Sherborne Times August 2019

AUGUST 2019 | FREE

A MONTHLY CELEBR ATION OF PEOPLE, PLACE AND PURVEYOR

THINGS TO MAKE AND DO with Safia Shah and Ian Thomas of Bootmakers Workshop

sherbornetimes.co.uk

WELCOME

T

he green swathes of Sherborne hum with life while in the thickened skies above, twinkle-winged travellers noisily take their fill. Legions of fresh-faced international students bring a welcome zing to the streets and jittery pipistrelles skitter through the hollows at dusk.

And so to August. Amidst our many pages, Dorset writer and conservationist Simon M. Lamb proposes a plan, Rebecca de Pelet lets go, Laurence Belbin heads into town and Adam Ansty takes stock. Meanwhile, 10 miles north, Katharine and Jo visit Bootmakers, an inspirational children’s workshop where young, unfettered minds create magical somethings from nothings and homemade crêpes are devoured by the plateful.

Have a wonderful month.

Glen Cheyne, Editor glen@homegrown-media.co.uk @sherbornetimes

CONTRIBUTORS Adam Anstey

Editorial and creative direction Glen Cheyne Design Andy Gerrard @round_studio Sub editors Jay Armstrong @jayarmstrong_ Claire Bowman Photography Katharine Davies @Katharine_KDP Feature writer Jo Denbury @jo_denbury Editorial assistant Helen Brown Illustrations Elizabeth Watson @DandybirdDesign Print Pureprint Distribution team David Elsmore David and Susan Joby Christine Knott The Jackson Family Sarah Morgan Mary and Roger Napper Alfie Neville-Jones Mark and Miranda Pender Claire Pilley

Juliana Atyeo

Andy Hastie Cinematheque cinematheque.org.uk

Simon Barber Evolver Magazine @SimonEvolver evolver.org.uk

Sarah Hitch The Sanctuary Beauty Rooms @SanctuaryDorset thesanctuarysherborne.co.uk

Sara Beels Burrow Environmental burrow-environmental.com

James Hull The Story Pig

Laurence Belbin laurencebelbin.com Terry Bennett Abbey 104 @terry_bennett16 abbey104.com Elisabeth Bletsoe Sherborne Museum @SherborneMuseum sherbornemuseum.co.uk Richard Bromell ASFAV Charterhouse Auctioneers and Valuers @CharterhouseAV charterhouse-auction.com Mike Burks The Gardens Group @TheGardensGroup thegardensgroup.co.uk Paula Carnell paulacarnell.com Cindy Chant Sherborne Walks @sherbornewalks sherbornewalks.co.uk Gillian M Constable DWT Sherborne Group @DorsetWildlife dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk David Copp

1 Bretts Yard Abbey Corner Sherborne Dorset DT9 3NL 01935 315556 @sherbornetimes info@homegrown-media.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk Sherborne Times is printed on an FSCÂŽ and EU Ecolabel certified paper. It goes without saying that once thoroughly well read, this magazine is easily recycled and we actively encourage you to do so.

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that the data in this publication is accurate, neither Sherborne Times nor its editorial contributors can accept, and hereby disclaim, any liability to any party to loss or damage caused by errors or omissions resulting from negligence, accident or any other cause.

Sherborne Times does not officially endorse any advertising material included within this publication.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - without prior permission from Sherborne Times.

4 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Rebecca de Pelet Sherborne School @SherborneSchool sherborne.org Jenny Dickinson Dear to Me Studio, Fine Stationery @DearToMeStudio deartome.co.uk Jimmy Flynn Milborne Port Computers @MPortComputers computing-mp.co.uk Andrew Fort B.A. (Econ.)

CFPcm Chartered MCSI APFS Fort Financial Planning ffp.org.uk Revd Duncan Goldie Cheap Street United Church cheapstreetchurch.co.uk Jane Grimes London Road Clinic @56londonroad 56londonroad.co.uk Craig Hardaker Communifit @communifit communifit.co.uk

Simon M Lamb junglenomics.com Sasha Matkevich & Jack Smith The Green Restaurant @greensherborne greenrestaurant.co.uk Lucy Lewis Dorset Mind @DorsetMind dorsetmind.uk Melissa Meikle Sherborne Preparatory School @Sherborneprep sherborneprep.org Jeanne Mortarotti Millie Neville-Jones teamyfriend.com Suzy Newton Partners in Design partners-in-design.co.uk Mark Newton-Clarke MA VetMB PhD MRCVS Newton Clarke Veterinary Partnership @swanhousevet newtonclarkevet.com Jan Pain Sherborne Scribblers Sherborne Literary Society Jonathan Stones Sherborne Literary Society @SherborneLitSoc sherborneliterarysociety.com Simon Partridge BSc SPFit spfit-sherborne.co.uk Tim Phillips Dr Tim Robinson MB BS MSc MRCGP DRCOG MFHom Glencairn House Clinic glencairnhouse.co.uk doctortwrobinson.com Harriet Stanley Mogers Drewett Solicitors @mogersdrewett md-solicitors.co.uk Paul Stickland Black Shed Flowers @NaughtyDinosaur blackshedflowers.blogspot.co.uk John Walsh Friars Moor Vets @FriarsMoorVets friarsmoorvets.co.uk Sally Welbourn Dorset Wildlife Trust @DorsetWildlife dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

68 8

What’s On

AUGUST 2019 54 Interiors

116 Tech

16 Film

60 Gardening

118 Directory

20 Shopping Guide

68 BOOTMAKERS

120 Folk Tales

24 Wild Dorset

78 Food & Drink

122 Community

32 Family

86 Animal Care

124 Short Story

44 Art

92 Body & Mind

126 Literature

46 History

106 Property & Legal

129 Crossword

50 Antiques

114 Finance

130 Pause for Thought

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 5

THE EASTBURY HOTEL Long Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3BY Tel: 01935 813131 Email: relax@theeastburyhotel.co.uk www.theeastburyhotel.co.uk

@elizabethwatsonillustrations 8 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

AUGUST 2019 Listings

Tuesdays & Thursdays 10.30am

____________________________

Explore Historic Sherborne

Mondays 2pm-3.30pm

From Sherborne TIC, Digby Rd. With

‘Feel Better with a Book’ Group Sherborne Library, Hound St. Shared

Blue Badge Guide Cindy, 1½-2 hour

Various venues in Sherborne.

Info: Sherborne TIC

sherbornesummerschoolofmusic.org/concertfest ____________________________

walk. £8 cindyatsherbornewalks@gmail.com

Friday 2nd 6.30pm-8.30pm

____________________________

Wine & Cheese Party

group. Free. 01935 812683

Thursdays 1.30pm-2.30pm

____________________________

The Sherborne Library Scribes

Manor Farm, Higher Knighton DT9 6QU.

Second Monday of month

Library writing group for sharing

reading aloud with a small & friendly

9.30am-3.30pm West Country Embroiderers -

& discussion

Tickets £5 at the gate. Proceeds to

St Michael’s Church, Beer Hackett.

____________________________

____________________________

Inchies, Twinchies & Rinchies Bishops Caundle Village Hall. 01963 34696 ____________________________ Last Monday of month 5pm-6pm Bookchat Sherborne Library, Hound St.

A lively book discussion group

____________________________ First Thursday of each month 9.30am Netwalking 1st & 3rd Tuesdays 6pm-8pm Dorset Mind - Sherborne Wellbeing Group Costa Coffee, Cheap St. £3 incl. free drink. dorsetmind.uk/services-courses/west-dorsetsupport-groups/

____________________________

From Sherborne Barbers, Cheap St. Free walk & talk with other small business

Friday 2nd 6.30pm-9pm

Sherborne Instagram: yourtimecoaching

‘Frankenstein’

____________________________

Castle Gardens or illyria.co.uk

owners & entrepreneurs. FB: Netwalk

Illyria Outdoor Theatre -

Twitter: @yt_coaching

Castle Gardens, DT9 5NR. Tickets from

First Thursday of each month

____________________________

2pm-3.30pm “My Time” Carers’ Support Group The Shielings, The Avenue, DT9 3AJ. Advice, coffee & chat. 01935 601499 or 01935 816321

____________________________ Fridays 2pm Sherborne Health Walks Leaving from Waitrose. Free, friendly

Friday 2nd 7pm

walk around Sherborne. 07825 691508

Miracle Theatre –

____________________________

A Perfect World

Monday 29th July -

Higher Orchard, Sandford Orcas.

Saturday 10th August Sherborne Summer School of Music presents Concertfest

Music-filled adventure in the great

outdoors! 01963 220208 artsreach.co.uk

____________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 9

WHAT'S ON Friday 2nd, Saturday

Show Songs & Arias

Tuesdays 13th, 20th &

3rd & Monday 5th 8pm

St Cuthbert’s Church, Oborne DT9 4LA.

27th 3pm-4pm

Opera at Oborne: La Bohème

01935 817194 info@operainoborne.org

Faith & Arts: Art &

____________________________

Contemplation

Suggested donation £35. 01935 817194

Tuesdays 6th & 20th

Sherborne Abbey, DT9 3LQ. Free. Sign

St Cuthbert’s Church, Oborne DT9 4LA. info@operainoborne.org

Royal Voluntary Service Lunch

____________________________

Club

Saturday 3rd 10.30am-3.30pm

Raleigh Hall, Digby Road DT9 3PP

Saturday 17th 10.30am-12.30pm

____________________________

Oxfam Coffee Morning

Embroiderers Guild Open Day

Thursday 8th 7.30pm

Bishops Caundle Village Hall DT9 5NB.

Sherborne & District Gardeners’

Raleigh Hall, Digby Rd. Monthly coffee

____________________________

Digby Memorial Hall, Digby Rd.

Saturday 17th &

Visitors £2.

Holnest Church Fete

____________________________

Friday 9th 11am

Saturday 3rd 2.30pm

Coffee Morning plus talk

BBQ, dog show. 01963 210562, proceeds

Trent Garden Club Flower,

Abbey View Nursing Care Home,

Blackmore Vale

up in Sherborne Abbey Office.

____________________________

morning to raise money for Oxfam

Free. bveguild@gmail.com

Association 76th Summer Show

Saturday 3rd 2pm-4.30pm

Info: Richard Newcombe 01935 389375.

Sunday 18th 1pm-4pm

____________________________

DT9 5PU. Flower festival, stalls, raffle,

Chetnole Fete & Flower Show Chetnole Village Hall. £1 Children free

Craft & Produce Show Nether Compton Village Hall. £1 entry

____________________________ Saturday 3rd 3pm

to Holnest Church Fund

____________________________

Fairfield, Bristol Rd, DT9 4HD. With

Fiona Russell from FizzioFocus speaking about her Physiotherapy Services

____________________________

Opera at Oborne:

Saturday 10th 9am-4pm

Il segreto di Susanna

(set up from 8am)

St Cuthbert’s Church, Oborne DT9 4LA

Charity Table-Top Sale

____________________________

of Caundle Marsh Church. Tables £10 or

01935 817194 info@operainoborne.org

Digby Memorial Hall, Digby Rd. In aid

Saturday 3rd &

2 for £15. Bookings 01935 813967

Sunday 4th 10am-4pm

____________________________

____________________________

Artslink Workshop:

Saturday 10th 2pm-4pm

Pastel Painting Weekend

Longburton Garden,

Raleigh Hall Digby Road DT9 3PP. sherborneartslink.org.uk

____________________________

Art & Craft Show

Sunday 18th 8am registration

£102/£92 01935 815899

Longburton Village Hall

Sherborne 5km Run

____________________________

Saturday 10th 2.30pm

Sunday 4th 6.30pm

The 83rd Leigh Flower Show

DT9 5NS. communifit.co.uk or

Sherborne U3A Choirs

Leigh Village Hall, Leigh, DT9 6HL.

Celebratory Concert

From the Terraces, Sherborne facebook.com/sherborne5km/

____________________________

£1.50, children free.

Sunday 25th 2pm

____________________________

Sherborne Historic Vehicle Rally

bnewcombe.48@rosa37.plus.com

Sunday 11th 11.30am-3.30pm

Sherborne School, Hospital Lane,

of Yeatman Hospital

Centre Open Day

Sunday 4th 6pm

donation. sswc.co.uk

Haselbury Mill. Tickets £7.50

01935 389375. Proceeds to Friends

Sherborne Steam Waterwheel

____________________________

Oborne Road DT9 3RX. Entry by

Monday 26th

____________________________

Alweston Playing Fields. Proceeds to

Opera at Oborne: Gala Concert – 10 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

DT9 3AP. Open to public

____________________________ Alweston Car Boot Sale

WHAT'S ON

Please share your recommendations and contacts via FaceBook @sherborneparents ____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

Thursday 1st 11am-12pm

Monday 5th – Friday 9th,

Zoolab’s Space Race 2019

Monday 12th – Friday 16th,

Sherborne Library, Digby Rd. Animal

Monday 19th – Friday 23rd

essential. 01935 812683

Sherborne Prep. Three activity clubs

Monday 5th & Monday 19th

gosherborne.com

handling workshop. Age 3+. Booking

GO! Sherborne Holiday Clubs

____________________________

for children aged 4-6, 7-9 & 10-13.

10.30am-11am

____________________________

Space Chase Storytime Special

Friday 9th &

Sherborne Library, Digby Rd. Ages 2-6

Saturday 31st 2pm-3pm

01935 812683

Galactic Games &

____________________________

Astro Activities

Mondays to Thursdays from

Sherborne Library, Digby Rd. Ages 5+ 01935 812683

Monday 22nd July -

Monday 5th - Thursday 23rd

Saturday 31st August

9am-1pm

Doodles Bug Trail

Summer School –

Thursday 15th 10am-11am

Doodles Play Cafe, 1 Abbey Rd. Find

Freedom Football

Supanova Stories

the bugs hidden in independent shop

& Cosmic Crafts

windows. Lunch bag & map £6.50,

Tinneys Lane SAYCC Youth Club,

01935 812888

DT9 3DY. Ages 6-12, £50/week, £15 a day. 07814 028318

Sherborne Library, Digby Rd.

____________________________

Ages 4+ 01935 812683

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

Wednesday 24th July - Friday

Monday 5th - Friday 9th

Wednesday 28th &

30th August 8am-6pm

Focus on Youth – Sherborne

Thursday 29th 9.45am-3.30pm

SCAPA Holiday Club

Tinneys Lane SAYCC Youth Club,

Free Holiday Club (7-11 yr olds)

Register & book at Tinneys Youth Club on

hcstpauls@gmail.com

Sherborne Primary School, Harbour

Way. 01935 810001 sherbornepri.dorset. sch.uk/scapa

____________________________

Folke Church. Info: 01963 23525

DT9 3DY. Activities, workshops, outings.

St Paul’s Church. Registration required

Mondays & Wednesdays 6.30pm-8.30pm

____________________________

____________________________

Pageant Gardens

ourmaninnewyork.eventbrite.co.uk/

Sherboard Games

Planning ahead

Oliver’s Café, Cheap Street, Free board

___________________________

Workshops & classes

____________________________ Wednesday 28th 7pm-9pm

____________________________

____________________________

game event for teenagers, families & adults.

Friday 6th September 7pm

____________________________

Our Man in New York

____________________________

Saturday 31st 1pm-4pm

by Henry Hemming -

Tuesdays 10am–12pm

Church of the Sacred Heart

Sherborne LIterary Society talk

ArtsLink Fizz! Art for Memory

& St Aldhelm Fete

Digby Memorial Hall. Tickets: TIC or

Wingfield Room, Digby Hall, Hound

12 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

AUGUST 2019 St. Free art class for people with early

Thursdays 7pm-9.30pm

Mondays-Thursdays

stage memory loss. 01935 815899

Art Club@Thornford for Adults

Yoga with Emma

sherborneartslink.org.uk

____________________________

Wheelwright Studios, Thornford

Venues - Sherborne, Milborne Port,

Tuesdays

DT9 6QE. 07742 888302,

alicockrean@gmail.com or alicockrean.co.uk

emmareesyoga.com

Watercolour Classes

____________________________

Thornford. emmayogateacher@gmail.com ____________________________

Wheelwright Studios, Thornford.

Fridays

Mondays-Sundays

07742 888302 alicockrean.co.uk

Acrylic Classes

Hatha Yoga

____________________________ Tuesdays & Thursdays 10am-12pm

Wheelwright Studios, Thornford. 07742 888302 alicockrean.co.uk

Meditation & Relaxation. Small classes,

____________________________

hello@yogasherborne.co.uk

The Slipped Stitch Workshops The Julian, Cheap Street. 01935 508249

____________________________

Yoga/pilates

Thursdays 2.30pm-4pm

____________________________

beginners welcome Contact Dawn: FB: @yogasherborne

____________________________ Mondays 10.30am-12pm

ArtsLink Fizz! Parkinson’s Dance

Yoga with Gemma

Tinney’s Lane Youth & Community

Longburton Village Hall 07812 593314

for people who live with Parkinson’s.

____________________________

Centre. Free dance class & social time 01935 815899 sherborneartslink.org.uk

____________________________

gemski81@hotmail.com

Mondays & Wednesdays Just Breathe Yoga

24th-25th AUGUST SATURDAY & SUNDAY

Between Sherborne & Sturminster Newton

CELEBRATING THE COUNTRYSIDE, WOODLAND, CONSERVATION, CRAFT, TIMBER & MORE Over 200 exhibitors, food square, big arena demonstrations and kids area in a stunning parkland setting. www.oakfair.com

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 13

WHAT'S ON Classes in Yetminster, Chetnole &

Digby Memorial Hall, Digby Rd.

Sherborne Town Football Club. Charity

justbyoga@outlook.com

____________________________

BBQ, soft play, music & raffle.

Corton Denham. 07983 100445

07809 387594

event - 4 local football teams competing.

____________________________

Saturday 17th 9.30am-4pm

Tuesday evenings &

Quarterly Book Fair

Compton House Cricket Club

Friday mornings

Digby Memorial Hall, Digby Rd

Over Compton, DT9 4QU

Iyengar Yoga Digby Church Hall, Digby Rd.

____________________________

With experienced teacher Anna Finch.

Sport

____________________________

(DT9 4RB satnav)

comptonhousecricketclub.co.uk 1st XI

01935 389357

____________________________

____________________________

Sundays 9am (from Abbey gates)

Cerne Valley - Home

Wednesdays am,

& Wednesdays 6pm (from Riley’s)

Saturday 10th

Thursdays am & Fridays pm

Digby Etape Cycling Club Rides

Swanage - Away

Yoga with Suzanne

Average 12mph for 60 minutes.

Saturday 17th

SherborneCyclingClub

Saturday 24th

Sherborne venues. Especially suitable for aged 50+ 01935 873594

____________________________

Saturday 3rd

Drop bar road bike recommended.

Weymouth - Home

____________________________

Hamworthy Recreation - Away

Wednesdays 2pm-3pm

Saturday 31st

Classic mat-based Pilates

Cattistock - Home

Charlton Horethorne Village Hall.

____________________________

ali@positive-postures.co.uk

The Terraces, Dorchester Rd

Fridays 4pm-5pm

1st XI 1pm start

£7.50. 07828 625897

Sherborne Cricket Club

____________________________

sherborne.play-cricket.com

Classic Hatha Yoga (beginners)

Saturday 3rd

Broadstone - Home

Charlton Horethorne Village Hall. £7.50. 07828 625897

ali@positive-postures.co.uk

____________________________

Fairs & markets ____________________________ Thursdays & Saturdays Pannier Market The parade

Saturday 10th Tuesdays & Thursdays

Wimborne & Colehill - Away

7.30pm–8.30pm

Saturday 17th

Mixed Touch Rugby

Martinstown - Home

Sherborne School pitches,

Saturday 24th

first four sessions free. 07887 800803

Saturday 31st

____________________________

____________________________

Ottery Lane DT9 6EE. £1 per session,

Stalbridge - Home

sherbornetouch.org

Bere Regis - Away

____________________________

Wednesdays 7pm–8pm

Thursdays 9am-11.30am

Mixed Touch Rugby

Country Market

Novice Taster Sessions

Church Hall, Digby Road

Sherborne School pitches, Ottery

Every third Friday 9am-1pm

four sessions free. 07887 800803

To include your event in our FREE

____________________________ Farmers’ Market

Lane DT9 6EE. £1 per session, first sherbornetouch.org

listings please email details – date/

____________________________

time/title/venue/description/price/

____________________________

Sunday 18th 12pm-7pm

contact (max 20 words) – by the

Every 4th Saturday, 9am-3.30pm

The Daniel Wilson

5th of each preceding month to

Vintage Market

Memorial Trophy

listings@homegrown-media.co.uk

Cheap Street

14 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

THURSDAY 22nd AUGUST WEST BAY, BRIDPORT DT6 4EG

Children 16 and under Go FREE

FREE BUS FREE PARKING + PARK & RIDE

the best of agriculture by the sea www.melplashshow.co.uk

On the day: Adults £17 - Advance tickets: Adults £15

CLASSICAL MUSIC

La Boheme

at

Deans Court

Opera Hollway

Whether an opera aficionado or complete newbie, be swept away by an outstanding performance from rising stars with this romantic tale.

Dorchester Corn Exchange Sat 14 Sep | 7pm

Andreas Scholl with Tamar Halperin The Twilight People

A fascinating programme featuring songs of Copland, Britten and Vaughan Williams.

St Mary’s Church, Dorchester Wed 22 Jan | 8pm 01305 266926 www.dorchesterarts.org.uk Charity No. 1015546

August Bank Holiday Monday 26th August Deans Court | Wimborne | BH21 1QF 10.00am - 4.00pm

Entry £5 | Children free Dogs welcome Over 40 stalls with a range of decorative Brocante, textiles, delightful gifts, furniture & delicious food in the beautiful setting of Deans Court @thedorsetbrocante www.vintagebrocante.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 15

Film

ON FILM

A

Andy Hastie, Yeovil Cinematheque

s Cinematheque’s 38th season starts at the end of September, this month is a time for us to get our new brochure out to as many locations as possible. Sherborne Library and the Tourist Information Centre are well stocked, so do pick one up or view our website to mark your calendar for the coming year. Now, more than ever, if you want to be able to see quality independent films from this country and abroad, film societies like Cinematheque are the place to go. With the news that Netflix is setting up a base at Shepperton Studios, and other US online streaming platforms will follow soon, the squeeze on financing independent cinema is becoming greater than ever.

If you have recently noticed that the opening credits on British films are getting longer and longer, this is because the funding has to come from multiple sources and these all have to be acknowledged on screen. Now with Netflix arriving with its seemingly bottomless financial clout and industry dominance, it is going to become even harder for the independent sector to thrive, especially with British crews and actors understandably following the American money.

Where this becomes a problem for film societies is that these films are only ever going to be released through streaming platforms, and never will be available 16 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

on DVD, which is how we are set up to view them. Also, if so much cinema is going over to streaming, including the back catalogue, I fear a time will come where this archive may be closed down and lost if not profitable for these large companies.

The Film Society movement was first formed in London in 1925 for members only, with the aim of screening films of ‘artistic interest’ which, because of commercial or political censorship reasons, could not be seen in ordinary cinemas (plus ça change!)

H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw and the director Adrian Brunel were sponsors, and the BFFS (British Federation of Film Societies) of which Cinematheque is a member, is the current national body.

I hope you can agree that Cinematheque’s independent role is worth supporting. The experience of sitting collectively in an auditorium, with likeminded people watching a great film is a joy, greater than accessing it on a home device alone, I believe.

We start off our season with the wonderful French film The Guardians, which I shall review next month, and, having seen it, cannot recommend more highly. cinematheque.org.uk swan-theatre.co.uk

ARE YOUR RETIREMENT PLANS ON COURSE? Contact us for a pension review.

PETER HARDING WEALTH MANAGEMENT Principal Partner Practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management

36 Haven Road, Canford Cliffs, Dorset BH13 7LP Tel: 01202 830730 40 High Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8JG Tel: 01747 855554 9 Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3PU Tel: 01935 315315 Email: peterhardingwm@sjpp.co.uk Web: www.peterhardingwm.co.uk The Partner Practice is an Appointed Representative of and represents only St. James’s Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of advising solely on the group’s wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out on the group’s website www.sjp.co.uk/products. The ‘St. James’s Place Partnership’ and the title ‘Partner Practice’ are marketing terms used to describe St. James’s Place representatives. Peter Harding Wealth Management is a trading name of Peter Harding Practice Ltd.

PREVIEW In association with

‘It was written in the palms of her hands’ Textile, 80 x 65 cm

MICK LINDBERG: ‘SEW THE SEEDS’ Born in Sweden in 1950, Mick Lindberg learned the art of

maybe a naughty aunt. I’m often asked from where I draw the

her life, her passion for textiles and fashion has influenced her

The fabric fragments from friends give me a sense of continuity,

needlework from her mother and grandmother. Throughout

career choices, first as model and photographer, now as a textile artist. This latest collection explores themes of flowers and nature entwined with femininity and form.

She says: “I often receive, through the generosity of friends,

bags and boxes with old cloth and fabrics, that for years have

inspiration for my characters, I always say - ‘they come to me’. where I’m allowed to stitch my own story... in between the layering of memory and time.” evolver.org.uk

____________________________________________

been hiding in attics and basements and cupboards. Neatly

Until Friday 30th August, 10am - 5.30pm

linen and antique lace happily abandon their confinement into

MICK LINDBERG: ‘SEW THE SEEDS’

of cloth, sometime a whole character emerges, like a genie from

BA7 7AP. 01963 359102 davidsimoncontemporary.com

folded remnants of vintage fabrics... dusty William Morris

(Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - Saturday)

my hands... and start to weave their tale. From such a fragment

David Simon Contemporary, 37 High Street, Castle Cary

a bottle… evoking the memory of someone’s grandmother, or

____________________________________________

18 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

ARTIST AT WORK No. 10: Lotte Scott, Working Tree II, medium format photograph, hand-printed on fibre-based paper

F

or the last 6 years my art practice has explored the history of the Somerset Peat Moors, a strange, compelling landscape of peat extraction, reed-beds, carr woodland and prehistoric archaeology.

This photograph is part of a triptych titled Working Trees – a line of heavily pollarded willows on a stretch of road in Westhay. Under the wide, open skies of the moors the trees stand sentinel, like watchful creatures.

I first encountered the moors through photography, painstakingly shooting with cumbersome large and medium-format cameras. My equipment forced me to be slow, to look intently, to make every shot count. Taking pictures was a way of tuning in, of sensing a way into the place. During my Masters studies at the Slade School of Fine Art, my focus then shifted to materials gathered from the moors – peat, charcoal, beeswax, wood and bogwood – which I used to create drawings and sculptures.

My peat moors work is ongoing; in my studio in Corton Denham I am currently preparing new artworks for Somerset Art Weeks Festival 2019 – 120 charred peat ‘turve’ sculptures, made from pines felled on Shapwick Heath, alongside a series of large, peat pigment drawings. These will be installed in the Abbot’s Fish House, a medieval fishery building on the edge of the moors. lottescott.co.uk Working Tree II is available to purchase for £175 (framed) 1 of 3 plus artist proof A Long Hundred will be exhibited at The Abbot’s Fish House, Meare, during SAW Festival 2019. Open FridaySunday, 10am-4pm, 21st September - 6th October sherbornetimes.co.uk | 19

Shopping Guide

Bee card by Kevin Williamson, Elementum Gallery, £3

Steiff bear, Just Bears £40

Cashmere jumper, Circus £350

Men’s T-shirts, Quba £22

Trousers, Melbury Gallery £48

SUMMER LINE UP Jenny Dickinson, Dear to Me Studio

Sherborne is bedecked with colourful stripes this summer. Worn with pride by bees and bears alike! deartomestudio.com 20 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Paper straws, Circus £5

Straw hat, Forever England £9.95

Bikini top and briefs, Quba, £25 and £20 Butterfly bag, Circus £48.50

Drawstring bag, Forever England £6.95

Straw shopper, Melbury Gallery £29 sherbornetimes.co.uk | 21

Melbury Gallery

SALE

& many more !

New collections arriving soon !

Dorchester O13O5 265223

22 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Sherborne O1935 814O27

• 50 years of experience • No obligation CAD design service • Local, established family business • Exclusive products

We are a local family run business offering you the best possible prices with the assurance of superior quality around generous year-round discounts

01305 259996 Mill House | Millers Close | The Grove Trading Estate | Dorchester | DT1 1SS www.bathroominspirationsdorchester.com

Wild Dorset

REPTILES

SOAKING UP THE SUN IN DORSET Sally Welbourn, Dorset Wildlife Trust

L

ike humans, reptiles love basking in the sun at this time of year. In Dorset we are lucky to have lowland heathland habitat to support all six British native reptile species.

Reptiles are truly magnificent creatures, but they need a very specific habitat to thrive in and can be very sensitive to changes in their environment, which is why all reptile species are legally protected. You also need a licence to handle and monitor them.

As reptiles are ectothermic (cold-blooded), they bask in the sun to warm up, and hide away in the shade to cool down again. During the colder months they hibernate, but in the summer months 24 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

reptiles will be enjoying the sunshine and feasting on the delights the heath has to offer, with lizards preying on spiders and insects and snakes favouring small mammals.

As with lots of wildlife species in Dorset, their survival and success is largely due to having wellmanaged habitat to thrive in. Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Great Heath team work hard on our heaths to ensure there is sandy soil, low vegetation and not too many trees, to create a dry and warm habitat for reptiles.

If you’re out on the heath this summer, please admire reptiles from a distance, and do not lift metal tins (used for surveying purposes) to see them.

Sand lizard

Marek Velechovsky/Shutterstock

Fires can be devastating to a reptile population on heathland so please report any suspicious behaviour on heathland to Dorset Police on 101. In the event of a fire, call 999.

Find out more about our nature reserves in Dorset at dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/nature-reserves.

Five British reptile facts:

a Dorset heath in the 1850s.

• A slow worm is a legless lizard and they get their heat by lying under objects that warm up in the sun. The female can drop its tail if caught, to confuse its predator!

• The male sand lizard has green sides after shedding its skin after hibernation.

• The adder is our only venomous snake – a bite is rarely fatal but seek medical assistance if bitten.

• A grass snake can grow up to 150cm long and is often found near water.

Adders are very recognisable with red eyes and a black zig zag pattern on their back.

• Smooth snakes are actually rarely seen in the open, and the first record of this species was on

dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 25

Wild Dorset

SHERBORNE DWT

F

Gillian M. Constable, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Sherborne Group Committee Member

or many years Dorset Wildlife Trust and others have stressed how important healthy wild verges are to wildlife, providing links between habitats. Many of us are saddened by the sight of a verge which one day was full of colour and the next has been chopped down and the debris left to decay in situ. One accepts the need for management at dangerous junctions but frequently there seems to be an overenthusiastic approach to the job.

A recent email from Dorset Council indicates that it is trialling a ‘cut and collect’ system and that the results are encouraging. Collecting the debris reduces the fertility of the soil and so reduces the growth of grasses and the need for cutting and simultaneously it encourages the growth of wild flowers which prefer poor soil and reduced competition from the grasses.

A few years back members of Holnest church decided to rewild the church yard in a controlled manner with varying cutting strategies. The above picture was taken at the end of June of the area not cut at all this year; it was a flutter of insects and butterflies, including at least 50 meadow browns and our first painted lady of 26 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

the year. The area which had received a late spring trim was equally colourful with low-growing vetches, etc.

Also there were mown tracks for general access. It was a delight to discover how much had been achieved.

Already nature is indicating a change of season.

At Portland Bird Observatory they are observing the first of the spring migrants starting their return south and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) cuckoo ringing project had, by late June, seven of their twelve birds ringed in England over mainland Europe. Their visits to England seem so brief. None, so far, has reached Africa but one, Raymond, is in central Spain.

This year there are four newly ringed birds. Larry, who was ringed in 2015, in the Forest of Bowland is BTO’s longest-serving cuckoo. He is currently still there. His past journeys south have been over south-east Italy and return journeys much further west, once over the Straits of Gibraltar. He usually winters in Angola and BTO estimates he has flown in excess of 35,000 miles whilst tagged. dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

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DORSET WILDLIFE TRUST

Photos Š Vicky Ashby, Natalie Atchinson-Balmond, Sam Dallimore, Katharine Davies, Emma Godden, Jodi Hibbard & Pam Hunt.

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 27

Wild Dorset

SWEET VIBRATIONS

I

Paula Carnell, Beekeeping Consultant, Writer and Speaker

n my former life as an artist, I became interested in energetic vibrations. This wasn’t some kind of trance dancing, but an interest in the frequency of all things. I used to paint flowers, large ‘in your face’ blooms, on a fine silk. People often commented on the vibrancy of colour and ‘vitality’ in my work. Thinking of how I grew the plants I painted, picked the chosen bloom and then painted it with my right hand whilst holding it in my left, I began to wonder if somehow the life of the flower could be transferred through me onto the silk. I pondered about other paint mediums, for instance oils, where the process is slower and so often the flowers were long gone before the painting was complete. With silk painting, speed was the essence and often the painting would be completed just as the flower took its last breath. Could this have had some connection to the supposed ‘life’ in my paintings?

I had started investigating Dr Masaru Emoto, the 28 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Japanese scientist who worked with photographing frozen water molecules from around the globe. He discovered that water from a pure source produced beautifully symmetrical crystals, whereas polluted water formed deformed crystals. Since his death, Emoto’s work has been continued by two eminent scientists, Dr Luc Montagnier, (best known for his discovery of HIV virus) and Dr Gerald Pollack, founding editor in chief of the research journal ‘Water’. Between them, these scientists have discovered a fourth dimension of water from which energy can be created, proven to light a lightbulb, and the transference of DNA from one test tube of water to a second using a low frequency electromagnetic field of 7 hertz. At last science can explain how homeopathy works.

So what does this have to do with bees?

Bees, like humans, need water to survive, and can store water in their honey crops, in cells within the hive, and in the nectar they collect. For the nectar to become

honey, the bees fan inside and around the entrance of the hive to evaporate the water within the nectar. Nectar can often be 80% water, this content needs to be reduced to below 18% to form honey that will store. Does all this water inside a hive get affected by its environment?

Colony Collapse disorder of bees has been attributed to many causes, pesticides, lack of forage, poisoned crops (neonicotinoids), stress from transportation for pollination and starvation. It is a relatively recent phenomena where an entire colony of bees is found dead in and around the hive. More recent studies are investigating the effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation on bees. Richard & Franziska Odemer found earlier this year, that RF-EMF exposure significantly reduced the hatching of honeybee queens.

They also found mortalities during pupation.

In 2016 a German study was published after monitoring trees in Bamberg and Hallstadt between 2006 and 2015. Their results showed that electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone masts is harmful for trees, with damaged trees afflicted on the side exposed to the masts before spreading across the whole tree. A study in Southampton UK in 2018 found that extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields impair the cognitive and motor abilities of honey bees.

Chronic exposure to extremely low electromagnetic fields (ELF EMFs) act as a major stress factor in mammals that can lead to memory deficits, stress, anxiety behaviour and depression-like behaviour. With bees flying close to power lines wing beats were seen to increase and bees foraging were found to have more difficulty finding forage, implying that the cognitive ability of bees, and communication between bees was affected. Could the water content of trees and beehives be helping to accentuate the radiation effects?

Bees have evolved a magnetosensitive sense to detect the earth’s static geomagnetic field and use that to navigate. Drones (male bees) have an increased proportion of magnetite in their abdomen suggesting that they need it to be ‘attracted’ to the Drone Congregation areas (DCAs) used for mating. Could EMF radiation be affecting their ability to navigate to these all important sites?

As with other common toxic exposures, it is becoming increasingly difficult to measure the effects as an unexposed control group no longer remains. The new 5G technology has been far less studied for human or environmental effects and yet is being ‘rolled’ out without thorough consultation on the inevitable effects

on our environment, and our own health.

Bees appear to be the canaries in our dark coal mine.

Meditation is all about vibration too. During my bed-bound years, meditation was all I was able to do, it began to become liberating from my extreme physical disability. Now I’m healthy again I am often being referred to as being as ‘busy as a bee’, squeezing in a daily meditation amongst many hours of busy-ness. Mark Winston is one of my favourite bee scientists and his writing about bee behaviour in his book ‘Bee Time’ was a revelation. Over many decades of research, his team discovered that healthy bees actually are ‘restaholics’ rather than workaholics, spending the majority of their time resting, mooching around the hive conserving any energy they have for when an emergency occurs or the need to build extra wax comb or forage during a busy nectar flow. More recent studies found that bees under stressed conditions, over-managed and primarily shipped around the USA for pollination services (more on that another time..), spend NONE of their time in a restful state. This had consequences on their overall health. As bees move serially through tasks during their lifetimes, his research found that when stressed, their life span was sped up, leading to an early death from exhaustion. These overworked bees can be seen twitching uncontrollably outside the hive entrance in their last moments of life. The effects of insecticide on some of the nectar they had been foraging on, was designed specifically to damage the nervous system of such ‘pests’, leaving nerve receptors constantly on, offering no time to rest, one nerve impulse after another being fired into the constantly on receptors. Could EMF radiation also be affecting bees’ ability to rest?

What similarities can be drawn between bee health and our own? Bees are on the front line of EMF radiation, and being smaller and more sensitive, the results are showing up faster. So much of bees is about vibration, their communication, their navigation, and their beautiful buzz. I have been positioning my hives in areas protected as much as possible from EMF radiation, using Shungite and Malachite crystals to assist with their protection. A healthy diet rich in precious trace elements helps the bees, and us, rid our systems of this damaging electrical pollution, but only if we can find time and space to remove ourselves from it.

Perhaps that’s why a day at the seaside or in the woods always makes us feel so much better! paulacarnell.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 29

Wild Dorset

AT WHAT COST?

Junglenomics by Simon M. Lamb (Orator Publishing 2019) RRP £25

I

t is now beyond reasonable doubt that the world is facing an environmental crisis of such proportions that it could eventually threaten our survival.

The cause is an unprecedented and still advancing tide of pollution and destruction of the natural environment and its biodiversity. Simon Lamb’s book provides a fresh perspective on this greatest issue of our time, and explains that the answers to it lie all around us – in Nature. He blames malfunctioning markets for our environmental problems, and argues that a major reform of markets is a top priority if the global environment is to be stabilised in time to avoid catastrophic outcomes from climate change and species loss. He argues that without such reforms, many if not most current approaches to solving our environmental 30 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

problems are bound to continue to fail. Only by putting science into economics and taking a holistic approach to include all aspects of the worldwide environment, he says, can we ever hope to achieve the essential goal of coexisting benignly with the natural world for the long-term future.

Simon Lamb begins his book by tracing the origins and growth of our environmental problems from the birth of farming to the development of modern economies. He finds firstly that, just like species in ecosystems, we humans are genetically driven to seek out new resources – what he calls ‘resource-hunger’, and secondly, that we inhabit a worldwide ‘economic ecosystem’ in which people act out roles that are the exact equivalent to species in natural ecosystems, only

this is a ‘virtual’ ecosystem, where rather than needing to evolve to occupy a new niche as species do, we are ‘avatars’ who can step in and out of roles as the opportunity or need arises. In the economic ecosystem, developing technology equates to evolution, giving rise to a huge array of new economic niches where none existed before, making what were once sow’s ears into silk purses.

Simon looks at how money has had a magnifying effect on our resource hunger. Because money is exchangeable for almost anything, it is in effect a universal resource. Energised by the hoarding instincts brought about by our dependence on agriculture, it has magnified resource hunger and accelerated resource colonisation, to the detriment of environments everywhere. Money has also conferred unprecedented versatility on us as economic species because, instead of dying out when we exhaust resources in one place – forest perhaps, or pollute the environment, as ‘avatars’ we can simply take our money and morph into another economic species, leaving our mess behind.

The result is that we have a large supply of big, dirty, environmentally unaccountable beasts dominating the economic landscape. The strict accountability that rules in Nature to control such excess is thus cheated.

Furthermore, in this unrestrained economic free-for-all there hasn’t been time for enough clean-up ‘species’, which we find everywhere in Nature, to co-evolve and maintain environmental stability. Rapid economic evolution has thus brought with it a devastating trove of environmental and social problems. And we now know that the vast proliferation of new economic species exploiting the world’s resources is so fast and uninhibited that it is even destabilising the climate.

So how can we now establish in economics the same kind of balance that natural ecosystems enjoy and stop ourselves from damaging the natural world ever further, Simon Lamb asks. The answer, he argues, is that balance between economics and ecology can yet be found by using highly successful natural ecosystems as a blueprint for reforming ‘bad’ markets. Only in this way, he explains, can the world achieve benign economic growth while reducing carbon emissions and conserving valuable ecosystems and their biodiversity. It involves introducing universal environmental accounting to businesses and steering them towards more benign practices and products; nurturing and fast-tracking technology and environmentally benign markets to control or eliminate bad ones; establishing economic ‘symbiosis’ to clear up

behind polluters and use otherwise wasted resources; enlisting powerful economic actors in pursuit of ‘green’ profit to conserve and restore vulnerable wilderness; and re-valuing environments and biodiversity using market mechanisms to make them more valuable intact and alive than damaged and dead.

Simon lists shocking statistics and forecasts relating to the chief areas of environmental concern, and gives examples of the potential application of Junglenomics to address them. These problems include climate change, pollution on land, sea and air, loss of primal wilderness, overdevelopment, biomass decline and extinctions. Ideas discussed may be new, be already developed but not fully engaged and scaled up, or be nascent technology that needs fast-tracking into mass production (for example to deal with waste plastics and carbon emissions).

Essential adjustments and alternatives to existing wildlife conservation schemes are proposed to end and even reverse the destruction of their ecosystems. New financial instruments such as ‘Environmental Services Investment Bonds’, designed to make wilderness more valuable standing than felled, while simultaneously providing new infrastructure investment in poor but wilderness-rich nations, are also explained. As the health of the oceans and its fish stocks are essential to our well-being, ocean pollution and over-fishing are another major focus, needing urgent market reforms to protect rapidly declining wild fish stocks.

Junglenomics then addresses the chief obstacles to enlightened change that have stood – and still stand – in the way, most notably the philosophical and political divide between ecologists and economists, and the classic phenomenon of Hardin’s ‘Tragedy of the Commons’, arguing that property rights are the only effective way to overcome its destructive effects.

Junglenomics concludes that a World Environment Organisation accommodating a wide variety of talents and experience is needed as a forum to disseminate ideas, share new technology and co-ordinate policy. It argues that we cannot cure new problems with old, failed policies; that a fresh mindset is needed to tackle the enormous environmental challenges facing the world; and that the Junglenomics paradigm – Nature’s paradigm – is the only real way to achieve this for the long term. junglenomics.com Junglenomics by Simon M. Lamb is available now from Elementum Gallery and Winstone's Books sherbornetimes.co.uk | 31

@elizabethwatsonillustrations 32 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Developing Curiosity

&Understanding

For more information or to arrange a visit please contact the Registrar, Charlotte Carty

01935 810911 or registrar@sherborneprep.org Acreman Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3NY

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Blackmarsh Farm, Sherborne DT9 4JX 01935 815040 toy-barn.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 33

UNEARTHED Celia Shaw, aged 13, Sherborne Prep

C

reativity is a natural ability in children but some young artists like Celia are able to transform that ability into a far-reaching talent. Celia has been always creative, but it is only in the last three years that her wonderful artistic qualities have come to the surface of her personality. She comes from a supportive family who encourage creativity as an essential element of her education, providing real opportunities for Celia to explore her ideas while discovering the world around her.

She has become one of the most imaginative pupils in her school, sharing her genuine passion for art with everybody around her. She is enthusiastic, curious and courageous to find expression within form and colour, a wonderful way of seeing life for such a young person. Among many accolades, Celia has represented Sherborne Prep at the Satips National Art Exhibition 2019, an event showing the best art from schools all over the country. She has also been shortlisted in the first Young Artist Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy in London and has won the first prize of an art competition organised by Tusk, an organisation that supports forward-thinking and successful conservation projects in Africa.

Celia’s talent has already touched many people and she will continue to make the world a better place as an art scholar at Bryanston School. Celia is an artist in the making, someone to celebrate for a brighter future. sherborneprep.org

KATHARINE DAVIES PHOTOGRAPHY Portrait, lifestyle, PR and editorial commissions 07808 400083 info@katharinedaviesphotography.co.uk www.katharinedaviesphotography.co.uk

34 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Family

Children’s Book Review

by Ethan (aged 11)

The Racehorse Who Learned To Dance, by Clare Balding, illustrated by Tony Ross, (Puffin 2019) RRP £12.99 (hardback) Sherborne Times Reader Offer Price of £11.99 from Winstone’s Books

P

olly is badly injured following a horse riding accident and thinks she’ll never be able to ride again. Her mother is very strict about her exercising every day and won’t let her do anything that could potentially damage her leg even more.

Polly secretly has lessons on Noddy, her best friend Charlie’s retired racehorse, which not only strengthens her leg but also makes her happy and builds her confidence. Noddy is a nervous horse (read Clare Balding’s first two books to find out more) but Polly’s twin brothers discover that if you play music to a horse,

'Independent Bookseller of the Year 2016’ 8 Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3PX www.winstonebooks.co.uk Tel: 01935 816 128

it will trot to the beat. The twins are sensitive to Noddy’s anxiety and train him very gently using music for instruction.

Polly’s parents find out about her secret lessons but eventually give in and allow her to enter a competition with Noddy.

This is a really heart-warming book that I would definitely recommend to anyone. The story shows us how physical disabilities shouldn’t stop us following our dreams and how helping animals can help us too. clarebalding.co.uk

Keep them entertained this Summer Holiday

Family

BEING KIND IS COOL

W

Millie Neville-Jones

ith all that is going on in the world at the moment, the world needs more kindness, love and understanding. You know that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when someone has been kind to you or vice versa? Maybe something simple like opening the door for you or making a cup of tea. That is because being kind releases the feel-good hormone, serotonin – the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of satisfaction and well-being. Knowing this, why wouldn’t you want to be kind?

Let’s be honest, there are times when emotions are running high and the last thing you want to be is kind. Perhaps, when you’re on the phone to the person from BT and have been put through many, many times, and they still don’t get what you are asking.

This takes a lot of deep breathing and endless amounts of patience. However, it is not a reason to be unkind.

Recently, I have experienced something truly unkind. This has led me to question kindness and also why people are unkind. I came to the conclusion that it is totally down to the nature and conscience (or lack of ) of the person. Despite experiencing unkindness, it doesn’t mean that we have to stoop to that person’s level.

I recently read an article on the importance of kindness, it made it incredibly clear that as well as being outwardly kind, you have to be kind inwardly, being kind to yourself.

It posed these questions: ‘Do you treat yourself kindly?’ ‘Do you speak gently and kindly to yourself and take good care of yourself ?’ It is definitely something to think about.

Here are some more reasons to practise kindness: Kindness is a remedy for the heart. Being kind to others can affect the actual chemical balance of your heart, in a positive way. There is a saying that goes, caring people have really big hearts. This is so true as kindness strengthens your heart physically and emotionally.

Kindness reduces stress. This is because it allows you to pay less attention to yourself and your problems. It also enables you to cope better with stressful situations, providing improved emotional function.

Kindness produces a contagious smile. If you are being kind to someone, you are most likely causing them to smile, and if you see that smile for yourself, it might be catching.

As we go about our day-to-day lives, it is incredibly important we practise kindness.

There are too many benefits to not be kind, to others and to ourselves. Remember, it’s cool to be kind.

36 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

POURQUOI PAS?

‘W

Jeanne Mortarotti, Languages Tutor

e English are really not good with languages’ I heard again this morning. I can’t count the number of times that I have heard this, while talking about languages – which, being French, a languages tutor and married to an Italian, happens regularly. Funnily enough, if I get to talk about the same matter with French or Italian friends, they all say the same thing about their own skills.

Personally, I wasn’t born gifted with the power of speaking several languages. Coming out of school, I could get by with some English and Spanish – French students have to learn two languages in secondary school. But it is only as an adult that I started to master several languages.

My real interest in languages came above all when becoming a parent. There was no doubt in my mind that my children had to become trilingual to fit in with their French and Italian origins and be educated in England. Also, as a mum, it was natural to me to use the language I related to most in order to express love and affection (even if I do prefer to use English to tell my children off !).

Children are not born with the gift of languages, they acquire it. I have often met mixed language couples who have told me how lucky I am that my children speak my language whilst their child refuse to speak to them in any other language than English. To be honest, this is not about luck, this is about determination – and maybe slight stubbornness.

I have always asked my children to return to French if they have defaulted to English, translated the words they didn’t know, ignored their questions if they weren’t in French, used any occasion to improve their French by reading books, listening to songs, travelling to France and so on. And I have spent many hours working with them on grammar and activity books despite their moaning and even their tears. Oh yes, French is not an easy language (and don’t be fooled in to thinking that Italian is any easier!).

However, all those efforts have rewarded us with so much, not only the fact that my children can have a normal interaction with both sides of the family, but that they have developed a strong sense of curiosity and logic, an aptitude for learning and more than anything a remarkable memory.

Research has proved in recent years that speaking another language decreases the chances of dementia, as it creates connections in the brain that tend not to be used regularly otherwise. The benefits of learning a foreign language are far more than just being able to communicate in another language. It is also about embracing new cultures, discovering new horizons and opening new options in life. It even helps you to master your own language and culture. As Geoffrey Willans wrote: ‘You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.’

Everyone can learn a new language, at any stage in their life. It does require time and effort, it never comes naturally, but the rewards are many and it will surely transform your life for the better, like it did for me. teamyfriend.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 37

Family

WE ALL NEED A BIT OF DRAMA Melissa Meikle, Year 3 Form Teacher and Junior Drama Teacher, Sherborne Prep School

‘Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember.

Involve me and I will understand.’ Chinese Proverb

A

s a Junior School drama teacher, I could write a manuscript on the many reasons why teaching drama within the curriculum is so important in creating passionate and fully rounded children. To some, drama is the yearly school production. However, drama is a creative, engaging and effective tool for learning, which should be used across all subjects and disciplines.

Dramatic activity is already an instinctive part of most toddlers’ lives before they embark on their 38 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

school career in the shape of make-believe play. This allows them to make sense of their own identity by investigating important fictional situations that have parallels in the real world. Once a child begins their formal education, there is so much more emphasis placed on children learning to read and write.

There is no argument that these fundamental skills are extremely important. Educators may need to realise that there also needs to be a drive on how well a child

"Exploring through drama can provide children with an outlet for emotions, thoughts and dreams that they may not otherwise have had the means to express."

is communicating. If you consider how much we communicate, verbally and non-verbally, then it seems imperative that we highlight the importance of this in schools. This is so necessary in preparing our children to be able to function and operate efficiently in today’s increasingly information-centred world.

Drama instils creativity and self-expression as well as nourishing the imagination. It is an important means of inspiring creativity in problem solving.

Exploring through drama can provide children with an outlet for emotions, thoughts and dreams that they may not otherwise have had the means to express. A student is given the opportunity to explore new roles, experiment with various personal choices and solutions to actual real-life problems, or understand difficulties faced by characters in literature or throughout history. This can happen in a safe atmosphere, where actions and consequences can be studied, talked over and experienced without the hazards and snares of the ‘real’ world.

Drama is not only for the students. My love of drama is evident in all the subjects I teach across the curriculum.

Drama is a key element in my teaching toolbox. Pupils know the stories and characters because they have participated in the story-telling process, through role play, freeze frame, thought tracking and improvisation.

They remember what was taught through the engaging, unforgettable and enjoyable lesson activities.

I cannot imagine teaching in a primary classroom without using some amount of drama or performance.

Within my teaching career, my students have been archaeologists, television reporters, detectives, flight attendants on board journeys around the world. We have acted out the process of photosynthesis, the water cycle and the movement of the planets in our solar system.

The children have marched as Romans into battle and acted as Vikings rampaging and pillaging monasteries.

We have fun bringing our class readers to life by acting out various scenes in role as the different characters.

Drama is a performing art and an outlet for selfexpression. It would be lovely to see it being used as a way of learning in today’s classroom, as there are opportunities to involve the children intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally.

For delivering rounded and more successful students, or just pure entertainment, we are better with a bit of drama in our classrooms. sherborneprep.org sherbornetimes.co.uk | 39

Family

CHOICE WORDS Rebecca de Pelet, Head of English, Sherborne School

O

ne question an English teacher can be relied upon to be asked during a parents’ meeting towards the end of a summer term is, ‘What should she/he be reading?’ While there are sensible answers to this very reasonable question, the real answer is: whatever they want to. The problem of course, is that children, like adults, don’t always know what they want.

I recently gave Lucy Mangan’s Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading to my mother for her birthday. As is our wont, I read it after her and I enjoyed it enormously.

It’s genuinely useful for tips on what may well ignite your own child’s reading and I like its advice not to worry too much about what our children read, since they will move on, and will also thank you later for letting them make their own way.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to encourage reading in our children sometimes, particularly when they don’t read for pleasure, at all. My son morphed from an avid primary age reader into a teenage refusenik. I tried everything: genre fiction, sports autobiographies, graphic novels, thrillers, military history, short stories, P.G. Wodehouse, Hemingway, Chandler and Welsh. But nothing stuck. A good friend advised me to relax and promised me that my son would undoubtedly return to the written word when he was older. And so that is what I did. I let go of any sense of ‘Head-of-English-failurewith-own-son’ and left him to it.

I’m not a fan of social media homily, especially when it’s expressed in comic sans on a Clip Art ‘wooden’ background, but one example did recently strike me as worthy of note. It was headed ‘A List of Books to Read Before You Die’ and its threefold advice went like this: 1 Any book you want 2 Don’t read books you don’t want to read 3 That’s it I quite like this approach and as the summer holidays 40 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

begin, I am thinking about what I want to read next.

Looking at the bedside pile of books I’ve read during this term, I realise that I have only read ones written by women in the last two months or so. This was not a conscious choice but is an interesting one – The Weatherhouse, Nan Shepherd, 1930; Outline, Rachel Cusk, 2014; A World of Love, Elizabeth Bowen, 1954; Milkman, Anna Burns, 2018; Invitation to the Waltz, Lehman,1932; Summer Knickers, a Wartime Scottish Childhood by Sarah Paton Wiseman, privately

Sirtravelalot/Shutterstock

published – choices shaped by my mother, my daughter, a friend, a radio programme and as a result of browsing in our very own Elementum Gallery and Winstone’s, as well as in Shaftesbury’s excellent Oxfam bookshop.

So, what next? The voice of Burns’ rather brilliant novel Milkman is addictive and I am hoping that I will feel the same about that of My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. Then, I’m off to Ash before Oak by Jeremy Cooper with its promise of pathos and beauty. I am also looking forward to reading more

non-fiction (although I’m not sure what yet), something I have invested in more since teaching boys. Speaking of boys, my family went to the beach a couple of days ago – I was nursing an end-of-term virus at home – and on their return, my husband filled me in. When he got onto the subject of our 18-year-old son’s enjoyment of the day, he remarked, quite casually, ‘Oh, and he was reading a book.’ sherborne.org sherbornetimes.co.uk | 41

Family

Halfpoint/Shutterstock

42 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

DESTINATION: A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE Juliana Atyeo

‘We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly; we need millions of people doing it imperfectly.’

Anne Marie Bonneau, Zero Waste Chef

A

s someone who has never been particularly ‘crafty’ in any sense, I was delighted in my creation of wax wraps to use in place of cling film and produce bags to take with me to the zerowaste shop, Take No Wrap, in Yeovil. The wax wraps were straightforward: off-cuts of cotton (upcycled from old sheets but also admittedly some prettier patterns of fabric I had procured a while ago and never used) snipped to size with pinking shears. The cotton is laid on to a parchment paper lined oven sheet and covered with food-grade wax pellets (beeswax or soya) and folded over itself. Five minutes in the oven and then a paintbrush is used to ensure the melted wax is spread evenly across the fabric.

There was something undeniably satisfying about the patterned, colourful waxed squares hanging up on a makeshift twine washing line suspended across the kitchen. They work, too: the wraps stick to themselves effectively and although in the beginning there is a distinct waxy aroma about them this does not appear to transfer to the food they protect. Spurred on by this small success, I set about planning how to use up the rest of my fabric. My mother had offered for me to use her sewing machine - which she had used forty odd years ago to make little dresses for me when I was small - but had long since been in sewing machine retirement. Together, we figured out, with the assistance of YouTube and my seven-year-old son, how to thread the needle and wind the bobbin. Then, with the machine successfully set up, my son and I set to work making produce bags. It was the ultimate teamwork: he controlled the pedal and I steered (?) the fabric. Not much later we had seven drawstring bags that we had made together.

This morning, despite the torrential rain, I was greeted with my son’s enthusiastic reminder that I had

promised a trip to the zero-waste shop, so we set off with the produce bags and a few jars. He was so excited when we arrived, marvelling at the containers filled with dried foods that we would soon transfer into our produce bags or jars. The concept of the zero-waste shop is simple: customers take their own containers (the benefit of cloth bags being that they are lighter and less cumbersome to carry back home than a bag full of glass jars – you decant your goods into airtight jars at home) and pay by weight for what they purchase.

Different stores have different systems but essentially you weigh your container and then subtract that weight of the container when it has been filled. Most of the shops I have heard of will provide brown paper bags for customers without containers but obviously in the spirit of moving to zero-waste, whilst better than single use plastic which will sit in landfill for hundreds of years, nevertheless, the reality is that there is an energy and resource cost to producing paper bags, so remembering to take your own containers is the most eco-friendly way to shop.

Back home and my Riverford delivery has arrived on my doorstep. We take everything into the kitchen and my son begins to carefully pour the contents of our cloth bags into our clean repurposed jars, the sound of the different pulses, seeds and grains lending a percussive backdrop as I put the fruit and vegetables away. There’s something pleasing about having a full stock of food and no packaging that has come as result of my purchases.

Finally, the shopping having almost entirely been put away, I put into a small glass ramekin a mixture of banana chips, pumpkin seeds, nuts and dried fruit for my son to snack on while I grind the Fair Trade organic coffee beans from the final produce bag and make myself a well-earned cup of coffee. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 43

Art

H

aving done very little drawing and painting in the town recently I decided to wander around with my sketch pad and take a closer look at some of the wonderful old buildings.

One of my favourites is what was known as ‘The Julian’ right at the top of Cheap Street next to the timber-framed building which, when I first arrived in Sherborne, was a green grocer.

The reason I like this stone building is because of the architecture. I believe it was built around 1437 and refurbished in 1600 and something (I don’t know if it has been done since!) The small windows and the slight overhang of stone work higher up I found very appealing. It’s a quirky building full of charm. I crossed the road and stood outside the White Hart and began to draw.

I decided to work with pen and concentrate on the line with minimal shading. I enjoy the clean, clear result one gets of going in with ink; no room for error. As it was still early I didn’t think the pub was open and stood outside one of the doors. I was soon approached by a gentleman pointing out that the entrance was the next door along. I didn’t think I looked as though I was desperate for a drink, but he obviously was and went in.

I was tempted to expand the view and draw the George Inn but thought I’d leave that for another time.

Now to the home of The Slipped Stitch, a knitter’s paradise, which stocks a huge amount of wool and other associated items which would make a nice still-life painting. On entering the shop, I saw a group of very creative souls gathered to experience what is a regular event called ’Knit and Natter’, one of many workshops and get-togethers held there. I had a look around and went upstairs; it is just as interesting up there as it is outside. I shall return sometime to do a few interiors.

My next stop was Abbey Close. Tucked up in the corner is a couple of cottages which form a junction with Finger Lane; a quiet part of Sherborne right in the centre of town. The rather dark well-clipped hedge of the close gives suitable contrast to the grave stones and the cottage beyond.

The roof is particularly interesting – not slate or tile but slabs of Ham stone, reducing in size the higher they get. The weight on the roof timbers must be colossal! I stood at one corner of the Abbey in the sunshine and out of the wind and managed to do this very quick little sketch. As with The Slipped Stitch, I hint at the stone work rather than draw every block, as it’s the impression and character I’m after, not a photographic representation. Although these drawings are quick and I am not there very long, it is surprising how much one remembers afterwards. Drawing, I believe, really does improve the memory as you have to really look at the subject. laurencebelbin.com

44 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 45

History OBJECT OF THE MONTH

THE “BELLARMINE” FRAGMENT Elisabeth Bletsoe, Curator, Sherborne Museum

I

n the past the museum seems to have been the repository for the results of several digs in the town but information and context has become detached over time. Some of the pottery was found in a box with pieces of Ham Hill stone labelled ‘15thcentury fireplace’ and a loose card stating ‘found in ash-filled pit NW corner’.

Excavations were carried out at Sherborne Abbey between 1964-73 by Sherborne School pupils under the direction of Jim Gibb and John Leach in the area west of the Abbey church and inside the west cloister range while looking for evidence of the pre-Conquest structure. Part of a report Gibb wrote contains a paragraph regarding a 1967 dig under the Beckett Room (where the School archives are currently kept) which stated: ‘... The removal of the 19th-century dado on the west wall uncovered 6ft of the south jamb...and also a fine late 15th century Ham Hill stone fireplace, much mutilated.

Sometime in the first half of the 17th century the room had been used as a pottery. We uncovered: a cobble area and drain, post-holes of what had probably been a bench, a trough dug into the floor, lined with large flat stones with charcoal lying on its plain earthenware tiled floor. Mr Kenneth Hudson identified the trough as a device for drying newly-turned pots before firing. Half the 15th century fireplace had been removed and a raised platform with a semi-circular back of burned stones in front of the fireplace probably formed the base of a bee-hive kiln.’

A burned depression was also found in the vicinity (the north wall of the NW transept) and many of the museum sherds accompanying the fireplace fragments are black and sooty. These are ‘wasters’, broken pieces 46 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

created due to the mis-firing of pots which supports the theory that work was accomplished on site. It seems that the fireplace had been converted to heat the kiln and the cobbled area may have been the site of a potter’s wheel.

Gibb believed that the pottery shop remained in existence for about a generation in the early part of the 17th century – a fascinating short-term use of the former monastic range after the Dissolution.

Some of our sherds were salt-glazed, which gives a dimpled ‘orange-peel’ effect; expert opinion has suggested that these might be local copies of a stone ware originating from the Cologne region, the popularity of which inspired imitations. Known as Bartmann or Bellarmine jugs, they had a signature decorative detail of a fearsome bearded face on the lower neck of the vessel derived from the wodewose or wildman creature popular in European folklore. During the 17th century they were often employed as witch bottles, to be filled with urine, hair, fingernails and other magical items, which were considered to have a protective function. Fragments such as the one featured were discovered in the Old Castle moat and are on display in the Gibb gallery.

It is very satisfying that the story of these pottery fragments can be told and that they can finally be placed into a context which gives them meaning.

The museum is open from Tues-Sat 10.30am – 4.30pm.

Admission free, donations welcome. sherbornemuseum.co.uk

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History

With thanks to the current owners of Farthing Gate Tollhouse

THE TURNPIKE AGE Cindy Chant, Sherborne Blue Badge Guide

I

n the mid-16th century, the state of the roads in the county and around Sherborne were dreadful, full of pot holes and deep mud. Carriages and wagons became stuck axle-deep by the increasing traffic, and it was all becoming a hazard. Something had to be done.

One of the big developments during the last half of the 18th century was the creation of the turnpike trusts. Parishes, which had already been responsible for the upkeep of their roads since the 16th century, were allowed to turnpike or toll gate a road through which a traveller was required to pass to enter a parish.

A toll was levied or a charge was made, and this was intended to pay for the upkeep of the roads. For someone travelling a long distance, the turnpikes were expensive and inconvenient.

John Woolcott of the New Inn in Sherborne (you 48 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

may remember I wrote about the New Inn on ‘La Grene’ in the April issue) said that in 1821 the tolls of one wagon’s journey to and from London and Exeter cost £5.1/-.9d!

The turnpikes brought about many changes in the road network in and around Sherborne. Since tolls were to be levied on all traffic and all travellers entering the town’s environs, it was sensible to develop a few good roads, and close those which were underused, or were difficult to incorporate within the turnpike system.

The first Turnpike Act relating to Dorset was in 1752/3 and dealt mainly with the eastern side of Shaftesbury, but there was also a Toll House at Halfway House in Nether Compton, between Sherborne and Yeovil, which now forms part of the A30 dual carriageway. It also covered a road ‘from the house of

Samuel Wise (proprietor of the King’s Arms, which was then situated on ‘La Grene’) to a direction post at Milborne Port.

Also included in the Act was the road that started from the Yeovil Road, probably the Bradford Road, and then continued to Twinway Lane and Horsecastles Lane and then to West Bridge, on up Watery Lane to Longburton, Holnest straight, Farthing Gate, and finally to Revels Inn. Here it met the older Sherborne to Dorchester road by way of Giant’s Head Inn. Roads had undergone various changes in the period prior to the introduction of the turnpike, and these were due as much to the changing needs of road travellers, as to more local changes. For example, it seems likely that the Watery Lane (Westhill out of Sherborne) had become more important than the older route over Gainsborough Hill.

It is also possible that the improvements and landscaping of the Castle Gardens by Capability Brown during the second half of the 18th century prompted the closure of the old Pinford Road.

In order that the tolls might be collected, it was necessary to halt the traffic by barriers placed across the road at suitable intervals, and these normally took the form of gates that could easily be opened.

The gates or barriers were usually flanked by a Toll House in which the gate-keeper lived, and on the wall of the Toll House was displayed a board setting out the charges and other regulations.

When you next drive past the old Toll House, Farthing Gate, at Holnest, slow down, look up and there between the windows you will see the display board.

Farthing Gate Toll House gets its name from the farthings charged for each pig, sheep or lamb travelling through the gate.

The better the roads became, the more they were used and the more they cost, but it was all too short-lived and the decision to end the turnpike was made in the 1880s. By 1888 all main turnpiked roads became the responsibility of the new county councils.

In their heyday, turnpiked roads must have been one of the most familiar features of everyday life, yet today the system has left practically no traces, except the routes of many of our main roads, and the occasional Toll House.

Next month, I will continue telling you about the many Toll Houses that were to be found here in Sherborne. sherbornewalks.co.uk

Free home visits specialist Neil Grenyer will be in the sherborne area on Thursday 29th August to value your antiques

Walter e. Greengrass (1896-1970) seAsiDe morNiNG. Colour Linocut, 1935 BOUGHT FOR £14,640

to make an appointment please contact: ( 01460 73041  neil.grenyer@lawrences.co.uk Complete house Contents & Attic Clearances Arranged Professional Probate valuations

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lawrences.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 49

Antiques

CATTLE CHATTEL

Richard Bromell ASFAV, Charterhouse Auctioneers

M

any people, like myself, like a novelty item.

It can be something that tickles your fancy and makes you smile, or it can be something that you need to own because you saw one similar years ago and regretted never buying it. The bad news here is because I see so many lovely lots, many of which are novelty, it is difficult to work out which to buy and which ones Mrs B will allow to go into the home.

Storage is often a problem for me at home. If we look at pictures, there is hardly any wall space left. This combined with Mrs B sharp eyes always keeping a lookout for more items entering Bromell Towers means I have to get sneaky when introducing new purchases, but not as sneaky as some of my clients.

Several years ago, I carried out a valuation for a client who had varied interests to say the least.

Although he lived in a sizeable property surrounded by several acres of land, space was a premium, not aided as he collected combine harvesters. At one point, he had more than 20 of these farming monsters and he was always devising ways of getting them in past his wife, usually with little success.

However, every now and then, I see a little lot which I think even Mrs B will like, such as the silver cow creamer we have in our August two-day auction. It is a sweet little piece of novelty silver. The design originates from the Dutch who first produced silver cow creamers in the 18th century. They were very popular and copied in England in silver, silver plate, pottery and porcelain soon after right up to today.

The silver cow creamer we have measures 10cm high, but does not really resemble a particular breed of cow.

50 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

On her back is a hinged lid, decorated leaves and with a bee finial, which when open enables you to pour in the cream. The tail forms the handle and when tipped up the cream (single rather than clotted!!) pours out through her mouth onto your pudding.

Despite looking like an 18th-century piece, it was made relatively recently by Garrards of London in

Garrard novelty silver cow creamer, made in London in 1969, estimated at ÂŁ200-400 in the Charterhouse twoday auction on 15th and 16th August

1969. It has spent the past few decades in a beautiful old Somerset Rectory where it lived in a display cabinet.

Sadly, the owner passed away earlier this year and we were instructed first to carry out a valuation for inheritance tax and then to auction items surplus to the beneficiary’s needs.

Now in need of a light clean and polish I am

doubtful whether Mrs B will allow this novelty cow creamer into the home. Not because she does not find it positively charming or it needs a clean, but probably because I will use it for its intended purpose and I am not allowed any cream! charterhouse-auction.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 51

CHARTERHOUSE Auctioneers & Valuers We are now accepting entries for our forthcoming auctions: Classic & Vintage Motorcycles at Haynes International Museum Saturday 10th August Silver, Jewellery & Watches Thursday 15th August 1956 Vincent Black Prince Series D £60,000-70,000

Wine, Port & Whisky with Antiques & Interiors Friday 16th August Classic & Vintage Cars Wednesday 11th September

Contact Richard Bromell for advice and to arrange a home visit The Long Street Salerooms Sherborne DT9 3BS 01935 812277 www.charterhouse-auction.com

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Interiors

FROM THE FASHION RUNWAY TO YOUR LIVING ROOM Suzy Newton, Partners in Design

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here are so many examples throughout history of the wonderfully unique creations that result from artistic partnerships between couture fashion and ceramic ateliers and the home-furnishing industry – think Dolce & Gabbana’s vibrant designs for Smeg fridges and coffeemakers; the Fendi ‘armchair of a thousand eyes’; and leather goods house Bottega Veneto’s foray into opulent throws, fabrics and ceramics.

Recently we have seen the launch of a fantastic collaboration between British wallpaper creators Cole & Son and Italian luxury design atelier Fornasetti, with the new collection Senza Tempo. This is their latest venture, boasting a timeless collection of 19 whimsical wallpapers.

Fornasetti is a reliably mischievous player on Italy’s vibrant homeware and design scene. A brand that grew out of artist Piero Fornasetti’s lifelong obsession with creating variations – about 500 of them – of the opera singer Lina Cavalieri’s face. He used this motif, alongside swords and suns, playful monkeys and butterflies, ancient architecture and sardine cans, to create his enchanting ceramic designs. Today, his legacy continues with his son Barnaba Fornasetti at the head of the Fornasetti brand.

The 2019 Senza Tempo collection celebrates a long-standing and continued partnership for the two companies. The slightly surreal, ironic, witty and 56 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

elegant universe of Fornasetti translates into a set of atmospheric wallpapers embodying the timeless essence on which the Milanese atelier has built its very identity – a dreamlike reinvention of the artistic archive of the famous Italian house.

Similarly hot off the press is the glorious Missoni wall coverings collaboration with Osborne & Little.

Known for their iconic lamé knitwear, the Missoni family have created a modern selection of papers from the narrow lined metallic soft hues of the ‘riga multicolore’ to the quirkiness of the ‘zig zag sfumato’ to the textural brilliance of ‘Oriental Garden’.

Several decades ago wallpaper was the run-of-themill background to our living spaces. Today’s offerings have never been more diverse, eclectic and fun. That wall at the end of a corridor, the alcove in the sitting room, the sweep up the staircase, the family cloakroom are all areas where the addition of an interesting wall covering can surprise and add the ‘wow’ factor.

These new collections certainly create that in spades; from the tactile blossoms of Missoni’s Oriental Garden to Cole & Son’s fantastical flying machines and colourful monkeys peeping out from leafy tress as they nibble on ‘frutto proibito’(forbidden fruit). partners-in-design.co.uk

Missoni

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58 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

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Gardening

WILD IDEAS

I

Mike Burks, Managing Director, The Gardens Group

have recently been judging gardens as part of Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Wildlife Friendly Gardening competition which we sponsor. It’s a wonderful competition designed to share best practice and to promote environmentally-sound gardening and is now in its tenth year. We team up with Dorset Wildlife Trust, and five teams of judges head out to visit more than 60 gardens of all shapes and sizes in Dorset.

We get to see a huge range of gardens and some real surprises too. One such garden in Beaminster was an astonishing mixture of some fabulous features all recycled and reused, such as toadstool ornaments made from clay formed by using lampshades as a template. Others were bee and insect houses made from an ornate shelving unit, which was complemented by some wonderful planting, making the garden very eccentric and exciting but perfect for human and wildlife to enjoy.

The judging sheet format we use looks at all of the important factors that are required to make wildlife welcome and these include the all-important availability of water. Ideally this is provided in various forms, preferably a pond with sloping sides to allow access into and, more importantly, out of the water. Ideally fish should be excluded as they enjoy gobbling up young tadpoles and newts! Water elsewhere in terms of bird baths and shallow bowls sunk into the borders are also very useful too.

We look at lawns closely and those less tended are always more useful. Many wildlife enthusiasts refer to a grass only, closely mown lawn as being a ‘green desert’ and the evidence is that insect activity above such a lawn is so minimal as to be almost useless. Just allowing some of a lawn to grow and to allow flowers such as daisies, self-heal and bugle to flower will not only create a very useful food source but will look good too. Such a lawn could be trimmed once a month, and in sections, so that there is always some flower available.

If space is available, then grass can be allowed to grow longer, perhaps even for most of the summer. After a while wildflowers will start to appear, increasing in diversity over the years. It’s probably easiest to mimic an agricultural system, such as imagining that the patch is a hay meadow and mowing it the same time each year later in July. This encourages those plants that can grow to flower and set seed before the grass is cut. From here, remove the mowings to the compost heap after it has dried, and the seed has escaped. This will weaken the soil in terms of fertility and so wildflowers will proliferate whilst the grass goes into decline.

Another that earns lots of points on the scoresheet is the availability of flowers all year round.

This will keep pollinating insects well fed no matter when they are around. This is especially important with the climate in its current state of flux as insect populations including bees are up and about at odd times of the year. Earlier this spring the purple leafed plum in the centre of Castle Gardens was humming with bees when in full flower in the very early spring. This is normally when bees are still snuggled up, but the weather was warm and out they came needing a substantial meal for the hive or nest. So, choosing a range of plants that will collectively flower year-round is a sound thing to do. This is fairly straightforward for the spring and summer but trickier in the autumn and winter. However, it is still possible and the Christmas Box (Sarcococca), Mahonia and Osmanthus heterophyllus varieties are three good examples of those that will oblige out of the main season.

This means that not only will wildlife be happy, but it will be a wonderful display for the human users of the garden too! thegardensgroup.co.uk

62 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

GARDENING MIKE BURKS

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sherbornetimes.co.uk | 63

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Gardening

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Paul Stickland, Black Shed Flowers

e’ve had another wonderful month at Black Shed – the weather’s been kind and the flowers are blooming their heads off. Which is just as well, as we’ve had a great many weddings to provide flowers for. By the time you’ll have read this, we’ll have done more than 30 this year, some full service and some simply providing buckets of flowers for the families to create their own bouquets and wedding decorations. Our brides and grooms come and choose their favourite colours and varieties from the flowers actually growing in the field. Couples really love doing this and it’s a very happy part of their weddings. Seeing their faces light up with excitement as we walk around the gardens is a joy!

It’s been a great year for British flowers and the flower farmers who grow them. The big floral designers, florists and brides are all demanding fresh British blooms. The word is out that people are looking for a more relaxed, natural look and the flowers that we can grow in this climate fit the bill perfectly. It’s difficult to achieve this style with flowers that are grown under glass and shipped across the world, so this is great news for small British growers.

We’re proud members of Flowers From The Farm, which has done a great deal to support this new breed of farmers and farmer florists. Formed by pioneering grower Gill Hodson, as a means to connect similar small-scale growers to each other and to their public, they have succeeded in raising the profile of British flower farmers, through appearances at Chelsea and many of the other RHS and county shows. This year the group have created The Flower Farmer’s Big Weekend to celebrate British Flowers and their growers, which will take place on 16th - 18th August. We're going to join the fun with an Open Day and guided tours on Saturday 17th and Black Shed Family Bouquet Workshops on Sunday 18th. Full details on our website.

As I write, we’ve just had our very first opening for the National Garden Scheme. We were delighted to be invited to join the scheme, which provides so many wonderful experiences exploring thousands of amazing private gardens across the country. Visitors are always welcome at the flower farm at any time but ever since we appeared in the famous Yellow Book, we’ve had a great many garden groups and Women’s Institutes booking visits. It’s a great way to get a guided tour of the gardens and a good opportunity to learn more about locally grown, seasonal cut flowers.

Despite visiting countless gardens under the NGS, we had no idea what to expect – would we get ten visitors or a hundred? Would we have enough cake? We rushed around, weeding, mowing, tidying, filling vole holes in the paths, working blooming hard in a very busy week of weddings. The day came and the car park filled very quickly. It was wonderful to see so many people pouring in and enjoying the garden. Most people had never even heard of small-scale flower farms, let alone explored one, so there were a lot of questions. The hours flew by and suddenly we had the garden to ourselves again in the evening sunshine. We had more than 170 visitors and with the huge support of Peter and Amanda Hunt at the farm and an army of wonderful friends, we made over £700 for charity. One wonderful by-product of this is that we now have a very, very tidy garden. For a while! blackshedflowers.blogspot.co.uk /paulstickland_ Black Shed will open again under the NGS scheme on Monday 26th August, 1pm – 5pm 66 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

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BOOTMAKERS Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

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hat wakes Safia Shah and Ian Thomas in the morning is not the delicate refrain of birdsong but the occasional plop of an empty cereal box through the letterbox. The couple have been living in Wincanton for five years while gradually building the reputation of their business Bootmakers into what is now a popular pizzeria-cum-creperie-cumscrap-based activity workshop.

A curious zig-zagging journey has brought this creative couple to Wincanton. They are both news journalists and worked in London for Associated Press Television. In 2000 they left news to restore a Georgian house in Spitalfields where they set up A. Gold, a deli which specialised entirely in British produce. They lived above the shop until the itch to travel – and the wish for their two children to experience something different – took them on a road trip to Morocco. They ended up in Casablanca and stayed for seven years. >

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The idea for Bootmakers had rattled around in Ian and Safia’s heads for a while but it was while they were living in Casablanca that it really began to stick. ‘The Moroccans are ingenious in the way that nothing is wasted. Everything is reused,’ says Safia. ‘The whole attitude is that anything can be achieved. If the chair only has three legs, a fourth can be found or recreated,’ adds Ian. ‘It might not be exactly as you expected but a solution is found.’ ‘What is so special about Morocco,’ says Safia, ‘is that no one says “no”.’

The concept behind Bootmakers is the same.

Fundamentally it is an artful workshop where children (and adults) can come, enjoy themselves, eat wood-fired pizza or a crêpe, sip a coffee or munch candy-floss, while creating something out of reused materials. ‘Really we are service providers’ says Safia. ‘Because we are scrapbased we can reduce landfill and keep our prices down.

In fact, people love giving us their scrap; it’s as if they feel a responsibility for their disused buttons or wool.

They often drive a long way to deliver it, like we’re part of a scrap tourism trail.’

So now it’s not only cardboard boxes that get dropped off, destined to become colourfully painted televisions like those adorning today’s front window.

Compressed coffee capsules are collaged into fish scales; unused plastic cups become lampshades; wool transforms into fluffy zombie-eyed monsters; cateringsized olive oil cans become cloth-covered cushioned stools, the list goes on. ‘The focus is on making it fun,’ says Safia, and certainly today, as a group of eager children arrive after school, Bootmakers is buzzing.

Safia is an author and has written many books which include children’s titles, a collaboration with her father the author Idries Shah, as well as volumes on lost words.

Both she and Ian are adept in creating a magical world for children. They also have the help of volunteer design teams from around the world through Workaway, a scheme which connects globetrotters with hosts where they can work in return for board and lodging. Recently two graffiti artists arrived at Bootmakers – one from Los Angeles, the other from Italy – and produced a series of artworks that are still on the walls and continue to inspire the children. ‘The travelling artists always have new and energising ideas,’ says Safia. Currently the ‘workaways’ hail from New York, Barcelona and Florence. ‘They never teach, they just help,’ she adds.

It’s hard to describe just how hospitable Safia and Ian are, but as the after-school gang arrive and pushchairs > sherbornetimes.co.uk | 71

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are bumped down the steps, mums flop on to sofas and the children find a seat at the table, they are all clearly glad to be here. The helpers are advising on winding the wool to make a boggle-eyed monster, while Ian treats each child like an honoured guest, taking their orders for crepes, be that with Nutella, sugar, lemon or all three. One of the mums has ordered a pizza so while the oven is fired into action by Ian, Safia is busy making crêpes. Cups of tea come on small trays and milk and sugar is served in delicate vessels. It feels like we are at a party (which incidentally they can arrange for a special occasion). There isn’t a screen in sight.

‘We do strongly feel that it is important that kids see art, that anything is possible and that they get to meet the students which gives them a better portrayal of foreigners,’ says Safia. ‘Also as art is scaled back in schools they can come here and explore making and art while having fun.’

Ian adds, ‘I was told I wasn’t any good at art at school but we believe everybody has a degree of creativity.’

Judging by the beautiful cities of houses he has made out of cardboard boxes, his teachers had got it wrong.

It was the building that originally attracted the couple and their family to Wincanton. ‘We wanted to live above the shop,’ says Safia, and Ian needed a renovation project. It was a bootmaker’s shop until the 1930s, hence the name, and more recently a solicitors office (the remaining safe has become the loo). And so Bootmakers, an idea that took hold in Casablanca and found its way to Wincanton has become a lively institution of creativity in what is fast becoming a town making things happen.

Bootmakers Workshop, 5 Market Place, Wincanton BA9 9LJ Tel: 07419 760737 @bootmakersworkshop sherbornetimes.co.uk | 77

@elizabethwatsonillustrations 78 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Little Barwick House Restaurant with rooms

COME FOR DINNER, STAY THE NIGHT

Delicious, classically based dishes with a modern twist, served in an elegant, but relaxed, fine dining atmosphere.

www.littlebarwickhouse.co.uk 01935 423902 Rexes Hollow Lane, Barwick, near Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 9TD

Coffee Break The Cross Keys 88 Cheap Street, Sherborne DT9 3BJ crosskeyssherb crosskeyssherborne 01935 508130 thecrosskeyssherborne.com

Old School Gallery Boyle’s Old School, High Street, Yetminster, DT9 6LF @yetminstergalle 01935 872761 yetminstergallery.co.uk

Jasmine & Bay 2 High Street, Templecombe, BA8 0JB jasmineandbay jasmineandbay.co.uk

The Three Wishes 78 Cheap Street, Sherborne, DT9 3BJ 01935 817777 thethreewishes.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 79

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Image: Clint Randall

UMAMI VEGETABLE TERRINE Sasha Matkevich and Jack Smith, The Green Restaurant

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his delicious dish harnesses the wholesome savouriness of umami. Contrary to popular belief, this fifth flavour profile can be found in all cuisines, rather than just the East Asian ones with which it is commonly associated. The vegetables and herbs combined result in a wonderfully flavoursome terrine.

Ingredients

200g carrots, peeled and sliced into batons 200g parsnips, peeled and sliced into batons 200g celeriac, peeled and sliced into batons 200g swede, peeled and sliced into batons 600g beetroot 2 tablespoons agar agar flakes 800g vegetable stock 1 pinch caraway seeds, toasted 2 banana shallots 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped Borage leaves 20g horseradish 100g crème fraîche 50ml cold pressed rapeseed oil Sea salt Black pepper, ground 2 sprigs thyme Sprig of rosemary

Method

1 Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the swede and cook for 2 minutes, add the carrots and cook for a further minute, then the parsnips for one minute and celeriac for another minute. Drain the vegetables from the water and set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes. Place the beetroot and whole banana shallots on a baking tray with thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 45 minutes at 170 degrees.

Once roasted and cooled, peel the shallots and beetroot.

Dice the beetroot into 2cm cubes.

2 In a large sauce pan dissolve the agar agar flakes in cold vegetable stock. Bring the stock to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the caraway seeds and root vegetables (excluding the beetroot and shallots) to the vegetable stock and simmer for a further 4 minutes.

3 Take the stock off the heat and add the beetroot, shallots and chopped parsley. Line the terrine mould with two layers of cling film. With a slotted spoon gently fill up the mould with the vegetables and then pour over the umami stock. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours. Serve at room temperature garnished with borage, freshly grated horseradish, crème fraîche and rapeseed oil. greenrestaurant.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 81

Food and Drink

A MONTH ON THE PIG FARM James Hull, The Story Pig Company

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s the sun beats down day after day, we soak it up hungrily. We are past the longest day and somewhere in the back of my mind there is a nagging thought that we are sliding towards winter again, but for now we must enjoy the amazing sun.

Things on the farm carry on at a busy pace, working in the evenings in the garden, still weeding constantly.

Nature is so incredible: in three months our garden has gone from bare soil to a bountiful harvest, with potatoes nearly a metre high, sweet peas coming out of Charlotte’s ears, herbaceous borders full of flowers, spilling over the path edges. Bees have come where there were none before, and now in the evenings there is a gentle hum of many different species. Still the battle with the weeds continues, just at the moment I feel we are slightly ahead.

Up in the pig field things are dry. The dust whips up in a storm as the pigs race to be fed, stirring up a cloud that chokes everything in its path. We are watering the pigs three times a day in the heat; they make a hole called a wallow and we fill them with water. Then they lie in the new mud, right up to their tops, coating themselves in a thick cover of cooling mud. Pigs don’t sweat like us and overheat easily if they can’t keep cool.

As the mud dries, they bask in the sun with a thick covering of Sandford mud.

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We are moving forward. Two new young Tamworth boars have been purchased to bring new blood to the herd and serve the young gilts that we have bred ourselves to grow the herd further. We are going on to the next step in pig welfare and moving our pigs on to pasture. Pigs actually graze like cows if allowed, although they do have this nasty habit of destroying the grass that feeds them and returning it to mud and dust.

In the search for pig utopia we are sowing more areas to provide them with green for as long as we can.

We have cut our hay field and all is safely gathered in. We are trying a new experiment this year – we need more pig arks and so, having baled the hay into big square bales 2.5m long, we are going to use them to form new sleeping quarters, with walls as thick as a medieval castle (the roof is yet to be made). These should serve as extra pig arks and I reckon will stand up to the pigs’ attentions for a year or so before they destroy them and return them to the soil.

We are busy every weekend catering with our Tamworth hog roasts and barbecues and selling fresh produce at every food festival and fair we can attend. As I write, we are getting ready for Leigh Food Fair – hopefully we will see many of our readers and customers there. therustypigcompany.co.uk

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FROM FIELD TO TABLE Order our homegrown Tamworth ham, sausages, joints and bacon The finest Tamworth quality and flavour, a taste of the past!

Mid-week dates available for pre-arranged parties of 4.

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A wide selection of Tamworth meats and meat boxes

Watch out for our exclusive Festive Gift Workshops in November and December

Our Tamworth Pork Home Delivery Boxes offer the best of artisan butchery, delivered directly to your door Also now taking booking for our amazing Tamworth Hog Roasts. You have never had crackling like it!

Please email or phone us with your individual requirements. info@therustypigcompany.co.uk Tel. 07802 443905

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The Story Pig, Sandford Orcas, Sherborne See more at www.therustypigcompany.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 83

Food and Drink

A NOSE FOR WINE

I

David Copp

t had been my intention to write about women in wine to mark International Women’s Day in March, but with so many stars in what used to be considered a man’s world, my article would have been little more than a long list of names.

However, this week Jancis Robinson, OBE MW, the most accomplished and indefatigable of all wine critics, authors, educators and correspondents, has improved her website, and if you are looking for a present for a wine enthusiast, I can highly recommend membership of her Purple Pages at £85. It offers the best value for money gift you can give a wine lover because, apart from access to her independent news and comment on wine, world members have access to all her tasting notes and World Atlas of Wine and The Oxford Companion to Wine (which together cost £85). There is also a lively and intelligent members’ forum, which discusses current issues in the wine world, including food and wine matching.

Jancis has built up a world-wide reputation for her comprehensive knowledge and is extremely well supported by her colleagues, Julia Harding MW and Richard Hemming MW. If you want to see for yourself what you get for your money you can have a free onehour browse of the website jancisrobinson.com.

Established wine writers are lucky enough to be invited to taste the world’s best wines but Jancis earned the opportunity by becoming the first woman outside the trade to become a Master of Wine (MW). Educated at St Anne’s College, Oxford, she embarked on a career in journalism but set her heart on writing about wine. For 30 years she has been the Financial Times wine correspondent and is also an adviser to HM The Queen’s cellar.

Her arrival on the scene was welcomed because more and more women were getting the opportunity to make and buy wine and also to become wine educators. They showed they could make great wines sometimes with a positively deft touch, and were particularly successful with the white varieties Riesling, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay.

84 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

There have not only been great women wine makers but also outstanding tasters, buying for our biggest supermarket groups and wine retail chains. Women now account for about a third of all the 380 MWs worldwide, and I have had the pleasure of tasting alongside Caroline Gilby, Susan Hulme, Anna Kriebel, Beverly Banning and Fiona Morrison.

In my experience women are generally better than men at identifying and specifying wine flavours and aromas. Dr Paul Breslin, Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Rutgers University, has established that women of child-bearing age develop a much keener sense of smell than the average male, attributing it to the female survival mechanism which helps them quickly identify their children and kinfolk.

When I think back to my own wine-tasting lessons under the great Émile Peynaud in Bordeaux, Georges Bouchard in Burgundy, and Edmund Ebling in Bingen, I remember their first consideration was the condition of the wine and the balance; the second its typicity – of

Jancis Robinson

vineyard, village and vintage; and the third was the wine’s potential to last and develop. In the restaurant, properly trained sommeliers drew the cork and smelt it before offering the diner a sample to approve.

In those days wine tasters did not go in for what Georges Bouchard referred to as ‘itemising the contents of a fruit salad.’ However, as wine drinking became increasingly popular and wine was more readily available in supermarkets, it was a good idea for the producer and retailer to give the purchaser some basic guidance on style and flavour. To promote their golden chardonnay, for example, the Australian Wine Board came up with ‘sunshine in a bottle,’ which did the job admirably.

However, as wine consumers became increasingly sophisticated, wine flavour indicators expanded to include words such as zingy and zesty. Citrus flavoured was a term commonly used to describe whites: fullbodied and smooth or spicy for reds.

Over the past 40 years wine has become a huge world-wide industry, with wine clubs and societies

established throughout the UK. The interest in wine in Britain has been stimulated by our recognition as a world-class sparkling wine producer. Our white wines and rosé are improving with every vintage.

But there is another good reason for keeping up to speed with what is happening in the wine world: there is a substantial secondary market for fine wines. A clear-out of my cellar resulted in the sale of a number of odd bottles of fine wines from great vintages and replacement with several dozen bottles of more recent vintages of white and red Burgundy.

Finally, on the topic of women and wine, I would like to draw your attention to the recently published Romanian, Bulgarian and Moldovan Wines by Caroline Gilby MW. While not the most fashionable wines in the world, recent investment has brought to light some unique varieties that are genuinely different from other wine-producing countries. Gilby is a recognised specialist in East European producer countries and her honest and thoughtful comments are definitely worth a read. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 85

Animal Care

FUZZY KNOWLEDGE Mark Newton-Clarke, MA VetMB PhD MRCVS Newton Clarke Veterinary Surgeons

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he summer finally arrived in July after a cool and tick-infested May and June, giving our nurses plenty of practice removing the troublesome creatures from cats and dogs alike. In most cases, the result of the bite is at worst a localised infection (not forgetting Lyme disease, rare but nasty) although some animals respond with dramatic swellings, requiring powerful drugs to control the reaction. I have sympathy after spending a week in 86 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

June in Croatia on the Dalmatian coast where the biting insects are very busy and clearly like AngloSaxon blood! At least it gave my pale, post-exam son and daughter a chance to see the sun after months of revision. Stop complaining, I tell them, we all went through it!

It seems like the end of July brings a collective sigh of relief by tired school children finishing their academic year and an equal and opposite reaction in parents

New Africa/Shutterstock

tasked with six weeks of child-care. At least it gives the whole family time to enjoy their pets. Maybe a trip abroad (I think I covered that last month!) but ensure you are back before 31st October. If not, beat a path to our door and make sure you don’t get caught on the other side of the Channel with a dog who won’t be allowed back into the UK. I mustn’t forget the sacrifice required of our clinical students as they spend the summer ‘holiday’ working

alongside us at the clinic, gaining the practical experience needed to make theory meaningful and interesting and as a result, memorable. Everyone at the practice tries to make the little slice of general practice that our students get served representative of the day to day job. The nurses are an essential part of this training as they run much of the clinical service, placing catheters, taking x-rays, analysing blood samples. The receptionists are the link between owners and staff and triage all the incoming calls, highlighting the importance of communication within the practice. When all goes according to plan, it’s a well-oiled machine! However, as in all branches of medicine, things don’t always go well and it’s important trainees see the dark side as well as the light. We all make mistakes, it’s what we do with them at the time and in the future that influences the outcome. I have always maintained that when I make a mistake, I will own up to it and then do my very best to fix it and just as importantly, never make the same error again.

Having student nurses and vets helps us as much as it helps them as nothing exposes flaws in one’s own knowledge like explaining it to others. I spend more time with my own books when we have students at the clinic, checking my facts and making sure I’m saying the right thing! Much of medicine is fuzzy knowledge passed down the generations and it’s surprising how easily myths can be perpetuated. Happily, evidence-based medicine is starting to allow us to be more sure of our ‘facts’ but there is a long way to go before all our knowledge has a sound scientific basis. Until that time, veterinary medicine will remain a mixture of art and science.

There is also the important question of how much we let budding vets do, when to intervene and when to give them the space to try a procedure for themselves.

This is a universal issue, one that teachers of all kinds have to tackle but there is more at stake when a living patient is the subject of study. Supervision is the key and although we try to let the student do as much as possible without hand-holding, our focus is sharpened by watching inexperience at work. Gone are the days of see one, do one, teach one, which was the maxim during my residency at Cornell, back in the days of the Wild West. Now we all train for new procedures and the more complicated they are, the longer it takes.

So all you students out there, whether it be of life or a particular subject, enjoy the sunshine (but not too much) and have a lovely summer. newtonclarkevet.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 87

Animal Care

FARMER DISCUSSION GROUPS Knowledge is Power

John Walsh BVSc Cert AVP DBR MRCVS, Friars Moors Vets

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s I have mentioned in previous articles much of my role as a vet involves helping to educate farmers. Often, the best way people learn is through shared experiences of which practices have worked well on their own or other people’s farms. As a result of this we have several groups of farmers that regularly meet to discuss topics that will help them to improve their own farms through shared experiences.

Groups we organise at the practice include a dairy youngstock group, a calf rearer group, a suckler herd group, a sheep flock group, a high yielding dairy group, a dairy block calving group and small holder groups.

The dairy youngstock discussion group is one of the more popular groups we run and now has an active membership of 25 farms who meet regularly. These meetings take place on member’s farms with speakers delivering their expertise on a subject, as well as allowing the farmers to get to together to learn from each other’s experiences in that subject. As part of the membership we also send our veterinary technicians out to their farms to weigh their calves to monitor growth rates and collect any health data from these animals. This data then gets entered back at the practice on a computer programme that then allows the group to benchmark their performance.

Dairy heifers are the future of the dairy herd and these animals need to have their first calf by two years of age so they can then enter the main herd to start their milking career. For them to be able to calve at this age they have to reach certain growth milestones throughout their life and this is why it is so important that we monitor how well they are growing and that they are reaching these milestones. These quarterly meetings are then focussed on management practices that help to achieve this two-year calving date with the healthiest 88 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

and most productive animals possible.

There are many advances in both animal nutrition and genetics when it comes to managing youngstock. I thought it would be interesting for you if I covered one of the very interesting topics we covered at one of our quarterly meetings.

This meeting was based on the new genetic technology available to farmers that helps them to select bulls and replacement animals to breed from on their farms.

Breeding replacement heifers for the future of the dairy herd is a very important area of which there have been many advances in technology in the past 5- 10 years.

Both cows and heifers on many farms are either mated using natural service with bulls or by the farmer using frozen semen. The use of frozen semen is now the most common method of mating cows on many dairy farms. There are several reasons for this, but safety and genetic progress are the two main ones. Having bulls on the farm can be dangerous and farmers are at risk of severe injury if a bull decides to attack them and this is especially the case for dairy bulls who tend to be more

Olga Lucky/Shutterstock

aggressive. The use of frozen semen gives the farmer the chance to breed replacement heifers from genetically superior bulls and is much safer for the farmer.

Historically, these bulls were selected by semen companies based on their family trees but then had to be proved in the field to see how their offspring performed.

They would only start to find out how well these bulls were performing after their daughters had started producing milk which would take a minimum of 3 years from collecting the semen from the bull. This obviously was a very costly and time-consuming procedure. The accuracy of this information was also dependent on how many daughters the bull had and how long they had been producing milk for.

Recent advances in genetic technology now mean we can predict more accurately and at a much earlier stage how a bull’s daughters will perform just by analysing his DNA. This new technology is called ‘genomics’ and involves analysing the bull’s sequence of DNA, then comparing this sequence to the DNA of other animals of which their performance is already known. This allows

us to predict with much greater accuracy how well the bull’s daughters will perform as soon as the bull is born, rather than having to wait until the bull’s daughters are producing milk 5 years later. This has greatly reduced the cost of selecting bulls with superior genetics and has led to increased genetic gain of the national herd. By using genetics in this way, we can breed more efficient, productive and healthier animals for the future.

Farmers can also use this technology to assess their replacement heifers and this allows them to identify the superior female animals in their herd to breed from as soon as they are born.

This technology is also making huge strides in the field of human medicine. Doctors can now analyse a patient’s DNA and use this to guide them to the best treatment for them based on their DNA profile.

If you would like to know more about our farming discussion groups, please contact the practice for more details. friarsmoorvets.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 89

Pet, Equine & Farm Animals

• Operating theatres • Digital x-ray • Nurse clinics • Separate dog and cat wards • Laboratory Kingston House Veterinary Clinic Long Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3DB

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N u F s ’ t I Celeb r

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There’s always so much to see and do for all the family at Ferne, but summer is extra special.

See the animals and explore the woodlands for starters, then afterwards treat yourselves in our tempting café.

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Sherborne Surgery Swan House Lower Acreman Street 01935 816228

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Veterinary services for livestock in Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire We now have a new collection point for livestock medicines and supplies at Pearce Seeds, Rosedown Farm, Sherborne.

Please call the office on 01258 472314 for all enquiries

www.friarsmoorvets.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 91

@elizabethwatsonillustrations 92 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Body and Mind

DIGGING DEEP Adam Ansty

Images: Oscar J Ryan

C

ycling 3,070 miles across the United States has been an endurance adventure unlike anything I could have imagined. The Everest of cycling provides a seriously tough race and leaves its mark on all who take part.

Flying out to San Diego with the finely tuned bike provided by Riley’s Cycles was the first moment of nervous finger-crossing after an intense 12 weeks of preparation. I am endlessly grateful for the support from so many and feel humbled by the generosity and time given to get me to the start line.

Meeting the team for the first time confirmed I

would be in a team who were all high calibre in their own right. There we all were, congregated in a downtown motel a little shy of the race start line, with it dawning on us that we knew little of each other’s character and motivations. Despite this, a bond was cemented after the first team briefing around a slightly discoloured and aged swimming pool that the leaves even avoided being blowing into. We were all there to get across as fast as possible, stay safe and in the end try to remain friends. The signing of the liability waiver was a poignant reminder that, although competing in a superbly organised race, we were dependent purely on > sherbornetimes.co.uk | 93

Body and Mind

94 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

each other to get out of any tight spots.

Bikes were built, support vehicles prepared and the range of compulsory media and inspection events commenced without delay. The almost festival-like atmosphere around Oceanside was nearly enough to make you forget that we were about to spend seven days (or more) willingly putting ourselves through arduous tests of both physical stamina and mental fortitude.

The evening before, the race hosted the compulsory pre-race presentations. The jovial atmosphere was quickly squashed as the Race Director took us through the risks, dangers and sheer enormity of the task ahead. Shaking hands with the other racers was the beginning of the competitiveness. Strong grips and unwavering eye contact was the norm, along with a nod of recognition that the next conversations would take place out on the road.

Days later, after a rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner and a stiff espresso, we were off. Nervously excited, tremendously grateful for getting this far and, despite being deep in thought about what awaited us on the vast journey, we were focused on the task in hand. I had written the words ‘Dig Deep’ on my hand before the race; I knew, for this, I would be needing a bigger spade.

Hours later, I awoke from the metronome of tapping the pedals to find myself cycling through Death Valley in 130 degrees Fahrenheit. With the help of the reflective and absorbent black Tarmac flying below me, it felt close to 65 degrees Celsius and the hot air was truly stuck in the back of my throat as it singed and burned. It’s a misconception that the desert is flat, and before too long I found my heart rate to be at 180 beats per minutes, overtaking a host of riders on a 5,000ft climb. Getting blurry-eyed and apprehensive that I was close to passing out I forced myself to slow down slightly and a direct hit from another team’s iced water pistol helped immensely. In a race of this duration, I quickly learned the value of patience. Passing other teams was best kept as a long-term aim, just slowly chipping away at any lead as each mile passed.

The risk of heat stroke was always high and listening to your body and watching for the warning signs were fundamentally important in averting a tragedy.

The support crew worked tirelessly to keep us as cool as possible, although our faces still resembled sunworshipping lobsters before the first day was done.

Sleep came and went in the blink of an eye, with some shifts only allowing two hours in a moving RV, providing perhaps the biggest challenge. Without adequate rest the body is unable to heal itself fully and repair the damage done to the muscles, resulting in an uncomfortable first

ride back in the saddle each shift, a moment which you simply have to endure knowing it will eventually pass.

Despite being delicious, food was also difficult to stomach, and the act of forcing down 6,000 calories a day became almost an art form, thanks to a mix of high-calorie chocolate spread and sport-specific powdered fuel.

I found no greater distraction from tired legs than the ever-changing spectacular scenery and the incredible people – the sacred deserts of Utah; Colorado with its beautifully imposing mountains framed by fir trees; Kansas with its vast rolling plains tinged by the ever-present threat of tornadoes; Mississippi that had flooded; the blue ridge mountains of West Virginia with its terrain similar to our beloved Dorset; and finally into the iconic state of Washington, relief and exuberance provided by the finish line in Annapolis, Maryland.

Approaching the finish line felt surreal. A team of strangers from many different parts of the world had done it – no injuries, apart from a few minor falls, our bikes in one piece and smiles on the faces of all the cyclists and crew. With the prospect of a cold beer mixed in with a great sense of bewildered pride, arriving at the docks to cheering crowds and then passing through the branded archway of the Race Across America was an unforgettable moment.

Enduring hardships, demonstrating leadership, having trust in those around you, showing resilience at times of impending failure and working tirelessly towards a shared goal are moments to be enjoyed and cherished. They make us stronger, give us the confidence to search for greater horizons, all the while raising much-needed funds for causes close to our hearts.

To summarise, we completed the race in a time of six days, 18 hours, climbing 175,000ft over 3,070 miles with an average speed of 19mph. Two punctures, one crash and around 730,000 pedal rotations.

I plan to dedicate some time now to reflecting on what we achieved and this epic journey that formed friendships for life. I’m not sure it would take much to encourage a return to the race as a pair in two years’ time but for now the priority is rest, spending time with loved ones and thanking those who gave support and made this possible.

Adam rode a Wilier Cento 10 NDR supplied by Riley's Cycles (one of the support team was so impressed he bought the same model). The Wilier range – including their ultra light road ebike – is available from Riley's Cycles on Trendle Street. uk.virginmoneygiving.com/raceacrossamerica2019 @mransteyendurance. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 95

Body and Mind

THE LOWDOWN ON HAIR REMOVAL Sarah Hitch, The Sanctuary Beauty Rooms and The Margaret Balfour Beauty Centre

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’m sure you will have been told as a young girl ‘If you don’t start removing, it won’t grow!’ but unfortunately Mother Nature has other plans and so that simply isn’t true. Hair grows in a cycle Anagen (Active), Catagen (Transition) and Telogen (Resting) from a hair follicle in the dermis of the skin. It is nourished by a blood supply at the hair bulb and stimulated by hormones. To truly rid yourself of unwanted hair it is the source of the hair that needs to be weakened and then destroyed.

The most inexpensive form of hair removal and possibly the one that most of us have dabbled in is shaving. This is useful for all areas on the body and is quick and pain-free to do – unless you cut yourself of course! However, it very quickly grows back and the blunt cut edge feels coarse and sharp. Plus, the root is unaffected and so the hair can continue to grow as strongly and thickly as before.

Hair removal cream is the next step many of us will try on the face or the body. The cream contains a chemical called Calcium Thioglycolate which dissolves the hair at the surface, allowing it to be scraped away with the cream once it’s developed. The hair will feel softer when it grows back because the dissolved end will be thinned and wispy, but again as nothing has damaged the root, hairs will continue to grow as before after three days or so.

Waxing and sugaring are popular to rid the body of hair for about four weeks. There are different types of wax for different areas, which work by cooling and 96 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

NDT/Shutterstock

sticking to the hairs so when the wax is whipped away, either with strips or flicked off by hand, you are left smooth and hair-free. Hot wax is used at a slightly higher temperature than strip wax and is particularly good for intimate waxing because it removes short, strong hairs and is less painful because the wax grips around the hairs rather than the skin.

Electrolysis treats each individual hair which can make it slow for larger areas. An electric galvanic current and usually thermolysis heat can damage the hair root.

It can be very useful for random coarse hairs on the lip or chin but laser or light therapy treatments are so much faster, less painful and achieve more reliable results.

The use of laser or light therapy to destroy the source of the hair has been around for 20 years and technological improvements are emerging all the time.

Pulses of laser light target dark matter and heat it to destroy the base stem cells in the hair follicle. It works very well on dark hair but unfortunately not well on lighter hair colours because the laser light will not absorb into it. Often a few treatments are needed to treat all the hairs and to catch the hairs in their active growing stage, but results can be very successful.

Whatever your hair removal requirement there is help and support to enable you to make the right choice for your body. thesanctuarysherborne.co.uk margaretbalfour.co.uk

LGBTQ+ MENTAL HEALTH Mircea Moira/Shutterstock

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Lucy Lewis, Dorset Mind Ambassador

ith two Dorset-based Pride festivals having recently taken place this summer, we thought we’d take a look at some of the issues LGBTQ+ people face, and how they affect their mental health.

LGBTQ+ is a term that encompasses a complex spectrum of identities, including (but not limited to) people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, queer, asexual or pansexual. These classifications refer to sexual orientation, excluding trans-sexuality, which defines people’s gender identity.

In Dorset, there are approximately 10,000 lesbian women and gay men. However, these represent only two of these groups. We can conclude that there are many more people in Dorset in addition who belong to the LGBTQ+ community. Research shows that 40% will experience a significant mental health problem, compared to 25% of the general population.

Additionally, those who identify as LGBTQ+ are more than twice as likely to have attempted suicide than the general population.

Almost a quarter of LGBTQ+ people have accessed mental health services in the last year; approximately a fifth of these reported that their general practitioner wasn’t supportive. In general, LGBTQ+ people are more dissatisfied with health services compared to nonLGBTQ+ identifying people. Reasons for this include: specific concerns surrounding mental and sexual health; lack of knowledge amongst staff; and concerns with NHS gender identity services.

Experience of stigma, discrimination and higher levels of stress are just some of the complex possible causes for how disproportionately the LGBTQ+ population are affected by mental health issues. In fact, a large government

survey revealed that LGBTQ+ people experience prejudice daily and at least two fifths of LGBTQ+ people have experienced an incident, such as verbal harassment or physical violence, due to their identity.

The unfair treatment of the LGBTQ+ community is unacceptable. Our differences should diversify and strengthen us – no one should be harassed for being who they are, or loving who they love. Discrimination exists unfortunately and should be combatted with education, campaigning and awareness. LGBTQ+ people should also be provided with specialist mental health services that understand their complex issues to help combat the disproportionate rate of mental health difficulties amongst the community.

At Dorset Mind, we were proud to celebrate our diverse communities at the recent Dorset Pride parades: at Bourne Free on 11th July and in Weymouth on 27th July, where the charity also spread awareness about mental health and their LGBTQ+ support groups named ‘MindOut’, in both locations.

MindOut is a safe, confidential and accepting space for LGB and Trans people experiencing mental health issues. It offers recovery-based peer and staff support.

Each session involves a guided relaxation or mindfulness exercise, time to share experiences and concerns and discussion workshops. These discussions cover a diverse range of topics, including; coming out to friends and family, developing self-compassion and building selfesteem, managing anxiety, mental health conditions and recovery-based coping skills, such as helpful ways of thinking, relaxation and mindfulness.

Visit dorsetmind.uk/services-courses to learn more about the charity’s specialist support. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 97

Body & Mind

STRETCHING

Image: Stuart Brill

Craig Hardaker, BSc (Hons), Communifit

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f there’s one universal truth about stretching, it’s that we all should do it. Yet few of us actually do.

Fitness experts say it is the part of a workout that most people tend to skip. It can make a difference in how your muscles respond to exercise. Stretching warms your muscles, and warm muscles are more pliant. Here’s a look at some of the truths and falsehoods about stretching.

1. The best time to stretch is after exercise, when your muscles are warm.

True and false. It’s safer to stretch a warm muscle, and warm muscles are more relaxed and have a greater range of motion. However, walking briskly or jogging for five minutes, until you break a light sweat, is a sufficient warm-up for stretching. In a perfect world, you’ll stretch a few minutes into and after your workout.

2. There’s only one right way to stretch.

False. There are actually multiple ways to stretch. Some of the most common are: static stretching, ballistic or dynamic stretching, active isolated (AI) stretching and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching.

3. Stretching should be uncomfortable.

False. Actually, if stretching is painful, you’re going too far. Instead, move into a stretch, and stop when you feel tension. Breathe deeply while you hold the stretch for 15 to 30 seconds. Then relax, and repeat the stretch, trying to move a little bit further into it during the second stretch.

4. You should hold a stretch for at least 15 seconds.

True. Most experts now agree that holding a stretch for 98 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

15 to 30 seconds is sufficient.

There are multiple stretches for all areas of the body, but here are three beginner stretches you should try daily for the next few weeks.

Torso stretch (for lower back): I hear complaints of lower back pain almost daily – give this a try. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees bent. With your hands at the small of your back, angle your pelvis forward while pointing your tailbone backward slightly, feel the stretch in your lower back. Pull your shoulders back. Hold for ten deep breaths, repeat once more.

Overhead stretch (for shoulders, neck and back): Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees and hips relaxed. Interlock your fingers and extend your arms above your head, palms up. Take 10 slow, deep breaths, elongating the stretch on each exhale. Relax and repeat once more.

Cat and cow stretch: Get down on your knees with your hands directly under your shoulders, your back flat, and your toes pointed behind you. Tighten your abdominal muscles, arch your back, and drop your head down so you’re looking at your stomach. Hold for ten seconds, breathing deeply. Now lower your back until it’s swayed, simultaneously raising your head. Hold for ten seconds, and then return to the starting position.

Repeat four times.

Every single Communifit exercise class provides specific stretches for every muscle group before and after exercise tailored to the group. For more information on stretching, ask an instructor at your next class. communifit.co.uk

Health Clinic • Acupuncture • Osteopathy • Counselling • Physiotherapy • EMDR Therapy • Shiatsu • Podiatry and Chiropody • Soft Tissue Therapy, Sports

& Remedial Massage Therapy • Manual Lymphatic Drainage

LONDON ROAD CLINIC • Hopi Ear Candle Therapy • Bowen • Homeopathy • Light Touch Spinal • Facial Energy Release • Swedish Massage • Indian Head Massage • Pregnancy Massage • Nutrition

Tel: 01963 251860

www.56londonroad.co.uk Email: info@56londonroad.co.uk 56 London Road, Milborne Port, Sherborne DT9 5DW Free Parking and Wheelchair access

• Exercise classes • Personal training • Homes programme All age groups and abilities Call 07791 308773 @communifit

communifit

communi_fit

communifit.co.uk

yoga with emma Classes in Sherborne, Thornford and Milborne Port For details please visit emmareesyoga.com dorsetyogawithemma emmayogateacher@gmail.com

Summer Holiday

ACTIVITIES Monday 29th July – Friday 30th August 9am-5pm

8-14 years

Morning, Afternoon and All Day sessions available £10.50 per session, £19 per day or £76 per week For more information and to book your place, please call reception on 01935 818270 or visit our website www.oxleysc.com/holiday-activities.

Bradford Road, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 3DA

Yeovil Sherborne & District

Join our team of amazing volunteers Volunteer with us To find out more and apply, visit

samaritans.org/volunteer Call 01935 414 015 Email yeovil@samaritans.org @Yeovilsams2 Samaritans of Yeovil, Sherborne & District is a registered charity.

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 99

Body and Mind

HOW GOOD ARE YOUR PRESS-UPS? Simon Partridge BSc (Sports Science) Personal Trainer SPFit

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ast month we discussed why it is important for runners to be strong and include weight training in their training programs. This month, let us look at upper body strength and not just for runners, but for everyone. No matter who you are, how strong you are or whether you are just a beginner or experienced, the press-up is quite simply a brilliant exercise.

There are so many benefits and variations to pressups that we can all use them. For example, in yoga we do chatarungas or triceps press-ups, while we can also challenge the chest muscles more by placing our hands wider.

The press-up not only works the chest, shoulders and arms, it is also a plank so it is a great exercise to improve your core strength and stability. Thus, it has many more benefits than using a machine or lying on a bench and performing a chest press for example.

To make your press-up as safe and effective as possible, get back to the basics. Think about what is preventing you doing more or progressing the exercise. Work on your weaknesses and the areas you need to improve.

So how good is your press-up?

Press-ups are also harder than most people think if you really focus on using proper form on every single rep. For example, instead of resting on your hands and slouching your hips forward, make sure you own the plank position, squeezing your glutes and core as if you were training only your abs.

The press-up is probably the first strength training move most people learn. And it does not matter if 100 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

you cannot do one or you can do 60, you can make this superb exercise easier (regression) or harder (progression) to suit your own strength goals. As you get stronger, you can always change your routine by simply using some of the following: Work through these progressions, focusing on your form.

• Hands elevated press-up – putting your hands on a box or a bench can make it easier • Tempo press-up – slow down the lowering phase and/ or add a pause at the bottom of your press-up • Standard press-up • Feet elevated press-up – putting your feet on a box or bench can make it harder • Handstand press-up – with your feet against a wall One of our favourite ways to progress press-ups for clients of all levels is to use a suspension trainer. Check out the photo of Emma (an amazing yoga teacher based in the Sherborne area) who has just started to learn suspension training to get stronger to complement her own yoga practice.

As a result, the benefits and variety of the allegedly humble press-up means we can all use it to become stronger right from our core to our upper body. There are also so many ways to include it in your workout that you should never get bored. Give it a go this week and see if by next month you can progress to the next variant. spfit-sherborne.co.uk

SCARWORK

‘H

Jane Grimes, Massage Therapist, 56 London Road Clinic

idden depths and fascial icebergs’ – a very descriptive quote by myofascial release expert John Barnes, highlighting how a small scar on the surface can be connected to deep tissues. Whether the scar appears superficial and insignificant, or is highly visible with contortions and restrictions, the treatment is the same. Using gentle myofascial touch and specific moves that are rarely painful, working within the client’s comfort zone, these restrictions and deep fascial layers can be quickly reintegrated into the fascial matrix, improving both the appearance of the scar and functionality of the body.

“A scar is the result of the healing process of any kind of skin wound, linear or punctiform. A significant percentage of scars (38-70%, depending on the study) results in a pathological condition, i.e., pain, functional and psychological disorders, or cosmetic damage.” (Ferriero, et al., 2015:2).

When scars form, the surface and underlying skin, fascia – and possibly even muscles and tendons – lose the organisation and integrity of normal, healthy tissue. Some people never notice a problem with their scars, but others are left with permanent discomfort or pain.

ScarWork is not a new therapy, having been developed by Sharon Wheeler, an American therapist, back in the 1970s. She found that working with what seems like a casual, light touch, ‘reminiscent to working with bread dough’, ScarWork could make profound lasting changes to old and new scars, whether from accidents or surgery.

ScarWork is holistic and often affects people’s emotional well-being, allowing them to accept their scars, reduce or eliminate pain, resolve numbness and make visible cosmetic changes.

Many of my clients have not been aware of any problems stemming from their scars, some even failing to mention old injuries or surgery. Amelia, a 28-year-old, came to me regarding a scar across her elbow resulting from surgery following an accident when she was four. The scar was raised and there was restricted range of movement, although this wasn’t something she was aware of until we had worked on the scar, loosened adhesions and pulled tissue. After a course of treatment, the scar now blends almost seamlessly into the surrounding tissue.

Kat, 63, came to me due to restrictions and pain in her abdomen. She presented with an appendix scar from childhood and a caesarean scar. The appendix scar was pulled down where the two scars cross. There were restrictions and adhesions tethering the scars to visceral layers of the body. Using direct and indirect myofascial ScarWork techniques, the pain disappeared. The pull and tethering have significantly improved.

I undertook a research project working with scars following hip arthroplasty. Ninety eight per cent of the participants noted changes to their scars and emotional well-being. Three people with scars just over a year old reported that the pruritis (itching) had stopped.

Scar-tissue techniques can be incorporated into massage or undertaken as a separate treatment plan.

Amazing results can be achieved, improving both the appearance of scars and with pain reduction.

The million-dollar question is always ‘How soon can you work on a scar?’ The answer is as soon as the sutures have been removed, all scabs have shed, and you have been signed off by your consultant. janegrimes.co.uk 56londonroad.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 101

Body & Mind

VITAMIN AND MINERAL INTAKE SUPPLEMENTS OR NATURAL SOURCES?

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Dr Tim Robinson MB BS MSc MRCGP DRCOG MFHom GP & Complementary Practitioner

n an ideal world we should all be able to rely upon our daily diet to supply us with the optimal quantities of vitamins and minerals. However, despite the ‘fivea-day’ campaign, surveys have shown that only one in eight of the adult population achieves this goal.

There are a number of reasons for this; fruit and vegetables are not cheap. Many of us don’t have the time to shop and cook healthy food options. Besides failing to achieve an adequate intake, the concentration of vitamins and minerals in food may not be adequate; this is true of the mineral selenium which comes from European wheat compared with selenium-rich American wheat. There also seems to be fewer whole grains eaten overall – these are an excellent source of B vitamins and trace elements such as zinc, magnesium and copper. Overcooking vegetables denatures vitamins.

The anti-cholesterol campaign has resulted in fewer people eating eggs – these are an excellent source of vitamins A, B, D as well as zinc and iodine (incidentally, dietary cholesterol intake has very little effect on blood cholesterol level!). Iron intake has fallen for the same reason – red meat is discouraged as it contains higher levels of saturated fats. There is iron in vegetables but it is not as bio-available as ‘haem’ iron in meat.

For all these reasons it is important to address potential insufficient intake of vitamins and minerals to prevent deficiency and promote optional health.

Grouped studies have shown that the lack of vitamins is a risk factor in heart disease, stroke, some cancers and osteoporosis. A solution is to take a multimineral multivitamin, the so-called A-Z supplement. This will

102 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

provide the recommended daily amount (RDA as seen on the label) of minerals and vitamins. It is important to stick to the RDA; exceeding this is unwise as it may cause side-effects such as nausea, indigestion or even harmful effects – as seen in some studies (vitamin A and selenium). The best time to take your A-Z is after your evening meal rather than at breakfast. This is because the body repair processes and mineral movements in the body are greatest at night when your growth hormone is at its highest level. It is best to swallow them down with water or juice and preferably not tea or coffee – these contain substances that interfere with their absorption.

Along with your A-Z, the other supplement worth considering is omega-3 fish oil. If you are not able to eat the recommended two portions of oily fish per week – because of expense or a dislike of fish – a supplement that contains the long chain fatty acids (DHA, EPA) is needed. Studies have demonstrated protective effects against heart disease risk and stroke, as well as reduced blood stickiness. They are also natural anti-inflammatory agents of benefit in asthma and joint disease. They have also been shown to be helpful for depression and brain health.

And so in summary, my view is that taking A-Z/ multimineral multivitamin and omega-3 supplements is not as nature had intended but they are a wise nutritional safety net to facilitate optional health and well-being. doctorTWRobinson.com GlencairnHouse.co.uk

Luxury New Care Home opening this winter You’re invited to our

Marketing Suite Open Weekend 31st August–1st September, 10am – 4pm Trinity Manor, Sherborne’s new luxury care home, is opening this winter. You’re invited to the opening of our marketing suite to take a look around and meet our friendly team.

Bespoke residential, dementia and respite care Choice of nutritious and delicious home-cooked meals Daily life-enrichment programme • Luxurious and safe surroundings

01935 574 968 www.barchester.com/TrinityManor Bradford Road, Sherborne, DT9 6EX

Residential care • Dementia care • Respite care

Brister&Son Independent Family Funeral Directors

When your family suffers the loss of a loved one, we are here to support, guide and reassure you – every step of the way Call Daniel on 01935 812647 100 Lenthay Road, Sherborne DT9 6AG Email: daniel@wsbrister.com www.wsbrister.com

A J Wakely& Sons Independent Family Funeral Directors and Monumental Masons – 24 Hour Service –

Private Chapels of Rest Website www.ajwakely.com

Independent Family Directors and Monumental Mason 33 SparrowFuneral Road, Yeovil BA21 4BT Tel: 01935 479913 16 Newland, Sherborne, DorsetService DT9 3JQ -Tel: 01935 816817 - 24 Hour Please contact Clive Wakely, or a member of our dedicated team for any advice or guidance.

Private Chapels of Rest

Website.www.ajwakely.com

104 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

While being ideal for long-term residential needs, the home also maintains a respite service and offers day care to the surrounding communities.

Carers are committed to understanding personal needs and adhering to a tailored approach.

A number of activities are organised to support personal interests and physical health, and residents have access to information technology while enjoying home-cooked meals.

The Old Vicarage Care Home has won over 30 national and regional awards over the last few years for their commitment to care of the elderly to back-up their reputation as one of the leading care homes in Dorset.

At The Old Vicarage we offer...

The Old Vicarage, Leigh, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 6HL Tel: 01935 873033 Visit our website for a full map to the home

 HealthcareHomes

www.healthcarehomes.co.uk

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Palliative Care Day Care Respite Care Convalescent Care Own GP if required Own Furniture if required Pets by arrangement Near Public Transport Stairlift Minibus or other transport Wheelchair access Gardens for residents Phone Point in own room/Mobile Television point in own room Residents Internet Access

Together we respect, with compassion we care, through

commitment we achieve

106 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Leigh, Nr Sherborne Lettings & Property Management

Lovely family home in village setting, four double bedrooms, three reception rooms, large kitchen, extensive outbuildings and 2.5 acres of grazing. £1900 pcm

Melbury Osmond Independent Letting Agent representing town and country property throughout Somerset and Dorset

Delightful period farmhouse, six bedrooms, three receptions, recently refurbished throughout, swimming pool, garages and outbuildings, large garden. £3200 pcm

5 Tilton Court, Digby Road, Sherborne DT9 3NL T: 01935 816209 E: info@stockwoodlettings.co.uk

www.stockwoodlettings.co.uk

Holt, Melbury Osmond Stunning country residence, three reception rooms, kitchen with Aga, five bedrooms, large gardens, parking and garage. £NOW LET

Crafting quality timber buildings and gates since 1912 Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 7LH Tel: (01963) 440414 | Email: info@sparkford.com | @sparkfordtimber | www.sparkford.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 107

Living the dream With over 160 years’ experience, we are perfectly placed to help manage your move to the coast or surrounding area.

Call our Sherborne office on 01935 814488 or come in and see us.

symondsandsampson.co.uk

propertymatters

Sherb Times Sea.indd 1

10/06/2019 16:56:48

SALES OFFICE OPENING SATURDAY 3RD AUGUST VISIT OUR BRAND NEW SALES OFFICE AT UPBURY GRANGE IN YETMINSTER

Prices from £250,000

Set against the stunning backdrop of Yetminster, Dorset, is Upbury Grange; a premium quality new housing development exuding luxury at every turn.

Visit us to discover more about our 2, 3, 4 and 5 bedroom homes available.

Upbury Grange, Thornford Road, Yetminster, DT9 6LS Book an appointment with a Sales Executive by emailing residential.sherborne@gth.net or call 01935 345020 www.burringtonestates.com/upbury-grange

www.gth.net 108 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

*Prices correct at time of printing. Help to Buy criteria apply, see www.helptobuy.gov.uk for details. Images are for illustrative purposes only.

Property

SEPTIC TANKS ARE FOULING UP HOUSE SALES Sara Beels, Burrow Environmental

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f course you’re excited – you’ve found a great house and have your fingers crossed for a smooth and timely conveyance. You know how stressful a house move can be; like everyone else, you want to avoid unexpected expense and are hoping for the best possible deal.

After an accepted offer the surveys are commissioned and you wait for good news, but then the issue of the septic tank comes up. But why? Surely it’s just a normal part of country life, the old tank underground makes the waste water and sewage safe and it goes away into the ground, doesn’t it? You’d be forgiven for thinking this.

If you’re like most people, you don’t often talk about your sewage system and feel you could know more about how it works, what can cause it to fail and the serious problems these failures create. In the countryside we’ve come to expect ‘the occasional whiff ’ when the breeze blows in the wrong direction, but a bad smell from a tank or outflow always indicates a problem.

Septic tanks are designed to allow settlement by gravity and to enable anaerobic bacterial activity to digest the suspended organic matter to some extent. The semi-treated effluent has to go somewhere, discharging at the same rate as water flows in: one shower in = one shower out. All too often it ends up in the wrong place either due to overloading, failure, or poor design.

Effluent pollution is a massive problem, so much so that the Environment Agency carried out an investigation, the results of which led to the creation of new laws in 2015 to control the matter. These are called The General Binding Rules and they apply to all

owners of properties without a mains sewer connection.

According to the law, all tanks that discharge above ground, as well as failed underground discharges must be upgraded before the end of 2019, after which enforcement action begins, or sooner if the property changes hands.

A popular solution is a Wastewater Treatment Plant.

These vessels are installed underground and some of the most reliable use forced air rather than moving parts to process raw sewage by intensive aerobic bacterial action as it passes through a series of chambers. The effluent can safely go straight into a watercourse or sometimes a proper drainage field (if geology and site allow), or it can enter a dry ditch, for which a little more engineering and an Environment Agency permit is needed. Where it is preferred, the old septic tank can be circumvented or have the inflow and outflow connected with new pipework prior to being filled in, rather than having to dig it out.

Sellers and buyers can help maximise the opportunity for a positive conveyance. Jeremy Cozens (MRICS) Chartered Surveyor at Symonds and Sampson, comments on septic tank legislation: ‘It’s a very real problem; I’ve seen house sales fail and others suffer long delays because of this. If you’re thinking of selling it makes financial sense to take action with plenty of time before you advertise, and if you’re looking for a new home, do make your enquiries about wastewater treatment at an early stage.’ burrow-environmental.com wte-ltd.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 109

Ginger and Pickle for sale as a going concern.

Prime leasehold shop in Cheap Street.

Legal

CARE AND ASSISTANCE IN LATER LIFE Harriet Stanley, Later Life Support Team, Mogers Drewett

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f you or someone you love is struggling with daily tasks, they may need support. Although this can be daunting, with the right guidance you can make the best decision for your future.

A first step may involve contacting your local authority to arrange a free needs assessment. If the needs assessment determines the requirement for levels of support and care that cannot be sustained at home, the recommendation might involve relocation to a wardenassisted or residential home.

What to consider?

The top three questions to ask when choosing a care home should include: 1) the type of home that is available, 2) the placement and 3) the funding options. There are many different care environments to choose from, each offering varying levels of support and independence. It is important to visit a number of options and to establish the right balance of support that will suit.

Some key questions that will help inform decisions, include the following: • Does the home provide the level of care required now and for the future to save any further moves?

• Are there any vacancies? If not, how long is the waiting list? Adding yourself to a waiting list is always advised, as you are not obliged to take it up should you change your mind.

• Are there opportunities for home visits on more than one occasion that will enable you to meet and speak with the manager, staff and other residents to determine its suitability?

• Have you read the brochures and visited the website, taking into account other reviews left by members of 112 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

the public?

• Have you read the most recent CQC inspection report?

• Does the home provide social activities or outings?

• Are you able to bring any home comforts with you for your room?

Once a care home has been selected, funding is the next step. Legal teams such as ours can advise on the best options for funding. Where assisted funding is an option, the local authority will carry out a financial assessment against the following criteria: • Capital is above £23,250: You are classed as a selffunder and will be expected to fund all of your fees.

• Capital is between £14,250 and £23,250: the individual will be expected to contribute £1 per week for each £250 between the two amounts, along with a contribution from any eligible income.

• Capital is below £14,250: full financial support is available with a contribution from any eligible income.

There is an allowance of £24.90 per week for personal spending (known as personal expenses allowance).

Once you have decided on the care home, the next step is to make it a home! This may involve a discussion on what personal belongings can be brought in to make the new place of residence as comfortable as possible.

If you are in need of support with care assessment, we recommend considering the expertise of a local legal team who can provide end-to-end support, from helping with the initial assessment to providing practical and empathetic advice for you or your loved ones. mogersdrewett.com

EXPERT LAWYERS ON YOUR SIDE, AT YOUR SIDE. Forward-thinking legal advice on your doorstep Sherborne | Bath | Wells | Frome mogersdrewett.com | 01935 813 691

Finance

WINNING GAMES

I

Andrew Fort B.A. (Econ.) CFPcm Chartered MCSI APFS, Certified and Chartered Financial Planner, Fort Financial Planning

write this article after having watched a thrilling second-round Wimbledon tennis match: Rafael Nadal versus Nick Kyrgios. It reminded me of an investment book by Charles D. Ellis called Winning the Loser’s Game: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing, itself based partly on a book entitled Extraordinary Tennis for the Ordinary Tennis Player.

The premise is that tennis is not one game but two. One game of tennis is played by professionals and a very few gifted amateurs; the other is played by all the rest of us.

Although players in both games use the same equipment, dress, rules and scoring and conform to the same etiquette and customs (maybe not Nick Kyrgios!), the two games are quite different. Professionals win points, amateurs lose points. Professional tennis players stroke the ball, often through long and exciting rallies, until one player is able to drive the ball just beyond the reach of his or her opponent. Errors are seldom made by these players.

Brilliant shots and enduring rallies, are few and far between in amateur tennis. The ball is often hit into the net or out-of-court and double faults at service are not uncommon. The victor gets a better score because his or her opponent is losing even more points than they are!

By the same measure, golf is another ‘loser’s’ game.

So how does this apply to investing?

Most professional investment managers believe that they can beat the market, in other words that they can consistently perform better than average. The financial pages in newspapers are full of adverts proclaiming that this fund or the other has performed better and that you should invest with them. However, after allowing for costs, a manager who wishes to deliver returns 20% better than the market must earn a gross return before fees and transaction costs, that is more than 40% better than the market. Most people would accept that this is highly unlikely. The book was written in 1975; it is commonly accepted that the market is much more efficient now than it was then.

In the space that this article allows, the solution is quite simply to make fewer investment mistakes than others. Try to do a few things unusually well. Have a real financial plan for your future, make sure you have enough money for the short (and don’t take risks with short-term money) medium and long term. Diversify as much as possible. Don’t believe in predictions.

Don’t believe the adverts. Finally, as I said in last month’s article, you should never hold enough of any one holding to make a killing or to be killed.

Arguably one of the reasons that Rafael Nadal won the match is because he didn’t showboat by playing shots with a low probability of success. ffp.org.uk

114 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Your Life, Your Money, Your Future Trusted, professional, fee based advice We live in a complex world. At FFP we aim to remove complexity, replacing it with simplicity and clarity so that our clients can enjoy their lives without worry

FFP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

Telephone: 01935 813322 Email: info@ffp.org.uk Website: www.ffp.org.uk

AHEAD IN THE CLOUD Our real-time cloud accounting solutions present you with a full picture of your financial position 24/7, allowing you to proactively plan and respond ahead of tax deadlines.

For a fresh take on your accounts, speak to Hunts

T: 01935 815008 E: info@huntsaccountants.co.uk W: huntsaccountants.co.uk @Hunts_Sherborne The Old Pump House, Oborne Road, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3RX

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 115

Tech

Y

ou may have heard recently that Microsoft has announced that support for Windows 7 will cease in January 2020. So what does this mean for you, and why?

Since releasing Windows 7 in 2009, it has been superseded by Windows 8, 8.1 and 10, because an operating system needs to be updated to be able to work with newer hardware introduced since it was designed.

However, this does not mean that Windows 7 will stop working on your machine as the two have lived happily together since they were made; it just means that Microsoft will stop issuing security and bug fixes for Windows 7 from next January.

Since the release of Windows 10 some years ago, many computers have been automatically upgraded free-ofcharge, but many were not compatible and cannot be upgraded. Having said that, we have managed to manually upgrade nearly every computer we have come across that was worth upgrading, and that is really the question you should ask yourself: is it worth it? Your Windows 7 computer is now already at least six and a half years old and if it were upgraded, it would still be six and half years old but with a newer operating system. If you do nothing, your PC will just keep on going until it dies and then you’ll have to buy a new one, and that will have Windows 10.

So, what are the risks? Only one really, the security updates. Hackers and virus makers are always looking 116 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

for flaws in the operating system that they can exploit and any new ones that they find will not be patched up after next January. If you are careful and have a good anti-virus then you’ll probably be OK, but it’s worthwhile checking to see if you can be upgraded for simple peace of mind.

Apple has also announced that iTunes, as we know it, will be discontinued shortly and your existing content will be split-up into its component parts of music, video and podcasts, and there will be apps for all of them called Music, TV and Podcasts. Whilst these are already available on your iPhone and iPad, the Mac has yet to update, but it will do soon. Sadly, older iPads and Macs that cannot be upgraded further will be left with the old iTunes until they die.

This was due to happen on 31st March 2019 but now we’re told sometime in 2019. Whatever happens, we think that iTunes will continue to be downloadable for some time to come whilst the transition takes place.

After all, ‘Breaking up is hard to do’!

If you think you need advice, the choice, as always, is yours, but if you need help making that decision, you know where to come.

Next Month: Laptops for children; laptops for students computing-mp.co.uk

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Property Maintenance Ltd

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Suppliers and Manufacturers of quality Signage, Graphics and Embroidered Workwear

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SHERBORNE & DISTRICT FENCING & GATE Co. •Domestic fencing specialist •Over 30 years experience •Free quotations •10 Year Guarantee •No VAT

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Plu m b i n g & H eati n g Ltd Local & reliable plumber. Gas Safe registered, fully insured • New build • Renovations • Boiler installations • Vented & unvented cylinder installations

• LPG • Bathroom installations • Free quotes • Competitive prices

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Roger Dodd A CLEAN SWEEP • Traditional oak framing • Bespoke carpentry • Garden buildings • Porches

• Garages • Oak framed extensions • Barn conversions • Restoration

Contact James on 07745 591489 hello@mclellancarpentry.com www.mclellancarpentry.com

DAVE THURGOOD Painting & Decorating interior and exterior

07792 391368 NO VAT www.sherbornedecorators.com michellethurgood@sky.com 118 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

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NACS Member HETAS Approved Chimney Sweep acleansweepsouthwest@hotmail.com

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Yenstone Walling Ltd Dry Stone Walling and Landscaping All types of stone walling undertaken Patrick Houchen DSWA member CIS registered

01963 371123 07791 588141 www.yenstonewalling.co.uk

Wayne Timmins Painter and Decorator • • • • •

Interior & Exterior Fully Qualified 20 Years Experience Wallpapering & Lining Residential & Commercial

01935 872007 / 07715 867145 waynesbusiness@aol.com

ABBA | GEORGE MICHAEL | DISCO INFERNO | MOTOWN & SOUL Join us this Deecember where we have lined up four of the best music nights across two weekends.

7pm for 7.45pm sit down, Carriages at midnight includes 3 course dinner, tribute act & disco

Competitively Priced, High Quality Carpets, Vinyls, Woods & Rugs SHERBORNE SHOWROOM NOW OPEN Unit 16, Old Yarn Mills, Westbury, Sherborne, DT9 3RQ A family run business established in 1998, we promise a highly professional level of service Tel: 07733 101064 or 01935 817885 www.lsflooring.co.uk

TO BOOK CALL US NOW - DON’T FORGET TO ASK ABOUT OUR GREAT B&B RATES AND EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT ON EVENT BOOKINGS

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Residential, commercial & heritage interiors Exterior work undertaken, paint spray finishes for new residential & commercial work

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07917 787 000 sherbornetimes.co.uk | 119

FOLK TALES with Terry Bennett

TAFF MARTIN Chairman, Abbey 104

A

s Taff and I stride down Cheap Street on the way for a coffee and a catch-up on Abbey 104 business, it’s all too apparent what a wellknown figure he is around the town: a nod here and there to passers-by, with others engaged in more lengthy conversation. Is there anyone he doesn’t know? But how so for someone whose accent belies nothing of his roots in the Welsh valleys?

As we settle into our seats at the Pear Tree, I’m intrigued what brought a son of Bargoed, a town more famed for its coal and car parts than the broadcast media, to rural Dorset. The answer is a circuitous one which commenced on the parade grounds of HMS Raleigh in Plymouth when, at the tender age of 16, he enlisted with the Royal Navy and, during the following nine years, found himself posted to RNAS Yeovilton.

But, wait, didn’t that period span a certain contretemps in the South Atlantic – in fact, the first invasion of British sovereign territory since the end of World War II? Yes, and Taff was very much in the thick of it, as a young seaman based on HMS Glasgow. He speaks of it now in a slightly matter-of-fact way but it’s all too apparent that this was a seminal moment in his journey of life, and his respect for all those that serve in the armed forces is profound.

We break from ‘business’ briefly while coffee is served and I muse about the nickname that has stuck with ‘Anthony’, his given name, throughout his adult life. This, unsurprisingly, hails from his days in the navy and has been adopted by all and sundry ever since with evident acquiescence from the man himself.

Post-coffee we return to discussion only to be interrupted (at Taff ’s behest) by yet another acquaintance, this time a tall man dressed in a suit – how does he know all these people? Abbey 104 provides at least part of the rationale in this respect as Taff has been involved with the local community radio station in one form or another since 2012; the time of its inception.

‘I’m no natural broadcaster’ he quips, ‘but at least people 120 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

instantly recognise me from the accent!’ Natural or not, Taff presents a weekly programme of country music that attracts followers from the Deep South of the US, the home of the genre, and since 2015 has been chairman of the station. It’s this profile which he credits with his notoriety (his word not mine!) around the town, but I suspect there is more to it. Dig a little further and you soon discover a musical past that saw him perform in a number of local bands over the course of several decades.

Taff ’s evident love of music emerged during his childhood and he was soon teaching himself to play the guitar. As well as the bands, he enjoyed a fairly brief dalliance into the world of music retailing when he owned a guitar shop in Wincanton during the late 1990s, having left the forces in 1987. We stray into

Image: Katharine Davies

discussion about a few well-known musicians of the popular era and soon I am bamboozled by technical descriptions of Gibsons, Fenders, Yamahas et al, which Taff trots out with the smoothness and passion of a trainspotter recalling steam engines passing through Clapham Junction.

Anyway, it seems that the man in the suit was, in fact, a fellow executive committee member of the Sherborne Chamber of Commerce, another body with which Taff has been involved for some years. ‘We live in a wonderful town in the heart of one of the most beautiful parts of the UK. I just love being involved in anything that helps the residents and traders of Sherborne.’ And so it is, as can be witnessed by his full commitment to such events as the Festive Shopping Day and Sherborne Summer Festival, all with the stoical support of Lynda, his wife of

34 years and mother to their two adult children, herself well known to generations of pupils that have passedthrough Sherborne Abbey CE Primary School where she still works.

So what is it, I meekly enquire, that drives this man whose job with Leonardo, formerly Westland Helicopters, requires him to be in such far-flung locations as RNAS Culdrose or, equally, Biggin Hill in Kent on a daily basis with the attendant early starts and late finishes? In tones typically dismissive of any self-aggrandisement, and with that lilt of the Rhymney Valley still in evidence so many years after he departed for south Devon, his answer is: ‘I don’t know really – I just do it!’

Colin Lambert is away sherbornetimes.co.uk | 121

Community

Image courtesy of Sherborne School

SHERBORNE SCHOOL AND THE TENOR BELL

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Tim Phillips

he restoration of the bells in the Abbey, which took place between 1933 and 1934, included the recasting of the tenor by Mears & Stainbank at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, using metal from the original gifted by Cardinal Wolsey around 1514. On page 31 of Peter and Katherine’s book is a photograph supplied from the archive of Sherborne School, showing the boys in their uniform hauling the new bell weighing 46cwt (2,300kg) on a trolley up Digby Road in January 1934.

To the right of the School’s photograph is part of a newspaper cutting in which Major Hesse welcomed the new bell. In the Abbey’s Ringing Room is a peal board which shows the two peals rung either side of the restoration, one in 1930 on the old tenor and one in 1934 on the new. In both peals several names appear in common, including Major John Hesse. At about the time the details of the 1934 peal were published in the Ringing World, an article appeared on 9th March 1934 which stated that the cost of recasting the tenor was defrayed by contributions from the Old Shirburnians through an appeal by Major Hesse.

John Harley Bridges Hesse was born in Sealcote, Punjab, on 5th December 1872. Several generations of the family attended Sherborne School, including his father and uncle, and at least one of his sons. The 1891 Census finds him cramming at Melbury Osmund Rectory, before graduating from University College, 122 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Bristol, in Engineering. By the 1901 Census, he was working for Harland and Wolff in Belfast and later he moved to Thorneycrofts in Chiswick. Following a period in mechanical and motor engineering, John Hesse was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps as a lieutenant in 1915. His war service included a promotion to acting Major in January 1917.

For a period of 40 years, he lived in Haslemere where his great-uncle had been rector, leaving Haslemere for Wrington in Somerset where he died in 1946. Major Hesse was a very active bellringer during his late teens and his entire adult life. It is not clear where he learnt to ring, but possibly in the Abbey during his time at Sherborne School. It is a testament to his abilities that he was capable of ringing in each of the 1930 and 1934 peals with other campanological alumni of his age, among whom was Herbert Langdon, the conductor at St Paul’s Cathedral!

He was obviously much respected among the Old Boys of Sherborne School, as he was able to persuade them to provide the money to enable the tenor to be recast. It is ‘his’ bell that we hear chiming the hours each day, with its rich deep tone.

The Bells of Sherborne Abbey, by Peter Soole and Katherine Barker is available from the Abbey Shop and Bookstall, Winstone’s in Cheap Street, the Tourist Information Centre, Sherborne Museum and online at sherborneabbeybellringers. com/abbey-bells-book/

LOGO DESIGN COMPETITION OPEN TO ALL AGES

WIN A CASH PRIZE OF £50 plus a signed card by David Attenborough Sherborne’s Science Café is updating its image and invites submissions for a compelling new logo design The Sherborne Science Café promotes science-based subjects through expert presentation and general discussion.

The logo should be attractive, memorable and reference an aspect of science. It may also connect to Dorset or the local area. The logo can be produced digitally or hand-drawn in up to 3 colours.

Please submit your entry by email if possible to sherborne.scafe@gmail.com by 30th September 2019.

Entries may also be handed in at the next Science Café meeting on 25th September, Digby Memorial Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne. Please contact us if you would like to submit your entry by post.

The competition will be judged by members of the Science Café Committee.

Other prizes may be available at the discretion of the judges.

Please include your name and contact details and, if you are under 18, your age.

By entering this competition you agree that we may use, or adapt for our use, your winning design.

The Sherborne Science Café meets at the Digby Memorial Hall every fourth Wednesday of the month (excluding August and December) at 7.30pm. Entry is £2 and meetings are open to any person of 14 and over. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 123

Short Story

POACHED EGGS

I

Jan Pain, Sherborne Scribblers

n most respects Stan Taylor did not differ greatly from other obsessive collectors. What he knew was that to amass, say, desirable paintings, either for display in a gallery, or covertly, when passed on by a dodgy dealer, you needed to have money. Had he been a literary type, which he was not, he might have heard of the 18th century tulip mania, emanating in the Low Countries, where people would kill for the coveted hybrid bulb to add to their collections and about which Dumas even wrote a book.

Stan’s modest circumstances precluded any such aspirations but nevertheless his own passion was just as intense. Though illegal and, in the eyes of most, unacceptable, he had followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a collector of birds’ eggs at a young age, augmenting the already substantial hoard housed in a shed on the municipal allotment, fitted out with bespoke shelves and drawers to accommodate their ill-gotten gains.

From as early as he could remember, Stan had been intrigued by the size and range of these prizes, marvelling at the diversity of colours in a way that a jeweller might appraise his gems. By the time he was ten, he could identify all of them. He watched carefully as the purloined eggs were pierced and blown by his father then laid on teased lamb’s wool beds and given a little ticket of identification. Soon, he was proficient himself and spent his summer holidays searching for nests and becoming adept at tree climbing.

Rather like the tall stories of those who fish, his father had tales to tell of ‘the one that got away,’ which would refer to the nest of some elusive and rare bird, miles from the Essex countryside where the pair of them roamed.

He dreamed of travelling north to see what temptations lay over the Scottish border but as he didn’t own a car his hopes were never realised, although he succeeded in sowing the germ of an idea in young Stan’s mind.

After his father’s death, Stan not only kept the window cleaning

124 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

round they had shared but also continued with his hobby. An avid reader of The Daily Mail, it was from this source he learned of the endangered osprey and the inaccessibility of its nest. That, he thought, would be a real challenge, fulfilling his father’s old dream to go north. He set out, reasoning he could sleep in his van, camp in the wild somewhere and make his reconnaissance on foot. The one big difference from his father’s day, however, was that it was now illegal to have a stash of eggs, let alone steal them, and the fines for such an offence hefty, though little deterrent to Stan whose obsession drove him on. After five days of observation, he decided to make the perilous ascent up a crag to the osprey’s eyrie. He was still sure of foot and his balance uncompromised owing to the nature of his job demanding a good head for heights. The male osprey dive-bombed and shrieked and Stan almost baulked at the malevolent eye of the nesting bird. His resolve endured and he retrieved the two cream and speckled brown eggs. He carefully put them in a padded leather pouch fastened on his belt and gingerly descended. He did not stop or linger in the gathering dusk and purposefully returned to his van hidden deep in the surrounding forest. What a triumph! He hummed to himself as he drove south on the motorway, straight to the allotment and the sanctuary of his shed.

To his surprise, the door was ajar. He found his granddaughter curled up in an old hammock slung across the far end.

‘I guess you’ve been up to no good, Grandpa,’ she said. ‘You’ve been away over a week! You know I hate what goes on in here. What a grandfather to have! I can’t respect you or be proud of you because you abort baby birds.

Doesn’t your conscience ever trouble you? I’ve just dropped by to tell you that I read recently there’s to be a custodial sentence soon if you are caught stealing eggs, which is more than likely with CCTV in place at important sites! If you’re sent down, don’t imagine I shall visit you.’

In her fury she leapt from the hammock and, as she brushed past him to escape from the shed, she gave him a little shove, knocking the cherished pouch from his hand. There was an ominous crack as it hit the floor and a stain slowly spread over the wooden decking.

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 125

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SHERBORNE LITERARY FESTIVAL PREVIEW Jonathan Stones, Sherborne Literary Society

Let Her Fly by Ziauddin Yousafzai, (co-author Louise Carpenter) (WH Allen 2018) RRP £14.99 hardback Sherborne Times Reader Offer Price of £13.99 from Winstone’s Books

126 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

T

he sub-title of this memoir is ‘A Father’s Journey and the Fight for Equality’. It is the story of the father of Malala Yousafzai, who, as a schoolgirl, was shot in the head by the Taliban while on a bus, in retaliation for her activism in support of women’s education, defying an earlier ban imposed on the teaching of girls in schools by the Taliban in her native Swat valley in Pakistan. Malala was flown to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where she made a remarkable recovery, and went on to become a world-famous icon and Nobel Laureate while still a schoolgirl.

The advance notice of the book having indicated that it was written by Ziauddin himself, it was disconcerting at first to find that it was in fact co-authored by local writer Louise Carpenter. At the end of the book, we are made aware in the acknowledgements that the book is essentially a collection of transcripts of conversations between Ziauddin and Ms Carpenter. This goes some way towards explaining the strongly verbal cadences which characterise the book, though American spellings remain more of a puzzle.

What is not in doubt however is that Ziauddin himself is a remarkable character. Born into a traditionalist patriarchal family in Pakistan, he quickly distinguished himself as a child despite suffering from an uncontrollable stammer. One day he was taken by his mother to a remote village up a mountain to visit an ancient blind saint in his mud hut, who his mother confidently predicted would cure his stammer. What followed is indelibly described: Ziauddin recalls the saint pulling a ball of hardened sugar from his pocket and proceeding to suck it. ‘I watched him suck on it for a couple of seconds, and then he cupped his hand

under his hairy mouth and spat it out. I was horrified to see that he handed this wet slippery ball to my mother. She broke off a bit and gave it to me. I was revolted by the slimy fragment, despite the miracle it was supposed to contain.’ Despite this process being repeated every night, the stammer remained.

Notwithstanding his many disadvantages, Ziauddin succeeded in setting up his own school and insisted on providing for girls’ education, despite the Talibanisation of the Swat Valley. He himself received death threats, but it was only when the Taliban turned their attention on Malala that he became really frightened.

After the attempt on her life, Ziauddin and his wife and sons came to live in Birmingham with her. What shines through in this book is his total commitment and support for Malala; her cause is and always has been equally his. As Malala acknowledges in the foreword, Ziauddin is a exceptional person. ‘Everyone was equal to him, whether Muslim or Christian, fair or dark, poor or rich, man or woman. As a school principal, a social activist, an active social worker, he was caring, respectful and supportive to everyone. Everyone loved him. He was my idol.’ sherborneliterarysociety.com

____________________________________________ Thursday 24th October 7pm - 9pm Sherborne Literary Festival Ziauddin Yousafzai and Louise Carpenter The Merritt Centre, Sherborne Girls, Bradford Road.

Tickets from £11.50 via eventbrite.co.uk and Sherborne Tourist Information Centre

____________________________________________

Great Reads for Summer £2 off selected titles

'Independent Bookseller of the Year 2016’ 8 Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3PX www.winstonebooks.co.uk Tel: 01935 816 128

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Jan Pain, Sherborne Literary Society

The House by the Loch by Kirsty Wark, (Two Roads, 2019). RRP £16.99 hardback

T

Sherborne Times Reader Offer Price of £15.99 from Winstone’s Books

his is a novel with a sense of place and belonging. The author, respected broadcaster Kirsty Wark, born in Dumfries, has a strong affiliation with Galloway, a lesser-known part of Scotland compared with the Highlands and Islands, but with its own unique and undiscovered charm. There is even a helpful map indicating locations in the story.

This is Wark’s second novel, set in an area close to her heart. The characters she depicts, too, seem to have a special place in her affections, particularly the protagonist Walter, who is partly modelled on her own father. In this three-generational story it is Walter who is drawn to the remote location of Loch Doon, owning the property evinced in the book’s title.

A countryman at heart, in the 1950s Walter is entranced by the clever and glamorous Jean, from Ayr, whose wealthy father and reclusive mother are flawed characters. When Jean and Walter marry, she believes she will cope with escaping from her parents’ influence to make her home by the loch, but soon feels trapped by her new environment, far from the hectic social round she formerly enjoyed. Walter is a loving and reliable husband but his job as an engineer often takes him away, leaving Jean with two small children to manage on her own. In time, her inner demons emerge and alcoholism takes over her life, contributing to her untimely death, which is subtly linked to a denouement later in the novel.

The house remains a constant, the adult children and grandchildren still taking their holidays with Walter for 128 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

whom they all have an enduring affection. But one fateful weekend their world is turned upside down by a tragedy at the loch, the aftermath of which has repercussions for every individual. As the years pass, each is drawn back to the beautiful, consoling place but with an added uneasy dimension of coming to terms with a grim reality.

The author handles the reactions of the family skilfully with her understanding of the frailties of human nature: arrogance, jealousy, secretiveness, mendacity and fear. She is aware that the two secrets the story holds can have a cathartic effect when eventually disclosed. She also addresses the devastation of the loss of a child and the profound effect on a parent and siblings. She knows, too, that life moves on and can be softened by interaction in a close-knit family. She explores the sometimes tenuous relationships between mothers and daughters and the power of unconditional love of a father and grandfather.

The locations are real and the characters fictional but the result is a credible cohesion. Ultimately, Wark binds together an inescapable landscape and the family who people it. sherborneliterarysociety

____________________________________________ Wednesday 23rd October 11am - 1pm Sherborne Literary Festival - Kirsty Wark The Merritt Centre, Sherborne Girls, Bradford Road.

Tickets from £7 via eventbrite.co.uk and Sherborne Tourist Information Centre

____________________________________________

Beginners Italian Course in Sherborne Fun 10 week course starting Tuesday 24th September at 2pm and 5.30pm 1.5 hours per week, ÂŁ15 per lesson

19 Cheap Street, Sherborne.

01935 815005

Learn all you need to travel, eat and chat!

www.oliverscoffeehouse.co.uk

Group and individual French tuition also available

@OliversSherbs @OliversCoffeeHouse @oliverscoffeehouse

Amanda Donnelly 07739 972538 languagetutor19@gmail.com

JULY SOLUTIONS

ACROSS 1. User; purchaser (8) 5. Extent of a surface (4) 8. Denise van ___ : English actress (5) 9. Performer of gymnastic feats (7) 10. Group of figures representing a scene (7) 12. Insects found where you sleep (7) 14. Dried grapes (7) 16. Spiral cavity of the inner ear (7) 18. Type of optician (7) 19. Customary practice (5) 20. Mineral powder (4) 21. Wheeled supermarket vehicles (8)

DOWN 1. Lump of earth (4) 2. Acquired money as profit (6) 3. Artificial (9) 4. Plays out (6) 6. Massaged (6) 7. Amazes (8) 11. Able to speak two languages (9) 12. Complete loss of electrical power (8) 13. Real (6) 14. Roof beam (6) 15. Inborn (6) 17. Animal doctors (4)

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 129

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

‘S

Revd Duncan Goldie, Cheap Street United Church

ummer time and the livin’ is easy’ once sang Ella Fitzgerald. It’s a time that we all look forward to, enjoying the long warm days, spending time with family and friends, with the odd barbecue or two. It is also a time when we look forward to the summer holidays, welcoming people to be a part of our community, spending their holiday time relaxing with us.

Taking time off from our regular routines, our responsibilities or our daily work, is a part of many faiths’ pattern of life, including the Christian faith. It is something that we call a Sabbath; in the first of the creation accounts in Genesis we find that after God had created all that God wished to, God took the next day off, so both rest and activity are a part of what God decided to create.

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that the Sabbath or a Sunday is just about going to church and worshipping God, and that can be an enjoyable part of it, but it is also about more than that, it is about enjoying and making the most of what we already have, with our family and friends.

There was one occasion that Jesus was walking with his disciples [Luke 6:1-5] on a Sabbath and his disciples were criticised for picking grains of corn, rubbing them to remove the outer skin and eating them. According to a strict observance of the religious laws of that day, it was work and therefore not allowed. Jesus response was to the critics: ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’

The Sabbath, and the time off it brings, is there for our benefit. And it is so important for us and our well-being that in the Bible, everyone including the animals, were to have time off.

In today’s world we do not all take our days off or holidays at the same time, and how we choose to enjoy them again will be different. But is important for us as individuals and as a community of Sherborne to have time off, or Sabbaths.

So, as it says in another part of Ella Fitzgerald’s song: ‘One of these mornings you’re gonna rise up singing And you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to the sky’ Whether or not we do literally as the song says and take to the sky, we all need to enjoy stretching our wings for a day or a week or two. And you have God’s blessing to do so. cheapstreetchurch.co.uk

130 | Sherborne Times | August 2019

Focus without distraction Endless opportunities

Separate yet together

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