Chetnole

from April 2022 No. 344

Beer Hackett

CHETNOLE with REP: Liz Tebbatt 873140 tebbatt.towers@gmail.com Hamlet, Melbury Bubb & Stockwood DISTRIBUTOR: David Wallace

Supplies for Ukraine are loaded up

Nobody can have missed the terrible situation currently happening in Ukraine – Chetnole residents have shown their compassion by donating supplies and raising cash at the Wednesday coffeemorning. We are thinking of those who have lost their lives and homes and pray for a swift resolution.

Sylvia Rose sends sincere thanks to so many people who have sent cards, telephone messages and offers of practical help. Sylvia is making a good recovery after breaking her hip and is very grateful to the kind and caring villagers of Chetnole.

On a lighter note, congratulations go to Dr Sophie Rajinder (formerly Danby) and her husband Gautham on their recent wedding and congrats also go to the Danby family of Neals Lane – see p12.

Ronnie and Dianne Page moved into Hope Cottage (on the day of Storm Eunice!) We hope they will be very happy in their new home and welcome to Chetnole.

We have a great schedule of events coming up this year – check the Dates for your Diary section on p62 for all the details

Photo: Liz Tebbatt

What’s on in Chetnole this month:

10 April – Annual Church Meeting, St. Peter’s Church, 11.00am 15 April – Good Friday 17 April – Easter Sunday 18 April – Easter Monday bank holiday

Liz Tebbatt

St. Peter’s Church

The St. Peter’s Chetnole APCM will be held in church at 11.00am on Sunday 10 April. All welcome (free coffee and biscuits)

If anyone would like to join the PCC (church committee) or become a sidesperson (occasional help in church), please contact Stephanie (873798) or Aly (kozowyk@btinternet.com)

St. Peter’s Church, Chetnole Music Concert Series 2022

Present The Gates of Bristol on Sunday 1 May

Before they open the Bristol Early Music Festival, There Be Dragons, a new supergroup of four internationally acclaimed musicians specialising in music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, will bring their first ever programme to Chetnole, in the second of our concerts. This will be the first time that two of Chetnole’s residents, Uri and Kate, will be performing in their professional capacity in Chetnole. Uri leads the Wriggle Valley Voices choir.

Inspired by an ancient image showing the four medieval gates of Bristol they will take you on a tantalising journey through each of these gates. Following pathways both sumptuous and simple, they bring their signature fiery improvisational approach to music that might have been heard on the streets of the city in medieval times. A cast of merchants, sailors, drinkers, lovers, saints and sinners will accompany you on your way.

Against the backdrop of the mellow sandstone walls of the medieval nave and chancel of St. Peter’s, this performance promises to be a treat for all lovers of music. The There Be Dragons ensemble comprises:

Uri Smilansky (medieval fiddles) As well as being a scholar of early music, Uri has performed as a Musician of the Globe. He is a founder-member and codirector of ensemble La Basile.

Jeremy Avis (voice) Jeremy is a tenor soloist and is a regular musical director at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Leah Stuttard (harp and voice) Her career has taken her around the world, from Mexico to Madrid including appearances at the York Early Music Festival and the South Bank Centre in London.

Katharine Hawnt (voice) Katharine has many recordings and broadcasts under her belt with Collegium Vocale Ghent, Ensemble Plus Ultra and, in particular, a number of celebrated discs with the allfemale ensemble Musica Secreta with whom she still works very closely.

The Friends of St Peter’s look forward to seeing you at the concert.

Tickets cost £10 and can be obtained from Gwen Adair (gwen.adair12@gmail. com or 07979 010332), Di Murphy (murphydi1950@gmail.com) and Bee Grant Peterkin (beegp@btinternet.com) 11

Much awaited wedding finally takes place

On Saturday 26 February, Sophie Danby (of Neals Lane, Chetnole) married Gautham Rajendar at the Marriott Arden Hotel, Meriden, West Midlands, a much-

awaited event after nearly two years apart and a Christmas postponement.

Gautham’s parents and sister made an epic journey from Chennai to Heathrow after their visas came through at the 11th hour and so were able to undertake a marathon 36-hour dash, arriving at the venue a mere hour before the ceremony took place.

It was a very emotional time as we had all been resigned to their watching via the internet. So the in-laws met for the first time just before the bride walked down the aisle.

Bridesmaids were Mia and Nandhini, sisters of the Bride and Groom.

It was a lovely gathering of family and friends from all over the globe – from Dorset to Paris, Berlin, Las Vegas, Chennai, London and many other parts of the UK, and with many more watching by video link if they were unable to join us on the day.

FRIDAY 6TH MAY EYES DOWN 7.30PM CHETNOLE VILLAGE HALL

£5 Entry for 5 Lines Prizes for All Winners. Cash Bar Brought to you by Chetnole Fete & Flower Show

The Chetnole Flower Show & Fete

Join us on Saturday 6 August 2022 for our 75th Flower & Produce Show, along with a variety of stalls, entertainment & refreshments. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @ChetnoleFlowerShow

The Chetnole Village Hall Jazz Café

Saturday 16 April 2022, 7.30pm

The Chetnole Village Hall Jazz Cafés season continues.

Conjuring up the mood of 1930s Paris, fused with flavours of Eastern Europe and a liberal sprinkling of high energy folk, The Schmoozenbergs’ uplifting music will put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. With roots in Gypsy Jazz, and influences beyond, they bring you irresistible rhythms, evocative melodies and playful improvisation to create a lively and heartwarming sound. Featuring soaring violin (Gina Griffin), masterful double-bass (Ron Phelan), bouncing rhythm and hot lead guitars (Sam Stennett/Tom Brydon-Smith), they have delighted audiences at venues and festivals throughout the UK.

Their live show combines energetic original music with imaginative interpretations of classic jazz tunes. Their most recent album ‘Awaken’ (2019), a collection of original compositions, was ‘Played throughout with much gusto, and projects an infectious joie de vivre that will, no doubt, healthily up any heartbeat’ (*****, Morning Star), and was described as ‘Excellent musicianship, laidback and accomplished…played with love and abandon’ (Folkradio.co.uk). Tickets available £10 from John Head 01935 872555, or Ian Lingwood 01935 872998

Chetnole Oil Group

If you would like to order some domestic heating oil, please email your orders to info@pearce-energy.co.uk or call Gill and Val on 01935 816966.

The Ukraine Appeal (Save the Children)

The tragic circumstances in Ukraine prompted a pop-up bring & buy stall at the Chetnole coffee morning on Wednesday 2 March. A huge number of people came along at very short notice and an incredible £750 was raised – this could be a record for a coffee morning! Thank you so much to everyone who so generously supported this event.

Bee Grant Peterkin

Ukrainian Refugee Collection in Chetnole

We can’t all fail to be alarmed and moved by the news coming out of Ukraine, and it’s hard to know what we can do to help. Thankfully some enterprising people in Dorset were quick to arrange a delivery of essential aid to the Polish Ukrainian border in early March. With collection points in Blandford and Stur, a shout went out to Chetnole residents to muster donations of children’s clothing, food, bedding, baby bottles, sanitary wear and toiletries, batteries and torches.

They didn’t disappoint. At our village collection point we were overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity. Even those on holiday arranged to make donations in their absence. Hats off to Lance who scoured the charity shops of Sherborne, buying up all the sleeping bags he could find, therein benefiting more than one needy cause. Maria arrived with a boot brimming with toothbrushes, shower gel and many other goodies bought at the Cash and Carry. One lady went to several supermarkets and shops on a hunt for much needed baby bottles and milk. All donations were of a high quality, new or washed.

Your generosity also extended to giving your time and help. Big thanks to those who provided boxes as we started to realise quite how much stuff we had! Molly also spent a good few hours sifting through clothes and categorising, packing and labelling goods.

It was quickly clear that the main collection points were becoming overwhelmed and the kind people at Reads Coffee Roasting outside Sherborne became a new collection point. Thanks to Aly and James T, we managed to take three large car loads and a trailer full of goods, where it was loaded on to lorries and dispatched to Southampton Docks.

Our help is still needed but now financial assistance is needed by the various organisations helping them. The best place to donate is to the Disasters and Emergencies Committee website: www.dec.org.uk who are also have an appeal for Afghanistan which is still suffering a terrible humanitarian crisis.

Thank you to the wonderful, generous folk of Chetnole.

Nick and Naomi

It’s all right once you’re in!

Marlise Jolliffe discovers the (chilly) joys of winter sea swimming

So brave: Marlise (second from right) and Liz (second from left)

Before 2021, if anyone had suggested I join them for a swim in the Channel, even in the height of summer, I would have thought: “You have got to be joking!” Swimming in the sea has never been a favourite pastime of mine; I don’t enjoy the salt water, having my head submerged, or getting out of my depth. However, a friend said she had recently joined The Bluetits group of wild swimmers in Weymouth and so, 15

persuaded by her and another friend, off I went on 29 September 2021.

Initially, I didn’t relish the thought but, having experienced the exhilaration when you emerge and the thrill of the achievement of getting myself into the freezing water each week, I have continued. The exercise is good too, as it is quite exhausting and sometimes hard work to get back to shore with the pull of the waves, depending on the tide; not that I go out too far.

For my first swim, I had good guidance from more experienced swimmers, and was told to go up to my waist and wait a few minutes to acclimatise before submerging my top half. As you push yourself in to totally submerge, you exhale hard to prevent a sharp intake of breath as your body reacts to the shock of the cold water.

In those autumn months, we stayed in for around 30 minutes as the sea was at its warmest but now our sessions have become shorter and will continue to decrease to a quick dip in the height of winter, if we’re still braving the icy cold waters then.

You’ll be familiar with the well-worn phrase: “It’s all right once you’re in” but clad in only a swimsuit (and as the months progress and the water cools, a long-sleeved rash jacket), entering the freezing water in Weymouth is a bit of a shock. After a few minutes the body does acclimatise, and then it’s a case of swimming and having fun. With a group of about 30 to 40 ladies most weeks, there is a lot of camaraderie and encouragement from other swimmers.

You need to be aware of your body and ensure you don’t stay in too long as hypothermia can set in quickly. The body also continues to cool for around 20 minutes after you get out, so you need to dry and dress quickly in lots of warm layers, and have a hot drink and something to eat. This gets the body working to warm itself up from the core.

A few pieces of kit become necessary if you continue to swim as we have: a large towelling changing robe is easier than struggling with towels and trying to maintain your dignity, and on the pebbles of Bowleaze a pair of surf shoes or sandals is useful. A lot of swimmers invest in a dryrobe – large coats with a waterproof outer and fleece lining which also provide room beneath to get changed.

As time went by, I was determined to enter the water on 1 December, and I did! Hopefully I will be brave enough to persevere through the winter months as the water temperature drops to its lowest, even if not every week depending on the weather.

Sea swimming all year round is not new and is enjoyed all over the world. In fact, The Bluetits is a worldwide organisation with more than 30,000 members. There is no membership fee and it’s free to meet at a site and swim. If you want to give it a go, check out their site at https://thebluetits.co.uk

Chetnole and Stockwood Parish Council

March 2022 Meeting Notes

At the start of the Parish Council meeting, we have an open forum for villagers to ask questions on topics of interest or concern. The focus this time was to understand why the PC had voted 3/2 (with one abstention for a declared interest) in favour of the development between School Lane and Foys.

The Parish Councillors are representatives, not delegates, and

as such have to use their personal judgement when reviewing planning applications. It is not possible to take referenda before making decisions. The three members who voted in favour of the development will have considered that the village will not be disadvantaged by the proposed developments.

If you have strong views on any matter which might affect the village, or villagers, then please either attend the Parish Council meetings and raise the matter in the public forum, or email Sue Woodford clerk@chetnoleandstockwood-pc.gov.uk.

We reviewed a letter from Chris Loder MP to Hilary Jordan, Service Manager for Spatial Planning, Dorchester Council, responding to the Dorset Local Plan Consultation. It appears that he is against the large development planned for the north of Dorchester in favour of growth focused on developing rural villages. He goes on to say that he cannot support urban extensions and that our village communities need modest and affordable housing to enable people to work locally, thus ensuring the longevity of these communities and their amenities.

The flood meeting held in the village hall and organised by The Environment Agency and The Farming and Wildlife Trust was extremely successful and very well attended. We will be working with both organisations to develop flood calming measures on the Wriggle and its tributaries to reduce the risk of the flood events experienced last November.

The rubber matting in the children’s play area on the playing field will be refurbished. The cheapest option was agreed as, during the next five years, some of the play equipment will have to be renewed and the matting replaced.

The PC agreed donations to the Chetnole Parochial Church Council, and the Wriggle Valley Magazine. We also agreed a donation of £1,000 in support of the Queens Platinum Jubilee.

The Queen’s canopy will involve a ring of seven trees on Stockwood Common and some replacement trees in the Jubilee Garden. Oaks and Hornbeam were some of the suggestions.

The next meeting is on 11 May 2022.