The Swanage Oracle - January 2023

Dear Residents,

A Very Happy New Year to you! 2023 here we are. We cannot say that the last three years have been uneventful, that is for sure. Here at Modern Magazines with your local Oracle, we sincerely intend this year to be successful for all of us, despite anything the news may try and tell us. I hope you have made some good New Years’ resolutions and that you feel you can create and have some fun. Our local trades and businesses inside really want you to call them. Please use their services for the help you need in the home, for the car, your business or even for yourself. Do tell them that you have seen them here, as this makes all the difference. I just love to hear you found their details in “The Oracle”. The index at the back is a quick guide to find who you are looking for. There are local groups and societies that also wish to hear from you, so please give them a call too and join in with their activities. There is nothing better than getting together with like-minded people. It is very uplifting and may be the ‘therapy’ we all need to watch less TV. If you know of a club that needs more support, let them know of us. We can help spread the word.

In a number of recent editions we have carried a column that was associated with Martin Lewis. We have since found out that they were in fact not written by Martin Lewis himself. For the most up to date guidance and personal finance information, visit MoneySavingExpert.com.

Stephen, myself (Debbie), Mel, Julie, Steph, Tracey, Pippa, Beth and Jaidan, our new graphic designer, all wish you a fantastic 2023! May you expand in all areas of your life and laugh a lot. Best wishes, Debbie, Stephen & the Gang!

The Mowlem is seeking three new trustees

The Mowlem is the Arts Venue in Swanage, and a key feature in Swanage life, showing over 200 films each year and 100 nights of live theatre and music, including local schools and amateur societies as well as professional productions.

The Mowlem has just launched its Business Plan https://themowlem.com/ businessplan/ and is entering an exciting new phase in its development.

The trustees are looking for three new trustees to join the Board, who have interest in the arts, and the enthusiasm, skills and commitment to make The Mowlem a central part of Purbeck life. The trustees are looking in particular for a trustee with a background in HR and health and safety.

Further details and a trustee information pack can be obtained from admin@themowlem.com

Volunteer recruitment at Dorset Wildlife

Trust’s coastal centres

Dorset Wildlife Trust is appealing for local people, aged 18 and over, to help with its wildlife conservation work in the Isle of Purbeck, Weymouth, and Portland areas. New recruits are needed to join a keen group of volunteers at both the Fine Foundation Wild Seas Centre, Kimmeridge, and the Fine Foundation Wild Chesil Centre, Portland.

With the current climate and ecological crises and increasing pressures from human activities, wildlife on the land and in the sea is under threat, so our conservation work has never been more important. Local people who would like to do something valuable for nature and have time to offer on a regular basis, are invited to take part.

No expertise is required as all volunteers will be provided with free training to equip them with the basic knowledge and skills necessary. Our aim is to enable those visiting our centres to leave feeling empowered to make simple changes in their everyday lives that benefit the planet and help tackle the environmental issues of our day.

This is part of Dorset Wildlife Trust’s strategy to inspire and empower 1 in 4 people to take action for nature by 2030.

Julie Hatcher, Wild Seas Centre Officer, said:

“We have an amazing team of volunteers at Kimmeridge with a wide range of backgrounds and ages. What they all have in common is a passion for wildlife and a desire to help ensure its well-being. The Wild Seas Centre sits in a stunning location and offers a great opportunity to do something both enjoyable and worthwhile.”

Wild Chesil Centre Officer Sarah Hodgson said:

“By joining our volunteer team at Chesil, you have the opportunity to learn valuable new skills, help local wildlife and share your enthusiasm for the natural world with visitors to this special site”.

Open sessions at both the Wild Seas Centre and the Wild Chesil Centre will be held in January, when you can meet the staff and volunteers and find out more about what we do. A limited number of vacancies are available at both visitor centres, so if you think you’re suited to join our hardworking teams, please contact the relevant centre to register your interest. To find out more about the volunteering opportunities at the coastal visitor centres, visit dorsetwildlifetrust.org. uk/volunteering-opportunities

Photo: Dorset Wildlife Trust

Pegg in Paradise

Not long ago, Simon Pegg was co-writing low-budget British comedy. Now he’s tasked with preserving the legacy of not one, not two, but three of cinema’s most beloved sci-fi franchises.

It’s a sizeable distance from the suburbs of North London to the final frontier of space, but Simon Pegg has made the journey without breaking sweat.

In 1999, Pegg first made his way into the British public’s consciousness as slacker Tim Bisley in Spaced, the sitcom he both starred in and cowrote. The show not only set a precedent for much of Pegg’s early career, it also helped him catch the eye of Hollywood’s elite movers and shakers. In 2006, just five short years after wrapping up the low-budget British hit, and at a time when the writer feared he may have to pen a third series, Pegg was approached by one of Los Angeles’ leading directors, J.J. Abrams.

With Abrams in the director’s chair, Mission: Impossible III saw Pegg appear alongside cinema royalty in the form of Tom Cruise as the nerdy Benjamin ‘Benji’ Dunn.

“When J.J. Abrams asks you to be in one of his movies, you don’t think, ‘Will this pigeonhole my range’ – you say, ‘When do you need me?’” the 52-yearold laughs.

Pegg and Abrams teamed up again as part of Star Trek, the cinematic re-boot of the much-loved sci-fi story. Add in his cameo as Unkar Plutt in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and this largely unassuming creative comedian has strolled almost effortlessly into the A-list franchise elite.

“Being handed the keys to these universes has been such a privilege and an honour. They are daunting prospects and I’ve always appreciated the importance of doing them justice.

“You have to tread a fine line between the two different types of

people who watch franchise movies – on one hand you have the super fan, and on the other, the newbie who knows nothing about this world,” he explains. “You want to appeal to someone who says, ‘what’s this Mission: Impossible business?’, and then goes back and discovers 20 years’ worth.”

“Yet at the same time you don’t want to alienate old fans and move too far away from the core model,” he continues.

With two new Mission: Impossible movies in motion –Dead Reckoning Pts 1&2, for release in 2023 and 2024, the size of the task doesn’t get any smaller.

“I feel like I’ve had a really nice run of smaller films before all this – with Hector, Man Up, Absolutely Anything and others. I’ve had a run of blockbusters, then balanced back into movies such as Lost Translations, Inheritance and others. It’s a nice mix. It’s keeping me away from having to write another series of Spaced!”

The Dorset Theatre

Goers’ Club are looking for members!

We are looking for more Members!

We travel by the comfortable Excelsior Coaches to many beautiful theatres along the south of England , starting our journey at Swanage, through Wareham and Sandford with many pick-up points along the route.

Always Matinees, so home by late evening. Our next visit on offer to

Members is Thursday 26th January, which is to the Mayflower, Southampton to see “ My Fair Lady” and our February trip is to The Mill at Sonning to see “ Always in Paris “.

For more information or an Application Form:

Telephone: 01929 425458

Email: carp46@yahoo.com

Eco-Co ee

How to ensure your morning beverage isn’t brewing up an environmental storm.

When, in the mid-Nineties, the likes of Costa Coffee and Starbucks began opening on our high streets, so too did there begin a coffee bean revolution that has transformed our drinking habits.

However, such pleasure has come at a cost. With 95 million cups of coffee slurped down in the UK every single day the resulting waste and environmental impact has also increased significantly. A colossal 2.5 billion coffee cups are dumped every year (with only 0.25% currently recycled), while 30,000 coffee pods end up in landfill every single month. And that’s before you even consider the global resource and human costs of what has become the most traded commodity after crude oil.

Fortunately, there is much you can do to ensure your caffeine kick is not compromising the planet. As with most products, knowing the origin

of what you’re consuming is vital, and many supermarkets are keenly aware of their responsibility to offer ethically sourced coffee. Check for sustainability certifications that ensure things are being done to help make production better for both the environment and the farmers involved. Associations like Fairtrade and the Rainforest Alliance are great examples of this, so look out for beans that feature their logos.

Even fans of pod machines can also lower their coffee carbon footprint. Many appliances are now compatible with foil pods which can be recycled using a very simple and nifty pod recycling device that separates the used coffee grounds from their foil casing. The grounds go on your compost heap, while the accumulated foils

head for the recycling bin. You can also source pods that are compostable in their entirety.

When it comes to drinking ‘on the go’, the obvious solution to limiting waste is to switch to a reusable coffee cup, and many cafes will offer a discount on your beverage when you proffer your own vessel. You can also upgrade to beans that are organic; and if your focus is on the imprint being made on the dairy industry, cow’s milk alternatives such as soy, almond, rice or oat have never felt closer to the real thing.

In other words, you don’t have to let your coffee consumption become a burden on your conscience.

With an abundance of options available in an industry that is positively booming, it’s actually very easy to make the right choices. It means if you still give in to the temptation of the odd instant coffee – and why should you not? – the assault will be only on your tastebuds, not the planet!

Going Green...

So much is being said about the need to protect the planet and use more eco-friendly material, but it is the small steps that each of us can do that will really make the difference.

Take the EcoEgg Laundry Egg... the innovative laundry solution. It replaces laundry detergent and fabric conditioner, reducing both harmful chemicals used and also single-use plastic packaging.

Dermatest has rated it excellent for use on sensitive skin, giving a kinder wash on both your skin and your pocket.

The mineral pellets in the egg, which are refillable (saving even more money!), work together in the water to effectively draw dirt from your clothes and softens them by changing the pH. Therefore leaving your laundry clean and fresh.

EcoEggs are available in Fresh Linen, Spring Blossom and Fragrance Free.

Recently, they have also released the EcoEgg Dryer Egg, which can be used when tumble drying. They reduce the drying time by up to 28%, saving you both time and money.

“I’ve been using mine for over a month now and I absolutely love it. It saves money, there’s no mess from washing powders and liquids. Also easy to use, and is better for the environment. Helps cut down on single use plastic and doesn’t use harmful chemicals.” KD

If you would like to know more about these products and many more, please feel free to visit my website at debbiegoesgreen.uk or email me at hello@debbiegoesgreen.uk as I would love to hear from you. Let’s look after ourselves and our environment!

Debbie Corney

The Property Protection Trust Will package is based around how you hold the ownership of your home. All good estate planning nowadays considers the difference between owning your home as joint tenants or as tenants in common.

If you own your home as Joint Tenants; when one of you dies the ownership of the home passes by the Law of Survivorship and not by your Will. Therefore, the surviving partner will automatically own 100% of the property. This sounds right to most people. BUT should the surviving partner need care in the future, the Local Authority can take everything they own (including their home) to pay for the care fees, leaving just £14,250 to be inherited by children and grandchildren.

There is an alternative.

Nowadays many couples choose to own their home as Tenants in Common where each partner will own 50% of the family home. This provides for many benefits. Firstly, it allows you to legally leave your share of the property in your Will to whoever you wish. A properly written Will can ensure that your half of your house will eventually pass to your children even if your widow re-marries.

Unmarried cohabiting couples or relatives living together can also use this means of ownership as a way of minimising their Inheritance Tax exposure.

It can also help with long-term care costs. If one of you is still living in your home the Local Authority can’t include its value in the means test if one of you has to go in to long-term care. This also applies if the husband or wife still living at home dies while the other is in care as their share will go into the trust.

Dorset and Wight are your local experts in Property Protection Trust Wills.

Increasing numbers of homeowners are choosing to hold their properties as tenants in common to reduce inheritance tax and help protect their share from care fees

The Adventures of Daichi

The Modern Magazines Camper Van

London! Daichi has never been to London. Many years ago I was at university there, so this was a real adventure for me. A trip down memory lane. The easiest and cheapest way to get there was to park Daichi in the car park at Richmond. A mere £8.50 for the day. The Richmond train station is just a ten minutes’ walk away and we were on our way into the Capital! It was 25th November and Hayden’s 19th Birthday so what a great excuse to book a show for the evening and wander around our wonderful city for the day. Hayden has never seen Buckingham Palace so that was a must. St James’s Park is one I remember well. Having spent three years at Goldsmiths College and regularly taking the train to Charing Cross then walking from there, it was a place I recall with fondness. We stopped in the park for a coffee and sandwich, looking at the ducks on the water and enjoying the sunshine – Yes, in November! The palace was surrounded by people taking photos. I heard one European sounding accent say, “Oh that is where he comes out on the balcony!” I smiled. Isn’t it incredible how well our late Queen passed over her duties so smoothly, after all that time on the throne, and how well we are recognised for the good work we do as a nation.

I really enjoyed being there. The King was there too – the flag was up! I would have gone in to say ‘Hello’… but we were a little short on time.

Next was a trip to Camden Market. You see, owning a Waffle place, it is good to get ideas and we set off there all determined to see what we could do, to lift “Wafflicious” in Weymouth even further. Lindsey, a friend, came with us as she is a chef and is full of great ideas of her own. Camden Market is not a place I frequented much at all when I was living there. It is an amazing place. We immediately saw lots of street food vendors and lo and behold there were two very colourful and popular I have to say, waffle sellers! Wow. They looked amazing. Of course, we all had to try one. They tasted as good as they looked. So… if you are ever in Weymouth this coming spring or summer you can come and see our own version of the delights that we relished. Let’s see how we do! After dessert, we had lunch (obviously) outside, under the canopy, of a bar overlooking the Lock. Fabulous! Smoked salmon salad this time, so healthier, but not nearly as much fun. A barge even floated by for us to watch.

Hayden has joined a ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ group recently. This is a fantasy tabletop

First stop... Buckingham Palace!

role-playing game where you create your own character and can enact it while you play. How exciting! We found a wonderful leather book at a bargain price, with a dragon on the front. All ready for him to take notes and plan his manoeuvres. This world famous and iconic market really does live up to its reputation. We spent a few well–spent hours there, looking at clothes, games, toiletries, food stalls galore, paintings, decorations, in fact anything you could think of to buy. Daichi would have loved it, if he wasn’t too expensive to drive into London itself!

Then it was time to make our way to the well anticipated West End Show! We had tickets to see the renowned musical, “Back to the Future”. Seats in the upper circle, second row from the front, and we were ready. It is such a long time since I have taken in the full atmosphere of a truly professional setting like this. It was glorious. The whole show was spectacular. The special effects of lighting and scenery were remarkable. The singing and dancing were outstanding. Ben Joyce who played Marty McFly was brilliant and he only graduated in summer 2021. His list of

Night lights of London across the Thames

already acclaimed credits was much shorter than Cory English who played ‘Doc Brown’. What a fantastic start to his career. All of the performers were perfectly cast, and I have to say that Oliver Nicholas who played the father, George Mc Fly, as his debut West End performance, was excellent. To be able to dance ‘wrongly and awkwardly’ deliberately is a skill in itself! Bravo I say. The finale was totally unexpected and incredible to watch. Having a seat in the circle I do believe was a bonus as we had all the full effects of the lighting, sound and visuals. I will not spoil it for you as you must see it for yourself! All in all, a day trip to London was a real hit. We walked to the Thames before leaving. I looked at the Charing Cross Bridge I used to cross all those years ago and remembered times when I was much younger. Fortunately, I was not sad. I feel I have been leading a full life and those days set me on my path. The lights of all the towering buildings that night seemed particularly bright and were shimmering Thames water. Then there were the opulent boats carrying well dressed passengers for a luxury 4 course meal. Not quite the street food we had been drooling over earlier. London of course is full of diversity and that is why we love it… or maybe you don’t. I love to visit but am happy where we live. I think a day trip to London will be on the cards again soon. It was a great success and Daichi was as happy as Larry to take us home and Hayden was all smiles after his Birthday treat. Where will Daichi take us next I wonder…

By Debbie Corney

Green ngers… the Alan Titchmarsh column

He’s a brilliant presenter, accomplished gardener, talented novelist, and allround horticultural inspiration. This month, Alan Titchmarsh discusses his move to incorporate horticulture into the National Curriculum, and a sidestep into novels.

I’ve written three autobiographies and people have expressed surprise that I do sometimes, even now, lack confidence in my work. I always wonder if it stems from my childhood and my parents who were very much realists. I wouldn’t swap them for the world, but in their very blunt Yorkshire way they would say ‘he’s not that bright,’ and I wasn’t then. I suppose it has been a bit of a curse and given my success I probably should have more confidence, but then

again it has made me who I am. When you’re not that good when you’re young, there is the fear that you won’t get better, and it came as a kind of revelation when I did.

Even in the 11 novels I’ve penned, I’ve never had faith in my prose; in secondary school I remember doing ‘when composition becomes essays’. I don’t think my English teacher was particularly convinced about my capabilities; I’ve still got my essay book and it’s got some very harsh comments at the bottom in red ink.

Yet my English teacher, bless her, I was in touch with her a few years ago and she said she felt she hadn’t been a particularly good teacher,

and I wrote back saying ‘well whatever it is you did, I’ve ended up doing the job I do now, writing pretty much for a living, so you can’t have got it all wrong’. I thought it was terribly generously spirited of her to admit that she was wrong.

I think my point here is that I was no more a gardener at school than I was a novelist, and I became both; but I did that through exposure and opportunity, and this is what we need to give our children.

And in my mind, there is no greater exposure to the world than you will find in the garden on a frosty Sunday morning, so get your kids and grandkids out there, and let’s really inspire the next generation!

Nurturing a garden can give you a real sense of achievement, and connection to the earth; I always say it is an escape to reality, or a different reality… and for our young people, that’s where real inspiration can emerge.

A Design for Life… e Kevin McCloud Column

Designer, writer and television presenter, Kevin McCloud leapt into our consciousness with his vastly successful Grand Designs show on Channel 4. This month, the affable architectural business owner returns to the subject of sustainability, both in terms of what we make our homes with, and what we place inside them.

To me, the relationship between making things and sustainability is essential, and I fear, as Western society, we’ve lost touch with the value of made things… with the value of raw materials, of the energy required. I don’t just mean fossil fuel energy, but also the human energy that goes into the process.

I’m very struck by seeing people producing lighting out of bits of recycled industrial stuff, or those who can put together and sell furniture they’ve handcrafted in small workshops all over the country.

A fabulous trend in the past couple of decades has been the

encouraging of home production creation –

everything from picture frames to jewellery – and how the internet has given these people a platform that is truly global.

When you meet someone who has made something in their workshop, you get the opportunity to sample their passion, influences, their own inspiration for doing what they do.

People talk a lot about sustainability using words like carbon and energy consumption – all that technical stuff – yet sustainability also comes in the form of the value of the objects we place inside our homes too.

After all, we are five times less likely to

throw away something we have made compared to something we have bought.

It’s also true that the longer we have something the less likely we are to bin itthere are records from the Seventies that I’ve still got; there’s a belt I’ve had all my life. We’ve all got stuff we love that we don’t want to let go of!

Sure enough, when we see our friends we talk about these things, we share the stories. I can bore people into infinity talking about my belt, or my old leather chair, and that’s the exciting thing: stuff as it gets older, gets better; it attracts more stories.

What I’m saying is we need to continue to keep creating homes that are rich in their fabric, but that are filed with things of value as well, so that we can share those stories with people, make friends, and embed ourselves into a community. That to me is actually a big part of what sustainability is about.

Lorraine Pascale’s Soda Bread

Bread, on its own, is always enough! There is a warmth and simplicity that no other type of food can rival.

Sure, add some butter, some oil, and maybe a dusting of salt, and jam of course; but bread, no matter how you dress it up, comes equipped with such perfection that I don’t feel it will ever let me down!

This recipe is probably the easiest route for baking bread. It’s also quick – and the bread won’t keep for long, so you get the pleasure of scoffing it all on day one!

Ingredients

(serves 4)

• 370g/13oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting

• 130g/4½oz wholemeal flour

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 1 tsp salt

• 40g/1½oz butter, melted

• 1 tbsp black treacle

• 300–340ml/11–12fl oz buttermilk (or alternatively use warm milk plus 1 tbsp lemon juice)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6 and ensure the top shelf in the oven is in position. Now place the flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl and stir together. Make a large hole in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the melted butter and treacle, plus enough of the buttermilk to make a loose sticky dough.

2. Tip the dough onto a lightly dusted work surface. The dough will be quite sticky. Knead the dough for one minute, then shape it into a large ball with a taut, smooth top. Place the dough on a baking tray and flatten it a bitI find the easiest way to do this is with a rolling pin.

3. Take a wooden spoon, put some flour over the whole handle, then hold it horizontally over the bread. Put the wooden spoon handle on top of the bread then push it down until you feel the baking tray at the bottom. This mark is the first half of the trademark soda bread cross. Repeat with a line at right angles to this.

4. Dust with some flour then bake in the oven for 30–40 minutes, or until the bread is brown, has risen nicely and the dough inside where the cross was made is not damp.

5. Serve fresh from the oven with butter and jam. Enjoy!

Top Tips

- This recipe calls for buttermilk, which is available from bigger supermarkets. However a homemade version can be made by putting lemon juice in regular milk and letting it sit for a few minutes.

- Also, the best way to remove treacle from the tin is to run a tablespoon under a really hot tap for 10 seconds before dipping it into the treacle. This ensures the treacle runs easily off the spoon.