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Field And Stream

Field And Stream

Letters Do what I do with rubbish – deliver it back

Your readers might like to see how Wincanton’s KFC is contributing to the despoliation of our countryside. Photo taken on 1 February in an otherwise genteel seating area just off Shaftesbury Lane. There were also bottles and large amounts of paper. The crassly thoughtless consumers of the KFC products in this packaging must have discarded all the cardboard, plus bottles and some half-consumed contents, late at night on Sunday 31 January. When I stopped to clear up the mess on seeing it the next morning, my faith in human nature was restored by another passing motorist, a young employee of Morrisons who immediately offered to help in the clear up, and produced a Morrisons bag from his boot, into which – both wearing gloves – we stuffed the detritus. Well done indeed to him! Thinking of the no doubt griefstricken employees of Wincanton KFC, who were presumably wondering what might have happened to their valued branded packaging, I hastened to put them out of their misery on 2 February. I drove to their outlet and, having first shown the photo of the KFCdecorated roadside site to the employee behind the till, I left him the bulging plastic bag, halfspilling it onto his counter, while expressing the hope that he should “enjoy” it, in the accepted modern parlance. These fast food outlets (McDonald’s is about to open on the same site as KFC) should charge deposits on their food containers to encourage their 74

Cartoon by Lyndon Wall justsocaricatures.co.uk

return. And I encourage others to follow my example and take all identifiable litter back to the originators. Perhaps eventually, this might get through to the unthinking people who simply throw away litter all over our roadsides. Hugh Davies Cucklington

n I was really pleased to read your article in the BVM on the garages along the A30. Recently whilst reminiscing I counted that there used to be eight filling stations in Sherborne and now only one, Young’s, which is slightly puzzling as there must be far more cars on the road today compared with the 1950s. To this day we still say let’s go and fill up at Jack Young’s. I remember my father calling at Deweys in Newland and Bill Dewey coming out to serve us and nearly always wearing his taxi ‘uniform’ including peaked cap. They also ran big black taxis and a black Mariah as it was called. I’ve now started on pubs, not visiting, counting how many have gone. Many thanks again. Margaret Read Can anyone help Margaret identify pubs of Sherborne’s past? Email newsdesk@ blackmorevale.net

n Dear BVM, congratulations on the launch of the e-edition of your magazine. For those of us who grew up in North Dorset, but now live in exile, it is an ideal way to keep in touch with local comings and goings (although of course nothing will ever compare to the experience of picking up a paper copy from your Stalbridge office on a Friday lunchtime and poring over the small ads in the Bird in Hand with a pint or two of guest ale). I am intrigued to know where all the dogs have gone. When I was a lad, growing up just outside Stalbridge, the magazine was full of farm dogs for sale (a large proportion of which had been sired by the neighbouring sheep farmer’s collies). I remember that when my parents had dogs to dispose of (inevitably following a visit from the sheep farmer’s itinerant collies) they would always charge a fee – ten or twenty pounds – partly to recoup the expenses of providing the puppies with food and board, but mainly to try to ensure that buyers would take their responsibilities as dog owners seriously. Where are the ads for farm bred puppies and kittens? Have the rules and regulations changed? A lot has been written about the demand for pets during lockdown, but this trend predates the pandemic. You can spend silly money on a pure bred animal, or a trendy new hybrid (a labrapoo, say, or a cockerdor), but what has happened to all the humble, farm-bred mongrels and kittens? Keep up the good work! Best wishes, Ben Rew, Faversham, Kent NB: If you too are ‘in exile’ you can sign up to be posted a real live mag! Go to Blackmorevale.net/subscribe

n Staff and volunteers at Citizens Advice Dorset hear stories every day of families whose lives have been turned upside down by this pandemic. Some had never needed support from the benefits system before, while others were already struggling to get by before covid struck. In total we’ve given over 2,500 people one-to-one advice on Universal Credit since the first lockdown in March. 64% people seeking our support on benefits used our services for the very first time. We know that the government’s £20-a-week boost to the Universal Credit at the start of the pandemic often made the

difference between empty cupboards and food on the table. But that lifeline is currently set to end in just a few short months. It’s a cut that’s likely to push people into missed bills, mounting debts and a daily struggle to make ends meet. It’s a cut that will also drain spending power from our fragile economy. With an ongoing pandemic and a bleak outlook in the jobs market, we’re urging the government to keep that lifeline. It’s the right thing to do to support people who’ve lost livelihoods through no fault of their own. Rovarn Wickremasinghe Chief Officer, Citizens Advice Bridport

n We have a housing problem building up in Somerset, due to the high levels of phosphate pollution in the water courses of the special protected areas of the Somerset Levels, and the effect on the natural habitat. The letter from Natural England to the district councils stated that the phosphate pollution levels were two to three times the acceptable limit. Many of us have known for years of the pollution problem in our rivers, and voluntary organisations such as CATCH in Wincanton have worked to rectify the pollution and bring back life to the rivers. So why have Natural England suddenly discovered this high level of pollution? To my knowledge there has been no natural or industrial catastrophe to cause this rise in pollution so we are left with a gradual erosion of quality of water ignored by those responsible. The district is the planning authority, and in making decisions consults not only the general public, but certain statutory bodies such as Natural England, the Environment Agency (responsible for the rivers and quality of water), and the Water Board (responsible for effluent treatment before

NBV is the cat’s Whiskas

Our cat, Corbin, from Shaftesbury loves your magazine!! Nicci Judd

returning to the rivers) and the final approval of an application is dependant on the information supplied by these experts. So why was the letter sent to the district councils and not to these experts on water quality, with the records to pinpoint pollution problems? The letter has resulted in all planning applications being put on hold for further consultations and additional technical information. We are now facing a possible housing desert, with no new developments coming forward, and prices out of reach of the average local purchaser. There is also the suggested solution, or ‘mitigation’ policy, which appears to be based on the problem being groundwater based. Groundwater, like rivers, flows down hill, so why plant trees to absorb the phosphate in the water anywhere but between the development and the river? The calculations on the level of pollution have a basic fault; the technical information on the existing problem is missing, and the ‘phosphate load calculator’ to determine pollution levels was proposed and then withdrawn, as it was found to be unworkable. We are left with a proposal to remove land from agricultural production, when we have a world climate problem, and an essential requirement to produce food in this country. Because we in this area of East Somerset come under a different set of pollution conditions, the effect will be considerable in planning terms. Major developers will move their proposals to where approvals are possible, and sit out the West Somerset fiasco. The real problem is the effect on the economy of Somerset as a whole and the resulting demise of construction work, on top of the covid problems. This will be particularly felt by our small building firms, and the self employed. Colin Winder Wincanton rapid lateral flow testing for covid-19 at Yeovil College (Edition 10, Feb 5), I hope that those testing negative will be told that this does not necessarily mean that they are free of infection. Lateral flow testing can be a good way of identifying infected individuals who might otherwise have gone undetected, but studies reported in the British Medical Journal have shown that this test can give a high rate of false negatives (up to 50-60%) when compared with the gold standard laboratory based PCR test. Consequently, those who test negative in a lateral flow test could still be harbouring the virus and they should continue wearing face masks, social distancing and only leaving home for essential activities. Dr Gordon Lethbridge, Sherborne

n As a dog lover myself, I have become increasingly aware of the recent pollution of our streets with dog faeces. I cannot believe that this is entirely due to the covid-19 pandemic, so please do not use this as an excuse. This is something that I find quite intolerable, and feel it must really affect the sense of wellbeing of the whole community in our beautiful market town.To inadvertently walk into it myself is disgusting, and how mothers of young children are expected to avoid it, having to clean it off the wheels of their prams etc. Dog faeces quite apart from my above comments is a real health hazard and especially to young children. It is a complete idleness on the part of those who do not clean up their dog’s mess with bags and then take them home. I believe in some countries these are supplied to dog owners. We all pay our council tax for standards to be maintained. What does the council plan to do about this? Frances Heppell Castle Cary

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