Fergus Byrne met Stephen Lyttelton in Beaminster, Dorset
M’y father was Humphrey Lyttelton, Jazz trumpeter, broadcaster and writer—amongst other things. He met my mother, Jill, at the 100 Club in Oxford Street. She was a fan and a regular at the club—and loved to dance.
We grew up in a house in Hertfordshire that my father had designed—it was an unusual house. There were many planning objections from the Council, who described it as a cow shed, but it was also to feature in the Architect’s Journal who named him man of the year in 1959.
Entering the house, you walked into the front hallway, and there was this 20-foot high, curved abstract trompe l’oeil of a huge trumpet in black and white. My playroom also had a hand-painted mural of an enormous cow jumping over the moon, amongst other things. It’s no wonder I ended up taking drugs!
The first time I really realised he had this other public life was on a visit to London Zoo when we were engulfed by a group of young girls, pen in hand, wanting their fag packets signed. I remember thinking, “Right, something’s going on here.”
There was music always in the house and dancing, mainly from my Mum. My Dad would practise a lot at home, which wasn’t the most pleasant of sounds. We had a stand-up piano he had painted completely black and drawn cartoons of people
dancing with “Yanks go home,” written in it. The first record my father ever played to me was Black, Brown and White by Big Bill Broonzy. Radio played a huge part in my appreciation of music. I would listen incessantly to Johnny Walker and John Peel absorbing everything—I loved their passion for all music.
The Lyttelton family has a very long history of going to Eton. This was not something my father wanted for us, and I have a sneaking pride that I was the first Lyttelton in generations not to be sent there.
Instead, I went to King Alfred School in Hampstead. It was a “progressive school” back then. My dad would joke he was always “waiting for the progress.” It was a very free school. No uniform, long hair and we called the teachers by their first names.
Many children of celebrities ended up being sent there. In my form I sat with one half of the Goons on either side of me. My fondest memory is of being the captain of the first eleven football team which was unbeaten over two years—we were probably stoned most of the time. Long hair, unbelievably tight shorts.
I left school with no real plan.
After weeks of trawling the streets of Northwest London I walked into a record shop in Golders Green called Tape Revolution and spoke to the manager. I got a job as a sales assistant selling vinyl, then moving on to 8-tracks and cassettes. I loved absolutely every minute. I couldn’t believe I was being paid to recommend music to people.
Tape Revolution became Our Price Records and I moved through the ranks, running many different stores in and around London, rising to a senior role. I got held up at gunpoint in the summer of 1976. Three guys burst into the shop in Kensington, waving a gun, shouting, “Where’s the cash?” We’d just banked it, so there were only coins in the till. One guy asked, “What did you do that for?” and without thinking I replied, “I didn’t know you were coming.” I got a right kicking for that. Before I called the police, I asked my colleague, “Have you got any of those temple balls [hashish] on you?” He did, so we ran out, hid them, ran back, and then called the police.
Retail back then was less anodyne and there was a certain freedom. You had to react to changes in demand. When punk took off, we were allowed to be creative. I was working in the Tottenham Court Road branch. We decided the best way to sell all the 7-inch singles that were coming in was to knock down the counter and rebuild it so that the seven-inch singles were right at the front. In a way you felt connected to the creative process
Addiction thrives on secrecy. I had started taking heroin in my early 20s. I went from being in a senior position to a very dark place where moderation didn’t exist. I crashed the company car nine times. I lost my job, I lost the house, I lost the wife. I lost everything and caused untold pain and suffering to those I loved.
Jim Morrison has a line in Roadhouse Blues: “I’ve been down so goddamn long, it seems like up to me.” That is where addiction took me.
It took a long time and many efforts trying to stop. I was in and out of a detox centre in Kent with the best of intentions but not knowing how to stop. It was only when two guys, both two years clean, came and talked about how their lives had changed through the 12 Steps that I saw a chink of hope. Nick Cave describes hopefulness as an “adversarial,” hard-earned “warrior emotion” that actively defies cynicism and affirms the value of the world.
Not long after getting clean and moving back to London I met Emma in a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. I remember calling her from a halfway house and telling her, “I’ve just had this dream that we got married.” She went all ‘peculiar’ on the phone but a little more than eighteen months later, we got married.
I got back into working in record stores, this time with Tower Records, an American-owned family business. Tower Records was a very special place. There was a strong sense of community among the people who worked there, built around a shared passion for music. Buyers were not just buyers; they were music lovers. Our knowledge and enthusiasm translated directly to the people who came into the shop. One of the most common comments we heard was, “I only came in to buy one CD” or one LP, and they would walk out with a bag full.
I now serve as Chairman of the Board for Broadway Lodge, a residential rehab. We have an amazing caring team who treat the trauma of addiction alongside the 12 steps. There are always new drugs or addictive behaviours that can bring people to treatment. Currently, Ketamine, dressed up as a party drug, is destroying the lives of young people who face lifelong challenges as a result. Even what may seem as benign, the addictive use of mobile phones, specifically social media, is an area that we’re also having to pay attention to.
A central idea in recovery fellowships is the importance of carrying a simple message of hope: that an addict, any addict, can stop using, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live. In many ways I see my involvement with Broadway Lodge as part of carrying that message forward.
There has been an inevitability of us finally landing in Dorset as it has woven its way throughout our lives. Although Emma and I spend most of our time here now, we still maintain a strong connection with London, where our four children all live. Like many of their generation they are hugely talented and capable, but they are also navigating a level of uncertainty that previous generations did not always face.
I never lost my passion for music, and I am finally piecing together my father’s vast body of work, including music publishing, written works, and illustrations. In between various other music projects, I hope to compile his rich legacy into a book. ’
With Mozart, McIntyre, pea sticks and prawns, laughter, legends and choirs among the many items on the menu in May, it promises to be a busy month across the Marshwood Vale and beyond. And let’s face it, after a soggy winter and a world recently described by the Pope as ‘ravaged by a handful of tyrants’, a bit of R&R won’t go amiss. Despite the gloom, I was recently reminded of one of life’s great positives at the Sherborne Travel Writing Festival. Listening to panels and talks, a key takeaway was the kindness of people. From travel writer and novelist Colin Thubron to biographer and author Sara Wheeler, writer and journalist Adam Weymouth and war reporter and journalist Jen Stout—who featured in our April issue—the message was that what we can learn from travel has enormous value. All speakers commented on the kindness they had experienced around the globe. Although travel helps us appreciate commonalities between disparate groups and takes us away from the echo chambers that are so limiting to the development of a better world—something that populist and divisive politics likes to ignore—it also helps us learn how to deal with challenges. Some of those are hinted at in a new book by Horatio Morpurgo, which Christopher Roper reviews on page 34. The story tells of Horatio’s investigation into the discovery of an astrolabe, an early navigational instrument, in Lyme Bay in 1967. Horatio’s investigation dips into Atlantic slavery, Empire, marine conservation, John Fowles, Mary Anning and even Extinction Rebellion. While Christopher’s review mentions the ‘demographic catastrophe’ caused by early expeditions to the Americas, what we learn when we travel and experience different cultures with an open mind simply confirms the value of dialogue over conflict.
Fergus Byrne
in your Marshwood Vale Magazine
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CATCH UP ON OUR APRIL ONLINE COVER STORY
Fergus Byrne met Margery Hookings in Broadwindsor
Iwas born in the sitting room at Park Farm in Donyatt, where my parents had a tenant farm. It was part of the Somerset County Council smallholding scheme. Both my grandfathers were soldiers in the First World War and benefited from the ‘Land fit for Heroes’ initiative. The village of Donyatt was unique: the council had bought the entire village, including farms, the pub, the school, and even the living of the church. My father took over the farm after my grandfather.
It was a dairy farm with about 20 cows. My mother was very imaginative and well-read, and she would choose themes for naming the cows, ranging from exotic flowers like Bougainvillea and Hibiscus to Native American tribes and even characters from I, Claudius. I had a wonderful upbringing, and I remember riding one of the cows, which was quite boringly named Fillpail. My mother died last year at the age of 99 and left behind a treasure trove of family history, including a breed book detailing the cows we owned. She had been deeply involved in village life, organising events like village fêtes and participating in local groups. Her passion for local history and family stories inspired my own interest in storytelling.
I was the youngest of five, four girls and a boy. The story goes that my dad was milking when I was born, and when the nurse told him it was another girl, he just turned around and went right back to the cowstalls. I always felt like I needed to prove myself, because I think he was probably hoping for a second boy. I went to the local primary school, where there was one teacher, Mrs Lock, and 19 pupils. Although I passed the 11 Plus, the Grammar school at Ilminster was closed, so I went to Holyrood Comprehensive in Chard.
So, going from this idyllic “Laurie Lee” country bumpkin existence to a school of well over 1,000 was a big shock. I was very conscious that all my siblings were quite clever and had done well. There were three teachers and a nurse-midwife.
I didn’t like school very much, and when I was 15 and due to sit my biology O-level, I had a baby, my daughter Amy. I kind of kept it secret until the last minute. Although I feared my parents’ reaction, they were incredibly supportive, especially my mother. After Amy was born, I re-sat my O-levels and later completed A-levels in the sixth-form, the only part of my schooling I actually enjoyed. Mum cared for Amy during the day and I took over in the evenings.
I’d always wanted to be a journalist. I loved writing
and was fascinated by people’s stories and local knowledge. My mother used to be the village correspondent for the Chard & Ilminster News. I applied to numerous journalism training programmes and was eventually taken on by Mirror Group Newspapers in Plymouth. It was a mix of on-the-job training and classroom learning, and I worked alongside some remarkable people, including Alistair Campbell, Sarah Bosley, who became Health Editor at the Guardian, and David Wastell, the political editor of the Sunday Telegraph and foreign editor at The Independent and Telegraph.
After qualifying, I took a job at the Bridport News. Although I didn’t know Bridport well, I quickly fell in love with it and have lived around here ever since. My parents continued to support me, and Amy eventually joined me. I covered everything from court reporting to council meetings, and I cherished the opportunity to get to know the community. We printed everything on carbon copied paper in those days and would send the copy off to the printer by bus. It’s so sad that real local newspapers are failing.
After a few years at the Bridport News, I moved to the Dorset Evening Echo as a district reporter. In the meantime, I had had my son Aaron, and when the news teams merged and the industry became more corporate, I decided it was time for a change.
I joined Magna Housing Association in Dorchester as their public relations officer, and after that, ran the Half Moon pub in Melplash for three years with my new partner, Andrew. When my father found out we were going to run a pub, he said, “You’re mad, that’s worse than farming.” But it was great. We hosted music events, including a mini-folk festival and a jazz festival, which were great fun. There was a strong music scene in the area in those days, and my family has always had a love for music. My uncle George Withers, a Somerset farmer, was well-known for his folk singing.
After leaving the pub, I returned to the Bridport News as a reporter and later became the editor. This was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. We had a great team. I loved being able to record what was going on in the local community. We ran important campaigns, such as fighting to keep Mountjoy School open and supporting the Woodland Trust’s purchase of part of Allington Hill. We had to report on tragic stories, too, but we also had amusing times. I launched the ‘Find Fido’ section, where we hid a photograph of Fido May, a well-known local character, in the paper. We also launched the Bridport
News around the World, where people sent in photographs of themselves reading the paper in different countries. However, as the newspaper industry continued to change, I decided to leave it completely in 2004.
I got a job with the North Dorset Primary Care Trust and did an Open University degree in Humanities with a focus on Creative Writing while balancing work and childcare for my granddaughter. I loved the course and discovered a passion for creative writing.
In 2008, I started a blog under the pseudonym Maddie Grigg, writing about life in an anonymous English village, which I called The Enchanted Village and then Lush Places after William Boot’s fictional newspaper column in the satirical novel, Scoop. I was eventually unmasked locally as the writer, but the blog caught the attention of the editor of the People’s Friend magazine, who invited me to become a weekly columnist in 2015.
After leaving the Primary Care Trust, Andrew and I decided to fulfil our dream of living in Greece, so we rented out our home in West Dorset and moved to Corfu. We lived in a small village, where we rented a house to do up from the Tennant family and immersed ourselves in the local culture. I wrote a book about
our year in Corfu, which has been well-received. Although I loved the experience, I missed my family and the sense of community back home, so we eventually returned.
Back in Dorset, I took on various freelance projects, including PR work for the Electric Palace and Bridport Literary Festival. I also completed an MA in Creative Writing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and during lockdowns, I started a daily music event called The Sound of Music from the Square Window, where I played songs from my window overlooking the square in Broadwindsor. It was a shared experience during a difficult time, which people enjoyed.
I also worked with Farm Radio and have been involved with Windrose Rural Media Trust since 2005. I’ve just completed a project called Born & Bred: Stories of Then and Now in Broadwindsor, Dorset.
While I’ve got quite a few future projects to work on with Windrose, I’m also looking at something that came up when I got a message out of the blue from someone in Nova Scotia who told me I was related to Ernest Hemingway. I’ve always resisted Hemingway because I don’t like him as a person, but I’ve got to overcome that because it turns out to be an interesting story which I think might take me a while to research and write.
Scottish Country Dancing St Michael’s Scottish Country Dancing Club, 7.30 – 9.30pm at the Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel BA22 7QX. First two visits free, £2.00 per session, £1.50 for members. Always a fun evening - come along and give it a try – a warm welcome assured. No partner needed. Please bring a mug - tea, coffee, biscuits provided. See website www. stmichaelsscdclub.org or contact secretary Elspeth 07972125617 elspeth_a_wright@hotmail.com
Neil Brand’s Centenary Laurel & Hardy Show, 7:30pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets from £25.50 adv. To book electricpalace.org.uk.
Colyton town history walk leaving from Colyton Dolphin Car Park at 2 pm – Guided Walk approximately one hour. Cost £5, children under 16 free. No booking required, all weathers, Group bookings by arrangement –Contact 01297 552514 or 01297 33406.
Bride Valley Films will be showing The Choral ‘poignant and funny with excellent music’ As WW1 rages on, the Choral Society in a small English town has lost most of its men to the army. The Choral’s committee is determined to press ahead with new recruits. They engage a driven new chorus master, Dr. Henry Guthrie – recently returned from a career in Germany. As conscription papers start to arrive, the community discovers that the best response to the war is to make music together. Starring Ralph Fiennes and Roger Allam. Written by Alan Bennett. 1hr. 40” Cert.TBA Doors Open: 7.00 p.m. Films start 7.30 p.m. Tickets: £6.00 (to include a glass of wine) Tickets on the door: Litton Cheney Village Hall DT2 9AU.
Friday, 1 May
5am Sunrise on Giant Hill Trendle, on top of Giant Hill and inside the Giant’s enclosure. Please do not walk on the Giant. The Wessex Morris Men have been greeting the sunrise on 1st May for decades. The event takes place on the Trendle, a square earth-banked enclosure above the Giant’s head, where there used to be a maypole. They are joined by Cerne Abbas Brewery who give glasses of a special Beltane ale to thirsty revellers, brewed during the Festival. For both this and the Wessex Morris Men event below there is no charge but a hat is passed around for donations to Wessex Morris Men. approx 6.15am Wessex Morris Men Procession & Dancing by the Royal Oak Timings approximate! The Wessex Morris Men scramble down the hill from
about 5.45am, then process south from the Village Hall along Duck Street to the square in front of the Royal Oak. Please make a donation to the Wessex Morris Men. about 7.30am May Day at the Silver Well. To get to the Well go through the Cemetery at the end of Abbey St. After the Wessex Morris Men have finished outside the Royal Oak we will have a short celebration of the season at the Silver (St Augustine’s) Well in the Celtic Christian tradition. Open to all faiths, and usually well-attended by followers of pagan religions such as Druidry and Wicca, as well as those from no faith tradition.
Zubieta and The Suaves channel the spirit of Brazil from the heart of the UK. Fronted by the captivating voice of Marta Zubieta, this six-piece band weaves a rich tapestry of bossa nova, Afro-Brazilian samba and Latin jazz — blending golden-age classics with fresh contemporary flair. 8pm Bridport Arts Centre, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NR. Box Office 01308 424204 Tickets £18/17/16/8.
Beaminster Museum Fire Flood Frost explores how Beaminster and the surrounding villages have battled the elements over the centuries – from floods and violent storms to bitter freezes – along with the three great fires that devastated the town. The exhibition tells the story of how local people pulled together in times of crisis and learned lessons for the future. Visitors will also find exciting new Pre-history and Geology displays, along with eye-catching graphics. The Museum is open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Bank Holidays, 10.30am – 4.00pm, Sundays 2.00pm – 4.30pm. Admission is free, but donations are very welcome. Whitcombe Rd, Beaminster DT8 3NB. www. beaminstermuseum.co.uk.
My Ballet -Holistic ballet classes for all adults
Supportive & Non - judgemental classical ballet to fabulous music. For posture, flexibility, strength, balance, fitness, friendship. Join the fun and feel good. Everybody welcome! Do get in touch and come for a dance!
Winsham Jubilee Hall, Church St, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU. Fridays 10am and 11.15am. Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www. my-ballet.uk
Friday, 1 May - Saturday, 2 May
Bridport Allington Hill Country Fair Music and bar, country craft stalls, have-a-go activities, skittle alley and games, speakers tent, horse-logging demonstrations and guided walks, afternoon teas and hot food. 6-10pm
on the Friday, main fair 10am-6pm on the Saturday. Allington Hill, Hospital Lane entrance. FREE entrance for all. Allington Hillbillies and Bridport Town Council www.allingtonhillbillies.org.uk.
Saturday, 2 May
Giants and Kings The Bards of Dorset 2.30 for 3pm St Mary’s Church, Abbey Street, Cerne Abbas DT2 7TQ Join Rebecca Danicic, Fourth Bard of Dorchester (Caer Dur 2025–26), and Peter Roe, Grand Bard of Dorset (2024–29), for an afternoon of poetry, stories and spoken word. The Bards will present a layered palimpsest of Cerne Abbas and the Giant - myth and history, Hercules and Eadwold, landscape and legend - woven through original verse and evocative retellings. Expect wit, gravitas and a living bardic tradition brought vividly to life beneath Dorset’s most iconic chalk colossus. Performance just under an hour. (Parental Guidance.) with afternoon tea £9 adult / £5 U18s / Family (2A+2C) £25.
Musbury Plant & Craft Sale 9.30am - 12noon.
Musbury Village Hall, Seaton Road. Varied selection of vegetables, annuals and perennials for sale, plus a variety of craft items. Cash sales only. Refreshments available. Raffle. Free Parking and entry. More info: Mary - 01297 553325. Please bring your own bags/boxes!
Free Flower Farm Tour 2pm at Abbey Farm Flowers, Abbotsbury. Have a walk around our PYO flower farm and learn how and why we grow. More details at www. abbeyfarmflowers.co.uk.
Kane Brown Crowd work King, 8pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets from £19.50 adv. To book electricpalace.org.uk.
Saturday, 2 - 10 May
Dorchester Walking Festival featuring 51 guided walks, offering something for all abilities and interests. Due to strong demand, several walks have been added on additional dates. Newly added events include Discover Portland on Friday 8 May and Sunday Morning Circular from Sydling St Nicholas on Sunday 10 May. Details and tickets are available via Eventbrite by searching “Dorchester Walking Festival 2–10 May 2026.”
Sunday, 3 May
Riverflies Safari 2-3.30pm Vicarage Field, 4 Back Lane, Cerne Abbas, Dorchester DT2 7JW. The River Cerne contains many interesting invertebrates. Volunteers from the “Riverfly” project, will teach us how to observe and monitor the health of our river by catching, identifying and counting the variety of invertebrates which live in the river bed. They will provide equipment as well as expertise. Wellies are needed and warm/dry clothing if the weather is cold/wet. Children must be accompanied, and the accompanying adults are responsible for the safety of their children. 2-3.30pm Learn how to Cast a Fly (open to all ages, junior and adult) Vicarage Field, 4 Back Lane, Cerne Abbas, Dorchester DT2 7JW. Learn how to fish for the elusive trout in chalk stream or lake. This workshop will include fly casting lessons (no fish involved!) and an introduction into tackle, knots, and selecting the right artificial fly to imitate the real thing. Taken by Sir Jeremy Mackenzie, whose sixty years of fishing experience worldwide he is happy to share. All equipment provided –just turn up. Seen it on the BBC programme Countryfile? Come and learn more! Both workshops take place in the same location. The Riverflies workshop enables you to learn more about what lives in the river: all are potential trout food. The flycasting workshop will teach you more about the lifecycles and interactions of the organisms in the river. Combined cost £5 child, £8 adult Family (2A+1/2C or 1A+3C) £20.
Monday, 4 May
Rambling with Dorset Poetry 2.30pm. Meet outside Cerne St Mary’s Church, Abbey Street, Cerne Abbas DT2 7JQ Immerse yourself
in the literature and music of Dorset. Join members of the William Barnes Society for this gentle ramble around Cerne and its immediate surroundings. We will stop at evocative spots to reflect with a relevant poem which will take you back into olde Dorset. Ends with afternoon tea at St Mary’s Church. Dress appropriately for the weather – the walk will mostly be around the centre of Cerne, with diversions to St Augustine’s Well and the river. In the event of terrible weather it will take place in the church. Tickets £8.50 which includes afternoon tea in the church.
Scottish Dancing in Chardstock An evening of Scottish dancing in Chardstock Village Hall EX13 7BJ 7.30 - 10.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug if possible and wear soft soled shoes. No partner required. Cost £3.00 coffee/tea included. For more information contact David on 01460 65981 www.chardscottishcountrydance.co.uk.
Tuesday, 5 May
Anglo-Saxon Riddle ‘Quiz’ Night 7 for 7.30pm. St Mary’s Church, Abbey Street, Cerne Abbas DT2 7JQ. How did those 10thC monks in Cerne Abbey while away long winter evenings? Surprisingly, ‘What am I?’ type riddles were rather popular! In fact St Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne in the 7thC, was a renowned wit who wrote some. Many are ‘double entendres’ – can you spot the hidden meaning?! Modern translations of the riddles will be supplied in booklet form. Come and pit your puzzle-solving skill against those minds
of a millennium ago. £8 including wine or soft drink.
A Bridport Railway walk , led by a Bridport museum guide, will explore what remains of the Bridport Branch Railway and station buildings, and participants will hear about their fascinating history. 11am starting from the Coop car park, Sea Road North, DT6 4RR. Tickets (£8) from the museum website include a single visit to the museum.
Dorchester Bayeux Society film night: La Vie En Rose. Starring the Oscar-winning Marion Cotillard, this is the wonderfully acclaimed biographical film depicting the life of the legendary French singer, Edith Piaf. Full of her songs and emotion, it is an unmissably beautiful epic tale of a life from humble beginnings to stardom. If you love French culture and a very special evening, this film is a must-see! Musical/Drama—Cert 12. In French with subtitles. £6 cash or card on the door (members £5). For more information see website at https://dorchester-bayeux-society. co.uk Doors open 6:45pm for 7:30pm. Corn Exchange, High East Street, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1HF.
Wednesday, 6 May
My Ballet - since 2012 - Holistic ballet classes for all adults. Supportive & Non - judgemental classical ballet to fabulous music. For posture, flexibility, strength, balance, fitness, friendship. Join the fun and feel good. 6:45pm to 8pm. Jubilee Hall , Church Street, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU. Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www.my-ballet.uk
Thursday, 7 May
Community Coffee Morning 9.30 - 11.15am. Free bacon butties, cake and coffee. All welcome. St. Swithun’s Church Hall, Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU. 07741457505.
What the Giant Sees? 7 for 7.30pm. St Mary’s Church, Abbey Street, Cerne Abbas DT2 7JQ. Garry Prescott has been a keen wildlife and landscape photographer for many years, and recently has become enthused by photographing the night sky. He was amazed to discover that there are relatively cheap and easy ways for a complete novice to do this. Much of his work has been done at the Giant Viewpoint. Relax and enjoy a whistle-stop tour of the moon, sun, more distant stars and nebulae in
our galaxy, and galaxies beyond the Milky Way. If the sky is clear there will be a live demo of the equipment at the Giant Viewpoint after the presentation (ie when it is dark enough!). £8 including wine or soft drink.
Scottish Country Dancing . St Michael’s Scottish Country Dancing Club Annual General Meeting 7.30 -9.30pm. Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel BA22 7QX. Members only this week.
Colyton Town History Walk leaving from Colyton Dolphin Car Park at 2 pm – Guided walk approximately one hour. Cost £5, children under 16 free. No booking required, all weathers. Group bookings by arrangement –Contact 01297 552514 or 01297 33406.
Friday, 8 May
Open rehearsal - Dances and Dalliance 11am. Open rehearsal supporting Dorchester Town Council’s Informal Annual Town Meeting at Dorchester Corn Exchange, High East Street, Dorchester DT1 1HF. Celebrating twinning between Dorset and Normandy.In this open rehearsal by musicians from Dorset and Cherbourg, you will hear dance music and love songs from medieval and Tudor times played
in costume on period instruments. Free entry. More details at https://courtlyemusick.co.uk or call 01305 854915.
Cinechard at Chard Guildhall will show One Battle After Another (15), doors at 7pm, starts 7.30pm. This darkly funny action thriller won six Oscars and stars Leonardo Dicaprio and Sean Penn. Tickets in advance from Eleos and the PO for £6 (cash please) or on the door £7. Raffle and refreshments.
Flower Club at Abbey Farm Flowers, Abbotsbury. Have a guided tour of the beds, pick a bouquet and enjoy coffee and cake with flowery chat. £30 per person. More details at www.abbeyfarmflowers.co.uk.
Open Mic at The Millhouse Music is at the heart of The Millhouse. Join us for grassroots open mic — as a performer or audience. Come and celebrate local talent in our vibrant Somerset venue. 7 pm. The Millhouse, Rose Mills Industrial Estate, Ilminster, Somerset, TA19 9PS. 07980 946465 | www.millhousearts. co.uk.
My Ballet -Holistic ballet classes for all adults. Supportive & Non - judgemental classical ballet to fabulous music. For posture, flexibility, strength, balance, fitness, friendship. Join the fun and feel good. Everybody welcome! Do get in touch and come for a dance! Winsham Jubilee Hall, Church St, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU. Fridays 10am and 11.15am. Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@ gmail.com www.my-ballet.uk
Saturday, 9 May
Bridport Choral Society presents Spring Chorus at Bridport United Church, East Street, Bridport. 7.30 pm. Tickets £15 (under 16s free) available from Bridport TIC (and online). Smith & Smith and on the door.
Plants and Car Boot Sale 10.00 - 1.00pm. Sellers pitch £12 each. Plus stalls Clothes, Bric a Brac, Tombola, Garden items, Jazz Cafe with Bacon Butties and refreshments. St. Swithun’s Church Garden and Hall, Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU. 07887483228.
Kith and Kin 5.30 for 6pm. St Mary’s Church, Abbey Street, Cerne Abbas DT2 7JQ. ‘Under moon and under sun, thread by thread the web is spun, each strand laid our path is chosen, warp and weft our lives are woven.’ Step into the mead hall and join us for Kith and Kin - a warmhearted, delightful solo show that brings the everyday world of a 9th century Somerset woman vividly to life. Evocative, colourful
and sharply humorous, this immersive and very unique performance transports you to the lively heart of a Wessex community, where the rhythms of daily life beat strong! Inspired by rich historical research and performed in an exciting mix of spoken and sung Modern English and Old English, Kith and Kin is a touching, playful, and powerful celebration of resilience, humour, and human connection. No previous knowledge of the period or the language is necessary. Come and listen, laugh, and lose yourself in a world both distant and deeply familiar. ‘A fabulously immersive trip back to Anglo-Saxon England presented by a talented performer who blends humour, pathos and scholarship in a uniquely enjoyable experience.’ Dr Richard Brunning, Senior Archaeologist, South West Heritage Trust. “It was funny. I loved it!” (age 7). Suitable for adults and young people 6+. 80min + interval. Adults £13 / under 18s £6 Family (2A+2C) £35.
Informal concert - Dances and Dalliance. 2:30pm. Broadmayne Village Hall, Cowleaze Road, Broadmayne DT2 8EW. Dance leads to dalliance and love—or a broken heart. Step back in time with Courtlye Musick and Ars Nova of Cherbourg as we whirl you through affairs of the heart with medieval and Tudor dance music and love songs played in costume on period instruments. Free concert with retiring collection. More details at https:// courtlyemusick.co.uk or call 01305 854915.
Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Evershot. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. New members/visitors welcome.
Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society . Plant Sale and Coffee Morning. Uplyme Village Hall 10am to 12noon. Entry £2, includes a drink.
Lyme Bay Chorale presents Sacred Spring Music including works by Handel, JS Bach and Mendelssohn. Lyme Regis Parish Church at 7pm. Advance tickets £15 from tickettailor. com/events/lymebaychorale or £17.50 on the door. Under-18s free. Refreshments will be available. lymebaychorale.co.uk.
EVENTS IN JUNE
send your event details to info@marshwoodvale.com BY MAY 14th
Saturday, 9 - 10 May
Makers’ Market at BlueBarn.Life Enjoy a day out in beautiful West Dorset. Handcrafted items by local makers and artists. Refreshments and lunches. BlueBarn. Life clothes, Lou Tonkin prints, Warriner Leather, Fruitbat Textiles, Martin Hazell spoons, Lorette Dare rag dolls, Jo Burnell pottery. 11am - 4pm. BlueBarn.Life, School House Farm, Blackdown, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LE. What3Words: ///little.handyman.spud Google Maps: BlueBarn.Life. +44 (0)1460 30297.
Sunday, 10 May
Singing Bowl Soundbath 2PM Bridport Unitarians, 49 East Street, Bridport, DT6 3JX Lie down, relax, and allow the Pure Sounds of a crystal and Tibetan bowl soundbath plus sacred vocal overtoning give you a sonic deep-tissue massage, taking you into the deeper brainwave states of ‘the relaxation response’, while charging and balancing the aura and chakras of the subtle body, and detoxing the physical body. Booking £17 01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com.
Salway Ash Village Cream Teas - 2-5 Strongate Farm Salway Ash DT6 5JD - Village Cream Teas, plant stall and raffle in aid of Holy Trinity Church Salway Ash. 2-5pm. Parking at the farm and dogs welcome on a lead, for more details contact Tess 07792 609617.
Monday, 11 May
St. Swithun’s Band Spring Concert 7.30 - 9.00pm. All welcome, donations are to be split between the band and church funds. Tea and biscuits on sale in the hall after the concert. St. Swithun’s Church Garden and Hall, Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU. 07887483228.
Scottish Dancing in Chardstock An evening of Scottish dancing in Chardstock Village Hall EX13 7BJ. 7.3010.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug if possible and wear soft soled shoes. No partner required. Cost £3.00 coffee/tea included. For more information contact David on 01460 65981 www. chardscottishcountrydance.co.uk.
Tuesday, 12 May
Lyme Regis Society invites you to the Annual Coffee Morning at the Alexandra Hotel 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Come and find out more about the Society. Meet other members. Everyone is welcome. Entrance Free. Donations Welcome. Tea, Coffee and Biscuits provided. For more information on membership: Contact: membership@lymeregissociety.org.uk
Wednesday, 13 May
Kilmington Film Night “Song Sung Blue (12A) Two down-on-their-luck musicians (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson) form a joyous Neil Diamond tribute band, proving it’s never too late to find love and follow your dreams. But what is apparently a fairly standard rags-toriches story is ruptured by a tragic twist of fate. Based
on a true story. Doors and bar open 6.45 film start 7.15 at Kilmington Village Hall EX13 7RF. Tickets £6 (Cash Only) can be ordered by contacting: John at wattsjohn307@gmail.com or Tel: 01297 521681.
Loders Local History Group 7.30pm-9.00pm in Loders Village Hall. Talk by Helen Doble “Loders Parish in the 1920s”. All Welcome £3/adult refreshments.
My Ballet - since 2012 - Holistic ballet classes for all adults. Supportive & Non - judgemental classical ballet to fabulous music. For posture, flexibility, strength, balance, fitness, friendship. Join the fun and feel good. 10am,11:30am,1o’clock & 2:15. Bull Hotel ballroom, 34 East St, Bridport DT6 3LF Classes are currently held at Bridport Town Hall, East St, DT6 3LF due to building works at the Bull Hotel. Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www.my-ballet.uk.
My Ballet - since 2012 - Holistic ballet classes for all adults. Supportive & Non - judgemental classical ballet to fabulous music. For posture, flexibility, strength, balance, fitness, friendship. Join the fun and feel good. 6:45pm to 8pm. Jubilee Hall , Church Street, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU. Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www.my-ballet.uk.
Thursday, 14 May
Chard History Group Eleanor of Aquitaine. A talk by Dave Tozer on the Queen who was the power behind The thrones of both France and England in the 12th century. 7 for 7.30 start. Chard Guildhall upstairs with lift available. Members £2.50 guests most welcome £3.50. For further details Tessa 07984481634.
Kilmington Film Matinee “Song Sung Blue (12A)” (See 13th May). Doors open 1.45pm film starts 2pm. Tickets £6 (Cash Only), cream-teas @ £4. served during the interval but must be pre-booked with your seats see above and www.kilmingtonvillage.com/otherorganisations.html for more information.
Scottish Country Dancing St Michael’s Scottish Country Dancing Club, 7.30 – 9.30pm at the Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel BA22 7QX. First two visits free, £2.00 per session, £1.50 for members. A warm welcome assured. No partner needed. Please bring a mug - tea, coffee, biscuits provided. See website www. stmichaelsscdclub.org or contact secretary Elspeth 07972125617 elspeth_a_wright@hotmail.com.
Bridport History Society will be welcoming Dr Robert Nantes who will give a talk on “Uriah Haddock and other Hapless Bristol Bankrupts.” The meeting will be held at the United Church Hall on East Street, Bridport. Doors open at 2.15 for a prompt 2.30 start. All are welcome. Members £1pp and visitors £5pp. Bridport History Society meets on the second Thursday of each month (except July and August). Membership is open to all (£12 individual/£18 couple). For more information visit https://www.bridporthistorysociety.org.uk.
Colyton Town History Walk leaving from Colyton
Dolphin Car Park at 2 pm – Guided walk approximately one hour. Cost £5, children under 16 free. No booking required, all weathers. Group bookings by arrangement –Contact 01297 552514 or 01297 33406.
Friday, 15 May
Botanical Ceramic Tiles and Coasters Join Gemma Davis to create ceramic tiles and coasters decorated using plants and flowers from the flower farm. £45 per person. Abbey Farm Flowers, Abbotsbury. More details and booking at www.abbeyfarmflowers.co.uk.
My Ballet -Holistic ballet classes for all adults. Supportive & Non - judgemental classical ballet to fabulous music. For posture, flexibility, strength, balance, fitness, friendship. Join the fun and feel good. Everybody welcome! Do get in touch and come for a dance! Winsham Jubilee Hall, Church St, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU. Fridays 10am and11.15am. Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www. my-ballet.uk.
The Comedy Store 7:30pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £19.50 adv. To book electricpalace. org.uk.
Saturday, 16 May
Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Frampton. For further information please ring
01308 898484 or 01308 863340. New members/visitors welcome.
West Dorset Singers Concert In their 60th year, the West Dorset Singers will celebrate local composers in their upcoming concert with the Broadoak Choir. This event will bring together two choirs, two composers and two cantatas. The West Dorset Singers’ Musical Director, Matt Kingston, is an internationally celebrated composer who composes under the name Matthew Coleridge. His cantata, The Breath of Life is an uplifting celebration of the world around us. The music moves from ethereal stillness, through rhythm, drama and warmth as it takes the audience through thoughtfully selected text ranging from the sacred to the scientific. Esteemed local composer and singer with both choirs, Chris Reynolds, composed Aldhelm’s Bridge as a tribute to Aldhelm, the first Bishop of Sherborne. Legend has it that he would sit on the bridge (thought to be in Sherborne) singing songs of the Gospel to passersby in their own words to reach out beyond the less accessible Latin sung in the Abbey. This concert will be held at 7pm in the Bridport United Church. Tickets (£15, under 18s free) are available from Bridport Music Centre and online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/wds.
Jumble Sale with refreshments, 2pm – 3.30pm. Contributions gratefully received, & may be left at the hall between 10am & mid-day on the Saturday morning.
Clapton & Wayford Village Hall. Further information from Mary (01460 74849) or Barbara (01460 74321). Silver Rings and/or Bangles Workshop Join silversmith Elly Harvey to make unique stacking rings and bangles. £60 morning or afternoon, £110 all day. More details and booking at www.abbeyfarmflowers.co.uk.
Sunday, 17 May
The Occasional Singers: Choral Masterworks at 7pm. St Mary’s Church, Edward Road, Dorchester DT1 2HL. The Occasional Singers present a concert of short choral pieces for choir with chamber orchestra. They will be joined by the outstanding young Soprano Sumei Bao-Smith as they run the gamut of emotions from the joyful, energetic vigour of Handel’s ‘Let God Arise’ to the tender romantic passion of Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42. The programme includes the famous soprano aria ‘Scherza Infida’ from Handel’s Ariodante. Entrance is free. There will be a retiring collection for Weldmar Hospicecare. Everyone is most welcome.
Jazz by the Sea at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis. Django Chutney have been described as a virtuosic gypsy-jazz ‘manouche a trois’, with equal parts due respect for the genre, unruly chaotic energy and a huge dose of tongue-in-cheek humour. 8pm Marine Theatre, Church St, Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3QB. £16 advance £18 on the door. Tickets available at www.marinetheatre. com. You can also purchase tickets from the Lyme Regis Bookshop and Bridport TIC (01308 424901).
Monday, 18 May
Hawkchurch Film Nights in association with Moviola. org, proudly presents ‘Hamnet’, 125 mins, Cert.12A (distressing scenes, brief moderate sex). A powerful study of grief, based on the bestselling novel by Maggie O’Farrell, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Chloe Zhao (Nomadland). William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) marries the free-spirited Agnes (Oscar-winning Jessie Buckley). William heads to London to pursue his career as a dramatist, leaving his family in Stratford, and tragedy ensues in his absence. Doors open 6.30pm, film starts 7.00pm at Hawkchurch Village Hall, EX13 5XD. Ticket reservations £6.50 from csma95@gmail.com or leave a message on 07753 603219; tickets also available in advance for £6.50 from Hawkchurch Community Shop or on the door for £7.00 (cash only). Subtitles for hearing-impaired patrons provided if available. Homemade cake, teas, coffees, soft drinks, wine and other refreshments available.
Tuesday, 19 May
Turn Lyme Green Talk ‘Shockingly Simple: 12 Years of Living with an Extension Cord’ Electric Cars- Simon West, an enthusuastic owner for 10 years reveals how simple and rewarding it is to own an EV. He will update on the current marketplace and what to look out for.
7pm Driftwood Cafe, Baptist Church, top of Broad Street, Lyme Regis FREE Refreshments available. The Millhouse Writers Group A supportive peer group for writers of all kinds — poems, short stories, fiction, non-fiction, academic writing and more. Hold yourself to account and get friendly, interested feedback. 10:00 am – 12:00 pm. The Millhouse, Rose Mills Industrial Estate, Ilminster, Somerset, TA19 9PS. 07980 946465 | www.millhousearts.co.uk.
Wednesday, 20 May
Coffee Morning including cakes, scones & savouries, and bacon/egg rolls (made to order), 10.30am – noon; all welcome. Clapton & Wayford Village Hall. More details from Julia (01460 72769).
My Ballet - since 2012 - Holistic ballet classes for all adults. Supportive & Non - judgemental classical ballet to fabulous music. For posture, flexibility, strength, balance, fitness, friendship. Ages 18 to 82 plus! Join the fun and feel good. 10am-11:15 (some experience) 11:30 - 12:45 ( mixed ability) 1pm-2:15 (a Partly seated class with barre work for balance, confidence & fun) 2:153.30 (mixed ability) Do get in touch and come and dance! Bull Hotel ballroom, 34 East St, Bridport DT6 3LF Classes are currently held at Bridport Town Hall, East St, DT6 3LF due to building works at the Bull Hotel. Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www.my-ballet.uk
My Ballet - since 2012 - Holistic ballet classes for all adults. Supportive & Non - judgemental classical ballet to fabulous music. For posture, flexibility, strength, balance, fitness, friendship. Join the fun and feel good. 6:45pm to 8pm. Jubilee Hall , Church Street, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU. Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www.my-ballet.uk
Thursday, 21 May
Scottish Country Dancing St Michael’s Scottish Country Dancing Club, 7.30 – 9.30pm at the Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel BA22 7QX. First two visits free, £2.00 per session, £1.50 for members. A warm welcome assured. No partner needed. Please bring a mug - tea, coffee, biscuits provided. See website www.stmichaelsscdclub.org or contact secretary Elspeth 07972125617 elspeth_a_wright@hotmail.com.
Colyton Town History Walk leaving from Colyton Dolphin Car Park at 2 pm – Guided walk approximately one hour. Cost £5, children under 16 free. No booking required, all weathers. Group bookings by arrangement –Contact 01297 552514 or 01297 33406.
South Somerset RSPB Local Group How Far Can Farming Be More Nature Friendly? An illustrated talk presented by Holly Purdey who runs an Exmoor 200 acre farm. Holly is England’s Vice Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network. Her farming model
addresses biodiversity loss and creates climate resilience. At 7.30pm The Millennium Hall, Seavington St. Mary, Ilminster, TA19 0QH. Entry: Group members £4, non-group members £5, under 25’s Free. Tea/coffee & biscuits included – Wheelchair access. Further details from Denise Chamings on 01781473846 or www.rspb. org.uk/groups/southsomerset. Everyone welcome.
Friday, 22 May
Open Mic at The Millhouse We encourage original and spontaneous collaboration at our open jam session. Jump in and see what magic happens. Extended showcase slots available (book in advance). 7 pm The Millhouse, Rose Mills Industrial Estate, Ilminster, Somerset, TA19 9PS 07980 946465 www.millhousearts.co.uk.
My Ballet -Holistic ballet classes for all adults. Supportive & Non - judgemental classical ballet to fabulous music. For posture, flexibility, strength, balance, fitness, friendship. Join the fun and feel good. Everybody welcome! Do get in touch and come for a dance! Winsham Jubilee Hall, Church St, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU Fridays 10am and 11.15am. Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www. my-ballet.uk
Saturday, 23 May - 7 June
Open Studio for Dorset Art Weeks Venue230 – vibrant paintings of the local landscape, prints, cards and more by Hilary Buckley. Brooklands, Ware Lane, Lyme Regis DT7 3EL. Open daily 11.00am to 4.00pm (closed 1 and 2 June. Free admission. Contact: 01297 444111. Website: Dorset-artist.uk.
Sunday, 24 May
Dalwood Jazz Club presents La Vie en Rose with Rebecca Willson - violin, Nick White - clarinet, David Jones - guitar, Laurie Light - guitar and Yann Mahdjoub - d/bass. at 3pm Dalwood Village Hall, EX13 7EG (near Axminster) Bar for beer/wine/soft drinks and tea/ coffee/cake etc. Parking at the Village Hall £12.50p If possible, please book in advance and pay (cash or card) at the door. Thank you! t.mackenney111@ btinternet.com
Monday, 25 May
Stockland Country Fair - Gates open 1.30pm For a thoroughly entertaining afternoon,Uncle Tacko’s flea circus,Dan’s Marvellous Magic show,Fangs and Feathers, The Misadventures of Thor, Traditional games,Country Crafts & Plants,cream teas,BBQ with local venison burgers & Veggie fare,fab bar with local brews and all for good causes,so come! EX149EF.Adult £5 children Free.
Burton Bradstock Spring Fayre The hugely popular Burton Bradstock Village Fayre will be held in the delightful Rectory Walled Gardens from 2.00 pm to 4.30pm. An event for the family not to be missed. Entry
is £1 for Adults, children under 12 enter free. For further information see posters around the area or contact the organiser on 07791870778. Please note that a section of Church Road, Burton Bradstock outside the Village Hall will be temporarily closed from 09:00 to 18:00 on the day of the Fayre.
Tuesday, 26 May
Bridport U3a Talk is at 2.00 pm at Bridport United Church Hall, East Street, Bridport, DT6 3LJ. Talk lasts for up to 1 hour followed by Q&A, then refreshments. The speaker is Alex Leger. Title of talk is The Disappearing Islands of the Solomons. Members are free, Guests are £3.00.
Foyer Sessions: Linde Nijland 7pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £16, ticket incls drink. To book electricpalace.org.uk.
Wednesday, 27 May
Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society Talk ‘Getting to Grips with Peat-Free Compost’ by Kate Turner. Uplyme Village Hall 7.30pm. Doors open 7pm. Members free; guests £3. More information https://ulrhs. co.uk.
Thursday, 28 May
Scottish Country Dancing St Michael’s Scottish Country Dancing Club, 7.30 – 9.30pm at the Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel BA22 7QX. First two visits free, £2.00 per session, £1.50 for members. A warm welcome assured. No partner needed. Please bring a mug - tea, coffee, biscuits provided. See website www.stmichaelsscdclub.org or contact secretary Elspeth 07972125617 elspeth_a_wright@hotmail.com.
Colyton Town History Walk leaving from Colyton Dolphin Car Park at 2 pm – Guided walk approximately one hour. Cost £5, children under 16 free. No booking required, all weathers. Group bookings by arrangement –Contact 01297 552514 or 01297 33406.
Free Flower Farm Tour 2pm at Abbey Farm Flowers, Abbotsbury. Have a walk around our PYO flower farm and learn how and why we grow. More details at www. abbeyfarmflowers.co.uk
Thursday, 28 - 31 May
Broadwindsor Oak Apple Festival Broadwindsor holds its second Oak Apple Festival over four days at the end of May. Held to coincide with the day Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, the event recalls the monarch’s six-week escapade in 1651 after escaping from the Battle of Worcester. The king not only hid in the famous Boscobel Oak in Shropshire, he spent a night at the old Castle Inn, which is now King Charles Cottage. A just-for-fun ‘Where’s Charlie?’ Trail will take place over the weekend when families are invited to spot knitted
King Charles figures all around the village. Organisations from all over the village will be involved in the four days of activities, which include a family fun evening with live music at the cricket ground, the Oak Apple Fair on the village green – with stalls, sideshows, live music and refreshments - a flower festival in Broadwindsor Church, classic cars, an art project, cream teas and a storytelling picnic walk to Lewesdon Hill. There is also a scarecrow competition with the theme of ‘Favourite Books / Characters from Fiction’, to tie in with 2026 being the National Year of Reading. Maps will be available at the village shop.
Friday, 29 May
The Eras Experience Taylor Swift tribute, 7pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets from £23. To book electricpalace.org.uk.
Saturday, 30 May
Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Kilmington. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. New members/visitors welcome.
Saturday, 30 - 31 May
Angels of Sound: Dowsing the chakras, Divine Names and mantras Module 2 10am-5pm Oborne Village Hall,
Oborne, nr. Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4LA Day 1 offers further refinements with on Toning and Overtoning the chakras and such as learning the Bija Mantras of the elements, toning/overtoning the Skt names of the chakras, and multi-syllable Divine Names. Day 2 (morning) students give a whole group vocal soundbath healing alongside the Chakra Tones CD in the correct key of each student using all the techniques and knowledge gained. Chakra dowsing is practised by students in this Module so by this stage student should be equipped with their own pendulum dowser. £128/64 deposit. Price includes attendance at our Singing Bowl Soundbath also open to the public on the Sunday afternoon. Booking: ahiahel@live.com, 01935 389655.
Sunday, 31 May
Netherbury Repair Cafe 10:00-12:00 at Netherbury Village Hall. We have two new volunteers who have added to our expertise in mending clothing and textiles, electric goods, wooden and metal items and garden tools. Geoff specialises in fine wood and metal work and Tony does upholstery. Bring your items along and we’ll do our best. Remember to bring any spare parts if they are needed. As always, we have a selection of lovely homemade cakes and good coffee and tea. Lisa Willis on 07870 950 666 or info@repaircafenetherbury.org. www. repaircafenetherbury.org
TNature Studies
By Michael McCarthy
he grand wildlife spectacle is not really part of nature watching in Britain, is it? I mean, colossal, awe-inspiring movements of big creatures—I’m thinking in particular of the annual Great Migration in East Africa, when hundreds of thousands of zebras and wildebeest and other hoofed animals shift with the seasonal grazing from the Serengeti in Tanzania, to the Maasai Mara in Kenya, and back. In doing so they become a vast, moving larder for the predators of the plains, the lions, the leopards and the hyenas, and for the crocodiles in the rivers which the hoofed ones have to cross; this wildlife wonder supports a whole industry of safari tourism.
For myself, though I’ve seen some inspiring wildlife in Africa—mountain gorillas in Rwanda and the Congo, and elephants, black rhinos and giraffes in Namibia—I’ve never been to Kenya or Tanzania to see the Great Migration, and probably now I never will. Yet reading a detailed account of it recently made me think about wildlife spectacles in general, and what do we have of them in Britain. Not many, I thought; but two did come to mind.
One is the starling murmuration, involving many thousands of birds in giant, shape-shifting clouds. It’s a phenomenon that used to be commoner than now—starling populations have dropped over recent decades—but it’s still reliably visible in the autumn at Ham Wall nature reserve in Somerset, and attracts lots of visitors. The other is the autumn arrival of the wild geese flocks, particularly pink-footed geese, travelling in great v-shaped skeins from their summer breeding grounds in Iceland and Greenland. They winter in Britain in Eastern Scotland, Norfolk, and North-West England where I see them on the Dee estuary, and they are a spectacular sight.
Yet neither of those are visible in Dorset. However, there is a third British wildlife spectacle which is, though it’s on the miniature rather than the giant scale, and this is the mating dance of the mayflies. These are the graceful, butterfly-sized
An incomer’s discovery of the natural world in the West Country
upwing flies of our purer rivers, especially the southern chalk streams, like Dorset’s Frome and Piddle. It will be happening soon—in late May or early June the newly-hatched mayfly males come together in thousands on the river bank and begin a courtship dance which consists of bouncing—there’s no other word for it. They fly up vertically, to 12 or 15 feet perhaps, then parachute back down to about four feet from the ground; but the return back up again is so abrupt that they appear to have landed on an invisible trampoline. It can be seen from a distance, and the much larger females are attracted, fly in, and are grabbed and inseminated; then, while the males fly off to die in the grass, the females head back to the water to lay their eggs, and eventually collapse, spent and helpless in the surface film, when trout go mad to grab them. I’ve seen it on the watermeadows of the Frome above Dorchester—it’s a truly remarkable display.
I thought about this when put in mind of wildlife spectacles generally in reading Lion Song, a vivid account of the Great Migration and other such marvels by Brian Jackman, long our leading writer on African wildlife. Now in retirement in Dorset, Jackman is still very active at 90, and has produced a stunning memoir of his long years on safari, writing mainly for The Sunday Times. His conclusion, after half a century of observing wild Africa and its iconic fauna, is that it is eco-tourism which has been its saviour. Available on Amazon, Lion Song is full of vibrant colour and dramatic incident—featuring charismatic humans such as George Adamson of ‘Born Free’ fame, as well as the big cats and other great beasts. I was left in awe of it.
But I have to say, seeing the mayfly dance on the watermeadows is pretty awesome too.
Recently relocated to Dorset, Michael McCarthy is the former Environment Editor of The Independent. His books include Say Goodbye To The Cuckoo and The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy.
In close-up: the mayfly, ‘with wings like chapel windows’.
NET ZERO OR BUST
Bob Ward discusses navigating the Global Energy Crisis from Wytch Farm to the North Sea
The conflict in the Middle East could have longlasting consequences for Dorset, not just the price and security of energy supplies but also for its impacts from climate change. The disruption to supplies of oil and natural gas increased the prices of petrol and diesel at the pump and exerted upward pressure on bills for electricity and central heating. It has led some to suggest that the UK should be seeking to increase its supplies of oil and gas from domestic sources, including the North Sea.
However, this would likely make it more difficult to stop the growing impacts of climate change on Dorset, including heavier rainfall, more intense heatwaves, and rising sea levels.
Dorset actually hosts one of the largest onshore oil fields in western Europe at Wytch Farm. Production started in 1979 and peaked in 1997. Although its daily output has subsequently declined by nearly 90 per cent, it is currently expected to continue until 2037. However, most of the UK’s production of oil and
natural gas occurs offshore on the UK’s continental shelf, particularly beneath the North Sea. Commercial production of natural gas in the UK North Sea began in 1966, and oil production started in 1975. However, peak production of both occurred more than 25 years ago, and supplies have been in long-term decline as most of the reserves that are economically viable to extract have already been tapped. As a result, the UK has been a net importer of natural gas since 2003. We export some of our gas to Europe, particularly Ireland, and import gas by pipeline, mainly from Norway, and obtain some through shipments of liquefied natural gas, mostly from the United States but also from Qatar and other countries. Most of the oil produced by the UK is also exported because of a lack of refineries, requiring us to import the majority of our petrol and diesel.
Obviously, the use of petrol, diesel and natural gas creates emissions of carbon dioxide that drive climate change, but the process of extracting and
Farm gate to flooded field in Dorset
transporting them also results in emissions. For instance, the production of a unit of natural gas from the UK North Sea results in almost four times more emissions than the equivalent amount of gas delivered by pipeline from Norway.
However, domestically produced natural gas results in emissions that are almost three times lower than those required to extract natural gas in the United States, liquefy it and transport it by ship to the UK before re-gasifying it. Extracting and transporting oil and gas can be even more damaging for the climate if it allows the escape into the atmosphere of methane, a greenhouse gas that has an even stronger warming effect than carbon dioxide.
But these figures should all be viewed in the context of what we have to do to stop climate change.
Most of the impacts in Dorset and around the world will only stop growing once the world cuts emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to net zero. The UK has committed to reducing its annual emissions to net zero by 2050, which is in line with the international goal to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above its pre-industrial level. This would hopefully avoid potentially catastrophic consequences, such as the destabilisation of the polar ice caps in Greenland and West Antarctica, and a consequent rise in global sea levels of several metres.
In order to reach net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, the UK will need to drastically cut its consumption of fossil fuels. According to the independent experts at the Climate Change Committee, this could be achieved by electrifying much of the economy, including, for instance, replacing gas boilers with heat pumps, and driving cars and vans that are powered by electricity instead of petrol and diesel.
The electricity will need to be generated through nuclear energy and renewables. Fossil fuels could only be consumed in a net-zero world if the carbon dioxide is captured and stored instead of released into the atmosphere. If we continue to emit any greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels, we will need to compensate by removing the equivalent amount from the atmosphere and storing it permanently, for instance by pumping it underground into disused oil and gas fields in the North Sea. But we also need to persuade other countries to reach net zero too if we want to stop the impacts of climate change from increasing in Dorset and around the world. This means thinking about how we promote the transition away from fossil fuels to alternative sources of energy.
If we respond to the fossil fuel crisis caused by the conflict in the Middle East by drilling for more
oil and gas in the North Sea, we will signal to other producers that it is fine for them to do so as well.
But the International Energy Agency pointed out in 2021 that the world at that time already had such reserves of oil, gas and coal that, if they were all burned, they would result in carbon dioxide emissions that would cause global temperature to rise by far more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above its pre-industrial level. The Agency pointed out that a scenario for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 required no new development of coal, oil and natural gas around the world. Hence, new development of oil and gas in the North Sea would be incompatible with the aim of avoiding dangerous climate change.
... the volumes of oil and gas we could extract from the remaining fields would be too small to make any significant difference to our prices or energy security
And recent figures have shown just how severe our current situation is.
In March, the World Meteorological Organization indicated that the global temperature in 2025 was 1.43 degrees Celsius above the average for 1850 to 1900, and that 2015 to 2025 were the 11 hottest years on record. The Organization also pointed out that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are now more than 50 per cent higher than they were before industrialisation started in 17th century.
Figures from the Global Carbon Project, based at the University of Exeter, show that emissions of carbon dioxide from human activities reached a record level of 38.1 billion tonnes last year, largely from the burning of fossil fuels.
Given this dire situation, it would be a mistake to drill for more oil and gas in the North Sea. Not only would it send the wrong signal to other producers, but the volumes of oil and gas we could extract from the remaining fields would be too small to make any significant difference to our prices or energy security.
Instead, we should be speeding up our transition away from fossil fuels and towards domestic sources of clean energy.
Bob Ward FGS FRGS FEI is Policy and Communications Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
FILL ‘ER UP!
Fergus Dowding’s hopes for a bountiful garden
Hello everyone, fill ‘er up! Almost every bed in your garden should now be sown with seeds and little plants showing promise of rich yields.
As always, crops sown at the right time do best and overtake crops sown too early for their own good. At last in May you can sow your French and runner beans as both days and nights should be warm enough for them. We start them indoors for greater strength and there is still a possibility of a late frost. If sowing or planting outdoors covering with fleece is a big help for beans and courgettes for a short while.
Keeping your beds busy at all times is both more productive and good for your soil, so we try at all times to have seedlings growing in module trays to transplant after the first crops finish. Most of our winter brassica crops—winter cabbage, sprouts, kale etc—will get transplanted in June and July. The theory is so easy yet there are endless hurdles to jump in the face of a cavalcade of predators. Keeping all watered and growing robustly enough to withstand them is key.
Keeping your beds busy at all times is both more productive and good for your soil
An example is slug holes in lettuce leaves. Healthy salads are fast growing. Slugs are at all times rasping your leaves but it takes a while for them to chew all the way though and make a hole. So pick your salads regularly, twice a week is best.
Moist soil helps as it gives slugs enough to eat below ground without coming above to eat a whole row of germinating carrots.
Crops needing rain/watering most are new sowings, leaf crops and crops in flower to produce fruit—beans, peas and courgettes. The big hope is for rain at night and sun by day. And what herb makes a garden look well? A lot of thyme.
Tall pea variety Alderman can be grown up a wigwam. We plant three butternut squash plants at the base in May which begin to climb the stringwound wigwam as the peas finish their job, from August to October the large leaves and hanging fruits a spectacle to behold
MAY IN THE GARDEN
By Russell Jordan
May is the first month of the year when leaves have fully emerged, on deciduous trees and shrubs, and all remnants of winter are banished. Sometimes it’s hard to think of this month as still being ‘spring’—the ‘RHS Chelsea Flower Show’ (running from 19th to 23rd May this year) was originally the ‘Great Spring Show’—especially when there can be periods of intense sunshine with high temperatures. There really is very little excuse not to go out and enjoy your garden when it should now be full of life and interest.
It’s coming to the end of spring bulb flowering and soon they will be dying down. In the past a lot of gardeners did weird things, like tying daffodil foliage into knots, in the name of ‘tidiness’ but, if you want to maximise your flowering chances next spring, applying a feed, while they are still in leaf, and removing their spent blooms is best practise. They may be a little untidy, while they die down naturally, but the trick is to plant them in areas of the garden where there is plenty of rapidly growing herbaceous, or shrubby, growth to hide their blushes.
The very earliest spring flowering shrubs can have their faded flower stems cut out now, on established specimens, because this will promote the growth of new stems. These mature, over the course of the year, and it is these stems which have the best flowering potential for next spring. Any shrub which is left unpruned will eventually get ‘out of hand’ becoming a congested mass of old stems with less and less flowering impact. The general rule of thumb is to remove approximately one third of the stems, excising the oldest first, annually once the shrub is mature and has reached the maximum size for its allotted space in the garden. You will soon get into a ‘rolling pattern’ of shrub maintenance, with each shrub being dealt with once its flowering period is over.
Something else which will require regular attention
is weed removal. They will be germinating, growing and threatening to flower at a rate which increases exponentially with rising average temperatures. In the ‘bad old days’ regular applications of chemical herbicides would take care of weeds in places where there were no other plants, on drives, paving and gravelled areas for example, but now this is generally frowned upon and mechanical or manual removal is preferred. However you remove them, the name of the game is to be vigilant and to make sure you get to the offending weed before it gets the chance to flower and set seed. There is real truth behind the old adage; “one year’s seed is seven years weed”!
Of course, the readiness for weeds to germinate and grow rapidly is a signal that ornamental plants can also be sown and raised relatively easily from seed now. As well as hardy annuals sown in situ, where you want them to flower in the garden, you could also try sowing those biennial plants which need to establish this year in order to flower the next. Some useful spring flowering bedding, such as wallflowers, Bellis perennis and pansies, need to be sown pretty soon if they are to have a long enough growing period in order to flower from winter into spring next year. Don’t forget that bedding plants raised in your greenhouse, or on windowsills, will need a period of ‘hardening off’, bringing outdoors during the day but placed back under cover if night time temperatures take a tumble, before they can be safely planted out later this month.
Last month I wrote about the somewhat nebulous ‘last frost date’ but it’s worth remembering, although I think it’s less and less likely to have a frost in May, that tender plants cannot be planted outside, without protection, until all risk of damagingly cold overnight temperatures have passed. It should be pretty safe towards the end of this month, sooner if you keep some horticultural fleece to hand, to plant out any dahlias, or cannas, that you’ve gently woken up in frost-
free conditions. Similarly tender perennials, such as pelargoniums (bedding geraniums) and the more exotic salvias, which you lifted and kept protected over the winter, can be planted out into beds or containers for their summer exuberance. The same is true for those bedding plants which you may have obtained as tiny plug plants, before it was safe to plant them out, but which you’ve grown on, probably potted into bigger pots, in readiness for planting out.
On things like pelargoniums and salvias, which have made new growth before planting out, it’s possible to cut off a few of the fresh, vigorous, new shoots and pot these up, under cover, in order to propagate new plants which will be useful to either increase your stock or to replace the oldest plants which you may have overwintered for many years but which will eventually ‘run out of steam’. It’s always a good idea to have a few new plants ‘up your sleeve’, and under cover, just in case you do get caught out with an unexpected cold snap, or other meteorological disaster, which kills your original stock plants.
I touched upon the need to deploy plant supports last month, favouring ‘pea sticks’, and if you didn’t manage that task in April then it really will need doing now. The aim is to get the supports in place, pea sticks can be woven into organic shapes, so that the herbaceous perennial grows up through the cat’s cradle of supportive twiggery. Trying to force tall growth, into a ‘corset’ of plant supports, is the horticultural equivalent of attempting to squeeze a ‘quart into a pint pot’; a mug’s game.
Elsewhere in the garden you should, by this stage of the game, be well into your routine of grass cutting, wherever you want a mown lawn and not a ‘flowery mead’. I’ve mentioned the need to keep weeds under control; alongside weed control comes pest control as
these also have the potential to increase exponentially as temperatures rise. My own ‘bête noire’, although, infamously, red, is the lily beetle. I’ve seen these emerge as early as February, when we’ve had an unusually warm and sunny period, but this year I caught a mating pair on Fritillaria meleagris (Snake’s head fritillary) on 1st April. It’s worth checking for lily beetle on Fritillaria species as these are an alternative host plant, to lilies, and can allow for an even longer breeding season for these dreaded pests. I note that the ‘RHS’ have a dedicated site where you can report lily beetle sightings and even upload a photo of the offending beastie and what it was spotted on—happy hunting!
THIS MONTH IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT PAST
With an eye on gardens, John Davis remembers Gregor Mendel.
Gardening is one of the most popular pastimes for many people in this country and there are those who spend hours each week at this time of year tending their lawns, flowers and vegetables. The gardening articles that feature in this magazine each month no doubt have many avid readers. But how dedicated would those gardeners be if they limited their activities to growing over 20,000 plants of a single variety and then studied them for nine years to see what developments had taken place.
This was the all-consuming and detailed research taken on by an Augustinian monk named Gregor Mendel. His meticulous observations of the common garden pea not only revealed how characteristics develop in the plant world but also helped us to
understand those identifying features that make each human being an individual.
Mendel was born in a small village in the country now called The Czech Republic (also often known as Czechia) in 1822. He lived here with his family who were poor farm workers looking after fruit trees for the local landowners until 1841. Then, after being forced to leave university because of a lack of funds, he joined an order of Augustinian monks in a monastery at Brno, the historic capital of the region known as Moravia. He was ordained as a priest in 1847 and, because the monks were a teaching order working in the community, he was sent to the University of Austria in Vienna to gain his qualifications before returning to Brno to teach science at the local school.
Tall pea variety Alderman can ctacle to behold
It was here, on a small patch of the monastery garden, that Mendel hit on the idea of combining his fascination with mathematics and his knowledge of plants to pursue his hobby-botanical research. For almost nine years, beginning in 1857, he grew peas in his garden and kept highly detailed records of what he was doing. His findings laid the foundations of the branch of science known today as genetics, the study of why offspring happen to inherit the characteristics of their parents.
wider audience. So often, it seems, Mendels’s work was seen either by botanists who did not understand mathematics or mathematicians who had no background in botany.
We now know that Mendel’s findings on inherited characteristics can also be applied to the animal kingdom. He did not have the opportunity however to follow up his studies in that direction as experimenting with the breeding of small animals, like mice, was not permitted because of the strict rules concerning the use of animals in the monastery.
It was Mendel’s work that showed that both parents pass on chemical instructions to their young.
Mendel isolated and protected his plants to ensure they self-pollinated and could not be crosspollinated by insects. This meant that their inherited features could only come from one parent. He saved seeds from each plant, planted them and studied what grew from each generation. He fixed his focus on seven characteristics of pea plants, height, pod shape and colour, seed shape and colour and flower position and colour.
Among other things, he observed that dwarf plants produced only dwarf plants generation after generation while, of the tall plants, about one-third of them bred true. Of the rest some were tall and some were dwarf in the ratio of three to one. Later when he crossed dwarf plants with true-breeding tall plants he discovered the dwarf characteristics disappeared altogether. It was Mendel’s work that showed that both parents pass on chemical instructions to their young. These instructions we now call genes. Some genes could be more dominant or powerful and pushed weaker ones-known as recessive-into the background. The whole process by which genes were passed on from one generation to another is known today as heredity.
It is not clear whether Mendal realised the full implications of the research he had been doing. The results were written up in several detailed papers in 1866 that were read to the local scientific society but they appear to have made little impression outside the immediate area. He also wrote to Karl Wilhelm von Nageli, Germany’s leading botanist who was a professor at the University of Munich. He however showed little interest in the mathematical data that Mendel had collected and failed to share it with a
Later when Mendel was elected abbot or leader of St. Thomas’ Abbey monastery, his experimental work with plants had to take second place as he became more closely involved in the day-to-day administration of the order. Towards the end of his life Mendel also became caught up in the struggle with the Austrian government to lower the taxes paid by religious bodies.
Gregor Mendel died in 1884 at the age of sixtyone without ever knowing that later his name would become famous when his work was rediscovered at the start of the twentieth century. It was then that a number of different botanists, all working independently of each other, began to duplicate his research. Once his original papers had been uncovered, they did not, to their credit, try to claim his findings as their own and that is why the laws of inheritance today as still known as Mendelian.
In conclusion, it would be unbalanced not to include mention of the Mendel Paradox. While Mendel’s laws are foundational, detailed analysis in 1936 by R. A. Fisher suggested the results may have been manipulated to benefit Mendel’s theories, raising questions about data accuracy. Some of the ratios produced were, by the laws of probability, just too good to be true.
There may have been a number of reasons for this. Figures may have been adjusted to make the findings easier for lay people to understand, for example, or the fact that Mendel, at that time, would not have had precise knowledge of how data analysis should be presented. Whatever the reasons, it is still indisputable, many re-assessments later, that Mendel provided the core principles on which later geneticists have worked.
Semi-retired and living in Lyme Regis, John Davis started working life as a newspaper journalist before moving on to teach in schools, colleges and as a private tutor. He is a history graduate with Bachelors and Masters degrees from Bristol University with a particular interest in the History of Education and Twentieth Century European History.
Make a Move in May
WADEFORD GUIDE £448,000
A delightfully quirky period cottage in need of some refurbishment. It offers versatile three/four-bedroom accommodation, large garden and ample parking. Located on the Southern edge of the Blackdown Hills Natural Landscape, the new name for the AONB. Greenslade Taylor Hunt: 01460 2383282
KILMINGTON £250,000
DRIMPTON £1,100,000
Exquisite, detached house, a perfect blend of period charm and contemporary style with open plan kitchen, dining, and breakfast room. Four generously sized reception rooms, four bedrooms and a pool room. Garage and outbuilding. Garden and paddock. Total area 1.6 acres.
Mayfair Town & Country: 01308 862606
Enchanting two bedroom mid terraced home, brimming with timeless charm and nestled in the picturesque village of Kilmington. Beautiful period features. Cosy lounge and separate dining room. Council tax band B. No ongoing chain. Fox & Sons: 01297 32323
MUSBURY £800,000
Impressive, attached Grade II listed period house. Many oiginal features. Seven bedrooms. Four /five reception rooms. Kitchen/breakfast room. Potential annexe. Large two storey barn. Three garages. Well cared for gardens. Gordon & Rumsby: 01297 553768
BEAMINSTER £825,000
Delightful detached house thoughtfully modernised to meet contemporary living standards. Attractively fitted kitchen/dining room. Living room. Snug. Landing/study. Three bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Views over Beaminster.
Mayfair Town & Country: 01308 862606
WOOTON FITZPAINE £559,995
A much-loved family home in a generous plot with idyllic south-facing garden. Tucked away in this tranquil, unspoilt village, this detached property has been owned and enjoyed by the same family for over 30 years.
DOMVS: 01308 805500
Local Manor Houses Open to Support NGS Charities
MAPPERCOMBE Manor in Nettlecombe and the Manor House in Beaminster are amongst the many wonderful gardens opening for charity in May.
Mappercombe, an elegant Manor House that was originally a monks’ rest house with stew pond and dovecote, offers beautiful south facing gardens on four levels with an ancient monastic route and sweeping views. Approximately four acres of gardens present wellplanted borders, including echiums, salvias and euphorbia. There are many old roses, a haven for bees and butterflies.
Mappercombe Manor, Nettlecombe, Bridport DT6 3SS is open Friday 22nd and Sunday 24th of May from 1-5 pm. Admission is £8, with children free. Home-made teas are available.
Set in the heart of Beaminster, the Manor House in North Street offers 16 acres of stunning parkland with mature specimen trees, lake and cascade. A haven for wildlife with a woodland walk, wildflower meadow and walled garden ‘serendipity’. Look out for ornamental ducks, black swans, pigmy goats, alpaca and chickens.
The Manor House, North St, Beaminster DT8 3DZ is open on Sunday 24th and Monday 25th May from 11 - 5 pm. Admission is £10, with children free. Home-made teas will be available in the Coach House garden.
For more information about gardens open for the NGS visit: https://ngs.org.uk/
Mappercombe Manor, Nettlecombe
Mappercombe Manor, Nettlecombe
The Manor House, Beaminster
CLASSIC PRAWN COCKTAIL
By Mark Hix
Starting this May, I’m going to be doing a couple of nights or so a week in the Pop Up Kitchen in Lyme Regis. One night a week it will be a steak night, starting with everyone’s favourite - the prawn cocktailfollowed by a rib of beef for two to share and chocolate mousse to finish. The other night there will be a four-course seasonal menu and once I’ve got it going I’ll have a Mark’s Bar cocktail and snacks evening running too. You can make a booking online at markhix.co.uk/markspopup
INGREDIENTS
Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling.
• 250-300g (peeled weight) good quality seawater prawns
• A couple little gems, washed, dried and shredded
• Spring onions finely sliced on the angle
• 60 mls cocktail sauce, (see recipe below)
• 1/3 cucumber halved lengthways, seeds removed and finely shredded
• Cayenne pepper
• Wedge of lemon
For the Marie Rose sauce
• 100g good quality mayonnaise
• 70g tomato ketchup
• 2tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2tbs horseradish sauce
• A few drops of Tabasco to taste
• The juice of half a lemon
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Serves 4
DIRECTIONS
• To make the sauce, whisk all of the ingredients together and season to taste.
• Take 4 coupe type glasses or similar and place a quarter of the prawns in the bottom with a small amount of cocktail sauce.
• Mix the lettuce, half of the cucumber and spring onion together and place in the coupe.
• Add the rest of the prawns and coat with the remaining cocktail sauce.
• Finish with a shake of cayenne, and the rest of the cucumber.
• Serve with the wedge of lemon
Mapperton celebrates the Best of West Dorset Market
WITH nine bustling street food vans, live chef demonstrations, and a carefully curated selection of artisanal delicacies, Mapperton’s Best of West Dorset Market is back to tantalize taste buds for its third consecutive year.
Taking place over the early May Bank Holiday weekend (Sunday 3rd and Monday 4th May), the two-day event brings together a wider celebration of the region’s creative talent. Carefully selected makers will be showcasing handmade goods and local drinks, all set against the stunning backdrop of Mapperton’s historic estate. As an added bonus, visitors can explore the estate’s award-winning gardens, as access is fully included in the ticket price.
Now firmly established in the estate’s events calendar, the market also serves a greater environmental purpose. A percentage of all proceeds will support West Dorset Wilding, an initiative dedicated to restoring habitats and caring for the local landscape for future generations.
Heather Christian, Marketing Manager at Mapperton, shared her excitement for the upcoming weekend: ‘The market has quickly become a highlight of our spring programme. It’s a brilliant way to bring together local producers and showcase the quality and creativity we have here in West Dorset. Being able to support West Dorset Wilding through the event is particularly important, helping to protect green spaces and care for the local landscape for future generations.’
The Best of West Dorset Market is on Sunday 3rd and Monday 4th May (Early Bank Holiday weekend) from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Admission is £5 for adults with under-15s: Free (must be accompanied by a paying adult). Entry to Mapperton Gardens is included.
Visitors are highly encouraged to book in advance online at mapperton.com, though tickets will also be available on arrival. Free parking is available on-site for all attendees and well-behaved dogs are welcome in the Gardens, Coach House Café, and car park. However, dogs are not permitted in the market areas due to the presence of food stalls.
BEYOND the Cobb
Christopher Roper highlights Horatio Morpurgo’s deep dive into Lyme’s hidden past.
When we arrived in Lyme Regis in 1993, the town was slightly down on its luck; it had slipped a long way from the fashionable seaside resort described by Jane Austen; and cheap Mediterranean flights had ended its role as a favoured seaside destination for holidaying workers from, notably, Coventry and Leicester; many flats and houses had become second homes, owned by people from far away who contributed little to the economy or life of the town.
All a far cry from 1580, when Lyme was a bustling sea port, home to 23 ships, with 18 Master Mariners resident in the town, and 206 mariners living within a four mile radius. I am indebted for this statistic
to Horatio Morpurgo’s new book, A Guide to the Unconformity, which is a kaleidoscopic look at the history of Lyme Regis, built around the finding of a corroded brass astrolabe on the beach in Charton Bay, a few miles west of Lyme, in 1967.
The overarching narrative of the book is the role of ports like Lyme Regis in the opening up of transatlantic trade, bringing wealth to Western Europe and demographic catastrophe to the Americas. A key illustration is a reproduction of the painting, The Boyhood of Raleigh by John Everett Millais, showing Walter Raleigh and his brother entranced by a ragged Genoese sailor sweeping his arm out to sea telling the boys of the treasure that lay over the horizon.
Astrolabes were a principal navigational aid for mariners in Medieval Europe, along with the magnetic compass, but the technology was developed by Greek and Arabic astronomers during the first millennium CE. They were displaced in the 18th Century by, first the octant and then the sextant, and the astrolabe was forgotten. The book could be read as a detective story; and the first mystery Horatio had to untangle was why the discovery in Charton Bay passed unnoticed locally. He had been alerted to its existence by a retired doctor, Peter Glanvill, who had been diving in Lyme Bay for decades.
He passed Horatio a link to the publication in a Portuguese academic journal, describing the lost and found astrolabe. From the hands of the finder, it passed to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich; It was then bought at Christies by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. These are the barebones of the story; the finder was dead, but Horatio tracked down and interviewed a witness to the discovery over fifty years previously.
The second mystery is the hold this object exercised on Horatio, which clearly puzzles him, but sends him off into a wide range of interesting excursions into philosophy, psychology, history and ecology, and a delightful counterfactual dream, with the finder taking his find to John Fowles, then living in a now vanished farmhouse on the Undercliff, who immediately understands the importance and significance of the discovery. Fowles was at that time curator of the excellent Philpot Museum in Lyme Regis.
Horatio is himself a veteran environmental
campaigner and the saving of the Undercliff as a Nature Reserve is one of the book’s strongest backdrops and subplots. I make it sound as if this were a weighty tome, but it covers its astonishing range of subjects in less than eighty pages. The entrance to one of his rabbit holes, as I came to see Horatio’s shakes of the kaleidoscope, is the framed 1960 Summons ordering his grandfather, Sir Allen Lane, to face trial for publishing an unexpurgated edition of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, hanging in his parents house. The trial was a landmark case, leading to the more permissive cultural climate of the 1960s, as celebrated in Philip Larkin’s poem,
“Sexual intercourse began In nineteen sixty-three (which was rather late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles’ first LP.”
This leads to another byway, centred on John Fowles’ novel, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, with its upper class fossil collector and his relationship with the brooding figure of Sarah, who stands at the end of the Cobb vainly awaiting her lost lover, inextricably tangled in my mind with Meryl Streep, the actress who played the part in the 1981 movie.
Horatio comments, “Fowles freely acknowledged his debt to Lawrence and to read his 1969 novel as a response to Lady Chatterley’s Lover sheds light on both books. They share several preoccupations: emotional courage, England, class. The man in Fowles’ story, the woman in Lawrence’s, is of higher social status— both stories are concerned with how such divides make everyone duller”.
Horatio’s wide range of cultural references will keep readers on their toes, but I hope I have given enough of the flavour to encourage anyone with the slightest interest in our past, to make the effort.
A Guide to Unconformity by Horatio Morpurgo
Imprint: Triarchy Press
List Price: £12.50
ISBN: 978-1-917251-14-3
To purchase visit: https://www.triarchypress.net/
Horatio Morpurgo holding a 16th-century mariner’s astrolabe (HSM Inv. 54253), dredged from the Gulf of Mexico. Courtesy of the History of Science Museum, Oxford. Photo: Hazel Morpurgo.
1 -31 May
Kit Glaisyer presents an exhibition of his Romantic Landscapes, a series of paintings inspired by dramatic views across West Dorset. You can also enjoy recent Drip Figures as well as his popular Café Royal paintings The gallery is open on Saturdays 10am - 3pm or by appointment. Bridport Contemporary, 11 Downes Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3JR. 07983 465789 www.kitglaisyery.com @kitglaisyer
Until 2 May
Sally McLaren RE Retrospective: A Passion for Printmaking. Original aquatint, carborundum, drypoint, line and deep etchings 1959 – present. Distinguished printmaker, painter and etcher, Sally McLaren was born in London, studied at the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford and at the Central School of Art in London. She won a scholarship to study in Paris at the famous Atelier 17 of Stanley William Hayter, returning to teach at Goldsmith’s College of Art. She is a Fellow and Founder Member of the Printmaker’s Council of Great Britain, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers now known as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers (RE). Sladers Yard, West Bay, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL Open: Mon to Sat 10 –4pm. All work can be viewed at www.sladersyard.co.uk t: 01308 459511. e: gallery@sladersyard.co.uk.
Looking for Appearance Featuring 34 contemporary artists alongside historic works by Euan Uglow, also Claude Rogers, Graham Bell, Victor Pasmore and William Coldstream, Euston Road School co-founders and contemporaries of Thelma Hulbert. Tuesday to Saturday, 10 to 5. Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Dowell St, Honiton EX14 1LX. thelmahulbert.com / 01404 45006. Free admission.
Until 3 May
Grayson Perry: Aspects of Myself A new exhibition of one of Britain’s most influential contemporary artists. Standard ticket – £7, Book online – £6, NUS cardholders and MA Members – £4, ArtFund – £3, Under 19s and carers free. Some works in the exhibition will depict adult themes. The Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery is Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3RX. 01392 265858.
Until 6 May
Colours of Light An exhibition by local artists in card, paint, clay and glass. A stunning display of art in 4 disciplines. Open 10 am - 4.30 pm daily at Eype Centre for the Arts, Mount Lane, EYPE, Bridport DT6 6AR. Free entry and car parking. Access for all. Contact : www. jennypenneyart.net.
9 - 21 May
The Lyme Regis Art Society Annual Exhibition will be held at the Malthouse Gallery, The Town Mill, Lyme Regis. DT7 3PU. The opening times are 10.30 - 4.30 daily and entrance is free. Art work from a variety of mediums and cards will be on sale. website: www.lymeregisartssociety.org.uk.
Until 10 May
People Watching Over a hundred years of British portraiture with The Ingram Collection and Dorset Museum & Art Gallery. Exploring the concept of image and portraiture in British art, ‘People Watching’ will feature approximately 50 works of sculpture, paintings, drawings, and photography from 1915 to the present day. Dorset Museum & Art Gallery, High West Street, Dorchester DT1 1XA. Open Daily: 10:00am – 5:00pm. Last entry 4:00pm
Legacy in the Making This new exhibition celebrates the remarkable breadth of contemporary and historic craft in Somerset. Bringing together former members and masters of the Somerset Craft Guild, along with the 2025 Somerset Art Works × Somerset Craft Guild Emerging Maker Bursary artists, the exhibition reveals a vibrant creative community shaped by heritage, experimentation and deep connection to place. Somerset Rural Life Museum, Abbey Farm, Chilkwell St, Glastonbury BA6 8DB.
Until 16 May
Georgina Allen Landscapes 2010-25 The Art Stable, Child Okeford, Blandford, Dorset DT11 8HB. kellyross@ theartstable.co.uk. 07816 837905.
16 May - 27 June
All This Useless Beauty: Mellony Taper Exhibition of work by artist Mellony Taper, winner of the THG Open 2025. The works span themes of inheritance, vintage and found objects reveal the hidden domestic lives of women. Tuesday to Saturday, 10 to 5. Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Dowell St, Honiton EX14 1LX. thelmahulbert.com / 01404 45006. Free admission.
Until 20 May
David Brooke - Painter: An exhibition of mythical wonderment. David Brooke is a well know local painter with a very individual style. His imagination allows him to stylise his characters and landscapes to achieve a mythical or fantastical feel. His works have a hidden cleverness that immerses you into the story being told and often have you smiling at the results. If you are looking for something different with lots of character David has it. Open 10 am - 4 pm daily at Jenny Penney Local Makers Shop & Gallery, Mangerton Mill, Mangerton Lane, Mangerton, Bridport DT6 3SG. Free entry and car parking. Access for all. Contact : www.jennypenneyart.net.
Until 22 May
Peter Ursem - Eye Heart Hand This exhibition brings together recent works by artist and writer Peter Ursem. Meet the Artist - Saturday 2nd May 11:30-1:30. Story Reading from his book ‘The Bigger Picture, Forty Friendly Fables’ - Friday 8th May starting at 12:15. TuesdaySaturday 9.30am - 3.00pm. Free Entry. Ilminster Arts Centre, The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, Somerset, TA19 0AN.
1 - 7 June
‘Structures’. An exhibition of paintings and drawings by Ruth Piper and Liz Coxford. They navigate the wooded hills and beaches of Dorset, exploring and celebrating their common theme of structures; represented by Ruth’s composite paintings of flora and fauna and Liz’s soft pencil pigment drawings of small buildings on the edge of the coastline. Open daily:10am - 6pm, The Salt House, West Bay, DT6 4HB. Dorset Art Weeks - Venue 185, ruthpiper. com, lizcoxford.com.
Until 6 June
Frances Hatch: Sensing Place An exhibition of ‘place palettes’, sketchbooks and paintings made along the Jurassic coastline over the last 20 years. The Alsop Gallery, Bridport Arts Centre, 9 South Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3NR.
11 July - 29 August
Printmaking Tradition and Transformation Exhibition celebrating 30 years of the Double Elephant Print Workshop featuring stunning contemporary works by Double Elephant members showcasing printmaking processes. Tuesday to Saturday, 10 to 5. Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Dowell St, Honiton EX14 1LX. thelmahulbert.com / 01404 45006. Free admission. GALLERIES
Coast, Countryside, and Canvas Step Inside the Studios at Dorset Art Weeks
One of the country’s best-loved open-studio arts events happens right here in Dorset, and it’s nearly upon us. Dorset Art Weeks (DAW), when Dorset-based artists open their studios to welcome visitors to view their work, starts on the 23rd of May and continues until the 7th of June.
Make a note of those dates, because it’s an opportunity to explore an extraordinary variety of art, from traditional to contemporary, showcased by talented artists, makers, and designers.
This vibrant event, now held annually, invites the public to explore 294 venues across the county, including artists’ open studios, workshops, group shows, and curated exhibitions. It’s a unique opportunity to meet artists, from emerging talents to established professionals. You can also purchase original art and crafts for your home while celebrating and supporting your local creative community.
The move to an annual format aims to attract more visitors and foster consistent engagement with Dorset’s diverse and talented creative community year after year.
Visiting DAW venues offers the perfect opportunity
for a great day out, exploring all parts of the county, from town centres and urban areas to studios nestled in the countryside and by the sea. Pick up the free Guide, available across Dorset, to find nearby artists or plan an inspiring trip further afield.
To find an outlet near you or download a copy of the guide, visit: https://dorsetartweeks.co.uk/visitorsinfo/visitor-guide.
Top comedian supports hospice POOLE
MICHAEL McIntyre, one of Britain’s best-loved comedians and television stars, is coming to Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre with his charity show, in aid of Julia’s House, the children’s hospice, on Sunday 10th May.
Michael will be performing his greatest hits and new bits, all in aid of the hospice. The show, which is strictly for audiences 14 years and over, begins at 8pm.
Julia’s House provides specialist care for children with life-limiting conditions and support for their families.
The dark side of a storyteller
LYME REGIS
MOST people think of The Railway Children if they hear the name E. Nesbit. But Edith Nesbit had a dark side, which is explored in an evening of horror storytelling at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, on Friday 15th May at 7.30pm.
Following the success of The Masks of Aphra Behn, actress Claire Louise Amias returns with another one-woman show, Haunted Shadows: The Gothic Tales of Edith Nesbit. This gripping insight into the other side of a famous author is directed by a renowned horror expert Jonathan Rigby.
An expert at chilling the spine and curdling the blood, Edith Nesbit (Amias) relates three of her best Gothic tales while recalling her own childhood terrors. The Shadow finds a repressed housekeeper meeting an abominable entity. In The Pavilion, the shade of a long-dead necromancer envelops a social gathering. Finally, a deranged young woman harbours a deadly secret in a rediscovered story called A Strange Experience.
West End to Hollywood HONITON
THE audience at Honiton’s Beehive Centre will be taken on a magical, musical journey from the West End to Hollywood via Hogwarts and the Paris Opera, on Saturday 9th May at 7.30pm, with a 14-piece ensemble from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
The programme of film and stage music includes some well-loved favourites alongside hidden cinematic gems. The pieces include John Barry’s James Bond theme from From Russia With Love, a Rodgers and Hammerstein Sound of Music medley, Rachel Portman’s theme from Chocolat, favourite music from Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, Hedwig’s theme from John Williams’ Harry Potter score, themes from favourite Western movie composer Ennio Morricone and a Mary Poppins medley.
Michael McIntyre is raising money for Julia’s House in May
Dutch folk singer in the foyer
BRIDPORT
LINDE Nijland, who has been described as “the best folk singer in The Netherlands”, gives a foyer concert at Bridport’s Electric Palace on Tuesday 26th May at 7pm, with multi-instrumentalist Bert Ridderbos. In the UK Linde is best-known for her renditions of Sandy Denny songs. She has sung with Fairport Convention many times, including an all-star reunion concert at the Barbican in 2009. Producer Joe Boyd said: “Linde has given Sandy Denny’s music the respect it deserves, and made a lovely record that shows off her beautiful voice as well as her good taste.”
Linde started out as a part of popular Dutch female harmony singer-songwriter duo Ygdrassil. She has been collaborating for many years with Bert Ridderbos, “seemingly a one-man orchestra,” according to fRoots magazine, who is skilled on guitars, cittern, accordion, banjo and dobro.
Game, set ... laugh!
BRIDPORT
PAULINE Eyre was a line judge at Wimbledon for 20 years. Now as a stand-up comedian she takes her experiences on the road, coming to Bridport Arts Centre on Thursday 28th May at 8pm.
In her new show, Anyone for tennis?, Pauline spills the Pimms on tennis gossip, from the fragrant royal box to the musty locker room, and explains why line judges are OUT!
Fresh from a sold-out run at Edinburgh Fringe 2025, she brings smashing stories, ace anecdotes and a 40-love letter to the game. And there’s nobody to say ‘quiet please’. She can’t be serious ... can she?
Mozart on Gibraltar DORCHESTER
OPERA Anywhere returns to Dorchester Arts and the Corn Exchange on 29th May at 7.30pm with a delightful new adaptation of Mozart’s satire Cosi Fan Tutte .
The pocket opera company has already delighted local audiences with productions including The Magic Flute, HMS Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance. Now they tackle the wickedly funny “Thus do all women” story of two flirtatious young women, two jealous (and rather stupid) young men, an old cynic and a very smart maid.
Directed by Tristan Stocks, edited and adapted in English, and performed in just two hours, the story is moved from 18th century Italy to early 20th century Gibraltar.
The plot revolves around a bold bet between Don Alfonso and the young men, Ferrando and Guglielmo. Don Alfonso wagers that he can prove their girlfriends, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, are unfaithful, like “all women.” What follows is a comedic exploration of love, fidelity and deception.
Lessons from life DORCHESTER
A NEW play by Dorset writers Vince Jones and James Cuthill, explores the truth behind the wellknown saying “All life is here”—probably nowhere is this more true than in a weekly art class, the setting for Life Class, which gets its premiere with Dorchester Drama at Dorchester Arts on 1st to 3rd May.
This thought-provoking comedy drama explores the ways friendships grow, confidences are shared and lives are changed, often unexpectedly. As the title suggests, it is set in an art group run by artist Julien Valentine who has left London and moved to a small Dorset village. His students Veronica, Christina, Frankie and Mabel—are ostensibly there to draw and paint, but over time they find their lives expanding as their artistic talent grows.
Vince says: “I joined a local art group and was fascinated watching all the interactions and different characters, so I contacted James and said ‘I have an idea for a play’. People don’t just paint, they chat and tell their stories. All life is there and it’s ready-made for a story.”
Life Class is not the first collaboration for James and Vince—their plays Tipping Point and This Christmas have already been staged at Dorchester Arts, and this production is a fund-raiser for the venue.
All the cast are well-known local performers; the role of tutor Julien is played by Rod Lewis, and his four students are Lynn Cockerill, Laura Jane Parsons, Barbara Proctor and Dee Thorne.
James says: “They are a strong cast and strongly experienced, so it’s been a joy to bring the play to life. The play isn’t all comedy, there are poignant moments and serious events in all their lives, and there isn’t a neat ending with everything tied up.”
“Some things are left unresolved,” says Vince. “I like that because it gives our audiences something to think about as they head home. I hope they leave wondering what the characters did next, and where their lives took them.”
Life Class is at the Corn Exchange on Friday 1st, Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May, at 7.30pm with a 2.30 Sunday matinee. Tickets from dorchesterarts.org. uk or 01305 266926.
Two Dorset composers
BRIDPORT
CELEBRATING their 60th year, West Dorset
Singers have a concert with the Broadoak Choir at Bridport United Church on Saturday 16th May. This event will bring together the two choirs, two Dorset composers and two cantatas.
West Dorset Singers’ musical director, Matt Kingston is an internationally established composer who works under the name Matthew Coleridge. His cantata, The Breath of Life, is an uplifting celebration of the world around us. The music moves from ethereal stillness, through rhythm, drama and warmth as it takes the audience through thoughtfully selected text ranging from the sacred to the scientific.
Chris Reynolds, a composer who sings with both choirs, composed Aldhelm’s Bridge as a tribute to
Cast members rehearse for Life Class
St Aldhelm, the first Bishop of Sherborne. Legend has it that he would sit on the bridge (thought to be in Sherborne) singing songs of the Gospel to passersby in their own language to reach out beyond the less accessible Latin sung in the Abbey.
The concert is at 7pm. Tickets are available from Bridport Music Centre and online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/wds
Legends of Scottish music DORCHESTER
FOR nearly 50 years, the Tannahill Weavers have been bringing the traditional music of their native Scotland to audiences all over the world. On the eve of releasing their 20th album, the Tannies come to Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on Saturday 16th May.
When they appeared at Glasgow’s famous Celtic Connections festival, they were described as: “Formed from a Paisley pub session in 1968, seminal trailblazers the Tannahill Weavers now also rank as national treasures.”
One of Scotland ‘s premier traditional bands, they have a diverse repertoire that spans the centuries with fire-driven instrumentals and songs, and original ballads and lullabies. They have that unique combination of traditional melodies, driving rhythmic accompaniment and rich vocals that make their performances unforgettable.
Over the years they have been international trailblazers for Scottish music and their tight harmonies and powerful, inventive arrangements have won them fans from
beyond the folk and Celtic music scenes. Members of the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame, in recent years the Tannahill Weavers have been joined by piper Iain MacGillivray, who has featured in many productions including Outlander and Men in Kilts, and fiddle player Alistair McCulloch, who teaches at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland when not on tour.
From reflective ballads to foot-stomping reels and jigs, the variety and range of the material they perform is matched only by their enthusiasm and lively Celtic spirits.
Piano trio on tour CONCERTS IN THE WEST
THE May series of Concerts in the West brings the Greenwich Trio to Bridport Arts Centre on Friday 15th May at 11.30am, Ilminster Arts Centre that evening at 7.30pm and Crewkerne Dance House on Saturday at 7.30.
Formed in London in 2006, and marking their 20th anniversary this year, the Greenwich Trio brings together Slovenian violinist Lana Trotovšek, Canadian cellist Heather Tuach and Japanese pianist Yoko Misumi.
They made their mark quickly—described by one reviewer as the “New Beaux Arts Trio”—and come to Concerts in the West with an exciting programme that includes some less familiar works.
They open with Beethoven’s Piano Trio op 1, no 1, followed by Jennifer Higdon’s Piano Trio, Fanny
Mendelssohn-Hensel’s Piano Trio, op 11, and Elegy Half Erased by Robert Humber, a composer from Newfoundland, a singer-songwriter, producer and sound explorer, who releases alt folk and rock music under the name R Sheaves and experimental and contemporary classical-ambient music under his own name.
Music meets art
PURBECK ART WEEKS
MUSIC meets art and literature in a unique concert at Lady St Mary Church at Wareham on 24th May, as part of this year’s Purbeck Art Weeks.
The early music collective Parnassus Ensemble will be joined by artist Jeremie Queyras for a programme of cantatas by Pachelbel, Kuhnau and Bach, with the painter responding to the music on large canvases behind the musicians. The concert also features readings from contemporary texts to reflect on the themes of the music.
The programme is called 3 in 1, and features cantata settings by the three composers of Martin Luther’s hymn Christ lag in Todesbanden—Christ lay in death’s bonds—which celebrates the resurrection and victory over sin.
The concert begins at 6pm. It starts with the 11th century plainchant Victimae paschali laudes, which was “reimagined by Bach, Kuhnau and Pachelbel in service of their communities,” says Oscar Holch, the British-German viola player and conductor who co-
Greenwich Trio bring an exciting pragramme on tour in May
founded the ensemble in 2022, with Xeniga Gogu and Victor García García.
The project brings together 13 singers and instrumentalists who perform throughout the UK and Europe as soloists and principals with leading historical ensembles.
There is a pre-concert talk by Bach scholar, violinist and BBC Radio 3 contributor Dr Mark Seow, who will also chair a post-concert Q&A session with Oscar Holch and Jeremie Queyras.
Diverse roots BROADWINDSOR
SINGER Diyet has a fascinating background with First Nation, Japanese and Scottish roots, which influence the music she sings with her band Love Soldiers, who come to the Comrades Hall at Broadwindsor on Saturday 16th May at 8pm.
The music of Diyet and The Love Soldiers is alt country, folk, roots and traditional, with catchy melodies and stories deeply rooted in Diyet’s indigenous world view and northern life.
Connected by land, transformed by language, Diyet’s songs are natural, genuine and a reminder to listen to the world around us. Born in a tent, raised in a cabin on the shores of a glacial lake in the Kluane region of Canada’s Yukon Territory, she embodies her Southern Tutchone, Japanese, Tlingit and Scottish roots with a musical presence that is diverse and unique.
The music expands across the width of Canadian music with a focus on lyrical stories that take the listener on a journey through land and time. Inspired by vast landscapes, clashing and embracing realities, Diyet’s lyrics paint a picture of wildness, truth, hope, reconciliation, history and the community that surrounds her.
She sings in both English and her traditional language, Southern Tutchone, and plays bass, backed by Love Soldiers—husband and collaborator Robert van Lieshout (acoustic guitar, drums and percussion) and Bob Hamilton (electric guitar, pedal steel and mandolin)—This trio has a sound that can fill a big stage or capture an intimate room..
The concert is one of two dates with Artsreach— the first is at Cranborne’s Cecil Memorial Hall on 15th May, at 7.30.
The great fossil-hunter DORCHESTER
FOSSIL Mary, a new one-woman play, written and performed by Elizabeth Blake, comes to Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on Thursday 14th May at 7.30pm.
Looking back at the years when famous men came to buy her fossils and enrich themselves with her unique expertise, Mary Anning said: “These learned men have sucked my brains.” Ignored in her time, celebrated in ours, this new play gives Mary the spotlight she deserves
Diyet and The Love Soldiers come to Broadwindsor in May
Screen Time
with Nic Jeune
Top Six at the Flix
Bridport Electric Palace
Midwinter Break (2026) Friday, 1st May. ‘Midwinter Break stars two seasoned actors who are not even close to the winter of their careers. Both bring grace and gravitas to their characters, conveying their personal crises with humanity.’ The Globe and Toronto. Aparita Bhandari.
The Magic Faraway Tree (2026) Saturday, 2nd May. ‘A great children’s first fantasy film. Compared to films like The Chronicles of Narnia, Bridge to Terabithia or The Spiderwick Chronicles, Faraway Tree skews younger and leans more into the fun and whimsy of its world. Switch.’ Chris Dos Santos.
Weymouth Pavillion.
Moulin Rouge (2001) Monday, 4th May. 25th Anniversary. ‘This thing moves brilliantly, sparkling like nothing we’ve seen domestically since The Wiz or Xanadu.’ New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf.
Broken English (2025) Thursday, 5th May. ‘The charismatic Marianne Faithfull is quizzed by a fictional ministry fronted by Tilda Swinton…. it’s an appreciation, a reclamation, a film that lovingly toasts Faithfull’s fabulous, confounding career.’ The Guardian. Peter Bradshaw.
Amelie (2001) Thursday, 5th May. 25th Anniversary Re-release. ‘This is a film that will put a goofy grin on your face from the opening frame, through to the credits, out into the lobby, the whole way home, and possibly even till you fall asleep.’ Film Threat. Ross Williams.
Bridport Arts Centre
L’Atalante (1934) Thursday, 7th May. ‘It is on many lists of the greatest films, a distinction that obscures how down to earth it is, how direct in its story of a new marriage off to a shaky start. The French director Francois Truffaut fell in love with it one Saturday afternoon in 1946, when he was 14.’ Roger Ebert.com.
Fossil Mary is the story of Mary Anning, pioneering palaeontologist and the world’s greatest fossil hunter. Born in Lyme Regis in 1799 and known as “the lightning girl” after surviving a lightning strike as a baby, Mary found her first dinosaur fossil at the age of 12.
Her incredible discoveries revolutionised the way people thought about the evolution of life on earth but because she was a poor, working class woman she was spurned and patronised by the men of science who took the credit for her extraordinary work.
In 2010, the Royal Society recognised her as one of the ten most influential female scientists and her finds, now attributed to her, can be seen in museums around the world. She has even made it to Mars—NASA named one of its drilling sites after her as, like Mary, it revealed details of an ancient environment.
Fossil Mary is also at Swanage’s Mowlem Theatre on Friday 15th May.
Conversation with a leading actress LYME REGIS
DAME Harriet Walter, one of this country’s most distinguished and critically acclaimed actresses, is coming to the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, for a fund-raising evening on Sunday 14th June.
A star of stage and screen for 40 years, Dame Harriet has a long and illustrious relationship with both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Later this year she will reprise her role as Julius Caesar, heading an all-female cast in Shakespeare’s Roman tragedy at the RSC and on a schools tour.
She won awards and played to sell-out audiences at the Donmar and on Broadway as Queen Elizabeth I opposite Janet McTeer as Mary, Queen of Scots, in Schiller’s Mary Stuart.
Her many television appearances have included roles in The
Dame Harriet Walter comes to the Marine Theatre for a fundraiser in June
Crown, Downton Abbey and Killing Eve; films have included Sense and Sensibility, Denial, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and The Last Duel. She showed her comedy side as Professor Compton Chamberlayne in the folk song and dance-inspired mockumentary Morris: A Life with Bells On.
For this special fundraiser, she will be in conversation with Paddy Magrane. The money from this event will be used to help with the Marine’s community and artistic programme, including the Marine Youth Theatre, technician training and the rep theatre.
A shared secret DORCHESTER
Lessons from Teacher x is a romcom-thriller coming to Dorchester in May
DORSETBORN, the local theatre company which previously brought the impressive new play Fort to local venues, is back with a new solo show, Lessons From Teacher x, coming to Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange, 21st May at 7.30pm, and on 23rd May to Taunton Brewhouse.
Cam is a hopeless romantic, a secondary school teacher falling for a handsome stranger. Crystal is an online model, punishing men for money.
One has pupils, the other only fans. But they share a shameful secret…
Barbara Smith, who has been a regular member of the EastEnders cast, brings 15 characters to life in a gripping new play from Erin De Frias and Dorsetborn.
Lessons from Teacher x is a romcom-thriller about love, suspicion, and the warring roles we play in adult life. Who do you trust to see the real you?
GPW
The Young Lit Fix
The Unchosen One By
Amy Sparkes
Cover illustration by Ben Mantle
Published by Walker Books
Paperback £7.99
Reviewed by Nicky Mathewson
TASSIE is an orphan who struggles to concentrate, has boundless energy and a sweet tooth. Her favourite treat is plum pie and when Fedi the dwarf arrives on his cart laden with plums, Tassie escapes from her classroom and runs to greet him. She climbs a sturdy tree to watch for his approach and dreams of adventure in the world beyond the citadel walls.
There is a legend that surrounds the Isles of Peryll where Tassie lives a humdrum life. Some thousand years ago a mysterious shadow enveloped the islands, the skies became dark, crops died and the people were filled with despair.
The Shadow began to consume all light and hope, but it was destroyed by a fae named Melara, or was it? There are whispers on the breeze and as the prophecy goes, The Shadow will return, but there is one child who can defeat it, The Chosen One. Could that be Tassie? Could this be her chance to prove herself?
Fast paced magical adventure. Perfect for thrill seekers from the age of 9. Amy Sparkes has such a fluid writing style which is really easy to get into, and pulls you along at quite a pace! Very accessible for less confident readers. I loved it.
10% off for Marshwood Vale readers at The Bookshop on South Street, Bridport. 01308 422964 www.dorsetbooks.com
MARY CELESTE: SOLVING THE MYSTERY
Review by John Davis
Mary Celeste: Solving the Mystery Producer/directors Jason Davidson and Peter Roch. Available on My 5.
ASIDE perhaps from the events purported to have happened later inside the ominously named Bermuda Triangle, the incident surrounding the sailing ship, the Mary Celeste , is by far the biggest unsolved mystery in maritime history.
This programme is yet another attempt to find the reason why a 250-tonne sailing ship was suddenly discovered totally abandoned near The Azores islands in the Atlantic Ocean in December 1872.
The discovery of the Mary Celeste was made by another cargo vessel, the Dei Gratia , drifting aimlessly under sail on a calm sea with no-one on board. The ship appeared undamaged, its equipment in full working order and its cargo, over 1700 barrels of 93% proof industrial alcohol, intact.
When a boarding party went to investigate, they discovered the ship had been left in a hurry with discarded boots, food and clothing lying around. The only noticeable item missing was the vessel’s small rowing boat and navigational
equipment. Even the ship’s log was there with its last entry made nine days before the sighting.
In terms of personnel, the Mary Celeste’s highly experienced captain was Benjamin Briggs, who was also the ship’s part-owner. The vessel had recently been altered to include an extra cabin so that Briggs’ wife and children could accompany him on voyages. As well as Briggs, his wife and daughter, Sophia, there were also seven crew members unaccounted for. None of them were ever seen again.
The programme includes CGI to re-create external and internal shots of the Mary Celeste , and a variety of expert naval ‘talking heads’ to explore likely scenarios. There is also some scientific experimentation to examine other hypothesise before a possible solution is reached.
Once the ships had reached port at Gibraltar, we learn there was a full inquiry presided over by a judge. Fanciful notions like attacks by aliens or sea monsters, underwater earthquakes and piracy were soon discounted while counsel Frederick Solly-Flood was full of conspiracy theories including mutiny and murder and/or a massive insurance scam. Eventually, a court awarded the Dei Gratia salvage rights but significantly only about one-sixth of the ship’s insured value.
MR NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN
Review by John Davis
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
The story of Pavel Talankin
Written and directed by David Borenstein. Storyville on BBCI Player
PAVEL Talankin (usually known as Pasha) was living in the Russian town of Karabash when his country invaded Ukraine in 2022. Karabash, with a population of around 10 000, is in the heartland of copper smelting territory and has been described as the most polluted town in Russia. The average age of life expectancy has been calculated at under forty.
When the invasion occurs, Pasha is working in the town’s main school. His official post involves taking photographs, videos and films of the school’s major events. These include musical concerts, sporting competitions and the annual graduation day ceremony as well as recording the everyday routines of the school and its pupils.
While Pasha continues with this work over the next couple of years, he becomes increasingly incensed with the invasion and its effect on the people of Karabash that he decides to discreetly film other things that were happening in the school which he felt the outside world should know about.
Soon after the invasion, the school is flooded with copies of the New Federal Patriotic Education Policy which dictates what could be taught. There are patriotic songs to sing and poems to write, a daily flag ceremony and militaristic marching drills. Teachers are forced to read through specially scripted lessons laced with words like demilitarisation and denazification which they have
great difficulty pronouncing let alone understanding. Pasha films a visit from Wagner Group mercenaries who instruct the children how to spot buried mines, handle automatic weapons and throw grenades. (Shades of schools in Germany under the Nazi regime and those chestnuts of propaganda enshrined in Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book.) As if this was not bad enough Pasha was forced to film all these events and send them off to the authorities for ratification. Wars would not stop with Ukraine, pupils were told, they should prepare themselves for more conflict in the future.
As serious as the circumstances are, Pasha hits back. Russians use humour to help them cope, he says. He decorates his room with protest flags, removes the Russian flag from the top of the school and one morning the children are greeted with a loud and very brassy rendition of the American National Anthem sung by Lady Gaga.
Tired of being used as a pawn and despite the fact he has once loved his job, Pasha resigns. Soon though he gets himself re-instated when a contact puts him in touch with writer/director David Borenstein and he begins to smuggle out encrypted copies of his films despite the serious personal risk. Finally in 2024 the danger becomes too great and he is forced to go into exile.
After appearances at several film festivals, Mr Nobody Against Putin has, in 2026, won an Oscar and a Bafta in the documentary category. From school cameraman to international star, Pavel Talakin has become famous. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes and sometimes, it seems, it is more powerful to point a camera than a gun.
2017 Raclet Solena Trailer Tent for sale. Hardly used, stored in garage. Almost new condition. With awning, storage box etc. £1500 07891
705207 Axminster.
Wooden step ladder. 7 steps, very good condition. Buyer collects £50 Tel. 01460 220635. Wooden extending ladder 18ft, very good condition. Buyer collects. £45 Tel. 01460 220635.
Windsurfer 3.2 meter carbon fibre complete with mast and 4.8 meter sail. All good but needs a clean. £50. Phone 01308 425549.
RESTORATION
FURNITURE.
Antique restoration and bespoke furniture. Furniture carefully restored and new commissions undertaken. French polishing and modern hand finishes. Phil Meadley. 01297 560335. phil. meadley@btinternet. com May 26
WRITING
Budding Authors. Writing an interesting story, the past achievements of an organisation or a family history for self-publishing and need some advice with style, layout and editing? Contact freelance author and editor John Davis on johndavis77@ btinternet.com.
VAX Platinum Car
Max carpet washer. Little used second machine. £75. Babyliss Airwand hair dryer/ straightener. As new - boxed. £75. 075817 49564. Dorchester.
Garden iron table with marble top, needs some TLC. £15 or nearest. Bridport 01308 423680. Tent. Kampa Fistral 4.
Double lilo with electric pump. 2 fitted ground sheets & carpet. Used
WANTED:
FOR SALE
twice. Bargain £150.00. Colyton 01297 551455 or 07774683330.
Sideboard Mahogany, carved front. 48” l x 38” w x 18” d £20.00. Table. Oak extendable table 1930’s 36” square extends to 60”x 36”
£20.00. Colyton 01297 551455 or 07774683330.
Austrian Scythe with 60cm blade &
WANTED
Vintage collections, job-lots & estate items. (Antique, wartime, toys, Motoring, advertising, Curio & interesting items) Seeking larger collections (typically £300+ in value). Fair offers & instant cash payments. Friendly approach, no obligation & Free Home Visits. Discrete Local Buyer. Darren 07875 677 89 May 26
To advertise here email: info@ marshwoodvale.com
Dave buys all types of tools 01935 428975
Coin & Stamp Collections Wanted. Discerning collector / investor seeks pre-war collections of stamps and coins. Individual items considered. Tel Rod on 01308 863790 or 07802261339. Mar 26
Vintage & antique textiles, linens, costume buttons etc. always sought by Caroline Bushell. Tel. 01404 45901. Dec 26
SPECIALIST BUILDING
sharpening stone. Vgc, photo available, £20. Bridport 0787 249 9174. Honda F210 rotavator 18” wide tines, hasn’t missed a beat since I have had it (thats Honda reliability) serviced yearly. £160, could deliver if in Chard area. Contact email pipandjack58@ gmail.com.
Qualcast Punch 30 hand push mower,
hardly used in good condition. £25. Tel: 01297 34958
SITUATIONS VACANT
PA carer needed Man 72 years. Learning difficulties. Work as part of team. Help with personal care and access community. Flexible hours £16.33hr. 01297 489361.
CHIMNEY SWEEP
DISTRIBUTION
Friends of Chard Reservoir
IN SPRING 2025 a group of local residents founded the Friends of Chard Reservoir (FCR). The reservoir and local nature reserve has been lovingly referred to as “Chard’s jewel in the crown”.
FCR’s goals are to facilitate greater community involvement, promote the nature reserve within the community, offer assistance with fund raising and to provide a friendly network of volunteers.
There is so much offered by this amazing nature reserve but there are many more people who could benefit with a few more resources. FCR has a ‘wish list’ of items that would greatly expand the reservoir and nature reserve’s scope for people to enjoy. Membership costs £10 annually, to include a free guided walk, seasonal newsletter and pack of 4 postcards. All are welcome to join the group. For more information follow their Facebook page or email: friendsofchardreservoir@outlook.com.
