Events

n A ‘Reminiscence Afternoon’ is being held at Shaftesbury Library on Monday, October 11 from 2.303.30pm as part of the Shaftesbury Remembers: Gold Hill Museum Community Project. Participants will look at old newspapers and the developments they recorded, and reflect on their own response to events that changed history. Tea and cakes will be served. Booking is essential: Contact Shaftesbury Library on 01747 852256.

n A Scarecrow Festival is being held at St Peter's church, High Street, Shaftesbury on Saturday, October 2 10am-4pm and on Sunday, October 3 10.30am-4pm. On the Saturday there will also be a soup/ploughman's lunch in the church hall, at the top of Gold Hill from noon. Free entry to both events –donations to church funds would be greatly appreciated. Then on Sunday, October 3 at 9.30am there will be Harvest Festival – All Ages Worship at the church.

n A four-piece bluegrass outfit hailing from Penzance will be delivering an energetic and spirited performance at Milborne St Andrew Village Hall on Sunday, October 10 at 7.30pm. Flats and Sharps have been performing their unique take on traditional bluegrass and have taken their foot-stomping, well-crafted originals around the globe. For tickets go to artsreach.co.uk

n St Peter & St Paul Wincanton is holding a coffee morning and sponsored knit in the parish church on Saturday, October 9 from 10am12pm. There will be cakes, books and a raffle. Everyone is welcome. For information call 01963 824503.

n Wincanton & District Gardeners’ Association are holding their AGM on Friday, October 1 at 7pm in Wincanton Memorial Hall. This will be the first AGM since the covid lockdowns started. This will be followed with a talk by Castle Gardens, entitled 'Grasses in the Garden'. The members’ Flower of the Month competition will resume. Refreshments available and a raffle. Annual membership is only £5 or £1 per meeting. Everyone is welcome. For further information call 01963 33160.

n Cranborne Local History Society is hosting a talk entitled Battle of Britain around Cranborne John Smith on Tuesday, October 5 at 7.30pm in Cranborne Village Hall, Water Street BH21 5QB. Guests £2.50. Refreshments available.

n After a long break from their evening meetings, the Child Okeford Centre for Care and Learning (COCCL) is holding a meeting in October to replace what would have been its last meeting of the season, cancelled due to lockdown. COCCL first started its programme of Winter Talks in 2006 and have presented over 100 meetings featuring talks, musical and artistic presentations and even short oneperson plays. Over the years they have donated surplus funds to many worthwhile causes. The final talk of the season will now take place in the village hall on Wednesday, October 13 at 7pm (doors open 6.30pm) and will feature Dr Steve Etches MBE with an illustrated talk on ‘The Etches Collection’ Dr Etches has been collecting fossils for over 35 years and has over 2,500 in his collection at the Museum of Jurassic Marine Life in Kimmeridge. Admission is £5 (under 16s £3) and places can be reserved by calling 01258 860767.

n October 12th, 7pm, sees the start of the first ever season of Café Scientifique Somerset sessions at The Market House, Castle Cary. Café Sci is a place where, in an informal café-style setting, there are free monthly talks and debates about the latest thinking in science and technology from researchers and experts across the science, technology, engineering and mathematics spectrum. The audience is decidedly nonexpert and the talks are aimed at anyone who would like to know more about the developments that will impact

CASH BINGO IS BACK Tuesday 5th October at the Olive Bowl Gillingham. Doors open 7pm, Eyes down 7.30pm

SHERBORNE DIGBY HALL MONTHLY MARKET. 9am-12.30pm Saturdays 2nd Oct , 6th Nov, 4th Dec

YARD SALE Vintage Retro Mid-Century Sat/Sun 9/10 October 10am - 4pm Sunnyside Sandford Orcas DT9 4RU

SALE OF HOUSEHOLD CLEARANCE ITEMS, Glanvilles Wootton village hall, Sunday October 3rd 12:00 to 17:00. 07970 012046

WINTERBORNE WHITECHURCH VILLAGE HALL AUCTION Sunday, October 24 12 noon Items accepted on Saturday 23rd 9-4pm. Contact 07752 596893

JUMBLE SALE Saturday, October 9 at 2.30 Buckhorn Weston hall teas-cakes-raffle

our future, with a distinctly local and social feel. Attendees can take a glass of wine or cup of coffee and join in the debate and meet like-minded people. This is the first such venture in rural Somerset and is well supported by the academic and industrial community with a fascinating line-up of speakers already confirmed. The first session will see Professor James Ladyman of Bristol University discussing science as a complex system and debating the very nature of science itself – a thoughtprovoking beginning to an intriguing set of sessions which will take place on the second Tuesday of every month from October to June. For more information contact Colleen Bower, 07375 890751, tcolleenbower@gmail.com

TEMPLECOMBE ART EXHIBITION. Village Hall 2nd and 3rd October 10am 5pm In aid of Alzheimer's Research. Free entry

CAR BOOT SALE EVERY SUNDAY 12pm -3pm Wincanton Sports Ground, Moor Lane, BH9 9RB (now moved from Yeovil Showground) Cars/Trailers/Vans £5 for as much room as required. Gate opens at 10am - room for 300 sellers - £1 public car parking strictly no buyers before 12pm. No dogs on site, F/I 07479 476809 or 07979 345914 (if ground is bad on Tarmac)

FROME WESSEX CAMERA & PHOTOGRAPHIC FAIR, Sunday 17th October 2021, at the Cheese and Grain Hall, Frome BA11 1BE. Early Bird Admission £5 at 8.30am - General admission £3 at 10am Buy, sell and part exchange camera & photographic equipment Telephone: 07934634955. fromewessexcameraclub.co.uk

THE BELL STREET JAZZ BAND are playing at The Half Moon, Shaftesbury on Friday 15th October between 7pm and 9pm come and enjoy some trad jazz! call 07866 434802

CAR BOOT SALE Sunday 3rd. October Turnpike Showground, Motcombe SP7 9PN Sellers from 9am - £6 per Car, £10 Van/Trailer Buyers from 10am £1 parking Details 07435 975266

LYN’S BINGO At Marnhull Royal British Legion on Monday 11th October, eyes down at 7PM

‘Chips’ with everything in high society

By Richard Hopton of Sherborne Literary Society

Sherborne Literary Society: The Diaries of ‘Chips’ Channon Diaries are, generally, a private vice. People keep them for all manner of reasons: Mae West famously remarked: ‘I always say, keep a diary and some day it’ll keep you’, but most diarists aren’t motivated by the prospect of financial gain. Keeping a record of one’s life, ordering one’s thoughts, letting off steam, or merely enjoying the simple pleasure of expressing oneself on paper are all good reasons for keeping a diary. For many, it becomes a habit, like getting dressed in the morning. On Wednesday, October 20, Simon Heffer, author, historian, and journalist, will be talking to the Sherborne Literary Society about his new edition of the diaries of ‘Chips’ Channon. Channon (1897-1958) was a wealthy American who lived in England from the end of the Great War until his death. Unencumbered by the need to work – although he sat as Member of Parliament for Southend-onSea from 1935 until his death –he spent his life in the grand houses and drawing rooms of England, dining, dancing and gossiping with royalty, aristocrats, and politicians. Channon was a waspish, witty observer of his times and as a result his diaries make wonderful reading. In July 1935 Channon wrote: ‘And what is more dull than a discreet diary? One might as well have a discreet soul.’ A highly abridged version of the diaries was published in 1967 but Simon Heffer’s new edition presents the Channon diaries in the full glory of their indiscretion. Much that had to glossed over half-a-century ago can now be revealed, not least the fact that Channon was flagrantly bisexual. His judgement was frequently flawed; for example, he was a supporter of Edward VIII during the Abdication and considered that the Nazis had much to recommend them. Simon Heffer will be talking at the Digby Hall, Hound St, Sherborne at 7pm on Wednesday October 20. n Tickets available at sherborneliterarysociety.com /events or at Winstone’s Books, Cheap St, Sherborne (01935 816128).

HOT CHIP: Author and historian Simon Heffer

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