Dorset Youth Association’s new employment (plus support to CEO Mike Bennett said move on to new opportunities “This is a fantastic opportunity where required), alongside for Dorset; with 15 jobs available all the relevant training and for 18-24 year olds we are able to work in partnership with some wonderful organisations to help provide much needed

The DYA provides access to a wide range of activities for the county’s youth

opportunities, skills and a pathway into further full-time employment.” Recruitment will be starting in September and October, with a start date in November. These roles are open to anyone aged 18-24 and are provided through a mix of Kickstart and UK Year in Service opportunities. For some roles, applicants will need to be in receipt of (or eligible for, if not claiming) Universal Credit. If you want to know more about these opportunities, or any other support that DYA might be able to offer you or your youth organisation, please email info@ dorsetyouth.com.

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CHARITY ‘DOERS’

Sky-divers Jump for Sexual Trauma Charity Eighteen parachutists took to the skies in Salisbury on Friday 23rd July, raising £12,860 for local charity ‘Sexual Trauma and Recovery Services’ (STARS) Dorset. The group of sky divers - the most the charity has ever had supporting them, consisted of staff members, volunteers and supporters. Each sky diver completed the challenge; some took on the 15,000ft tandem

jump altitude, and some the 10,000ft. This brave group had almost a full minute of freefall time! Each jumper smashed their fundraising target, and together raised such an incredible amount for which the charity is hugely grateful for. Charlie Souter-Philips, the charity’s Volunteer Co-ordinator and one of the sky divers said ”I wanted to take on a challenge that would push me out of my comfort zone. I was really scared at the thought of jumping out of a plane - but it was a brilliant experience and I would advise anyone who is thinking of doing it to just do it! We were blessed to have beautiful sunshine on the day too. I enjoyed it so much, and the fact that

we raised over £12,000 for STARS Dorset made it even better.” STARS Dorset organises a chairty Sky Dive each year for supporters to take part in to help raise vital funds for the charity’s work across the county. All the services that STARS Dorset offers, such as its oneto-one Counselling Service, its Support Line and its Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) service, are free. Donations from the public help maintain their provision - last year STARS Dorset supported more than 2,000 people across the county. If you would like to support STARS Dorset and either yourself or your business would like to take part in a sky dive for the charity please do get in touch.

Anyone who has been affected by sexual violence or abuse and would like confidential advice and support can call the STARS Dorset Support Line on 01202 308855 or visit www.starsdorset.org.

by Simon Vernon POLITICS

FOOD & DRINK

Notes From An Epicurean: What Season is your Cheese? From now through to Autumn is the best time to enjoy the many artisan soft cheeses that are made in the UK, particularly in the South West. This is because the cows, sheep and goats have been out on the best summer grass and so the milk will reflect the changed diet and consequently the flavour of the cheese. These changes are more noticeable in the smaller scale artisan cheeses found in your local specialist deli the larger scale producers of cheeses commonly found in the supermarket will try to maintain the same flavour profile all year round as that is what the buyer expects. Softer cheeses can reach maturity after a few weeks, even days for the very fresh cheeses! Knowing the approximate

maturing time helps to estimate An award winning fresh local the time of year the milk was cheese is ‘La Fresca Margarita’ produced, and produced near from this one Templecombe ‘Softer cheeses can have some at Feltham’s can reach fun spotting the Farm www. maturity after a felthamsfarm.com, changes in flavour through the year. few weeks, even which was named days for the very Best British Cheese While the animals at this year’s virtual fresh cheeses’ are shut in during cheese awards. the Winter months, It is inspired by they are fed the Latin American and Spanish preserved grass, hay or sileage, queso fresco cheeses, and and concentrated feed in pellet partners beautifully with figs form. But once let out into the and honey. Their multi award fields they have access to fresh winning cheese, Renegade Monk, grass which causes what is called a rind washed, soft blue cheese the ‘Spring flush’, a rise in volume is mature after 4 weeks. but a drop in fat content. The cheese maker must allow for this These cheeses are both great when making their product. examples of how the same milk Just to complicate things slightly can become stunningly different further, the stage in an animal’s cheeses in a matter of weeks! lactation also effects the milk Good hunting, enjoy content; after giving birth, the experimenting, comparing, and milk is higher in fat, and this contrasting. gradually drops until towards the Simon Vernon end of the cycle when the volume Food Consultant decreases, and the fat content & Great Taste Awards Judge rises as a result.

by Heather Brown

FOOD & DRINK

A New and Easier Brioche Recipe (and it works!)

There is nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread and this recipe is my adaptation of a brioche roll - still an enriched bread dough with added egg and a little butter, but they aren’t quite as buttery or as sweet as a traditional brioche might be, making them slightly easier to make and slightly more versatile. They work brilliantly with freshly cooked bacon or sausages as a breakfast roll, as well as with a burger or steak for dinner and can be made ahead of time - just refresh them with 10 minutes in a warm oven before serving.

I can highly recommend trying to source local bacon or beef burgers for a really sensational roll and if you are looking for somewhere to find some locally farmed meat then do try your local butchers. There are butchers on almost every high street across the county and each one will have relationships with local farms and care deeply about the meat they source. As we head into game season this autumn, you should also start to find fresh wild fowl, pheasants and partridges too, if you are looking for something a little different! Heather

Brioche Rolls Ingredients (makes 12)

• • • •

260ml warm milk 2 tsp dried yeast (1 packet) 2 tbsp caster sugar 1tsp salt

• • •

450g strong bread flour 60g butter (melted) 2 eggs

Method 1. Lightly whisk the warm milk, dried yeast and sugar together and leave for 5 or so minutes to start the yeast working (it will start to get foamy on the top of the mixture). 2. In a large bowl, add the flour and salt and then add in the melted butter, 2 eggs and the milk mixture. Stir together until it forms a dough then tip out onto a well-floured surface and knead until smooth (about 10 minutes). If the dough is too dry, then just add a little more milk or water but you should have a fairly sticky dough. If you are kneading by hand, you can coat your hands with a little oil which helps stop it sticking as much. You can also do this stage in a stand mixer with a dough hook if you have one and it will take about 5-7 minutes on medium to high speed. 3. Lightly oil a bowl and pop the dough into it and cover with a clean tea towel or cling film. Leave to rise for 1 hour (or until doubled in size). On cooler days, I leave the bowl gently resting next to or on top of a radiator to help the prove. 4. Whilst the dough is proving, prepare 2 baking trays by greasing and lining with baking parchment. 5. Once the dough has doubled in size, take out the dough and knead again to knock out the air. 6. Cut the dough into 12 pieces and shape them into rolls. Place them onto the trays. Lightly cover with oiled clingfilm and leave to double in size again (45 minutes to 1 hour). 7. Preheat the oven to 180º fan or gas 5. 8. Once the dough has risen, you can give the dough a little egg wash if you want a nice shine to the finished rolls and then bake for 20 minutes or until the rolls are a lovely golden brown.

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Brioche rolls image: Heather Brown

POLITICS

Heather Brown is a member of the Guild of Food Writers and a home economist with a passion for Dorset’s brilliant foodie scene. Heather runs Dorset Foodie Feed, championing Dorset’s food and drink businesses, as well as working with food industry clients.

In association with

POLITICS Blanchards Bailey are a Dorset based law firm specialising in commercial and private law. Recognised by the Legal 500 as one of the top firms in the south west.

Top: BH Fish, winners of LLTL Local Champion and Fish categories 2021, Middle left: Isaac Cider, winner of the Rising Star award 2021, Bottom left: Barabara’s Kitchen, winner of the Jams, Chutney’s & Honey award 2021, Bottom right: Cranborne Chase Cider, runner up for the Rising Star, Drinks, and Diversification & Sustainability categories 2021.

Last Call for the Love Local Trust Local Awards! September means the end of the summer, the start of schooling (touch wood, but it’s looking good!), and the countdown to deadline for the last entries to the Love Local Trust Local Food & Drink Awards 2021. The team at Love Local Trust Local have really enjoyed seeing your entries come in. But if you thought it was too late to enter your business, you need not worry – there is still time! Love Local Trust Local are looking for local food and drink producers who want to share their passion for their

category. The food and drink awards feature categories for the best in dairy, meat, fruit and vegetables, baking, jams and condiments, plus a variety of drinks categories, from alcoholic to non-alcoholic. There are also some stand-out categories for businesses who offer something a bit different;

the Rising Star award is aimed at businesses younger than two years, or owned by founders under 30 years of age who are bringing something a bit different to the table. Larger organisations are now able to enter the Innovation & Diversification, and the Conservation & Sustainability Always free - subscribe here

In association with

POLITICS Blanchards Bailey are a Dorset based law firm renowned for their personal expertise, excellent client service and active role in local communities.

categories. These have been introduced as the awards team received interest from bigger companies who wanted to get involved in these local awards, to showcase the value they were making to impact the local community and the local economy. This prompted Love Local Trust Local to divide these categories into two classes; businesses with 30 employees or under, and businesses with over 30 employees. The sustainability and diversity categories are so critical to the growth and sustainability of our communities; this year there are hopes to unveil some great developments for businesses both big and small, following what was a considerably tough year for us all. Love Local Trust Local was borne out of a passion for supporting our local food and drink producers, a responsibility to educate the consumer on what they are eating and drinking and how to ensure you know exactly ‘what it is and where it comes from’. The organisation is also an active supporter of keeping the local community connected, rallying together to fulfil a greater collective purpose. The array of categories involved in these awards really help to

achieve that goal. Love Local Trust Local are proud to ensure these awards are free to enter, removing any barriers to young or smaller businesses from entering. It is so critical that our food producers, past, present and future, get noticed and recognised within the community, which is the core purpose of the Love Local Trust Local Food & Drink Awards. The closing date for the 2021 awards is Monday 27th September, so make sure you give your company a chance to get the attention it deserves. If you’re not a food producer, why not recommend a business you think deserves to get recognised?!

To support the Love Local Trust Local Food and Drink Awards 2021, you can follow along on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, for all the latest news and updates. You can also pop on over to the Rawston Farm Butchery & Shop to purchase your tea towel or car sticker to show your support for the cause!

Enter here to get your business on the shortlist! Barbara Cossins, second left, with the team at Love Local Trust Local - truly passionate about supporting our farmers and food and drink producers.

by Hannah Wilkins, Indie Wine Merchant,

This enchanting part of France is often over-looked by wine buyers

Wonderful (and unknown) Wines From The Loire Valley My fascination with wine started from a very early age. As a family, we would travel down to the Loire Valley most school holidays. I would be allowed the occasional very weak white wine spritzer and allowed to have a whiff of the wine on any vineyard tours we booked. It’s probably the reason that I am such a Sauvignon Blanc fan – the lively, fuller aromas of a Sauvignon would simply jump out of the glass.

everything in between is wonderfully varied. In fact, many different still wines are made in the region plus a sprinkling of sparkling Crémants and some gorgeous, sweet wines too. Many names you may have heard of: Anjou, Saumur, Touraine, Vouvray, Coteaux du Giennois, Sancerre and PouillyFumé.

The enchanting Loire is a wine region in the centre of France, named after the river which meanders through the area – just over 1000kms in length and running from the Ardèche through to the Atlantic. Aside I’ve selected a handful of from Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, suggestions from our shelves many wine that showcase the ‘Aside from devotees – even region well in this today – continue month’s column. Sancerre and to overlook the As always, there’s Pouilly-Fumé, region for some always so much many wine reason. But once more to say than devotees – even discovered, it the word count really does make today – continue allows, but pop for a beguiling along and see to overlook the glass. us to continue region’ the conversation It’s the beautiful on one of our long river, which is littered with favourite regions. picturesque châteaux, that bookmarks the wine quarters of Domaine de la Noë Muscadet the Loire; Upper Loire is where Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie. you’ll mostly find my beloved 100% Melon de Bourgogne Sauvignon Blanc; the mouth grape, this is our ‘go to’ wine for of the river is magnificently any fish dish, flavoursome and Muscadet dominant, and refreshing but without acidity.

I have yet to find a Muscadet better for under £10. Domaine des Gauletteries Jasnieres Chenin Blanc. 100% Chenin Blanc, Jasnieres is one of the smallest appellations in the Loire measuring just 128 hectares. This vineyard is situated directly between Tours and Le Mans. Dry, gentle pear notes rounded off with hints of fresh apple. £16. Domaine de Montbenoit Coteaux de Giennois. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Simply stunning, dry and crisp with the gentle acidity you would expect to find. Unlike the New Zealand Sauvignons this isn’t all just a ‘cut grass, gooseberry’ bomb. A lesser known wine that we love here at Vineyards, more elegant in the mouth and a great alternative to a Sancerre or Pouilly Fume. £15. The team at Vineyards are challenging you to let them choose your wine this month: simply select a price band and a type (Red/White/Mixed) and leave the Mystery Case choice to them... Click here to Challenge Hannah

www.vineyardsofsherborne.co.uk

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PUZZLES

CROSSWORD

JIGSAW

Simply click to complete on your tablet, computer or phone - or there’s a download option if you prefer pen and paper.

This month’s jigsaw image is of the traction steam engines on display at the Gillingham & Shaftesbury show: click the picture to complete (you can choose a different number of pieces to start with - make it harder or easier, it’s up to you!).

READER’S PHOTOGRAPHY

Roe deer in the early morning mist on Okeford Hill - Marilyn Peddle

A fiery sunrise and reflections at Eye Bridge - Mark Parris

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READER’S PHOTOGRAPHY POLITICS Honeybee working hard in the garden - Rob Nolan

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 each month. If you’d like to join in, please either use #BVPhoto and tag us on Instagram (@ theblackmorevale), share it in our Facebook Group, or simply email it to editor@ theblackmorevale.co.uk.

First sighting of a wasp spider at Badbury Rings - Ann Barlow

READER’S PHOTOGRAPHY Steam train coming in to Gillingham - Phil Cutler

Harvest time in fields near Cheselbourne - Richard Mower

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READER’S PHOTOGRAPHY

View from Hambledon Hill towards Shroton - Marilyn Peddle

The woods near Compton Abbas airfield - Dave Shaw

Lavender Bee in Sturminster Marshall Robert Baker

NIGHT SKY THIS MONTH POLITICS

by Rob Nolan

This Month’s Image:

The Iris Nebula I was thrilled and humbled to read in the August letters that my column is inspiring others to look skyward and explore astrophotography! Sharing this wonderful passion makes the long hours and cold nights (winter is coming!) worthwhile. I am more than happy to answer any questions, just contact through my Facebook page and I will do my best to help. August has been such a challenging month for UK based astronomers. It seems as though we’ve only had a few clear nights without thick cloud obscuring our view of the heavens.

I have managed to witness a couple of amazing events though, such as seeing one of Jupiter’s moons, Io, transiting in front of the huge gas giant which was rather amazing! Sadly no images to share; planetary imaging is not something I’m geared up for… yet... (I can see my wife rolling her eyes already) I have however been focused on imaging some more amazing nebulas that fill the cosmos, and there’s so many more on the list as we get back to some proper astronomical darkness moving into autumn. The image this month is of the Iris Nebula

Find RPN Photography on Facebook here and on Instagram here. (NGC 7023) which I managed to acquire a total of 3 hours of data for on the few clear nights this month. The Iris Nebula is a stunning reflection Nebula located some 1,400 light-years away from Earth, the Iris Nebula’s glowing gaseous petals stretch roughly 6 light-years across. What’s interesting about this nebula is the dark clouds of dust surrounding the nebula, almost ghostly in their appearance. The image was taken using a Skywatcher 200 PDS Newtonian Reflector Telescope and dedicated Cooled Astro Camera.

The Night Sky, September - what to see this month: As the autumn weather starts to arrive, the night sky gives way to some watery but dim constellations over the southern skies. Observable are Aquarius (the Water Carrier), Delphinus (the Dophin), Capricornus (The Sea Goat) and Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish). Sticking with the fish, Pisces and Cepheus (the Sea Monster) will also be observable. Something that’s unmistakable on a clear still night is our own galaxy, the Milky Way. This month is perfect for taking a tour with some binoculars you’ll be able to pick out star cluster and nebulae as you travel down the spiral arm. Also look out for a black region between the stars in the galaxy band, almost like a rip in space; this may well be the Great Rift in Cygnus that you’ve stumbled across.

If you can’t see enough with your binos, and you have a DSLR type camera with manual mode and a wide angle lens (1035mm), set your camera to M, a shutter speed of 20-30 seconds and an ISO of between 3200 and 6400. Set the camera on a sturdy tripod and if you have one, use a shutter release cable to press the shutter to avoid camera vibrations. If not, use the camera’s timer mode. You’ll be surprised what detail even an amateur camera will reveal taking this relatively simple shot. Give it a try! Other special events to look out for this month include: On 9th of September a thin crescent Moon will lie to the right of Venus, with Mercury low on the horizon. The Evening Star (Venus) forms a beautiful duo alongside the crescent Moon the following night. On the 14th, Neptune will be opposite the Sun, and at its

closest to Earth this year. Also on the 14th is chance to see Mercury early in the evening, as its maximum separation from the sun and Neptune is also closest to Earth, but you will need binoculars or a telescope to see it - it is 2,688 million miles away after all. On the following nights, the 17th and 18th, Jupiter and Saturn continue to dance with the Moon appearing to the right and then left of it in the night sky. On the 21st, the full Moon closest to the Autumn Equinox is known as The Harvest Moon. On the 22nd, enjoy the Autumn Equinox at 7:21pm GMT as the sun moves south of the Equator. The Moon will pass under the Pleaides, known as the Seven Sisters, a group of more than 800 stars located about 410 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. Always free - subscribe here

ART

by Edwina Baines edwina@theblackmorevale.co.uk

In the Studio with Henrietta Young

In the age of the selfie and our image-propelled social media era, some portrait painters may fear for the future of their art. As technology increasingly shapes how we see and share the world, this instantaneous method of capturing the portrait has become the defining visual genre of our time. We are surrounded by portraits, for we see representations of people everywhere. However, in contemporary art, portraits are much more than pure representation. Historically, portraitists primarily recorded the rich and powerful and created their work by commission, or by admiration and affection for their subject. However, today the skill of the portrait painter lies in the ability to define the essence of the sitter as well as a recognisable likeness.

Henrietta Young is an artist with to get to know the person.” a worldwide reputation as a portrait painter. Drawing and Henrietta comes from an artistic painting prolifically, she was able background: not only were her to capture a likeness 19th Century ‘If you see from an early age. She relations painters, a piece of has travelled for sittings but her father across the United contemporary was an excellent Kingdom, as well as in draftsman and art and you Europe and America. We her mother a need a full chatted in her peaceful good waterexplanation of colourist who Dorset studio with stunning what it’s about painted all her views then what’s the life. across Henrietta’s son point?’ the George is also newly a painter and harvested print maker, living and working cornfields. On in London. There were four girls the subject of the in Henrietta’s family including portrait genre, the artist Amanda Vesey; and she felt “It’s not Amanda’s nephew, son of her just painting, twin sister Georgina, is Tom there must be Hammick, also a prestigious a degree of artist, winner of the V&A Prize intuition about at the 2016 International Print it. You can be a Biennale. brilliant painter and not be able A modest persona, Henrietta to get a likeness told me that “Painters have or you can have traditionally been people who an accurate don’t talk about themselves. rendition of People find out about you by someone’s nose seeing. and eyes for example and it If you see a piece of won’t look like contemporary art and you need a them… full explanation of what it’s about “People tell me then what’s the point? I’d rather their innermost the work spoke for itself.” feelings. Sitting is like being in She has firm beliefs in the the Psychiatrist’s importance of the basics in the Chair! The trick is teaching of children to draw Always free - subscribe here

Henrietta in her studio with a recent commission. image: Edwina Baines

ART “You can’t progress until you have the correct tools to work with.” She is disciplined in the way she works, going to her studio every day with just a break for lunch: “I get bored if I don’t work hard”. One glance through her website gallery will confirm her talent. She says: “A conversation tells you more about somebody than a photo ever can. Each sitting (a picture might need five or six) reveals something different. A good portrait is much more than a likeness - it expresses something essential. It’s a collaboration between the artist and the sitter; you both feel when you have got it right.” However, there has naturally been a break with commissions during the pandemic so, as with many other artists I have talked to, the focus turned to the beauty and vivid colours of the countryside. Henrietta has spent daily local walks admiring and absorbing the scenery, now the subject of her new exhibition to be held at The Art Stable in Child Okeford from 16 October-13 November.

by Edwina Baines edwina@theblackmorevale.co.uk Beehive Centre in Poole and who have profound disabilities such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy and multiple learning disabilities, Henrietta will be helping to run and organise an Exhibition and Auction of Contemporary Art. Henrietta visited this Day Centre during her husband’s year as High Sheriff for Dorset in 2017/18 when, in comparison to those for the under 18s, she was struck by the lack of facilities Henrietta Young - ‘Watching’ for adults. At that (recent image for the Art Stable exhibition) time, she tells me, there were not to raise the £1 million needed even enough toilets: “It was like for the pool include Antony something out of Dickens”. The Gormley RA, Paula Rego RA, situation has greatly improved with funds from Diverse Abilities Maggi Hambling, Nicholas Hely Hutchinson and Ryan Gander. - but the Centre badly needs a hydrotherapy pool, essential to All of the work to be auctioned the treatment, wellbeing and enjoyment of the 50 or so adults by Duke’s is displayed on the website (www. who attend the Centre. picturesforthebeehive.org.uk) Thus, Henrietta wrote to as many with details and price guide; bids can be placed before the event famous artists as she knew and asked if they could help. Most of by contacting Tallulah Barnett at Duke’s (01305 265080). Online them were willing and 28 artists bidding will be available from have generously donated their 8th September. work. Four of them - Catherine

Another passionate project also uppermost in Henrietta’s mind at the moment is the Diverse Abilities’ Splash Appeal. Diverse Abilities is Dorset’s disability charity supporting children and adults with profound physical and learning disabilities across the county. As Henrietta said “we don’t have any ‘Thus, Henrietta Goodman, Ursula idea what it’s like Leach, Jemma wrote to as many Phipps and Sarah to be powerless. famous artists as Pickstone have Not just being not able to walk, but she knew and asked now attended The being powerless... Beehive to talk if they could help’ So the ability to and also draw move and have those involved fun in the water is so important.” and get to know them. These drawings will also be on display Raising funds for a hydrotherapy at the Exhibition. Some of the pool for people who attend The other well-known Artists helping

The Pictures for the Beehive exhibition runs between 21st and 22nd September (with the Private View and Auction on 23rd) at St Giles House, Wimborne St Giles, the beautiful home of Nick Ashley-Cooper, the 12th Earl of Shaftesbury. Always free - subscribe here

HEALTH

POLITICS

Every year, one in four of us experience a mental health problem. Hundreds of thousands of people are struggling. Mind believe no one should have to face a mental health problem alone. They’ll listen, give you support and advice, and fight your corner. Dorset Mind celebrates 75 years Due to COVID-19 and of supporting Dorset’s mental lockdowns, Dorset health this year. Established Mind faced a funding in November 1946, Dorset emergency; in fact some Mind was initially known as the fundraising sources ‘Bournemouth Association for ceased entirely. Mental Health’ (BAMH). Doris Despite this, our staff Odlum, a local Psychiatrist, and volunteers worked founded the association to tirelessly to continue provide a space for professionals supporting vulnerable to discuss mental health. people. It was important In 1971, BAMH opened their not to let anyone feel first service and in the 1980s, they were alone. the closure of mental health institutions triggered a rise in Our first challenge was demand for community transferring our and volunteer mental traditional face-to-face ‘It was health services. important support to online or In the 2000s, the BAMH telephone delivery. not to let We quickly mobilised, became part of the Mind network as Dorset anyone feel and now our support Mind, working right they were remains a hybrid of across the county. We online and phone alone’ are determined not to support. give up until everyone experiencing a mental health We deliver support for both problem in Dorset gets support adults and young people across and respect. a range of services, both as group support and one-toRecent Challenges one help across supports like Befriending, Counselling, This last year has been Education, Mentoring, Support unbearably tough for everyone. Groups and Training.

Help For Adults. Recognising that private counselling can be costly for many, Dorset Mind recently launching a greatly-reduced rate Counselling for Adults (starting at £20 a session) to ensure as many as possible can access the help they need. Take a Dive With Us! We plan to start our 75th year by organising 75 people to skydive on the same day! We are offering a discounted fundraising target to encourage people to take part; visit https://bit.ly/75forskydive to take advantage of this offer. All fundraising for Dorset Mind stays within Dorset to support local people’s mental health; we’re working hard to meet the increased demand for our services in these uncertain times. Learn more about our services or make a donation by visiting dorsetmind.uk (adults), or dorsetmindyourhead.co.uk (young people).

In a crisis, please call 999 or The Samaritans on 116 123. 89

HEALTH

Arthritis? Try the Food Fight by Karen Geary, a Registered Nutritional Therapist DipION, mBANT, CNHC at Amplify

30% of people in the UK suffer some type of muscular skeletal disorder, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, low back pain and neck pain. Studies relating to diet and supplements are limited, but there is evidence that certain interventions may have positive effects. Supporting arthritis is about identifying and supporting the root cause. This could be through improved gastrointestinal health, ensuring the right balance of nutrients in diet, weight loss, supporting stress and trauma, dealing with environmental exposure, eg heavy metals, pesticides, moulds, or identifying sources of infection. Therapeutic Phase. This phase relates to gut issues and focuses on exposures that may exacerbate the condition. It is not uncommon to find that certain foods may aggravate the inflammatory response. Whilst I usually help clients to widen the diversity of foods, in arthritis, there is a case for identifying food types that are inflammatory in nature. Eliminating these food-types in a systematic way helps to identify what may be aggravating the condition. Common inflammatories are gluten, dairy, nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, aubergines, peppers) and lectins (found in beans, lentils and grains).

Elimination diets are temporary, requiring a strict approach to elimination and managed re-introduction to assist in the identification of potential inflammatory mediators.

Anti Inflammatory Foods (fibre, antioxidants and omega 3) • Increasing fibre, fermented vegetables and cultured foods are all great ways to help gut function. • Foods high in polyphenols and anthocyanins, eg berries, plums, pomegranate, cherries, apples, oats, turmeric, black beans, as well as black and green tea, coffee, red wine, olive oil and dark chocolate are all your friends. • Other antioxidants such as vitamin E, carotenoids and selenium may be supportive and are found in nuts, seeds and brightly coloured (orange) fruits. • Omega-3 fats found in oily fish may also support a reduction in inflammation and improve joint stiffness.

Supplements There are supplements and probiotics on the market that may or may not support arthritis conditions. However many Food Phase. A good dietary arthritis sufferers already take strategy focuses on foods medications for their conditions rich in antioxidants, are antiand long-term inflammatory and black and green use of arthritis support optimal tea, coffee, red medications gut health, since may also lead wine, olive oil and to nutrient this is frequently where the stress dark chocolate are deficiencies. and inflammation all your friends. Don’t fall for the begins. A sensible latest supplement weight loss plan is being touted on also a key step for overweight the internet especially when osteoarthritis sufferers. taking medications. A qualified professional will always carefully Foods for arthritis sufferers to check any interactions with your consider incorporating: medications and supplements to ensure there are no Bone Building Nutrients; contraindications and that you • Calcium - yogurt, bones from are receiving the best benefit. tinned fish, green veg • Magnesium - cocoa and If you would like to try a free 7 pumpkin or chia seeds day arthritis support meal plan • Potassium – fruits and and more detail on nutrients, vegetables you can find one on my website. • Vitamin C – not just citrus Do get in touch with any fruit, try berries and kiwi too. questions. Always free - subscribe here

by Mel Mitchell - experience Personal Trainer, group exercise instructor & sports massage therapist based in Sturminster Newton.

There’s No ‘I’ in T E A M I have to be honest; team sport was never my thing. Mostly because being around lots of people scared me.

I was persuaded to join the ladies’ football team at university, and I suddenly fell in love with being part of a team. Not because we were any good (because we weren’t!) but because we never stopped having fun and supporting each other, even in the midst of a match where we were losing pretty epically. When I left university I really

The North Dorset Ladies RFC

missed being part of a team, and when I saw the advert for North Dorset Ladies Rugby, I jumped at the chance to give it ago. Turning up to my first ever rugby training session was nerve wracking to say the least. Not Worried about lack of ability or only did I not know what to whether you’ll enjoy it? My advice expect, but turning up on my is to give it a try! own and not knowing anyone The senior ladies team had my anxiety always welcome new ...turning up levels elevated to a faces, regardless of whole new level. was nerve whether you’ve played Turns out I had wracking... my rugby before or not. nothing to worry anxiety rose I mean, I’ve been about! Everyone was made to feel to a whole new playing since 2018 and I’m definitely still welcome, with no level learning. Why not judgement on come and watch or your ability. I even join in one of our training for one had never touched sessions? a rugby ball in my life - but I wasn’t the only one. It Always happy to answer your was comforting to know questions - send them to me on that we were all learning melmitchellmassage@gmail. and developing as a team, com with the more experienced players supporting those of us that were new to the game. A few years on and although we’ve had a few players and coaches come and go, it’s been a pleasure being part of a team that’s so supportive of each other - and boy have we had loads of fun along the way! Want to give rugby a go?

POLITICS

ADVERTORIAL

Why We All Need To Know About ‘Statutory Wills’ We all know how important it is to have an up to date will. But what if someone loses the mental capacity to make or update their will? 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 - and 1 in 6 people over the age of 80 - suffer from dementia. People can lose ‘testamentary capacity’ from head injuries and other health issues. Not having the ability to execute a will when family circumstances have changed, can lead to real problems and huge upset for families at an already difficult time. If a person dies leaving an out of date will, or no will at all (under the ‘intestacy rules’) the deceased’s estate may well pass to an estranged spouse or an estranged child; a long term partner, child or grandchild may be left out; or there may be a larger than necessary inheritance tax bill 92

to pay. These are just some of the possible consequences resulting from the deceased having been unable to update their will. Frequently, such situations lead to protracted and expensive probate dispute, whic are necessarily stressful for all concerned. However there is, in many cases, a solution in the form of a ‘statutory will’.

Statutory wills are not commonly applied for; but this is mainly because either families don’t know about them, or because firms don’t have the knowledge or experience to do so. Blanchards Bailey are experienced in dealing with statutory will applications, having made four just recently and having three solicitors that specialise in this area of the law.

This is a will which is drafted and signed on behalf of the person who lacks capacity and approved by the Court of Protection. The court will approve a statutory will where it finds that it is in the best interests of the person who lacks capacity.

We also specialise in contentious probate, Inheritance Act claims and disputes relating to Court of Protection matters. If you would like advice about any of the above please contact Lucy Mignot on 01305 217303 or lucy.mignot@blanchardsbailey. co.uk. Always free - subscribe here

BUSINESS NEWS

with Dorset Chamber’s CEO Ian Girling

How to promote and protect your business - with Ian Girling I hope you’ve had a great summer and that life is at long last now returning to some normality. I guess only a few may have taken summer holidays overseas, but it’s certainly given us the opportunity to enjoy our own beautiful country with the huge growth in UK holidays. And I have to say I was delighted to see Gold Hill in Shaftesbury featured on the front of a leading motorhome magazine this month! As discussed in an earlier article, Dorset Chamber is a not for profit business with the sole purpose of helping businesses in Dorset grow and succeed. We aren’t funded by councils or by the Government, and we operate as a membership organisation. On a very practical level I’d like to talk to you this month about some of the benefits we can offer businesses through membership of Dorset Chamber. Membership is extremely reasonably priced and offers businesses a huge return on

investment in many areas. Membership packages start at just £120, and whether you are seeking vital protection for your business, business services or just looking to raise your profile and build your customer base, we can help.

Networking’. These virtual networking events include two ‘breakout room’ sessions, and are entirely free for our members. They offer businesses across Dorset a fantastic opportunity to meet other local businesses in a friendly, “Despite face to Even our basic non-salesy face meetings membership environment, resuming, the will offer any and attract a business within Zoom networking wide range Dorset a range of businesses is here to stay of benefits, (including our - it’s a brilliant including up very own editor, to £1 million leveller for those Laura!) (true - Ed) of business and are incredibly businesses in legal expenses popular. the north of the insurance, Despite face to county” with £100,000 face meetings per claim for a resuming, the solicitor to represent a member Zoom networking is here to business in defending a legal stay - we’ve found it’s a brilliant action. leveller for those businesses in the north of the county who We also offer 24/7 access to cannot take regular time out to an HR, tax and legal helpline travel for networking meetings. with has proved invaluable to those local businesses that We are a friendly bunch and have used it. We also offer we’re very keen to support our members a free credit businesses right across Dorset. If check facility (essential to any you’d like to find out more about business offering credit to a new how you can join and get some customer), as well as the ability great benefits for your business, to publish press releases on please contact us on 01202 our website, the leading Dorset 714800 or e-mail Julie.cullen@ business news platform. dorsetchamber.co.uk or visit dorsetchamber.co.uk One incredibly successful service we launched during Until next time, the pandemic was our online Ian networking events ‘Simply

BUSINESS NEWS

by Rachael Rowe

How Cheesecakes Beat My Anxiety

Lemon curd cream cheese on a digestive biscuits topped to the brim with a variety of fresh summer fruit and a mixture of chocolates!

Layers of colourful fruits and chunks of chocolate cake toppings draw you into the images. It all looks like a scene from a sumptuous feast or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but this is Dorset and a new business is making waves with its bespoke cheesecakes. The creations are a world apart from the standard flat based cheesecake most of us associate with the dessert - but who is the person behind all this creative genius? The Dorset Cheesecake Company is celebrating its first birthday, having commenced business in the first lockdown. Owner, Kate Pemble talked to me from her workshop in Corfe Mullen about how it all started. “I was furloughed in the first lockdown and had issues with anxiety. My husband and I came up with something to keep me busy and to take my mind off things.” Kate had always made cheesecakes for friends and family, but stepping out into a wider customer base was her vision - and the Dorset Cheesecake Company was born.

“We decided to convert a spare bedroom into a dedicated

cheesecake filling, with flavours ranging from mint “I was furloughed chocolate to lemon “There are so curd and strawberry in the first many cupcakes (that’s just a few lockdown and had to get you started). out there - I issues with anxiety. Many of the cakes just saw a gap and went for My husband and are decorated with it. People are a chocolate or other I came up with looking for flavoured drip. And something to keep as for toppings, it something me busy” different.” seems that anything Little did Kate goes from fresh fruit know the demand for ‘something to Percy Pigs, and a range of different’ would see the business chocolates and sprinkles. I even grow significantly. spotted a chocolate hippo on one masterpiece. If you thought cheesecakes just come in strawberry or vanilla So what was the most unusual flavours (or even a packet from cake that Kate has created? the supermarket), you are in for “It started out with an Oreo a treat. At the Dorset Cheesecake cookie base, a chocolate orange Company there are literally cream cheese filling, a Biscoff thousands of combinations. drip, and a Reese’s peanut To start, there’s the biscuit base. butter choc orange topping. It Will it be Biscoff? Shortbread, sounded weird but the customer or Oreo? Then there’s the main was delighted.” kitchen and sell a few cheesecakes.”

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BUSINESS NEWS One of the most popular designs is a strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake. Each cake made by Kate is slightly different and the customer gets to choose the design they want for their special occasion or treat. Your imagination could literally run wild with the amount of combinations available. Her first Christmas was a busy one with 10-15 cakes a day being produced.

A Cadbury Dairy milk and Mint Aero swirl cheesecake with a Cadbury chocolate drip, Mint Aero bar and Mint Aero balls, Cadbury Dairy Milk bar and buttons, Reeses chocolates, cups and bar, mint Club Bar, mint KitKat, After Eight mints and bites, Lindor white chocolate truffles, giant rainbow lolly pops, rainbow sprinkles, shimmer glitter and perfectly finished off with a colourful rainbow Happy Birthday topper!

The beautifully designed cheesecakes are on Kate’s social media channels where a lot of customers find her. That, and word of mouth of course - they are a talking point at any party. Kate also makes mini cheesecakes which are popular with a girls (or lads) night in or special treat. Boxes of 6 individual mini cheesecake pots are offered, still with 16 flavour combinations to choose from. Kate’s plans for the future include expanding her no bake range of products, opening a shop, and providing a delivery service. At the moment the cakes are collection only, from Corfe Mullen. Just looking at the designs is enough to get anyone in the mood for a celebration. They radiate joy with their colourful and tempting array of toppings and decorative touches. The Dorset Cheesecake Company is another innovative local food producer raising the game with desserts and leading us all into temptation with their creations.

Traditional cheesecakes start at £25.00, Deluxe versions at £38. To order a cake, visit The

Dorset Cheesecake Company on Facebook or on Instagram or phone Kate 07590 544577

This pretty pink and yellow cheesecake was for a little girls 3rd Birthday. An 8 inch white chocolate and strawberry cream cheese on a digestive biscuit base topped with an alternating white and pink drip, a variety of white chocolate, Percy Pigs, strawberry Flipz, sprinkles, pick n mix sweets and a pink glitter shimmer!

BUSINESS NEWS

Yeovil’s Dog Chef Launches 100% Natural ‘Bake & Treat’ Dog Treats There’s nothing like the smell of freshly-baked goods straight from the oven - and this time it’s your dog who gets to enjoy them. Local start-up The Dog Chef has launched a range of 100% natural dog treat baking mixes that you make and bake in the oven yourself.

The launch range of Bake & Treat baking mixes includes Liver Cake Training Treat Baking Mix, Tuna Bites Training Treat Baking Mix, Fresh Breath Dog Biscuit Baking Mix and Carob & Banana Cookie Baking Mix. All the mixes are approved by accredited UK dog nutritionist Gerald Pepin. Founder Annmarie Morgan said: “Overseen by our resident dog nutritionist, every ingredient is both dog-safe and fit for human consumption. “Apart from being exceptionally healthy, one of the biggest differences between Bake & Treat dog treats and commercial dog treats is that pet parents know exactly what ingredients are in them.” Ann-marie Morgan began looking into pet food content when her German Shepherd Marco became ill. She discovered that ‘improved food and not increasingly expensive medication’ was the answer to his health problems. Ann-marie Morgan with the boy who started it all, her dog Marco

“The better we fed our boy, the healthier and stronger he became. Six years on, he’s a happy, healthy, robust individual” She added: “It’s a way of improving the life of a dog by making its life more interesting and exciting. And as anyone who has studied the subject will tell you, environmental enrichment

doesn’t come in a packet. It comes from doing things with your dog. “When pet parents bake their own homemade dog treats, the dog gets to enjoy the whole process. The opening of the packet, the sounds of mixing, the rattling of baking trays and the aroma of treats baking in the oven. And all that before the final mouth-watering tasting.”

Packets of The Dog Chef dog treat mixes can be bought direct online here at £3.95 a pack. A monthly subscription box scheme is coming soon. Always free - subscribe here

WHAT’S ON

Hatch House Opens the Garden Once Again By the kind permission of Sir Henry and Lady Rumbold, idyllic Hatch House will once again hold its annual Open Garden. This year for the first time the annual event will be over two days; Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th September. It is a wonderful chance to see the 17th Century walled Dutch garden with its views over the Vale of Wardour; enjoy cream teas with family and friends; and browse a wide variety of stalls with cakes, books, gifts and collectables.

Lady Rumbold & Mrs Vernon’s famous clothes stall is always packed with amazing finds - it’s a magnet for bargain hunters. All proceeds will again go to the Salisbury Hospice Charity. Over the years this event has raised thousands of pounds to help the charity continue its valuable work – the charity is celebrating 40 years of care in 2021 - www. salisburyhospicecharity.org.uk

GARDEN OPEN &

Pre Loved Designer Clothes Sale

HATCH HOUSE Newtown, Tisbury, SP3 6PA

Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th September 2 - 5 pm supporting

ADULTS £5 CHILDREN £1 98

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Exciting Line-Up For Mere Literary Festival The Mere Literary Festival has a great line-up for October; Claire Fuller has agreed to join us and will be discussing Unsettled Ground, which has been shortlisted for this year’s Womens Prize for Fiction 2021. Stephen Fabes will be discussing his travel book ‘Signs of Life’ his tale of taking a break from medicine and spending six years travelling the world on a bicycle. Louise Hare’s book This Lovely City is the 2021 Book Club choice. Lucy Jago will be talking about her first novel A Net for Small Fishes, and Robin Hanbury Tenison will be discussing his latest book Taming the Four Horsemen. These are just a few of the authors who will be at the

WHAT’S ON

Festival. Other events include: a Writers’ Workshop; a talk on Getting More from your Reading; Politics and a Pint; A Crime Writers Forum along with a foraging walk taken by Dave Hamilton from Frome. The dates for your diary are 11-15 October 2021. For more information click the picture

Taster event to help boost friendships in North Dorset and South Somerset area.

An event to help bring friends back together and encourage new connections is being held by Phoenix Branch of Oddfellows. The Society, whose members meet up regularly in the area for social and fundraising activities, says it wants to extend a warm welcome to newcomers by offering free tea and cake in the afternoon of 14th September at The Gugg, Station Road, Stalbridge, DT10 2RQ, from 2.304.30pm. Oddfellows Branch Secretary, Judy Penfold, explains: “The Oddfellows is all about making friends and helping people.” According to a survey carried out on behalf of the Oddfellows, more than half of people aged over 60 said the pandemic has made them value friendships more than ever. Having a drink with friends was the most-missed social activity for over 60s, with almost half (44%) saying they find it harder to make new friends now compared to when they were younger. “Making friends later in life and enjoying a cuppa in great company is something our group can definitely help people with,” adds Judy.

Templecombe Village Art Exhibition Templecombe will be hosting its second art exhibition on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd October, 10am to 5pm each day. Ian Jenkinson was a very talented artist. Though he suffered with Alzheimer’s he liked to sketch and talk about the subject of art, which he loved dearly. The first Templecombe Village Art Exhibition in 2019 was a great success and was based around Ian. Sadly, this second exhibition is in Ian’s memory; he passed away during November 2020.

The proceeds will be going to Alzheimer’s Research. Many people reading this will know a friend or a family member who is suffering from this dreadful disease. The exhibition is being held at Templecombe Village Hall, BA8 0HP. It will be opened by the Mayor of Sherborne, Mrs Anne

Hall at 10am on the Saturday morning. There will be no charge at the door, but there will be a List of Entries available for 50p. There will also be a simple form available asking visitors to vote for their favourite painting or work of art. Refreshments will be available throughout each day.

Durweston & Bryanston Arts Festival

The villagers of Durweston and Bryanston will be opening the doors of St Nicholas’s Church, Durweston, from 10 am - 4 pm for an Exhibition of Village Art, Craft and Music from 13th to the 16th of September. Originally built to serve Lord Portman, both villages share a history of crafts which included glove making and basket weaving, but today boasts an even wider range of creativity. The exhibition will show off the works of a guitar maker, a jeweller, stick maker, the potter, painters, seamstresses and much more. The Church will be decorated by the many keen resident gardeners and arrangers, as well as the village school children, with flowers, vegetables and foliage from their gardens, allotments, and the surrounding countryside.

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Each day local musicians will be practicing informally in the church to entertain visitors to the exhibition. The Gravellers, a male ‘A Cappella’ group, will be singing for us on Monday evening at 8pm together with other local artists who will play during each day. The genres will be varied and will include the acoustic harmonies of Debbie and Martin from Bryanston, and folk songs from Sammy and Charles.

will coincide with coffee time at 10am, lunch at 1pm and teatime at 3pm.

There will be a pop up café open every day selling cakes baked by our villagers, and music sessions

No need to book but subject to COVID Regulations at the time.

Please join us and wander round the exhibitions, listen to the music and eat cake. For more information email juleshosford@icloud.com . Date: Monday 13th to Thursday 16th September 10am to 4pm each day. Evening Music Monday 8pm onwards.

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WHAT’S ON

Local Author Roger Guttridge Shares ‘The Tales behind the Tales’ In Sturminster Newton Roger Guttridge is a well-known Dorset based journalist and local historian, who has written a number of books about the north Dorset area. He will be in Sturminster Newton next Tuesday (the 7th September) talking about some of the stories behind his books. The Tales behind the Tales must be prebooked; tickets are free. If you want to eat a meal at the Bull Tavern (and we recommend you do!) - you need to book that in advance

with the pub. You will also be able to buy Roger’s books at the event. This free event is part of the Sturminster Newton Literary Festival 2021 - you can register your interest here. 101

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Enter BLACKMOREVALE21 at: funeralcare.co.uk/funeralplans or take this coupon along to your local funeralcare home. *Terms & Conditions: The voucher may only be redeemed against eligible Southern Co-op funeral plans costing £3,000 or more and will be deducted off the cost at time of sale. The voucher has no cash value and cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount, offer or promotion. For full terms and conditions visit: funeralcare.co.uk/ funeralplanterms, request a copy from any Southern Co-op funeralcare home or by calling 0800 008 6878. This voucher is valid until 31/12/2021.

Why do funeral directors walk in front of the hearse? New light has been cast on one of the most commonly asked questions about funerals – why does someone walk in front of the hearse? Dorset’s Douch Family Funeral Directors often has one of its team leading a funeral procession on foot. Walking in front of the hearse, or ‘paging away’ as it is known, dates back over a century, according to the firm’s managing director Nick Douch. Nick said: “Many of the funeral traditions we see today actually date back to the Victorian era with Queen Victoria’s public mourning of her husband, Prince Albert, having an influence on how we mourned our loved ones. “We often get asked about paging away and it most likely stems from this era too, when horses and carriages were the main method of transport. The funeral director would lead the procession at walking pace from the house of the deceased, with

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others on foot following the hearse.

During the Victorian era, when funerals were an extravagant business, the family of the “They would walk along main deceased would often hire a roads leading out of town to the ‘mute’ for the occasion - a paid cemetery. Sometimes a detour mourner, whose job was to keep was made through important vigil outside the house then areas in order to achieve a lead the funeral procession. A maximum mute dressed display. ‘Walking in front of the in sombre “Once the with a hearse, or ‘paging away’ clothes procession was black top hat. as it is known, dates out of town, everyone on back over a century’ Dickens foot climbed liked to on to the coaches, and the mock the Victorian’s obsession procession was led at a brisk with mutes, believing them to trot.” be an unnecessary expense, Nick added: “Many funeral particularly for the lower classes directors still follow the tradition who could least afford them. In of paging away, however, only Martin Chuzzlewit, he wrote: for a short distance. ‘Two mutes were at the house“This is a mark of respect to door, looking as mournful as the deceased and also gives could reasonably be expected of following cars an opportunity to men with such a thriving job in join the cortege.” hand.’ Always free - subscribe here

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PROPERTY

Huge Demand for Properties Causing Problems

Sellers are struggling to find their next homes …and there’s a shortage of rental properties

Expert monthly help from the team at Porter Dodson LLP. This week: What the property market looks like for the coming winter: In my January column, I expressed a hope that the Chancellor would give us early warning of any extension to the stamp duty holiday and a plea to clients to help us achieve deadlines by being proactive in doing essential initial paperwork so valuable time was not lost….. roll the clock forward: eight months on, where exactly are we now? The year to date has been stressful and exhausting for everyone moving home, and possibly even more so for all the professionals in the process: agents, conveyancers, surveyors and lenders. And at least in this part of Dorset, I can report it is far from over yet. June 2021 saw the Porter Dodson Sturminster Newton conveyancing team opening more conveyancing files than any month in the prior twelvemonth period, with higher value

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transactions now that stamp duty savings are not the drivers.

of what people want from their homes, the fact that many people managed to save during The market in the numerous “June 2021 saw the south west lockdowns the Porter Dodson and finally, is still extremely active: some Sturminster Newton that mortgage would-be buyers conveyancing team rates remaining report that agents attractively low opening more are unwilling for those not to even engage conveyancing files worried about job in discussions than any month in security. unless already Oh - and we live in the prior twelveexchanged on a wonderful and month period” their sale or sitting highly desirable on cash. Sealed corner of the UK bids are back with a vengeance, and we should not forget it! and properties sell even before brochures can be produced. So, what happens next? There Some properties sell for well in certainly is a need for the return excess of the first asking price in of an orderly market. I hope that a matter of days. those who have purchased in this overheated market at generous But sellers are struggling to find prices do not come to regret it next homes, and those deciding in the future. I hope that the to break their transactions and economy strengthens across the head to rented accommodation board and employment levels in between are also discovering are strong so that jobs do not a shortage of suitable rental disappear, and we have no fear properties. of once again encountering the spectre of negative equity that The continuing buoyancy belies caused havoc in the 1990s and the belief that the end of the again, around 2008. But as to full stamp tax holiday (and the where we end up this time next impending end of the reduced year, only time will tell! relief) are what has stimulated all this activity: rather, it appears Jenny Cottrell to come from a reassessment jenny.cottrell@porterdodson. Always free - subscribe here

Battens Solicitors

The return of 5% deposits for first time buyers

The property market can be daunting for first time buyers and add Covid-19 into the equation and you have a challenging situation. However it’s not all doom and gloom as property expert Samantha Pattle explains:

This mortgage will be provided on completion with a term set and you will then pay the mortgage off monthly once the purchase transaction has completed.

The property market is facing unprecedented demand partly fuelled by the changes the pandemic has brought with it.

• Your deposit is the amount of money that you need to put towards the property to make up 100% of the final purchase price.

At Battens Solicitors, we appreciate that trying to get on the property ladder for the first time can be a difficult experience, but especially for those who have been trying to secure a mortgage in the last year. In 2020 interest rates were rising and the majority of Mortgage Lenders were no longer accepting deposits as low as 5%. This was because Mortgage Lenders were limiting the distribution of mortgages offered and only typically accepting those who needed to borrow a smaller amount from them and who had a higher deposit. This made it almost impossible for the majority of first time buyers who would only be expected to have smaller deposits. Now that the economy is starting to open up again, we have seen a rise in mainstream Mortgage Lenders such as Natwest, Nationwide, Halifax and Santander beginning to accept not only 10% deposits, but also 5% which is great news for those now buying for the first time or even those looking to purchase on again. What is a 95% Mortgage? • A 95% mortgage; known as a 95% loan to value (LTV) mortgage, is a mortgage to purchase a property with a small deposit (at least 5% but less than 10% of the purchase price).

What does this mean for a First Time Buyer? A Mortgage Lender is likely to allow you to borrow more than they would have done in recent years. You can find a property to buy once you have saved at least 5% of the purchase price and, as long as the Mortgage Lender believes this is affordable for you, they will lend the remainder of what you need to purchase the property. This means that you could be eligible to buy your first home even earlier than you thought and you don’t have to save quite as much money to do so and get onto the property ladder. Should you, a friend or colleague be looking to purchase a first home, please do not hesitate to get in contact with a member of Battens’ residential property team for a quote or further information which we should be happy to provide. For further information please contact Samantha Pattle on 01935 811317 or email samantha.pattle@battens.co.uk

Specialist Legal Advice and Solutions for whatever life brings - at home or at work

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PROPERTY

Are House Prices beginning to fall? Insider’s Tip To Find Out...

House prices, and whether they will rise or fall from now on, is a very hot topic for general discussion across all sectors of society. Rightmove statistical analysis says that the ‘upper end’ of the housing market is starting to cool down whilst the First-Time buyers and second time movers market is still showing record highs in prices coming to market. To be precise and to quote our Rightmove colleagues: •

•

New record highs in price of property coming to market in the mass-market sectors, made up of first-time buyer properties, up by £1,328 (+0.6%) in the month, and second-stepper properties, up by £975 (+0.3%) in the month Cooling of the upper-end four-bedroom-plus sector, down by £4,699 (-0.8%) in the month, with buyers no longer making larger stamp duty savings Overall result is that the national average falls £1,076 (-0.3%) this month, the first price drop recorded in 2021

Buyer demand remains strong, suggesting an autumn bounce in prices and seller activity: • Demand stats for the first week in August are up 56% on the same period in 2019, and down just 17% on frenzied post-lockdown 2020 • With homes selling faster than ever, there’s a strong incentive for owners to come

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to market, with “sell before you buy” proving the best tactic for many to secure their next home in this fast-moving market The above seems complex and is based on extensive Rightmove data. If you really want to know what is happening to the local market in general and work it out for yourself, here is a little insider tip from us at Meyers:

Finally: • Now divide B by A and times by 100 - you will see whether or not we are still in a buyers, or sellers market.

Get Figure A: • Go onto Rightmove.co.uk and type in your chosen Town in the search bar • Click on a price range you might be interested in i.e £400,000-£600,000 • Click on type of property; Houses or Bungalows etc • Click on the box to include those ‘Under Offer or Sold STC ‘

•

The above gives you the total amount of houses seen as available in that price range; make a note of the number. Get Figure B: • Now un-tick ‘Under Offer or Sold STC’ whilst keeping the rest of the search criteria the same. This will give you the total number of houses that are still available ‘for sale’ within that price range and of that type. Make a note of this number too.

For example if there are 91 houses on the market at a certain price range, and 22 are still available for sale ( making the sum 22/91 x 100) then 24% of houses are still for sale.

• •

0-35% availability = a sellers market 35%-65% availability = a flat market 65%-100% = a falling market

In other words, right now we are still in a ‘sellers market’ and by having a play with the above across different house types you can see for yourself which market we are currently sitting in, regardless of whether or not house prices are beginning to readjust themselves on a weekly, or monthly basis. You can use this calculation to see for yourself when might be a good time to try to sell your home. Please get in touch for any property advice or a free expert valuation on your home: Brad at Shaftesbury – 01747 352077 Susie at Blandford – 01258 690553 Always free - subscribe here

POLITICS

Standing out from the crowd of similar properties is vital when you’re selling your home or business property. We’re a family run business, which influences the way we work. Our customers always come first and the service you receive from our ‘family’ of experienced professionals is tailored to exactly meet your individual needs. Selling or buying? We accompany around 90% of our viewings and we specialise in fast sales for customers so we aim to call you back by the end of the day.

Mortgages? Our great local connections mean you can be referred to respected and friendly professionals. We’re better value. Our charges will not be beaten by any local agency. Neither will our service

is simple. We’re friendly, experienced, determined, great value and absolutely focused on you. We really look forward to hearing from you.

We give back to the community. Our community fund has donated well over £18,000 to local good causes. Our philosophy

Curious what your house is worth? Whether you’re ready to sell or just plain curious, the next step is to get a local estate agent to give you an accurate valuation. Click the form to send your details:

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Descending into Folly, near Plush. Image: Laura Hitchcock

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The Blackmore Vale September 21

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