Marshwood+ September 2025 by Marshwood Vale Ltd

Christopher Summerfield on Faustian pacts Page 58

Lyse Doucet unveils Afghanistan’s resilient soul Page 62

Christine Collister comes to Honiton Page 68

Chris Booth © Photograph by Robin Mills

Robin Mills met Chris Booth in Powerstock, Dorset

Born in 1957, the second of four siblings, my early years were in Southern suburbia. My father was ex-army and an engineer, and my mother a trained typographer. All four of us were born before my mother’s 30th birthday. I was weaned on tales of doodlebugs and Anderson shelters. We soon moved to a handsome Elizabethan home overlooking the Weald of Kent, where I went to Dulwich College prep. We wore boiler suits and chased a chap named Stirling to try and stop him netting butterflies. He was inevitably nicknamed Stirling Moth.

One day in about 1967 my father arrived home in a Land Rover, piled us all in and we woke up on a farm near Crediton in Devon. Having only read a ladybird book on farming, he reinvented himself as a farmer. Brave but not untypical for the sixties. We children were in clover, with the river Yeo running through the farm.

Wherever we moved, my mother’s parents came too and my relationship with my cabinet making Grandfather, who had trained with Edward Barnsley, was one of the most influential of my life.

When I was ten, I spent a holiday in the Lake District with an old schoolfriend from Kent. My mother put me on a coach in Exeter and told me to get off in Maidstone. I am not sure I would have made it without the help of two old ladies, who found me sitting on an empty bus in Southampton. However, I like to think my passion for scouting and my

Chris Booth © Photograph by Robin Mills

Chris Booth

collection of arm badges had helped me through.

In the Lakes I went to Holly Howe, home of the Ransome characters, my childhood heroes who we were to meet. I expected Roger to be my age and was mystified shaking hands with a lovely 50-year-old Armenian. My friend’s elder sister kissed me when playing spin the bottle. I was transported. We sailed Amazon on Coniston with the Altounyan children and I’ve been a passionate sailor ever since.

After two years, the farm went pear-shaped and my family moved to County Durham on the banks of the Tees. I was sent to board at Sevenoaks School. Not hugely academic, I was obsessed with the woodwork shop and spent all my time there. Dan Day Lewis was in the year above receiving letters from his sister saying ‘we’re all on drugs here at Bedales’. One night he ran away and didn’t return. Cool.

In the summer of 1976, I worked in my Uncle’s letterpress printing business in a barn near York. I loved the process of composing lead type through to the printed page, so I enrolled on a printing degree at Watford. It was all chemistry, not craft, and the unions wouldn’t let us touch the machines. One day I gave a friend a lift to Essex. He was working on an old threemasted grain schooner called the Esther Lohse. I boarded, looked around with enthusiasm and entered a tiny cabin. As I did so the boat settled on the mud, all the timbers moved and the door seized. The captain asked if I was OK. I was in heaven, stuck there for 12 hrs inhaling heady wafts of Stockholm tar and oakum. I became a shipwright and crew and never returned to Watford. She won the contract to film the Onedin Line, a BBC series in Milford Haven. We sailed close to the South Coast of England all the way to Gloucester docks. I was smitten by the majesty of the Dorset coast from the sea and a seed was sown. The actors weren’t allowed to sail the boat, so as crew we were dressed up, beards glued on and my moment came as a pirate. I had to lead the actors out of the companionway calling ‘follow me, me hearties’. No sooner had I emerged than the director called ‘cut... he’s not a pirate. He’s bloody public school, get him off.’ End of budding acting career.

Bitten by the desire to restore things, fostered by repairing the boat, a friend alerted me to Mark Dickinson in Northumberland where I served a furniture restoration apprenticeship for two years. We worked in many of the grand homes, and I restored and appreciated some of the very finest English furniture. Seeking a diploma, I enrolled on the furniture restoration course at West Dean College, having fashioned an almost perfect wooden cube as an entrance exam. West Dean led to an apprenticeship restoring furniture at Jeremy’s in the Kings Rd. Despite Cyril, the talented resident restorer, who had been there for eons and wouldn’t tell you the time, I looked over his shoulder and learnt to French polish. I lived with Gijs, my best friend from school who worked in Cork St, and we spent a year at gallery openings hoovering up canapés. I particularly remember one in Wapping where we were served by eight naked pregnant ladies covered only in coloured handprints. Britart had arrived.

Jeremys dealt in fine French and English furniture and,

fascinated by the French pieces, I went to Paris and found a job in a St Germain atelier with ebeniste Jean-Luc Meline. The French approach is so different. With our brown furniture in England, we worship the patina of age. In France its back to bling. Let the marquetry and parquetry sing, the ormolu dazzle. No appreciation of patina in Paris. I was fascinated how they protected their specialist trades. Marquetry to the marquetry cutter, ormolu to the gilder in the Faubourg, polishing to the vernisseur.

Returning to London after a happy couple of years, I set up Ballantyne Booth Furniture Restoration in Holland Park, in business with Cadogan Tate. English furniture was at its peak value, and if well restored was much sought after. A large Chippendale breakfront bookcase once came in from Beirut…. ‘please could you invisibly repair the line of machine gun bullet holes across the doors’.

There were many good times with a great raft of friends and I had my first daughter, Willow, with my lovely girlfriend Katrin. I was not cut out to be a London businessman, however. I decamped to Dorset and stumbled across Sort Barn, near Powerstock, and a workshop in the Round House at Wytherston. I’d arrived in heaven on earth. Gemma Best and Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, my landlords, found me clients and friends. Jo, who had worked with me at Ballantyne Booth, joined me at Sort and we married in 1988 in Powerstock church. We have spent the last 35 years raising a very happy family together: Jessie, Connie, Poppy, and Willow too, all still here in West Dorset. We moved as tenants from Sort to Holeacre at Mapperton, then to Browns Farm on the Crutchley estate, where I still rent a workshop and a cottage in Nettlecombe. In 2014 I spent a couple of years in North Norfolk running a small boatyard at Burnham Overy. It was blissful repairing small boats. Boat repairs can be more satisfying than furniture, as they don’t have to be invisible. They are like war wounds that can be shown off. It was during this time I met Henrietta, my wonderful couturier friend. Meanwhile Jo had bought Sort where we had originally lived, an amalgam of small buildings and one of the jewels of West Dorset. I returned to Nettlecombe, resumed my furniture restoration, my love of cider making, and putting the world to rights around an open fire once a month on the full moon, a boat in Weymouth and the Powerstock cricket club, that I captained and groundsmanned for thirty years. Fortunately, my clients’ sentimental attachment to their furniture still keeps me busy. I teach a restoration course at the excellent Lyme Regis BBA, spend precious times with Hen in beautiful North Norfolk and generally fill my days helping my four gorgeous girls with their various projects. I help Jo and Crispin too with the wonderful Sort renovation and feel very grateful to Jo for establishing permanent roots for us all in this special spot.

I feel blessed to have lived on estates under the gentlemanly land stewardship of Sir Michael and the Crutchleys, all of whom have wisely and generously converted redundant farm buildings into workshops, where, thanks to their vision, I’m now part of a strong community of creative kindred spirits. ’

In Christopher Summerfield’s book, These Strange New Minds, he quotes anthropologist Yuval Noah Harari, who suggests that ‘AI favours tyranny’, explaining that new tools for automated surveillance and population control will be eagerly adopted by authoritarian regimes. It is one of many fascinating points in Christopher’s book, which we discuss on page 58 of this issue. In his own book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Harari also observes that when people hold strong beliefs in an ideology, they rarely look outside it to ask questions. This limits their understanding of the benefits of cooperation and collaboration with those beyond their beliefs. This is particularly evident when examining the history of Afghanistan, which Lyse Doucet discusses in her new book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan. Talking with her for this issue, it becomes clear that over the decades she worked in Afghanistan, ideologies have played a significant role in ravaging the country, whether it is Communism, Christianity, or the Taliban. The belief that one ideology is correct while others are wrong lays the groundwork for conflict. Under the current administration in Afghanistan, along with many freedoms we take for granted, music is banned. Yet, when you read about the new band Kanekt on page 52, it is clear that a fusion of different musical backgrounds creates something strong, impactful, and special. Ricky Romain highlights the emotional power of music. It can be so uplifting and indeed life-affirming that it is hard to understand why it might be banned. Mike McCarthy also finds uplifting news in this issue. He has learned that ash trees may be fighting back against ash dieback. Perhaps there may be a time in Afghanistan’s future when music and education make a comeback.

Fergus Byrne

in

Marshwood Vale Magazine

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Contributors

CATCH UP ON OUR AUGUST ONLINE COVER STORY

Fergus Byrne met Jan Thorne in Bridport

Iwas born in Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in 1953 and am one of four siblings, with only six years between us. Dad was in the Royal Navy, which he had joined at 16. We moved several times in my younger years and didn’t have the best accommodation because he wasn’t an officer. I have memories of mice running around my feet in one home that had an outside toilet, eek! A posting to Malta was lovely and a great place to learn to swim. When we returned to the UK from there, it was to Culdrose, Helston, and that’s where he finished after 21 years’ service.

My secondary school education was at Helston Grammar, from where I went on to train as a secondary school PE teacher. I had already met my to-be husband, Chris, at the same grammar school. When we graduated in 1974 he got a job in Bridport at Colfox School as a woodwork teacher, and so I stayed in the area, not in teaching but at the amazing Beaminster store called Pines, now the NFU office. Although we were engaged, times were such that we rented separate accommodation. Chris had a caravan in Pymore, and I had a little flat in Beaminster, so that it did not look as if we were living together. We put an end to this farce by getting married on 21st December 1974.

I worked at Pines until our first child was born in 1977. That also coincided with when we bought our first home, a 2-bed cottage in Middle St, Bradpole. With no maternity pay, etc, it was a case of working from home, which is when I did sewing for Humon Beings, (named after Hugh and Monique), sold tupperware and had a little stall in town, selling cakes, etc.

We have lived in Bradpole ever since, moving up to the top of the village to a larger cottage with a big garden when our third child was born. It’s a lovely leafy area of Bridport where our children spent many happy hours playing in fields and in the river at Happy Island.

I’ve only ever worked part-time. I started helping out at our children’s school which was voluntary, doing their PE, and then when the Leisure Centre opened in 1986, myself and another PE trained mum, Jane, were asked if we would run Gym Tots. They had lots of Artistic gym equipment and had no idea what to do with it. We had great fun making it up as we went along.

Within a few years, we were running classes for all age groups, including adults, and some of you may remember seeing some of the children at fetes doing gymnastics displays, or perhaps were one of them! Hard work but great fun. Teaching gymnastics in several of

the local primary schools and further afield for Dorset Council followed.

My husband Chris, and children Duncan, Alison and Andrew have always enjoyed sport. One which I never knew about whilst living in Cornwall was Cornish Pilot Gig Rowing. I had a go in 2011 when Bridport Gig Club had not long been established, and have been a member ever since, training as a Coxwain and holding the post of General Rowing Captain for several years. I love it. Every time you row out of the harbour at West Bay it is magical.

I am also interested in wild gardening. In 2017, a neighbour, Rose, and I approached the parish council offering our time to plant bulbs, etc. They were supportive, and the group Let’s Get Bradpole Buzzing finally got going in 2019. There are six areas where we do two hours work every 10 days. We don’t maintain them, we just focus on improving biodiversity. It’s fun, and the parish council has provided us with a shed, loads of tools and money each year to buy bulbs and seeds. So, it’s worked out well for them, us, the residents of Bradpole and most importantly, the pollinators.

During our children’s school years, I was always involved with the Parents and Friends associations, helping to raise funds for extra activities or equipment. One memory that will always make me smile is creating a float for the Colfox School entry into the Carnival. It was called West Bay Watch with the good looking students suitably oiled on the float whilst several Mums trailed behind in our swimming costumes with our heads poking out of a very large piece of blue plastic.

When the Ukraine war broke out, I volunteered along with lots of others to pack donated supplies, which were sent to Ukraine. This was organised by Claire Nuttall and Jane Wain. However, a lot of the donations could not be sent, things like summer clothing and bedding. When the initiative ended, thousands of pounds were raised by selling some of the items.

A group headed by myself asked if we could use what was left to set up a ‘shop’ for the Ukrainian refugees who we knew were heading to West Dorset.

We had no income, but Martin Ridley kindly let us have premises on St Michael’s Trading Estate free of charge, as did Palmers, who let us have premises at The White Hart Yard in Beaminster rent-free. The Bridport Round Table bought shop fittings too, so we were able to support the incoming Ukrainian refugees. We created a lovely space where folk could pick up items they needed without having to open their purse. Everything

Jan Thorne © Photograph by Robin Mills

was donated and then given away free of charge.

Our Community group was first named Bridport Clothes Bank 4 Ukraine. We still count a lot of the Ukrainian refugees as part of our ‘customer‘ base, but have evolved and now support anyone struggling to make ends meet under the title Bridport Clothes Bank. We take cars filled with clothes, shoes, bedding, household goods, books and toys to outreach spaces weekly at St Mary’s Church, St Swithuns Church Hall in Bridport and twice a month to The Community Centre in Beaminster. On the first Saturday of each month, we fill the BYCC Hall with as much of our stock as we can, giving it all away for free, which leaves space on the shelves for the new donations. Details of where we can be found plus where donations can be left are on our Facebook page and soon to be up and running website.

In May this year we moved into a 500sq ft unit at the Bridport Youth and Community Centre. The manager and Trustees have been hugely supportive in helping us turn what was a dark and dirty ex car workshop into a bright and airy space where volunteers sort and pack. The move to bigger premises could not have come at a better time. The increase in the number of uplifts

shows the increased volume of clothing and other goods that our great team of volunteers need to process.

Alongside coordinating the Clothes Bank two years ago, I was drawn into supporting folk setting up home. One day, someone offered the Clothes Bank a free sofa. We displayed a photo, and it was requested and delivered to a flat. When the volunteer returned, he said the family had nothing else—no beds, no bedding, furniture, or kitchen equipment. Through the marvel of social media we were able to source the things they needed. Since then, a small group has helped 55 folk, mainly families set up homes. It is not something that we can sustain, but I do hope that one day Bridport will have a space where people can choose and have delivered household items for free.

My family continues to grow with four grandsons and two granddaughters, as well as a great-granddaughter aged three. I’ve helped out where I could over the years and am still going. My husband and I look after our great-granddaughter every Tuesday for the day. Being a grandparent is a special joy. I have no yen to live anywhere else. West Dorset and Bridport suit me perfectly. There are so many activities to choose from, and if support is needed, it can be found.

Paul Mears © Photograph by Robin Mills

EVENTS September

Saturday, 30 - 31 August

Garden Open for Charity Pugin Hall, Rampisham, Nr Dorchester DT2 0PR. Pugin Hall was once Rampisham Rectory, designed in 1847 by Augustus Pugin, who also helped to design the interior of the Houses of Parliament. A Grade I listed building, it is surrounded by 4½ acres of garden, inc a large front lawn with rhododendrons, a walled garden filled with topiary and soft floral planting, orchard and beyond the River Frome a woodland walk. Open 12-5pm. Adm: £6, chd £3. Home-made teas. Dogs on short leads welcome. Visits also by arrangement May to Sept for groups of 10+.

Sunday, 31 August

Cream teas at the Manor. 2.30 - 5.30. Treasure Hunt, Tombola, Cakes, Raffle, Plants, Home produce. In aid of the church. Manor House Gardens, Wooton Fitzpaine, DT6 6NQ.

Bridport Vintage Market at St Michael’s Trading Estate. Traders pride in stocking a range of vintage pieces at the Bridport Vintage Sunday Market. Whether you are looking for vintage items such as clothing, art, decor or just like to rummage around, take the time to enjoy a coffee or a meal and make it a day out. Last Sunday of the month from March to October. 10:00am to 4:00pm at The Art & Vintage Quarter on the St Michael’s Trading Estate in Bridport DT6 3RR.

Sunday, 31 August - 1 September

Choreography Geography, a site specific performance by Bridport Youth Dance contemporary dancers together with BYD alumni at Symondsbury Estateby kind permission of Philip and Julia Colfox. At 6pm. Tickets available from Bridport Tourist Information Centre. Box office 01308 424901. Adults £9.50/ Children £7.50. This is a static performance. Please feel free to bring a rug, foldable chairs and a picnic. Bar and refreshments open from 5pm. Supported by Symondsbury Estate, Abderrahim Crickmay Charitable Settlement, Bridport Town Council, Vicary and Co., Nantes solicitors, Clocktower Records and Bridport Charities. www.bridportyouthdance.org.uk.

Monday, 1 September

Hawkchurch Film Nights, in association with Moviola.org, proudly presents ‘The Penguin Lessons’, 111 mins, Cert.12 (infrequent strong language, moderate sex references). 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 £7.00 on the door (cash only). Subtitles for hearing-impaired patrons provided if available. Homemade cake, teas, coffees, soft drinks, wine and other refreshments available.

A Monday afternoon of tabletop games at PIP Cafe Poundbury 2pm-5pm. £5.00 Refreshments included. Come and play or learn to play: Scrabble; Rummikub; Bananagram; chess; backgammon; mah jong; canasta. Please contact Rosemary Rogers: rosemarywdt2@ gmail.com or tel: 07788436797 for more information and to book your place.

Wednesday, 3 September

My Ballet - since 2012 - Bridport 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) 2:15- 3.30 (mixed ability) Do get in touch and come and dance! Bull Hotel ballroom, 34 East St, Bridport DT6 3LF Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www.my-ballet.uk.

My Ballet - since 2012 - Winsham 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

Yeovil & District Philatelic Society is holding its monthly meeting at 2.00 p.m. for 2.30 p.m. at St Mark’s Church, Milford Road, Yeovil, BA21 4PU. The speaker will be Capt. Keith Chadwick and he will be speaking on ‘Indian Philately’. For further information contact Peter Westman on 07831 821990.

Thursday, 4 September

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.

Clapton & Wayford Film Society The Penguin Lessons (2025, UK, 12,112 mins, Director:-Peter Cattaneo). Doors 7:00 pm, 7:30 pm start. Clapton & Wayford Village Hall (TA18 8PS). Membership £30, guests £5 per film. For more information, please email mickpwilson53@btinternet.com or k_everard@live. com. Alternatively, ring Mick Wilson on 01460 74849. Join the Bridport & District U3A Singers Singing for Enjoyment. All welcome. First visit - No audition. No commitment. 1st and 3rd Thursdays (some exceptions) from 4th September. WI Hall, North Street, Bridport. 10.30-12 Termly charge £20. Ring: Heather 01308 425219 or see: www.bridportu3a.site.uk.

Dance Connection, dance4all, 5:15-6:45pm, Bridport St Mary’s Church House Hall, DT6 3NN, 07787752201, https://www.dance-connection-wessex. co.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, 5 September

Willow weaving workshop. Come along and discover the joy of willow weaving. In this workshop we will make a hanging bird house and bird feeder. 9am12.30pm. Frampton Village Hall, DT2 9NF. Cost £65.00. Contact Jo Entwistle 07734 007196 or jo@ theentwistles.com to book your place.

NGS Garden Open Bennetts Water Gardens, Putton Lane, Chickerell, Weymouth DT3 4AF. Bennetts Water Gardens is a main visitor attraction in Dorset. Set over 8 acres the gardens hold the National Plant Collection of Water Lilies with a Claude Monet style Japanese Bridge, Tropical House, Woodland Walks and Museum. Opening for NGS: Fri 5 Sept (10-4). Adm £10, chd £4. Light refreshments in Café Monet.

Byron Wallen Widely recognised as a seminal figure in world jazz, Byron Wallen has played trumpet alongside legendary musicians such as George Benson, Andrew Hill, Chaka Khan. With his current band Byron Wallen’s Four Corners, he is a frequent guest at UK and international Jazz venues and festivals. Tickets: £20. 7.30 - 10pm. The Meeting House, 35 East Street, Ilminster, England, TA19 0AN. www. ilminsterartscentre.com.

Four Letters of Love (12A) 110 mins, 7:30pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £8.50 To book electricpalace.org.uk

the fun and feel good. 10am-11:15 (some experience) 11:30 - 12: 30 ( mixed ability and no experience) Do get in touch and come and dance! Jubilee HALL , Church Street, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www. my-ballet.uk

Friday, 5 - 14 September

Annual Art Exhibition and Sale at Kennaway House, Coburg Road, Sidmouth EX10 8NG. 10am to 5pm. First day opens 11.30. Last day closes 3.30 pm. Original paintings,prints,cards,sculpture and crafts by local artists.

Saturday, 6 September

The Gents of St John’s in concert, 7pm. St Peter’s Church, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA. Tickets £18 or £14 available online at https://www. ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/dorset/st-peters-churchdorchester.

The Friends of Weymouth Library talk at 10-30a.m. will be a welcome return visit by Jacqueline and Brian Sutton, who will talk about the Duke of Monmouth, his spectacular decline, the Battle of Sedgemoor, and his brutal execution and the retribution taken by King James II and his infamous judge, George Jeffreys, including the unjust way Alice Lisle from Ringwood was teated in their hands. Tickets can be obtained from the Library at £2 for members and £3 for nonmembers. Refreshments provided; everyone welcome. Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7.5 mile walk from Weymouth. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. New members/ visitors welcome.

An evening of jazz music with Roger Beaujolis on vibraphone and Rob Palmer on guitar. Drinks and nibbles included. Tickets £20.00. Tincleton Gallery DT2 8QR. Please contact Rosemary Rogers: rosemarywdt2@gmail.com or tel: 07788436797 for more information and to book your place.

Smurfs (U) 92 mins, 11am, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets from £6.50 To book electricpalace. org.uk

Pama International Performs The Trojan Songbook, 8pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £22 To book electricpalace.org.uk

Saturday, 6 - 7 September

NGS Garden Open Muddy Patches (new). West Street, Abbotsbury, Weymouth DT3 4JT. A beautiful village garden set in the glorious Dorset countryside with amazing views of the rolling hills and the historic St Catherine’s Chapel. Enjoy a stroll around the gardens and see the amazing range of native and tropical plants, explore our wildlife area, visit the fairies in their garden or enjoy a delicious lunch, cake or ice cream. Dogs on

short leads welcome. Open: Sat 6, Sun 7 Sept (10-4).

Adm: £4, chd £2. Light refreshments.

Saturday, 6 - 21 September

Umborne Bridge Studio are bringing a wide array of arts and crafts to this year’s Devon Open Studios event. With free daily demos, artists on hand to chat and a few select special workshops, there will be something for everyone. Full demo schedule is on the website and on the studio door. Drop in to enjoy nature journaling, felting, fused glass, mixed media art, ceramics and jewellery. Prints, cards and gifts available. Free entry and parking, 10-4pm daily except Mondays/ Tuesdays. Umborne Bridge Studio, Unit 1, Dolphin St, Colyton, EX24 6LU. www.umbornebridgestudio.co.uk. Facebook: @umbornebridgestudio. 07828 859755. Devon Open Studios Vivienne Littley and Trudi Ochiltree. E19. Hills Farm Arts Centre, Hills Farm, Whitford Road, Kilmington, Devon EX13 7NS. 10.30 – 16.30 everyday except Weds. Free. Trudi Ochiltree. 07812 856823. trudiochiltree@gmail.com. www.devonartistsnetwork.co.uk. Trudi Ochiltree is a landscape painter working in oils and watercolour. Her paintings are vibrant and atmospheric. Vivienne’s artistic range is as diverse as it is captivating. From intricate pen and ink portraits to expansive abstract acrylic canvases, her work is characterised by a serene often ethereal quality.

Saturday, 6 September - 31 Oct

‘One Island – Many Visions’ is a curated exhibition of research and site responses by 25 sculptors from Royal Society of Sculptors in collaboration with Portland Sculpture Quarry Trust (PSQT). The exhibition is accompanied by a symposium focusing on art and nature featuring among others David Buckland, Founder/Director of Cape Farewell project on Climate Change. The project runs from September to October 2025 at Drill Hall Gallery and project space and Tout Quarry Sculpture Park & Nature Reserve (42 acres with public access). Portland Sculpture & Quarry Trust: Drill Hall Gallery, Easton Street, Portland DT5 1BW. Drill Hall Gallery Thu to Sun 11am - 4pm // Tout Quarry open 24/7.

Sunday, 7 September

Choral Eucharist with music by Haydn, Mozart and Tavener, 10.30am. St Peter’s Church, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA. This service is free to attend and all are very welcome. More information at www. musicatstpetersdorchester.org.

NGS Garden Open (Pre Boooking essential) Dorset Dahlias Befferlands Farm, Charmouth, Bridport DT6 6RD. Dorset Dahlias started 9 yrs ago at Befferlands Farm and has since overtaken the kitchen garden and a large patch in one of the farm fields. Dahlias are grown

in rows and organised by colour, with up to 80 different varieties grown, and around 600 plants, that bloom from late Jul until late Oct. A limited number of tickets have been made available for this special one-day event, kindly hosted by the owner, Anna May. Open: Sun 7 Sept (2-4). Adm: £25, chd free. Pre-booking essential, please visit ngs.org.uk for information & booking. Tea, coffee & cake.

Beaminster Museum’s two seasonal exhibitions run throughout September. ‘One and two halves to Beaminster’ turns the spotlight on the history of public transport in the area, from horse-drawn carriages to early petrol-powered vehicles, from canals that never materialised and railways that stopped short of their destination. ‘When the Romans Came to West Dorset’ weaves together three intriguing stories: the Roman invasion from a West Dorset viewpoint, the history of Waddon Hill Roman Fort between Broadwindsor and Beaminster, and the role of digital technology in uniting artefacts from across the country. The Museum is open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Bank Holidays, 10.30am – 4pm, Sundays 2pm – 4.30pm. Admission is free, but donations are very welcome. Whitcombe Rd, Beaminster DT8 3NB. www.beaminstermuseum.co.uk.

Monday, 8 September

Dance Connection, dance4all, 11:30am-1pm, Bridport St Mary’s Church House Hall, DT6 3NN, 07787752201, https://www.dance-connection-wessex. co.uk/

Tuesday, 9 September

Singing Bowl Soundbath 9pm Digby Memorial Hall, Sherborne, DT9 3LN £17 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 01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com.

Scottish Country dancing. New classes starting every Tuesday evening at Horton Village Hall TA19 9QR from 7.30 to 9.30 pm. £3.00 pay on the door. Everyone welcome and suitable for beginners so why not come along and join us for a fun evening. For further information contact Anita on 01460 929383 , email anitaandjim22@gmail.com or visit our web site at www. ashillscd.wordpress.com.

Eric Ravilious: Drawn To War Film, Documentary exploration of the life and work of one of Britain’s greatest, but most enigmatic, landscape and war artists. 7:30pm. Bridport Arts Centre, 9 South Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3NR. Box Office: 01308 424204.

Wednesday, 10 September

Willow weaving workshop. Come along and discover the joy of willow weaving. In this workshop we will make a hanging bird house and bird feeder. 9am12.30pm. Sparkford Parish Hall, BA22 7JN. Cost £65.00. Contact Jo Entwistle 07734 007196 or jo@ theentwistles.com to book your place.

My Ballet - since 2012 - Bridport. 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 Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www. my-ballet.uk

My Ballet - since 2012 - Winsham. Join the fun and feel good. Jubilee Hall, Church Street, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU. 6:45pm to 8pm Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www.my-ballet.uk

Kilmington Film Night “The Penguin Lessons” A true story of a disillusioned Englishman, (Tome Michell, played by Steve Coogan) who went to work in a school in Argentina in 1976, during the military junta rule. After he smuggles the Penguin into class and lets his students feed it fish, it’s a successful bribe for them to pay attention, sparking their imaginations to think about the meaning of freedom. Doors and bar open

6.45 film start 7.15 at Kilmington Village Hall EX13 7RF. Tickets £6 can be ordered by contacting: John at wattsjohn307@gmail.com or Tel: 01297 521681.

Thursday, 11 September

Willow weaving workshop. Come along and discover the joy of willow weaving. In this workshop we will make a hanging bird house and bird feeder. 9am12.30pm. St Georges Hall, Hinton St George TA17 8SL. Cost £65.00. Contact Jo Entwistle 07734 007196 or jo@theentwistles.com to book your place.

Kilmington Film Matinee “The Penguin Lessons” (See 10th September). Matinee, doors open 1.45pm film starts 2pm, cream-teas served during the interval but must be pre-booked with your seats @ £4. see above and www.kilmingtonvillage.com/other-organisations. html for more information.

Chard History Group Dorset’s Deserted Villages Mike Spencer. 7 for 7.30. Chard Guildhall upstairs with lift. Members £2.50. Visitors £3.50. All Welcome. Contact Tessa Leeds 017984481634.

Chesil Bank Writing Shed. Do you write? Would you like to be a writer? Why not join our friendly creative writing group, where new and established writers are always welcome. 7pm - 9pm, Portesham Village Hall. Call Linda on 01305 871802 to learn more.

Dance Connection, dance4all, 5:15-6:45pm, Bridport St Mary’s Church House Hall, DT6 3NN, 07787752201, https://www.dance-connection-wessex. co.uk/

Friday, 12 September

Amy Mayes A soulful, raw, and powerful storyteller, Amy Mayes has become a powerhouse of a voice who will reach into your soul and take you on a journey akin to her own. After touring with Ronnie Wood for his ‘Mad Lad’ album and playing with the likes of Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, Imelda May, Lulu, and Johnny Depp

‘An Introduction’ was released and showcased to a sellout at Ronnie Scott’s. Tickets: £20. 7.30 - 10pm. The Meeting House, 35 East StreetIlminster, England, TA19 0AN. www.ilminsterartscentre.com.

Cabaret With Balls, 8pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets from £20 To book electricpalace. org.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. Ages 18 to 82 plus! Join the fun and feel good. 10am-11:15 (some experience) 11:30 - 12: 30 ( mixed ability and no experience) Do get in touch and come and dance! Jubilee HALL , Church Street, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www. my-ballet.uk

Saturday, 13 September

The date to get your bike out of the shed or get walking to explore Dorset’s architectural heritage and beautiful countryside and help repair Dorset’s historic church buildings. Ride & Stride is an annual event where participants are sponsored to travel between churches. The money raised is shared between Dorset Historic Churches Trust (DHCT) and a church of your choice. For information on how to take part and online

registration, please visit the website www. dhct.org.uk.

Collectors Fair Specialist vintage toy dealers Pastimes add a new feature to their next Collectors Fair in Sherborne, staging a Pop-Up auction. Visitors can bring along their old toys for entry into the Sale. Ten only will be selected before noon and then displayed until going under the hammer at the close of the fair, around 1 p.m. Owners can fix their reserve price aware that there is a 10% commission charge on the “sold” figure. And there is also the opportunity of dealing direct with any of the stall holders present. Digby Memorial Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne. 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. £3 entry (8.30 early-birds £5). Enquiries: mobile 07736 666414.

Ten years of Tatterdemalion. Come and celebrate this exciting and colourful ceilidh band’s 10th anniversary! Celebrating 10 years of folky fun, Tatterdemalion bring their popular family ceilidh to the Corn Exchange once again. For 10 years, Tatterdemalion, the Band of the New Hardy Players, have bounced around stages, bringing traditional tunes known to Dorset people 200 years

ago to life, and led many people in many a merry jig all over the county. And they’re celebrating their first decade of dancing with a big ceilidh for everyone to enjoy at Dorchester’s Corn Exchange in September. No experience or partner necessary, and the bar will be open for the whole evening. Tickets via Dorchester Arts are £13 for adults or £7 concessions (under-18s and low-wage) for the evening ceilidh, or £3 per person for the Kiddies’ Keilidh, available through their website or box office. Book early to avoid disappointment, as previous ceilidhs have sold out! Tatterdemalion, the Band of the New Hardy Players, perform traditional folk music in a fun and modern way for dancing at weddings, fundraisers, parties and more. For more information, please email TatterBand@gmail.com.

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Stonebarrow. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. New members/visitors welcome.

Royal Air Forces Association “Wings Appeal” street collection Bridport.

The Bad Guys 2 (PG) 104 mins 11am, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets from £6.50 To book electricpalace.org.uk

Sunday, 14 September

Choral Eucharist with music by Palestrina, Parry and

Goodall, 10.30am. St Peter’s Church, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA. This service is free to attend and all are very welcome. More information at www. musicatstpetersdorchester.org.

Yeovil Railway Centre, Yeovil Junction, Stoford BA22 9UU: Steam Train Day with Snakes and Bugs. For more information on this and the Centre’s other upcoming events see their Facebook page, visit the website www.yeovilrailway.freeservers.com, or hear recorded information on 01935 410420.

NGS Garden Open Pugin Hall, Rampisham, Nr Dorchester DT2 0PR. Pugin Hall was once Rampisham Rectory, designed in 1847 by Augustus Pugin, who also helped to design the interior of the Houses of Parliament. A Grade I listed building, it is surrounded by 4½ acres of garden, inc a large front lawn with rhododendrons, a walled garden filled with topiary and soft floral planting, orchard and beyond the River Frome a woodland walk. The walled garden is planted with shrubs, roses, clematis, masses of unusual perennials, and Japanese anemones against a backdrop of espalier fruit trees, box hedging with spirals. Open: Sun 14 Sept (12-5). Adm: £6, chd £3. Home-made teas. Dogs on short leads welcome. Visits also by arrangement May to Sept for groups of 10+.

Battle of Britain Church Service St Johns West Bay @3pm All welcome.

Monday, 15 September

‘Six Artists for September’, six self contained art history lectures. 2pm-3.30pm, the same lectures also run on line on Fridays if you miss one Georgia O’Keefe, Sir Sydney Nolan RA, David Remfry RA, Jenny Saville RA, Gerhard Richter & Philip Sutton RA, and some photography that links to one of the artists. Artists with varied subject matter and ideas, landscapes, exuberant nature, portraits and figures, and some linked photography: United Hall Bridport, East Street, DT6 3LJ. Full course, 6 lectures, £65 Fridays on line, 2pm start, 6 lectures £60 Individual lectures, £13 per lecture per person. The course is booking now if you would like to reserve a place chris. pamsimpson@btinternet.com. Tutor: Pam Simpson MA, Pam spent her career working in London Art Colleges and universities.

Scottish Dancing in Chardstock An evening of Scottish Dancing in Chardstock Village Hall 7.30 -10.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug and wear soft soled shoes. No partner required. Cost £3. For more information contact David on 01460 65981. www. chardscottishcountrydance.co.uk.

To commemorate the 85th anniversary of the original battle in 1940, Hawkchurch Film Nights and Peter Runeckles, in association with Moviola.org, are proud to present a special screening of the 1969 classic ‘Battle of Britain’ (127 mins, Cert.PG), featuring a galaxy of acting royalty including Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier. Admission is FREE. Voluntary donations gratefully received, with all profits going to the RAF Benevolent Fund charity. Doors open at 6.30pm for refreshments, Film starts 7.00pm at Hawkchurch Village Hall EX13 5XD. All seats unreserved. Winsham Art Club, 2pm at Jubilee Hall TA20 4HU. The theme this practical session is Gel Plate Printing. It is a 2.5 hr. session led by a visiting tutor. Small friendly group of mixed abilities. Members £5, nonmembers £7. Annual membership £15. All welcome. Contact: Email : suzyna48@gmail.com for further details.

Monday, 15 - 21 September

Dorset Monochrome Collective Photography Exhibition. The Collective was founded in 2018 by Alison Webber FRPS and is formed of a small group of friends who all enjoy black and white photography. This will be the group’s first ever exhibition and the theme is ‘The soul of Dorset seen through the eyes of 10 photographers.’ Open 10am to 4pm every day. Garden Room, Cornwall Rd, Dorchester DT1 1RU.

Entry to the exhibition is free. Contact Alison Webberalisonwebber@alisonwebber.co.uk.

Tuesday, 16 September

Nature Walk Friends of Lodmoor Country Park A free event led by knowledgeable local naturalist, Bob Ford. “We’ ll be looking at trees, birds, flora and fauna coming up to dusk”. “Bob will open your eyes and ears to your surroundings in the Park” 5.30pm. Meet at the children’s play area, DT4 7SX. O1305 750557 or lodmoor-friends@hotmail.com. or Facebook page for more information.

Turn Lyme Green ‘Seeds and Diversity’ Ellen Rignell from Winnow Farm Seeds grows organic seed to protect and grow the biodiversity that we have left today. She tells us, ‘local seeds are genetically primed to grow in your local climate’. She will give us a lesson to demonstrate how easy it is to save your own tomato seeds. 7.00pm. Driftwood Cafe, Baptist Church, top of Broad Street, Lyme Regis. Free. All welcome. Refreshments available. for more information: www. turnlymegreen.co.uk.

anitaandjim22@gmail.com or visit our web site at www.ashillscd.wordpress.com

Wednesday, 17 September

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).

Colyton & District Garden Society

‘Creating a Wildlife Garden’ by Dr Gavin Haig, Naturalist and former surgeon. Venue : Colyford Memorial Hall, EX24 6QJ, start 7.30 pm. Members free, guests £3.00. Parking in the hall car park.Information : Peter Clark : 01297 553341.

Visit to Blue Pool and nature reserve near Wareham. £16. Refreshments included. Meet at the entrance at 10am. Please contact Rosemary Rogers: rosemarywdt2@gmail.com or tel: 07788436797 for more information and to book your place.

Bull Hotel ballroom, 34 East St, Bridport DT6 3LF Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail. com www.my-ballet.uk

My Ballet - since 2012 - Winsham. 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

Screening: David Gilmour Live at the Circus Maximus Rome (15) 150 mins, 7pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £17 To book electricpalace.org.uk

Thursday, 18 September

New Arts Group The Art, Meaning and History of Maps. Speaker: Jeremy Black. Bridport Town Hall 1.30 for 2.00pm. All welcome £10.00.

The Bridport and District Gardening Club This month we welcome Martin Young who will give us a colorful illustrated talk covering the life and work of a talented, inspirational and pioneering woman, Gertrude Jekyll. Her marvelous relationship with Sir Edwin Lutyens and her lasting legacy to horticultural and garden design. The Bridport and District Gardening Club will be hosting Martin’s talk at its meeting at the Women’s Institute Hall in North Street Bridport at 7-30 pm. Entrance to the talk is free for members and £2 for non-members. For more information, visit www. bridportgardeningclub.co.uk/ South Somerset RSPB Local Group AGM followed by talk: Making Nature More Accessible. We welcome Deborah Fraser, RSPB Southern Operations Director, who will invite us to discover the importance of inclusivity in our natural spaces and learn about the barriers that prevent people from enjoying the great outdoors. 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.

Four Letters of Love (12A) 110 mins, *subtitled*, 2pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £7.50 To book electricpalace.org.uk

Friday, 19 September

The Comedy Store 18+, 7:30pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £19 To book electricpalace. org.uk

Saturday, 20 September

The Bath Gilbert & Sullivan Society Concert. Martock Church; TA12 6JL: 7:30pm. The Bath Gilbert & Sullivan Society has been performing for over 75 years and this month they will be performing a selection of arias and extracts from the well-known operetta, Trial by Jury. A very amusing piece that is always enjoyed by the audience. Tickets: £12 or £10 at Guardianstickets@gmail.com /07547 213992/ Martock Gallery/ Martock Newsagent. Website:www. martockonline.co.uk/events;https://www.bathgands. co.uk/history.

Lunchtime concert, given by Sam B Hanson (jazz piano) 12.30-1.00pm. Alongside a programme of jazz classics, Sam will be taking requests for improvisations from the audience! Admission free. St Peter’s Church, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA. More information at www.musicatstpetersdorchester.org. Jumble Sale with refreshments, 2pm. Contributions gratefully received, & may be left at the hall between 10am & mid-day on the Saturday morning. Clapton & Wayford Village Hall. Further information from Jackie (01460 72324) or Mary (01460 74849).

Enchanted Avalon Faery Ball, 7-10.30 pm, Bull Hotel, Bridport DT6 3LF. Tickets £16 available from Bridport Tourist Information Centre. Adults only. All profits to Dorset Wildlife Trust. Dance the night away with Bridport band Look Around Corners. Enjoy drinks from the bar and nibbles from the Faery Queen’s table. Be astounded by close-hand magic by Rob Jayne, The Great Foolini. Revel in the magical atmosphere and be prepared for surprises. Put on your finest faery garb (you might win a prize), dust off your wings and join us for an evening of otherworldly revels.

Bridport Health & Wellbeing Holistic Festival The day will include therapists offering massage therapies, energy healing, homeopathy, herbal medicines, advice

on nutrition and essential oils. 10.30am to 4.30pm at St Mary’s Church House Hall, South Street, Bridport DT6 3NN. Entry Free. For details, please contact Mary-Clare Buckle mary-clare.buckle@1-art-1.com 01305 871561 / 07775 656782. WhatsApp on 07777 607348.

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Athelhampton. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. New members/ visitors welcome.

Tina Live: The Tina Turner Experience, 8pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £29 To book electricpalace.org.uk

Saturday, 20 - 21 September

Dorset’s Greener Homes will open their doors for the fifth year across Dorset during the last two weekends of September. Communities across Dorset are set to benefit from this countywide event, as over 50 homes across Dorset take part in the annual Open Homes event to showcase greener and sustainable energy installed in their homes. Booking details and opening times can be found on www.dorsetgreenerhomes.org . The website also features mini-films of some of the homes. Many homes are also open outside of the event dates all year round by appointment. This event is one of Dorset Climate Action Network’s (DorsetCAN’s) main projects as it continues to offer residents of Dorset an opportunity to learn more about greener energy solutions. Learn more about their work at www. dorsetcan.org.

Makers and Doers Open Day at Mappercombe Estate. 20+ workshops open their doors. Joiners, furnituire makers, blacksmith, art lettercutter, potters and pottery school, plastercaster, printmaker, sculptors, yurtmaket, basket maker, campervan creator, cider shed, caterer, design & build and furniture restorer. Refreshments. 10am - 5pm. Mappercombe, Nettlecombe, North Eggardon, Uploders, DT6 3SS. Instagram: @mappercombemakers.

Sunday, 21 September

Singing Bowl Soundbath 2PM Bridport Unitarans, 49 East St., BRIDPORT DT6 3JX £17 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 01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com.

Dalwood Jazz Club presents “Jazz Giants Remembered” with Craig Milverton - keyboard, Nigel Price - guitar and Ashley John Long - bass. 3pm Dalwood Village Hall, EX13 7EG (near Axminster)’ Bar for beer/wine/soft drinks and teas/coffees/cake etc. Parking at the Village Hall. £12.50p. If possible,

please book in advance and pay (cash or card) at the door. t.mackenney111@btinternet.com.

Ilminster Community Choir: Lunchtime Song –Ilminster’s Community Choir meets in the Arts Centre every Thursday evening, singing and socialising under the inspirational leadership of Chris Grabham. For its first Sunday lunchtime concert, the choir will draw on a fabulous mix of pop classics, world music, and timeless favourites, promising an uplifting session of entertaining four-part harmony. Free entry – donations in aid of the Arts Centre. 12.00pm–2.00pm at Ilminster Arts Centre, TA19 0AN. 01460 54973 www. ilminsterartscentre.com.

Monday, 22 September

An Autumn Equinox celebration and book launch in poetry and music. Celebrating the launch of the new poetry collection by Bridport-based author Kevan Manwaring, ‘Erth Praze’, this evening of poetry and music will feature readings and local musicians. Together we will praise the Earth at the time of the Autumn Equinox in the beautiful surroundings of The Chapel in the Garden. £10 (cash) entry includes one complementary glass of wine or juice. 7pm-9pm. Venue: The Chapel in the Garden, 49 East Street Bridport, DT6 3JX. Contact: kevanmanwaring@yahoo. co.uk. FFI: goldendark.co.uk.

Scottish Dancing in Chardstock An evening of Scottish Dancing in Chardstock Village Hall 7.30 - 10.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug and wear soft soled shoes. No partner required. Cost £3. For more information contact David on 01460 65981 www. chardscottishcountrydance.co.uk.

Dance Connection, dance4all, 11:30am-1pm, Bridport St Mary’s Church House Hall, DT6 3NN, 07787752201, https://www.dance-connection-wessex. co.uk/

Tuesday, 23 September

U3A talk The Speaker is David Bailey & entitled ‘Wildlife Wanderings’. David is a self taught photographer who has won several awards for his wildlife photography. The talk is at 2,00 pm in the Bridport United Church House, East Street, Bridport DT6 3LJ. The talk lasts for up to 1 hour, followed by Q & A, & then refreshments.

Wednesday, 24 September

Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society. Talk by Chris Trimmer ‘The Work of the National Trust Plant Conservation Centre’. Uplyme Village Hall 7.30pm. Doors open 7pm. Members free; guests £3. More information https://ulrhs.wordpress.com.

NGS Garden Open (Pre Boooking essential) Farrs, 3 Whitcombe Rd, Beaminster DT8 3NB. Enjoy several distinctive walled gardens, rolling lawns, sculpture and giant topiary around one of Beaminster’s historic town houses. John’s inspirational grass garden and Jennie’s very contrasting garden with an oak fruit cage; a riot of colour. Glasshouse, straw bale studio, geese in orchard. Remarkable trees, planked and seasoning in open sided barn for future furniture commissions. A limited number of tickets have been made available for this special afternoon opening, hosted by John and Jennie Makepeace. There will be a warm welcome from John at 2.30pm in the main rooms of the house, with a talk on his furniture design and recent commissions. Jennie will then give a guided walk around the gardens followed by a cream tea. Some gravel paths, alternative wheelchair route through orchard. Open: Wed 24 Sept (2-4.30). Adm: £40. Pre-booking essential, please visit ngs.org.uk for information & booking. Cream teas in the house or garden, weather dependent. Donation to Victoria & Albert Foundation.

My Ballet - since 2012 – Bridport. 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 Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www. my-ballet.uk

My Ballet - since 2012 – Winsham. Join the fun and feel good. 6:45 - 8pm Jubilee Hall, Church Street, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@gmail.com www.my-ballet.uk

Thursday, 25 September

Turn Lyme Green A Short Film - Givery Takery and talk by film maker and journalist, Lisa Clifford to illustrate her quirky upcycling project in Hastings. Part of the Shute Literary Festival, Turn Lyme Green is

hosting this event which will include talks by local recycling/upcycling projects: the Lyme Regis Repair Cafe and Turn Lyme Green’s recycled fabric Boomerang Bags. 5.00pm - 6.30pm. Driftwood Cafe, Baptist Church, top of Broad Street, Lyme Regis. All welcome. Refreshments available. Free but booking needed: https://www. shutefest.org.uk/booking.html.

NGS Garden Open Slape Manor Netherbury, Bridport DT6 5LH. (1-5). Adm: £15, chd free. Adm includes optional guided tour on 1st come 1st served basis. Dogs on short leads welcome. Home-made teas. Visits also by arrangement 1st Feb to1st Dec for groups of 8-20. Dance Connection, dance4all, 5:156:45pm, Bridport St Mary’s Church House Hall, DT6 3NN, 07787752201, https:// www.dance-connection-wessex.co.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.

NTL: Inter Alia (15) 105 mins, 7pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £29 To book electricpalace.org.uk

Thursday, 25 - 28 September

Allington Arts Weekend St. Swithun’s Church, North Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU. A Wonderful line-up of local artists and performers, with 12 shows including music, history talk, theatre and a visual art display in the hall. Contact Bridport TIC for full details and ticketing (01308) 424901 http://www. bridportandwestbay.co.uk.

Thursday, 25 - 29 September

Shute Festival An intimate Devon festival of brilliant speakers and ideas. Hosted this year in various venues across Lyme Regis Shute Festival features writers including Hannah Bourne-Taylor, Horatio Clare, Ohilip Marsden and Bijan Omrani. For the full line up and bookinmg details visit: www. shutefest.org.uk.

Friday, 26 September

Ant Law & Brigitte Beraha: Ensconced Jazz duo Beraha and Law conjure up a spellbinding, intimate atmosphere with beautiful interpretations of jazz standards alongside original compositions. 8pm. Bridport Arts Centre, South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NR. Box Office 01308 424204 £16/14/7 http:// www.bridport-arts.com.

Powerstock Hut Barn Dance The Ping Pong Orchestra playing and Angela Laycock calling. Buffet supper, bar, raffle. 7pm. Powerstock Hut, Powerstock, DT6 3TB. Tickets on the door £5 (children free).

Mitsu Trio The Mitsu Trio was formed in 2020 by British pianist Tyler Hay, Japanese cellist Akito Goto and Catalan violinist Laura Custodio Sabas. All three members met at the Purcell School for Young Musicians when they were just teenagers, where they formed a strong musical connection. Promoted by Concerts in the West. Tickets: £20. 7.30 - 10pm. The Meeting House, 35 East StreetIlminster, England, TA19 0AN. www.ilminsterartscentre.com.

Comedy: Mark Steel: The Leopard in My House, 8pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £20 To book electricpalace.org.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. Ages 18 to 82 plus! Join the fun and feel good. 10am-11:15 (some experience) 11:30 - 12: 30 (mixed ability and no experience) Do get in touch and come and dance! Jubilee HALL, Church Street, Winsham, Chard, TA20 4HU Whatsapp 07866896978. email: myballetuk@ gmail.com www.my-ballet.uk

Saturday, 27 September

Choral Evensong with music by Dyson, Rose, Balfour Gardiner and Grieg, 4.30pm. Enjoy a peaceful hour with fantastic choral music followed by a glass of wine. St Peter’s Church, High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1XA. This service is free to attend and all are very welcome. More information at www. musicatstpetersdorchester.org.

Scottish Dancing Party in Chardstock An evening of Scottish Dancing at Chardstock Village Hall 7.30-10.30pm. No partner required. Please bring your own mug and a plate of food to share. Tea and coffee provided. Cost £5.00. Contact David on 01460 65981. www.chardscottishcountrydance.co.uk. Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Abbotsbury. For further information please ring 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. New members/ visitors welcome.

Freakier Friday (PG) 111 mins, 7:30pm, Bridport Electric Palace, DT6 3NY. Tickets £8.50 To book electricpalace.org.uk.

The Forget Me Not Fiesta at Bridport Youth and Community Centre is a free, inclusive community event raising awareness and support for people living with dementia, their carers, and wider community. Featuring advice stalls, live music, exercise sessions, health checks, and the immersive Virtual Dementia Experience Bus, the day offers opportunities to learn, connect, and celebrate together. 10.30 – 14.30pm, Bridport Youth & Community Centre, Gundry Lane, Bridport DT6 3RL, For more information please call 01308428943 or email jcsocialprescribing@dorsetgp. nhs.uk.

Saturday, 27 - 28 September

Angels of Sound Sound healing voice workshop Module 1 10am-5PM Oborne Village Hall, OBORNE, nr. Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4LA £128/£64 deposit. Learn to give yourself and others a sound-healing treatment using the instrument that you already own–your unique voice! Booking essential ahiahel@live.com 01935 389655 ffi www. centreforpuresound.org.

Dorset’s Greener Homes will open their doors for the fifth year across Dorset. Communities across Dorset are set to benefit from this countywide event, as over 50 homes across Dorset take part in the annual Open Homes event to showcase greener and sustainable energy installed in their homes. This event is one of Dorset Climate Action Network’s (DorsetCAN’s) main projects as it continues to offer residents of Dorset an opportunity to learn more about greener energy solutions. Learn more about their work at www.dorsetcan.org.

EVENTS IN OCTOBER

Live or Online send your event details to info@marshwoodvale.com BY SEPTEMBER 14th

The power of wit and banter

NOW is as good a time as any to welcome Kendal Tudge into your life. A chaotic, hilarious, and adventurous character, Kendal is the heroine of Bridport resident Ros Huxley’s novel Kendal Acts Up. A woman in her 40s from London who inherits her uncle’s flat on the Jurassic Coast, Kendal believes all her worries might be coming to an end. However, there’s a catch: the flat is in a retirement home.

Inspired by the whimsical idea of pretending to be older to escape the chaos of modern life, Kendal decides to try passing as a woman in her 60s to enjoy a peaceful, hassle-free life by the sea. However, she soon finds that Jurassic Court is anything but quiet. She becomes part of a lively community full of distinctive characters, from a handsome warden to an eclectic mix of residents who challenge her preconceptions of what it means to be “elderly.”

A former reader for the prestigious Bridport Prize, Ros Huxley shifted from a successful yet somewhat unfulfilling career in charity funding to pursue a Master’s in creative writing, resulting in a charming, well-crafted tale.

Kendal Acts Up is not just a humorous romp; it’s a clever exploration of age, community, and the surprising connections that bind us. It’s no wonder screenwriter Ashley Pharoah calls Kendal “a Jurassic Coast Bridget Jones.”

To learn more about Ros Huxley’s journey from a seasoned creative to a published author, including the personal experiences that inspired the book, read the full interview online at www. marshwoodvale.com.

Published by WriteSideLeft on August 1st, Kendal Acts Up will be available at Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookshops. ISBN: 9781068518829. EPUB ISBN: 9781068518836.

Sunday, 28 September

Netherbury Repair Cafe, 10:00-12:00 at Netherbury Village Hall. Contact: Lisa Willis on 07870 950 666 or info@repaircafenetherbury.org.

Singing Bowl Soundbath 2pm Oborne Village Hall nr. Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4LA £17 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. 01935 389655 ahiahel@live. com

Monday, 29 September

Bridport Bridge Club: Beginner and Returner Lessons. New Course for Beginners and Returners. Bridport Bridge Club is launching a new series of lessons for beginners and those returning to bridge. The course will begin at Bradpole Village Hall on Monday, October 13th, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to the free introductory session from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at Bradpole Village Hall. This session will provide an overview of how to play bridge and details about the course. For further details, please contact Martin at 01308 861120, email bridportbridgeclub@gmail.com, or visit the club’s website at www.bridgewebs.com/bridport.

Dance Connection, dance4all, 11:30am-1pm, Bridport St Mary’s Church House Hall, DT6 3NN, 07787752201, https://www.dance-connection-wessex.co.uk/

Tuesday, 30 September

Bridport Film Society On Becoming A Guinea Fowl by Rungano Nyoni. A complex and intelligent film that plays out against the urgent need to address abuse, misogyny and denial in contemporary middle class Zambian life. 7.45pm Bridport Arts Centre. Members and Guests (£5) only.

Scottish Dancing in Chardstock An evening of Scottish Dancing at Chardstock Village Hall 7.30-10.00 p.m. Tea and coffee provided but please bring your own mug and wear soft soled shoes. No partner required. Cost £3. For more information contact David on 01460 65981. www.chardscottishcountrydance.co.uk.

PNature Studies

By Michael McCarthy

erhaps the saddest sight I have seen in the natural world since we came to Dorset has been that of dead and dying ash trees. Ash thrives on chalk landscapes, so we have plenty in the county, but now as many as 90 percent of them are infected by ash dieback disease, which first appeared in Britain in 2012.

The fungus which kills the trees sometimes takes years to finish them off, but not a few are already dead. The disease strips off the leaves so some of the big old gnarled ones appear twisted in their final agony, while the younger ones, with their bare upward pointing branches and twigs, seem as if they are imploring mercy. Many more have dead parts to them, and driving round the countryside the progression is obvious; in many of Dorset’s ash woods you can see the dead trees from a great distance away.

I find it a particularly distressing sight because I have always loved the ash; it is a tree full of grace and elegance, one which has always played a major role in country life, with its light and flexible wood which was the main source of timber for tool handles. In Norse mythology the ash was central: it was known as Yggdrasil, the tree of life, and it is heartbreaking to think that the tree of life may disappear, as Britain’s elms did in the 1970s and 1980s when they were attacked by Dutch elm disease, another fungus, this one spread by beetles.

However, in one of the most heartening pieces of environmental news this summer, it was reported that new generations of wild ash trees are rapidly evolving resistance to the fungus, although it is too early to say if the development could outpace the destruction currently being caused.

In a study reported in the journal Science, researchers found that the large number of seedlings a mature ash can produce—up to 10,000 from a single tree—gave enormous scope for resistance to the fungus to evolve, and this was taking place. Professor Richard Nichols, from Queen Mary

An

incomer’s discovery of the natural world in the West Country

University of London, was quoted as saying: “We have to be cautious. We can’t say the ash is saved, but we are in a position to say it’s looking promising. We are watching evolution happen and what’s remarkable is that it’s happening so quickly, in a single generation.”

Certainly, most of our current ash trees will go, like the elms did—it is in the new seedlings that the resistance is developing. But it looks like we may be able to replace our ash woods eventually, in a way that has not been possible with our elms.

l And in another heartening wildlife event, it was revealed last month that a pair of white-tailed eagles have nested in Dorset this summer and produced a chick. Our biggest bird of prey was hunted to extinction in southern England in the 18th century, but a reintroduction programme based on the Isle of Wight is proving successful: a pair have now raised chicks for three years in a row in Sussex, and this year saw the first successful Dorset nest in more than 240 years. The male and female birds paired up two years ago around Poole Harbour and last year they several times drifted right over our village, which is more than 20 miles away, causing great excitement among local birders. I am not aware that they have been seen over the village this year; they clearly had more important things to do than go a-wandering. It’s wonderful news. We seem to be very good at bringing back big bird species: look at the osprey, which raised its first Dorset chicks near Poole Harbour last year. I only wish we could do it with small things, with red-backed shrikes and willow tits and lesser spotted woodpeckers. Their disappearance matters just as much.

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.

The ‘tree of life’, dead as a doornail: the effects of ash dieback disease in Dorset © Photograph by Robin Mills

Funding consultation on Octagon development

YEOVIL Town Council has launched a public consultation on funding support for the development and reopening of the currently closed Octagon. The town council wants residents to give their views on whether it should contribute £3,964,500 (including Stamp Duty). Residents are being asked whether they are in favour of the project which would mean borrowing £3,325,000 – and whether the town council should go ahead with the loan and financial contribution, if it includes a Council Tax precept increase of 3.3% for loan repayment.

This would equate to an annual Council Tax increase of £11.60 for an average Band D property (or 22p per week) over a 20-year period—85.3% of properties in the parish of Yeovil are below Band D, so contributions for most households would be less than this.

The aim is to redevelop, refurbish and renew the theatre with reopening planned for the 2028-29 financial year. Plans include a refurbished auditorium with new seating and carpets, a studio for classes in dance, music, theatre and creative art, improved allday café bar area, better accessibility, front of house customer facilities, with more toilets, more accessible toilets, etc, and stage and backstage changes to improve technical aspects of productions.

Following reopening, the theatre would transfer to the ownership of Yeovil Town Council. The Octagon closed at the end of April 2023 for survey works

and subsequently current owners Somerset Council announced that the plans were not viable due to the financial emergency and increases in interest and inflation that impacted the cost of borrowing and construction. In October 2023, the town council voted to work in partnership with Somerset Council to develop and reopen the Octagon. Work has been going on behind the scenes, on a total budget of £15 million, with funding from central government (DCMS), Yeovil Town Council, Ticket Levy, Somerset Council, and fundraising and grants.

For more information, visit the website at www. yeovil.gov.uk/octagon-theatre, There is an open event at Westlands on Wednesday 3rd September, 6-8pm. The consultation will formally close on Sunday 21st September.

Artist impressions of the redeveloped Octagon Theatre

Tractor Boys Raise Funds for Mental Health on the Farm

By Christopher Roper

While teenage boys in much of England are focused on computer games, just as previous generations built Lego models or collected stamps, in Wootton Fitzpaine they are more likely to be collecting and rebuilding vintage tractors. Three such lads, all in their early twenties and now full-time tractor mechanics, have decided to raise money for a youth-focused mental health charity by driving their tractors from John O’Groats to Lands End this September, documenting their journey on TikTok.

Billy Kitcher explains the genesis of his idea. For the past few years he has joined a vintage tractor rally near Milborne Port in support of the Charity WillDoes (WillDoes.co.uk), which Lesley Paddy set up to commemorate her son, who died in tragic circumstances in 2019. The Charity’s aims inspired him because, as he told the BBC, he and some of his friends had struggled with their mental health, ‘There’s not enough help for farmers; they’re overworked and overthink things.’

His idea for the North-South marathon drive came to him one morning this Spring, ‘I woke up and thought, Let’s do it.’ He recruited two friends, Jack Macey and Bill Parsons to make the trip with him. Mrs Paddy secured the support of Peter Andrews of Andrew’s Plant and Construction Services in Wareham, who agreed to transport the three tractors to the north of Scotland, and retrieve them from Lands End.

Their employers, too, have been supportive; all three work for local agricultural engineering firms: Billy Kitcher for M.J.Fry near Dorchester; Bill Parsons for Francis Bugler in Beaminster; and Jack Macey for Graham Holland near Yeovil. They are each taking two weeks off to make the trip. One attraction of vintage tractors to teenagers is that you can have wheels on the road soon after your sixteenth birthday, rather than waiting to take a driving test when you are seventeen. In fact, I remember both Billy and Jack commuting to work on their tractors from Wootton.

None of the tractors they are driving will have cabs, but they all have link boxes for warm and waterproof clothing, camping gear, tools and probably essential

spare parts. They reckon to average 18 miles an hour, and hope to complete the trip in under ten days. Billy will be on the oldest tractor, a 1954 Fordson Major; Jack will ride a 1963 Nuffield 10/60, after a complete rebuild of its engine. When I spoke to them in Jack’s workshop, deep in the Charmouth Forest, they were awaiting a refurbished cylinder head; Bill’s Ford 67/10 is only 40 years old.

They had plenty to choose from, owning between them 18 tractors of all shapes, sizes and ages. This is a serious hobby in West Dorset. It’s been hard to find time to talk to Billy. A recent text message read, ‘I’ll have to get back to you; I have a meeting today and radio tomorrow, and still trying to work; it’s chaos to be honest’. The pressure level rose sharply, shortly after I left their workshop at around 2130 on hearing that the original cylinder head was cracked and unusable. By midday the following day, Jack’s grandfather, Nick Fowler, a former National hedgelaying champion and himself a tractor enthusiast, had sourced a replacement cylinder from a 90-year-old “Nuffield fanatic” in Offwell near Honiton. Phew!

Mrs Paddy is trying to find support for the three lads on their way South, down the A9 in Scotland, across to the Lake District and down the West side of England. I asked if the NFU had been supportive, thinking it should be, given that a recent survey by the Farm Safety Foundation found that 94% of UK farmers under the age of 40 rated poor mental health as one of the biggest problems facing farmers and their families.

If readers of Marshwood Vale want to support this heroic adventure, funds are being raised on: https://www.justgiving.com/page/bill-kitcher1?utm_-source=EM

They leave John O’Groats on 8 September and I hope they raise a lot of money for WillDoes. I mentioned to Jack that the BBC piece that originally alerted me to their project said that he’d never left Dorset. ‘That’s nonsense,’ he said, ‘I work in Somerset’. That said, the families of all three lads are deeply rooted in the agricultural community of this corner of Dorset and are a great credit to their generation.

IVEGETABLES BEYOND THE GARDEN

by Caddy Sitwell

The Horticultural Show. Part Five - The Carrot

found myself with a carrot in our bath the night before Melplash Show. It was longer than a small child. This was a whopper, and I was very proud. There were to be no scratches or breaks to the skin, so the bath was the best place to wash it in. Once stroked clean with the softest of sponges its tiny hairs were plucked off with tweezers on the kitchen table.

This orange beauty is a variety of long carrot called ‘New Red Intermediate’ bred from the ‘Red Intermediate’ by Suttons Seeds in the 1950s as a ‘novelty carrot suitable for exhibition’. Having your hands on the right seeds is the first step if you want to embark on this carrot game but be prepared for twenty-four weeks of nurturing. Massive barrels are filled with sand in the depths of winter and after settling, five holes are cored out with a threeand-a-half-inch drainpipe. These voids are filled with a nutritious mix of riddled compost, sand, seaweed and vermiculite—blended in a dedicated cement mixer. A few seeds are sown on top of each station in March with the five strongest and most matching seedlings kept. The weaklings are snipped off with nail scissors—not pulled, for fear of disturbing the chosen ones. Your summer is now dictated by these tiny fronds. Carrots like routine— regular watering, stroking and encouragement.

Royal Chantenay, Oxheart or Early Scarlet Hoorn. From the late eighteenth century, the green-fingered Shakers bred and distributed new strains over America via the Shaker Seed Company. They focussed on the carrot’s high sugar content and biennial ability to store during the lean months and plant for seed the following year. Amongst many edible varieties they bred a carrot for cattle fodder which produced golden milk to be made into a butter rich in beta carotene.

In the sixteenth century carrots were distained by the wealthy as food for the poor and the poor in turn dismissed root vegetables as animal fodder. The carrots in those days were black and purple, yellow and cream and often muddled together with parsnips and turnips. It was the brilliant breeding of the Dutch, in their sandy soils in Hoorn in the 17th century, that transformed the ancient yellow Afghani carrot of the silk road into the sweet orange carrot of today. The orange colour was swiftly adopted by supporters of William of Orange who led the Dutch in the fight for independence from Spain. But the carrot and it’s orangeness came before him despite the myths.

There are now over 600 named culinary carrots and seed companies can supply carrots of endless sizes and shapes with romantic names such as St Valery and

The show carrot though, is bred for size and skin tone and never feels tempting to eat. Season after season I have tried to improve but without much luck. From reselecting seeds from the straightest and smoothest to hounding carrot growers at shows. Mr J. Croot from Derbyshire is a tremendous carrot grower who shared his compost recipe when we met at the New Forest Show. (But as with good cooks you slightly wonder if he might have not told me absolutely everything). Growing 200 show carrots was for him, a relaxation from the pressures of being a train engineer. His staggering, deep orange, three-foot lances have won endless trophies, including second and third at the National Championships—no mean feat when a matching set of five is needed. Perfect long carrots require shapely shoulders that have not started to ‘green’ and ‘smooth shafts of evenly distributed weight and colour’ right down to their whip ends.

But it’s not only the timing, the saved seeds, the compost recipe but crucially the getting them out in one piece. In my first year I used a circular saw which was very dangerous, ended badly and destroyed the barrel. I have now learnt that you run a hose for ten minutes before gently, almost imperceptibly twisting them clockwise in surgeon’s gloves. Yet impatience and hot headedness can sometimes get the better of you. Oh, the agony of the day when it comes to pull and you hear that unmistakable snap. A terrible wail is emitted, understandable to all in the vicinity. You rapidly find yourself alone in the garden, ankle deep in wet sand holding two parts of a once glorious carrot.

Manor garden open for charity

SLAPE Manor in Netherbury will open in support of the National Garden Scheme (NGS) in September. A river valley garden in a process of transformation, it offers spacious lawns, wildflower meadows, and primula fringed streams leading down to a lake. Walk over the stream with magnificent hostas, gunneras and horizontal Cryptomeria japonica ‘Elegans’ around the lake. It will be open on September 25th from 1-5pm. Admission: £15, chd free, includes optional guided tour on first come first served basis. Address is Netherbury, Bridport DT6 5LH.

September in the Garden

By Russell Jordan

Ihad the autumn flowering cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium) flowering as early as July, this year, when it was nudged out of dormancy by a wetting, I watered a pot that was close by, after the prolonged dry spell. Similarly other plants, such as Crinum x powellii, flowered much earlier than usual, they would normally be expected to still be in flower now, and have finished when they might otherwise be adding a feeling of spring-like freshness to the September garden.

Autumn flowering bulbs, others include Colchicum, autumn flowering Crocus and Sternbergia lutea, are supposed to burst into flower when cooler and wetter autumn conditions trigger blooming. They are a good way to add interest to special areas of the garden, they are relatively expensive, specimen, plants, or to plant up in bulb pans and pots so that they can be brought close to the house, or even into the house for the smaller species, just when they are looking their best. They can be ordered at the same time as your spring flowering bulbs, an urgent task now that bulb planting time is upon us, or try looking out for them in garden centres and specialist nurseries.

I think there may be some strange plant behaviour this year, if and when we finally get a good dollop of rainfall. Border plants which you will have chopped back, as part of the usual ‘de-browning’ maintenance, may have struggled to make any new growth, in the dry conditions, but moister soil now may promote new growth and even, especially in things like herbaceous geraniums, a fresh spray of flowers. Similarly weeds which have not germinated through lack of water, or have remained small and unnoticed, will, practically overnight, become very apparent and will require swift removal if they are not to take over beds and borders.

I don’t really have a ‘lawn’, in the normal sense of the word, but I do have areas around the meadow,

behind the house, that I keep mown to define areas for walking on, driving over or to separate planted areas from the ‘wild’ grassland. These have gone completely brown and straw-like due to lack of water but, and it’s saved a lot of time this year, at least they’ve not required a lot of mowing. Autumn rains, assuming we get them, will soon turn the sward green again and, especially considering how much stress lawns have been under due to drought conditions, some ‘tlc’ is in order.

After we’ve had rain, some dethatching is in order; use a wire rake on smaller lawns or powered machinery (which can be rented by the day) for larger areas. Any patches which are completely bald can be over sown with fresh grass seed, mixed into loam to aid spreading, well-watered and then protected with horticultural fleece until it germinates. Covering the freshly sown seed will reduce the likelihood of it getting eaten be birds or rodents and also keeps pets / children etc. off the newly sown areas. The soil will remain warm enough, for a few weeks yet, to ensure that the newly germinated grass will have a chance to get established before winter cold stops growth. It’s often easier to establish new lawns, using grass seed, in the autumn, compared to the spring, because, this year being a case in point, if sown in the spring it can often be difficult to keep the seedbed sufficiently moist if the summer is unusually hot and dry.

In these days of ‘no mow May’, with a general tolerance of having ‘weeds’ in lawns, I’m not sure how many people will use a proprietary lawn treatment, this time of year, which both feeds and weeds the lawn. If you are only feeding the lawn and not trying to kill off the non-grass plants, then a simple top dressing with ‘fish, blood and bone’, added to a ‘carrier’, such as sifted loam (bought in bags to ensure it’s sterile), will certainly boost leaf growth and

green up the lawn. The fertiliser inoculated loam can be roughly strewn on the lawn, by shovelling from a wheelbarrow, and then spread more evenly into the sward using something like a besom—a very pleasing, if somewhat archaic, tool that should be in every gardener’s artillery.

In the flower garden there’s a lot to do to prolong the summer display. Deadheading, weeding, cutting back perennials and pulling out tired bedding will all help to keep it looking respectable. Of course, dahlias, cannas and all the late-flowering, tender, perennials will still be putting on a show, assuming they’ve been religiously dead-headed and fed as necessary, so these are a case of ‘carry on doing what you’re doing’.

Moist, warm, soil at this time of year means that it is a good time to move conifer and other evergreens which need to be able to recover from the shock of transplanting, by producing new roots, before the ground is so cold that it stops growth. In the same vein, the fact that there’s still enough time, before properly cold weather arrives, for trees and shrubs to make new growth means that hedge cutting and pruning for shape is a timely task. New growth, initiated by the cutting back, will have a chance to ‘harden off’ before frosts and severe cold can damage it. Birds should have stopped nesting by now, even

those that have had extra broods during the unusually favourable summer, so even fairly drastic hedge cutting and reshaping is possible where you might have been putting it off thus far.

I think I’d probably delay any lifting, dividing and replanting of herbaceous plants, which can take place during autumn, as there should still be plenty of time to do this later when they have properly died down. It may be too early for planting bare-rooted things, which require fully dormant conditions, but assessing what you might need, and placing orders for them, is worth doing to ensure you get the specimens that you desire.

It’s a bit depressing to have to consider Christmas, when you really want to be hoping for an ‘Indian Summer’, but if you want ‘prepared’ spring flowering bulbs, for indoor flowering during the festive season, then now is the time that you need to buy and plant the prepared bulbs. Hyacinths are most commonly used for this purpose, they produce both scent and showy flowers, but narcissi, especially ‘Paperwhites’, are also likely to be offered. These are the kind of ‘special’ plants which look good planted in good, old, terracotta pots and bulb pans—just like the autumn flowering Crocus, Colchicum and Sternbergia which kicked off ‘what to do in September’!

PROPERTY ROUND-UP

Spread your wings in September

MEMBURY PRICE GUIDE

£695,000

An enchanting detached Grade II listed period cottage packed with period features. Tucked away in a peaceful rural location with long range views and set in beautiful gardens and grounds that extend to 3.68 acres, all within 10 minutes’ drive of local amenities.

Greenslade Taylor Hunt: 01460 238382

RAYMONDS HILL

£750,000

TATWORTH, CHARD

£835,000

Superb opportunity to purchase a beautifully presented, historic former farmhouse, Grade II listed, together with two smart holiday cottages. All set in mature and abundantly stocked attractive gardens and grounds of just under one acre on the Somerset/Devon/Dorset border.

Greenslade Taylor Hunt: 01460 238382

A very spacious and attractive four / five bedroom detached chalet style bungalow with double garage and parking for several vehicles, situated in the popular region of Raymonds Hill, north of Lyme Regis. Gordon & Rumsby: 01297 553768

CHARMOUTH

£225,000

The Old Coach House is a charming cottage style flat forming the upper storey of a detached former stables and coach house. Divided into two flats in the 1960s, this property retains a number period features. Gordon & Rumsby: 01297 553768

HAWKCHURCH

£735,000

Steeped in history and character, this truly exceptional Grade II Listed period residence offers elegant, beautifully proportioned interiors, a double garage, and a private garden oasis amidst breathtaking unspoilt countryside. DOMVS: 01308 805500

WEST BAY

£1,250,000

With some of the best sea views imaginable, this truly exceptional home effortlessly combines luxury, comfort, practicality and superb eco credentials. Occupying a substantial plot tucked away on a no-through road.

DOMVS: 01308 805500

The R-Word—Perspectives and baselines

Dr Sam Rose asks if the words Rewilding, Restoration and Recovery are the new ‘Superheros’

The more I work in the field of nature conservation, the more I ruminate—like one of the White Park cattle at Mapperton Wildlands—on the whole world of nature restoration and recovery. What is rewilding, six years on from Isabella Tree’s book? How is it perceived and understood? Is it now seen as a passing fad, a trend or something that has now ‘had it’s day’? And how do we view this on a daily basis as we walk, drive, ride or take the train around our countryside?

Only today in the i newspaper there was an article about different perspectives on allowing urban parks to grow long grass, attract pollinators, and generally look scruffy, all in the cause of nature restoration. In the article they chose to use speech marks around the R-Word, denigrating “rewilding” to something that may or may not be real or serious, but overall it presented a balanced argument of nature vs ‘neat’ure (you see what I did there…?).

Anyhow, before you think I am going all introspective on you, and you turn the page to a more riveting read, let’s remind ourselves of what this is all about; Rewilding, Restoration or Recovery of nature—what I am now calling the “R-Words”, the last true superheroes! The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in Europe. There are a whole bunch of measures which show this, including something called the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), in which the UK sits at approximately 50–53%, meaning only about half of our original biodiversity remains. This is well below the global average of 75%.

There are also a range of stats such as: species abundance down by 20% since 1970; 1 in 4 of our mammals are threatened with extinction; 90% of our wetlands lost in the last century; half of our farmland birds gone; and 30% of our pollinators have also vanished. Even today’s paper, on the same page as the

above mentioned article, have another—shorter— piece which states that “’Time is running out’ to save threatened wildlife in the UK”. Oh the irony! Whether these numbers or headlines are precise is immaterial, we only have to look around to see it for ourselves….

… or do we? The problem we have as a society is that we associate our current patchwork countryside, neat planted woodlands, and general ‘greenery’ with nature. Our ‘green and pleasant land’ of Jerusalem fame looks ok, doesn’t it? Lots of hedges, some even with big trees in them? Nice even-colour fields, especially those without messy scrub or Ragwort, “surely those are just weeds?”, even though Ragwort has been shown to support over 200 species of insect.

You see we all suffer from something called Shifting Baseline Syndrome. Our reality has become the new normal, our perception of what is good for nature does not match the facts. If we see a barn owl, for example, we get very excited—and with good reason as they are amazing—and think that nature is doing well. But they should be commonplace, not rare. Their prey species, such as small mammals, are vanishing because the habitats where they can live safely, such as fields with longer grass, are so few. Barn owls also find it difficult to find homes because dead trees are being taken down due to their ‘untidiness’.

And that’s just that start of it. If we have grown up with ‘empty’ green fields without structure, such as in-field trees, scrub, wet rushy areas, longer grasses, wildflowers etc., then we don’t know what natural is, or that our ‘baseline’ is so much lower that it should be. We only recognise that something is not right when we see, for example, a river in flood, chocolate brown with lost soil from a field after harvest, or deforestation in an ancient woodland.

Going back to what I said earlier about the national

Beaver flooded woodland in Dorset © Dr Sam Rose Dead tree near Beaminster © Dr Sam Rose

problems, despite the plethora and perhaps confusion of stats, there is no doubt that we need all of the R-Words to happen over large areas of our country, and we need that now. Of course, we need to be careful and work mainly where the land is marginal for farming, as we still need food, grown in a sustainable and nature friendly way, but there is plenty of space for both, even on the same land—known as ‘land sharing’.

And in addition to the practical work—and this is where I am coming to with this article—we need a revision of our ‘visual baseline’—we need to see the things we see in nature every day in a different way. We need to see dead trees as sculptures in the landscapes rather than eyesores to be removed, beaver wetlands as joyous mosaics of habitats rather than scruffy wet areas, and ‘weeds’ such as the thistle for what they really are in all of their glorious pollination beauty! All of these features fall within the ‘natural processes’ bracket which underpins the R-Words, and I think a decent PR job is needed to promote natural processes as a good thing, rather than just nature being an unsightly nuisance.

So rather than rant on more about the media or baselines, I have drawn on my strength and included a few photos of messy nature in all its glory, to help shift your visual baseline. Maybe in the future you might look at the messiness of nature a little differently and see the beauty within.

Dr Sam Rose is a photographer and podcaster about nature and rewilding—see his website at whatifyoujustleaveit.info and podcast “What if you just leave it?”.

He also heads up the charity West Dorset Wilding (westdorsetwilding.org) but the views expressed here are personal and are not said on the charity’s behalf.

A glorious thistle © Photograph by Dr Sam Rose

A Tale of Two Climates

Bob Ward considers how Dorset’s wildlife needs to adapt to a warmer world

Many of Dorset’s native wildlife are struggling to cope with the changing climate, but some species are thriving in the warmer temperatures.

Climate change is affecting terrestrial and aquatic animals around the world. Different species are reacting to different degrees, upsetting the balance of many ecosystems.

Many species are sensitive to their climate and are responding to warmer land and water temperatures by gradually migrating towards the poles, or higher altitudes, to seek the same weather conditions.

But rising sea levels and more extreme and frequent periods of heavy rainfall, drought and heatwaves are destroying wildlife and their habitats.

These trends are being driven by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide, which has increased by 50 per cent since we started burning fossil fuels on a large scale in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are helping to stimulate the growth of some vegetation. But the elevated concentrations also mean that more carbon dioxide is dissolving in our oceans, lakes and rivers, making them more acidic and less alkaline. This is creating problems for some aquatic species, particularly those that have shells composed of carbonate.

In many cases, climate change is adding to the other pressures being exerted on wildlife through agriculture and other industrial development that destroys habitats, unsustainable hunting and fishing practices that deplete population numbers, and pollution that poisons both plants and animals. These threats together have resulted in the disappearance of more than 400 land and freshwater species from Dorset. And there are 2,500 remaining species that are currently classified as threatened, rare, scarce, or protected.

And as the impacts of climate change grow across the county, it is creating even more of a threat to our wildlife.

The most recent analysis by the Met Office shows that the UK’s average temperature over the past 10 years was 1.24 Celsius degrees higher than in the period between 1961 and 1990.

Average temperature is increasing by about 0.25 Celsius degrees each decade, and frosts are also becoming less frequent and severe.

While these may sound like small changes in average temperature, they mean that spring-like conditions are arriving earlier, and summer heat is lasting longer during the year.

‘We will have to be prepared to say goodbye to some of our most beloved animals and plants, whilst welcoming new exotic species’

The Joint Nature Conservancy Council (JNCC) has created monitors to track the occurrence of wildlife events that traditionally mark the onset of Spring.

These are the first flowering of hawthorn, first flowering of horse chestnut, the first recorded flight of an orange-tip butterfly, and the first sighting of a swallow.

The JNCC has found that these events are now occurring on average 8.6 days earlier in the year than they did in the early 20th century, due to warmer temperatures in March and April.

The early start to spring has disadvantages for some species. For instance, the Dorset Wildlife Trust, has recorded earlier development of the larvae of the marsh fritillary butterfly, but has found that they are more exposed to harm from heavy rainfall or cold snaps that can still occur in March and April. The past decade has been 10 per cent wetter than between 1961 and 1990, and heavy rainfall events have become more frequent.

Milder winters and earlier springs also disadvantage bats in Dorset, which is home to all 17 of the UK’s breeding species. Warm weather can cause them to wake up too early from hibernation and face starvation because the insects on which they feed have not yet appeared. This can lead to poorer body conditions and can affect their breeding success.

However, the higher temperatures are benefiting some species, particularly those for which Dorset is at the northern edge of their range. The Dorset Wildlife Trust has noted that the silver-spotted skipper butterfly seems to be thriving in the short springy turf which develops in chalk grasslands during warmer and drier summers.

It is not just on land where climate change is affecting Dorset’s plants and animals. Sea surface

temperatures over the past decade around the UK were also 0.9 Celsius degrees above the average for the period from 1961 to 1990.

The warmer temperatures may be helping the return of bluefin tuna to Dorset’s waters, where conservation efforts have successfully restored populations after overfishing wiped them out during the middle of the last century.

And the higher water temperatures are also attracting some newcomers. The furrowed crab is now found in large numbers along Dorset’s coast, apparently spreading from Devon as the English Channel has warmed.

However, there are some wildlife that will help us to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The reintroduction of beavers in the wild in Dorset, after being hunted to extinction 400 years ago, should create and protect precious wetland areas.

The first legal release of a pair of beavers into the wild in England took place in Studland this spring. They are expected to create dams and other structures that will help to retain rainwater and create rich wetland areas for other animals and plants. These beavers could create more habitats for

threatened species like the great crested newt, which are at risk from more frequent and intense periods of warmth and dryness.

While some of Dorset’s wildlife is proving resilient to the impacts of climate change, greater challenges lie ahead as the consequences grow. The frequency and intensity of coastal flooding, drought, rainfall and heatwaves will continue to increase for the next few decades until the world reaches net zero emissions of greenhouse gases.

But in the meantime we will have to be prepared to say goodbye to some of our most beloved animals and plants, whilst welcoming new exotic species as they escape more hostile climates to our south.

And we can all support the Dorset Wildlife Trust and other organisations that are working so hard to protect our native species against climate change and other threats.

Bob Ward FGS FRGS FEI is Policy and Communications Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science.

This Month in the

not so distant past

Looking back at historical moments that happened in September, John Davis highlights Grace Darling

It may be something to do with the advent of blockbuster movies and video games but the impression seems to be given that heroes, using it as a gender-neutral term, need to appear visually tall, powerful, super-fit and often muscle-bound.

Yet it is certainly not a given and throughout history those whose bravery comes from an inner strength, resilience and determination appear quite the opposite. To use examples already featured in this column, recall the slight stature and frailty of pioneering radioactive scientist Marie Curie and the Victorian explorer Mary Kingsley. To this pair you could add civil rights activist Mahatma Gandhi and by all accounts Horatio Nelson was a short, slightly built, ruddy-faced individual who never really mastered seasickness during his whole naval career.

Grace Darling, the subject of this month’s feature, fits very much into this latter category and in addition to the qualities mentioned about the characters identified above you could also add youth.

She was born in December 1815, the seventh of nine children in the family of lighthouse keeper William Darling and his wife. Within a few weeks of being born, Grace was taken to live in a small cottage attached to the lighthouse on Brownsman Island, one of the treacherous Farne Islands just off the coast of Northumberland.

Soon the family moved to a nearby island called Longstone where a new lighthouse had been built. The family lived in the large basement room of the building which served as both living room and kitchen with the bedrooms, accessed by a spiral staircase, located on the second and third floors.

It was from one of these bedrooms early on the morning of September 7th, 1838 that Grace Darling spied the remains of the Forfarshire, a paddle steamer with a faulty boiler that had broken apart on nearby rocks during the height of a storm. The front half of the vessel had lodged on rocks known as Big Harcar while the stern section had completely disappeared taking most of the passengers and the crew with it. The Darlings were not to know but the lifeboat at nearby Seahouses had been unable to put to sea because of the conditions so they appeared to be the

only help available to those few passengers and crew who had survived by clinging to the rocks.

The lighthouse was equipped with a large rowing boat, about six metres long, but William would not be able to manage this on his own and Grace, at the age of twenty-two and used to travelling on the boat since her youth, was the only family member present who could offer assistance. Together they launched the boat and in horrendous conditions rowed towards Big Harcar. The distance they needed to travel was about one and half kilometres as William knew he would need to approach the leeward of the small island where it would be more sheltered.

Such was the ferocity of the storm that those rescued and the lifeboat crew were forced to shelter in the lighthouse for several days.

After a tempestuous journey and in lashing rain, the pair eventually reached their goal. Grace remained in the boat keeping it in position while William made it to shore and gathered up four men and a lone surviving woman, Sarah Dawson, who had lost two children during the night. William and three of the rescued men rowed the boat back to the lighthouse while Grace comforted and tended to the grieving Sarah Dawson. While Mrs. Dawson and Grace remained at the lighthouse her father and the three men set out again and successfully rescued four more survivors from the rocks. When the lifeboat from Seahouses arrived on the scene it could only pick up dead bodies from the water. Such was the ferocity of the storm that those rescued and the lifeboat crew were forced to shelter in the lighthouse for several days. Later it was learned that there were nine other survivors from the front section of the Forfarshire

who had managed to launch a small life raft that had been picked up by another ship.

When news of the rescue spread Grace became an instant hero. Both she and her father received silver medals from what was then the forerunner of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and Grace was also awarded a gold medal from the Royal Humane Society. Journalists clamoured to get her story and artists literally queued to paint her portrait or sketch a likeness to use in an action seascape of the rescue. There were charitable donations to the pair amounting to hundreds of pounds including, although it was never offcially confirmed, £50 from Queen Victoria. Local aristocracy, the Duke of Northumberland, became a self-appointed guardian of Grace and the family adding gifts of his own and setting up a trust fund in her name.

Four years later Grace fell ill with tuberculosis while visiting the mainland and, despite the best attention including the Duchess of Northumberland’s own private physician, died in October 1842 aged only twenty-six. She was buried in the graveyard of St. Aidan’s Church, Bamburgh where there is

also a monument to her brave act. This is also depicted inside the church as a stained-glass window. Bamburgh has a museum specially devoted to Grace Darling and over the years a number of local lifeboats have carried her name.

The year after she died, William Wordsworth, just appointed as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, penned a specially commissioned poem to Grace and her heroic deed. It closes:

“Pious and pure, modest and yet so brave, Though young so wise, though meek so resolute-

Might carry to the clouds and to the stars, Yea, to celestial choirs, Grace Darling’s name!”

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.

Parker Henry Perlee - William and Grace Darling Going to the Rescue of the SS ‘Forfarshire’ - British School - 19th Century

Food&Dining

In November, Mitch Tonks and I will be revisiting Quinta de la Rosa in the Douro Valley for a few days where we will be hosting a two day event of cooking, eating and sampling the wine and port at the vineyard with 6th generation owner Sophia Bergqvist.

I particularly love their white port. Rather like sherry, white port really complements shellfish such as cockles. You could use clams for this if you can’t get live cockles, or even use a mixture of both. Cockles need to be left in a bowl of cold water for an hour or so and agitated with your hands quite regularly so that they shed any sand. I’ve scattered some samphire on this but the season is almost over so the fronds of fennel or any other sea vegetable will work.

MARK HIX

Tonnix on Tour 26th28th November. Tickets available online.

markhix.co.uk/ news-events/ tonnix-on-tour/

DIRECTIONS INGREDIENTS

• 1kg live cockles

• 150ml white port

• 2tbsp wild fennel or dill

• 150g chilled butter, cut into small pieces

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4

• Rinse the cockles in fresh water and place in a large saucepan with the white port and fennel.

• Season lightly, cover with a lid and cook on a high heat, shaking the pan every so often until all the cockles are opened.

• Strain off the liquid into another pan and whisk in the butter until melted and emulsified.

• Spoon the cockles into warmed serving bowls and pour the butter over.

STEAMED COCKLES WITH WHITE PORT AND WILD FENNEL

For the love of cheese

SHOWCASING the rich agricultural heritage of Dorset, the Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival attracts thousands of visitors from across the country, all eager to taste, enjoy, and learn about the diverse world of cheese.

The festival’s origins lie in the town’s historic role as a centre for cheese production and trade and is therefore not just a contemporary food fair but a revival of a treasured tradition, a nod to the past.

Visitors will find everything from traditional cheddar and creamy Dorset Blue Vinny to artisan goat’s cheese and smoked varieties.

The producers, many of whom are local farmers and small-scale cheesemakers, are on

hand to offer samples and share their passion. Details at: www. cheesefestival.co.uk.

Community Recipe for Wellbeing

Shirley Jarman and her team at Eggardon Country Cooks—Lovely Lunches go beyond food delivery

Aconsistent five-star food safety record and the ability to provide nutritious hot meals for the elderly, the vulnerable, and those who simply don’t have time to cook are not the only reasons Shirley Jarman and her team at Eggardon Country Cooks— Lovely Lunches are so popular in the local community. Shirley’s home-cooked meal delivery service goes far beyond simply dropping off food. It provides a vital lifeline to her clients, as well as crucial social interaction and a caring watchful eye.

Eggardon Country Cooks—Lovely Lunches prides itself on its freshly prepared, hot meals, a key differentiator from many other services. ‘Our unique selling point is that it’s hot. We keep it hot,’ explains Shirley. Meals are cooked and immediately delivered in specialised, insulated boxes, ensuring they arrive ready

to eat. This eliminates the need for clients to reheat food, which can be a barrier for those with limited mobility or cognitive function.

Lovely Lunches was established in 2000 and the company has maintained five-star food safety records since it first opened. Drivers diligently check temperatures to ensure quality and the focus is on providing a quality, healthy food experience in the comfort of a person’s home.

Eggardon Country Cooks offers a vital piece of the puzzle for independent living

Menus are prepared monthly, taking into account seasonal ingredients and catering for a variety of dietary needs, including gluten-free, diabetic, vegetarian, and pescetarian options. This flexibility allows them to adapt to individual preferences.

Brought up on an arable farm in rural Lincolnshire, Shirley developed a passion and understanding about the value of fresh food at an early age. Alongside her late business partner, Judi Gifford, she started the business in 2016 with over forty years’ experience within the catering industry, working her way through the ranks in restaurants, kitchens and cafes from washing dishes, chopping vegetables, cooking and all kinds of management. She lived in Berlin for fifteen years expanding her interest and experience of world cuisines and different food cultures, and before setting up the business was Senior Food & Beverage Manager for the National Trust at Studland Beach .

Shirley emphasises how Eggardon Country Cooks— Lovely Lunches is built on empathy and genuine care. Their drivers are carefully selected not just for their ability to deliver, but for their understanding and

Eggardon Country Cooks—Lovely Lunches focuses on high quality, nutricious meals delivered hot and ready to eat.

compassionate nature. ‘You’ve got to have empathy with people. You’ve got to be able to talk to people,’ Shirley explains. This personal touch is evident in the drivers’ interactions with clients, who are often lonely and isolated.

The bespoke nature of the service means drivers encounter a variety of situations. Some clients are reclusive, while others might welcome the driver in for a chat. The drivers often serve as informal welfare checks and frequently build relationships with clients, being the first to notice any changes in their health or circumstances. ‘We’re like another person going in and can see changes happening’ Shirley states.

If a driver expresses concern, Shirley phones the client’s next of kin to ensure they are fully aware of the changing situation. Sometimes just delivering a simple lunch goes beyond their direct responsibilities. Shirley recounts a crucial incident where a driver’s timely presence likely saved a client’s life, demonstrating the critical role they play in the social care network.

‘At the moment we have customers with family living as far away as Dubai or the USA and they are relieved that we provide our service to their loved ones’ explains Shirley.

Despite the invaluable service they provide, Eggardon Country Cooks—Lovely Lunches operates as a commercial business with no external funding or government grants. Shirley is passionate about the wider implications of their service, highlighting a significant gap in social care provision. She firmly believes that services like hers prevent more serious health issues and reduce the strain on the NHS. ‘If they invested in social care, they wouldn’t have to pump so much into hospital services; it makes a huge difference.’

For many elderly individuals, a daily hot meal and a friendly face are crucial for their quality of life. Eggardon Country Cooks— Lovely Lunches offers a vital piece of the puzzle for independent living, providing not just sustenance but also essential human connection in an increasingly detached world.

Eggardon Country Cooks—Lovely Lunches is a testament to the power of community-focused businesses. By prioritising the holistic well-being of their clients, Shirley Jarman and her team provide a service that is both essential and deeply personal, making a tangible difference in the lives of many.

For more information visit: https://eggardoncountrycooks.co.uk/

Through her associate company, The Gnarley Tree Food Events Ltd., Shirley also offers a range of outside catering options to all kinds of events including birthdays, christenings, bereavement farewells, corporate & business catering, academy & schools, and family get togethers as well as private chef services. She also supplies food to nearby holiday properties. For information visit www. thegnarlytree.co.uk.

Fusing Sounds and Finding Rhythm

Ricky Romain and John Robertson talk to Fergus Byrne about the unspoken language of Kanekt

There’s something particularly fitting about meeting musicians Ricky Romain and John Robertson at The Tiffin Box in Axminster. Named after the multi-tiered Asian lunchbox that brings together a curated variety of dishes, the café is also a treasure trove of homemade food, teas and coffee. Reflecting the lunchbox’s tradition of community and nourishment, it provides a natural setting to discuss the unique origins and philosophy of John and Ricky’s latest musical project, Kanekt—itself an organic fusion of multi-dimensional musical genres.

We sit at a table in the corner beneath a glowing standard lamp, surrounded by shelves of books, pottery, and warmth, drifting into an easy conversation about the musical genres that Kanekt embraces. The band brings together disciplines that include classical Indian sitar, rock and jazz guitar as well as classical violin, clarinet, bass, and percussion. Born out of a collaboration between Ricky on sitar and pianist Andy Goldberg after John produced their album Variations, the new venture took root after Andy decided to move on to focus on another project.

Kanekt’s sound is a captivating blend of various musical worlds. ‘Once the piano was gone, it opened up so many tonal areas which the piano had covered,’ explained Ricky. They introduced the clarinet and violin, developing a wide range and depth of musical possibilities. As musical director and producer, John understands the need for space within musical performance. Electing to use an old-fashioned jazz guitar because its ‘rounded tone’ is quite different from the sitar, he points out, ‘We play in unison and try to actually make space for each other. It’s really about being disciplined.’ The result is a sound that is both layered and spacious.

Kanekt is also about pushing the boundaries of their own musical influences. While Ricky explains how ‘the strength of Western music is harmony and counterpoint, while the strength of Indian classical music is rhythmic and melody,’ John cites their version of the Charlie Mingus standard Goodbye Pork Pie Hat as an example. The song is basically ‘a melody with some very complicated chords,’ says John. ‘But I thought, wow, that sounds like it could be played by a sitar, because it’s so melodically proven.’ Although it’s now part of their repertoire, ironically, it only came about because one of their first gigs was at a jazz festival.

One of the most profound aspects of Kanekt’s

music is its ability to evoke emotion without lyrics. Both Ricky and John appreciate the seemingly ‘hardwired’ human response to major and minor chords, suggesting that music can access emotion on a pre-verbal level. As he is also a well-known visual artist, Ricky shares an insight into his own creative process, stating, ‘the compositions for me are very visual. I have a very visual internal world.’ He explains that pieces often come to him with a story or imagery attached, such as one composition that reminded him of the composer Erik Satie, which then somehow morphed into Toulouse Lautrec. Another was inspired by the Indian story of Rama and the boatman. These visual connections help him to ‘remember the feeling of how the piece should be.’

‘It was one of the most emotionally powerful experiences, I felt really privileged.’

Ricky recalls how it was through the Beatles and Ravi Shankar that he first became acquainted with the sitar. Shankar’s influence on the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was what drew him in. ‘I was sitting in a mate’s car off Oxford Street listening to the radio and heard this album for the first time and was completely blown away,’ recalls Ricky. ‘I became obsessed with Shankar. I realised I completely understood this music. It made perfect sense to me.’

Working in antiques and using the deposit money for a flat he was about to move into, Ricky bought his first sitar in a Sufi bookshop in London’s East End. By chance, the owner suggested he meet Punita Gupta, a legendary sitar player and teacher who was due to play a gig there the following evening. Ricky became her student, renting a room in her house and becoming a part-time driver and roadie. ‘All of the Indian musicians who came to this country came to her house,’ says Ricky. ‘I learned an awful lot just by being in their presence.’ For Ricky, the music became a home for all his emotions, driving him to explore and create layers of musical journeys.

In a similar vein, John Robertson’s first introduction to music had a comparable impact. While learning piano at school, he realised he completely got the structure of playing and couldn’t understand how other people didn’t see what he saw. ‘Piano was obvious to me,’ he explains, ‘I found it

fairly easy.’ Then he started to play guitar ‘because guitar was cooler.’ In the early days, he was often in and out of lessons, but says the best training came when he first joined a band. ‘The first band I was in was a reggae band,’ he says. He recalls an experienced Rastafarian musician telling him to play ‘this one chord every eight bars and not do anything else’, and he had to do that for two hours. ‘And it was really good training because it got me into ensemble playing, where what you do on your own might not be that important, but when combined in an ensemble, it becomes something different.’

Leveraging their individual strengths alongside Karen Wilmhurst on clarinet, Sudhi Salooja on violin, Steve Scott on bass and Stu Steadman on percussion, Kanekt creates something entirely new, often starting with a melody and allowing the harmony and rhythm to develop around it. This approach, as Ricky explains, is a way to honour the diverse musical knowledge within the group rather than trying to simply replace a missing instrument like the piano.

For Ricky and John, live performance is the vehicle that drives the emotional experience for both the audience and the musicians. With a background of playing alongside artists like Grace Jones, The Selector, Joss Stone, Morcheeba, and Alice Cooper, John states, ‘I’m a great believer in live music.’ While there has been a great deal of coverage about how the internet and streaming have changed how musicians can earn a living, John adopts a more philosophical perspective, saying: ‘There’s another way of looking at it. Has it not just returned music to where it was historically and where it should be, which is a part of everybody’s community experience? And musicians are not going

to get paid more than any other skilled craftsmen in the community. We are part of people’s daily lives. And yes, people will listen to it online, but they will also go and see it live.’ Reflecting on his first live performance after Covid, Ricky agrees, ‘It was one of the most emotionally powerful experiences, I felt really privileged.’

As locals drift in and out of the Tiffin Box and the rest of the day beckons, both Ricky and John address the philosophy that drives their feelings about the future for musicians in a world so dramatically changed since they first began playing. ‘They’re going to have to return to the way it was,’ says John, ‘to play live, like when the majority of musicians were within their own communities, playing live and doing other things.’

Also citing community as the basis for the progression of new musicians, Ricky agrees, ‘It becomes even more important to put yourself out within your community. You’ve got to establish your foundation. It has to then come from your community, like putting a pebble in the water and letting it ripple out from there.’

In a world haunted by a potentially alarming future of fakery and insecurity, John sees only one way: ‘You’ve got to do what you do with utter sincerity. Yes, listen to all the stuff around you. But do what you love, and then find the people who love what you do.’

Kanekt, with John Robertson, Ricky Romain, Sudhi Salooja, Steve Scott, Stu Steadman and Karen Wilmhurst will be playing at Shute Festival at Axminster St. Mary’s Church, Silver Street, Axminster EX13 5AH on Sunday, October 12th. Doors open, 4.30pm, performance 5pm. Tickets £15/£12 on the door or online at: www.shutefest.org.uk/booking.

Kanekt. Photograph by Robert Golden.

Monday, 1 - 30 September

Kit Glaisyer presents an ever-evolving exhibition of his Romantic West Country landscape paintings, popular Cafe Royal series, and evocative Drip Figures on show in his gallery - and see the progress of his private commissions in his studio. Open Saturdays 10am - 3pm or by appointment. Kit Glaisyer Fine Art, 11 Downes Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3JR. 07983 465789 www. kitglaisyery.com @kitglaisyer

Until 5 September

Community Focus: A Workshops Collection An exhibition showcasing the work of our regular workshop participants – from painting and drawing to creative writing. This exhibition celebrates the creativity and skills developed through the excellent workshops hosted at the Ilminster Arts Centre. Free entry. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30am – 3.00pm at Ilminster Arts Centre, TA19 0AN. 01460 54973 www.ilminsterartscentre.com.

Saturday, 6 September - 4 October

The Spaces In Between Paintings and Prints from the last Fifty Years The Art Stable is delighted to be presenting a solo exhibition of paintings and prints by Sally McLaren whose evocative works capture the spirit and subtle rhythms of the natural world. Looking back through Sally’s archive there is a consistency of intention, always evoking movement and mood with a quiet intensity. Drawing inspiration from the chalk downs, wild coastlines, and open skies of Dorset and beyond, her art bridges the boundary between observation and emotion. The Art Stable Child Okeford Blandford Dorset DT11 8HB.

Until, 7 September

Recurring Intricacies brings together photography, ceramics, papercuts, and sculptures made by three female artists: Helen Sear, Charlotte Hodes, and Amanda Benson. The exhibition takes visitors through the ‘recurring intricacies’ of the eighteenth century, celebrating Sherborne House’s fascinating, colourful, cultural, and theatrical past. The Sherborne Newland Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3JG.

Tuesday, 9 September - 3 Oct

Quiet Contemplations embodies the serene, introspective quality of Roger Rowley’s work, inviting viewers into a space of stillness and reflection. Free entry. Tuesday–Saturday, 9.30am–3.00pm at Ilminster Arts Centre, TA19 0AN. 01460 54973 www.ilminsterartscentre.com.

Paul Newman: Canopy Tales in the Café Gallery – Derived from an ongoing fascination with observation, mark-making and being in nature, Canopy Tales will see 30 different birds populate the Café Gallery. Free entry. Tuesday–Saturday, 9.30am–3.00pm at Ilminster Arts Centre, TA19 0AN. 01460 54973 www.ilminsterartscentre.com.

Until 13 September

An exclusive photographic exhibition exploring the world of reggae – from its origins to its icons. The exhibition features the work of internationally acclaimed photographer and West Dorset resident Adrian Boot, with images of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Gregory Isaacs and many other reggae legends. It also includes other key figures from the period including lovers rock star Janet Kaye, poet Benjamin Zephaniah, Mick Jagger, Nelson Mandela and even a very young Naomi

Campbell! The exhibition is a partnership between Bridport Arts Centre, Urban Image, Greensleeves Records and Clocktower Records. Bridport Arts Centre, South Street, Bridport DT6 3NR. 10am – 4pm, Tues – Sat. Free. Sladers’ Summer Print Show Original wood engravings, woodblock, aquatint, carborundum and drypoint prints by Julian Bailey NEAC, Martyn Brewster ARE, Merlyn Chesterman RE, Michael Fairclough RE NEAC, Sally McLaren RE, Howard Phipps RWA ARE SWE; furniture by Petter Southall; ceramics by Björk Haraldsdóttir. Affordable works of art that celebrate the places, people and things that make life worth living made by brilliant contemporary printmakers with exceptional ceramics by Björk Haraldsdóttir and wonderful furniture by Petter Southall. Sladers Yard Contemporary Art & Craft Gallery, Cafe Sladers, West Bay, Bridport Dorset DT6 4EL. Open Wednesday to Saturday 10am – 4.30pm. t: 01308 459511 gallery@ sladersyard.co.uk sladersyard.co.uk.

Saturday, 20, Sept - 8 Nov

As Dreams Are Made On Marzia Colonna MRBS collages Fiamma Colonna Montagu ceramic sculpture. Petter Southall furniture. Two remarkable artists, Marzia Colonna and Fiamma Colonna Montagu, mother and daughter, will be exhibiting their harmonious and yet utterly individual and irresistible collages and sculptures alongside Petter Southall’s stunning furniture. The title ‘As Dreams are made on’ refers to Shakespeare’s idea that life is an illusion, made up of dreams, fragments and memories. In this exhibition both artists are showing work which carries the quality of dreams, works resonant of deep sensory impressions and memories of colours and textures in nature. All three artists have completed large scale commissions and projects in the USA, Europe and the UK and have work in important collections internationally. ‘As Dreams are Made on’ is a celebration of the wonders of life. Sladers Yard Contemporary Art & Craft Gallery, Cafe Sladers, West Bay, Bridport Dorset DT6 4EL. Open Wednesday to Saturday 10am – 4.30pm. t: 01308 459511 gallery@sladersyard.co.uk sladersyard.co.uk.

GALLERIES IN OCTOBER

Dreams are made on

as MARZIA COLONNA MRBS collages

FIAMMA COLONNA MONTAGU ceramic sculpture

Saturday 20 September — Saturday 8 November 2025

Two remarkable artists, Marzia Colonna and Fiamma Colonna Montagu, mother and daughter, will be exhibiting their harmonious and yet utterly individual and irresistible collages and sculptures alongside Petter Southall’s stunning furniture at Sladers Yard gallery, Bridport, from 20 September 2025.

The title As Dreams are made on refers to Shakespeare’s idea that life is an illusion, made up of dreams, fragments and memories. In this exhibition both artists are showing work which carries the quality of dreams, works resonant of deep sensory impressions and memories of colours and textures in nature.

Both artists have completed large scale commissions and projects in the USA, Europe and the UK and have work in important collections internationally. As Dreams are Made on is a celebration of the wonders of life.

The exhibition will include thrilling major works with tabletop-sized maquettes and vessels by Fiamma with collages by Marzia Colonna and furniture designed and made by Petter Southall.

Sladers Yard, Contemporary Art & Craft Gallery, West Bay, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL. t: 01308 459511. All work can be viewed and bought on www.sladersyard.co.uk.

Faustian Pacts and Digital Tyranny

Christopher Summerfield talks to Fergus Byrne about the promise and the peril of intelligent machines and the trade of convenience for control

If an algorithm can inflate a book’s price to 23 million dollars, while another wipes more than a trillion dollars off the value of stocks in one morning, what can we expect from future advances in artificial intelligence (AI)?

Is AI destined to save humanity by solving impossibly complex problems, or will it take over and destroy the planet? Right now, choices seem quite stark. Amid the endless hype over the pros and cons of AI, it sometimes feels like we are forced to pick a side—either cheerful optimism or gloomy foreboding.

Christopher Summerfield

perform an internet search, they receive a reply in clear English instead of having to sift through various websites for the answer. Which, of course, makes it much more appealing than trawling through different websites. This also makes it less likely that a user will bother to check for other opinions or sources.

In his new book, These Strange New Minds, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, Christopher Summerfield, contends that to truly understand AI, we need to move beyond such polarities. He suggests we carefully examine what these powerful models actually do, what they can achieve, and, perhaps most importantly, find ways to regulate them without restricting their potential.

These Strange New Minds explores the rapid advances in AI, particularly large language models (LLMs), which are the methods by which information is generated for AIs such as Gemini and ChatGPT. The book examines how AI systems learn, reason, and communicate, comparing their capabilities to human cognition. Christopher also discusses ethical, social, and philosophical implications such as trust, bias, and safety. Through historical context and engaging examples, he offers an in-depth view of how AI has developed.

While speaking with him ahead of his visit to the Dorchester Literary Festival this year, I mentioned how I was surprised to discover that many of my children’s generation now use ChatGPT as an internet search engine instead of the traditional Google, Bing, or Yahoo. He explained the difference between the two methods of accessing information. ‘A search engine basically finds top-ranked websites and returns them to the user in an ordered list,’ he says. Whereas an LLM is based on a very sophisticated computer program trained on vast amounts of text from the internet, books, and other written sources.

A notable difference, which has raised some concerns, is that when someone uses ChatGPT to

In These Strange New Minds, Christopher delves into the surprising capabilities of modern AI, highlighting some of the benefits, especially in medicine and education, but he also raises critical questions about privacy, potential societal impacts, and what he calls the ‘Faustian pact’ we’re making with technology as we trade convenience for an everincreasing reliance on algorithms.

A common concern is what happens if AI begins to think independently. In his book, Christopher explores this idea in depth, and when I speak to him, he shares experiences from colleagues and friends. ‘I have a lot of friends who use language models for advice about social scenarios,’ he says. ‘They might, for example, put in a loose but anonymised description of office politics and ask, “What should I do about this?” I’ve not tried this myself, but apparently, the model is very good. So, in a sense, from a sort of third-person perspective, if you ask it objectively about things that relate to human social interaction, it’s as knowledgeable about those as it is about physics and medieval history.’

But is it thinking for itself? LLMs don’t “think” in the way humans do. Christopher points out that they don’t have consciousness, emotions, or personal experiences. Most importantly, they are missing what he says are the two vital aspects of human existence: “they don’t have a body, and they don’t have any friends.” Their function is to process information and generate text based on the vast amount of data they have been trained on. This process is complex and can appear thought-like, but it’s fundamentally different from human cognition. LLMs don’t have intentions, beliefs, or self-awareness.

However, Christopher has concerns about some of the current developments in AI. ‘These tools are very powerful,’ he says, ‘and as I say in the book, we should obviously be concerned about the impact on

individual psychology, such as what they do to the user, particularly vulnerable people. But I think the thing that we should be thinking more about is the complex system dynamics. What are the secondary effects that are hard to anticipate?’

‘We have devolved power to the digital tools and the organisations that build them, and we’ve often done that willingly, because it is productivityenhancing or efficiency-gaining for us’

He gives the example of the suggestion that ‘the algorithms which power social media have led to a fragmentation of political discourse and an increase of political polarisation.’ Admitting that some political scientists don’t believe this, he suggests that since it’s a popular idea, let’s say for the moment that it’s true. ‘When social media came along, everyone thought it would be a net positive for democracy.’ He recalls how ‘people were super excited’ that protest groups were mobilising on Facebook. ‘It was like social media democracy,’ he says. ‘However, it turned out that that prediction went the other way! So, most people now think that social media is a negative for democracy.’ This raises the concern that with AI, it is impossible to predict what’s around the corner. ‘We just don’t know what’s going to be the wider societal impact.’

This same concern applies to Agentic AI, systems that can autonomously set goals, plan, and execute multi-step tasks by utilising tools and adapting their actions to achieve desired outcomes with minimal human intervention. He describes them as digital agents deployed by businesses, private individuals, public sector organisations, or even governments, who are doing things on our behalf. Their processes, he says, ‘potentially cut us out of the loop of making a lot of our choices and could have a lot of weird secondary effects that are hard to anticipate, and I’m not sure that they would be positive.’

Christopher feels we may struggle to regain control from the automation we’ve handed over to technology. ‘We have devolved power to the digital tools and the organisations that build them, and we’ve often done that willingly, because it is productivity-enhancing or efficiency-gaining for us.’ As AI becomes more efficient and can do more for businesses and ourselves, Christopher points out that ‘when we want to retake control of processes, it’s going to be a lot harder, because we’ve devolved, or delegated a lot of that autonomy to these AI models.’

Personalisation is another potential concern. Christopher highlights that if algorithms can already

assist with our location, tastes, and even political views, it is a small step for an LLM to be trained to imitate the social behaviours we value in others. This may seem harmless, possibly even useful, but as we place our trust in an AI model, it grants “AI systems unnerving levels of power over our lives” while at the same time insulating us from ideas and opinions that may not fit in with what we already believe.

So what can we do to mitigate some of these potential issues? He suggests that many of these concerns should in some way be the responsibility of those developing AI models. For example, AI companies employ ‘raters’ to review outputs and determine if they are straying into territory that doesn’t chime with societal norms. Christopher points out that the teams building these models are ‘pretty large and sophisticated.’ There will be a rubric or set of rules that raters who are recruited are expected to abide by. He says, ‘that rubric will specify things that are nonnegotiable for the company, for example, hate speech is illegal in the UK, so the model definitely shouldn’t be generating hate speech.’

Christopher believes that many of the policies are probably a mix of common sense, avoidance of legal jeopardy, and reputation management. Although the raters will have some discretion, he thinks they will ‘broadly stick by the rubric, especially for edge cases where there might be something that’s tricky politically or socially. So that there is relative compliance with the policy that’s dictated by the company.’

So hopefully, the person running the company and setting the rubric has society’s best interests at heart.

In These Strange New Minds, Christopher Summerfield covers a vast amount of information, helping us to understand how LLMs work, how they were created, and where they might go. He explains that the idea behind AI development is that we can distil all knowledge into a single system, which he describes as “a monolithic oracle” that offers universally palatable replies to everyone. Aside from voicing concerns, he also compares it to something that would be “as slick and bland as a career politician” or as exciting as going on a date with Wikipedia. These may not exactly be descriptions that could inspire fear of world domination by artificial intelligence, but AI is evolving, and we are already within its reach.

Christopher Summerfield will be speaking at Dorchester Literary Festival on 25th October. To book tickets or for more information about the Festival visit: www.dorchesterliteraryfestival.com.

Lyme Regis hosts Shute Festival

ONE of many events in September, the world famous human rights lawyer, Philippe Sands, visits Lyme Regis for a special conversation with Jon Lee Anderson to celebrate Sands’ latest book, 38 Londres Street, as part of this year’s Shute Festival.

In his most ambitious and gripping narrative yet, Sands uncovers a chilling historical crime that has real world impact today. With a unique blend of memoir, detective story and courtroom drama, he exposes the chilling truth behind the lives of the two men and their destinies on 38 Londres Street.

Described by the RSPB as ‘a voice for nature’, Hannah Bourne-Taylor, author and bird conservationist will also be talking aboutr her new book, Nature Needs You, the extraordinary story of how she became a solo campaigner who created a national campaign to save swifts from extinction.

Broadcaster and writer Horatio Clare also joins Shute Festival this year talking about his book We Came By Sea: Stories of a Greater Britain. Horatio highlights the untold story of the small boats crisis, a story which shows the best of us. It is the story of the volunteers who help thousands of refugees in Calais and of the lifeboat crews mounting one of the great search and rescue operations of all time. Horatio highlights an unrecognised and uncelebrated side of Britain.

Shute Festival was established in 2016 to bring inspirational and stimulating speakers— including botanists, biographers, explorers, documentary makers, gardeners, historians, poets, novelists and travel writers—to a stunning corner of the West Country.

From Dr Rosa Vasquez Espinosa on The Spirit of the Rainforest, to Carry Somers on The Nature of Fashion: A Botanical Story of Our Material Lives, Shute Festival is an intimate Devon festival of brilliant speakers and ideas. For tickets and more visit: www. shutefest.org.uk.

Enlightenment and adventure

ORGANISERS of Dorchester Literary Festival have invited some incredible speakers to Dorchester this year, and whether you’re interested in fiction, crime, science, history, politics, the natural world, health, music, walking, biography or cosy crime, there will be plenty to tempt you to join them in October.

Authors on the line-up this year include Max Hastings, Gordon Corera, Sir Graham Brady, Sonia Purnell, and Minette Walters, among many others. And of course, Christopher Summerfield, who is featured on page 58.

Festival Director Janet Gleeson points out that books open worlds that may be new or familiar, offering enlightenment, escape, adventure, and much more besides. A live event where an author discusses their work offers a special way to understand and celebrate the written word.

Janet also pays tribute to her Festival co founder Paul Atterbury who is retiring from the Festival this year after eleven years. ‘His calm presence will be much missed’ she says.

Around the world with 21st BridLit

IT’S another star-studded line-up for Bridport Literary Festival this year, with speakers and books to suit all tastes, in venues in and around the town from 2 to 8 November.

From travel writer, podcaster and author Sophy Roberts to foreign correspondent Lyse Doucet, and Slow Horses creator Mick Herron to retail guru Mary Portas, the event hosts politicians, gardeners, poets, nature writers, biographers, artists, children’s authors, and young people for the 21st BridLit.

Chairman of Trustees Stuart Rock talked about the poignancy of this year’s event after the ‘unexpected and profoundly sad loss’ of festival director, Tanya Bruce-Lockhart, earlier this year.

A co founder of the Festival he said Tanya’s ‘verve, energy, exacting standards and wicked sense of humour’ would be greatly missed and pointed out that this year’s programme was ‘very much Tanya’s, reflecting her belief that with books and reading matter, no one should feel excluded’.

Tickets will go on general sale via dorchesterliteraryfestival.com and Waterstones, Dorchester from 29th August. Local authors might be pleased to hear about a new event—a Local Writers’ Forum that will be held at the Shire Hall on 16th October, where writers can discuss their book, meet other writers, and sell their books.

Brochures are available at Bridport Tourist Information Centre and other local outlets, and tickets are now on general sale. More information can be found on the festival website—bridlit.com Prior to the main festival, Alexander McCall Smith will be at the Electric Palace on 23 October, where he will be in conversation with Nikki May at 7pm. Tickets are £16 from electricpalace.org. uk, or from Bridport TIC in person or by telephone on 01308 424901.

Hannah Bourne Taylor

Sophy Roberts

Sir Max Hastings

A Witness to History

Lyse Doucet has written a new book about Afghanistan’s turbulent past, seen through the eyes of those who survived it. She shared her hopes for its future with Fergus Byrne.

As I read the final chapters of Lyse Doucet’s book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan, I hear the sudden, jolting sound of an explosion in the distance. Loud booms are accompanied by popping sounds. It takes some time for my mind to detach itself from the world I am reading about and realise that what I am hearing is a fireworks display in a small town on the southwest coast of England, not a suicide bomb attack in the centre of Kabul. Marking the end of Bridport’s carnival a few miles away, the noise creates an eerie backdrop and an unsettling awakening from an all-consuming story of Afghanistan’s tumultuous history. It is a history riddled with bullet holes, bombed-out buildings, and dead bodies, but it is also a story about the resilience and strength of a people who continue to live their lives as their country lurches from one conflict to another.

Lyse Doucet’s book captures pivotal moments in Afghanistan’s history, such as the Soviet invasion, the Taliban’s takeover, the post-2001 reconstruction and a resurgent Taliban. It also recounts personal tragedies, including devastating attacks on the Inter-Continental hotel, and moments of hope, such as the reopening of its facilities and the return of music to its halls.

Cleverly structured around a history of the hotel, the book explores the lives of the hotel’s staff and guests, highlighting personal stories of survival, hope, and loss while Afghanistan’s turbulent history writes its own chapters.

Just back from the airport after reporting on the Gaza aid trucks stuck at the Egyptian border, she tells me about the ‘very turbulent, very bloody history’ of Afghanistan that she didn’t want people to turn away from. ‘Because when you see reporting from countries at war, you see people running away from gunfire, you see them in hospital, you see them crying, you see the loss, you see the tears, you see the sadness.’ But you don’t see ‘the spaces in between. The weddings, the birthdays, and the just getting through the day.’

First checking into the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on Christmas Day in 1988, Lyse recalls the lobby as ‘cold, gloomy and a little bit forbidding.’ She was there to report on the Soviet withdrawal and had been warned by a Mujahedin commander she met in Pakistan that ‘you’re certainly going to die there.’

Among the many hotel employees featured in her book, we meet Hazrat, a long-serving housekeeper

and floor supervisor. We are also introduced to the lives of Mohammad Aqa, the restaurant manager, Abida, the first female sous-chef, Malalai, a waitress whose role changes dramatically after the Taliban takeover and Sadeq, the acting front desk manager. They and many others tell their stories against a backdrop of years of conflict.

‘With each passing year, the situation in the hotel worsened,’ explained Lyse. She describes it as ‘high on the hill overlooking the city, the balconies like eyes, watching, bearing witness.’ She recalls how the hotel was ‘gradually sucked into the war.’ Throughout this time, Hazrat, Sadeq, Abida, Mohammad Aqa and all the other staff run the hotel with a staunch professionalism and humour that says more about the people of Afghanistan than any heavily armed invader.

In her book, Lyse describes the hotel as an ‘unbreakable constant’. Although she recalls her shock upon arriving in 2001 as the Taliban were retreating. ‘Half of the hotel had no ceilings in the rooms, windows were blasted open, toilets were clogged, beds were wrecked, and I think five women stayed in a room. There was plastic on the windows. There was nowhere else to stay.’ Despite this, the hotel continued to operate, something Lyse describes as ‘very Afghan.’

When it was time to talk to people about their stories for the book, she recalled how Hazrat had the most incredible memory. He remembered how she had been the first woman to use a bicycle in Kabul and joked with her about how she would carry her towel through reception. On one occasion, the local intelligence agent, concerned that Lyse Doucet might be writing something the Taliban could dislike, joined one of her conversations but became so bored that he interjected with his own stories of ghosts on the fifth floor. He believed this was a bigger security threat than Lyse Doucet.

I ask which era in Afghanistan’s past forty years might has been the most stable, the best time for a country that has spent so much of the last four decades at war. Lyse tells me that much is being made of the peace that existed during what they call the ‘Golden Years,’ when it was a Kingdom. Although she says it was a very ‘unequal’ society, it was peaceful. ‘You cannot exaggerate the importance of peace and stability, of people knowing they’re not going to be shot in the streets, or a bomb landing in their house.’ Which is why many older Afghans look so nostalgically on that time.

‘In the Soviet era,’ she says, ‘Kabul was left largely intact. The palaces, the roads, there was no damage to the city. But when the Mujahideen came, 50,000 people died in the city. All of the old palaces were completely gutted. This country was in ruins.’

She recalls the ‘indescribable sense of joy and hope’ in 2001 when the Taliban were defeated. This was their best chance in a generation, many generations, at peace. ‘It’s still hard to believe that two decades later, it all came crashing down, and the Taliban came back. There were some 40 Western armies there, who couldn’t defeat the Taliban. It’s astonishing. And now the darkness. We live in a world where girls can’t go to school past grade six, where women are shut out of many jobs. How can this be in 2025? It’s terribly sad.’

The arrival of the Taliban in Kabul on 15th August 2021 was a shock to most. Such a shock that many ask if the international engagement where people lost lives, loved ones, or were injured for life was all for nothing. Lyse doesn’t think so. She talks about the soldiers, diplomats, aid workers and teachers who attempted to help the Afghan people, explaining that they created the kind of atmosphere in Kabul that allowed the ‘most connected, the most educated generation in Afghan history to emerge’. They enabled a generation to dream bigger than ever before, ‘and that was only possible because there was international engagement.’ Opportunities were provided; ‘scholarships, education, new ways of thinking about the world.’

All of this might make it even more depressing that there is now a repressive regime back in control. However, Lyse believes that if there is anything to be learned from the last forty years, it is that nothing stays the same in Afghanistan. She cites the views of Taliban members that do not align with the more repressive edicts from the ultra-conservative higher echelons of the movement. ‘Even founding members of the Taliban say to me that 95% of the Taliban disagree with these edicts.’ However, she says, ‘they cannot challenge the Emir’s edicts because they have signed an oath and note of loyalty.’ Their primary concern is that they don’t want to go back to the Civil War of the 1990s. ‘The unity of the Taliban matters more than anything else.’

But an unequal and unsettled peace is not the only concern. With Russia recognising the Taliban and other countries now moving in to establish business deals, Lyse is worried about the long-term future for generations who will grow up without the same freedoms enjoyed elsewhere in the world. It has now been four years, and she fears that if it continues for another four or five years, many girls will be forced into marriage as they cannot get an education, while the young boys ‘grow up, not seeing girls going out, not seeing girls educated’ and ‘a new society is going

to be shaped. She cites those who believe this will have consequences for the rest of the world be it jihad or something else. ‘While we focus on the lack of a curriculum for girls, there is also a new curriculum for boys, which is also very dangerous going forward.’ However, suggesting some are secretly trying to get an education, she says, ‘I don’t want to say that there’s no light in the dark, but there’s a lot of dark.’

While many voices are silenced inside Afghanistan, some still speak for the oppressed. Lyse Doucet is among them. We also speak with emotion about another voice, that of Shaharzad Akbar, an Afghan human rights activist, whom Lyse featured in her podcast A Wish for Afghanistan. During the interview, both Lyse and Shaharzad shed tears over the nation’s pain. Recalling this with me, the memory stirs emotion, and I can’t help but share those tears. Lyse recounts the day the Taliban returned to Kabul. She was on an Emirates plane circling the airport that eventually turned back as the Taliban entered the city. While at the same time Shaharzad was on a plane out. They texted each other while in the air and Shaharzad told her it was the worst day of her life. ‘It was overwhelming,’ says Lyse. ‘That was the day I really understood that when you leave a country, it is as if you are coming out of your shell. It is like you’re literally stripping everything off.’ Everything they held dear was gone. ‘The streets, with their memories, what they’d achieved, their dreams. Almost everything and everyone they held dear. They were going into a plane and leaving it all behind.’

While the Inter-Continental Hotel might symbolise Afghanistan itself—scarred but unbroken, enduring through decades of turmoil and standing as a testament to the country’s rich history, its struggles, and its unyielding hope for a brighter future—Lyse Doucet and The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan offer an insight that goes well beyond the history books.

Lyse Doucet will be at Bridport Literary Festival talking with Lindsey Hilsom on November 7th at 2pm. Tickets are available from Bridport Tourist Information Centre, either in person or on the phone – 01308 424901.

Lyse Doucet inside the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul

A Village in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd and Angelika Patel and The Crooked Cross by Sally Carson

IT IS ONE of the great imponderables of recent history that a seemingly civilised and cultured midEuropean society that had produced Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schiller, Goethe, Einstein and Leibniz should degenerate in the 1930s into one of the most brutal and repressive totalitarian regimes of the modern era.

An attempt to explain how and why the rise of Nazi Germany was allowed to happen and perpetrate its crimes is given by both the authors of the above titles yet from an entirely different perspective.

Boyd and Patel have based their findings on detailed factual research rooted in official documents, letters, journals newspaper records and eye-witness accounts centred around a small town in the Bavarian Alps.

Sally Carson, on the other hand, who spent time in the same area as a summer visitor at that time, has chosen a fictional narrative that quantifies the lifechanging effects of the ‘New Order’ on individuals in one family in particular.

A Village in the Third Reich lifts the lid on the small town of Oberstdorf nestled in mountainous country near the Swiss border.

For years, history seemed to have passed it by as residents and tourists went about their daily business in idyllic surroundings. That was until the arrival of fascism brought about dramatic shifts in both individual and collective dynamics.

The book is, in effect, a microcosm of what was happening during the period throughout Germany and later Austria and reveals more about the actual workings of the serpentine departments of the Nazi Party than a whole shelf-load of generalised academic textbooks on the subject.

Sally Carson on the other hand, who was born in Surrey but spent some time in Dorset during her youth and travelled frequently to Bavaria to stay with friends during the 1930s, has chosen the novel as her methodology of relating an identical story although without the benefit of hindsight. (Her book was first

published in 1933 while events were taking place.) The ‘crooked cross’ of the title is in fact the swastika and through the everyday lives of the Kluger family and their friends she tells us what happens when conflict is sparked between an all-powerful and ruthless state and ordinary private individuals.

The story is set within a six-month period, Christmas 1932 to Midsummer 1933, which makes the events unfolding compelling reading. There is a great urge to discover what is going to happen next while knowing, and actually dreading, what inevitably will come to pass.

It provides both a political and a psychological portrait of one nation and one family and begs the question: “How would we have reacted in Nazi Germany then when faced with the same circumstances?” Regretfully, the whole issue of the Nazis inexorable rise to power, so expertly unpeeled in both books, reminds us again of the much-quoted words of the 18th century philosopher Edmund Burke who told us, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Readers interested in Julia Boyd’s approach to this period of history might also like her ‘sister’ book Travellers in the Third Reich, a look at how individuals, some of them famous, viewed the rise of Hitler and National Socialism.

Sally Carson’s Crooked Cross, which has also been presented as a play, was the first in a trilogy of novels on the same theme. It was followed by The Prisoner (1936) and A Traveller Came By (1938). She died in 1941, aged only 39.

A Village in the Third Reich is published by Elliott and Thompson Ltd. The Crooked Cross is published by Persephone Books Ltd.

Walking the railways of Weymouth and Portland

ALTHOUGH born in Weymouth, university and employment took Chris Miller away from the town for much of his life but living there now, he has recently published a book of walks around the Weymoiuth and Portland area.

The book, Walking the railways of Weymouth and Portland, guides the reader through four illustrated walks which all happen to be, in part, on disused railway tracks. The text describes these railways and the role they played in the local economy through Weymouth Harbour’s trade with the Channel Islands and the stone quarries on Portland. It also includes discussions of historic events that took place at various locations along the walks. For example, the 1645 siege of Melcombe Regis in the Civil War; the emergence of Weymouth as a resort following George III’s spending the summer there from 1789-1805; the use of convict labour to build the breakwaters forming Portland Harbour and various forts to protect it and the manufacture of torpedoes in Wyke Regis in both world wars.

Walking the railways of Weymouth and Portland (ISBN 978-9-69-7592043) has over 80 colour plates, including some from the late nineteenth century, and details of how to obtain a copy are available by emailing: miller545@btinternet. com.

The three arch bridge supporting Buxton Road

Above: Rodwell Station and Below: Loading stone onto railway trucks at Priory Corner

PREVIEW

‘No ordinary cancer patient’, Mark Steel brings his show to Bridport’s Electric Palace in September

Leopard spots BRIDPORT

IT’s not a typical response: “The consultant had told me he was confident I had throat cancer that had spread into the lymph glands. Joyfully, I held his hand, and looked up to the heavens like a South American footballer after scoring a goal. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.”

But then Mark Steel is no ordinary cancer patient. Join the multi award-winning, BAFTA-nominated writer and comedian as his new tour, The Leopard in My House, comes to Bridport’s Electric Palace on Friday 26th September at 8pm. The theme of the show is Mark’s battle with throat cancer—a battle he is winning (thankfully) and which only his rapier wit could fashion a comedy tour show out of.

Cancer has done nothing to dull Mark’s acute political observations or quash his “frankly bonkers” energy: you will laugh, you will cry, but you’ll laugh again ... and again .. and again. The Leopard in My House is proof that this leftie, working-class, Radio 4 favourite truly deserves his place in the UK comedy pantheon.

Mark Steel is best known for his critically-acclaimed BBC Radio 4 show Mark Steel’s in Town (now in its 13th series), as well as his hit podcast What The F*** Is Going On…?. He has presented the BAFTA-nominated Mark Steel Lectures for BBC Two and is a regular on BBC One’s Have I Got News for You and BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz. He has also written several acclaimed books, including an adaptation of his stand-up show Who Do I Think I Am? for Audible.

Inside Out returns WEYMOUTH AND CORFE CASTLE

THE dramatic ruins of Corfe Castle provide a backdrop and venue for several of the events and installations at this year’s Inside OutDorset festival, which runs from 12th to 21st September across the county.

The biennial event is an international outdoor arts festival, that celebrates Dorset and aims to promote our natural landscape and sense of place. Some of Dorset’s most remarkable urban and rural spots are transformed with experiences that touch hearts and minds like nothing else.

At the heart of what the organisers Activate do is a belief that performing arts should be accessible for all—no matter what their experience or background. Therefore, all of Inside Out Dorset 2025 events are free to attend.

This year’s festival of “extraordinary events in extraordinary places” will feature artists from as far away as India and Catalonia—as well as UK and Dorset-based companies. The locations are Christchurch, Moors Valley Country Park and Forest, Yeovil, Corfe Castle and Weymouth.

This year’s programme includes: River of Hope, at Christchurch, an international project with flags created by young people, relating to the climate crisis; Consequences, at Corfe Castle and Yeovil, where a monumental new creature will be created for the Dorset National Landscape, inspired by the mystery of the Cerne Abbas Giant. Artist Becca Gill and her company Radical Ritual, along with members of

local community groups, have created a new giant for the region.

The organisers say: “In everything we do, we have just two rules—anything is possible and everyone is invited.” More information at activateperformingarts. org.uk.

Out

for life and laughs HONITON

COMEDIAN Em Stroud brings her third one-woman performance, The Em Show: Tales From a Little Laughing Lesbian, to the Beehive Centre at Honiton on 18th September.

Em Stroud’s first show, Coming Out of her Box in 2017 won the Planet Awards for best LGBTQ performance. Her second ME:EM had a sell-out run in London just before the pandemic, but sadly the tour was cancelled.

The uplifting new show explores how being brave and taking yourself out of your comfort zone will help you discover who you really are—and from there you can do anything.

With Em’s signature blend of stand-up, improv and clowning to the stage, audiences are treated to stories from her life—from confidence, wellness, therapy, parenting and lesbianism to marriage, meditation and motorbikes. (And no, you don’t have to be a lesbian to come to see it!).

A decade of colourful ceilidhs DORCHESTER

DORCHESTER-based Tatterdemalion, who began life as the band of the New Hardy Players, celebrate their tenth anniversary of folky fun and colourful ceilidhs with a musical family get-together at the Corn Exchange on Saturday 13th September.

For 10 years, Tatterdemalion have bounced around stages, bringing traditional tunes known to Dorset people 200 years ago to life, and involving audiences and participants in many a merry jig all over the county in September.

Since their formation to provide music for the New Hardy Players’ productions, they have branched out into their own career—many newly-weds have enjoyed the strains of the band’s fiddles for their first dance as a couple; many charities have benefitted from their fundraising prowess; and many new folk dancers have had their first experience of the art at the celebrated Kiddies’ Keilidhs.

Band leader Alastair Braidwood reminisces: ‘It was a strange beginning. A group of people who didn’t really know each other very well brought together to

play music, who then realised they were on to a good thing. We were asked to play some tunes for a bit of dancing at a party, and then someone else asked if we’d play for a fundraiser and it all took off from there. We’ve become friends over the years; indeed, the number of married couples in the band has lately doubled!’

Recent English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) gold badge winner Tim Laycock, folk singer, historian and musician, has much to answer for; he provided the first tunes and gathered the musicians together. His wife Angela is the primary caller for the group and brings her extensive knowledge, warm manner, and unwillingness to take ‘no’ for an answer to all their gigs.

Alistair says: “All of our tunes come from two manuscripts of folk tunes which were being used for dancing and enjoyment in Dorset in the 1820s and 30s. We’ve updated them a little, with a beat and some fun harmonies, but the traditional tunes would still be recognisable to Thomas Hardy, whose family tunebook is one of our sources.”

Over the last few years, Tatterdemalion’s seasonal ceilidhs with Dorchester Arts have proved very popular, especially with the introduction, at the behest of then-Mayor of Dorchester Gareth Jones, of the Kiddies’ Keilidh, with specially-designed dances for little legs, to encourage youngsters to try folk dance.

Christine Collister HONITON

CHRISTINE Collister, one of the great stars of the folk scene for 40 years, comes to the Beehive Centre at Honiton on 5th September, with a new show, featuring a collection of songs called Children of the Sea.

Over her four decades in folk music, Christine has released 24 albums, a DVD celebrating 20 years in the business and an acclaimed single with the BBC, the theme tune for The Life and Loves of a She-Devil in 1987.

Throughout, she has consistently mesmerised and delighted audiences with her unique blend of soul, blues, pop, jazz, country and folk, and today she remains as powerful, subtle, effortless and relevant as ever.

Collister grew up on the Isle of Man, and her professional recording career began after she moved to the UK in the mid 1980s, when she came to national attention singing the theme for the BBC

Television adaptation of Fay Weldon’s novel, The Life and Loves Of A She Devil. She had a long period of critical and commercial success working with Clive Gregson, followed by an enduring association with Richard Thompson.

Christine is a magical live performer with a gravitydefying voice and great personal charm. As well as

folk venues she has long been a familiar and popular performer at major international festivals from Glastonbury to Cambridge, Winnipeg to Port Fairey.

Hamilton PLYMOUTH

LIN-Manuel Miranda’s multi award-winning Hamilton is at Plymouth Theatre Royal, on its first UK tour, until Saturday 6th September.

Hamilton is the story of one of America’s Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington’s righthand man during the Revolutionary War and helped shape the very foundations of the America we know today. The score blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B and Broadway—the story of America then, as told by America now. Hamilton has book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who based his world-wide hit show on Ron Chernow‘s biography of Alexander Hamilton.

Dancing for the arts

MINTERNE

ROYAL Ballet star Meaghan Grace Hinkis returns to Dorset over the weekend of 13th and 14th September with three performances in the grounds of Minterne House, north of Dorchester. The dance gala is raising funds for the performing arts.

Between 2020 and 2022, Meaghan Grace Hinkis, First Soloist with the Royal Ballet, staged three weekend ballet galas in Dorset to raise funds for the performing arts after the devastation caused by the Covid lockdowns. She returns to Dorset this year to stage another fund-raising gala weekend—it is a very special and rare chance to see some of the stars from world class ballet companies perform in this beautiful setting.

The dancers include Royal Ballet Principals Anna Rose O’Sullivan, Mayara Magri, Ryoichi Hirano, Akane Takada, Calvin Richardson and Matthew Ball; Birmingham Royal Ballet Principals Beatrice Parma and Max Maslen; English National Ballet First Soloist Precious Adams and ENB soloist Eric Snyder.

The musicians will be Sergey Levitin, concert master at the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and Michael Pansters, pianist for The Royal Ballet.

The programme will include works by Marius Petipa, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor, David Bintley, Johan Kobborg and Liam Scarlett, subject to the necessary permissions.

On Saturday, the gates gates open at 2.15pm, with the performance at 4.30pm. On Sunday, the gates will open at 2pm, and the performance at 4pm. Tickets can be booked with Dorchester Arts, and ticket holders are invited to picnic in the grounds of Minterne House before the performance.

Christine Collister comes to Honiton in September

Trio with a broad repertoire CONCERTS IN THE WEST

THE autumn season of Concerts in the West, on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th September, featuring the Mitsu Trio, begins as always at Bridport Arts Centre, with a coffee-time concert, at 11.30am on Friday, followed by Ilminster Arts Centre that evening and The Dance House at Crewkerne on Saturday, both at 7.30pm.

This brilliant young trio will be performing a thrilling programme of works by Haydn, Henze and Saint-Saëns.

The Mitsu Trio was formed in 2020 by British pianist Tyler Hay, Japanese cellist Akito Goto and Catalan violinist Laura Custodio Sabas. All three members met at the Purcell School for Young Musicians when they were just teenagers, where they formed a strong musical connection.

Aside from the vast standard repertoire for piano trio, the Mitsu players enjoy exploring the less familiar works of composers such as the Czech Bohuslav Martinů and the Brazilian Henrique Oswald. They are also strong advocates of contemporary music, having given the world premiere of Simon Speare’s piano trio. They have also held workshops with the young composers at the Purcell School for Young Musicians.

Finding the Bard DORCHESTER

IT’s not just Wales that celebrates its bards—Dorchester has its own competition, with the title of Bard of Caer Dur, to the winner. This year’s celebration of local storytelling, poetry and performance will be at the Corn Exchange, on Sunday 14th September from 2pm,

Join Dorchester Arts for a lively afternoon as six finalists compete for the title of Bard of Caer Dur (Dorchester) 2025. Inspired by Dorset’s rich literary heritage and living landscape, each performer brings their own voice, tradition and tale to the stage. Expect wit, wonder and local pride in abundance.

Hosted by Molly Dunne, current Bard of Dorchester, and Peter Roe, Grand Bard of Dorset, the event will also include guest performances, refreshments and the ceremonial passing of the Bardic staff.

Folk star sisters BRIDPORT

THE multi-talented Rheingans Sisters bring their golden voices and fertile soundworlds to Bridport Arts Centre on 19th September. In their live shows and recordings, the Sheffield duo Rowan and Anna Rheingans create an immersive and uplifting musical journey.

Exploring evocative influences from across Europe, the sisters’ performances take in baroque fiddle tunes and trance beats, metal-inspired arrangements of traditional ballads and improvisations with phone Voicenotes. Their unmistakable brand of avant-garde

and tradition blends ancient song and universal stories with future imaginings, dystopias and dreams.

Previous winners of BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Original Track and nominees for Best Band, with their uniquely blended sound of fiddles, voices, feet, banjos, electric guitar, synths and the powerful bass drones of the medieval tambourin à cordes, the Rheingans Sisters are one of the most visionary acts on the British folk scene. Their latest album, Start Close In, was released in September 2024 to critical acclaim and was one of the Guardian’s Top 10 Albums of 2024.

Earlier in the month, on Saturday 6th September, a group with an authentic sound from a distinct musical period, The Jake Leg Jug Band bring the music of 1920s and 30s America—jazz, blues, ragtime and gospel—with a side order of murder, betrayal, liquor and redemption!

Evoking a bygone age with both their sound and look, the band—Duncan Wilcox on vocals and double

The Mitsu Trio visit Bridport and Ilminster in September

Screen Time

with Nic Jeune

Top Six at the Flix

Bridport Arts Centre

Holy Cow (2024)

Powered along by youthful exuberance, earthy sex scenes and keen naturalism, Holy Cow is a box-office sensation in France, where it outperformed Anora and The Brutalist. The Irish Times. Tara Brady.

Plaza Cinema. Dorchester.

The Long Walk (2025)

The Long Walk has survived against the odds. It still resonates decades after the violent conflict that inspired it…and has now finally overcome the many failed efforts to adapt its bleak narrative for the screen. Vanity Fair. Anthony Breznican.

One Battle after Another (2025)

Separately, films from Leonardo DiCaprio and director Paul Thomas Anderson tend to light up the box offices and delight critics. So we can only imagine what their first collaboration, One Battle After Another, has in store. Wired. Claire Valentine McCartney

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. (2025)

The cinematic return of the global phenomenon follows the Crawley family and their staff as they enter the 1930s. So, mark your calendars for 12 September, when the film will land on the big screen – and settle in for one last trip to your favourite grand country pile. Vogue. Radhika Seth and Hayley Maitlan.

BBC iPlayer

Aftersun (2022)

The easy pace of Wells’s direction brings out the best in her central performers, and the chemistry between Mescal and Corio plays out effortlessly. The light moments between them are warm and the darker ones linger heavily. Time Out. Anna Bogutskaya.

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

The Magnificent Ambersons is still masterly. It’s the movie that all other films about families in decline are measured against. The A.V.Club. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

bass, Warren James on vocals, guitar and banjo and Liam Ward on vocals, harmonica, jug, washboard, saw and kazoo—is popular at jazz festivals and clubs across the UK. Their latest album, Live at Green Note (their tenth in 13 years), was released in March this year.

Expect to hear long-forgotten songs played on a range of vintage instruments including washboard, harmonica, comb and paper, musical saw, bones and, of course, the humble jug!

Jane Eyre—the back-story

LYME REGIS

CHARLOTTE Bronte’s Jane Eyre is one of the most famous, widely read and critically acclaimed novels in the English language. But how much did the oldest of the three writing Bronte sisters draw on her own life? Live Wire and Roughhouse Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, now on a national tour, with West Country dates in September, comes to Lyme Regis on 9th October.

It marks a significant and poignant anniversary in the writer’s life— 200 years ago in 1825, when Charlotte was only nine years of age, both her older sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, died of consumption, within weeks of each other.

As director Shane Morgan explains: “There is no doubt whatever that the devastating impact of Maria and Elizabeth’s deaths, at just 10 and 11 years old respectively, was key to the germination of the Jane Eyre whose orphaned heroine endures childhood loss, rejection and isolation as she embarks on her quest for familial love and somewhere to belong.”

Adapted by playwright Dougie Blaxland and produced by the same creative team who won the 2021 National Campaign for the Arts Award, Live Wire and Roughhouse Theatre’s Jane Eyre: An Autobiography is a revival of the 2015 production that was hailed “a theatrical tour de force from a company with a rare gift for bringing classics to life with loyalty, energy and intrigue.”

Central to bringing Jane Eyre back to the stage 178 years after the novel’s original publication is what movement director Moira Hunt describes as “its compelling relevance for women in the 21st century.” She says: “Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre broke the mould of the Victorian female stereotype through its dramatisation of a woman of independent mind and means who refuses to be subservient in any way to her male counterparts.”

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduate Alison Campbell reprises her role as Jane Eyre. She says:: “The revival of the production to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the death of Maria and Elizabeth Bronte is of great significance in honouring the extraordinary Bronte family as a whole and highlighting the creative genius that emerged in the face of tragedy.”

Jane Eyre: An Autobiography is at the Alma Tavern in Bristol on 24th September, Taunton’s Brewhouse Theatre on 27th September, The Marine, Lyme Regis, on 9th October, and the Ustinov Studio at Bath Theatre Royal from 13th to 15th October.

A portrait of Debussy

DORCHESTER

PIANIST Lucy Parham comes to St Mary’s Church at Dorchester on Sunday 21st September at 7pm, with Reverie: The Life and Loves of Claude Debussy, the fourth in her extraordinary Composer Portrait series. For this exploration of the innovative French composer, she is joined by one of Britain’s greatest actors, Sir Simon Russell Beale.

One of the most prolific and versatile composers of the early 20th

century, Claude Debussy absorbed and transformed cultural influences from countries as far apart as Scotland ( The Girl with the Flaxen Hair ), Japan ( Poissons d’Or ) and the USA ( Cake Walk ). A crucial element of his complex intellectual and emotional world was an entangled love life that included illicit trysts in Jersey, a brush with a revolver and even a suicide attempt.

The narrative of Rêverie, which takes the form of a personal journal, follows him from his initial success with the Prix de Rome in 1885 to his untimely death in 1918. It is punctuated with solo piano works ranging from the ever-popular lyricism of Clair de Lune, Rêverie and The Girl with the Flaxen Hair to such virtuosic showpieces as Jardins sous la Pluie, the Etudes and L’Isle Joyeuse

Visions of bliss and pain DORCHESTER

THE music of the extraordinary and inspirational medieval Abbess Hildegard of Bingen echoes down a thousand years—join The Telling as they perform Vision, at St Mary’s Church, Dorchester, on Tuesday 30th September, at 7.30pm, celebrating the life, testimony and music of this great woman.

Amid the darkness of the Middle Ages, Abbess Hildegard of Bingen saw the universe in a dazzling light and spoke with an insight and a genius that makes her music and poetry resound down the centuries. Vision explores Hildegard’s extraordinary life as she relives her painful and visceral visionary experiences alongside her extraordinary music, haunting and distinctive chant, performed and acted live.

The performance lasts one hour with no interval. It has been created by award-winning writer Clare Norburn and is directed by BAFTAnominated director, Nicholas Renton. The Guardian reviewer called it “a beautiful piece .. it really is wonderful, so do try and catch it.”

The Church Times said: “It was the overlap of, interaction between and communication of the music of Hildegard—two voices and medieval harp—and her spoken word ... which made the show such a unified, deep telling ... if a moment for reflection is needed, or the desire to understand more of Hildegard is to be fulfilled, it is well worth making the time for this.”

Sing with Sammy

LYME REGIS

INSPIRATIONAL singer and workshop leader Sammy Hurden comes to the Marine Theatre on Monday 16th September from 1.15pm for a community singing afternoon.

Sammy, who is also a professional choir director, leads inclusive singing workshop. Enjoy free refreshments and cake at this afternoon event aimed at senior members of the community.

Top comedian headlines

LYME REGIS

REGINALD D Hunter, one of Britain’s most popular and sought-after comedians, headlines Lyme Regis Comedy Club at the Marine Theatre on Saturday 13th September.

A star of Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News For You? and Reginald D Hunter’s Songs Of The South and Songs of The Border, he is the top name in the line-up of four comedians. Support comes from Brendan Common and Su Mi with host Jon Wagstaffe.

The Young Lit Fix

Bothered by Bugs Written and illustrated by Emily Gravet

Published by Two Hoots Books Paperback £7.99

Reviewed by Nicky Mathewson

THIS delightful picture book introduces us to a group of woodland creatures who are keen to use the fruit growing around them to create delicious jams, cakes, crumbles and jellies, but they are stopped in their tracks because they are being bothered by flies!

The situation becomes so bad that they resolve to catch all of the flies in jars to keep the pests at bay. Then they notice that the entire wood is full of pests. They catch, crickets, beetles, wasps and worms and they don’t stop there, they keep going until the wood is clear of ALL bugs.

Happy with their work they decide to start collecting the fruit in order to begin creating their delicious treats, only to find that there isn’t very much fruit at all. The crops have failed because the small jobs that are needed for things to grow are carried out by the smallest creatures. The bugs are all essential to the success of the wood and all the plants within it.

What can the animals do to fix the problem?

Bothered by Bugs is my current favourite picture book to read aloud and I absolutely adore it.

Firstly, the illustrations are fabulous. They have detail without losing the eyecatching boldness that children love so much. The animals that Emily draws have so much character and personality.

Secondly, the story is written in rhyme and the cadence when reading it aloud is so very satisfying.

And thirdly, there are recipes included for making your own fruit treats!

Perfect for sharing with children age 3+

10% off for Marshwood Vale readers at The Bookshop on South Street, Bridport. 01308 422964 www.dorsetbooks.com

Douglas Dare composition to encourage connection with local natural landscapes

Inside Out Dorset, the biennial international outdoor arts festival, returns this autumn with a series of free-to-see installations and performances in five extraordinary locations.

And for Bridport singer songwriter, Douglas Dare, it’s a rare chance to showcase new work specially written for the event.

Douglas, whose four albums of largely pianoled avant-pop have won him widespread acclaim and seen him perform at the Royal Albert Hall as well as Bridport Arts Centre this year, grew up on a dairy farm in West Dorset and jumped at the chance to compose the soundtrack for Consequences, a monumental new art installation that will visit hillsides in South Somerset and the Isle of Purbeck as part of Inside Out Dorset.

‘I was approached because of my connection to Dorset—in fact our farm was just around the corner from the Cerne Abbas Giant so I saw it regularly when I was a kid,’ he explains. ‘It was very serendipitous as I was between albums and wanting to explore composition.

‘It’s essentially a 15-minute piece of music that loops so it feels continuous and sort of unending. It’s a mixture of field recordings, ambient sounds, there are song elements, there’s poetry, spoken word, and layers of clarinet throughout, which to me sound earthy and timeless, but I’ve also brought in more modern harmonies and vocal textures to reflect the fact that this is a new giant, something fresh and forward-looking.’

Essentially a new giant for Dorset, Consequences is a huge temporary artwork that lives on local hillsides. Created as part of Nature Calling, a landmark arts

project encouraging audiences to better understand and connect with their local natural landscapes, it is being made by artist Becca Gill’s Radical Ritual company, and after its unveiling at Cerne Abbas, will be on show at Summerhouse Hill, in Yeovil, on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September and again at Corfe Castle on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 September for Inside Out Dorset.

‘It’s a beautiful thing to create new folklore as well as celebrating what has come before, but to create a new legend with new stories by people today, I think that’s really special. I’ve been thinking a lot about artists like PJ Harvey—coincidentally our families know each other as her family’s farm was up the road from our farm—and Erland Cooper, who draw on nature in really beautiful, grounded ways. It’s going to be a real spectacle.’

Douglas’ soundtrack incorporates This Patch of Land, a new poem by Dorset National Landscape commissioned writer Louisa Adjoa Parker inspired by the Dorset landscape, and much else besides.

Douglas has also incorporated the voices of people from the different community groups that are involved, reading the poem. ‘It’s in my voice as well’ he says. ‘I speak in received pronunciation, but my family speak with a strong Dorset accent, so as I’m reading the poetry I’m leaning into my West Dorset roots, accessing and really embracing that side of me in my work for the first time.’

A family friendly arts festival, Inside Out Dorset brings live performance to unexpected places—town centres, village squares, beaches and hilltops. It will run. from 12 to 21 September. For more information visit: https://activateperformingarts.org.uk/

Douglas Dare at The Royal Albert Hall

Get More Nature Friendly

The Wildlife Trusts has launched a vision for the future of food and farming— Food & Farming in a Nature & Climate Crises stressing that the time is now to get the farming transition back on track.

Following the Government’s recent move to protect England’s nature-friendly farming budget in the Comprehensive Spending Review, The Wildlife Trusts argue that nature-friendly farming must move centrestage as one of the most cost effective and efficient ways to reach nature recovery and climate targets across Somerset and vast swathes of the country.

Nature-friendly farming benefits not just wildlife and farm businesses, but also works to reduce flooding risk, tackle climate change, clean up waterways and increase food security. Somerset Wildlife Trust maintain that the entire food system— including politicians, supermarkets, food producers and farmers—must therefore think long term about their support for a nature-positive and climateresilient farming sector.

The Food & Farming in a Nature & Climate Crisis vision shows how to get the farming transition back on track. Huge efforts are already underway, led by farmers, producers and suppliers, to harness the power of nature-friendly farming, including across Somerset’s peatlands and arable landscapes, but Somerset Wildlife Trust say that action to address the nature and climate crisis across the farmed landscape must include: Facilitating support structures, guidance, and independent advice for farmers to transition to regenerative & agroecological farm systems; Utilising both public and private finance, and technology and innovation, to supercharge naturefriendly farming practices and naturebased solutions and policies to reform food supply chains, ensuring they reward farmers fairly for the food they produce in harmony with nature.

James Grischeff, Director of Nature Recovery at Somerset Wildlife Trust, says: ‘The protection and recovery of wildlife

in England is utterly dependent on land managers who are committed to producing sustainable food and nature-rich areas. Commitment to nature’s recovery has been demonstrated by a great many farmers in Somerset through showing good will and grit, but to sustain this effort they need sustainable businesses, supported by the people who benefit the most from their efforts: the public. The Government needs to recognise the value of nature to society and the role that farmers and land managers play in the protection and recovery of nature through well-funded, properly targeted schemes with integrated advice and training that recognise how important the countryside is and could be for both nature-friendly farming and land where nature is the primary objective.’

Somerset Wildlife Trust argue that transformation of the food and farming system is more vital than ever as farmers are continuing to face a huge degree of uncertainty, battling the ever-increasing impacts of a changing climate and volatile markets.

Photograph (c) Barny Wilczak. For more information visit: www.wildlifetrusts.org.

Stressless chair, stool, Mayfair, small, sand leather. £500. 07866 427561

Die cast models (15) plus wall display case for sale £2 - 6 each model, will seperate, phone for listing Seaton. 07789 537011.

Ship’s wheel 2 ft diameter, with clock in centre, light varnished, in excellent condition, phone for photo £25 Seaton. 07789 537011. Music books (17) & sheet music (20+) for sale. Film, musicals, carols, Beatles etc. £20 the lot or will seperate, phone for photos, Seaton. 07789 537011.

Military books WWII to

present, cookery, walks, DIY etc. phone for photos/listing, Seaton. 07789 537011.

Tools and metal toolbox, auto and DIY, phone for listing/photo. Seaton. 07789 537011.

Cuddly toys large, soft, assorted, photo on request, Seaton. 07789 537011.

A very pretty ornate wrought iron plant or ornament stand with glass shelves. Can be used inside or out. Ideal for a conservatory.

100cm tall 43 wide in very good condition. A really decorative piece. £55 Photos available 07519130010.

Antique Saddle Stones. Two reclaimed antique

Portland Stone saddle stones. Approx dims, diameters, 20 + 18”, heights, 21 + 14” Good condition, photos available £85 each or £145 for both. Dorchester 01305 889291.

Denby Greenwich Plates. 2 Dinner Plates 10”, 3 Rimmed Bowls 8” ,6 Rimmed Cereal Bowls 7” and 6 Rimmed Small Plates 7” all pre owned at £2 a piece.

07709915759

2 Garden Planters 28” X 10” X 10” with feet £45. 07709915759

25 Spindles for garden decking. £25. 07709915759. Canadian Canoe.

Large 16 foot grp open canoe. Hiawatha style upturned ends. Has built in buoyancy tanks front and rear. Brown hull with green painted interior, ply seats. Needs repainting internally. Otherwise this is a solidly built and stable canoe with no repairs to the hull. We have had three people on board paddling in the Fleet lagoon. £300 ono. located near Stockland. Call 07479474392. It will go to message, so leave your number and I’ll call back.

Mans Bicycle. Python Rock. Black. Roadworthy, excellent condition. Shimano 18 gears.

Schwalbe Tyres. £50. Can email pics. 01308 455627. Viking Prelude Classic Women’s trekking bicycle, excellent condition, solid elegant construction with bell, bike stand, rear rack, 7 speed gear system and sturdy Raleigh lock. Bargain at £99. Text to: 07776135775.

Axminster 4 jaw woodturning chuck plus 4 extra sets of jaws. 1 – reverse jaw set. 2 – dovetail jaws sets. 1gripper set. Back plate for M33 stock (other sizes available from Axminster Tools). Spare allen screws and key £110.00 ono. Chard. Phone or text –07933 889533.

Stanley Brandon 3 cooker spares all in good working order. Different hard woods box yew oak ect. Wood turning blanks. Single phase electric motors. 07503 850209. Car/Boat 2 wheel trailer with spare wheel, 3 good tyres, recently overhauled brakes, winch & cables. 10’6’’ x 6’0” bed. £800 o.v.n.o. photo’s available on request 0771 8385700.

CHIMNEY SWEEP WANTED

Secondhand tools. All trades and crafts. Old and modern. G. Dawson. 01297 23826. www.secondhandtools. co.uk.

Stamps & Coins wanted by collector / investor. We are keen to purchase small or large collections at this time. Tel Rod 01308 863790 or 07802261339.

Collectables, bygones, vintage, autojumble, Job-lots & collections a specialty. Good prices paid 07875677897 mar 24p x 4

FOR SALE 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.

Vintage & antique textiles, linens, costume buttons etc. always sought by Caroline Bushell. Tel. 01404 45901. Jan 25

Coins wanted. Part or full collections purchased for cash. Please phone John on 01460 62109 or 07980 165047. July 24

Dave buys all types of tools 01935 428975

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 Sept 24

Marshwood+ September 2025

Robin Mills met Chris Booth in Powerstock, Dorset

Chris Booth

in

Marshwood Vale Magazine

DONATIONS

Contributors

CATCH UP ON OUR AUGUST ONLINE COVER STORY

Fergus Byrne met Jan Thorne in Bridport

EVENTS September

Friday, 12 September

Monday, 15 - 21 September

Monday, 22 September

EVENTS IN OCTOBER

The power of wit and banter

PNature Studies

incomer’s discovery of the natural world in the West Country

Funding consultation on Octagon development

Tractor Boys Raise Funds for Mental Health on the Farm

IVEGETABLES BEYOND THE GARDEN

September in the Garden

PROPERTY ROUND-UP

TATWORTH, CHARD

CHARMOUTH

WEST BAY

The R-Word—Perspectives and baselines

A Tale of Two Climates

Bob Ward considers how Dorset’s wildlife needs to adapt to a warmer world

This Month in the

Food&Dining

DIRECTIONS INGREDIENTS

For the love of cheese

Community Recipe for Wellbeing

Fusing Sounds and Finding Rhythm

Saturday, 20, Sept - 8 Nov

GALLERIES IN OCTOBER

Dreams are made on

Faustian Pacts and Digital Tyranny

Lyme Regis hosts Shute Festival

Enlightenment and adventure

Around the world with 21st BridLit

A Witness to History

A Village in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd and Angelika Patel and The Crooked Cross by Sally Carson

Walking the railways of Weymouth and Portland

PREVIEW

Inside Out returns WEYMOUTH AND CORFE CASTLE

Out

Dancing for the arts

MINTERNE

Screen Time

Top Six at the Flix

DORCHESTER

The Young Lit Fix

Douglas Dare composition to encourage connection with local natural landscapes

Get More Nature Friendly

CHIMNEY SWEEP WANTED

FOR SALE WRITING

RESTORATION FURNITURE.

SPECIALIST BUILDING

DISTRIBUTION