LymeOnline Digital Edition - January 22 2021

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Work to start on Mary’s statue THE Mary Anning Rocks appeal has reached the £70,000 mark, meaning work can start on the much-awaited statue of Lyme Regis’ most famous fossil hunter.

While the online fundraising appeal hopes to raise a total of £100,000, it has now reached a level at which chosen artist Denise Dutton can start work on the statue.

A further £30,000 is still needed for the planning application, solicitor fees, ground works, structural and engineering specialists to install the statue.

REPORT, PAGE 7

Roads to close for work on Guildhall

BRIDGE Street and a section of Church Street in Lyme Regis are expected to be closed during March to allow work to be carried out on the historic Guildhall.

Lyme Regis Town Council is planning to reduce the projection of the overhanging window of the Grade II listed Guildhall, which is regularly damaged by passing heavy goods vehicles and buses attempting to navigate the narrow, sharp bend.

REPORT, PAGE 2

PINHAY House care home, near Lyme Regis, has said it is “hugely proud” of how its staff have dealt with the challenges of the past 11 months, continuing to care for some of the most vulnerable residents in society. Vaccinations of care home staff have already started in the local area with more expected to be completed by the end of the week as the UK ramps up its fight against the virus. Find out the latest on local case numbers and the vaccination programme on pages 4 & 5.

Fighting the coronavirus

MP praises Woodroffe

WEST Dorset MP Chris Loder has praised The Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis for going “totally above and beyond” during the pandemic, as he called for vaccinations for teachers to be given higher priority.

Mr Loder made the comments in the House REPORT, PAGE 3 of Commons this week.

DORSET INCREASES EFFORTS TO STOP THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 DORSET is ramping up its fight against COVID-19, with more than 3,000 council and care home staff to be vaccinated by the end of the week, along with 2,000 patients at Bridport Medical Centre.

The further roll-out of the vaccination programme comes as COVID cases across Dorset have continued to rise in recent weeks.

In the seven days up until January 15, the

FRANCESCA EVANS

francesca@lyme-online.co.uk

Dorset Council area has 1,261 positive cases, compared to 1,171 in the previous seven-day period, and Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole had 3,524 positive cases, compared to 2,400 the previous week.

Figures released on Wednesday showed that the Lyme Regis, Charmouth and Marshwood Vale area reached 35 cases on January 14 -

putting it above the national average case rate per 100,000 people for the first time since the pandemic broke out.

However, in figures released for January 15 this had reduced to 31 cases, putting in just below the national average again.

While this is still an increase of three cases on the previous seven days, it is the first time case numbers have stopped climbing in the local area since mid-December.

SEE FULL REPORT ON PAGES 4 & 5

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Published by Lyme Regis Media Limited Hyper-local website and fortnightly newspaper serving the communities of Lyme Regis, Uplyme & Charmouth.

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Plans to convert former café into apartment PERMISSION is being sought to convert a town centre café in Lyme Regis into a onebedroom apartment.

The Penny Black Café (pictured), behind the post office, ceased trading in March 2020 and an application has now been submitted to Dorset Council to change its use and convert the café into a private dwelling.

The application states: “Lyme Regis has an oversupply of restaurants and eating places but insufficient small dwelling units to meet market demand.

“We believe that our proposal for makes the best use of this site. We understand that Lyme Regis has very few sites that could enable the development of a dwelling of this size in such a central location.

“We believe that it provides a rare opportunity to create a lower priced accommodation unit, within the town centre, which would be suitable for people working locally.”

Access to the flat will be via the existing courtyard at the rear of the post office.

The apartment will be separated from the adjoining retail unit by a new party wall. The current bathroom, lobby and toilet areas will be combined to form an attractive kitchen and dining area with a vaulted ceiling.

A rooflight will bring in natural light and provide ventilation.

The existing café seating and servery area will be divided to give a good size living area and a double bedroom.

Double glazed doors and windows to each will bring in light and give views to the courtyard garden.

A shower room will be formed in the large entrance hall and the basement will provide a utility room, a second WC and storage.

You can view full details of the planning application on the Dorset Council website at https://bit.ly/2LSQwse

Church Street and Bridge Street to close for Guildhall work BRIDGE Street and a section of Church Street in Lyme Regis are expected to be closed during March to allow work to be carried out on the historic Guildhall.

Lyme Regis Town Council is planning to reduce the projection of the overhanging window (pictured) of the Grade II listed Guildhall, which is regularly damaged by passing heavy goods vehicles and buses attempting to navigate the narrow, sharp bend.

According to council records, the window has been hit at least 12 times since 2017, all of which warranted repair work

which required the road to be closed.

The planning application is currently being considered by Dorset Council and, if approved, work is expected to be carried out in March.

The town council has now applied for a road closure of Bridge Street, at its junction with Coombe Street, to Church Street, with its junction of Monmouth Street.

The closure will be in place from March 1 to March 28. If you have any concerns about this proposal, contact Samantha Paulley by emailing trafficteam@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by February 1.

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MP praises Woodroffe School for going ‘above and beyond’ during pandemic WEST Dorset MP Chris Loder has praised The Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis for going “above and beyond” during the pandemic, as he called for vaccinations for teachers to be given higher priority.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Mr Loder addressed Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, asking him to place vaccinations for teaching staff higher on the agenda, following the efforts schools had made to continue the education of young people in challenging circumstances.

Mr Loder paid particular tribute to The Woodroffe School, along with others in Bridport, Beaminster, Sherborne and Dorchester, saying they had “totally gone above and beyond in delivering education to our children in West Dorset”.

He added: “Their work, education, the logistics, the care, the support of their pupils has been absolutely excellent.”

Mr Loder commented: “The reality is that schools, their headteachers and teams are making valiant efforts to continue educating our children, their pupils, no matter what the circumstance they face.

“Whilst I know schools are closed to most children, I have one school in West Dorset with 60 per cent of children who are children of critical workers or those of particular need.

“I have been in regular contact with the headteachers in my constituency and I have been consistently in awe of the way they continue to handle the most difficult of situations.

“COVID testing in schools has been a great, logistical challenge but nonetheless our schools, particularly those in West Dorset, have been willing to put all the measures in place to carry on.

“Teachers across the nation, I know, have gone above and beyond, to support other peo-

ple through the pandemic, which has been no mean feat.

“West Dorset schools have made the transition to online learning extraordinarily quickly, thereby ensuring that students do not fall behind. They have kept their doors open for the children of critical workers and they have built COVID-secure infrastructure entirely from scratch in many cases.

“The government has kept schools open for as long as possible to reduce the disruption to education and I know the decision to close was not one that was taken lightly at all.

“Despite the short notice on many of these decisions, teachers in my constituency have been enormously responsive to these changing circumstances.”

You can watch Chris Loder make his speech in full on the LymeOnline website at www.lyme-online.co.uk.

Find out more about the local vaccination programme on pages 4 & 5

Local businesses recognised in Dorset Tourism Awards A LYME Regis business has been named as a finalist in the Dorset Tourism Awards.

More than 90 entries were received for this year’s awards after an extended 10-month process due to the COVID pandemic. Sixty businesses have been selected as finalists in various categories and will now have to wait until February 4 to find out if they have won gold, silver, bronze or a special award at the virtual ceremony.

Among those named as finalists was the multiaward-winning Dorset House in Lyme Regis, in the B&B and Guesthouse of the Year category sponsored by Goadsby.

Run by Lyn and Jason Martin, the successful bed and breakfast was named Winner of Winners in the 2018 Dorset Tourism Awards, and also won gold in the Taste of the West awards 2018/19, as well as several accolades for its breakfasts and hospitality.

The Tunnel Tree Tops in Charmouth was also commended for the New Tourism Business Award, sponsored by Visit Dorset.

This high ropes adventure trail consists of an adrenaline-pumping complex of rope bridges, zip wires and walkways, based at The Tunnel Target Sports Centre, just outside the village.

A spokesperson for The Tunnel Tree Tops said: “After a tough year, we are very proud to have received a commended award in the New Tourism Business category in the 2020 Dorset Tourism Awards!”

This is the eighth year the awards have been held, continuing through unprecedented times for tourism, but the focus on excellence and feedback for entrants has remained as relevant as ever.

Chair of the judging panel, Professor Peter Jones, said: “Dorset tourism, like tourism the world over, is demonstrating resilience and fortitude in coping with the impact and implications of COVID-19 in some amazing ways.

“This year’s entries into the Dorset Tourism

LYN and Jason Martin from Dorset House pictured at the 2018 Dorset Tourism awards Awards are no exception. Entrants demonstrated creativity and innovation, passion for the industry, and enthusiasm in providing a great experience for their customers in the most difficult of circumstances.

“Even with an understandably slightly lower number of entries, the standards remained incredibly high, and all entrants are to be congratulated on their commitment to wanting to demonstrate their successes and to the future of tourism in Dorset. Well done!”

Awards organiser Robin Barker, of Services for Tourism, commented: “The past 10 months have been a challenge for everyone – to survive let alone prosper. Having considered abandoning the Awards I’m so glad we persevered, adapting and changing along the way.

“The delight we’re witnessing amongst finalists on being told of their success makes it all so worthwhile!”

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COVID-19: The latest on local figures and vaccines Thousands of West Dorset patients to be vaccinated in coming weeks

NEW figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show there were no coronavirus-related deaths in Lyme Regis during 2020.

The ONS updated its figures this week to include December data on deaths caused by COVID-19 since the UK outbreak in March 2020 for each area across the country.

There were no COVID-19 deaths in the Lyme Regis, Charmouth and Marshwood Vale area during the entire period of March to December 2020.

However, the Kilmington, Colyton & Uplyme area recorded its first two coronavirus-related deaths in December 2020.

Axminster also saw an alarming eight coronavirus-related deaths in December, bringing its total to 18, having recorded three in April and seven in May. In Seaton, there was one death in December, bringing its total to 13 with previous deaths recorded in April, May, June and August.

To the east, the Burton Bradstock and Chideock area has not seen any coronavirus-related deaths since the one recorded in April. Bridport recorded a total of three coronavirus-related deaths in 2020, all in April.

Figures released this week showed that the Lyme Regis, Charmouth and Marshwood Vale

area reached 35 COVID cases on January 14 - putting it above the national average case rate per 100,000 people for the first time since the pandemic broke out.

However, in figures released for January 15 this had reduced to 31 cases, putting in just below the national average again.

While this is still an increase of three cases on the previous seven day period, it is the first time case numbers have stopped climbing locally since mid-December.

Similar to the rest of the country, it is thought the recent local spike in numbers may have been caused by the more contagious variant of the virus, which emerged in the UK over the Christmas period.

In neighbouring areas, Kilmington, Colyton & Uplyme had 15 cases in the seven days up until January 15, an increase of one on the previous week; Axminster had 11 cases, a decrease of eight; Seaton had nine cases, a decrease of seven; Burton Bradstock and Chideock had seven cases, a decrease of seven; Bridport South and West Bay had eight cases, an increase of two; and Bridport North had nine cases, a decrease of three.

In the seven days up until January 15, the Dorset Council area had 1,261 positive cases, compared to 1,171 in the previous seven-day period, and Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole had 3,524 positive cases, compared to 2,400 the previous week.

BRIDPORT Medical Centre plans give the COVID-19 vaccine to about 2,000 patients from the Bridport, Lyme Regis and Charmouth area tomorrow (Saturday).

The flow of COVID-19 vaccination stock to Bridport Medical Centre has increased, allowing the Jurassic Coast Primary Care Network team to expand the vaccination programme.

The supply of AstraZeneca vaccine will allow them to vaccinate between 1,500 to 2,000 patients per day.

The team now hope to vaccinate regularly twice a week, delivery of vaccine allowing, starting tomorrow (January 23).

A spokesman for Bridport Medical Centre said: “We have moved on to Cohort 3 – aged 75 to 79yrs – and are contacting patients to book into this clinic.

“The large volume of vaccinations poses a huge logistical challenge both within the medical centre but also with car parking at the centre and traffic in the surrounding roads.

People attending are advised to please plan ahead.

“Those attending should please arrive no earlier than five minutes prior to their appointment time.

“Parking on site will be strictly limited to those with severe mobility issues who would not otherwise be able to get to the centre.

NIGEL Whitaker, one of the first patients to recieve the COVID vaccine at Bridport Medical Centre, administered by Carly Reed “Those attending for vaccination should please utilise the public car parks in and around the town centre and make the five to 10-minute walk to the centre; this should minimise traffic around the medical centre.”

Car parking spaces have been allocated in Plottinghams and West Street car parks for those attending for a COVID vaccination. Marshals will be able to direct walkers to the centre after the medical centre made a plea for volunteers this week.

The spokesman added: “The vaccinating teams and marshals will do

everything they can to minimise wait times, but queues do sometimes spill outside; a dry day is forecast but patients are asked to wear suitable clothing and footwear to prepare against cold and wet weather.

“Please avoid West Allington and West Road as queueing traffic is expected; the team will do their best to keep things moving but request that anyone local to please avoid the area on these days.”

If you are interested in volunteering to help marshal at the clinics, email volunteeringbmc@gmail.com

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COVID-19: The latest on local figures and vaccines EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT Care home staff among those THE VACCINE ROLL-OUT IN DORSET to receive their jabs this week MORE than 3,000 Dorset Council and care home staff will have been vaccinated locally against COVID by the end of this week.

Adult social care brief holder Cllr Laura Miller said that by the end of the week, working with Dorset County Hospital, it is estimated that about 3,200 staff and associated care workers will have been vaccinated.

She said that adult social care front line workers are been vaccinated as a priority along with other social care and transport staff from Dorset Council, and had made a start on booking in domiciliary staff.

“We have worked really hard to get our care home staff vaccinated as the priority, but the domiciliary staff are really important too, because they are supporting people in their own homes,” she said.

“The situation from our workforce point of view has been going really well.”

Cllr Miller said some people might be offered vaccinations at the Bournemouth International Centre which was being used as a local hub, although people did not have to take the offer up and could wait to attend a centre more local to them.

She said it was hoped to produce regular, easily understandable, information about the rate of local vaccinations, but this might depend on the pressure of work.

Cllr Miller said she had volunteered to help at a local centre and had discovered that no vaccinations were being wasted with the centre having a list of NHS staff they were able to call on at

short notice for inoculation, and once that had been exhausted jabs were offered to volunteers.

Staff at local care homes have already started receiving their vaccinations, including at Pinhay House Care Home on the outskirts of Lyme Regis.

All 19 residents and 40 members of staff at Pinhay have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination and are expecting their second dose at the end of March.

Sheena Lee, registered manager at Pinhay House Care Home, said: "At Pinhay we are hugely proud of the continued excellence of our staff, and their dedication to the work to make sure they are keeping in line with government guidance and our own regulations.

“The previous 11 months have been some of the most challenging in Pinhay's history but we still pride ourselves on being able to offer good person-centred care, to those that come to live with us.

“The virus hasn't stopped us being able to provide care to some of the most vulnerable in society and we are still able to offer respite care to those that need it.

“All of our staff and residents have regular tests for COVID-19.

“We also feel that praise should be given to the families of our residents, who have been so understanding to the situation.

“They have appreciated the regular updates and advances we've made at Pinhay, so that face to face visiting can begin again, once we are in a safe position to do so."

NEWS FROM CITIZENS ADVICE ACCORDING to recent research from Citizens Advice 14 per cent of the population, equivalent to seven million people, have fallen into debt because of coronavirus and lockdown restrictions.

Citizens Advice’s research indicates the situation is particularly tough for certain groups.

People who were furloughed or made redundant plus parents, carers and BAME groups are all more likely to have fallen behind.

Forty-five per cent of people with children have lost household income and over half of the parents in the survey said they had already cut down on regular and non-essential spending to ensure their children don’t go without.

The levels of debt are greatest for rent and council tax arrears and it is here that the consequences of non-payment are most severe including the prospect of eviction and homelessness.

As part of the latest lockdown, government has extended the ban on bailiff enforced evictions until at least February 21.

Responding to the announcement, Alistair Cromwell, Acting Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: “The government has made the right decision to extend this protection.

Renters who are struggling with arrears shouldn’t face the prospect of losing the roof over their head when everyone is being asked to stay at home.

“However, there are still hundreds of thousands of people in arrears and this debt will continue to hang over them. The government should put in place targeted financial support for tenants in England who’ve fallen behind on their rent.”

If you are falling behind paying essential household bills consider the tips below and think about seeking help.

Citizens Advice’s six top tips to help with your debts: 1) Work out how much you owe - make a list of whom you owe money to and add up how much you need to pay each month. If you don’t have your most recent statements, con-

tact your creditor to find out what you owe.

2) Prioritise your debts - your rent or mortgage, energy and council tax are called priority debts as there can be serious consequences if you don’t pay them. Separate these and work out how much you owe. Some creditors will have special arrangements for people with Covid-related arrears.

3) Work out how much you can pay - create a budget by adding up your essential living costs, such as food and housing, and taking these away from your income. Any money you have spare can be put towards your debts.

4) Paying urgent debts - you might have to contact priority creditors quickly in urgent situations, like if you are about to be evicted.

Most tenants cannot be evicted without a court order, and where the court has already made an order, evictions are paused until February 21. Tell your creditors you're seeking debt advice.

5) Paying non-urgent debts - if you have any money left after paying priority debts, but not enough to make your usual payments, consider getting advice on the best way for you to start getting on top of your debts. Or contact your creditors and offer them what you can afford to pay.

6) If you can’t pay your debts - if you’ve got little or no money spare to pay your priority debts seek advice from Citizens Advice straight away. If you’re struggling to pay for basics like food, seek help immediately to see what support might be available to you.

During Covid restrictions, Bridport & District Citizens Advice offers comprehensive advice on debt and other issues. Telephone freephone 0800 144 8848 or send an email using the contact form on the website www.bridportca.org.uk or leave a message on 01308456594. You will be called back to help you find a way forward.

When will I get my jab?

The vaccines are being delivered in line with national guidance issued by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which means those people who are most at risk will be invited first. Find more advice at https://bit.ly/3qCFAxO. The NHS will get in touch when it’s your turn to be vaccinated People are asked to be patient and not contact their GP practice or hospital to request a vaccine. The NHS will be in touch when it’s your turn.

Where will I get my jab?

There are currently a number of ways the vaccine is being rolled out locally by the NHS, including: ● GP-led vaccinations services which are now up and running across Dorset. All of Dorset’s 18 primary care networks – including Jurassic Coast Primary Care Network at Bridport Medical Centre – are now offering the vaccine. These services include groups of GPs working together as primary care networks to vaccinate the most vulnerable to their collective patients in one location.

This means that you may not be vaccinated by your local GP and may be required to travel to a different site nearby to where you live. ● Hospital hubs at Dorchester, Bournemouth and Poole hospitals are live, with a focus on health and social care staff at the moment.

Roving service with the vaccine being taken into care homes and into people’s own homes if they are housebound and unable to attend a vaccination site. This is being co-

ordinated locally with your GP service and you will be told when the vaccinating team will be visiting you. ● A network of large vaccination centres across the country, which will be able to offer the vaccine to large numbers of people, is currently going live. The large vaccination centre at the Bournemouth International Centre is one of several places people can get their jab. ● Community pharmacies are due to come onboard in the near future as more vaccine supplies come on stream.

Health and social care workers The NHS is working with your employer to signpost you to the most appropriate venue for your vaccination to take place. Please contact your employer for details and not your local GP. To find more frequently asked questions, visit dorsetccg.nhs.uk

LymeOnline Letters Send your letters to francesca@lyme-online.co.uk

■ COULD somebody please tell me where the police presence is in Lyme Regis?

I live locally and wanted to go out for a walk. Too many people on the beach, no distances, no masks. Where the hell have they come from?

I'm on the verge of calling the police. Do something about it because we've already got the virus in town and it will never go.

Carol Allen By email

6 Friday, January 22 2021

LYME MATTERS with Philip Evans Essential reading for all those with Lyme at heart

www.lyme-online.co.uk

philip@lyme-online.co.uk

Why Brian should get a third term T

HIS is the time of year when town councillors turn their thoughts to who will be our next mayor.

The usual procedure is that councillors will vote in a secret paper ballot for the mayor and deputy mayor in March, but those elected to office do not take their positions until May. The role of council chairman and town mayor has been held for the past two years by Brian Larcombe MBE, the council member with the most experience in local government, having been chairman of a parish council in the Taunton area for 25 years, serving a population twice the size of Lyme but with a much smaller budget.

Usually the mayor gets a two-year term and is only offered a third year if no one else will accept the position.

Very few have served for one year only, just three in my recollection (myself, Stuart Case and Ken Whetlor).

A cannot recall a more difficult time to shoulder the responsibilities of being First Citizen than at this present time. Last year – with COVID-19 affecting every aspect of our lives – put huge pressure on Cllr Larcombe and town clerk John Wright.

Council meetings were suspended, later to be resumed by video conferencing - and staff had to work from home. Revenues fell away and the first lockdown put severe pressure on the council’s ability to maintain reserves.

Much of the work between town clerk and mayor had to be done by Zoom or telephone and I shudder to

It’s a dog’s life for the enforcers I HAVE no intention of getting involved in the long-running and vitriolic dispute over dogs on the beach at Lyme Regis. I learnt that lesson a long time ago.

On my daily walks I have seen many more local dog owners on Monmouth Beach, which at this time of year has a stretch of sand for the dogs to run around.

But I do feel some sympathy for the town council’s enforcement officers who recently went on a refresher course to be able to deal with the new regulation that, at this time of the year, mean

dogs on the front beach must be on a lead, and not on one of those 30 metre long ones.

I watched one of the officers deal with a few owners who had allowed their dogs off the lead this week and on each occasion he got a mouthful of abuse.

It would probably help if there was more visible signage, especially about dogs being on a lead at this time of year.

Dogs are now banned on the front beach from May to September but they are permitted to use Monmouth and Back Beach all year round.

think how many hours the council executive and outdoor staff had to put in to ensure all COVID restrictions were implemented. Overall, I think they did an excellent job, indeed one I would not have wanted to do.

They probably won’t admit it but I believe it must have been little short of a nightmare. As well as the additional workload, it has been quite a challenge keeping the rest of the council informed of what was happening. Not all of them were happy with the flow of information.

The two big civic events which the mayor has to host – first, the actual mayor-making ceremony (when he or she is installed). and the annual civic night, held towards the end of the mayor’s year in office which gives the outgoing incumbent the chance to thank the town for its support.

The two events are usually the most memorable of a First Citizen’s year but Cllr Larcombe had to forgo both of these last year due to the coronavirus restrictions.

Despite the extra workload that the pandemic has created, a great deal of future planning has gone into how Lyme can emerge from lockdown to retain its position as one of the most popular resorts on the south coast.

So the big question is: who will be wearing those gold chains when Cllr Larcombe’s two-year term comes to a close at the end of April.

For the sake of continuity, as we hopefully come out of lockdown and return to some form of normality, I think it would be wise - and in the town’s long-term interest - for Cllr Larcombe to be given a third term.

Cllr Brian Larcombe MBE - will he be offered a third term as mayor of Lyme Regis?

His focus has very much been on the many financial challenges the council faces and he is the right man to complete his vision for Lyme’s future. And he should be accorded the courtesy of another mayor-making evening and hosting his civic night like all those who have gone before him.

It would also make sense to select a deputy who would be able to take over the role of mayor when Cllr Larcombe vacates the mayoral chair.

I understand Cllr Larcombe would be prepared to serve another year if a majority of his fellow councillors want him to.

These are the things I miss most advantage digital print

Business cards Flyers Posters Leaflets Brochures Letterheads Compliment slips Folders Greetings cards Postcards

the

old radio station

www.advantagedigitalprint.com tel: 01305 75 74 72

This occasional feature highlighted some of the events I had been part of or witnessed during a long career in journalism.

Not any more...

WHEN ... walking along the seafront was for pleasure and not exercise

Those were the days... “come on granddad!”

WHEN... I always had some coins in my pocket

WHEN ... you could stand at the bar having a pint with friends

WHEN ... a friend says “see you soon” rather than “keep safe”

WHEN ... Saturday afternoons were spent watching football and not shopping in Tesco

WHEN... you could buy jugs of Pimm’s at the Harbour and drink them outside until you ran out of money

WHEN ... My grandchildren would run into the Amusement Arcade shouting

WHEN... people never had a go at you when you coughed

in the Co-Op WHEN... my wife said “never again” when I roped her into doing the catering for yet another charity function I was organising WHEN... I don’t have to watch war films which I have seen on the tele dozens of times to fend off boredom WHEN ... every BBC news programme is not so negative (that might be a long wait) WHEN... I stop creating spreadsheets to record every single aspect of my life WHEN... the humour rather

than vitriol returns to Lyme’s local social media sites WHEN... people stop blaming my daughter, who edits LymeOnline, for every piece of bad news about COVID WHEN... we can eat out again and the condiments don’t come in those annoying little sachets which I can never open WHEN... we can start producing a proper newspaper again, full of news and sport, and not have to revert to inane content fillers... like this!

Friday, January 22 2021 7

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Work to start on Mary Anning statue as appeal reaches £70k mark THE Mary Anning Rocks appeal has reached the £70,000 mark, meaning work can start on the much-awaited statue of Lyme Regis’ most famous fossil hunter.

While the online fundraising appeal hopes to raise a total of £100,000, it has now reached a level at which chosen artist Denise Dutton can start work on the statue.

Discussions over the possibility of erecting a statue of the 19th century palaeontologist Mary Anning were first held in 2018, after 11-year-old fossil enthusiast Evie Swire asked why there wasn’t a more prominent tribute to Lyme’s most famous daughter in her hometown.

The Mary Anning Rocks campaign was then set up and its online fundraising campaign finally went live in November 2020, with the backing of high profile supporters such as Sir David Attenborough and author Tracey Chevalier, who wrote ‘Remarkable Creatures’ based on Mary Anning’s life.

The campaign has also most likely benefited from the upcoming release of the film ‘Ammonite’, starring Kate Winslet as Mary Anning, which has brought the work of the fossil hunter

into the limelight. The company which made the film also contributed £5,000 towards the statue appeal.

The Mary Anning Rocks campaign has raised more than £70,000 in just two months and will continue until mid-February with the hope of reaching its final £100,000 target.

Having surpassed the £70,000 mark yesterday (Monday), work will now begin on the statue with artist Denise Dutton having already released initial sketches of how it will look (pictured right).

Mary is in her full working clothes carrying the accoutrements of her trade, basket, bonnet, hammer and is accompanied by her dog Tray.

The platform she is walking on will also show some of her most famous finds carved into the base.

A further £30,000 is still needed for the planning application, solicitor fees, ground works, structural and engineering specialists to install the statue. The site of the statue has not yet been agreed, but suggestions have included near Cobb Gate or on the new Church Cliff Walk.

UK release date announced for much-anticipated ‘Ammonite’ movie THE much-anticipated ‘Ammonite’ film, based on the life of Lyme Regis fossil hunter Mary Anning, will go on general release in the UK on March 26.

The movie has been three years in the making, with director Francis Lee – best known for the award-winning ‘God’s Own Country’ – reminiscing on Twitter last week about his first research trip to Lyme Regis back in January 2018.

He said he went on a fossil hunting walk with local expert Paddy Howe and returned home “inspired” and wrote the first draft script for the film.

Having already been realised in the UK, now the ‘Ammonite’ release date has been announced as Friday, March 26 2021 in the UK – two years after scenes were filmed in Lyme Regis.

It is hoped that cinemas may have reopened following national lockdown by this date.

Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet plays the working class 19th century fossil hunter Mary Anning, as she develops an intense bond with a more privileged young woman, Charlotte Murchison, played

by Saoirse Ronan, who is sent to convalesce by the sea. The story

will explore the themes of class and same sex relationships In a recent interview for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, which provides educational assistance to the members of the Screen Actors Guild and children’s literacy programmes, Kate spoke to writer, director and TV presenter Dawn O’Porter about how she got into character for ‘Ammonite’.

The actress said she “spent weeks on end on those cold, sideways-rain beaches of Lyme Regis” ahead of filming with local palaeontologist Paddy Howe, who taught her how to fossil hunt.

“I didn’t want to pretend, I didn’t want to turn up on the first day and have the expert give me a quick 10-minute session on how to dig or scrape,” she said.

“I knew that I had to get Mary into my bones, along with the cold and the energy and rhythm of her, which is so incredibly different to my own.”

Kate said she had to remove a lot of herself to get into the character of Mary, which she described as an “enormous challenge”.

“It was a really tough call knowing that if I was going to play this part that I would have to immerse myself as much as I could be-

cause my own family life just did not fit with how I was going to play this character.”

Kate then spent nine weeks filming in Lyme Regis and chose not to stay in hotel with the other actors and crew members. Instead, she lived alone in a cottage in Lyme Regis.

“I tried to live a life that was a close to Mary’s as I possibly could, which was obviously very difficult to do,” she said.

“She lived a life filled with struggle; she was very working class, self taught, exposed to extreme hardship and poverty.

“I was able to live alone in a little cottage which was exposed to the elements on two sides, so when there were storms the sea would hit the windows of the house, I was that close to the water.”

‘Ammonite’ was selected for several film festivals in 2020, many held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, and a preview screening was held in selected UK cinemas as part of the British Film Festival in October.

It was met with rave reviews from film critics, with some describing it as a “cinematic masterpiece”. ‘Ammonite’ has also been listed in a Best Films of 2021 preview by British film magazine ‘Empire’.

ADVERTISER’S ANNOUNCEMENT

Museum seeks new chair of trustees as it approaches 100th anniversary

IN March this year, Lyme Regis Museum will be 100 years old.

We’ve come a long way in recent years; we’ve doubled the size of the museum and the glorious summer of 2018 saw the museum attract almost 33,000 visitors – our highest ever.

In these more challenging times, our charity has been able to win significant emergency funding from Arts Council England and we face the future with optimism and confidence.

After many years’ service, our current chairman, John Dover, is stepping down.

Our museum is looking for a new chair to continue the great work done by John and his predecessor, Stephen Locke.

Of course, the role of chair of the museum is a voluntary role. Organisations like ours are led by a board of trustees, and it’s the chair’s role to lead this board which has legal responsibility for the good governance of the trust.

We searching nationwide for the right person, but really want to make sure that we are not missing out on a natural leader on our own doorstep.

The museum also has a subsidiary company which runs our shop and our famous fossil walks, the company is run by a small board of directors, and reports back to the board of trustees.

Our board meets for times a year and on top of steering these meetings, the chair also works closely with the museum director and on occasions other groups of trustees and

Lyme Regis Museum Chairperson Lyme Regis Museum is seeking a new chair in this, our centenary year. partners.

It is a post that calls for strategic vision and the ability to seek compromise. Having a good understanding of the cultural world is important, as the museum has close relationships with the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, the Jurassic Coast Trust and very importantly, Dorset Council.

We’re very much seeking an experienced person who feels they are able to rise to the challenge of leading our diverse and very able team of trustees, staff and volunteers through a period of change, as we strive to raise more of our own income, provide more benefits for local people and plan our next major programmes and initiatives.

If you are interested, please contact David Tucker, museum director, on director@lymeregismuseum.co.uk for an informal chat and more details. We look forward to hearing from you.

As the leader of our talented and diverse board of trustees, you will hold the senior position in our thriving and ambitious charity, and help us plot our way into our second century.

You will have a firm grasp of strategic leadership and the cultural world and represent the museum in its work with other partners.

The Board of Lyme Regis Museum meets four times a year.

The time commitment is in the region of two days a month.

You will work closely with the museum’s director.

If you would like to know more about this rewarding volunteer role, please contact David Tucker on director@lymeregismuseum.co.uk The closing date is Friday 26th 2021. www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk

axminsternews

8 Friday, January 22 2021

■ A TEENAGER from Axminster will be chopping off her long locks on her 18th birthday to raise funds for local mental health and counselling charity Arc. Fleur Mitchell, a sixth form student from the Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis, will shortly be turning 18, but with the country under lockdown there will be no big party or first legal drink in the pub.

Instead, Fleur has taken a daring decision and is trusting her dad to cut off her long hair in a charity head shave to raise funds for Arc, which provides easily-accessible, flexible counselling and psychotherapy for the Axminster community.

Fleur said: “I have had long hair for as long as I can remember and turning 18 is a good time for a change.

"Arc has helped somebody I know, especially during lockdown, and I want to give something back to this exceptional and unique mental health charity for all they have done."

Fleur is hoping to raise £180 for the charity and you can make a donation at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/william-mitchell8

■ AXMINSTER chef Ric Edgell is keeping busy in the kitchen during lockdown, sharing some of his favourite recipes with residents in cook-along videos.

Ric opened his restaurant Ric’s Kitchen, serving locally-sourced handmade food with a Mediterranean twist, in Axminster just after the first national lockdown and it has proved a huge hit with residents.

Now he is helping them make some of his favourite recipes at home, posting regular cookalong videos.

Recipes so far have included Ric’s signature Spanish tortilla, as well as breakfast pancakes which he cooked with his son, and peri peri chicken burgers.

To view the cook-along videos, visit the Ric’s Kitchen Facebook page or, for more information on the restaurant, visit the website www.rics.kitchen

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Winner of Robin Cross Citizen of the Year Award announced

Axminster resident Cindy Furse has been awarded the Robin Cross Citizen of the Year Award, sponsored by Axminster Nub News.

Cindy has been volunteering in Axminster for years and is best known for her work with Light Up Axminster and Axminster Community Emergency Response (ACER), set up to help vulnerable residents during the coronavirus pandemic.

She was announced the winner of this year’s Robin Cross Award at last week’s virtual meeting of Axminster Town Council.

The award was launched in 2016 in memory of well-known community champion Robin Cross, who was site manager at Axe Valley Community College and spent more than a quarter of a century with the Special Constabulary, attaining the rank of special inspector.

This year, the £100 prize money was sponsored

by Axminster Nub News and will be donated to a local cause of Cindy’s choice, which has not yet been announced.

Announcing Cindy as the winner, the newlyelected Mayor of Axminster, Cllr Jill Farrow, said: “I am delighted to be able to award this to Cindy Furse in recognition of her services to Axminster over many years. Her most visible activity has been with Light Up Axminster; visible in so many ways - putting up the Christmas lights and the trees and ensuring that the town centre is vibrant even in these deeply dark times.

“Although we couldn’t have them last year, the Cherry Fair and Axminster’s Christmas Market, have been fundamentally beautiful celebrations of Axminster’s heritage; the Cherry Fair in fact going back to Axminster being given the Market

A national network of h hyperlocal news websites, now covering the Ax Axminster & Seatton areas With editorial content provided by the team from Ly Lym meOnline

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Charter in 1209.

“Now those things are hugely visible but what you may not see is that Cindy runs the initiative linking the statutory care services with the town’s volunteering organisations and that function has been absolutely critical this year in being the backbone of the activities of ACER (Axminster Community Emergency Response), finding previously unidentified needs of some of Axminster’s most vulnerable folk.

“In a year when may people have worked hard on behalf of the community it’s highly fitting that Cindy Furse be singled out for the honour of the Robin Cross Citizen of the Year Award.”

In response, Cindy first paid tribute to the late Mayor off Axminster, Anni Young, who died suddenly in December.

She said: “Anni played a really strong and important role and was a good friend to us, to me personally, and to Light Up Axminster.

“She always backed out work; we didn’t always see eye to eye but it’s always been with respect, encouragement and support that we worked together.

“Through the ACER work that we did I think we forged a lot of friendships and mutual respects that will be hard to replace.”

Commenting on the award, she said: “I think what people like myself do should be done because its in our hearts not because we want the praise, so I find things like this quite strange. But Robin Cross was on our original group of people that decided to get together to reignite the Christmas lights in town, so it’s quite a fitting tribute to Robin.”

Cindy added that she had worked with “an

array of important, wonderful volunteers”, adding: “For me, they each share a little bit of this award because a lot of them have gone way above what anyone would normally commit to doing, especially this year.

“There are still some people doing weekly shops for vulnerable people in the town and they have been since the middle of March. There are some extraordinary people out there and some of us just get the joy of coordinating that when actually they do the hard work.

“So my hat goes off to everyone who does their little bit, that builds this wonderful tapestry of this town we have. Everyone plays their part in our wonderful little town and I think that’s represented by the huge wealth of organisations, individuals, charities, groups, everything we have and we’re extraordinarily lucky. It’s nice to be just one little cog in those wheels.”

AXMINSTER said its final farewells to the late mayor Anni Young today.

Residents gathered in a socially distanced manner outside the Minster Church to say their final goodbyes ahead of Anni’s funeral service, which could only be attended by a small number of people due to COVID restrictions.

Members of the Axe Valley Mission Community led prayers and read a poem, and those outside gave a round of applause in memory of Anni before watching her pink coffin, decorated with roses, carried inside the church.

Axminster was shocked and saddened when serving mayor Anni died suddenly in her sleep just before Christmas.

Loving tributes were made to Anni at this week’s town council meeting ahead of the election of a new mayor, Cllr Jill Farrow.

Cllr Farrow was among those to take part in today’s commemorations, along with several other serving and past councillors and mayors, and a contingent from Axminster Tesco where Anni worked.

Town says final farewells to beloved mayor Anni

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Friday, January 22 2021 9

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10 Friday, January 22 2021

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Award-winning architectural firm opens new office in Lyme Regis

FORMER Woodroffe School student and founder of Inside Out Your Space, Genevieve Wells, who has recently moved back to Lyme Regis

A FORMER Woodroffe School student has recently moved back to Lyme Regis and opened a new branch of her awardwinning architectural firm Inside Out Your Space.

Having returned to her hometown from Surrey, Genevieve Wells is hoping to reestablish herself in the local community as both a businesswoman and a new mother, as she balances her professional and personal life amid the challenges of the pandemic.

Having studied at Woodroffe almost 20 years ago, Genevieve graduated from the Farnham University of Creative Arts with a degree in Interior Architecture in 2005.

She started her career as an interior designer, specialising in the office, retail and leisure sector, and then changed paths to focus on residential architecture.

Genevieve built up a good reputation as an architectural technician and was eventually heads-hunted as a technical co-ordinator for Redrow Homes, later moving to Michael Conoley Associates and become a qualified Chartered Architectural Technologist before launching her own business, Inside Out Your Space.

With a mission to ‘transform lives through design’, the company specialises in renovation and extension of existing homes, from modest single-storey extensions to enlarge kitchens and create ‘open plan living’, to major extensions and re-

By Francesca Evans furbishments on larger properties.

In particular, Genevieve is passionate about creating spaces to suit individual and family needs, allowing families to come together in beautiful spaces to make the most of their time together.

Clients also benefit from excellent value for money and design options to choose from - including the most innovative and sustainable products on the market - to create a completely unique space.

Genevieve and business partner Jayson Parsons, whose career in property started in 2002, can offer expert knowledge in architecture, interior design and garden design, resulting in an excellent success rate with planning applications and building control approval.

Inside Out Your Space now has an established reputation as an award-winning firm. Its latest accolades include being named Best Architectural Practice of the Year - UK in the Global 100 2020 awards, and winning the Best for Home Renovations and Extensions title in Build Magazine’s 2020 Design and Build Awards.

The firm is also environmentally conscious, having made efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and plant 64 trees with planetary health organisation Health in Harmony.

After 15 years focussing on her career, Genevieve welcomed a baby boy a year ago and said the COVID-19 pandemic while devastating in so many ways - had also provided a “positive reset” and allowed her to better balance her professional and personal life.

She had always wanted to move back to the Lyme Regis area and, having reconnected with her now partner Seb Cope well known in Lyme regis as a fellow architectural designer and lifeboat crew member - the new focus on remote working allowed Genevieve to finally “take the leap”.

As well as further expanding her business with a new office in the Town Mill area, Genevieve is also keen to get to know the local parenting community, especially at a time when mothers are having to multi-task through these uncertain times.

She hopes to set up a monthly nonprofit parents and kids craft club at the Town Mill, with any proceeds to be split between the mill and children’s charity Barnardo’s - a place where parents will be able to focus on the positives, inspire and empower one another.

For more information on Inside Out Your Space, visit the website www.insideout-yourspace.co.uk or contact Genevieve on 01297 81108 or email info@insideout-yourspace.co.uk

Lyme business spreading the love this Valentine’s Day A LYME Regis restaurant will be spreading a little love this Valentine’s Day, delivering free red roses and cards to the local community.

The Millside at the Town Mill in Lyme Regis has set up a postbox outside the restaurant specifically for Valentine’s Day cards.

Restaurant owners Georgina and John will then deliver the cards along with a free single red rose, which they are buying themselves from Lyme Regis florist House of Flowers, as they wanted to support another local business.

Cards and roses will be delivered within a three-mile radius of Lyme on February 14 to spread a little love and positive cheer during lockdown.

The service is being offered completely free of charge and cards and roses will be hand-delivered, so there’s no need for stamp.

The postbox is now open for deliveries and it will be emptied every day with cards kept in a secure box until Valentine’s Day. Last deliveries should be made by February 11 to allow at least 72 hours for cards to be quarantined. All necessary COVID precautions will be taken when hand-delivering the cards, including using gloves and sanitiser.

Cards and letters must have an address on the envelope but do not require a stamp.

One free, wrapped red rose will be deliv-

BEFORE AND AFTER: Inside Out Your Space specialises in renovation and extension of existing homes, creating unique spaces to suit individual and family needs

ered with each card, but if you wish to send your loved one something extra for Valentine’s Day, you can order from House of Flowers on 01297 444743.

Georgina said: “It’s not just for husbands and wives or girlfriends and boyfriends, but your best friend, someone you just want to say ‘love you’ to.

“Let’s give back to this amazing community, make a card, buy one, write a love letter, send a friend a memo, let’s turn 2021 around!”

Friday, January 22 2021 11

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‘Transforming lives through design’ Are you looking to convert, extend, rebuild or renovate your home?

Inside Out is here to design your space.

BEFORE

AFTER

From modest single storey extensions to enlarge kitchens and create ‘open plan living’, to major extensions and refurbishments on larger properties - we are here to design ‘your space’ which will be unique to you.

NEW LYME REGIS OFFICE NOW OPEN! 01297 811108 | info@insideout-yourspace.co.uk www.insideout-yourspace.co.uk

12 Friday, January 22 2021

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Election will be Young leader receives Queen’s Scout Award held to fill town council vacancy

AN election will be held to fill a vacancy on Lyme Regis Town Council.

Dorset Council has announced that the necessary 10 electors had made a request for an election before the deadline of January 15, meaning Lyme Regis will go to the polls rather than have the vacancy filled by co-option.

The vacancy arose after Leon Howe was removed from the council having not attended meetings for six months.

An election for his replacement will not be held until May 6 – tying in with Police and Crime Commissioner elections – due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Some doubt has been cast over whether local council and PCC elections across the country will go ahead in May, with the virus still gripping the country.

But Dorset Council this week assured residents it was putting plans in place to ensure that polling stations would be safe.

A spokesperson for Dorset Council said: “We have received the relevant 10 requests from electors for the vacancy to be filled by election.

“As on the notice, the election will not take place until 6 May 2021, subject to any further delays made at national level on elections.”

The notice of election will be issued at the end of March, when nominations can be made.

LOCAL Scout leader Josh Yelland has been awarded the Queen’s Scout Award – the highest award in Scouting for young people.

Josh has been involved in Scouting since he was six years old and is currently a leader at the Uplymebased 1st Lym Valley Scout Group.

He has been working towards his Queen’s Scout Award and said it was a “real privilege” to receive it, adding: “To have worked towards it over a number of years and then to finally receive it – that’s certainly a special feeling.”

Josh has always thought about going for the award, but had only got around to completing the work recently.

He said: “When I was six and started Beavers, the badge was there on the wall and I always thought I would never achieve it or that I was not the right sort of person to do it.

“I think over time, as with any ambition, it grows on you until a point where you say to yourself: ‘right time to stop talking, let’s get on with it!

“Teachers at Woodroffe started to suggest I do it when I was 16. Mrs Vincent, who was then in charge of the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award at the school, noticed I was a Young Leader at 1st Lym Valley and suggested that I should fill out the paperwork and start the adventure. My Explorer leaders, Fiona and Nigel, also suggested that I was already doing most of it without realising.”

Josh joked: “I think at that stage I was so sick of being nagged about it, that I just filled out the paper-

work and got on with things so I could be left in peace!”

As part of the Queen’s Scout Award, Explorers can choose to do the Gold Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award at the same time.

“I chose to do the Gold DofE Award as well, because it’s a wonderfully challenging thing to go and do,” said Josh.

“It’s also a well recognised award as well, which makes it great to have on your CV when you’re just starting out for your career.”

The Gold DofE requires participants to take up a physical activity, learn a new skill and volunteer for up to 18 months, take part in a residential experience for five days and do an expedition over four days in wild country.

When asked what was the most challenging aspect, Josh said: “Expedition – without a doubt, the expedition. Walking 80km in Snowdonia over four days is a killer, with my arthritis at the time of doing the expedition it was certainly a tough experience.

“But actually completing it felt amazing, I was doing something people and my doctors didn’t expect I could do. When I told my doctors about it all afterwards, they were absolutely horrified about it, but they took it in good humour”.

As for finishing his Queen’s Scout Award, Josh has had to complete a number of additional activities, which included helping the Scout Group grow and taking an Explorer Unit to Denmark for two weeks. In total, it took Josh about five years to complete.

“It can be done quicker, but I wasn’t in a rush!” he joked.

Josh has already had his Gold DofE Award presented to him at Buckingham Palace by ITV newsreader Alastair Stewart in the summer of 2019.

“It was a wonderful day, the weather was amazing. To be able to visit Buckingham Palace is an honour, so to have that as the backdrop for my Gold DofE presentation was beyond words.

“I took my mum along so she could have a nosey around, it was good fun. Alistair Stewart is great storyteller and shakes your hand with great warmth. Couldn’t have had a better day if you tried.”

Unfortunately, for his Queen’s Scout Award, there was no special ceremony at Buckingham Palace due to the coronavirus pandemic and instead Josh received his certificate, signed by the Queen, in the post.

He said: “It’s a strange sort of thing to open up and realise what it is. I had a good smile when I saw it – I had been waiting a while for it!”

When Scouting resumes after lockdown, the 1st Lym Valley Scouts will be having a small celebration to mark Josh’s achieve-

ment. He is also set to also take part in the Queen’s Scout Parade and the National Scout Service in Windsor when it’s able to take place.

After years of hard work, Josh said he would definitely recommend others going for the Queen’s Scout Award, commenting: “If you’re a teenager today, it’s a great adventure to go on and the end result being you know much more about what you’re capable of than when you started.”

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Climate Action Network calls for faster action from Dorset Council DORSET Climate Action Network (CAN) has called on Dorset Council to act far more rapidly than it had planned to cut greenhouse gases and stop the loss of wildlife.

The council, in its draft Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy published last November, set 2040 as the target for cutting its own carbon emissions to zero, and 2050 for all other organisations in the Dorset Council area.

Dorset CAN says that this timetable grossly under-estimates the true emergency facing the world. It calls on the council to fix 2030 as the date by which the whole of the Dorset Council geographical area should achieve zero carbon emissions and broadly re-

verse the loss of wildlife.

Professor Michael Dower said: “Scientists worldwide are telling us that immediate action must be taken to prevent the planet’s natural systems from spiralling out of control as multiple tipping points are reached and passed, and to stop the planet becoming a ‘Hothouse Earth’.

“They say that every country and all levels of government should aim to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

“Other councils in this region, for example Wiltshire and Cornwall, have got that message and are working urgently towards 2030 as the target for net zero.

Dorset Council should rise to the

Electric biking around Lyme Regis IT has always been possible, given enough gears and athletic endeavour, to bike around Lyme. But unless cycling is your thing, it’s not an attractive prospect.

Enter the e-bike – a bike with an electric motor to assist.

When you pedal, the motor pushes too. You still have to push the pedals, which means you still get health benefits – but the hills become less daunting.

You can select how much extra push the motor gives you – depending on how athletic you’re feeling, and impacting on the battery will last. For us, the ebike opens up the possibility of cycling down and back to the shops, or cycling down to the beach and back, rather than doing these journeys by car.

E-bikes are in demand with prices starting at £1200 for a new bike. We converted a 23 year old mountain bike by the addition of a 250W motor, and a 250Wh battery. This is not only about half that price, but is good re-use of an otherwise great bike. An average adult produces 250kw whist pedalling – so on full power, this is like having a buddy pedalling too.

For general cycling, 250Wh is plenty of battery for a range of

20 miles or more, depending on how hard you’re cycling. However, climbing Lyme’s hills laden with shopping demands a lot from the battery – so I’m finding that a 250Wh charge is good for 2 assisted ascents. For a relaxed ascent up Lyme’s hills, consider a slightly more powerful system.

If you are not interested in converting a bike, e-bikes are available from most bike shops, including Soanes Cycles in Colyton, and Axcess Bikes in Axminster, who specialise in ebikes.

By law, e-bikes don’t give the rider a push above 15mph.

Above 15mph, you’re doing all the pedalling yourself. Riders have to be at least 14 years old – so not useful for young families.

An e-bike makes cycling around Lyme fun. It’s a great way to cut CO2, pollution, congestion and to get fit. Cycling with an electric motor seem like cheating – but e-bikes are better exercise than being daunted by the hills and taking the car instead. And although not cheap less expensive than a small car.

Rob Smith Turn Lyme Green

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challenge in the same way.”

In its formal response to a public consultation on the Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy, co-signed by more than 20 community organisations, Dorset CAN spells out practical ways to tackle the climate crisis, and offers to play an active part in the partnership that Dorset Council will need to forge with all stakeholders.

They say the council should agree a vision with all stakeholders of what we could look like in 2013. Dorset CAN proposes a series of major themes for the work of the council over the next 10 crucial years, including: ● Dorset Council to become the first Zero-Carbon council area in the UK, having radically reduced its energy demands and moved wholly to renewable energy supply ● A Dorset Lifelines programme of widespread nature recovery to halt and substantially reverse the loss of wildlife ● An ambitious Swim Dorset Council programme to make every river and stream in Dorset Council area safe for children to play and swim, and to make the water at every beach safe for residents and tourists alike ● A Regenerative Dorset Council programme to transform the local economy to be green, sustainable in use of resources, with a strong dimension of local self-sufficiency - notably in food - and of circular activity including use of local timber in new buildings ● A Clean Dorset Council pro-

gramme, to cut levels of air pollution to well below statutory limits, eliminate all single-use plastic and achieve the highest levels of waste reduction, re-use and recycling in the UK ● A Planning for Resilience programme to achieve high levels of resilience in its communities, focused on high standards in all housing and on easy access between houses, jobs and services ● A Dorset Council Local Action Partnership, through which the Dorset Council offers pump-priming grants to town and parish councils and community-based groups for climate and ecology projects.

It’s not just the groups supporting Dorset CAN who feel that Dorset Council’s carbon targets are not ambitious enough.

As well as pulling together their submission on the strategy and action plan consultation, Dorset CAN has been running a public petition on the proposed targets.

The petition calls on Dorset Council to be more ambitious and have all its own assets carbon neutral by 2030.

Almost 1,500 members of the public have so far signed the petition. The petition will continue to run before it is formally presented to Dorset Council. In the meantime it has also been submitted to Dorset Council as part of the strategy consultation.

The strategy consultation closed on Wednesday night.

Actress gives shout out to Lyme-based eco-charity OSCAR-winning actress Kate Winslet has spoken passionately about Lyme Regis-based reforestation charity The Word Forest Organisation, which plants trees near Kenya to tackle climate changes.

In an interview for the SAGAFTRA Foundation, which provides educational assistance to the members of the Screen Actors Guild and children’s literacy programmes, Kate spoke to writer, director and TV presenter Dawn O’Porter ahead of the UK release of Mary Anning film ‘Ammonite’, partially filmed in Lyme Regis.

Kate first became involved with The Word Forest Organisation when she was filming for ‘Ammonite’, as she worked with local fossil hunter Paddy How whose wife, Rikey Austin, is a trustee of the organisation.

The actress has since narrated their #TreesAreTheKey documentary and has designed a T-shirt for their online shop.

Speaking of The Word Forest Organisation during the interview, Kate said: “They are utterly extraordinary. They work in a small area outside Nairobi and they have this wonderful group of women called the Mothers of the Forest and the mothers work with the children to plant the saplings.

“They grown their own fruit, their own nuts and they’re able to live a life on what they’re able to grow.

“This charity raises money, builds classrooms, teaches them how to make sanitary items, they are just the most wonderful charity and very, very small.”

You can find out more about The Word Forest Organisation at www.wordforest.org

Friday, January 22 2021 13

■ GOVERNMENT funding of £19million has been won by Dorset Council to help the authority reduce its carbon footprint.

The figure was announced by climate brief holder Cllr Ray Bryan at this week’s Cabinet meeting.

He said he had few details at the moment but would be giving more information when it became available.

The funding included £18.7million to pay for work which would help the council achieve its aim of reducing its carbon footprint, and £298,000 from the low carbon skills fund, which would also help the council towards its zero carbon objective by 2040.

Cllr Bryan has previously said that the council would need to gain at least £30million in grant funding if it was to meet its climate targets.

He said that as soon as lockdown was relaxed he would meet with ministers in London to ask for further funding for the county.

Cllr Bryan also revealed that about 1,700 people had taken part in the council’s climate and ecological emergency consultation, which closed this week.

“Our communications team has done a fantastic job in keeping this to the forefront of people’s minds,” he said.

■ LYME Regis’ community engagement and sustainable transport planning project with the Royal College of Art (RCA), Royal Town Planning Institute and others was presented by the Minister for Transport at a Transport Planning Day event in November.

The recording of the event is available at vimeo.com/icegroup/review/480307552/2 2f3434542 Lyme Regis had the best engagement of the three towns involved in the research project, and the greatest input from young people, including some creative and innovative visions of future sustainable transport modes from students at the Woodroffe School.

The RCA and stakeholders hope to develop their tool-kit to engage communities in planning, place-making and creating their visions for their future towns.

Contact Belinda Bawden on belindabawden@gmail.com to stay involved in looking at different ways to think about future transport, traffic, parking and accessibility options in Lyme Regis and the surrounding areas.

■ THOSE interested in trialling a car share club in Lyme Regis are asked to contact local councillor Belinda Bawden who is leading the project.

Email belindabawden@gmail.com if you'd like to get involved, or to work on transport or energy projects. Joining will require a £25 deposit.

You can also contact Belinda if you are interested in learning more about the government's Green Homes Grant, which has been extended for a year and could offer up to £5,000 towards fitting air or ground source heat pumps to replace gas boilers, visit the website to check eligibility criteria.

14 Friday, January 22 2021

www.lyme-online.co.uk

It’s always sunny above the clouds THE AMAZING JOURNEY OF SUNLIGHT TO THE DORSET COAST SCIENCE FEATURE

by Professor Glenn Patrick

Professor Glenn Patrick is a particle physicist and science communicator who explores the quantum world of sub-atomic particles (including at the Large Hadron Collider) and now lives in Lyme Regis

B

LUE Monday – the most depressing day of the year - supposedly falls on the third Monday of January.

This claim made by a psychologist in 2004 is often quoted in newspapers, but does not appear to be based on any real science.

What is true, though, is that mid-way through the winter months, when the Christmas and New Year celebrations have faded, we start to yearn for the warm spring and summer sunshine.

Charles Dickens neatly captured the essence of our relationship with sunshine in his novel Oliver Twist when he said, “The Sun, the bright Sun, that brings back not light alone, but new life, and hope, and freshness to man”.

Without the Sun, life on Earth would, of course, be impossible. We are incredibly lucky to live on a planet that orbits within the habitable zone of our local star receiving just enough stellar radiation – or sunlight – to maintain a temperature which enables liquid water to exist on the surface and to support life.

If we were located beyond the outer limits of this zone, the Earth’s temperature would be too low, and the surface water would be frozen. On the other hand, if we were much nearer the Sun, the temperature would be too high, and the water would have vapourised.

One of those Big Questions we all ask is… are we alone in the Universe? Over 4,000 planets orbiting other stars – so called exoplanets – have been discovered in recent years. Astrophysicists pore over the data to detect signs that they also support life, but so far, we remain unique.

It has taken us many centuries to understand the nature of light. Up until the time of Isaac Newton, it was thought that light consisted of streams of particles called corpuscles. In the mid-17th century, the wave properties of light began to emerge, especially through the work of the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens.

In the 19th century, the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell came up with his mathematical equations for electromagnetic radiation, which describe light as oscillations of electric and magnetic fields travelling through space.

These dual personalities of light – particle and wave – became even more interesting when in 1900 the German physicist Max Planck found that he could only explain the spectrum of the Sun by assuming that the light was emitted in discrete packets - or quanta - of energy.

Albert Einstein went on to explain the photoelectric effect in 1905 through the concept that it is light itself that is quantised - kickstarting the revolutionary ideas of quantum physics. These packets of energy – or quanta - were eventually labelled “photons” by the American chemist G.N. Lewis in 1926.

Today, depending on the situation, we use both the wave and particle properties of light

THE Sun setting over Lyme Bay – photons arriving at the end of a journey which has taken 170,000 years. Right, deep inside the core of the Sun lies the nuclear furnace which is the source of our photons of sunlight [Credit: SOHO (ESA & NASA)] to explain optical effects like reflection, diffraction and interference, but the photon remains the fundamental building block – the basic globule -of all light.

Our world would not exist without the photon! Not only do photons enable us to see, but they also provide the energy for photosynthesis, which fuels all plant life on Earth.

The photon is also the particle responsible for one of the four fundamental forces of nature – electromagnetism. Without photons, our atoms would fall apart, and our electronic devices would not work.

In the natural world, the main source of photons is the Sun. Travelling at the speed of light, photons take on average eight minutes and 20 seconds to travel the 150 million kilometres from the Sun to reach us here on Earth. What is even more astonishing though is that before they undertook this final journey these photons were created many thousands of years earlier by nuclear reactions inside the Sun! The Sun’s gravity – 28 times stronger than the Earth’s – traps hydrogen deep inside the solar core. At a temperature of 15 million degrees Celsius, the hydrogen gas is stripped of electrons, so it becomes a plasma of protons.

In a series of reactions, pairs of protons fuse together to produce helium along with a burst of energy released in the form of photons.

These photons must then traverse through the layers of Sun to reach its surface before they can begin their journey to Earth.

Inside the Sun, the photons do not travel in a straight line because they suffer collisions with other particles and their chaotic journeys are estimated to take 170,000 years! Once the photons reach the cooler, less dense outer lay-

ers of the Sun, they no longer collide and can escape!

As we sit in the Dorset sunshine or gaze at those amazing sunsets over Lyme Bay, we should pause to wonder at the extraordinary journey that each photon takes over thousands of years before entering our eyes and sending an electrical signal to the brain to give us vision and sight.

We also have photons to thank for keeping the Earth at a tolerable temperature. Most of the Sun’s energy is radiated as visible light and during the day this warms the Earth’s surface because this incoming radiation is not absorbed by the atmosphere.

The warm Earth then radiates heat back into the atmosphere in the form of infrared radiation, which has a longer wavelength than visible light. Nitrogen (78 per cent) and oxygen (21 per cent) in the atmosphere cannot absorb the infrared light, but it is avidly absorbed by traces of water vapour and carbon dioxide.

The trapped heat in these gases is what keeps the Earth at a cosy 14 degrees Celsius on average. This process – the greenhouse effect - often gets a bad press due to global warming and the extra heating caused by

human emissions.

Without the natural version though, the Earth’s temperature would drop to around minus 18 degrees Celsius – not so comfy!

So, forget all about Blue Monday. Instead, celebrate our good fortune that photons make this incredible journey from the centre of the Sun across the Solar System to this special place that we call Earth.

Remember the words of the author Caitlin Moran who said: “It is always sunny above the clouds. Always. Every day on Earth – every day I ever had – was secretly sunny after all.

If you fly high enough, if you get above the clouds, it’s never-ending summer.”

Friday, January 22 2021 15

www.lyme-online.co.uk

FLASHBACKS with Richard Austin

Tales from behind the lens of our award-winning photographer

■ I TOOK this shot in 2016; it was as always the second Sunday of November in Whitehall at the annual laying of wreaths at the Cenotaph for Remembrance. A trio of duchesses all in a row, the Duchess of Cambridge, Duchess of Cornwall and Duchess of Wessex, well disciplined, no talking to one another from the corner of their mouths and all focused on the ceremony unfolding in front of the whole world and the balconies surrounding. The duchesses were fully aware of not only a gallery of press photographers with long lenses but also the thousands of spectators with phone cameras, not to mention TV cameras from all over the world, so it would not be a good time to scratch ones nose. Is there a name for a gathering of Duchesses?

Coastwatch volunteers raising funds for improved Lyme Bay look-out A CAMPAIGN has been launched to raise £6,000 for a new Coastwatch look-out across Lyme Bay. The team of volunteers at National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) Lyme Bay want to upgrade the current look-out at Burton Bradstock to enable them to work more efficiently, train new volunteers and expand its service to the local community.

A spokesman for NCI Lyme Bay said: “Our original look-out was destroyed during the violent storms of February 2014. We were quickly back in action, operating from a more substantial, but still fundamentally, a garden shed.

“We operate in a very exposed location to the extent that he prevailing south-westerly wind, straight off the Atlantic, necessitates the building being strapped down. Our location requires a programme of continual maintenance.

“At Lyme Bay, we normally operate two-person watches whilst

also trying to accommodate the needs of trainee watch-keepers in cramped conditions.”

The team has drawn up plans to make the current look-out more robust and provide more working space.

As well as raising funds through easyfundraising, a Just Giving page has also been set up.

The spokesman added: “We urge everyone who values the activities of our watch-keepers to contribute.

“Our target is £6,000. Please help us raise that sum so that we may continue to provide a valuable service. Gift Aid, available to UK taxpayers, will increase the effectiveness of your donation.

“In the ten years of its operation, NCI Lyme Bay has been involved in many incidents that have involved HM Coastguard, the RNLI or other elements of the search and rescue services.

“Additionally, we provide local information to members of the public regarding tide times, foot-

paths etc, and the nature of potential hazards along what is the dangerous Jurassic coastline.”

NCI Lyme Bay is a volunteer service and the team pay for every-

thing themselves or through donations. You can donate to the appeal via the website www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ncilymebay

Charmouth Events group in danger of closing down

THE organisation behind some of Charmouth’s most successful social events in recent years is in danger of folding.

At a recent meeting of Charmouth Parish Council, chairman Peter Noel informed councillors that the Charmouth Events Committee could be disbanding but he was determined to make sure events such as the popular Party In the Park continued.

It is understood that the committee’s three main officers were planning to stand down at the organisation’s annual general meeting, but this has not been held due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Cllr Noel told LymeOnline: “It would be a great shame if the committee folded. We want to try and save the events in some form or other. We are just waiting for all this (COVID-19) to finish and we will be looking for volunteers.”

The Party In The Park, held on the Charmouth Playing Field over the August Bank Holiday, was a big success, attracting hundreds of people each year.

Other events organised by the committee included a folk weekend and mobile cinema screenings.which now requires improvements.

You can donate to the appeal online at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ncilymebay

16 Friday, January 22 2021

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To advertise your business in LymeOnline’s Local Services section for as little as £8 per issue, call 07810 221 420 or email francesca@lyme-online.co.uk

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Friday, January 22 2021 17

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ITEMS FOR SALE - email your items for sale to edit@lyme-online.co.uk, free for any item up to £200

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Charmouth Parish Council

LYME REGIS TOWN COUNCIL COMMUNITY GRANTS TO LOCAL ORGANISATIONS The town council has £15,000 available to meet grant requests for capital projects that help and support the community Organisations are invited to submit proposals for funding of up to £1,000 for the 2021/22 year Grants can be used for the purchase of materials and equipment, or the provision of a service that makes Lyme Regis a better place to live, work and play Applications will only be considered from non-profit making organisations who do not provide grants or donate monies to others, and funding cannot be used for retrospective expenditure Grant guidelines and application forms are available from admin@lymeregistowncouncil.gov.uk Tel: 01297 445175

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LymeOnline Sport

www.lyme-online.co.uk

January 22 2021

Friday, January 22 2021 15

NOW IN THE DEVON & EXETER LEAGUE

The Davey Fort clubhouse is closed until further notice

Players rally round to help the Seasiders LOCAL football clubs are facing the possibility of playing no more competitive games this season if lockdown continues into the spring.

Recreational sport is currently on hold until the government eases the current restrictions so it could be April before football starts again.

Although the local leagues have not made any announcement about recommencing fixtures, there is increasing concern that it will not be possible to complete the backlog of games without a long extension of the season into the summer, when there would be a clash with cricket.

For example, Lyme Regis first team have played only three games in the Devon and Exeter Premier East division, which leaves them 19 games to play.

The big concern for clubs like Lyme is that clubhouses are closed and unlikely to open again for many weeks, which they heavily rely on for revenue.

By PHILIP

EVANS

This has been particularly critical for Lyme as they are coming to the end of a £150,000 development programme to improve facilities at the Davey Fort. The project is 90 per cent complete with all bills paid, but the club still costs several hundred pounds a month to run, even when closed.

The Seasiders have motivated players and ex-players to assist by raising funds through sponsorship or donations and the response from current and past members has been brilliant.

A former Lyme player, who wishes to remain anonymous but has followed his home club throughout his life, has offered to match-fund every penny raised by the players.

With continued support from the players, this means the club will remain solvent until such time the season recommences and the clubhouse is open again.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS: Former chairman Les Loveridge is pictured with the trophy winners at Lyme Regis Football Club’s presentation night in 1980 - Howard Williams, Graham Golesworthy, Philip Hodder and Andy Brewer

Once a Seasider always a Seasider LYME Regis Football Club has turned to its ex-players to help them through the current financial difficulties caused

by COVID-19 (see left).

The club hosts a Facebook group called Ex-Seasiders Organisation, administered by former midfielder Martin Rowe, for players to keep in touch with b134 members.

A few years back the group raised funds for the club by organising a number of sporting dinners at the Davey Fort clubhouse.

With the club now feeling the financial pinch caused by COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, club president Philip Evans MBE has launched a fundraising appeal to get the club through to the end of lockdown.

He said: “The response has been brilliant and we are hoping that when the pandemic has been beaten we can all get together again to share the many memories we have of being a Seasider with some more social functions.”

Pie in the sky - or just crazy?

WHILST we all struggle to adjust our lives around COVID-19, the one thing we look forward to is some kind of normal life resuming as the vaccines hopefully drive away our fears and depression.

Life is sure to be different in many ways. So many businesses and organisations have suffered because of the pandemic, unfortunately many never to return.

Sport in general has been decimated, but particularly grassroots football with only a handful of local games having taken place. Unless you have a wealthy sponsor or benefactor, the main source of revenue is earned on match days and through organised events.

This has been virtually non-existent this past year, although the cost of running the club has continued despite no income.

We are all aware of the obscene amount of money being bandied around in football at the top level with transfers, agents’ fees and television broadcasting contracts, which has turned

By STUART

BROOM Former captain of Lyme Regis Football Club the sport into a business. Unfortunately, this disease has rapidly percolated down through the Football Pyramid with clubs as low as Level 10 (Step 6) offering inducements to play for them.

The original idea of local football has expanded out of all recognition with clubs pressurised to follow. It is inconceivable to think that a club in the South West Peninsula Premier League is reported to have been paying a goalkeeper £200 per game (two games a week) earlier in the season. That kind of thing is killing the game as a sport.

We also know that unless you can match the big spenders in your league, you are unlikely to achieve success. Look at teams like Axminster

and Bridport, both doing their best but both wallowing near the bottom of their leagues Expansions of leagues has also resulted in teams having to travel inordinate distances to play. For instance after joining the Devon & Exeter league Lyme Regis had to travel to Chumleigh, on the outskirts of North Devon, a round trio of more than 120 miles, whilst half the teams in the Toolstation Western League Premier Division are based in the Bath/Bristol area meaning trips for Bridport of well over 150 miles. Not only is this expensive in travelling costs, in the majority of cases their rivals bring few spectators when they host them.

There was a suggestion a few years ago about regionalising leagues once again. This would cut costs to clubs and I think bring back the crowds that were so much of the game half a century ago.

Those of us old enough can recount the atmosphere of local derbies both playing in them and supporting your team.

For instance, what about an area from say Sidmouth in the west, Chard/Yeovil in the north, and Portland in the east. Yes it would take a couple of years to even itself out from the disparity of standards at the moment, but I would guess that Sidmouth v Chard or Lyme v Portland or Bridport v Axminster would provide an atmosphere that would see fans filling the stands and munching pasties at half-time, bringing in much needed revenue for the clubs.

You may say that is killing the ambitions of clubs to better themselves, or indeed for players to play at a higher standard, but promotion could still be available to those clubs who felt they had the finances and facilities to progress, and as now if you have a talent, higher clubs will soon recognise that.

Okay, maybe pie in the sky? You only have to see what de-regionalising League Three and Four of the old Football League has done with Exeter travelling to Carlisle and Yeovil to Hartlepool midweek. Crazy. I rest my case..

Follow local sport 24/7 on our website www.lyme-online.co.uk