36
New Blackmore Vale, 22 July 2022
blackmorevale.net
Letters
Impatient drivers shout abuse My husband and I have a small dairy herd in Hazelbury Bryan and our cows are well looked after and treated as individuals – they all have a different personality. However, soon we fear one or more of our cows will be mowed down thanks to the increasingly inconsiderate driving of a small percentage around our village. The cows during the summer months need to cross the road which links Hazelbury Bryan with Kings Stag, known as The Causeway, for grazing during the day after morning milking, and return for afternoon milking to our farm the other side of the road. We have noticed AT LEAST once a week the impatience of some drivers who weave between the cows when they see a gap or speed up and drive though the cows rather than wait no longer than five minutes while they cross. Drivers also shout abuse to us as we guide the cows safely across the road. Why can’t the small percentage of drivers who think they own the road – and it’s not always the younger drivers – wait five minutes. We only have 80-plus shorthorn cows, so it doesn’t take too long for them to cross. Not many dairy farms are left in Dorset and we are not holding the traffic up for fun.
Please have some patience. Leslie & Dawn Head Hazelbury Bryan My husband and I have a small dairy herd in Hazelbury Bryan and our cows are well looked
Cartoon by Lyndon Wall justsocaricatures.co.uk
after and treated as individuals – they all have a different personality. However, soon we fear one or more of our cows will be mowed down thanks to the
increasingly inconsiderate driving of a small percentage around our village. The cows during the summer months need to cross the road which links Hazelbury Bryan with Kings Stag, known as The Causeway, for grazing during the day after morning milking, and return for afternoon milking to our farm the other side of the road. We have noticed AT LEAST once a week the impatience of some drivers who weave between the cows when they see a gap or speed up and drive though the cows rather than wait no longer than five minutes while they cross. Drivers also shout abuse to us as we guide the cows safely across the road. Why can’t the small percentage of drivers who think they own the road – and it’s not always the younger drivers – wait five minutes. We only have 80-plus shorthorn cows, so it doesn’t take too long for them to cross. Not many dairy farms are left in Dorset and we are not holding the traffic up for fun. Please have some patience. Leslie & Dawn Head Hazelbury Bryan The idea of the removal of Thomas Hardy from the curriculum is complete and utter vandalism, spurred on by this insane world we live in. Hardy and Dickens spoke the
Sorry, but I have no time for Thomas Hardy I’ve no time for wokery, and am appalled at the removal of Wilfred Owen from the GCSE English syllabus, but our freedom of thought and speech entitles me to loathe Thomas Hardy. This poem was inspired by a bookcase bureau in the County Museum. The Relic With graceful lines, glass fronted shelves above And smoothly polished drawers beneath, you might Have served successive owners who could still Pay homage to your maker as they write. But no! Your former master’s works have moved Disciples to insist that you should stand Inactive, lest by chance some lesser man
Defile your hallowed surface with his hand. The craftsman thus belittled I prefer: He fashioned useful beauty from his wood. The other artist’s undisputed skills Were far from innocent, for Hardy could Vile demons conjure from the ancient stones Of mellow buildings, or the open heath Of hapless Dorset’s lovely countryside, Contriving misery past all belief. The fictional inventions of his mind Towered as a thundercloud, with bolts of doom. Did then the just, avenging hand of Fate Infect his actual life with morbid gloom?
Refuse this poisoned draught of literature! Cast out the devils! Leave the books unread! Purge clean the altar of this heathen shrine! Restore the furniture to life instead! The silver handled knife may be a gem Of cutlery and of intrinsic price. If once it featured in some bloody crime No thinking man durst with it bread to slice. Thus both extremes agree: in reverent awe Or else abhorrence of your past we all Condemn you, working fitness unimpaired, To premature retirement in this hall. George Darwall via email
