n Cheesey does it, at Stur fest

By Lorraine Gibson

newsdesk@blackmorevale.net

We’ll brie back! There was more cheese than a you could shake a fancy breadstick at on display at the Sturminster Marshal Cheese Festival last weekend. Crowds exercising their new freedom to go out and mingle, flocked to the foodlovers’ event and, aside from some comments from people who felt it was too busy, too soon, they gave it an overall thumbs up as they cleared the stalls. For the producers, the festival represented a muchneeded chance to finally get out there and showcase their lovingly, hand-made wares and this, combined with unprecedented sales for many – the Book and Bucket Cheese Company almost ran out of stock before the last day – has left them champing at the bit to return next year. As you’d expect, mountains of excellent-quality blue, soft, hard and flavoured varieties of one of the country’s favorite foods were accompanied by expertly-cured sourdoughs and an array of baps, buns and baguettes. But it wasn’t all about the cheese. Artisan eats and traditional fayre, including impeccable homemade cakes and pastries, fine teas, coffee blends, ciders and ales and a popular rhubarb-flavoured fudge from the Dorset Fudge stall, rubbed shoulders with creatives and local design companies. A programme of entertainment, with music from Press Gang, largescale kids’ science experiments – yes, Coke and Mentos were definitely harmed in the process –beer and a charity tea tent kept punters amused during breaks from foraging. Junk-O-Saurus, the ‘rubbish’ dinosaur, interacted with the children – and more than a few grown-ups, post wine o’clock – as she cleared up each day and declared at the end: “A huge amount of waste collected, sorted removed and saved from landfill. All ready to be recycled!” At the close, organisers thanked the visitors, traders and volunteers, saying that they hoped to see them again next year. They’re also hopeful that the success heralds a possibility that they will eventually be able to resurrect their Cheese Festival Changing Young Lives Fund, which provides financial support to young Stur adults by funding activities they’d otherwise be unable to afford. The festival had been supporting individual, rather than group projects up to a maximum of four per year and they’re tentatively looking forward to being able to do so again soon. The final date for submissions to all categories in the Blandford Rotary Short Story competition has been extended to the end of September to allow people more time. The closing date and time is now 23.59 hours on September 30. For further details of the open, flash fiction, poetry and under 18 categories see facebook.com/BlandfordRotary or email adeoz59@gmail.com Floral group meeting

The next meeting of Bere Regis Floral Group will be on Tuesday, October 12 at 2pm in Winterborne Kingston village hall. The demonstrator for the afternoon is Martina Coleman and her title is Strictly Flowers. They look forward to welcoming back members, friends and visitors. Your first visit to the club is free. For more information contact chairman Bob Holman on 01305 848262 or just turn up. Thanks for support

Grateful Nicky Warren has thanked her staff and community for supporting her in running Blandford Post Office. When Nicky, who’d worked for years at the Post Office in The Tabernacle, decided to buy the business from Eddie Herbert at the end of 2019, little did she know what the coming year had in store. Although she was able to remain open as an essential business, it wasn’t exactly business as usual, with opening hours fluctuating. Still, she’s established a stationery and gift shop and celebrated her first anniversary. She said: “I’m really grateful for all the support.” Table tennis starting

Table tennis players are now starting their 2021/2022 season. A delayed presentation was held as part of their AGM and President Eric Williams presented the trophy to Division One winner Team Stalbridge Christopher Watkins. The club is run by Stuart Angell. They coach juniors, as do Chalk Valley Table Tennis Club. The Blackmore Vale Table Tennis League (BVTTL) has five clubs with 16 teams in two divisions. They are always looking for players of any age and ability to play league table tennis. For further information email barriewaterman@hotmail.co.uk