Chetnole

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

Is it Pinky or Perky?

We begin by sending our love and condolences to Ruth Sanford and all the family on losing her wonderful husband John in early June. He will be much missed, having been a very active longtime village resident, but mostly because he was such a lovely man and a friend to all of us. Ruth would like to write some words in the next issue about John’s life, but the Wriggle Valley Cricket Club have written their own special tribute to him this month and they will miss his huge presence in the club he adored. We’re all thinking of you Ruth.

Condolences also go to Doreen Foy who lost two of her brothers in close succession recently – Doreen we send you our love.

Get well soon to Denis Senior who has been very poorly in hospital, we hope you are feeling better, and get well soon to Jim Aldhouse too after his shoulder op – we hope you’ll be strumming that guitar again shortly. We hope Lance David is now on the mend after his hip operation; from the way he was speeding past our window the other day, it certainly looks like it.

Bee Grant-Peterkin’s art exhibition is still running so read on for details. She has raised a fantastic amount for Save the Children – well done Bee.

Don’t forget to come along to the churchyard on 4 July to fling Teddy off the bell tower and snaffle a cream tea, and the 2021 Chetnole Flower Show is fast approaching on 7 August – have you made your jam yet?

The Wednesday morning village hall coffee morning is also back in business, plus the post office from 9.30am to midday.

Take lots of pics over the summer to send in and see you in September.

Liz Tebbatt

Photo: Aly Kozowyk

Chetnole’s phone box gets a makeover

Well done to Parish Clerk Sue Woodford and Aly Kozowyk who have spruced up our phone box with a new coat of red paint. See before and after pics. Every fortnight, a batch of 50 free copies of the latest issue of the Blackmore Vale Magazine will be placed in the red phone box by the pub, for Chetnole residents and visitors.

St. Peter's Chetnole

The church is now open every day again. Books and puzzles still available for swap/small donation (now located in the NE corner by the children's area). Food bank drop off still in church too. Please continue to use hand sanitizer and maintain social distancing.

We have a communion service on Sunday 18 July at 10.00am – you are very welcome to join us.

Aly Kozowyk

ST PETER'S CHURCH CHETNOLE

CREAM TEAS in the CHURCHYARD

(in village hall if wet) with TEDDY BEAR PARACHUTING

Sunday July 4th from 3.00 to 5.00 p.m.

Once again Teddy Bears will be jumping off St. Peter’s church tower. Bring your parachute and teddy bear (or any other soft toy) and have a go! Any size or design will do, provided it fits into the basket for hoisting up the tower. Make sure your Teddy’s name and your family name are clearly marked. Children and adults of all ages welcome. All entrants get a certificate and the slowest descent (that lands in the churchyard!) will win a prize. £1 per jump for church funds.

Bee gone

If you have a swarm of bees as unwelcome guests, contact Mal at 01935 872093 or 07768 998655 who will remove them for you, so long as they are accessible.

Give Mal a buzz if you need help.

The exhibition at Chetnole Mill opened for Dorset Art Weeks after all, unfortunately too late to advertise in this magazine. However the exhibition remains open, please ring 01935 872255 for a viewing and a cup of tea, coffee or a glass of wine.

An incredible £875 has been raised for Save the Children. Thank you so much to everyone who heard about the exhibition on the grapevine and came along to support this excellent charity so generously. The raffle was won by Chetnole resident Sarah Smibert.

Bee Grant Peterkin

Pinky and Perky come to stay – one year on

Regular readers may remember that over the winter of 2019/20, I fostered two rescued hedgehogs, as did Stephanie Fripp. The two that came to me will forever be known as Pinky and Perky. They had different characteristics (Pinky – leave me alone, I hate you; Perky – feed me, feed me now) and, exactly a year ago, it was time to release them back into the wild. It is fair to say that, as a result, I have more sympathy for my mother as she packed me off to boarding school for the first time. Will they be OK, will they eat enough, will they be comfortable, will they make it?

A soft release was advised first, i.e., you create a small enclosure around the hedgehog house/ release shelter for a week. You continue to put dry cat biscuits out (there is a danger of fly strike in the summer with wet cat food) and they can familiarise themselves with the great outdoors. After a week you open the enclosure, and the big wide world is theirs to explore. Perky was traumatised by the experience and shoved off as soon as the enclosure was opened; I suspect he is the very large hedgehog who moved to Back Lane for a regular supper! The morning after I put Pinky in her area for the first time, I tip-toed down at dawn to see if she had eaten anything and she was still out moving bedding around and generally rearranging her shelter to her liking. That was the last sighting I had of her. She was still taking food and there was the occasional sign of bedding being moved out, but that was it.

As you know from my last article, I found the fostering experience incredibly rewarding but I did wonder if it had made a difference and if they had survived. Had the release of four additional hedgehogs helped to boost the local population? I know there was a casualty near the church last year and Stephanie found another one that hadn’t made it either. They could have been part of the wild population but…….

On the bright side, there was anecdotal good news. A third hedgehog turned up for supper each night in Back Lane; in Neals Lane a couple of hedgehogs were seen and heard getting very friendly last summer; hedgehogs have been caught on camera in Polans this year, as well as their scat being seen in gardens.

Hedgehogs are such engaging creatures, and it would be terrible if they became extinct, all too possible given the population crash over the last 30 years. There are simple things we can do such as leaving wilder areas in our gardens (they like the cover). If you think you have hedgehogs coming through your garden, putting out shallow bowls of water is a great help, especially in dry weather. Hedgehogs are very thirsty little creatures. If you see one in daylight,

keep an eye on it as it can be a sign that there is something amiss. If in doubt you can call the local licensed hedgehog rescue centre based in Halstock (01935 891661 or Facebook under Halstock Hedgehog Rescue). The Hedgehog Preservation Society website also has a lot of useful information.

Well, you can probably imagine my delight a few nights ago when I saw not one but two hedgehogs in the garden. It seems that underneath the bird feeder is a food route for one of them (they develop a regular food route that can be up to 2.5 km per night). As regular as clockwork, at 10.15pm, there they are! Is it Pinky or Perky, is it a little Pinklet or Perklet who knows, but maybe, just maybe there are a few more hedgehogs trundling around Chetnole each night!

Gwen Adair

Chetnole Flower Show & Fete – countdown to 7 August 2021

We’re very much looking forward to welcoming you all on 7 August at the 74th Chetnole Flower Show & Fete.

If you haven’t already seen our schedule, you can find it at https:// chetnoleandstockwood-pc.gov.uk/ your-community/chetnole-flower-show/ There’s lots for all ages and abilities, it’s great fun preparing your entries and of course there’s the glory (and prizes) of winning. NB: a polite reminder to last year’s winners to return your trophies and cups to Pippa Fowler at Tanglewood.

You can share your creative progress and gardening tips by adding #chetnoleflowershow to your posts on Facebook and Instagram, where we’ll also be putting some top tips and inspiration. We’re looking forward to tasting some interesting muffins….

We’re delighted to be bringing back the Fete aspect of our event with some of our old favourites such as the famous Human Fruit Machine and White Elephant Stall. There’ll be fun and games for the children involving water and wellies, and a few new surprise additions too.

The Chetnole Inn will be selling hot food and there’ll be cakes and ice creams available, which can be enjoyed alongside some live music.

As always, the purpose of the show is to bring us together and support our local charities. Thanks to your generosity last year, we were able to donate £1,500 during a particularly tricky time. This year we hope to beat that. So far, we’ve already been lucky enough to receive help from our generous sponsors: Stockwood Lettings; Ashfield Property & Management Services; Dockside Personnel, and CS Gardening.

To help raise funds, we will also be accepting donations and selling raffle tickets, which will be on sale soon in The Chetnole Inn and from Committee members, as well as outside the village hall on selected days, so keep an eye out for updates on Facebook and Instagram.

We’ve had some fantastic donations this year with prizes from ranging from head massages to tennis lessons, beauty products to garden design consultancy, and dinner for two from the fabulous Chetnole Inn.

Finally, if you would like to get involved, either through helping on the day or donating a prize for the tombola or raffle, please do get in touch with us at chetnoleflowershow@gmail.com – all offers are very gratefully received.

Good luck with all your efforts and thanks as always for your wonderful support. See you all on 7 August.