Arts & Entertainments

Book Review

Loving Spirit by Linda Chapman After a tragic accident, fourteen-year-old Ellie finds herself on the other side of the world living with her mean and grumpy Uncle Len who she has never met before. The days before her are deemed to be filled with misery and loneliness, as she cries herself to sleep wishing for home and her parents who she will never see again. That is until she unexpectedly buys an abused and scared horse ‘Spirit’ at a horse auction. At last she can begin to be happy again. Ellie learns to connect with Spirit in a way that allows her to see his memories; memories of being ill-treated and hurt by past owners. Will this friendship between two broken hearts and souls last? Or will it end in disaster? Linda Chapman had created a world for Spirit and Ellie that brings them together through descriptive and detailed writing…..this book is recommended for all horsey lovers, is an easy read, mildly sad in some parts but has a happy ending. Aimed at readers age 10+. Keziah lives in Blandford with her parents and siblings, attends Knighton House Prep School and loves books, tennis, netball and riding. She hopes that her monthly book reviews will inspire other children to pick up a book and read…

CUTE! Steve Joyner sent us this pic of his grandson to cheer us all up

MISS CHRISTMAS NAUGHTY ELF AND FAIRY Modern and traditional carols and fun. Outside social distancing. Lifting our spirits. Contact Suzanneh43@hotmail.co.uk, 07590 546095 or 07879 956614

MP in call for musician support

A local MP has called on the government to help selfemployed musicians and other creative industries during the pandemic. Speaking in two separate House of Commons debates, David Warburton – MP for Somerton and Frome – cited music events such as Somerset’s Glastonbury Festival and the Cheese and Grain in Frome as huge contributors to the cultural, social and economic life of the region. Mr Warburton stressed the urgent need for government support and proposed a Tourism and Social Resilience Fund to support those venues unable to access Income Support Scheme funding. He also called for the urgent implementation of an empty seat subsidy to help venues remain economically viable until audience number restrictions can be lifted. He told the house Frome’s Cheese and Grain, a Social Enterprise, member-run, registered charity is now forced to consider making 40 60 of the venue’s 53 staff redundant. Having been closed for eight months, independent venues such as The Cheese and Grain are now at high risk of insolvency. He also called for an indicative date from the government as to when full re-opening would be permitted, and highlighted the plight of self-employed musicians, one third of whom are currently unable to access the Income Support Scheme due the unique way their industry is structured. Mr Warburton said: “If we don’t help these businesses, they really will go under, they will be devastated. I wrote to the Minister and suggested we have a Tourism

CALL FOR SUPPORT: The Cheese and Grain at Frome and, inset, MP David Warburton

and Social Resilience Fund with targeted support and grants to carry these businesses through the winter. I also proposed the furlough scheme should be extended for businesses unable to open. “We must keep changing lives and supporting those whose business it is to change lives.”

Exhibition of lockdown drawings

Artist Alexandra Drysdale and retired architect Allan Howles are holding an exhibition at her studio in Pitcombe, of their drawings produced during the pandemic. Entitled Lockdown, the exhibition is mostly of landscapes local to Bruton and south-east Somerset. Being confined to their immediate environment, apart from brief sojourns in Derbyshire and Devon after lockdown was eased, the positive side of lockdown enabled them to explore the beauty of the local landscapes in the spring and summer and to interpret this in their drawings, most A husband and wife team who pre-pandemic worked with global stars have received £50,000 of government funding after diversifying due to covid. Bertie and Kelly Hunter, from Blandford, were hard at work before the lockdown with their business Stagecore Productions. They were responsible for the audio production for Glastonbury’s South East Corner, and worked with artists such as Liam Gallagher, Echo and the Bunnymen, Spandau Ballet and many more. Bertie remains the director of Stagecore, while Kelly is now the director of The Artori Academy, which is offering courses and training in all sorts of arts disciplines, from acting to scenic artistry, singing to sound engineering, or even dance to puppetry. Kelly said: “We are excited

A sketch of Pitcombe Cottage of which were created en plein air. The exhibition also includes artefacts by Alexandra completed over the past year. She calls them “artefacts” because they are neither sculpture nor painting, but a collage of different materials and grateful to announce that Stagecore Productions was one of 1,974 companies to receive a grant from the Culture Recovery Scheme. “This grant will allow us to keep our business afloat, allowing us to diversify during this unprecedented time, and turn our skills to teaching, instead of touring. We are passionate about educating the young people of the very town we ourselves grew up in.”

and dimensions. She uses traditional craft techniques such as patchwork and embroidery but in a fine art context. Alexandra has exhibited widely over a long career, and in 2019 she was Artistin-Residence at Bruton KEEPING THE ARTS ALIVE: Kelly Hunter has won funding for a new academy She added: “The whole world is available to our students, and we are here to guide them every step of the way. With industry professionals coming to teach our young people, we are excited to use part of this grant in a way to benefit our local community, and to keep passion for the arts alive.” Keep an eye on theartoriacademy.com for news on upcoming open auditions. School for Girls. She is also a freelance lecturer in art history here and abroad. Allan retired from a 40-year career in architecture some five years ago. He moved to Wells in 1987 to join the architectural practice Beech Tyldesley as a partner, latterly Senior Partner, before going solo. The drawings in the exhibition display his lifelong enjoyment of buildings and landscapes. The exhibition is at Pitcombe Studio, Pitcombe Farmhouse, Bruton BA10 0AU, from November 21 to December 5 from 10am to 5pm daily except Monday and Tuesday and by appointment at other times. For further information contact alex@alexandra drysdale.com or call 07787 alexandradrysdale.com.

£50k grant for new stage academy

827793, or go to

Orchestra’s manoeuvres

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has returned to Poole Lighthouse – performing to socially distanced audiences every Wednesday. And the live concerts are being streamed, with tickets costing £6 each. You can watch these broadcasts in the comfort of your own living room with the bonus of close-up shots of the musicians and conductor. The quality of sound and camera work has been praised by a number of reviewers and the first concert received a five star review in The Times. Go to bsolive.com. 61

Arts & Entertainment Writer’s web of intrigue in spy thriller

Beyond the Funeral is the edited a dozen non- communications satellites for intriguing title of a second fiction books before TV news, finally working in spy thriller published this turning to fiction the satellite business in the month by Gillingham author last year – inspired USA for 14 years until his Peter Marshall, a retired by the Salisbury retirement. BBC journalist. Novichok In 1986, he served as Again, his story explores the poisonings. Chairman of the Royal ruthless world of espionage Beyond the Funeral Television Society in the UK and the activities of Russian is another fast- and then in the USA he and Western secret services. moving story in became President of the It takes readers from which even the Society of Satellite Hampshire and London to Russian secret Professional and a Director the USA, Canada and Mexico and introduces a new female spy, Samantha Lord, who embarks on hazardous international assignments. Peter explains the title this way: “My previous novel, The Russian Lieutenant ended with a dramatic funeral service on the sea wall in Portsmouth. “A red rose was mysteriously cast into the water together with the ashes, but it was not the end of the story. the arrest and trial of a Russian diplomat on a charge of conspiracy to murder – and there are the inevitable reprisals by Moscow including a second poisoning incident”. service is fallible as they are outsmarted by the British and US intelligence agencies. Peter says his international career travels provided the framework for his works of fiction. He also draws on his experiences when serving in the Royal Navy and then as a journalist for local and national newspapers and the BBC. He went on to pioneer of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation. After retirement, he was a trustee of the Dorset Blind Association, a member of the team producing the weekly Shaftesbury Area Talking Newspaper, a member and then Chairman of the Gillingham Probus Club and an active member of Rushmore Golf Club. n Beyond the Funeral and The Russian Lieutenant are available from “It was the beginning of Since his retirement to the use of international Amazon.co.uk – as another one which starts with Dorset, Peter had written or paperbacks or as e-books. Rural media charity launches new website

Rural media charity Windrose now has a new website where you can view old film, listen to audio and order DVDs. Windrose, which is known for its film archive of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire life, along with educational, archival and creative work in rural communities, has presented 256 archive film shows in village halls, cinemas, theatres and arts centres across Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire Recent grant funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund has enabled the charity, which was set up in 1984 under its earlier name of Trilith, to forge ahead with new community-based work. All of its projects had been cancelled or postponed 62 because of the covid-19 pandemic. Via its website, you can buy DVDs and CDs and access the interactive map of the Close Encounters Media Trail, which gives you a fascinating insight into the lives of people in years gone by, as well as more contemporary commentaries. Director Trevor Bailey said: “Creating a website for Windrose has always been a difficult prospect since the charity has tended to work project by project, so much so that while some of those projects have seen the development of their own standalone website, Windrose has never had the resources to create its own bespoke presence on the web. “The opportunity arose during the course of our current Heritage Lottery funded project A Century of Sights and Sounds. As well as working on digitising more than 200 hours of the Windrose video and audio archive, which is being done by James Harrison, the project also gave Windrose the resources to look at creating a website to publicise our work creating and preserving this important media.” Windrose has produced several video and audio productions of its own, but the only real ‘retail outlet’ had been shows and talks, and sometimes local shops. Now, you can order DVDs and CDs, featuring archive films and recordings of local life, via the website, which has been developed by The Mustard Agency from Wilton, Wiltshire. Mr Bailey said: “The new website also provides an exciting opportunity to share those projects yet to come.” n windroseruralmedia.org

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An ancient mosaic which forms a key part of Roman history in Dorset is at risk of being exported. The 2,400-year-old floor fragment is so valuable that the Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage has placed a temporary export bar on a panel of mosaic from a Roman villa at Dewlish. She said, “This mosaic is a piece of history telling us about the lives of our Roman ancestors more than 2,000 years ago. It is an incredibly rare example of the Roman occupation of Britain and I hope that, even in these challenging times, a buyer can be found to keep this important and striking work in the UK”. The minister’s decision follows the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest The committee noted that there were few mosaics from the Durnovarian school showing this quality and exceptional workmanship and that there was much to be learned about RomanoBritish mosaics from further research and study of the fragment. Committee member Leslie Webster said: “The mosaic’s spirited depiction of a leopard bringing down an antelope is a brilliantly accomplished image of nature red in tooth and claw; the soaring leap of the deer, and the precise delineation of the leopard’s Due to the second lockdown the Octagon Theatre will be closed Thursday, November 5 to December 3. Sale of tickets have been suspended for: Russel Kane and Friends Octagon Auditorium, Nov 6 Mark Steel and Friends Octagon Auditorium, Nov 13 Sales have been cancelled for:

ROMAN HERITAGE: The ancient mosaic is in danger of beilg exported Funding bid for mosaic

muscular power and ferocious grace is a tour de force of the mosaicist’s art. “The grand mosaic from which this fragment came, dominating the principal public room of the villa, was clearly designed to impress the spectator with the learning and cultural aspirations of its owner. “For us to lose it from Britain would be a great misfortune.” Armonica Consort: Vivaldi Four Seasons with Rachel Podger. Nov 19 The Exchange Sturminster Newton The programme of events for the remainder of the year have been cancelled. Assistant manager Sharon Clifton said: “We are doing a lot of work behind the scenes The mosaic is considered by many to be an exceptional piece and is at risk of being lost abroad unless buyers can be found to match the £135,000 asking price. Apart from one smaller piece in the Dorchester Country Museum, much of the mosaic floor at the Dewlish Roman villa has now been destroyed, so this fragment is of crucial importance to understanding the whole composition. and as soon as we can open we will. We are going to bounce back.” The Exchange is hoping to reopen in January. Shaftesbury Arts Centre The box office is closed until further notice. More details can be found at shaftesburyartscentre.org.uk Artsreach says: “Whilst we The decision on the export licence application for the mosaic will be deferred until January 16, 2021 and organisations or individuals interested in helping with the purchase of the mosaic can use the GoFundMe crowd funding campaign at gofundme.com/f/stop-exportof-dorset-roman-mosaic. Contact Dorset County Museum in Dorchester on

List of cancelled or postponed theatre shows

01305 262735. aren’t able to welcome touring performers to our community venues at present, many of them are working hard to keep in touch with us all, releasing lots of lovely creative content online. Go to digital diary at artsreach.co.uk 63