Purbeck Gazette Issue 286

What’s inside this issue...

About the Purbeck Gazette

The Purbeck Gazette prints every fortnight and delivers throughout the region from Swanage to Dorchester, Lulworth to Bere Regis. The Purbeck Gazette is published by The Blackmore Vale Ltd. All editing, graphic design and lay-up is completed in-house by The Blackmore Vale Ltd. The Purbeck Gazette is printed by Blackmore Ltd of Shaftesbury. The Purbeck Gazette website is managed and edited by The Blackmore Vale Ltd. Blackmore Vale Ltd also publishes The Purbeck Guidette, the Purbeck Visitor Guide. All rights reserved. All layouts copyright Blackmore Vale Ltd.

No reproduction without permission.

OUR TEAM: The Gazette team consists of: Lloyd Armishaw, Debi Thorne, Donna Garner, Jane Toomer and Julian McLeod.

n Staff and children at the Tops nurseries in Wimborne (above) and Corfe Mullen have been celebrating ‘Good’ ratings from schools watchdog Ofsted – page 8 n Fiona Bruce (right) is bringing TV’s Antiques Roadshow to Swanage Pier this summer – page 5

The legal stuff... Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contained in this magazine, but the editor is unable to accept responsibility for any omissions or errors that may occur. The inclusion of any article or advertisement does not constitute any form of accreditation or approval by the editor. No part, written or visual, of this publication may be reproduced without written

Campaigners’ anger over oil spill

“AS long as we have fossil fuels being extracted we face these kinds of risks.”

Those were the words of Sandra Reeve from the Dorset Climate Action Network (DCAN) after around 200 barrels of ‘reservoir fluid’ were leaked into Poole Harbour over the weekend.

Made up of 85% water and 15% oil - the leak came from the Wytch Farm Oilfield, the largest onshore oil field in the UK, run by Anglo-French firm, Perenco.

Jim Stewart, CEO of Poole Harbour Commissioners, said its emergency oil spill plan was activated on Sunday morning (March 26), with spill response companies called in, alongside Dorset Police, Dorset Council, Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council, the NHS, Environment Agency and Natural England after a major incident was declared.

Bathers are being advised to stay out of the waters in Poole Harbour and nearby beaches as a ‘precaution’.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people have been involved in a clean-up operation at the harbour.

The Poole Harbour Commissioners said on Monday

(March 27): “Helicopters, drones, vessels and shore patrols are out gathering data and feeding it back to our Emergency Response Centre.

“Aerial footage gathered ... suggests that there is a 60%70% reduction in oil sightings on the water.”

They said anyone who comes into contact with th spill should wash with soap and water for 10 minutes. If they feel unwell, they should call NHS 111 or see their GP.

But the DCAN said the leak highlighted the need to move away from fossil fuels.

“This really shines a light on the impacts of fossil fuel extraction at a time when we need to move swiftly away from such a damaging industry,” said Sandra Reeve, one of the DCAN coordinators. “We call on the regulators and planners who licence the operations at Wytch Farm to call time on it as soon as the current licences run out, or terminate them sooner if that’s possible.

“This area is vitally important for wildlife and this couldn’t have come at a worse

Hot Fuzz filmmaker Edgar named patron

FILM legend Edgar Wright has been named the first ever patron of the Mowlem Theatre charity.

The director, screenwriter and producer – whose credits include the seminal ‘Cornetto Trilogy’ of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End – has been named patron of the Mowlem Institute Charity.

Edgar was born and raised in Swanage before moving to Wells, in Somerset, and the Mowlem was among destinations for him and his brother Oscar during a return to

the town last summer.

“I was born and raised in Dorset and lived in Swanage until I was seven,” the director said. “The Mowlem was one of the first cinemas I ever attended, and it was partly responsible for a film fandom that continues to this day.”

He added: “Standing in the auditorium again was a very pleasant experience, and I hope to be down again soon. I am proud to be a patron – I’m a film director now but I never stopped being a film-goer. Keep up the great work.”

time – at the start of the bird breeding season.”

Around 100 wells have been drilled in the area since initial permission was granted in the 1970s.

Dr Malcolm Hudson, an associate professor in environmental science at the University of Southampton, said: “While we don’t know the full extent of the leak yet, a spill in Poole harbour raises particular concerns.

“It’s a very large enclosed bay, and so pollutants may not be flushed out quickly by the tides. Also, it’s a very lowenergy environment, so unlike a spill on an open coast there won’t be much wave action to help break down and disperse the oil.

“Poole harbour is especially sensitive, and internationally protected for the wildlife there.”

Speaking after the spill, leader of BCP Council, Cllr Philip Broadhead (Con, Talbot & Branksome Woods), said: “It is of course extremely disappointing to hear of this event, and while there will be a time later for anger and investigation, our focus now must be on ensuring we can mitigate and impacts of this situation.”

But Sandra said the risks remain while the fields stay open.

“As long as we have fossil fuels being extracted we face these kinds of risks,” she said. “We cannot continue simply to count the cost of oil spills like this and carry on as before. We must work to end this ruinous activity which has no part in a safe future.”

Solar & Tidal Predictions - April '23

Solar & Tidal Predictions - Jan '23

Solar and Tidal Predictions - Feb'23

Compiled by National Coastwatch Institution, Swanage

Solar & Tidal Predictions - May '23

Peveril Ledge, Swanage

All hands to the pump at mining museum

VOLUNTEERS at Purbeck Mining Museum at Norden have had a busy winter as they prepare for the attraction to reopen for the new season over the Easter weekend.

The museum will be opening longer hours during 2023 and is introducing new trails through the 25 acres of woodland around the site.

“It has certainly been a hectic winter for everyone connected with the museum,” said the venue’s chair, Peter Sills.

“It hasn’t just been a case of maintaining buildings, tracks and rolling stock, but also clearing areas of dense undergrowth, wildlife surveys and landscape assessments, as well as an intensive curation programme to support our move to secure accreditation from Arts Council England.”

He added: “Mother Nature has now reclaimed the desolate and lunar-like landscape left in the wake of three centuries of intense ball clay mining around Furzebrook and Norden.

“However, it has always been our intention to not only showcase the area’s largely forgotten industrial heritage but also to show how mining activities have, quite literally, shaped large swathes of the Purbeck landscape we see today.

“As a ‘living museum’ for

visitors, we’re keen to provide much more than just a static display of artefacts from yesteryear.

“That’s why we’re continuing to increase the frequency of our demonstrations of engine and wagon movements on the restored narrow-gauge tracks at Norden and looking to extend our outdoor offering with new woodland walks.”

Having secured funding to open up previously inaccessible woodland around the reinstated clay mine, the museum will now be able to provide visitors with the opportunity to not only find out more about the area’s industrial past but spot wildlife along the woodland trails next to Purbeck Park.

Footpaths and interpretation boards will be installed through the woodland that has remained untouched for over half a century. Viewpoints looking towards Corfe Castle and across Blackwater Lake are also being created, as well as picnic areas for visitors.

Purbeck Mining Museum, which is attracting more visitors every year and is run entirely by volunteers, has also received funding for a new welfare building for use by team members and to increase the scope for group and educational visits.

“We’re looking to extend our opening times this year and we are always looking for new volunteers who have an interest in local history, engineering and the local ecology and who enjoy meeting people,” added Peter Sills.

“Our volunteers come from far and wide and anyone who joins us for the 2023 season will be joining us at a really interesting time as we have so many exciting plans for continuing to extend and develop the facilities and activities for visitors.”

One of the latest volunteers to join Purbeck Mining Museum’s team is David Hyde from Binnegar, near Wareham, who will be helping with the documentation and development of a comprehensive database of the museum’s extensive collection of artefacts and display materials.

David has previous experience driving narrow gauge locomotives and helped the Welsh Highland Heritage

Railway at Porthmadog gain museum accreditation. He originally visited Norden over 60 years ago to try and trace what remained of the narrowgauge railways and clay works.

“I picked up a book at an exhibition at Olympia in 1958 that referenced the Purbeck mining industry,” he said.

“I found it fascinating and was keen to find out what remained of such a once thriving industry. Quite frankly, there wasn’t much to see and, today, nature really has taken over.

“Little did I realise that I would be returning to the area 60 years later to play my part in helping to support and promote such a significant heritage venue.”

More information on the Purbeck Mining Museum can be found at http:// purbeckminingmuseum.org. Anyone who would like to join the museum’s team of volunteers can complete the form on the website.

David Hyde from Binnegar is the latest volunteer to join the team at The Purbeck Mining Museum at Norden. He is pictured showing a sketch he made when visiting the clay lines at Norden 60 years ago

Swanage Pier date for Antiques Roadshow

SWANAGE Pier will host BBC favourite the Antiques Roadshow this summer, it has been revealed.

Stars and experts including Fiona Bruce are set to head for Dorset in June, with people able to apply to take their pieces along for valuation.

“We are excited to be able to bring the Antiques Roadshow to the fascinating Swanage Pier and Seafront in Swanage,” a BBC spokesperson said.

However, while people are able to take their items along on the day – Friday, June 23 – they will need to apply for tickets before the event.

“Following the success of our last two years, Roadshows in 2023 will once again be ticketed events only,” the spokesperson added.

“This year we are asking you to tell us about the special items you would like to bring along

and submit some photographs.”

To submit details of an item and the story behind it, log on to https://www.bbc.co.uk/send/ u137953765.

For tickets to the Swanage event, log on to https://lostintv. com/tv-show?id=1252.

A Swanage Pier spokesperson said: “We’re so excited to announce that Swanage Pier is now confirmed as a location for the next series of BBC Antiques Roadshow.”

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Fiona Bruce will be presenting Antiques Roadshow in Swanage

Nasty stuff in the inbox

SO good to see signs of spring at last – it’s been a long winter, hasn’t it? But along with the daffodils and primroses, I’ve had the usual crop of unpleasant junk emails. And I’m sure you have, too.

Each day I get four or five emails allegedly from BT telling me my mailbox is full, my email address needs renewing and warning me that I will be cut off unless I respond. “Starting from March 21, 2023, customers that are yet to update their account will no longer be able to log in via their email addresses due to recent security upgrades. Please follow the link below to secure your account”. Familiar? For many people some of these threats must be alarming.

My advice is to ignore anything you do not recognise, don’t open the email, no matter how urgent it seems to be, block the sender and put it in the trash. And possibly report it to BT, although, honestly, it doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job of stopping the torrent of rubbish issued in its name. One good clue is to look at the actual sender – I received one this morning supposedly from BT but which is actually from ‘PaulaBrooks@BTconnect’. I would imagine that this person’s email address has been compromised by someone hoping you will be foolish enough to respond.

Less funny are the emails that suggest that “I have full access to your email account. I’ve been watching you for a few months now. The fact is that you were infected with Trojan through an adult site that you visited. Trojan gives me full access and control over your device. This means that I can see everything on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you do not know about it. I also have access to all your contacts and all your correspondence. If you want to prevent this, transfer the amount of 1250 $USD to my bitcoin

By David Hollister

address...”

So – keep your camera covered up or switched off unless you’re actually using it. Be like me and restrict the ‘adult sites’ you visit to gardening and property programmes.

The sad thing is these phishing attempts must work, otherwise they wouldn’t do it. Be alert and stay safe!

IT was good to see that Harmans Cross village hall donated the entire proceeds of its recent Stalls in the Hall event to the Disasters Emergency Committee helping Turkey and Syria. And proud to be part of the Purbeck Coast radio team, who sponsored the costs of the teas, coffees, cakes and so on. It was a great event. Maybe other village halls might consider doing likewise?

MY friend Cllr Debby Monkhouse, who led the Save Our Ambulance Car campaign, advises me that she has received a report covering the period July to December 1922. She says: “The car staffing: Although not as good as we would like, from September 22 the car has been staffed about 67% of the time. This is compared to 40% of the time while they were thinking of withdrawing it, and it was actually only staffed 33% of the time in April and May last year.

70% of car call-outs are in Purbeck – was 60% in the first six months of last year – and 68% of the Purbeck call-outs are in Swanage.

However, the car, despite being better staffed, attended less call-outs – possibly due to waiting times at A&E? – July to

December 1922 – 421 call-outs – compared to January to June 1922 when it attended 466 call-outs. This remains a fraction – about one in three – of the call-outs attended by the car over six months in 2019. Overall emergency response times are better but remain significantly below targets.

But the point is that we still have our ambulance car and, at the time of writing, it seems safe. Until next time.

There always seems to be constant threat that one of our local hospitals or clinics is scheduled for closure and I just ask the governing bodies why the constant need for change?

It works, so please stop trying to fix it. Go and play golf, or whatever, just leave us alone.

CONSTANT dripping, they say, wears away the stone. Well, it’s been several years now since Institute Road was ‘improved’ and the constant dripping of rainwater that has created a perennial puddle outside Haymans Baker has now – thanks to Cllr Gary Suttle – come to the top of the pile and, by the time you read this, will have been rectified. Probably.

And on the subject of ‘improvements’, we were told the winter closure of Shore Road was a ‘temporary improvement on the grounds of safety’ and clearly no-one has been run over or severely injured in that period.

But more than 4,000 people live in south Swanage, for whom the only way home is down

Station Road with all its pedestrian crossings, and down Institute Road where one illegally parked car or van can clog up proceedings. Several traders have told me that this winter closure has seriously affected their business and the number of empty shops in the town centre appears to bear that out.

So, I ask Swanage Town Council – please have another think. A referendum. Re-visit the meaning of the words ‘temporary experiment’. Don’t just let this happen without proper consultation. And traders, Durlston-dwellers, don’t buttonhole me in the street, buttonhole your councillors. Write letters. Start a petition if you must. Don’t sit there and let it happen. Unless you do something, you’re stuck with this forever.

THE lovely new toilet and shower facilities in Shore Road have been a boon to locals and holidaymakers alike. Not quite so much fun to people dining outside the Sea Breeze who – with the wind in the wrong direction – find themselves and their meals covered in ‘overspray’. And perhaps people taking advantage of the outside showers could at least leave their bathing costumes on – many of us are not particularly impressed with naked adult bodies, especially at lunchtime – a case, perhaps, for screening or even a wall, as clearly modesty doesn’t apply in 2023?

Couple’s memories of the Pines Express

By Lorraine Gibson

THE Purbeck Gazette’s recent article about the controversial Beeching Report, the subsequent closure of hundreds of stations and thousands of miles of railway lines, and the famous Pines Express train, resulted in these fascinating and poignant insights from readers Diana Shiner from Bearwood, and Ian and June Orbell from Upton.

Diana fondly recalls journeys on the Pines Express in its heyday.

“In 1951-52, my husband was doing his National Service at RAF Credenhill, Hereford –we were married in 1952 and I joined him there,” she said. “At Easter and in the summer we picked up the Pines Express en route from Manchester to Bournemouth. It was packed with holidaymakers and I had to stand in the corridor or sit on the suitcase.

“We left the train at Broadstone, then an important junction, where two lines crossed the private golf course of Lord Wimborne of Canford Manor, now the school. One line was the Somerset & Dorset Railway, taken by the Pines Express, the other, a branch line through to Wimborne and beyond. Happy memories.”

For Ian, remembering the train invokes wonderful childhood memories but also comes with a very sad tale.

“The Pines Express first came to my attention as a young sprog of about eight, just after the war ended,” he said. “As most kids were doing, armed with notebook and pencil, I would cycle to Poole railway station from my home in Oakdale for a spot of train watching. Having paid my penny for a platform ticket, I could spend all day there if I wished.

“At this time, my grandparents lived near Branksome railway station, so I’d cycle to see them. Their neighbours were a lovely couple, Mr and Mrs Flynn. Mr Flynn was a Southern Railway engine driver, his main route being with the Pines Express. Hanging around Poole station, I often met him for a quick ‘hello’ on one of his through stops.

“On a visit to Nan’s, I was talking trains with Mr Flynn in his garden when he suggested I be at Poole station the next afternoon as he was returning through and back to Bournemouth West station.

“I did, and sure enough his train arrived, right on time. He said ‘throw your bike in the guards’ van and come on up onto the footplate’. I didn’t have to be asked twice.”

Ian’s boyhood dream moment had arrived.

“He sat me on his driver’s seat and I kept my hand on the throttle lever, up over Parkstone bank with stops at Parkstone and Branksome stations, ending at West station.”

Joking, he added: “Now that I considered myself a fullyfledged engine driver, I drove the Pines Express several times and was the envy of my mates.”

Aged 10, on a trip to Blackpool for a holiday with his parents, he ‘educated them

Ian and June Orbell’s wedding day in 1961 at St Mary’s Church in Lytchett Minster

to make the change to the West/ East line to London but were distracted by a bunch of sailors heading home from Plymouth. When asked where they were heading, they replied Westbury – just as they were entering Hungerford. They were advised to leave the train. The happiest part of this tale was that about a year later we met and made it to the alter. That was 61 wonderful years ago.

“The unhappy part was that in the early 1960s Mr Flynn, who loved his job so much but was approaching retirement, died – on the tracks near Branksome Station.”

fully’ on the pros and cons of steam engines and the Pines in particular.

“My wife June’s first trip on the Pines was with her friend when she was about 15 and going to Westbury,” he said. “They made it to Templecombe

n THE story of the Pines Express will be brought to life by the award-winning Bournemouth West – voted one of the top ten layouts in the country – when it appears at the Wimborne Railway Society

‘Railex’ Model Railway Exhibition at the Allendale Centre, Hanham Road, Wimborne on Saturday and Sunday, April 15 and 16.

Top marks twice over for nurseries

STAFF and children at Tops Wimborne and Tops Corfe Mullen are celebrating a Good rating from schools watchdog Ofsted following their recent inspection.

Tops Wimborne in Leigh Road offers flexible early education and care for children aged three months to pre-school age.

Its report said: “Children arrive happily and are greeted warmly by the friendly staff. They quickly engage with the activities and resources provided by staff to meet their interests.

“Children play cooperatively, sharing and taking turns. For example, toddlers share forks, spoons, and herbs as they make their own 'mud soup'. They follow the expectations of the setting and are kind and polite to each other. Older children swiftly line up when asked to do so, and children of all ages help to tidy

away toys.”

The inspector said: “The curriculum is well planned and implemented. Staff provide activities tailored to children’s interests and learning styles. This helps ensure children actively engage in their learning and that they make good progress.”

The Corfe Mullen nursery’s report said: “Children feel safe and valued. Staff respectfully talk to children, particularly younger children, at key routine times in their day, such as during nappy changes and when preparing for mid-day sleeping time.

“Staff prepare tables for cooked meals with real cutlery and decorate with vases of flowers, fostering a special time for children to sit, talk and eat together.”

The inspector said: “The setting builds good partnerships with parents. Parents have confidence in the staff and

appreciate the support they provide for their children and the time they take to explain what their day has been like.”

Sharon White, senior nursery manager at Tops Wimborne, said: “As a team we have worked hard to make many changes and adaptions to support our children’s play and learning and this has clearly paid off and has been noted within our report. I as the manager am so proud of my staff team and everything they

have achieved – I couldn’t have asked for a better work family.”

Shaye Jaques, senior nursery manager at Tops Corfe Mullen in Blandford Road, said: “We are super proud of our ‘Good’ outcome, we have worked hard as a team to make many changes and adaptions within the last year to better support our children’s play and learning and this has clearly paid off and has been noted within our report.I am so proud of my team! I look forward to the future and what it will bring.”

Staff and children celebrate at Tops Corfe Mullen

Repair Cafe date

PEOPLE with broken bikes, electrical items, clocks, ceramics, clothing, textiles and more can get their items repaired at an event in Dorchester.

The town’s Repair Cafe is on the last weekend of each month, and will next run on Saturday, April 29, at the Shire Hall

Museum. People can bring their broken items along and a range of volunteer repairers will do their best to fix them.

If you want to check any details before going along, call 07870 950666.

Refreshments will be available, including homemade cakes, tea and coffee.

Feast of Dorset song

RENOWNED folk musicians are set to perform a concert of Dorset songs at The Pointe, Dorchester.

Musician and collector Nick Dow and Cohen BraithwaiteKilcoyne, from Granny’s Attic, head a cast of local musicians at the event on Saturday, April 8.

The concert celebrates the publication of books Wanton Seed, Southern Harvest, Southern Songster and A Secret Stream, which contain songs that have never been published before and have not seen the

light of day for 120 years.

Many will be sung at the concert, and books will be on sale.

Nick said: “These songs were sung in the pubs and fields of Dorset by ordinary working people, carters, thatchers and labourers.

“Some of the families still live in Dorset and some descendants will join the audience on the night.”

Admission is £7 and advance tickets are available from www.eventbrite.co.uk

NOON AND NIGHT

National Coastwatch – Eyes along the coast

Tide tables and air pressure

ITHOUGHT I’d continue the theme of last month’s Purbeck Gazette article and continue to explore tides. As I said, we can use tide tables to generally predict them well in advance. However, every now and then, weather conditions, especially air pressure, create anomalies that mean the tides can differ considerably from what we expect. In early March we had a series of low pressure systems dotted around the UK. These systems brought snow to many parts of the country but, on the south coast, it meant we experienced unusually high tides that didn’t go out very much.

Around March 9 the air pressure dropped to 988 millibars and the evening high tide was over half a metre higher than forecast. The forecast high tide was 2.12 metres and the actual high tide was 2.61 metres. This shows up very clearly on the tide graph taken from the monitoring gauge at the end of Swanage Pier. This is operated by the Channel Coast Observatory (CCO) and uses a radar beam to measure things like depth of water, wave height and wave frequency. The CCO maintains a series of tide gauges and wave buoys along the south coast to help with monitoring sea levels and coastal erosion. All the data is displayed on its website. The Earth’s atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the earth and the ocean. The

By Nick Reed

easiest way of thinking of it is to imagine the air in the atmosphere around us pushing down. There is about one kilogram of air pushing down on every square centimetre of the earth. To help visualise this, a kilogram is a bag of sugar and a square centimetre is the size of our thumb nail. When the pressure is high there is more of a push on the sea, so tides are lower than predicted. Conversely, when there is low pressure, the push is smaller and so the tide is higher.

The following day the air pressure had risen to just over 1000 millibars and the tide was only about 6 centimetres higher than predicted.

To ensure that we are measuring things consistently, we need to measure tides from a fixed point or datum. Most people are familiar with the term ‘height above sea level’ and this makes use of a fixed point from which all land heights are measured. This is known as ordnance datum and is based on a benchmark on the harbour wall at Newlyn in Cornwall. For mariners, a more useful measure is chart datum, and this is what most tides are measured against.

Chart datum is the depth of water at a port based on the lowest astronomical tide, which is the lowest tide possible under usual atmospheric conditions. The LAT – as it is often known – gives a measure of the

minimum depth of water in a port or harbour. For Swanage, the chart datum is measured from a point about in the middle of the Bay and would mean a depth of water at the end of Swanage Pier of 2.5 metres. This means that on the evening of March 9 the depth of water would have been about 5.1 metres.

PREDICTED tides are based on an average air pressure and in the UK tide tables assume a standard pressure of 1013 millibars –more correctly known nowadays as hectopascals or hPA. A one millibar change in pressure will change the sea level by one centimetre. The lowest pressure recorded around the British Isles is about 925 millibars, which would give sea levels nearly a metre above tide table predictions. This can be an important factor in storm surge conditions when the low-lying land is threatened. The highest pressure around the UK is about

1050 millibars which would give sea levels about 40cm lower. For a mariner it’s often this change in predicted tide level, due to high pressure, that is most important as it could mean the difference between clearing an area of shallow water or being able to enter a harbour, without grounding.

In many ways April marks the beginning of the year for us. With Easter, lengthening days and improving weather we see more people on the water and coastal visitors to St Alban’s Head and Peveril Point begin to increase. Both stations will be offering refreshments over the Easter period. The ‘hatch’ will be open at St Alban’s Head between April 7-10 while at Peveril Point tea and cakes will be on offer on April 9 and 10. These events are really important for our fundraising but it’s also really good to chat to people about the work we do. If you’re out over Easter, come up and see us.

We’ll also be offering refreshments over the early spring Bank Holiday weekend, which creeps into the end of April.

For water users, we have our own dedicated radio channel, Channel 65, which you can use to carry out a radio check.

This is St Alban’s Head and Swanage NCI listening on channel 65, NCI out.

A high tide and rough seas and (below) the Swanage tide gauge

PHOTO: Swanage NCI

PHOTO: Swanage NCI

IMAGE: Channel Coast Observatory

Discount tickets for jazz festival

MUSIC lovers from the BH19 area can get 10% off tickets to this summer’s Swanage Jazz Festival.

The discounted tickets are available in person from Swanage Information Centre and purchasers must show a driving licence or utility bill as proof of residence.

Festival chair Paul Kelly said: “Swanage Jazz Festival has long been welcomed by Swanage residents, and we wanted to offer discounts by way of thanking the town and its residents for their longstanding support for one of the best and most distinctive jazz festivals in the country.”

Crash car ‘overtook on wrong side of the road’

Swanage Jazz Festival runs from Friday to Sunday, July 7-9, and this year will be using Sandpit Field, The Mowlem Theatre, The Centre and Swanage Conservative Club as its principal venues. Local pubs and hotels will feature free fringe acts.

The discounted ticket prices for BH19 residents are: Weekend Stroller £117, Friday Stroller £36, Saturday Stroller £72, Sunday Stroller £72 and Under-16 Weekend Stroller £29.

The festival’s headline names include The James Taylor Quartet, Claire Martin and her trio, and Zara McFarlane singing Sarah Vaughan.

Out Of The Blue

WELCOME to April, spring is up and running, the season of new beginnings, a good time for you to start completing our priority survey if you haven’t already. The survey gives you the chance to tell us what your priorities are, allowing us to act upon what you have to say to improve our community. Please keep your concerns coming in by taking 10 minutes to fill out the priority surveys – https:// www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ PurbeckEmail

So, what have we been up to? Well, in the period February 8 to March 8 we dealt with 426 occurrences in Purbeck, of which 185 were recorded crimes and resulted in 54 arrests.

February also saw the Purbeck Neighbourhood Policing team assisting our colleagues in other areas of the county conducting house-to-house enquires for missing persons.

We are also receiving numerous reports from

people who are the targets of online fraud and telephone scams. Every year, the British public loses billions of pounds to fraudsters. With scams ranging from the simplest confidence trick to the most sophisticated high-tech online fraud, it pays to keep up to date with the latest news and advice. Don’t be a victim of fraud. Find out more about fraud, its many types and how you can report it: Online fraud & Cybercrime | Dorset Police

A VEHICLE was reported to have overtaken a number of vehicles dangerously before a crash near Poole.

Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage after the incident, which happened at about 6.40am on Friday, March 3.

A silver Toyota Corolla was seen overtaking a number of vehicles on the wrong side of the road on the A35 near to the Bakers Arms roundabout, police said. The vehicle was subsequently involved in a collision with a silver Ford C-Max. No-one sustained any injuries.

PC Natasha Riley, of Dorset Police, said: “I am appealing to any motorists who were

travelling in the area and remember witnessing the Toyota driving dangerously to please come forward. I am also keen to hear from anyone who may have captured anything of relevance on dashcam footage.”

Anyone with information should contact Dorset Police via www.dorset.police.uk/contact or by calling 101, quoting incident number 55230037077. They can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

PurbeckPolice, we value your support and comments. You can also see our latest priorities and upcoming events at https://www.dorset. police.uk/neighbourhoodpolicing/purbeck/

(service.police.uk)

And finally, if you need to contact Dorset Police, please call our Police Enquiry Centre by calling 101 or email 101@dorset.pnn. police.uk Always call 999 in an EMERGENCY when there is a risk of HARM or a CRIME in progress. Alternatively, call the free CRIMESTOPPERS line on 0800 555 111.

You can also use our website to report a number of issues, from full crime reports to lost property – just use the following link: https://www.dorset.police.uk/ do-it-online/

Don’t forget to visit us on our Facebook page, Facebook.com/Purbeckpolice, and Twitter, @

Why not register on Dorset Alert? By registering for the free Dorset Police community messaging alerts you will receive information on local crime and incidents where we believe that sharing information with you will help to prevent further offences occurring; crimes and incidents where you may be able to help by providing vital information; current crime trends; crime prevention advice and Safer Neighbourhood activity; and opportunities to meet the team. You can also receive news from our partner agencies such as Dorset Fire and Rescue Service and Trading Standards and Community safety messages.

PURBECK NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING TEAM

The Bakers Arms roundabout near Poole PHOTO: Google

SPRING is fully in bloom and Durlston looks beautiful. Taking a walk along the Woodland path will immerse you in sounds, sights and smells. Looking out to the sea, the sunlight dances off the waves and transforms the coast into a paradise. The viewpoints along the trail on a sunny day have the power to stop you in your tracks. Standing for a moment, the calming sounds of the waves folding onto the rocky shore of Durlston Bay will be interrupted by excited calls of the cliff-nesting seabirds. Meanwhile, Lesser Celandine, Bluebells, Cow Parsley and Ramsons brighten up the woodland floor. The heavy fragrance of the Balsam Poplar may waft through the landslip side of the woods. A Speckled Wood Butterfly can

often be spotted along the trail and is a great addition to a beautiful April walk.

The exhibition in the Fine Foundation Gallery running until Thursday, April 20, will complement spring at Durlston perfectly. Local arts and community group 15 Days in Clay has joined us for ‘Seed’, an exhibition exploring our relationship with seeds and the landscape of Durlston and Holton Lee. Following that, from Tuesday, April 25, Poole Printmakers will be returning to showcase the art of printmaking in the Gallery until

The highs and lows of fostering

“There are always highs and sometimes some really tough lows, but each one brings new rewards and new challenges”

The hustle and bustle of a busy household can provide so much joy and fulfilment, seeing others achieve or just sharing experiences over a heart-warming breakfast. Yet, that does not mean there are no challenges involved, with any household regardless of size and make up has its own unique challenges – and that is the same for fostering households.

When children come into your life, whether that be short term or long term you know as a carer that, at some point, it is more than likely this child may move on to a more permanent home. It can be emotional to see a youngster move on but our carers highlight that it is nice to see when they become settled and happy in a new home. One carer notes such moment is “a high and a low together! … A high as we know we have made a difference in their lives, but a low, because they are leaving you”

This is not only a difficult time for the carer, the child must also get used to a new home, and new guardians.

That is why Footprints pay close attention to this transition, giving the support required for all individuals. Over the last years, more special guardianships have been approved, allowing carers to look after youngsters on a more permanent basis, this is a great outcome that Footprints are proud of.

If you are up for a new challenge fostering could be your next step, but remember it does not always go swimmingly, but it promises rewards! That is why Footprints are the best choice for anyone that would feel content in a small supportive environment.

In the next article from the series, we will be exploring what inspires our wonderful foster carers!

Wednesday, May 10.

The Easter holidays will bring new energy into the Park, with a range of activities for children and families to get involved with. We have a full schedule of events with rabbits hidden around the park for our children’s activity trail and drop-in activities like Wild Wednesdays, as well as bookable activities, flowerpot planting and kite making. Workshops, including Mark Page’s Kids Easter Drawing Workshop, are a wonderful addition, along with a host of Ranger-led kids activities and guided walks. Visit the Durlston website to book and for more information on future events and activities.

In other news, keep your eyes peeled for our next events guide which will run from

May to September 2023. This edition will be jam-packed with a whole host of events, exhibitions and activities from Sea Bird Boat trips to the return of The Enchanted Cinema and stargazing evenings. We are all very excited, so make sure to pick up your copy on your next visit.

With the winter weather behind us, check out all the wonderful ways you can get involved at Durlston. From weekly work parties outside, counter volunteering, becoming a roaming ranger or helping down at the Shed.

For more information on events and more visit our Durlston website, www. durlston.co.uk Visit the Seventhwave café website at https://7eventhwave.com/

Harry opens charity shop

LEWIS-MANNING Hospice

Care has opened its seventh charity shop in Poole High Street.

Hospice patrons former Premiership football boss Harry Redknapp and his wife Sandra cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the new house clearance shop.

They said: “We’re so pleased to have been asked to open this fantastic new shop and are sure it will be a great success for the charity.

“It’s packed full of bargains, and we would definitely urge shoppers to visit and have a look at what’s on offer.

“Or, if you’re in need of house clearance services, then look no further than LewisManning Hospice Care.”

Director of Retail Su Newcombe said: “It’s brilliant to have such a prominent location on the high street in Poole.

“It’s a great opportunity to let shoppers know about our new house clearance and recycling service, and demonstrate how we are able to turn pre-loved stuff into extraordinary care in the local communities in which we serve, supporting people with life-limiting illnesses and their loved ones across Poole, Purbeck and East Dorset.

“We are specialists in house clearance and recycling, and we are here to help you!

“Moving, downsizing and house clearing after the death of a loved one can be a very stressful and overwhelming time. Our aim is to reduce that stress as much as possible! We’re here to the rescue and can offer flexible complete or partial house clearances and recycling services.

“Call us for a no obligation quote or to ask any questions you may have. All quotes include an on-site inspection,

free advice and a written guaranteed price, so there will be no unexpected extra charges.”

The hospice is appealing for volunteers to join the team in Poole – anyone who can spare some time should visit https:// lewis-manning.org.uk/ volunteer-2/ Lewis-Manning’s other shops

across East Dorset and Purbeck are in Ashley Cross, Christchurch, Swanage, Westbourne, Winton and Wimborne.

Anyone interested in learning more about the shop or our house clearance service should phone 01202 119310 or visit lewis-manning.org.uk/houseclearance

In the picture (from left) Lewis-Manning retail assistant manager Georgia Baker, retail manager Amanda Matthews, chief executive Clare Gallie, patrons Harry and Sandra Redknapp, and director of retail Susan Newcombe

2015 (65) MERCEDES BENZ C CLASS

SALON C200 BLUE TEC AMG LINE, 1.6 automatic diesel, 41,000 miles, silver blue metallic,black leather,all usual refinements sat nav etc, fantastic performance and economy, a real eyeful, only £30 road tax......................£16,495

2015 (65) MERCEDES BENZ E350 AMG LINE

BLUE TEC DIESEL AUTO CONVERTIBLE, black with black hood, black leather, only 59,000 miles with service history, every conceivable extra, what an eyeful.........£15,995

2013 (62) BMW 118D, convertible Exclusive Edition Finished in White, with Black fully electric soft top 6 speed manual (Euro 5) 1 former owner, service history 103,000 miles great performance and economy. Excellent value at ...................................................£5,995

2012 (12) BMV 320D Sport 4 Door 6 speed manual Finished in Black with Full Black Sport Design Interior, all usual refinements. Only £30 road tax, Full documented history up to and including 120,000 miles. Comprehensive service record, 155,000 miles ....£4,995

2012 (12) Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Manual

Exclusive Estate Petrol, finished in Pearl Grey Metallic 2 formers keepers 66,000 miles, in excellent condition throughout ..............£4,495

PX to clear: 2004 (04) HYUNDAI SANTA FE 100,000 miles with service history, Diesel automatic. Useful vehicle .........................£995

RARE OPPORTUNITY 2002 MGTF (SPORT) Registration M3GTF only 70,000 miles, drives lovely, MOT 10/08/23 (no advisories) will be sold as spares or repairs only ...............£1,650

2003 (53) Range Rover Discovery TD5 ES Auto Excellent mechanically, good condition all round. Spares or Repairs ..................... £1,850

1997 BMW 520iSE 4-door 2.5 petrol automatic, black with black leather, massive service record, 140,000 miles, MOT 03/07/23, will be sold as spares or repairs only ....£1,595

BRITISH

2011 (61) Mercedes E350 Sport CDI Blue Efficiency Estate Auto Finished in Blue/Grey Metallic, with contrasting ‘cloud’ full leather interior 133,000 miles with full service history. Last service at 132,000 miles. Many extras, including panoramic sliding electric sunroof, elec tailgate, heated eats, reversing camera. Great value at ............................................£7,995

2001 Mercedes Vito 2.2 TDI Diesel Manual Camper Van 96,000 miles, good service record, elevating roof, split charge plus leisure battery, Pull out double bed, electric night heater (on board running), gas hob & grill, awning, Cool box, ready for the summer. .............................. £7,950

6 Month warranty (extension available)

Full workshop inspection

Full service to manufacturer recommendations

Pimperne Garage, Salisbury Road, Pimperne, Blandford Forum Dorset DT11 8UN 50 Years Experience

For further pictures please visit the website. maclarkcarsales.co.uk

EUROPEAN

5 Days – Sun 21st to Thur 25th May

Yorkshire TV Themes

Heartbeat, Emmerdale, All Creatures

5 Days – Sun 28th to Thur 1st June

Dumfries & Galloway

Gardens of South-West Scotland

5 Days – Mon 19th to Fri 23rd June

Barging Around Yorks. Boat cruises and a Steam Railway

83 The Esplanade, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 7AA

20 23 British & Eu ro p ean HOLIDAY BROCHUR E

Our selection of individually tailo red coach holiday tours offer a custom made product providing a feeling of luxury and aspiration. Sp ecifically aimed at the more discerning customer.

Convenient & FREE local picking up points throughout the PURBECK area

5 Days – Wed 5th to Sun 9th July

North Yorkshire Coast & Yorkshire Moors Steam Railway

5 Days – Mon 10th to Fri 14th July

Derbyshire Peak District

History, Heritage, Stunning Scenery

2 Days – Sun 16th to Mon 17th July

ELVIS – For 1 night only!

Professional tribute to the World’s greatest musical icon Chesford Grange, Warkwickshire

5 Days – Mon 31st July to Fri 4th Aug

Kents Heritage Coast

Beaches, cliffs and ancient sites

7 Days – Sun 14th to Sat 20th May

THE ISLE OF MAN

Less hurried, cleaner, safer

6 days – Sat 10th to Thur 15th June

PEARL OF THE RHINE

Boppard in Germany

4 Days – Mon 14th to Thur 17th Aug

DISNEYLAND PARIS

4 Star Magic Circus Hotel off-site

Prices reduced by £40 per person! 4

8 Days – Tue 15th to Tue 22nd Aug

AUSTRIAN TYROL

Cables, Cogs and Cruising Amazing views and experiences

5 Days – Sat 14th to Wed 18th Oct

GUERNSEY & SARK

Spectacular Channel islands

5 Days – Sun 3rd to Thur 7th Dec

GERMAN

CHRISTMAS MARKETS

8 Days – Thur 21st to Thur 28th Dec

CHRISTMAS IN ITALY

The Magic Numbers to play Purbeck Valley Folk Festival

Purbeck Valley Folk Festival has just announced headliners The Magic Numbers in what is set to be its best line-up yet. Having had a load of top 40 hits since in the noughties, you may think The Magic Numbers fit more into the “pop” genre, but with great songwriting, acoustic guitars, and lush harmonies, they’ll fit right in at Purbeck.

“Having The Magic Numbers play is going to absolutely brilliant!” says Festival Director, Catherine Burke. “Michele Stodart has played for us before - she stepped in at the last minute last year when Kathryn Williams was taken ill with Covid. We’re delighted that she’s coming back this year with her brother and their band! Kathryn Williams will also be joining us, and she and Michele together will be taking part in our more intimate, Saturday morning Songwriters’ Circle too. It’s going to be so good!” Other names booked for PVFF this year include: Newton Faulkner, Seth Lakeman, Michele Stodart, Kathryn Williams, and

Sheelanagig, along with a long list of international, national and local folk, roots and acoustic acts. Purbeck is more than just great music. With a huge number of activities for kids (all included in the entry price - no hidden

extras), and incredible craft area full of workshops, music and singing workshops, ceilidhs, poetry, storytelling, healing area and fire shows.

Purbeck Valley Folk Festival is a 4-day event - 17-20 August 2023

Full weekend tickets including 4 nights of camping are currently available at the Earlybird price of £130 (£70 youth, £30 kids) - bargain! Day tickets to be released soon! www.purbeckvalleyfolkfestival.co.uk

WEEKEND TICKETS INCL.£120CAMPING

LADY NADE - HANNAH MOULE & THE MOULETTES - PONS AELIUS - MAN THE LIFEBOATS

FARGO RAILROAD CO - TOUKI - FAITH I BRANKO - CARRIVICK SISTERS - SOUSOU & MAHER CISSOKO

MAZ O’CONNOR - LUKE JACKSON - JON DORAN & THE NORTHERN ASSEMBLY - FILKIN’S ENSEMBLE

MISHRA - OLD BABY MACKEREL - HONEY AND THE BEAR - ATLANTICO - ALDEN & PATTERSON

KATIE SPENCER - OWL

MORE THAN JUST GREAT MUSIC...

CROCHET - POTTERY

TIE-DYE - STONE CARVING

WILLOW WORKSHOPS - BLACKSMITH

ORIGAMI - PRINTING - CYANOTYPE

TRADITIONAL WOOD TURNING

PEBBLE PAINTING

STORYTELLING - GIANT SCRABBLE

FANCY DRESS - RHYME TIME - TOY SWAPSHOP

THEATRE & GAMES WORKSHOPS - CRAFTS

WISHING TREE - WELLY WANGING

HOOLA-HOOPING - TREASURE HUNT

SPACE HOPPER OBSTACLE COURSE

CIRCUS AREA:

JUGGLING - UNICYCYLING

DIABLOS - DEVILSTICKS

STILT WALKING

ACROBATICS WITH INFLATABLE

TUMBLE MAT

2 CEILIDHS - OPEN MIC - SESSIONS - WORKSHOPS - HEALING AREA - FIRE SHOWS

BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FESTIVAL ON A SMALL FARM WITH VIEWS ACROSS THE PURBECK HILLS AND CORFE CASTLE - EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE FESTIVAL

IN THE SUN - MA POLAINE - MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO - THE MODEL FOLK BLUE LASS - BIERFASS BAND - WAREHAM WHALERS - QUINNS QUINNEY + LOADS MORE!

CRAFT AREA KIDS’ ACTIVITIES

GRAMMY AWARD WINNING

BBC FOLK AWARD WINNER

Roses: Worthy champions

by Sue Butterworth

ROSES have been gracing British gardens for centuries and considering their exceptionally long, abundant flowering period, their diversity of colour, size and shape, and the wide range of heavenly scents, it’s not hard to see why.

The versatility of the rose in a garden is unrivalled. They love a sunny position in rich, well drained, moist soil, but they will tolerate a range of conditions and will look good in almost any style of garden.

You will often see roses grown in beds and borders but

they can be made into hedges, trained to climb walls, grown over arches and allowed to

ramble through trees. Many varieties are also ideally suited to be grown in pots and containers.

The very best thing about roses is that despite some myths, you don’t have to be a green-fingered gardening guru to grow them successfully. As long as you give them a little bit of attention and keep them well watered and fed, they will reward you all summer long with beautiful blooms.

If you are looking for a special gift to mark a birth, an anniversary, a special birthday or a wedding, what could be better than a rose. There are so many roses with specific names, colours and fragrances, you are sure to find one that means something special to the

recipient. Unlike a bunch of fresh flowers, a rose will last for many years and will keep on giving, year after year.

David Austin Roses is one of the most widely recognised rose breeders in the horticultural world. During many decades, it has bred, developed and grown a stunning collection of awardwinning roses featuring a wide array of colours, flower shapes and delicious fragrances. Its reputation for quality and variety is second to none and it has won numerous awards for its roses, including 26 Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medals.

If you have never grown roses in your garden before we urge you to give it a go. If you’re looking for a bit more information and advice before

TREE CONTROL

Many varieties of roses are also suited to be grown in pots and containers.

of the garden

you get started, then why not book a place on our rose talk at Goulds Garden Centre, on Wednesday, April 19, at noon or 2.30pm.

Luke, from David Austin Roses, will be at the centre and will give you a great introduction to the world of roses. He will talk about their meticulous breeding process and provide you with plenty of advice about planting, feeding, pruning and caring for your roses. Tickets cost just £10 and include a sweet or savoury

cream tea and a £5 voucher that can redeemed against the purchase of any David Austin rose.

For more information visit www.gouldsgc.co.uk

n Sue Butterworth is in her 24th year at Goulds Garden Centre. She is the plant manager for this busy store and has been sourcing plants for awardwinning gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show since 2018. She is an avid gardener, leading to numerous Britain in Bloom awards, including a first.

Spring into action

AS spring arrives, gardens, pots and patios are now a riot of colours, flowers and foliage; and tulips, daffodils, beautiful acers and azaleas, rhododendrons, flowering shrubs and early perennials, many scented.

It’s the perfect season to plan and plant new beds, borders with trees, shrubs, perennials and seasonal plants.

Summer patio containers and basket plants should now be available to give summer-long flowering, foliage and scents to fill gardens, patios and planters. Lots of vegetables can still be sown from seed or planted out, in the garden and tunnels and greenhouses, for crops of fresh fruit and veg.

Lawns, beds and borders can all now be weeded and topdressed with compost. Fertilise to encourage healthy growth and flowers.

Pruning of roses, trees and shrubs, and cutting back and tying up of all plants can still be done now, to shape, tidy and encourage new growth and flowering.

A visit to your local nursery or garden centre – where they will be fully stocked with a large selection of fresh, ready to plant trees, shrubs, perennials, seasonal vegetables and flower plants – is essential.

Lots of new and unusual plants should be available to enhance and make your garden grow.

Purbeck

Protecting your home and assets with a Living Trust.

Everyone needs a will, but a will does not protect your assets. One of the most efficient additions to your will is a living trust. A living trust has many benefits and protects your hard-earned legacy. Let’s consider some of the benefits below...

Avoiding probate: By placing assets including your home into a living trust, those assets can pass directly to the beneficiaries named in the trust, bypassing probate.

Care Costs: Placing your main home into a living trust can help ring fence the property from any potential future care costs. Thus, protecting your inheritance.

Control: With a living trust, you can be both a trustee and beneficiary. You can maintain control over your assets even after you pass away. You can specify how and when your assets should be distributed to your beneficiaries.

Protects your bloodline: Your legacy is protected from remarriage and divorce, protecting both your surviving partner and children’s legacy. Asset protection: A living trust can protect your assets from creditors in the case of bankruptcy etc, divorce settlements, and other claims against beneficiaries and yourself.

In these days of uncertainty its best to plan wisely and protecting your legacy for family and loved ones. To discover more about living trusts, contact Oakwood Wills on 07832 331594

Could you help breastfeeding mums?

VOLUNTEERS are being urged to come forward to become breastfeeding peer supports for new mums in Dorset.

The Breastfeeding Network (BfN) Dorset is looking for mums who are passionate about breastfeeding to volunteer and help support parents across the county.

BfN Dorset is commissioned by Public Health Dorset to provide families with evidencebased information and support with a range of everyday breastfeeding challenges, support with positioning and attachment, as well as emotional and moral support.

“From pregnancy through to natural-term weaning, combifeeding, expressing or exclusively breastfeeding, all parents are welcome at any stage of their journey,” said a

gain an OCN accredited level 2 qualification.

They will then go on to volunteer in their community, offering friendly support and information to other parents, as well as a safe space and a community for like-minded

help with their ongoing training and support needs, and become part of the wider Breastfeeding Network team, as well as being able to go on and complete further training if they want to – dependent on availability of funding,” the spokesperson added.

The next BfN Dorset Level 2 peer helpers course runs from April 20, lasting for 12 weeks, with a two-hour session a week delivered online via Zoom.

BfN Dorset is looking for volunteers across Dorset, particularly: Somerford (Monday mornings); Weymouth (Monday mornings); Blandford (Friday mornings); Wareham/ Bovington (day tbc); Dorchester (day tbc); Sherborne (Tuesday mornings); Boscombe (Monday mornings).

Sam Morris, a peer helper

moving into the next stage of their life, as much as I can help others, it’s personally rewarding to be in this lucky position, too.”

BfN Dorset service manager Ashley Gallimore added: “Our service relies on our amazing volunteers to support parents, and our training courses really equip our volunteers to do this.

“The OCN accreditation means that our volunteers are gaining a qualification and valuable experience while also doing something they’re all so passionate about. We’re so excited to expand our team of volunteers.”

If you are interested in becoming a peer helper, fill in the application form at www. breastfeedingnetwork.org. uk/30859-2.

For more information about

The Breastfeeding Network (BfN) Dorset is looking for volunteers

PHOTO: PublicDomainPictures/ Pixabay

Purpose built eating disorders facility opens in Poole

WE are delighted to have opened our new state-of-the-art £8 million development to support local people with eating disorders.

Six patients could previously be cared for by the specialist inpatient team based at St Ann’s Hospital in Poole, and now with the new two-storey building we can accommodate ten – reducing the need for out-of-area admissions.

The new building will also house the four-place day programme, which offers an alternative to admission and supports transition from hospital back to the community. Ensuring people with eating disorders receive the treatment and support they need at the earliest possible stage is vital in helping them overcome their condition.

Increasing our capacity from six to ten beds will make a real difference. It means a person who requires admission can be admitted earlier and close to home. This in turn makes it much easier for family and friends to stay in close contact and support the person through their admission and their transition home.

Eating disorders have been increasing over the past 50 years across the UK and worldwide. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence advises that an eating disorder can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, cultural, religious or social background and at any age, although they most commonly start in young people aged 13 to 17 years.

Disturbed attitudes towards weight, body shape and eating play a key role in

the origin and maintenance of eating disorders. Eating disorders can considerably impair physical health and disrupt psychosocial functioning – they can be a severe mental illness and life threatening. However, people with an eating disorder can and do recover –recovery is different for each person and will often take time.

It is important that people experiencing an eating disorder and their family are aware of the support available and seek help as soon as possible.

Designed to help people and their families/carers overcome a range of eating disorders, our Dorset All Age Eating Disorders Service supports people of all ages. Referrals can be made by a GP, by health, social care and education professionals. Self-referral and parental referral are also accepted.

For more information about the Dorset All Age Eating Disorders Service and its support offer, visit www.dorsethealthcare. nhs.uk/eatingdisorders or phone 0300 019 1771.

Karen Law, Eating Disorders service manager at Dorset HealthCare

Let our care be your legacy

With more children being born and living longer with increasingly complex conditions, respite care couldn’t be more vital in the years to come.

Julia’s House has been there for local families providing this vital care for the last 20 years and will only be able to continue to be by their side for the next 20 years with the support of the local community.

When parents receive the devastating news their child has a life-limiting or life-threatening illness, their world falls apart. It is an anxious and lonely existence. Julia’s House is their lifeline.

“The demand for our services has never been greater,” comments Beth Whitworth, Family Support Services Lead Nurse. “The families have come out of the pandemic and straight into a cost of living crisis. It’s an incredibly difficult time for them.”

Julia’s House relies almost entirely on generous donations from local supporters and businesses to fund this vital care for families across Dorset and Wiltshire, receiving just eight per cent Government funding.

You have the power to change lives – and it won’t cost you a penny right now.

Pledging to leave a Gift in your Will is a wonderful way of showing local families you care and will give the charity the confidence to continue developing its life-changing care service for the most vulnerable children and families, long into the future.

A gift of just 1% from your Will can make 100% difference to overwhelmed parents going through dark times. Be remembered for bringing light back into the lives of local families.

Picture: Jon Bolton

Picture: Millie Pilkington

Picture: Jon Bolton

Sport

Swans go down as defences dominate

Swanage & Wareham 12 Walcot 16

By Ron Butler

SWANAGE & Wareham

entertained second in the table

Walcot at Bestwall and in a tight match where the defences dominated Swans were unlucky to just pick up a bonus point.

Steve Woolley narrowly missed a penalty outside the visitor’s 22 after seven minutes, but a few minutes later a move by Swans’ backs led to a scrum

Pets

and from a break second row George Climie bypassed the Walcot defence for his first try of the season, under the posts.

Steve Woolley converted to give Swans a 7pts advantage after 16 minutes.

Both sides had chances to improve their scores, but the defences were good, until in the 36th minute a penalty to Walcot was put over the posts to make the half-time score Swans 7 Walton 3.

Walcot came out in the second half with a penalty into Swans’ 22, and after a few phases and a scrum on Swans’ line forced their way over for a converted try to make the score 7–10 after 45 minutes.

Five minutes later Swans gave away a penalty in their own half and from 45 metres Walcot’s full back converted to take Walcot up to 13pts.

Swans made progress through the three-quarters but

Walcot’s backs resisted until Swans gave away a penalty on the hour mark, which was put over to take the score to 7-16.

Swans made progress but Walcot held firm until with three minutes to go, after a scrum and several phases on the Walcot try-line, Swans powered over with wing forward Jonny Blackmore claiming the try. Swans: S Woolley, M Spencer, E Dimescio, T Munns, O Dillon, W Slack, O Peters, Z Wyburgh, C Foskett, N McMath, J Ginders, G Climie, J Blackmoore, C Moag, J Casey, N Audley, K Salina, B Fitzpatrick.

OTHER SCORE: Swans 3rd XV a few tries Oakmeadians 2nd XV a few more.

M argaret Green Animal Rescue

Show our rescue pets they are loved

GroundDog Day is back!

JOIN Margaret Green

Animal Rescue for a fabulous day of fun for all the family and your four-legged friends.

GroundDog Day will be held at our Lincoln Farm centre, Blandford, Dorset DT11 9BP on Sunday, May 7, from 11am.

The event is set to be a wonderful day that you won’t want to miss!

There will be a fantastic Novelty Dog Show with a range of classes for you and your dog to enter, for the chance to win a rosette, as well as many other exciting activities to get involved with, including Have-a-go-Agility, Doggy Lucky Dip and Doggy Ball Bob.

We are excited to welcome back the brilliant Dorset Dash Hounds, who will be joining us to host the popular Flyball, where your dogs will

have fun zooming over the jumps to retrieve the tennis ball, and they will also be giving their very own spectacular demonstration at 1pm.

That’s not all, as there will be plenty of refreshments and a barbecue, as well as a great selection of stalls from local traders for you to enjoy.

Make sure you save the date and come along to support a local charity – and help us raise funds for rescue animals in need.

Entry is free and donations will be gratefully received.

For more information, please see our website at www.mgar.org.uk/ GroundDogDay2023

Having a home – a fundamental right

ON my way for a coffee in Wareham last week, I passed a young man wrapped up in a sleeping bag, asleep on the pavement.

Shoppers walked past, some averting their eyes, others – as far as I could see – simply not noticing him at all. I felt guilty and troubled, pausing to drop a couple of pound coins upon the top of his sleeping bag.

In ‘Not Just Sundaes’, Wareham’s Community Café, the staff knew the young man I had seen. Tom – not his real name – was a regular, making use of the café’s warm space. He’d been sleeping in the churchyard of Lady St Mary’s during the recent freezing weather.

I have often spoken to Big Issue vendors, but seeing Tom – and seeing how many passers-by seemed to be unaware of his existence –prompted me to find out more about homelessness in Dorset.

The national charity, Shelter, believes that having a home is a fundamental right.

Yet Shelter this January reported that at least 271,000 people were recorded as being homeless in England, including 123,000 children. The charity’s analysis of official figures and responses to Freedom of Information requests reveals that one in 208 people in England were without a home. Of these, 2,400 people were sleeping rough any given night.

In Dorset, Shelter estimated, 718 people were homeless on any given night in 2022, including 294 children – equivalent to one in 529 people living in the area. About 698 people in Dorset were living in temporary accommodation, while 13 were estimated to be sleeping rough.

Shelter’s chief executive, Polly Neate, is expecting a rise in homelessness this year. Jeremy Hunt’s Budget, she said, provided no relief for parents fearing the loss of the roofs over their children’s heads.

Polly’s press statement reads: “The Chancellor could have put an end to spiralling homelessness, but instead he’s stuck his head in the sand. Homelessness has almost doubled in the last 10 years, and yet again we have a Budget that does nothing to help struggling renters who are drowning in debt and rapidly rising rents.”

In Dorset, we see London prices – buying a house is beyond the means of many first-time buyers. In 2017, the average price of a house in Purbeck was 14 times the

average salary. Rents, too, are high – The Guardian in November 2021 reported that Purbeck had seen the highest rental growth in the UK.

Yet wages compared to national averages are low. Dorset Council reports a weekly wage of £546 compared to a national one of £613.

I had seen Tom sleeping rough – yet I thought of the Dorset families desperate for a home, unable to buy one, and falling behind with the rent. The Dorset Council waiting list for Swanage in 2020 showed over 150 families waiting for an affordable home to rent.

There is no record in Hansard of our MP, Richard Drax, making any speech addressing the issue of homelessness since he won the seat in 2010.

Another month, yet another Budget

I RECALL that, once upon a time, the Budget was something that happened in the spring and a battered red box was involved. Now we have budgets almost monthly for varying reasons – yet another Chancellor, another emergency, a budget to fix the last one etc. I’m writing this several days after the most recent iteration but there could be another soon if the banks continue to topple. Interest rates, inflation, commodity prices, wage rates and fuel costs are part of our everyday conversation now in a way they haven’t been since the 1970s. We even all became experts on bond yields for a week last autumn, and tracking the exchange rate against the dollar was briefly a national pastime.

But I’m afraid that this elevated interest in the economy means that people are worried. They are worried about paying the bills, about

the cost and availability of food in the shops, and about the value of their income against the rising cost of living.

And how could they not be worried? In the last 12 months, inflation has reached levels not seen for decades, interest rates have gone up to 4%, having been below 1% for nearly 15 years, and, even with the Energy Price Guarantee, energy bills have doubled. Wages have been stagnant for many, year after year after year, and are likely to remain so. Living standards are squeezed.

The Office for Budget Responsibility – the government’s independent economic forecaster – says real household disposable income per person will fall more between last year and next year than at any time since records began in 1956. And while the

Chancellor didn’t announce any headline changes to income tax rates, for millions of people income tax will go up because the thresholds at which people start paying tax, or start paying higher rates, have been frozen.

For most Dorset residents, the Budget hasn’t delivered anything unless you are so well off you can pile extra funds into your pension fund and bypass inheritance tax. Some consultant doctors may be persuaded not to retire early but it does nothing to address the haemorrhage of junior doctors from the NHS. No extra money for social care, nothing to address the drag on the economy that is workforce and skill shortages, nothing for bus services. And Dorset was bypassed in allocating the Levelling Up Partnerships

while Devon was given two!

We need to address inequality in health and wealth, invest in jobs and provide properly paid apprenticeships. The private sector stands ready with the capital, skills and innovative capacity to decarbonise transport, energy and industry, but is lacking leadership and strategy from the government.

We urgently need a bold plan for green investment in new technologies, like tidal power, hydrogen and battery technology, and in green skills for the future.

The Conservatives have become a high tax party, because they’ve become a party of low growth.

In Dorset, there’s so much potential and yet the Government and Dorset Council are not seizing it.

CHRIS BRADEY Chair, Swanage & Rural Purbeck Labour Party

Nick Ireland

Chris Bradey

Train service ‘next to useless’

I MUST express my extreme disappointment at the forthcoming ‘reopening’ of the railway through to Wareham.

It might be of limited use to visiting railway enthusiasts, but next to useless for local people, as the company must know.

It will run on only four days each week, with the first train out from Wareham at 11.19 and the last return from Swanage at 16.23, at a fare of £25 return and a journey time of 40 minutes. I thought this was a joke when I first read it.

I visit Swanage fairly frequently and, as it happens, I shall be there on Saturday, April 29, for a singing workshop at St Mary’s Church.

How nice, I thought, to travel by train rather than drive down and try to park in Swanage.

But the first arrival is too late for the 10am start and the last departure is only eight minutes after the workshop concludes, at a cost exceeding that of the workshop itself.

So I shall go by car and I assume anyone else enjoying work or leisure in Swanage will do the same.

Incidentally, I travelled on the last British Rail train, and I seem to remember that took about 20 minutes from Wareham to Swanage.

David Henshaw

Dorchester

Patient frustrated by bureaucracy

IN December, I had a minor operation at Poole Hospital that needed stitches. I phoned Swanage Hospital, and a week later they took them out. Simple, efficient.

This week, I had a similar operation. I phoned Swanage Hospital, and they are no longer allowed to deal with me direct, and told me I had to phone 111.

I then had the usual delays of automated phone systems, select a further number – five times – and finally got through to a human. She needed all my details for triaging before we could go any further.

I explained my simple need but she had to consult her manager. The outcome was that I have to phone 111 again on the day the stitches must come out, go through the same rigmarole and they will then phone the hospital which will receive me that day.

How can that all be progress, unless your goal is building an empire of administration?

Bob Stevens Swanage

Waste insights

I WOULD like to commend Laura Beddow for her excellent explanation about how our waste is processed (Purbeck Gazette, March 6).

It is reassuring to know that what goes in the bin doesn’t just end up in a hole in the ground any more.

Gavin Rider Swanage

Th e high costs of gender ideology

I WOULD like to respond to one of the points raised in the letter about gender identity – Purbeck Gazette, March 20.

Very few people would argue with the letter writer’s assertion: “How individuals identify in terms of their gender is none of anyone else’s business – it’s largely a private matter.”

However, the writer continues: “...that does not impact on anybody else’s life.”

This latter assertion is manifestly untrue.

The rise of gender ideology in its extreme form is costing people – not only white straight males – their livelihoods, careers and health.

It is challenging their intellectual integrity and stifling their participation in debate.

It requires every person and every organisation in this country to change the words they use communicate with each other.

Furthermore, promoting a state education system which instils in children the belief that they must actively consider their gender, and whether they wish to change it, can scarcely be regarded as treating it as a

READER’S PICTURE

‘private matter’.

Simply to challenge your correspondent’s stance is now routinely called out as bigoted, unkind, transphobic, ignorant, ‘misguided, uneducated and spreading propaganda’.

As a result of which I too shall hide behind a cloak of anonymity.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED Shades of Wareham Forest

It was the spring of 2020 when disaster hit

The sky a graphite grey, the woodland amber lit It clearly says “No fires, no barbecues” but all to no avail Wareham Forest has gone; its shell is there to tell the tale.

For 17 days men fought the fire there

Hoping to save the creatures that were so rare

Ladybird spiders, Woodlarks and Nightjars to name just a few If only these morons had thought, if only they knew

To follow the Sika deer trail through an ancient wood

Spy sand lizards basking in the bog, if you could?

Amble through flora in vibrant greens; mint, juniper and moss

Now it’s ruined and such a sad and unnecessary loss

And now it’s an old sepia photo of what it used to be

Five hundred acres of mocha coloured firewood, a tragedy

Parakeet coloured ferns now a hickory mix

Woven willow fencing melted

into cinnamon sticks

They say it will grow back, but may take a while

For trees to sprout chartreuse shoots, through gingerbread soil

For birds to make new homes in coffee colour trees

And a kaleidoscope of flowers making work for honey bees

So just a little note to those who are missing a cell or two Whose actions speak louder than their words will ever do All it takes to prevent cataclysms such as these

Is have a little thought for our wonderful land and look after it – please

Susan Kimberley

Dedicated to a man who had an affinity with all living creatures. Dearly loved and sadly missed by so many people in so many ways. To the memory of Nick Gadenne.

Let’s blame the rubber boats!

The NHS is broken

The economy barely floats

Houses can’t be purchased

Let’s blame the rubber boats !

Businesses lack workers

Homeless folk lack coats

Prices rise for everything

Let’s blame the rubber boats !

That’s the Tories’ message

To help them win some votes

But they’d win many more if they’d just go away..

Aboard those rubber boats !!

Martin Hobdell Swanage

Blue skies over Swanage recently in Robin Boultwood’s photo

Initiative tackles loneliness in the workplace

A MENTAL health charity has joined forces with five partners to launch team-building packages for businesses.

Dorset Mind says its Minds Together initiative will help tackle loneliness in the workplace.

It says the current trend of hybrid working, while allowing employees extra flexibility, means staff have less human contact. This, in turn, can impact their wellbeing.

The charity’s creative solution offers businesses the chance to invest in, and improve, the connectivity of their workplace.

It will also support Dorset Mind financially, allowing it to deliver one-to-one and group support and education for

people in Dorset.

The charity is encouraging businesses to connect, learn and build their own Minds Together package.

Within this, they will choose a mental health educational session delivered by Dorset Mind’s training team combined with a fun activity from a range of trusted partners.

They are Rock Reef, R1SE Bournemouth, Resurface, Layla Gordon Nutrition and Eco in Mind – the charity’s own Ecotherapy Project.

Dorset Mind’s training sessions include:

n Mental Health Awareness

n Managing Stress, Anxiety and Burnout

n Boundaries and Resilience

n Courageous Conversations

which encourages people to make conversations about mental health part of their everyday routine

Activities offered are based upon the Five Ways to Wellbeing, which have been proven to improve wellbeing:

n Connect – Rock Reef’s session encourages teambonding by pushing people out of their comfort zones to compete on its climbing walls, a vertical slide and ‘Leap of Faith’ jump.

n Get Active – R1SE Bournemouth puts teams through their paces in a unique exercise class at its gym, in the Hilton Bournemouth.

n Take Notice – Resurface emphasises employee wellbeing through adventurous teambuilding surf, yoga and coldwater sessions, set against the beach landscape at Bournemouth.

n Learn – Layla Gordon Nutrition teaches employees about the importance of gut health and how to cook

nutritional, tasty food with colleagues.

n Give Back – Supporting the Eco in Mind project by working on its allotments which seeks to improve mood, reduce stress and allow participants to enjoy the benefits of nature.

Dorset Mind chief executive Linda O’Sullivan said: “Mental health has had to become everyone’s business and employers have a duty to look after their employees’ wellbeing, whether they work remotely or in their business setting.

“Evolving from lockdowns, the hybrid way of working comes at a cost to social inclusion.

“What better way to boost your team’s morale than enjoying a team-building day, while supporting your local mental health charity, too?”

For information about booking packages, prices and availability, contact Dorset Mind by email at partnerships@dorsetmind.uk

Tax Return 2023/24

There are a number of reasons why you might need to complete a Self-Assessment return. This includes if you are self-employed, a company director, have an annual income over £100,000 and / or have income from savings, investment or property.

Taxpayers that need to complete a Self-Assessment return for the first time should inform HMRC as soon as possible. The latest date that HMRC should be notified is by 5 October following the end of the tax year for which a Self-Assessment return needs to be filed.

HMRC has an online tool www.gov.uk/check-if-you-need-tax-return/ that can help you check if you are required to submit a Self-Assessment return.

The list of taxpayers that are usually required to submit a Self-Assessment return includes:

• The self-employed (earning more than £1,000);

• Taxpayers who had £2,500 or more in untaxed income;

• Those with savings or investment income of £10,000 or more before tax;

• Taxpayers who made profits from selling things like shares, a second home or other chargeable assets and need to pay Capital Gains Tax;

• Company directors - unless it was for a non-profit organisation (such as a charity) and you didn’t get any pay or benefits, like a company car;

• Taxpayers whose income (or that of their partner’s) was over £50,000 and one of you claimed Child Benefit;

• Taxpayers who had income from abroad that they needed to pay tax on;

• Taxpayers who lived abroad and had a UK income; or

• Income over £100,000.

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Types of Plant

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Brain chain

Antiques & Collectibles

Small statue of greatest Briton

A SMALL bronze statue of Sir Winston Churchill, widely regarded as the greatest Briton to have ever lived, comes up for auction on Wednesday, April 5, at Duke’s in Dorchester.

The auctioneers expect it to sell for up to £100,000, but because of the huge interest generated in the wartime leader, many experts believe it could sell for a great deal more. The statue, which measures 59cm high, is by the sculptor Oscar Nemon (1906-85), who was greatly admired by Churchill and became a friend and confidant of the statesman.

According to Nemon, Churchill was not

an easy subject and he could be ‘bellicose, challenging and deliberately provocative’ – which meant Nemon would often approach sittings with great trepidation.

Guy Schwinge, of Duke’s, said: “This stunning bronze is the ultimate depiction of Churchill. It is the original bronze maquette for the full-size statue of Churchill in the Members’ Lobby at the Palace of Westminster. Additional bronzes were produced subsequently but this is a one-off and, as such, it is of great importance.”

For more information and a fully illustrated catalogue at www.dukes-auctions. com or phone 01305 265080.

How can you tell the age of a piece of

used until the late 18th and 19th centuries, and synthetic sapphires were not introduced in jewellery until late 19th century. The cut of a gemstone can also help date a piece.

Amy Brenan recently valued this antique diamond locket and dated it to the period of George II used dependent on the era.

n Materials: Different materials were used at different times. For example, pre-19th century, most diamonds were set in silver with gold backing, as platinum and white gold had not yet been discovered. 15ct gold stopped being used in 1932, so this helps to date an item. Amethyst wasn’t widely

n Condition: The condition of an item of jewellery can give clues to age. An 18th century piece is likely to show repairs and marks consistent with age and wear.

n Styles: All era-specific styles can be reproduced over time but distinctive styles such as those from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles give a clearer timeline and can help confirm age and identity.

So really my job is a bit like being a jewellery detective and I love it!

Sir John Langford-Holt admiring the bronze maquette of Sir Winston Churchill. It is being offered for sale at Duke’s and could make £100,000.

Meet Your Motor Dealer

Meet Your Motor Dealer

Familiar faces in the Purbeck car market talk to us about themselves, their business and their role in it

What was the start of your interest in Classic Cars?

I had rebuilt a couple of old motors, a damaged Ford Pop and a Morris 1000 pick-up and the profit from these bought my first car, a 1946 Rover 14, at 17 which I passed my test in.

I wanted to get into the motor trade and I became an apprentice panel beater, because they were paid more than mechanics. That was at S. E. Hamblin Ltd of Sherborne.

At 19 I restored an MGA fixed-head coupe and then rebuilt a write-off Mini Cooper Mk 1.

How did you get started in business for yourself?

I started a panel-beating business in 1969, and built it up to seven employees.

How did your interest in racing begin?

During my apprenticeship at Hamblin Ltd, the foreman, Gerry Helson, spotted my interest in motor sport and took me along to Goodwood motor

race events, where I saw greats like Moss, Clark, Brabham, Salvadori, driving Ferraris, Aston Martins, Lotus Cortinas and Jaguar Mk IIs.

I had raced bicycles before, but my first car speed event was VSCC Prescott in 1971. I had got the bug...

How did Dorset Vintage & Classic Auctions begin?

I felt there was a definite need for a professional specialist auction house in this area.

I started DVCA in 2005, and I would say that we are now the leading auction house for historic vehicles and automobilia in the West Country.

Which aspect of the vintage and classic trade do you enjoy most?

You never know what car, motorcycle or other item you are going to see next, or who you are going to meet – and I have certainly met some interesting characters!.

It is also satisfying to have built up a reputation for good service over the years.

Of all the cars that have passed, or could pass, through your hands which would you most like to buy yourself?

I would love to own an Aston Zagato or a Ferrari 250 SWB Berlinetta. My pre-war car? That would be a Monza Alfa.

Share the story of Brutus please Brian When I was still an apprentice at Hamblin’s there was a customer, Jim Kennard, who was often seen around Sherborne in a burbling 4.3-litre Alvis, Brutus. I was 16, and I thought ‘What a car!’ I never dreamt that I would own that very car in 1979, and the success we would have on the track.

I raced a Scimitar, MGC, MGB GT V8 and a Jaguar 420, but I had most success in Brutus, at speed events, circuits races and in the Isle of Man, winning 35 times and making top four about another 50 times.

01963

BRIAN CHANT

Owner

Dorset Vehicle & Classic Auctions

Quality Used Car Sales in the Isle of Purbeck for Nearly Nine Decades

Foleys garage was established in 1937 by Mr John Scott Foley. The garage became a Vauxhall agent in the same year, and remained one of the longest established family run Vauxhall dealers in the country until 2004 when Vauxhall motors decided that they no longer needed the smaller dealers anymore.

Mr Foley’s daughter Jocelyn and sonin-law Stuart came into the business in 1972 and it is now run by the third generation of the family, Steve and David White. We at Foleys believe in good old fashioned customer care and offer outstanding service throughout all aspects of the business.

Today we stock a number of used cars on our site, and have access to 100s more though various contacts made over the many years.

Foley’s trained technicians also supply a wide range of garage services to our customers: with free quotations on request for servicing on all makes of cars and light vans; repairs to all

makes using the latest diagnostics; tyres, from budget to high performance; batteries; exhausts and we also offer an air conditioning service with the latest R1234YF gas.

Foleys are an approved MOT testing garage and all MOTs are done on our premises. We can do an MOT while you wait, or you can use our loan car, or collection and delivery service.

Just give us a call and we will make all the arrangements. We have a free loan car facility or ask about our free collection and delivery service. Otherwise, drop your car off and we will do the rest.

T: 01929 503115

E: sales@foleysgarage.co.uk

W: www.foleysgarage.co.uk

If you don’t see what you’re looking for we have access to 1000s of cars of all makes and models through our many trade contacts. If you have a specific car in mind please call or submit the details via our website, www.foleysgarage.co.uk/car-finder

Control, Alloys,Lane Departure Warning, DAB Radio, 7” Touch Screen, Auto Headlights, Bluetooth, Air Con, One Owner, 28000 Miles with FSH .............. £12,595

2018 VAUXHALL ASTRA SRi 1.4T 5 Dr in Blue, Manual, Air Cond, 6 Speed Manual, 7 inch Touch Screen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth Connectivity, Cruise Control, Alloys, Front & Rear Parking Sensors, only 29,600

£11795

Sole

We remain proud of our factory appointed Heritage dealer status and respected worldwide reputation.

Meticulously caring for the post war models right through to the very latest

System helps us identify problems quickly and efficiently. A family run business spanning over three generations, every car is

to major full restorations of the classics. Forever at your disposal, our services are designed with you in mind as well as your Aston Martin.

OUR EXTENSIVE SERVICES INCLUDE:

n Parts Manufacturing Service Workshop for annual maintenance through to major restoration

n Technical knowledge and advice

n Over 4,000 individual parts in stock for the Feltham era cars alone with more being added every month, all made to the original drawings

n Genuine Parts for all Aston Martin & Lagonda cars

n Original build records

n 89 years of marque specific knowledge

n Full Aston Martin Diagnostic System capabilities

Motorists and cyclists: Aggression on the roads

AGGRESSION from both motorists and cyclists is potentially putting lives on Britain’s roads at risk, according to research conducted by UK’s road safety charity IAM RoadSmart.

The charity’s annual Driving Safety Culture Report, which surveyed 2,010 UK motorists on driving safety attitudes and behaviour, discovered that almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents believe that aggressive cyclists are a threat to their personal safety, while 78% considered people driving a motor vehicle aggressively as a threat to personal safety.

The survey also revealed that the problem is seen to be worsening on both sides of the rivalry, with six-in-ten (60%) of those surveyed believing that

aggressive cyclists are a bigger problem compared to three years ago, and 63% believing that aggressive motorists have become more of an issue over the same time.

The issue of aggressive driving is also reflected in the Department for Transport’s (DfT) latest road collision statistics, which revealed that, of the 1,339 people killed on Britain’s roads in 2021, 108

involved aggressive driving as a contributory factor – equating to one in 12 of all deaths on the road.

Demonstrating the conflict between motorists and cyclists, IAM RoadSmart’s Driving Safety Culture Report found limited support for a new law that would assume the driver is always responsible for any collision with a cyclist or pedestrian in an urban area, with

61% against, and only 39% in favour.

Neil Greig, director of policy and research at IAM RoadSmart, said: “The government has introduced a range of laws in recent years in an effort to fix the daily conflicts we see between motorists and cyclists.

“However, if our research is anything to go by, this has largely been to no avail – with the majority of respondents still reporting aggression and conflict among road users.

“There is no quick-fix to this issue, but our research sheds light on the urgent need for the government to maintain its education campaigns on the new Highway Code, and continue to invest in safe road markings for more vulnerable road users to minimise the chance of conflict wherever possible.

“In the meantime, all road users, whether on two or four wheels, should exercise calmness and restraint to help us all use Britain’s roads safely.”

Empty Nest Syndrome: A journey of

By Alice Johnsen

IT’S funny isn’t it, the time when we raise our families, those of us who are lucky enough to do so. Those years are all consuming and pass by at a pace that is both snail like and so fast we don’t realise what’s happening. Then – the doors stop slamming, the fridge is noticeably fuller and we actually get to the bottom of the laundry pile. The Empty Nest years have arrived.

For some this is a small change that goes almost unnoticed but for many it is a time of huge challenge. Of the many people I spoke to about this over the last few weeks, all told me the early evenings are the worst. Your mind drifts back to when the house was filled with the noise of returning

children, tea and homework. You think of friends still enjoying that routine. Your evening feels like a ghost town.

Coping mechanisms shared with me included phoning a friend in the same position to chat while you cook supper, walking – the dog or with a friend – making that 5-6pm hour a time for something specific – painting, freezer filling, setting up a tea-time book club to meet once a month, a swimming class.

Everyone advised getting busy. Volunteer for a local charity if you have the time or contact Citizens Advice to see where they need help. Sign up for a course with a friend. Clearly, if your nest is emptying, you need to be proactive in filling the gap. Empty Nest Syndrome has phases. How

you move through those phases and to what level you experience each one is an individual thing. Grief followed by Relief and lastly Joy. Sometimes phases two and three can bring with them feelings of guilt. Should we feel guilty when we feel a little spring in our step in this new phase? Is it okay to feel okay about our nests emptying? I think it is.

Let’s not forget, we were whole and complete people before we were lucky enough to be parents and we are all so much more than a mum or dad. So, when the time comes, take a big breath and aim for being a ‘me’ not just a ‘me plus my children’. n Alice Johnsen is a life coach.Phone: 07961 080513; visit www.alicejohnsen. co.uk

My visit to a herbalist’s paradise

By Fiona Chapman

I AM lucky to have just come back from St Lucia, a beautiful volcanic and tropical island with the Atlantic on the east and the Caribbean sea on the west. There is a rain forest in the middle of the island. Around the edges on the cliffs there are wonderful indigenous trees with peeling bark, which the locals call the ‘tourist trees’, which highly amused me. Between the cliffs on the flatter bits there used to be sugar plantations.

Where we were, the sugar plantation had been changed into fruit, and although 50 years ago it was left to go wild, there were still mango, banana, guava, coffee, chocolate and coconut palms, lemon, orange

and lime, as well as a host of trees and shrubs with medicinal properties. A herbalist and naturopathic paradise.

I asked the local islanders about their medical system. As in most of the world, the doctors are there IF you can afford them. Most people have to rely on herbal medicine and, from all accounts, it is extremely powerful and effective. Many grow the herbs in their gardens or go out into the forest and harvest them.

They use everything fresh –they can as the growing season doesn’t change that much.

There are lots of oils in the leaves and they boil them up – with a lid on – and drink the resulting liquid. Over here, we tend to use dried herbs and tinctures mainly because it is easier and we don’t have the amazingly tropical flora, the growing season or space to make sure that our herbs are organic and uncontaminated.

One of the ‘herbs’ used was

Ciantar

grief, relief and joy

EVENING CLEANER REQUIRED

Dorchester. Key position. £10.50p/h

Flexible start 01305 261624

DAYTIME CLEANER REQUIRED Part-time. Dorchester area. Transport provided. Must have experience in cleaning. DL required. Flexible start time in mornings £10.50 p/h 01305 261624

DUE TO RETIREMENT WE HAVE A POSITION AVAILABLE IN THE PRODUCTION OF COFFINS. Requires the ability to use circular saw. Permanent position. Telephone 01963 362095 or email colin@turnermanufacturing.co.uk

The

Soursop or Graviola from the Annona muricata tree.

The fruit and leaves are sedative, which I was recommended for the flight home and jet lag. They are also used for digestive issues and parasitic infections. The fruit is full of vitamin C, which is obviously good for the immune system. Interestingly, it is used for high blood pressure and inflammation of the joints and

St George’s Pre-School Langton Matravers

PHOTO: Marcela/Pixabay

muscles. There are also claims that it helps with cancer.

Sadly, I did not manage to get hold of any fruit or leaves from the tree, not that I could have brought them back, but what made me really notice it was that it was made into a delicious-looking ice cream, extremely popular locally.

n Fiona Chapman is a Naturopathic Herbalist (Pellyfiona@gmail.com)

We are looking for a:

Part-Time Pre-School Deputy Leader

Minimum 16.25 hours which may rise depending on business needs. Weekdays Term time, 8am-3.30pm. Pay: £11.75ph

Afterschool Club Leader

Ages 2-11: Minimum 10 hours which may rise to 13.75. Can be a job share with current staff. Weekdays term time 3.15pm-6pm. Pay: £11ph

Afterschool Club Assistant

Ages 2-11: Minimum 8.75 hours which may rise to 12.5. Can be a job share with current staff. Weekdays term time 3.30pm-6pm. Pay: £10.42ph

It may be possible to combine the job roles for Leader positions. To apply please contact Sabrina Moss at stgeorgeslangton@outlook.com attaching a CV and letter of application.

Farming

High Quality 5 string meadow hay bales available £35 available Bales of paper shredding, ideal for 07714 289400

years spent looking after children are all consuming but when they’re over it can be useful to find things to fill the gap

Pop-up food market plan rejected by council

PLANS for a pop-up market area showcasing Purbeck food and drink have been refused.

Pop-Up On The Hill was a concept created during the pandemmic that saw locallybased traders able to set up in a field on Grange Hill, near the Isle of Purbeck Viewpoint.

A planning application on behalf of Henry Bond, of Pop Up On The Hill Ltd, sought permission to allow the market to run from April to October each year, and from 10am to 11pm each day.

“The concept is excellent in its simplicity,” the application to Dorset Council said.

“The venue offers an opportunity for local traders to ‘pitch’ their goods at the site, typically two or three traders, but a sensible level of flexibility is sought to allow for daily variations.

“The goods on offer, including hot food and drink, is locally sourced and represents the fare that Purbeck has to offer.”

It also sought permission for a series of small-scale entertainment events at the site.

However, council planners refused the application, saying ‘changing the use of the site from agricultural to a restaurant, will have a harmful impact on the undeveloped tranquil character of the area and as a result will cause harm to the Dorset AONB’.

It also said the application had not demonstrated whether there are any protected species on site and has not offered suitable mitigation or biodiversity net gain.

See the full application, reference P/FUL/2022/04432 at www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.

POLICE are tracing a man who exposed himself to a jogger in Poole.

The incident occurred some time between 11.05am and 11.15am on Thursday, March 9, in Ashley Road, near Waitrose.

Police said a woman, in her 20s, reported she was out running when she saw a man exposing himself.

The man is described as short in height with olive skin, dark hair and a moustache. He was wearing bright blue jogging bottoms.

incident

PC Louis Allen, of Poole Police, said: “We are conducting various enquiries into this incident, and I am keen to speak to anyone who witnessed what happened.

“I would also like to hear from anyone who may have captured anything of relevance on home CCTV, doorbell camera or dashcam footage.”

Anyone with information should contact Dorset Police via www.dorset.police.uk/contact, or by calling 101, quoting incident number 55230037391.

Gyles just all talk, talk!

IRREPRESSIBLE This

Morning star Gyles Brandreth is bringing his fast-talking repertoire to Dorset.

Gyles, a regular on shows such as Pointless, QI, The One Show and more, is at Lighthouse Poole this autumn with his latest show, Can’t Stop Talking.

The one-man show hopes to work out why he has been ‘babbling since he was a baby’, leading to numerous exploits,

including holding the world record for the longest-ever after-dinner speech at 12-and-ahalf hours.

“From 40 years on Radio 4’s Just A Minute to four years on Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox, he can’t keep his mouth shut. He even talks in his sleep,” a spokesperson said.

“What’s it all about? He’s going to tell you – because this is his life story: a rollercoaster of tales and revelations from his

unlikely life in showbusiness and politics.

“There will be surprises too – for him and you – when the audience spins a wheel to decide what he’s going to talk about next.”

The show, on Friday, September 29, is set to get underway at 7.30pm.

For more details and to buy tickets, phone 01202 280000 or visit www.lighthousepoole. co.uk

Chilling ghost story seen by millions

THE legendary production of Susan Hill’s chilling ghost story

The Woman In Black is making its debut at Lighthouse Poole direct from the West End when it has a week-long run this autumn.

The critically acclaimed play, seen by more than seven million people and which continues to delight and terrify audiences of all generations, delivers

atmosphere, illusion and horror.

Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Hill’s best-selling novel tells the story of lawyer Arthur Kripps who is obsessed with a curse he believes has been cast over his family by the spectre of a Woman in Black.

In desperation, he engages a young actor to help him tell his story and exorcise the fear that

Events Programme 2023

grips his soul.

It all begins innocently enough but as they delve further into his darkest memories the borders between make believe and reality begin to blur and the flesh begins to creep.

Over 33 years The Woman In Black has played more than 13,000 performances in the West End and in June 2019

celebrated its 30th anniversary with a special gala performance.

The play is directed by Robin Herford, with designs by Michael Holt and lighting by Kevin Sleep.

It is at Lighthouse Poole from Monday to Sunday, November 20-25. For tickets phone 01202 280000 or visit www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

Gyles Brandreth is coming to Lighthouse Poole this autumn

Britain’s Got Talent winner show headlining

LEE Ridley, aka Lost Voice Guy, who may not be able to talk, but definitely has lots to say, is set to headline Coastal Comedy, the monthly stand-up comedy night at Lighthouse Poole.

Lee won Britain’s Got Talent in 2018 and his other credits include America’s Got Talent: The Champions (NBC), Live at the Apollo (BBC2), and The Royal Variety Performance (ITV).

Stephen Bailey, recent star of Unbreakable (BBC1), Live at the Apollo (BBC2) and Host of Celebrities on the Farm (C5) opens the show.

A comedian, presenter, television personality and writer, Stephen’s friendly and open brand of gossipy humour has made him one of the UK’s most exciting up-and-coming

THE MOWLEM

Theatre, Cinema & Function Rooms

Book your tickets: www.themowlem.com

LIVE SHOWS & MUSIC:

• Eddie & Ellie - Allsort’d C.I.C. and friends are thrilled to present a modern-day version of Shakespeare’s classic love story, Romeo and Juliet. Eddie and Ellie live in the scenic coastal town of Swanage. Family feuds make these two young people unlikely friends, not to mention their chosen paths in life. But despite the odds, Ellie and Eddie reunite their families without a drop of blood being lost. An original story told through dance, songs, and narration supported by Signalong for those who may have communication difficulties.

Wednesday 5th April at 7.00pm

• National Theatre Live: GOOD

- David Tennant makes a muchanticipated return to the West End in a blistering reimagining of one of Britain’s most potent political plays. As the world faces its Second World War, John Halder finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences. Olivier Award-winner Dominic Cooke directs C.P. Taylor’s timely tale, with a cast featuring Elliot Levey and Sharon Small. Filmed live at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London.

Thursday 20th April at 7.00pm

acts in comedy.

The line-up is completed by Laura Smyth, winner of the Funny Women award in 2019 and co-writer of Jack Whitehall’s Bad Education.

Adrienne Cole, the regular host, will introduce the acts.

The comedy night is in the theatre at Poole Lighthouse on Saturday, April 22, at 8pm.

For tickets and information phone 01202 280000 or visit www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

Shappi at comedy club

REGENT Comedy Club in Christchurch is set to be headlined by the feisty, flirty and effortlessly funny Shappi Khorsandi.

Shappi (pictured) has survived the jungle on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of here and regularly appeared on television shows Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week, Qi and Have I Got News For

You. She has also been on Radio 4 comedies including Just A Minute, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, The Now Show and many more.

Host at the comedy night on Wednesday, April 5, is hyperactive master stand-up Jarred Christmas.

Tickets priced £17 are available through www. regent.co.uk

• Cabaret with Claws Charlie Bicknell and Louise Innes return with a veritable petri dish of stunningly irreverent and ballsy songs. Twisted takes on familiar themes, such as Tim Minchin, Phil Nichols and Bonnie Tyler influencers thrown in. The unexpected has rarely been so expected Saturday 22nd April at 7.30pm

MOWLEM VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITIONS

• ‘Shifting Edges’ - The next Visual Arts exhibition is from Fran Quinlan, a visual artist based in Dorset whose work encompasses drawing, print, performance, sculpture and installation. Fran is an Alumni of Arts University Bournemouth and delivers participatory workshops across various institutions and public settings. Both nature and humanity are in a constant flux of movement and change. To embody this state, she immersed herself in the ephemeral nature of light and the sea, drawing with the traces they momentarily declare in the physical world. The exhibition will be free to explore from March 24th to May 23rd.

MOVIES:

• Allelujah (12A) - A warm and profoundly moving story about old age. The threatened closure of a geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital stirs an uprising from the local community. Starring Dame Judi Dench, Bally Gill, Jennifer Saunders and Russell Tovey. Friday, 31st March through to Thursday, 6th April at 7.30pm (excluding Wednesday 5th April)

• Epic Tails - Argonuts (U) - Tells the story of a super smart mouse Pattie and her feline friend Sam, as they embark upon an exciting adventure of paw-some proportions through Ancient Greece. Featuring the special guest voices of Rob Beckett, Giovanna Fletcher and Josh Widdicombe as the many Gods of Mount Olympus. Saturday, 1st April to Thursday 6th April at 11.30am

• Heathers: The Musical (15) - Based on the 1989 cult classic film starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater and recorded live in its original London home, The Other Palace, this award-winning musical follows Westerberg High student Veronica Sawyer, whose dreams of popularity finally start to come true when she’s taken under the wings of the three beautiful, yet impossibly cruel Heathers. Friday 7th & Saturday 8th April at 2.30pm. Friday 7th, Saturday 8th & Monday 10th April at 7.30pm

• Matilda The Musical: sign-along (12A) A musical comedy-drama in which a gifted girl uses her intellect and powers to stand up for herself and her friends. Sing your heart out to Matilda’s greatest hits, from ‘When I Grow Up’ to ‘Revolting Children’, ‘Naughty’ to ’School Song’, you can enjoy the Matilda experience like never before. Monday, 10th April through to Thursday 13th April at 11.30am

• Shazam! Fury of the Gods (PG) - When Billy Batson and his foster siblings, who transform into superheroes by saying “Shazam!” are forced to get back into action and fight the Daughters of Atlas, they must stop them from using a weapon that could destroy the world in which they must travel to make peace with the Gods because of Billy taking their powers for granted. Starring Zachary Levi, Asher Angel and Jack Dylan Grazer. Tuesday 11th, Wednesday 12th and Thursday 14th April at 7.00pm

CLUBS & SOCIETIES:

• The Making Memories Dementia Friendly Cafe is Tuesday 4th & 18th April, at 10.00 am in The Showbar.

• The Flower Club will meet on Thursday, 20th April, at 9am in the Community Room.

• Health Qigong Fitness with Penny meets every Wednesday at 2pm & 3.30pm during March in the Community Room.

www.themowlem.com

Lost Voice Guy Lee Ridley with Adrienne Coles

Spotlight Diary

in association with: Karl’s Kabs – 07751 769833

Diary Entries are FREE if your event is FREE. If you charge, then it’s £6 plus VAT per entry, per month. The deadline for April 17 is NOON on April 3. Call Lizzie Wilmot on 01963 400186 or email lizzie@blackmorevale.net.

KEY: * = Start time not known or n/a; Ffi = for further information; Sw = Swanage; Wm = Wareham; VH = Village Hall, Telephone code 01929 unless otherwise stated.

APRIL 2023

Please call prior to attending events listed to ensure they are still on.

MONDAY

18:00 - WAREHAM CHORAL SOCIETY debmill1088@yahoo.com

19:30 - SWANAGE TENNIS CLUB evembaker@googlemail.com

TUESDAY

18:30 - STUDLAND YOGA yogawithsemra@gmail.com

Puzzle solutions

Edition 286

THURSDAY

09:30 - SWANAGE TENNIS CLUB evembaker@googlemail.com

FRIDAY

14:30 - Julie Bradshaw DAISY CHAIN FITNESS jbrad@uwclub.net

(from pages 30-31)

Brain chain (hard)

Arrow words

Treating people as individuals and delivering truly person-centred care is central to everything we do.

Welcome to The Old Rectory Care Home

Situated close to Swanage on the Jurassic Coast, our family-run home has light and airy rooms, many with grandstand views over the hills of the Isle of Purbeck.

We offer short and long-term residential care and work closely with a community matron and other multidisciplinary services. We cater for those over 60 years of age and for those with health conditions including dementia and palliative care.

The Old Rectory, is now fully open after an extensive refurbishment. We take pride in our events schedule, the great home-cooked food and warm and friendly home for our residents.

If you are interested to speak to us about you or a loved one becoming a resident please call Sally on 01929 425383, she will be pleased to discuss any requirements or to show you around. RESIDENTIAL

CQC Overall Rating: GOOD t: