Sherborne Times May 2020 by Sherborne Times

MAY 2020 | FREE

A MONTHLY CELEBR ATION OF PEOPLE, PLACE AND PURVEYOR

INTO THE LIGHT with artist Rob Woolner

sherbornetimes.co.uk

WELCOME

write this with a dog pacing the kitchen, children gnawing at furniture and a wife teaching her class of 5-year olds via Zoom with what can only be described as awe-inspiring levels of enthusiasm. My eyes are drawn from screen to open window and the world beyond… It is testament to our town that so many pages of this month’s edition are dedicated to the good being done. Times like these reveal character and Sherborne has risen to the challenges with aplomb. We have so many local contributors offering support, encouragement and welcome distraction. It is humbling to have been on the receiving end. One such distraction is Glanvilles Wootton-based artist Rob Woolner. From the ‘little grey paintings’ of his days at art school, Rob now plays restlessly with colour and light, toying with our perceptions and challenging himself each day to create something that is ‘right’. Keep safe. Glen Cheyne, Editor glen@homegrown-media.co.uk @sherbornetimes

CONTRIBUTORS Editorial and creative direction Glen Cheyne Design Andy Gerrard @round_studio Sub editor Sadie Wilkins Photography Katharine Davies @Katharine_KDP Feature writer Jo Denbury @jo_denbury Editorial assistant Helen Brown Social media Jenny Dickinson Illustrations Elizabeth Watson elizabethwatsonillustration.com Distribution team Barbara and David Elsmore Nancy Henderson The Jackson Family David and Susan Joby Christine Knott Sarah Morgan Mary and Roger Napper Alfie Neville-Jones Mark and Miranda Pender Claire Pilley Ionas Tsetikas

Simon Barber Evolver @SimonEvolver @evolvermagazine evolver.org.uk Richard Bromell ASFAV Charterhouse Auctioneers and Valuers @CharterhouseAV charterhouse-auction.com Jenny Campbell Sherborne Scribblers Paula Carnell @paula.carnell paulacarnell.com Cindy Chant Sherborne Walks @sherbornewalks sherbornewalks.co.uk Ali Cockrean @AliCockrean alicockrean.co.uk Gillian M Constable DWT Sherborne Group @DorsetWildlife dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk David Copp Rosie Cunningham Jemma Dempsey Jenny Dickinson Dear to Me Studio, Fine Stationery @DearToMeStudio deartome.co.uk Jon Fletcher The Grange at Oborne @GrangeatOborne thegrangeatoborne.co.uk Jimmy Flynn Milborne Port Computers @MPortComputers computing-mp.co.uk Nick Folland Sherborne Preparatory School @Sherborneprep sherborneprep.org Andrew Fort B.A. (Econ.) CFPcm Chartered MCSI APFS Fort Financial Planning ffp.org.uk

1 Bretts Yard Digby Road Sherborne Dorset DT9 3NL 01935 315556 @sherbornetimes info@homegrown-media.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk Sherborne Times is printed on an FSC® 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 | May 2020

Andy Foster Raise Architects @raisearchitects raisearchitects.com Patrick Francis Sherborne Literary Society @SherborneLitSoc sherborneliterarysociety.com Darren Halford Riley’s Cycles rileyscycles.co.uk Craig Hardaker Communifit @communifit communifit.co.uk Dawn Hart Sherborne Yoga Andy Hastie Cinematheque cinematheque.org.uk Sarah Hitch The Sanctuary Beauty Rooms The Margaret Balfour Beauty Centre @SanctuaryDorset @margaretbalfourbeautycentre thesanctuarysherborne.co.uk margaretbalfour.co.uk Justin Hopkins & Maeve England Mogers Drewett Solicitors @mogersdrewett md-solicitors.co.uk

James Hull The Story Pig @thestorypig thestorypig.co.uk Nick Hunt Hunt’s Accountants huntsaccountants.co.uk Brian King The Gardens Group @TheGardensGroup thegardensgroup.co.uk Chris Loder MP Loretta Lupi-Lawrence The Sherborne Barber Sandra Lyons MRCVS Kingston Vets kingstonvets.co.uk Sasha Matkevich The Green Restaurant @greensherborne greenrestaurant.co.uk Eleanor Milton eleanormilton.co.uk Lucy Morland MSc (Hons) Grad Dip MCSP HCPC MAPCP MAPPI London Road Clinic 56londonroad.co.uk Mark Newton-Clarke MA VetMB PhD MRCVS Newton Clarke Veterinary Partnership @swanhousevet newtonclarkevet.com Emma Rees Yoga with Emma emmareesyoga.com David Ridgway BSc Sherborne School @SherborneSchool sherborne.org Dr Tim Robinson MB BS MSc MRCGP DRCOG MFHom Glencairn House Clinic glencairnhouse.co.uk doctortwrobinson.com Niina Silvennoinen @DorsetWildlife dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk Helen Simpson helensimpsonartist.co.uk Emma Slee Paul Stickland Black Shed Flowers @NaughtyDinosaur blackshedflowers.blogspot.co.uk Val Stones @valstones bakerval.com Dee Swinton Dorset Mind @DorsetMind dorsetmind.uk Safia and Ian Thomas Bootmakers Workshop Jess Thompson DorPIP @dor_pip dorpip.org.uk Sally Welbourn Dorset Wildlife Trust @DorsetWildlife dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk Katie Windle Sherborne School for Girls @SherborneGirls sherborne.com Yeovil Samaritans @samaritans samaritans.org/yeovil

MAY 2020

8 Community

72 Antiques

134 Finance

24 Film

76 Interiors

140 Tech

26 Theatre

80 Gardening

141 Directory

28 Art

86 ROB WOOLNER

144 Short Story

38 Architecture

96 Food & Drink

146 Literature

40 Family

104 Animal Care

150 Crossword

64 Wild Dorset

112 Body & Mind

151 Pause for Thought

70 History

132 Legal

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elizabethwatsonillustration.com

e V n i r r o a b l r e h S Kindness We Can Help!

We have a network of volunteers covering Sherborne and the surrounding villages. We can help with shopping, delivering food, collecting prescriptions, walking dogs and more. If you are in isolation and need help with something - please contact us. We can also connect you to a FREE book and DVD delivery service. Contact us via Facebook @sherborneviralkindness or call us on 07884 115 987. All our services are completely FREE.

COMMUNITY Food & drink takeaway & delivery ____________________________ Ab Fab Cakes A range of sweet treats from brownies,

and 1l tubs. phillipa@ecco-gelato.co.uk

____________________________

Parsons Butchers

The Gainsborough Arms,

Fresh meat delivered directly to your

Milborne Port ‘Meals on Wheels’ delivery service;

door. 01935 812071

____________________________

selection of meals from the menu,

The Pear Tree Deli

____________________________

jams and a selection of meals. Also

delivered to your door. 01963 250 330

Cakes, bread, eggs, milk, cheese, honey,

abfabcakes.co.uk cakesabfab@hotmail.com

Kings Arms,

____________________________

Charlton Horethorne

offering cream teas delivered to your

Bakerman Dan

Frozen meals for collection or delivery, plus

biscuits, and cupcakes to celebration cakes.

Freshly baked bread delivered, plus eggs

and cheese. Pizzas available on a Friday and Saturday, 5pm-8pm.

@dandanbakerman

____________________________ Bean Shot Coffee

selection of house wines. 01935 220281

home. Open 8.30am – 10.30am for collection. 01935 812828

____________________________

Pizza Pasta Mondo

Les Evan Vegetables

Delivery and takeaway pizza.

Culverhayes Carpark, Saturday mornings from 9am-12pm.

01935 488 685

____________________________

Reads Coffee

Coffee daily for you to enjoy at home,

Mandarin House Chinese

Order online or collect directly

____________________________

Roasting and shipping its Bloody Good free delivery. beanshot.co.uk

Delivery and takeaway. 01935 814320

Brewed Boy

The Market Town

Sherborne Market Fruit & Veg

Great selection of beers in cans plus

Gardener Greengrocer

Every Thursday and Saturday on the

home delivery service. 07889 731071

Email Adrian for deliveries.

1ltr bottles of our own brewery’s beers,

Open some mornings at the shop.

info@brewedboy.co.uk

a.davies753@btinternet.com

@Brewed_Boy

@Brewed-Boy-Sherborne

____________________________

from the roastery. 01935 481010

____________________________

Conduit, plus home deliveries. Call

07527 727947, text 0751 555 4549 or email sherbornemarketfruitandveg@aol.co.uk

____________________________

Naturalife Wholefoods

Skippers

The Cross Keys

Open Monday to Saturday from 10am –

Take away and delivery menu available

care and household items. Orders can

evening. 01935 507900

Take away and delivery service, including Sunday roast, burgers and selection of

beers and wines. Individual and family

ready meals also available. Thursday and Saturday. 10% off for NHS workers. 01935 508130

____________________________

4 pm. Foods, flour, food supplements, body be placed over the phone for collection

The Story Pig

01935 815756 naturalife-wholefoods.com

box delivered on Fridays and Saturdays.

naturalife.sherborne@gmail.com

Home delivery service, £30 essentials

____________________________

Plus free-range Tamworth pork,

Oliver’s Coffee House

Selection of meals available; delivered to

Homemade cakes and cream teas for

in Higher Holton, including BBQ packs.

of Reads Coffee and Dorset Tea also

Vegetable and meat boxes available, plus freshly baked bread. Available Monday

____________________________

or delivery via #sherborneviralkindness.

Dorset Fine Dining your door or collected from the kitchen

for pre-orders on a Friday and Saturday

collection or free local delivery. Range

including sausages and pork chops. james@thestorypig.co.uk

thestorypig.co.uk 07802 443905

____________________________

available. jane@oliverscoffeehouse.co.uk

The Three Wishes

____________________________

pie, and shepherd’s pie. Call Nicky on

01935 815005

Delivery service including lasagne, fish

____________________________

Oxfords Bakery

Ecco Gelato

Home deliveries, freshly baked bread, eggs,

07966385908 nicky_king@icloud.com

to Friday. 07525 667687

Your favourite gelato flavours can be

delivered to your door in 500ml, 750ml 10 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

milk, cheese and fresh food. ‘Drive-through’ at the bakery in Alweston. 01963 23214

____________________________ Vineyards Wine Merchant Operating a home delivery service for wine,

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the demand for food parcels while at the same time caused a huge drop in donations. Sherborne Food Bank relies solely on the generous food and cash donations from the community and is in urgent need of your help. With movement restricted and supermarket visits less frequent please consider making a financial donation via our website. For those visiting supermarkets please consider adding the following items to your trolley: • UHT Milk • Squash • Tinned meals (not pies) • Rice • Dried mash • Pasta sauce • Tea • Tinned vegetables (not beans or chickpeas) Donation points can be easily found at

Thank you.

www.sherbornefoodbank.org 07854 163869 | help@sherbornefoodbank.org

COMMUNITY spirits, beer and mixers. Orders received by

are in need, offering a variety of services

Tuesday or Thursday of the same week.

pick-ups, dog walking, DVD and book

12pm each Monday will be delivered either News and offers updated regularly on our social media channels. Stay home; we’ll

keep you watered! Order via email only shop@vineyardsofsherborne.co.uk @vineyards.wine

@vineyards_wine

____________________________ The White Post Saturday night takeaway, order via direct message on Facebook with telephone number. Order on a Tuesday from 6pm – 11pm.

@thewhitepostrimpton

____________________________

Support ____________________________ Catherine Paterson, ARTT, MPM

including shopping and prescription

hello@yogasherborne.co.uk 07817 624081 @yogasherborne

swap scheme, free meals from their

____________________________

not expected.

Other

community kitchen – donations accepted

@sherborneviralkindness

____________________________

Total Wellbeing Matters

Black Shed Flowers

Home support service which is bespoke

Next day delivery of beautiful flowers,

such things as shopping, collection

07859 911817

to each customer. Services include of prescriptions, light housework,

nationwide. Gift vouchers also available. ____________________________

companionship etc. We are unable to

Castle Gardens

service. Contact Amanda on 07786

lines may be temporarily closed when

offer personal care or provide a cleaning

Deliveries across range of plants. Phone

9251637 info@totalwellbeingmatters.com

demand for orders is high. 01935 814633

totalwellbeingmatters.com

____________________________

50% off RTT hypnotherapy for all

Fitness

Wim Hof instructor. 079413 86971

Communifit

____________________________

Live HIIT and PT. 07791 308773.

NHS staff. Clinical hypnotherapist,

____________________________

catherinepaterson.co.uk

Online exercise classes for over-50s.

Lucy Beney MBACP

info@communifit.co.uk communifit.co.uk

Lucy is an integrative counsellor, registered

including beginners. yogasherborne.co.uk

____________________________

thegardensgroup.co.uk

____________________________ The Corner House Newsagent & general store is open

from 8am-1pm and 4pm-5pm. Also, delivering our goods to elderly/

vulnerable/self-isolating customers.

Sherborne stay safe, stay well. Richard, Kim, Luke & Teresa. 01935 815 615

____________________________

with the BACP. Currently offering

SPFit

Marshes

remote sessions. She works mainly with young people and parents on a range of

Online fitness programmes - Strength

Deliveries available on electrical items.

issues. She is also a qualified Tuning into

and Conditioning, Stretching, Broga plus Old School Circuits and HIIT Class.

01935 389665

Teens facilitator. lucybeneycounselling.com lucybeneycounselling@gmail.com

S@PFit-Sherborne and

@swjpartridge. spfit-sherborne.co.uk

07510 081445

____________________________

Yoga with Emma

The Rendezvous

Online yoga classes. Choose from pre-

One-to-one emotional support via

telephone, email, or Skype for young

people and young families. Advice and guidance available. Plus, help with

housing, benefits and universal credit,

food bank referrals via phone, email and Facebook messenger. therendezvous.org.uk

@therendezvous1

____________________________ Sherborne Viral Kindness A community initiative helping those who 12 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

recorded sessions to access whenever

you like or attend live group classes via Zoom to boost motivation. There’s a

mix of paid and free options, to help you get back on the mat. emmareesyoga.com emmayogateacher@gmail.com

____________________________

ebmarsh.com marshs@ebmarsh.com

____________________________ The Slipped Stitch Free home delivery in Sherborne and Milborne Port, and by post to other areas. We are running a ‘Lockdown

Crochet Along’ and virtual ‘Knit and

Natter’ sessions on Facebook on Tuesday mornings, and Thursday & Saturday afternoons.

@TheSlippedStitch

info@theslippedstitch.co.uk theslippedstitch.co.uk/blog

____________________________

Yoga Sherborne

The Toy Barn

Hatha Yoga, relaxation & meditation.

Selection of toys and play equipment

in your own time. Suitable for all levels

____________________________

Live classes or recorded for you to practise

available for delivery. info@toy-barn.co.uk

Dorset 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem

Do YOU need help with your wellbeing? OR could YOU help others that do? Due to the COVID-19 outbreak we’ve seen a huge rise in anxiety and poor mental health across Dorset. We know that now, more than ever, people need our support. Which is why we’ve replaced our adult and young people services with online or phone support. This means we are able

to continue to support Dorset’s local communities. We can deliver support groups, befriending, counselling and mentoring in this new way. We’ve also developed a new training programme for individuals and companies. Find out more by emailing contact@dorsetmind.uk.

Website: dorsetmind.uk • #joinourmovement Registered Charity No. 1108168

Community

OUR MAN IN WESTMINSTER Chris Loder MP, Member of Parliament for West Dorset

t’s now May and spring is in full flight, making the temptation to venture out into our beautiful countryside and coastal areas even greater. It is at this point that we must all remain resolute in following the Government’s guidance because, so far, our NHS services are coping well here in West Dorset. When I became an MP, I never thought I would appear on TV news and regional radio imploring visitors to ‘stay away’ from our wonderful county, with all the implications I know that has for tourism and individual livelihoods, but that is the position we must continue to take at the moment. Our local hospitals, care homes and GP surgeries are going to incredible efforts to care for us, and I am in touch with them all on a regular basis to ensure they have all the 14 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

support they need. We must must continue to protect them, and ourselves, and help save lives. I am convinced the strength of our local communities will see us through. That has been made so clear through the support I’ve had from hundreds of you for my ‘Scrub Hub’ project, sewing scrubs for our healthcare workers; not to mention the great team at Black Cow Vodka who worked with me to produce 120 litres of hand sanitiser, which I delivered to care homes and surgeries across the constituency, from Bridport and Portesham to Beaminster and Sherborne. So many voluntary groups and neighbourly initiatives have sprung up all over West Dorset – thank you to you all. You will have seen the news that Parliament is now

Image: Len Copland

‘virtual’, a hybrid solution to keep democracy going as Britain remains in lockdown. Throughout the recess, Parliament’s digital services team worked hard installing technology to allow up to 120 members to contribute electronically, with another 50 participating from the green benches, while observing a social distance. At a time when we’re all relying more on digital contact with our family, friends and colleagues, sharing screens and ‘virtually’ meeting up; this is really the parliamentary equivalent. These historic measures required approval of MPs returning from recess on 21st April and, after much thought, I decided I needed to be there in person – primarily to ensure a strong voice for West Dorset,

but also to scrutinise this major change to the running of proceedings in Parliament. I raised a question to the Leader of the House, Jacob Rees-Mogg; firstly, to place on record my thanks to our local healthcare professionals. I then spoke on behalf of farming communities, asking the Leader to make provision for a statement from the Secretary of State. This will enable me to challenge Government on the current situation with farming and our food supply chain, which is of great concern to me. I am in weekly conference calls with the National Farmers Union and others; it is very clear that our dairy and beef industries in particular are under great stress. The situation with our dairy industry is escalating rapidly. There are many dairies unable to pay their farmers because they no longer have a market for their milk. Just a few weeks ago all of this milk had a good home, and hopefully soon those markets will return, but in the meantime we must do all we can to ensure the industry is not irreversibly damaged by this crisis. There has never been a more critical time to support British produce, so please seek it out whenever you can - and remember to add an extra pint or two of fresh milk in your basket when you shop! Failings in the food supply chain have also been brought home to me through contact with local independent retailers, corner shops and rural village stores. While some wholesalers go the extra mile, it seems others are prioritising supply to larger multiples. As a result, many local shops are struggling to buy basic household goods and ingredients. Small shops have been the saviours of the Coronavirus crisis; without them, many of us in West Dorset would simply not have managed these past few weeks. Whether the butcher, fishmonger, greengrocer and baker delivering to our doors; the corner shop supplying our everyday basics and daily newspapers, or local pharmacies getting us the medication we need, they deserve our loyalty. That’s why I have written on their behalf to major suppliers and will continue to support them in any way I can. Lastly, I’m grateful to town councils who have recently reopened our local public gardens. Not everyone is blessed with their own garden and a tranquil walk in a green space offers respite in these challenging times. So please enjoy the outdoors when you can and look after yourselves, your families and your neighbours as we welcome spring together. chrisloder.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 15

Community

SHERBORNE COMMUNITY KITCHEN

Emma Slee

escribed as a ‘lifeline’, the Sherborne Community Kitchen — part of the Sherborne Viral Kindness Initiative — started from nothing just weeks ago and is now delivering more than 50 meals a day to the elderly, vulnerable and selfisolating. Thanks to a team of administrators, chefs, packers and delivery drivers — all of whom have given their time voluntarily — the service is able to provide a main meal and pudding to those in need every single day, completely free of charge. The operation is based at the Digby Hall in Hound Street, which is deep-cleaned every day to eliminate contamination. Only the chef is allowed in the kitchen area, whilst the packers and organisers closely observe the two-metre social distancing rule. Trained chefs, including those from The Cross 16 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Keys and Oliver’s Coffee House as well as Alexa from Sherborne Girls School have united to cook at the Digby Hall. They are preparing meals ranging from lemon chicken, pasta and meatballs to cottage pie, ratatouille and roast dinners. And there have been some amazing cakes for dessert. Local councillor Jill Warburton, who is co-ordinating the initiative, is still doing her ‘day job’ at Waitrose, but comes home at 10pm to organise labels and drivers’ lists, before being up at the crack of dawn to oversee operations at the hall. She is helped by her 18-year-old daughter Hermione who is volunteering while studying at home for her A-levels. Jill is overwhelmed by the amount of people who are willing to give up their time as well as the ongoing donations, most recently a batch of 200 Easter eggs

from Mole Valley. ‘Sherborne is a community-minded town. We have 125 voluntary groups here. People are ready to help in so many different ways. I have been in tears, again and again, thinking about how people are ready to help. Only today, I have had calls from people offering to be delivery drivers and packers. It’s just a case of making the best use of everyone’s talents.’ The concept of a community kitchen was founded quickly after the formation of Sherborne Viral Kindness (SVK). Jill said, ‘We knew there would be a need and we were worried that certain people in the community might not be getting a proper meal each day. People’s carers were going sick and so many people were vulnerable or unable to get out. That’s when the community kitchen was born. We gathered together a team of people who were very practically-minded and we just got down to it.’ As well as sending out meals every day, on Fridays food goes out to cover recipients for the entire weekend.’The response has been tremendous,’ said Jill. ‘We have had so many cards and ‘thank yous’. It’s very

humbling to think how important this is to some people. Among those on the kitchen’s supply list are an elderly man who was recently discharged from hospital with a fractured ankle and ‘one good arm’, single parents, a man with MS and no freezer, several people with dementia and memory loss, and exhausted NHS and care workers. Jill said she was keen to dispel a few myths about who was eligible for the scheme. As the meals are free, she said that some people felt uncomfortable about accepting them. ’This isn’t just for anyone struggling financially — it’s for anyone isolated and finding it hard to provide themselves with good cooked food each day. Of course, people can give a donation if they wish, but the community kitchen is free.’ She added: ’Praise has to go to Jules Bradburn, who founded SVK and had the imagination and drive to do something about the situation we were all in.’ To make a donation to the Sherborne Community Kitchen visit gofundme.com/f/sherborne-community-kitchen @sherborneviralkindness sherbornetimes.co.uk | 17

Community

18 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

Jon Fletcher, The Grange at Oborne

n Friday 20th March, we were forced to close our doors at The Grange at Oborne indefinitely; the first time the business has closed in the seventeen years that our family have been at the hotel. Like many in the hospitality industry, we felt the effects of Covid-19 early on. There was more than a tear shed that weekend as it became apparent that most, if not all, of the staff faced redundancy and Jenny and I, as managers, faced the prospect of closing down the business; not knowing how long it would survive. Thankfully, the Government’s furlough scheme came to the rescue of the staff but without any grants available to us, the business faced an uncertain future. Jenny describes closing down the hotel as ‘heart-breaking; having to go into each room and turn off the heating and electrics. Unplugging freezers and fridges in the kitchen, whilst trying to pretend, for the sake of our two small children, that this was all normal.’ Faced with the prospect of weeks at home without any opportunity to help out at The Grange, many of the staff were itching to support the community in other ways; some were cooking for elderly neighbours; some were doing the shopping for people who were isolating. Then along came a solution to both problems. Dorset Council got in contact to ask if we would be willing to accept patients to relieve pressure in hospitals. Weeks earlier, Best Western had contacted all the hotels that advertise with them and asked if they would be willing to make their rooms available to patients; we readily agreed that we would do our part at The Grange and welcomed the call from the council. The Grange will be used as a social care base for people who can’t go directly back to their own homes once medically fit to leave hospital and waiting for a social care support package to be put in place. This keeps hospital beds available to support people with Coronavirus. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is helping to get it set up as quickly as possible. There are currently six live-in carers at the hotel who will care for up to 12 people. Dorset Council was one of the first local authorities to consider using hotels for this purpose and whilst worthy of admiration, it meant that there was no manual for setting this up and there were some considerable hurdles for our hotel to overcome. This was further complicated by the media interest in the story and we found ourselves being interviewed live on BBC National News. We started with six A4 pieces of paper - each with a different title - and within an hour all of the parchments were full of jobs that we needed to complete. Having just finished closing down the hotel, we then had to open it up for a different purpose. We started by asking eight staff members to come back to work – all agreed. In helping in this small way, we all feel as though we are doing our bit. From a commercial point of view, this contract allows the business to pay its bills as we move through this very uncertain time. Cllr Laura Miller, Portfolio Holder for adult social care and health at Dorset Council said: ‘This is a great success, showing the dedication of partners across the system to get this set up in just a few days. We’re hearing nationally about the shortage of hospital beds, and we want to be ahead of the curve by providing alternative solutions for people who are medically fit to leave. We can then make sure that the most critically ill people have access to the right help and support in hospitals at the right time. We also know that care and support in people’s homes is becoming increasingly difficult to find, so this hotel-based care provision will make sure anyone who can leave hospital can do so in a safe way, while we work with them to get the support they’ll need to return home.’ thegrangeatoborne.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 19

Community

TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF Yeovil Samaritans

he onset of Coronavirus has been deeply unsettling for everyone. At Yeovil Samaritans, we’re committed to helping those who are struggling, whichever way we can. The virus brings with it a lot of unknowns about the immediate and long-term future. This uncertainty, which is outside of our control, can be deeply worrisome and stressful. Yeovil Samaritans are urging people in Somerset to obtain information on how to cope during this prolonged isolation period from a trusted source such as NHS ‘Every Mind Matters’.Here are some tips from the NHS that may help. 20 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Stick to the facts

Find a source you trust – such as GOV.UK or the NHS website – for information about risks so you can take sensible precautions. But remember to follow government policy about social distancing and staying at home. Connect with people

Maintaining healthy relationships with people we trust is important for our mental wellbeing. Whether over the phone, via messages or online, talking to others can help you develop a balanced view of the

at this time. Try to think of things you can do to help those around you. Is there a friend or family member nearby you could message? Are there any community groups you could join to support others locally? Make a plan

Thinking and planning ahead for time spent at home should help you feel more prepared and less concerned. Think through a normal week: how might it be affected and what would you need to do to solve it? Look after your body

Our physical health has a big impact on how we feel. Try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, drink enough water and exercise regularly. Stay on top of difficult feelings

Try to focus on the things you can control, such as your behaviour, who you speak to, and where and how often you get information. Do things you enjoy

If we’re feeling worried, anxious or low, try and focus on your favourite hobby, learning something new or simply taking time to relax with others will help with anxious thoughts and feelings. Focus on the present

Focusing on the present, rather than worrying about the future, can help with difficult emotions and improve wellbeing. Look after your sleep

situation and make you both feel better. Talk about your worries

It’s normal to feel a bit worried, scared or helpless about the current situation. Remember: it is OK to share your concerns with others you trust – and doing so may help them too. Support and help others

Helping someone else can benefit you as well as them, so try to be a little more understanding of other people’s concerns, worries or behaviours

Good-quality sleep makes a big difference to how we feel mentally and physically, so it’s important to get enough. Try to keep a regular sleeping pattern and follow good sleep practices. But above all, be kind to yourself. If you have a day where you don’t manage to distract yourself, remember we are human and what we are going through is extremely difficult. samaritans.org/yeovil If you are feeling overwhelmed and distressed about anything going on in your life remember you can call Samaritans on 116 123. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 21

DORSET FER NDOWN D ES

m ipsum

More and more people in Dorset are recycling their food waste. Get a food caddy today:

dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/recycle

Coping through coronavirus If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re worried about your own or someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mental health during the Coronavirus outbreak, visit samaritans.org/coronavirus You can speak to Samaritans for emotional support on 116 123

Call 116 123

Film

24 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

ON FILM

Andy Hastie, Yeovil Cinematheque

s I mused last month, with no foreseeable let up to the lockdown, we are all having to rely on television to keep us entertained at home even more. Noticeably, there are a record number of films and repeats being aired, due to much of the regular programme production being on hold through the shutdown of the entertainment industry. I haven’t noticed many foreign language films, so I suggest a trip around the world via a selection of titles with proven pedigree. All are available through streaming from Amazon Prime. Firstly, the Spanish Truman, Cesc Gay’s study of two old friends reuniting, as one is entering the final stages of cancer. Don’t worry, this is an uplifting experience, as the friends reflect upon their lives, loves, successes and failures with warmth and much humour. Maria Delgado, London Film Festival, rated the acting ‘With two of the Spanish-speaking world’s greatest actors, Ricardo Darin is superb as the defiant Julian, while Javier Cámara excels as the responsible friend trying to do the right thing’. This is an award-laden, beautiful film and highly recommended. Truman, by the way, is a dog! Black Cat White Cat is Serbo-Croat Emir Kusturica’s hilarious comedy, set within a community of gypsies on the banks of the Danube, and is a riotous mix of farce, romance and crime. It rattles along at break-neck speed with help from Kusturica’s own famous travelling gypsy band. ‘Riotously funny... bravura stuff....intoxicating’ Time Out. ‘Wild, funny, delirious... swirls to its own tempestuous rhythm’ Evening Standard. This is a real delight. Tangerines, the Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated ‘Best Foreign Language Film’, is a powerful and eloquent plea for peace, and a statement on the futility of violence which stems from racial and ethnic divisions. Set in 1992 Georgia, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, it tells the story of two wounded soldiers from opposite sides who have to convalesce under one roof. They are forced by their carer to confront the reasons for their hatred for each other. ‘Imaginative and profoundly touching...the final effect is truly stunning’ Twitch Film. ‘Terrifically good’ Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian. Intelligent and powerful. Milos Forman’s The Fireman’s Ball is a delightful,

dark but gentle, mocking comedy of small town officials, but ends as an allegorical satire on the incompetence and ideological idiocy of the state. Made in, then, Czechoslovakia in 1967, it was banned on release, but only after a smuggled copy started to win awards at international festivals, was the sanction lifted. The film concerns a ball to celebrate the retirement of the fire chief, which quickly descends into farce. The raffle prizes are stolen, an inappropriate beauty contest turns to chaos, and the brigade cannot even respond properly to a real fire next door. This is all genuinely hilarious, and ‘Quietly, irresistibly funny’ Time Out. The whimsical Lost in Paris (2017), written by and starring a husband and wife team, Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon, is a physical comedy evoking the vaudeville style of Buster Keaton or Jacques Tati. On receiving a letter from her elderly French aunt, Fiona arrives in Paris from Canada to quickly lose her belongings, fall in the Seine, and start a romance with a homeless man. Littered with sight gags and sidesplitting set-ups, this saunter across Paris to find the missing aunt brings a heart-warming glow to the screen. Laugh out loud, gentle humour. The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978) from highly regarded Italian director Ermmano Olmi, details the survival of several peasant families in rural Tuscany at the turn of the 20th century. Almost documentary in style, this beautiful film captures the joys, sorrows and spirituality of life at that time, and is a testament to the peasants surviving rule by the church and landlord. ‘A near faultless and major film’ Time Out. ‘A genuinely great film’ Derek Malcolm, The Guardian. This is available to stream from MUBI. Finally, if you are thinking of box sets, don’t forget the French Spiral, or the Swedish The Bridge, both on Amazon Prime, and both examples of crime drama at its best, with flawed main characters at the heart, handling their own demons. Stay safe, happy viewing, and do let me know of any gems you would like to recommend. More next month. cinematheque.org.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 25

Theatre

CONFESSIONS OF A THEATRE ADDICT Rosie Cunningham

n the crazy world of lockdown, there have been so many wonderful free creative downloads and streaming events to find. The National Theatre have been releasing a new production every Thursday live on YouTube for free. Starting with James Corden in One Man, Two Guvnors, followed by Jane Eyre, Treasure Island and then Tamsin Greig in Twelfth Night. One Man, Two Guvnors is hilarious and James 26 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Corden credits this play, which first ran at the National in 2011, written by Richard Bean and directed by Nicholas Hytner, as being a landmark in his career and catapulted him to stardom. Until that play, he was best known for writing and acting in the BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey and before that, Alan Bennettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The History Boys. The action takes place in Brighton in 1963 with many of the characters being members of the criminal

James Corden and Oliver Chris in One Man, Two Guvnors Image: Johan Persson

'Corden's physical dexterity is astonishing'

underworld. The show is infused with terrific jokes and comic routines and a madcap, joie de vivre that proves irresistibly funny. Corden is dressed in a loud check suit throughout. His physical dexterity is astonishing, and he brings such a warmth to his performance, frequently appealing to the audience and getting them involved. The best bit by far in One Man, Two Guvnors is when he simultaneously serves dinner to his two masters in one of the most uproarious scenes of farcical comedy. He is abetted by Tom Edden, who plays a doddery ancient waiter who can hardly walk and falls down the stairs frequently. I was crying with laughter. It was Norman Wisdom and The Two Ronnies at their best. With the frequent closing of the stage curtains for set changes, a superb skiffle band took to the stage. All in all, a superb play and not to be missed. It was obvious to the audience how much the whole cast were enjoying themselves and I am sure that no two performances were the same. Catch it on YouTube. Hampstead Theatre have streamed three of their productions – Wild by Mike Bartlett, Wonderland by Beth Steel and Drawing the Line by Howard Benton. Sadler’s Wells is streaming many of their productions on Facebook. Andrew Lloyd Webber has launched a YouTube channel called The Shows Must Go On with a musical production being streamed every Friday. Culture in Quarantine is a joint initiative between the BBC and the Arts Council England and is available on bbc.co.uk/arts. From Ballet Lorent performing Rumpelstiltskin at Sadler’s Wells, black comedy theatre with Cyprus Avenue and Stephen Rea, to the musical production of Wind in the Willows at The London Palladium. Most museums and art galleries around the world are offering virtual tours. I toured the National Portrait Gallery. So much wonderful art and an up close and personal experience without the queues! Final delights are David Hockney releasing his new collection of springtime art that he has created on his ipad whilst in isolation in Normandy ‘as a respite from the news’. Truly one of our greatest living artists embracing the moment. Phoebe Waller-Bridge has made her hit stage show Fleabag The Play available to watch online Last word - the free daily PE sessions with Joe Wicks which have reached millions of families around the world, providing mental positivity for children and adults alike. Give that man a medal. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 27

Art

ARTIST AT WORK

No. 19: Helen Simpson, Work in Progress (daffodil with actual daffodils), pastel, 60 x 65cm

When I first picked this daffodil, the orange marks on the petals seemed reminiscent of the sun’s rays, beaming down from their distant source; the centre seemed to be projecting itself towards us with great energy, and the edges of the petals brought to mind the wafting skirts of angelic beings seen in the skies in Renaissance paintings. It is still a work in progress. I started to draw enlarged views of flowers while studying at the Royal Academy Schools. The flowers I bought in the colourful flower stalls in the streets above seemed to offer an escape into somewhere untouched by the noise and greyness of London. There is a stillness about a real flower, but a calm that masks an unceasing journey of transformation. My work is an attempt to convey this paradox of quiet 28 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

grace, coupled with inherent movement. Petals can appear floating on air, stretched in readiness to ‘take off ’, sculpted into swirling channels and billowing shapes by an invisible wind, but there is no wind; just a silent suspension in response to light. I work in oils and pastels on a scale much larger than life. I want the viewer to be able to come inside the environment of leaves and petals and enjoy the structure, forms and atmosphere found there, with the freedom to associate those forms with whatever comes to mind. I once drew the centre of an orange rose. A child looked at it and saw Cinderella’s carriage; I subsequently gave the picture that name. helensimpsonartist.co.uk

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Art

KEEPING CONNECTED THROUGH CREATIVITY Jennie Loader, Sherborne ArtsLink

oming together regularly to pool ideas, develop skills and share successes as well as challenges, is something that many of us value hugely and rely upon to help maintain a healthy balance in our lives. The sudden requirement to distance ourselves from others has been a massive shock and left many feeling isolated, under-engaged and unable to access their support systems. Sherborne ArtsLink is determined to find ways to keep people connected and support the community whilst we adapt to this new way of living. The effects of this change will particularly be felt by people such as those attending our weekly ArtsLink Fizz! health and wellbeing groups. Responding quickly, the project team 30 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

put together 12 weeks of art activities to do at home and posted these out along with art packs to all participants of the Art for Memory and Art for Parents groups. These have been really well received and images of art made at home are being posted on the ArtsLink Fizz! Instagram and Facebook pages. ‘Thank you so much. I am so excited. There is a lot around for the children, so it is easy to forget about our [parents] mental health and wellbeing, but this has truly helped thank you.’ Art for Parents participant. Likewise, to ensure that those with Parkinson’s who usually benefit, both mentally and physically, from a weekly dance class have access to movement videos which have been recorded by specialist Parkinson’s Dance tutors,

Artist, James Budden

enabling them to continue to dance at home. ‘Dave and I just had a fun half hour doing your bitesize Parkinson’s dance video. Seemed to work fairly well. A good mixture of activities and just the right length for us. Thank you. We’re going to try and do it twice a week.’ Parkinson’s Dance participant ArtsLink wants to support everyone during this period of isolation: to keep spirits up; occupy the mind; fill your time doing something positive and to help make you feel connected. Therefore, the weekly art activities sent out to the ArtsLink Fizz! groups are now available for everyone to enjoy via the Art at Home page on our website. In addition, artist and tutor James Budden has

been working in collaboration with ArtsLink and is now delivering all four of his weekly classes, plus new drawing groups, via virtual classrooms. This provides continuity for ArtsLink students and opportunities for others to join in. Check out what is available, including new online courses to be launched this month, at jamesbudden.co.uk It is a time to adapt, find new ways, be brave and learn new skills. Sherborne ArtsLink invites everyone to be creative together and to share what you make on its social media platforms and keep the community together through shared art experiences. sherborneartslink.org.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 31

Art

A PASSION FOR PAINTING

An excerpt from ‘The Art Class’, a fictitious work

Ali Cockrean, Artist and Tutor

eredith sat in her deckchair in the early May sunshine and prepared herself for the task ahead. Thea, her art tutor, had set the class some homework and Meredith had put it off for almost a week. But with the next class looming and a perfect morning to execute some en plein air painting, she’d really run out of excuses. Painting in class under instruction was one thing, but having to take responsibility for producing a piece of credible artwork in her own time felt to Meredith like jumping out of a plane with no parachute. She was now 10 weeks into her art class and loving every moment. The weeks had whizzed by and Meredith had embraced every opportunity to learn new techniques and develop new skills. She felt she’d learnt a great deal from Thea, who had a refreshing approach and reassuring attitude to her job. When a student started to make excuses for their work before showing it to her, Thea would hold up her hands and utter the words ‘I’m like the doctor, there’s nothing you can show me that I haven’t seen before.’ Regardless of how badly the new student’s endeavours turned out, she always found something positive to say. Her encouraging and joyous approach rubbed off on everyone, putting the class at ease and building their confidence slowly but surely. The tense silence of those early classes soon gave way to a cheery camaraderie.

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‘Art is just a matter of mastering a few basic principles; making a million mistakes and committing to a lifetime of practice’ had become Thea’s mantra and even the most reluctant students were starting to embrace the concept. Anita, who sat next to Meredith every week, had become a friend as well as a classmate. She made Meredith feel young again as they shared jokes and giggled together in lessons. She reminded Meredith that being relaxed and not taking anything too seriously made it fun, and also produced the best results. Intuitive drawing and painting always seemed to work better than labouring and worrying. As Meredith basked in the sunlight, she realised that she felt more content now than she had in a very long time; it was a nice feeling. It also occurred to her that Anita’s philosophy had extended way beyond the art class. ‘Right,’ she said to herself, ‘let’s get on with this.’ The task was to produce a loose sketch of plants in her garden, drawn or painted, in half an hour maximum. The paints were set up and the timer on her phone was primed. However, as soon as the countdown started, Meredith felt herself tighten up and her mind race. She lost concentration and a sea of shapes and colours swam before her eyes. ‘I have no idea where to start,’ she thought. With a rising feeling of panic and overwhelm she stopped the timer and sat back in the chair. What had Thea said about getting started? Meredith racked her brain to remember. ‘Don’t think too hard, decide what you are trying to communicate and connect emotionally with it. Then work instinctively.’ Meredith had no idea what this meant. How can you think but not think, and how on earth do you connect emotionally with a sketch? The sun was warm and the babbling of the water feature in the corner of the garden quickly lulled her into a light snooze, as she pondered the conundrum of the task. Half awake and half asleep, she was gently transported back to the garden of her childhood, remembering the sound of the small brook that ran through woodland next to her den. Lying with the heat of the sun on her face, listening to the bees and remembering her dad. Her dad. Long gone, but his memory could still unsettle her. A deep sadness rose up and took her by surprise. Meredith opened her eyes and her gaze fell upon a clematis clambering and climbing over trellis close to where she was sitting. ‘Dad’s favourite,’ she whispered to herself. As she said it she felt a warm glow replace the sadness and she realised instantly what Thea had meant. The clematis flowers nodded in the light early summer breeze and Meredith felt an overwhelming desire to capture not just their beauty but what they represented to her on a personal level. She worked quickly and intuitively, not striving for perfection. She mixed her colours and splashed the paints down on her paper, allowing them to run and blend. She turned the paper and watched as the rivulets of pinks and greens, merged and created unimaginably beautiful shapes. She then let her painting dry in the sun before working into it with a paintbrush to outline and emphasise some of the shapes and form loose flowers amid a mass of foliage. The timer alerted her when the half hour was up and Meredith laid down her brush as Thea had instructed. ‘Don’t be tempted to fiddle after the time’s up,’ she’d warned. Meredith Matthews surveyed the result of her endeavours, as a distant voice from the far recesses of her memory echoed in her ear…’Good job darling…well done.’ alicockrean.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 33

THE ELECTRIC BROOM CUPBOARD Simon Barber, Evolver

or around 5 years in the late eighties, Sherborne was at the centre of the West Country music scene, with the Electric Broom Cupboard promoting gigs every fortnight at The Woolmington (later The Pageant Inn), located between the Pageant Gardens and Wincanton Engineering (now Sainsbury’s). The club was christened by artists The Terrible Hildas (yours truly and Amanda Wallwork) and run by me (also at that time a member of independent chart band The Chesterfields), sound engineer Martin Beresford and DJ Alan Flint. It opened in July 1987 and ran until August 1990 when they

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were kicked out and had to find a series of other venues in the region to host the gigs, including Sherborne’s Half Moon, Gillingham’s Red Lion and The Gardens in Yeovil. Independent bands from all over the UK came to play, including Ride, McCarthy, Bob, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, The Senseless Things, Dodgy, The Weather Prophets and the Pop Guns, and a host of local musicians formed bands that played regularly at the club before going on to achieve national and international success, including The Beat Hotel, The Becketts, Basinger, Grape, and PJ Harvey.

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 35

Wishing you and your families peace at this time. This is the time to be slow, Lie low to the wall Until the bitter weather passes. Try, as best you can, not to let The wire brush of doubt Scrape from your heart All sense of yourself And your hesitant light. If you remain generous, Time will come good; And you will find your feet Again on fresh pastures of promise, Where the air will be kind And blushed with beginning. John O'Donohue

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Architecture

SEEING THINGS DIFFERENTLY Andy Foster, Raise Architects

orking as I do in a branch of the visual arts, I’ve always been fascinated by what people see. More particularly, by the differences in what people see. When two people are looking at the same thing, they’re likely to be registering something completely different. This is often apparent, in my case, when introducing a new design to a client.What they see will also be affected by their expectations. There will also be aspects of their life-experience that will mean they see some things in great detail, while other things remain invisible. The engineer might look at practicalities; the social worker might see how well the spaces enable people to interact; the historian might detect the origins of the design concepts and be able to track their lineage. We can’t help ourselves. The best that we can do is become conscious that we all wear blinkers, and that your blinkers are different from mine. However, being able to see things differently can also be advantageous. For instance, it’s vital for generating new ideas and innovation. It’s just that it’s challenging to break free from our conditioning; it’s hard to lose those blinkers. Throughout history, those people who have managed to overcome cultural norms have often been regarded as mad or weird. Unless, of course, they made beneficial use of their insight and were thereby transformed into visionaries or geniuses. If you’ve studied aspects of the visual arts yourself, you will probably have read ‘Ways of Seeing’ by the late John Berger. Based on the seminal 1970’s BBC TV series of the same name, Berger’s work emphasised that ‘the way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe’. The book, which I read as a late-teenager, was my introduction to the notion that other people might not view things in the same way as I did. It had a significant impact on me, and even now, whenever I hear mention of the title, I immediately recall the author’s account of two paintings by Rembrandt. The first is a self-portrait of the artist with his new

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wife, Saskia. Rembrandt had recently made his name on the artistic scene. He was successful, and he was using his talent to do what oil painting had been traditionally developed to do; to show off his wealth and status. The painting is from the artists so-called ‘happy period’, but Berger argues that the happiness of the work ‘is both formal and unfelt’. The second painting is a self-portrait of the artist as an old man. He is alone, and there are no trappings of success. All there is, is him. ‘All has gone except a sense of the question of existence, of existence as a question’. In contrasting these two self-portraits, Berger highlights the enormity of Rembrandt’s struggle to overcome the conditioning of his culture, training and profession; his quest to see things differently so that he could paint his masterpiece. Fortunately, we don’t all have to overturn the traditions of 300 years of European Renaissance painting to achieve our ambitions. Sometimes a simple change of circumstance leads to a fresh perspective. Occasionally, we are gifted an unusual juxtaposition which we didn’t anticipate. Once in a while, adversity demands that we drop our guard and see things anew. If there’s one thing I’d like my children to learn from the experience of our current predicament, it is that the lockdown has inadvertently allowed them to decipher things differently. They have seen that things don’t have to be as they always have been and that we desperately need to change things for the better. Changing the way they see things will enable them to make a difference in the world and allow them to paint their masterpiece. “ You have a masterpiece inside you, too, you know. One unlike any that has ever been created, or ever will be. And remember: if you go to your grave without painting your masterpiece, it will not get painted. No one else can paint it. Only you.” From Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon McKenzie raisearchitects.com

Annie-Spratt, Unsplash

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 39

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 40 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

A journey of learning & discovery...

01935 810911 or registrar@sherborneprep.org

www.sherborneprep.org

Grimm Fairy Tales £19.50, Our Friend Jennings £8, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer £12.50, The Wind in the Willows £8, The Church Mice Spread Their Wings £19, We Didn't Mean to go to Sea £9.50. Chapterhouse Books

Orchard Toys books, £3 each. Jungle activity book, £2.99. Neon sticker mosaics, £12.99. The Toy Barn

BY THE BOOK Jenny Dickinson

As parents across the land wage war on boredom and the intoxicating allure of screens, our independent shops offer hope in way of books. All are available for home delivery. Good luck! thecircusboutique.com, elementumgallery.co.uk, chapterhouse-books.co.uk midwest-office.co.uk, toy-barn.co.uk, winstonebooks.co.uk 42 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Vet in Training, £6.99. Amazing Maps, £6.99. Great Women Who Worked Wonders, £5.99. Discover Art with Katie, £4.99. Winstone’s

The Silver Spoon for Children, £17.95. 50 Things to do Before You’re 5¾, £7.99 Circus

Nature Book, £6.99. Spell Songs, £20. Discover our Solar System, £12.99. Elementum Gallery

Origami papers, £6.75. Pocket sticker books, 35p each. The Apocalypse colouring & activity book, £7.99. Midwest the Stationers sherbornetimes.co.uk | 43

UNEARTHED Issy Colwell Age 16. Year 11 Leweston School

ssy took part in her first riding competition aged 4 on her Shetland pony and hasn’t stopped since! As an Equestrian Scholar at Leweston, she has been a significant member of the Equestrian Team for the last five years and this academic year has triumphed at Addington Manor in October, winning the overall NSEA Individual Dressage Preliminary National Championship. Riding her sister’s pony, Issy topped the leader-board winning the four-horse ride off, which decided the overall championship from the two qualifying sections. Leweston’s Equestrian Manager, Lorraine Roberts says, ‘Issy is a hard-working and disciplined rider who leaves no stone unturned in her planning, preparation, training and competing. In the arena, Issy is calm, calculated and focussed on obtaining the maximum she can from whichever sport she is participating in. I am delighted that Issy’s talent and dedication has been rewarded.’ Issy has a busy life alongside her studies at school as she is not only a talented rider, but an athlete and pentathlete. She has represented Dorset at Cross-Country and on the track over 800 metres. She also won a medal at the National Prep Schools Athletics Championships over 300 metres. Her speed on the track led her to being selected to compete for Great Britain in the last two Laser-Run World Championships, which involves shooting and running. At the 2019 World Championships in Budapest, she was the first British girl to cross the line. Issy is a fine role model for aspiring riders and athletes and hopes to further her success in the coming season. She aims high with a dream of competing in the Olympics one day. leweston.co.uk

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

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Family

Children’s Reading Picks

If you've exhausted your book collection and have resorted to cereal packets for reading material, fear not! Winstone’s are on hand to save the day with thousands of books available for delivery. Here are 4 suggestions to get you started…

The Attack of the Heebie Jeebies by Tom Percival

Demelza & the Spectre Detectors by Holly Rivers

This is picture book author Tom Percival’s first foray into writing for an older audience, but it has all the same hallmarks of humour, empathy and fun. Join the Dream Team as they strive to turn nightmares into adventures. (5-8)

Science-mad Demelza is alarmed to find she has inherited the distinctly un-scientific skill of summoning the spirits of the dead. Now she needs to put her skills to the test to find her missing grandma. (8-12)

The Highland Falcon Thief

Children of Blood and Bone

by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman

by Tomi Adeyemi

Hear whispers in the dining car, find notes in the library, and unknown passengers among the luggage as you help Harrison to solve the mystery aboard one of the world’s grandest trains. (8-12)

The perfect series for teens who need a little extra persuasion to pick up a book. These books are so exciting, and read so like a film, that you'll forget all about Netflix (13+).

For more reviews and service updates visit at winstonebooks.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 45

Family

BEAT THE BOREDOM

Safia and Ian, Bootmakers

ootmakers Workshop just isn’t the same without your children and grandchildren, but we’ve been keeping busy during lockdown nevertheless. Thanks to your messages of support and encouragement, we’ve sent out hundreds of free Bootmakers Beats Boredom packs to addresses nationwide. We’re now switching to offering on-line tutorials via our Facebook page and planning some fantastic new activities for when we’re all finally back together. We’re also getting requests for mail order ‘Crafty Care Packages’ and ‘Beat the Boredom Birthday Packs’. We’re happy to make these up and send them out for a small charge: simply text us with the name and age of the child, the address and a birthday message, if required. Meanwhile, for anyone trying to keep kids occupied at home, here’s a video based on paper tearing and stencils. If you don’t have a stencil, all you need do is photocopy or draw an image onto an A4 sheet of paper or card, cut out the stencil as neatly as you can, fill a second sheet of paper or card with a really detailed collage of torn paper, ribbon, sequins, stickers – anything you can lay your hands on - and layer up to create a really vibrant and interesting background. Then simply lay your cutout stencil over the top. It’s amazing to see how the starkness of the stencil draws the eye to the intricacy of the collage below.

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Family

LIFE LESSONS Jemma Dempsey

nce upon a time, it was just me and the dog. We enjoyed a relatively simple existence, albeit an unequal one, with her asleep in a variety of locations or watching to see if I put on my walking shoes, while I tried to master the art of self-discipline writing my novel or endeavouring and generally failing at the housework. Now, it’s ALL changed. The house is literally bursting at the seams - there’s me, the dog, a permanently working from home husband, who emerges from the spare room squinty-eyed and mole-like seeking coffee from time to time. And then there’s our two children who used to go to school. They used to go to school to learn things; now they have to learn things at home and it’s up to me to make that happen. This 50 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

is all happening against the context of a world that’s been turned upside down. A world none of us recognise anymore, where the light of touch has become heavy and wearisome, and where an occasional brushing past someone is now mortifying. Illusions I may have had of me as this great home educator are soon turned to dust. Attempts to be upbeat on the first Monday, encouraging both my sons to laminate their timetables so we can all see what is going on, are met with undisguised disdain. My eldest, now at the Gryphon, takes himself off to his room, waving a hand dismissively, saying he knows what he has to do and that he doesn’t need my help. Staring at his younger brother, I choose not to be offended and

wilpunt/iStock

instead contemplate us joining the nation ‘doing Joe Wicks’. But his broken big toe stymies that idea and I can’t muster the energy either. Tomorrow, I mutter. Momentarily, I wonder if wearing school uniform might make a difference, instil a sense of order and compliance. Umm, maybe not. Google Classroom is to be my friend for the foreseeable future. The primary school will upload work to the virtual classroom, I will then seamlessly navigate my way round the room, printing off reams of spellings, maths and comprehensions, while online projects will include slideshows, something called Sumdog (my son’s eyes light up at that one), along with daily practice at times tables and other excitably

named colourful websites. I need a coffee. The dog doesn’t look happy about it either. We make a good start, printed sheets get glued into his new homeworking book, the young one is cooperating. The phone goes after 45 minutes, I quickly take the call but when I return to the kitchen table, the home learning hub, I find my new student gone. Vanished. Time for a break then. I knock on the older one’s door and ask if he wants anything. No, don’t disturb me, comes the reply. I stick my head round the door, his desk covered in debris, the floor littered with toys, comics and clothes, bed unmade. I count to five and turn around, closing the door behind me. Dear God, how can anyone work in there?! I swing by the other one’s room, who’s on his bed reading. The fact he’s reading his Beano is neither here nor there I decide. Back in the kitchen, I realise the breakfast paraphernalia has yet to be cleared away and it’s nearly 11. Normally, I would have done this, but there is no normal anymore, or rather this is the new normal. I stare at the dog, her honey-eyed confusion reflecting my own bewilderment at how I’m going to sustain this home schooling for the next however many weeks, run the house and feed my motley crew while in lockdown. There’s also the matter of tending to my ageing parents, sorting their food shop, collecting their prescriptions and, this is the kicker, talking them through how to work Skype, over the phone. The husband downloaded it for them before the lockdown and I went through it with them, but … it’s really not their fault. There’s a lot going on. I need a lie down, but my older son needs help comparing improper fractions, the younger one has decided he wants to do some art and I’m still hitting refresh to try to get a slot for a supermarket delivery. Meanwhile, the dog is missing her twice daily school run walks and is looking grumpy. I explain to her about the NHS and that we can only go out once a day now. She flounces off. Food. I quickly learn the day becomes about eating, with hours of activity in between. But, for one of the first times in years, we are able to regularly eat together, the husband home more. We are playing games more, arguing more, talking more. All at the kitchen table. This table, aka the home learning hub, is the most important place in the house. The kitchen is the engine of this house and I am the proud captain of this ship. For the first time ever, I have baked bread, not a huge success but I will try again, sown a vegetable patch, watch this space, and played with my children more than I have in years. Lockdown learning for all of us perhaps. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 51

KITCHEN CUTS

Loretta Lupi-Lawrence, The Sherborne Barber

ovid-19 has impacted us the same as it has most small business owners, we are grounded and we have had to down tools. As a barbershop, we are a personal service business, so there is not a lot we can do other than wait this out. We find ourselves wading through uncertain circumstances and we have no idea if we will survive this or not. We are a barber family, so we worry about each other and the impact it’s having on six families. We need to believe in the hard work, customer service and foundations we’ve laid over four years and hope that when we re-open, we generate enough funds as quickly as possible to enable us to stay open, on the high-street we love, for our customers. We hugely appreciate all the messages of support we have been getting; it’s been very humbling. As soon as we have the go ahead to open our doors, we will do so the very next day providing longer hours, for at least two weeks, whilst we work through the backlog of people needing cuts. We plan to have four chairs operating from 7am until 7pm and longer, if needed. Henri will be working the extra hours and he will be running bookings for those hours. We also endeavour to go mobile as soon as it is safe for our barbers and the vulnerable or elderly members of our community as they continue with their 12 week lockdown. We are delighted to be able to share with you some step-by-step videos from the barber team on how to do ‘home haircuts’. These are not professionally shot by any stretch, but they do show simple techniques you can copy. We currently have one film by Henri with our son, 5 year old Buddie, showing clipper and scissor work (this would be the same for an adult) and a couple from Fatima on how to scissor cut longer children’s fringes (will work on girls and adults with this style hair). We have a beard trim in the making, as well as some adult cuts. All can be found on our Facebook page @thesherbornebarber. Whatever cut you do, please do not worry if anything goes wrong; we are the masters of fixing cuts and there is nothing we can’t fix! Please send us photos of your before and after cuts and we will post on our social media pages.

Stay Safe, Stay Home and see you when this is all over. @thesherbornebarber 52 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

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Family

SCHOOLS WITHOUT CHILDREN (or at least 99% of them)

Nick Folland, Headmaster, Sherborne Prep School

chool teachers are often teased for the long holidays they enjoy. Oh, the peace of school buildings without children running around! As somebody who has lived in school facilities for many years, I must say it can be rather relaxing for a day or so, but, for me, it soon runs thin. Walking into the Prep in term time is a joy. ‘Sir, sir, sir, I have just been given a distinction.’ ‘Sir, I have 56 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

forgotten my trainers.’ ‘Sir, I scored 28 yesterday and took two wickets.’ ‘Sir, can you read my poem?’ ‘Sir, my mum has just had a new baby.’ A school without children is dull and obviously not a school. I like to think the vast majority of teachers went into this wonderful profession to make a difference to young people, to create a love of learning, to inspire them to build their own confidence and find their niche, not

Image: Katharine Davies

'We have learnt a lot together and we will be stronger for this experience in many ways'

to enjoy weeks away on holiday. We now face a period of school without children. It is a very strange feeling and the forced absence, because of the Coronavirus, has perhaps shown us how important the sense of community that school brings really is. No matter how hard we try online, teachers, friendships, group fun and a sense of togetherness cannot be replaced. ‘Zoom socialising’ with one’s friends, as I am sure many have enjoyed these past weeks, is all well and good and plugs a gap, but it cannot replace meeting up and sharing real time together. The same goes for teachers and children working and playing together, discussing and developing lives together. My goodness we, at the Prep, have tried hard to replace normal school with our online learning platform. There was no Easter holiday for the teachers this year, as we planned and formalised digital learning. Teachers upskilled quickly, along with parents and children, in order to deliver an effective virtual learning experience. Our teachers think that it takes them considerably longer to plan a lesson online rather than when in class. It has been far from easy managing access to resources, providing clear learning pathways and ensuring variety within our lessons. Teachers need to factor in that each family is in a very different situation with different hardware, different aged children within one family and with varying access to a computer. We must also consider how long we want our young children on screen. They must stay active and have fun outdoors as much as they are able. Poor parents, trying to juggle their own lives and now actively involved in the support and oversight of their child’s working day. Our parent body has been wonderful, supportive and constructive, and recognise we are doing our level best to provide the optimal educational service we can in the circumstances. Our sense of community is still there, we have learnt a lot together and we will be stronger for this experience in many ways in the future. However, online learning is not school as it should be, not by any stretch of the imagination, and I sincerely hope that sooner rather than later, life at the Prep will start to get back to normal. ‘Sir, I’ve not seen you for ages, you look older...’ sherborneprep.org sherbornetimes.co.uk | 57

Family

Charlie Cox and Hugh Bonneville 58 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

BOYS ON FILM

David Ridgway BSc, Teacher of Biology, Sherborne School David Ridgway has taught Biology at Sherborne School for thirty years. He is also a talented photographer and has recently been shortlisted as one of 15 in the Portraiture Category of the Open Competition at the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards, the world’s biggest photography competition. His portrait of Sir Colin Lucas (Old Shirburnian), formerly Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University has been selected from 193,278 images entered from 194 territories and countries.

hen I was growing up, the stock phrase ‘science and the arts never mix’ was regularly used and believed, perhaps even by scientists and artists. Though I often heard it, I never considered this actually to be true. Would da Vinci, perhaps the greatest artist that ever lived, wish to have been labelled just an artist or a scientist or an engineer? Whilst I studied the sciences in senior school, I also enjoyed the arts, playing several musical instruments. Eventually, though, even I had to choose between the sciences and arts in higher education, and science it was (then), though I have never lost my artistic soul. >

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 59

Family

Sir Colin Lucas 60 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

As a teenager, I remember pestering my father for a ‘cine-8’ movie camera. Usually the anticipation of sending away one’s home-made movie to be developed, looking forward excitedly to showing it on the spool projector, for me resulted in complete anti-climax. Very quickly, I became disillusioned by the amateur feel of the finished product. Yes, I was entertained, but the imagery gave a superficial and often false overview of my own recollections. Much to my father’s disapproval, I turned my back on movie-making and bought an SLR ‘Zenith’ camera from a friend. In those days, you needed to be committed to be a stills photographer. The Zenith was a crude, USSR-built, tank of a beast, that required a liking of power-lifting to handle. Nevertheless, even with its primitive metering system, I quickly learnt how to take control of the image by the use of f-stops and shutter speeds. I began to believe in the medium and trust in its ability to capture and create the essence and emotion of a moment in time. From then on, I held photography in the highest esteem, and my hobby and passion continued to grow, primarily with landscape and architectural themes. Becoming a parent is when photography takes on a whole new meaning. Mobile phones, the modern ‘Box Brownie’, are full of images of our children from birth onwards. Family shots allowed me to become more creative and daring. I also began to delve into the work of portraiture legends – Leibovitz, Testino, Avedon, Lacombe and Bown, to name but a few, and realised that if done well, portraiture is (or at least is for me) the quintessential form of photography. No-one can recreate that special, singular moment when the sitter either performs for, or wrestles with the photographer. My style relies on studio and portable flash, even in outdoor settings. This gives the images a slightly enhanced look, rather in the same way that Martin Parr uses flash to boost colour and contrast in his stunning photography. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but of course all artists will focus on their own particular art form with which they most identify. Having taught at Sherborne for many years, I was acutely aware of the array of notable and famous old boys (Old Shirburnians), many of whom are household names, who had been educated at the School and had gone on to great things. In 2009, I had the idea of creating a portfolio of OS that could link their professional successes with their education at the School; and so began, what is now, a decade’s worth of portraits in an on-going collection

called ‘Who’s in Blues?,’ including Tom Bradby (ITN), Sir Chris Chataway, Maj Gen Patrick Cordingley, Phil Harvey (Coldplay), David Leakey (Black Rod), Simon McCoy (BBC) and Sir Dermot Turing. To fit the part, all sitters (well, nearly all) were brave enough to don the Lower School’s blue uniform! One of the first images I took for the project was of Charlie Cox and Hugh Bonneville. I had contacted Charlie to see if he would be interested and he thought it was a great idea. I messaged him back to ask whether he had a contact for Hugh Bonneville, but before Charlie could reply, I had a message from Hugh saying that, as chance would have it, they were both going to be on set together at Highclere Castle, filming for a new television series called ‘Downton Abbey’. Much to the amusement of cast and crew, we were given access to ‘Lord Grantham’s’ bed chamber where I took the shot. Over the years, I have captured thirty or so portraits of OS in various guises. In 2014, I collaborated with my friend and colleague, Patrick Francis, a History teacher at Sherborne, on ‘Vivat Shirburnia’ – the story of OS who went to fight in the Great War. This was a challenging project for me as a photographer, since there were no surviving veterans and it required a further development of my photography skills to create moods and emotions, bringing to life characters from the past. In the past two years, I have been taking photographs for Patrick’s new book, entitled ‘Old, Yet Ever Young’; a history of the School from the early Victorian days to 2010, which is to be published soon. In this book, I have purposely woven the images of people, places, architecture and artefacts with the narrative to create a holistic and, hopefully, tangible connection with a much revered and important public school, and its community. Sir Colin Lucas’ portrait which has been shortlisted in the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards also belongs to my ‘Who’s in Blues?’ portfolio and was taken last year in the ‘Old School Room’ at the School for ‘Old, Yet Ever Young’. As a photographer, getting one’s images out there on the big stage is always difficult and so it is a huge honour to be included in the 15 shortlisted in the Portraiture category, from over 190000 images in the Open Competition. Sir Colin’s portrait will be included in the exhibition at Somerset House, London (to be rearranged because of the Coronavirus pandemic), then goes on international tour and will be included in the 2020 Sony Awards book. sherborne.org sherbornetimes.co.uk | 61

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Wild Dorset

SWIFTS AND SWALLOWS Niina Silvennoinen, Volunteer, Dorset Wildlife Trust

wifts and swallows, gliding across the spring skyline, are summer visitors to the United Kingdom from Central and Southern Africa. The two are often confused with each other, but pay attention to the colouring, the sound, and the swallow’s more distinctive, long forked tail, and you will be able to tell them apart. Swifts are brownish soot in colour, appearing virtually black in flight, whereas swallows sport a glossy blue plumage with a red patch under the chin. Slightly bigger with a medium size wingspan, swifts have a piercing scream, unlike swallows who emit a more pleasant twitter as they perch on the side of a building. A magnificent flier, the swift is even capable of sleeping on the wing, but with its small feet, rarely lands except for nesting purposes. Swallows enjoy a range of habitats and can be seen in both urban and rural contexts, preferably near open spaces with water sources and a plentiful supply of insects. They produce two or three broods a summer and can be observed from March to September. The swifts’ annual visit is much shorter for us to enjoy; they head back to their wintering quarters in July, with the fledgling youngsters migrating independently as soon as they leave the nest. Like many other species, these endearing birds have seen a reduction in their numbers over the last few decades. This is partly due to climate change and changes in farming practices; increased use of pesticides has reduced their vital food source of insect populations. Both are protected, but the deeper loss in swift numbers has resulted in it having an amber conservation status, whilst the swallow is still ‘in the green’. Nesting sites have also disappeared as new development takes over old barns and farm buildings — favourite nesting sites for both species. These sites need urgent safeguarding and the Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Kingcombe Centre is an annual host to these migrants; our teaching studio, Swallow Barn, is even named after them! Each year, a gap is left in the barn for the swallows, allowing them to return to their familiar roost. Swifts are not forgotten here, either: the eaves of the Centre’s main barn are strictly swift territory for the summer. During times of social distancing and staying at home, you may be lucky enough to see these magnificent birds in flight from your gardens or window. Let us know if you do, using #dorsetwildlifewindow on social media. Sign up to our emails for ideas of things to do from home and find out the latest advice for visiting nature reserves at this time at dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

64 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Serkan Mutan/shutterstock

Image: Stefan Johansson sherbornetimes.co.uk | 65

Wild Dorset

SHERBORNE DWT

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

n these days of restricted activities, the Dorset Wildlife Trust’s owl webcam at the Lorton Meadow Reserve is a good wildlife watch from your armchair. Today, 9th April, there are three eggs and, judging by the owls’ behaviour, there will be more. Whilst viewing, one can hear the outside birdsong; test your bird identification skills based on song - who will know if you are wrong? Sadly, we are unable to fully appreciate Dorset’s wonderful natural history. We are restricted to our local roads, lanes and open spaces. However, you might be lucky and see something quite rare. Last year, there were two sites in the county where the rare Duke of Burgundy butterfly was seen; one being Giants Hill, Cerne Abbas, and the other outside Sherborne School; you never know your luck. May is the main flight time of the Orange-tip butterfly. It is often seen flitting around damp meadows, particularly if there is a good number of Lady’s Smock, Cardamine pratensis, in flower. We also have Orange-tips in our garden, since we have a number of Jack-by-theHedge. These plant species are especially attractive to the female Orange-tip since that is where it lays its eggs. Once, I discovered its tiny caterpillars on Jack-by-theHedge. The male is very easy to identify with his bright orange tip to the upper side of the forewing. The female just has a black edge, similar to the Small White. Rarely, 66 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

are the underwings studied. They are most attractive with a moss-like mottled green and white pattern (see photo above). Many wildlife societies are encouraging individuals to submit records. The British Trust for Ornithology is offering free membership for a year of its Garden BirdWatch Scheme. The project is now in its 25th year and, between 1995 and 2019, the Blue Tit has retained the number one position. Unsurprisingly, the Goldfinch has made the highest increase in ranking, whilst Song Thrushes and Greenfinches hold the biggest decreases. Plantlife, a British conservation charity working nationally and internationally to save threatened wild flowers, plants and fungi, is hoping that our verges will be showing a great display this year with our councils reducing their cutting; I hope we can get out to appreciate them. Last year, we attended an excellent talk by George McGavin, DWT’s president, who came across as a great campaigner for wilding of verges. To conclude on a sad note, committee member Sheila succumbed to illness in early April. Those who attended our talks over the years will remember her doing the coffees at break time – I was on teas – and also delivering magazines and posters about Sherborne. Her happy, gentle company will be much missed. dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

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DORSET WILDLIFE TRUST Photos Â© Jane Adams, Tony Bates MBE, Sam Dallimore Katharine Davies & Heather Radice.

Wild Dorset

SEEDS OF CHANGE

Paula Carnell, Beekeeping Consultant, Writer and Speaker

‘What is this life if, full of care, we now have time to stand and stare.’ (All respect to W.H Davies.)

uring this extraordinary time, the population is divided between ‘key workers’ with less time than before, and those who now find themselves in lockdown, unable to leave their homes other than for short daily exercise or essential shopping. Despite knowing this won’t be published for some time, I suspect our situation won’t have changed that much whilst we find our ‘new normal’. Like many, I too have been on an emotional rollercoaster, wondering what happened to the ‘old normal’. Through previous crises, leaders have shone through, giving us hope of a better tomorrow. I have often thought of Roosevelt’s motto, ‘The only thing to fear is fear itself ’, a memory from studying World Affairs for O level at Lord Digby’s. The bees have been carrying on through all this. In fact, they’ve ramped up a gear. The warmer weather and clear blue, aircraft-free, skies have brought all the spring flowers out, slightly earlier than usual. The colonies grow and expand. Between isolation periods and at a ‘social distance’, 68 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

my bee team and I have been preparing for the swarm season, so as not to add more fear and panic to the mix. I have been blessed to have my work continue, much of it, although global, is done using computers and virtual meetings. One of the inspirational ‘leaders’ I have noticed is Wincanton resident, Lynne Franks. She opened the Seed Café and Shop at No. 4, Market Place a few years ago. Slowly, for a Londoner, building up a network comprised of female movers and shakers in her town and surrounding area. Her Seed community includes entrepreneurial women from all around the world and, during the past few weeks, she has connected these women on social media for daily dialogues about opportunities in the current climate. She sees it as a chance to re-write the business model. Less emphasis on profit and exploitation, more on life balance, supporting your family, and community. She even had a Seed community in London many years ago called ‘The Hive’. With extra time to observe and enjoy nature, unlike our city cousins, I am being inundated with images of

Nikiparonak/Shutterstock

bees and requests for identification. Suddenly, people who previously lacked time are interested in who the bees are in their gardens. I share the life cycle and show how plants, ants, wasps, bees and humans are all intricately connected in a web that mankind has tried to dismantle. I am delighted that much of my work fits into the Seed sustainability criteria. One project I am very excited about is a Madagascan honey business, Ilanga. Through my travels, I met a partner of Ilanga in Canada at the Global Bee Conference Apimondia. As one of the poorest countries in the world, many Madagascans eek a living from cutting down trees and making charcoal. From our wealthy comfort, we can see this is far from sustainable and tourists recently visiting Madagascar were horrified to learn that the island, which in the 1980s had the largest unexplored and unexploited forests in the world, is now reduced to a shadow of its former self, with many species of flora and fauna now lost.

Then came along Ilanga, providing beekeeping materials to the farmers who grew trees rather than cutting them down. Incredibly, trees are not only feeding the bees, but saving them. In turn, Ilanga promises to purchase all the honey produced by the farmers. Using a mobile truck that collects the honey and extracts it, the beekeepers are able to earn a living to support their families. The honey comes from some of the most highly medicinal plants and trees in the world and has been tested to prove it. The more honey that is sold, the more trees can be planted, and more villagers have an income to then support their neighbours. Such a simple system. Traditionally, honey has been used for medicinal purposes in Madagascar, so it has a domestic appeal in addition to its global demand. With the chemical-free growing conditions, Ilanga honey is some of the purest you can find in the world. The seeds for growth have been sown and increasing projects around the globe are working in a similar way. Lynne Franks sees it as a more ‘feminine approach’ to business, but it’s not exclusive to female entrepreneurs. Locosoco, a collaborative company that works with communities to turn local assets into eco-friendly enterprises that generate revenue, has been run by James Perry since 2014. They source fairly traded, chemicalfree and sustainable products to sell nationwide through such chains as Waitrose and Londis. As we emerge from Spring 2020, what will we have learned? Are we grateful for all the small local businesses that supported us by delivering vegetable and meat boxes? Our milkmen and women kept us supplied and the small local pubs and restaurants quickly adapted and began delivering ready meals. It is our local community that supports us when times are tough and I truly hope that we return our gratitude by continuing to support them when times get easier. What a sad recovery it would be if we returned to the ‘old normal’, exploiting workers around the world, selfish consumerism and, most of all, a lack of care to our environment. Look how quickly mother nature recovers, and how much joy it gives us after we have been abusing her for so long. I hope that this spring you have been watching some of the UK’s 270 species of native bees living in your lawn and hedgerows. Maybe a spring without the usual toxic drenching of weed killers and fungicides? During this time of solitude, nature has been our friend and I hope we can return the favour. paulacarnell.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 69

History

duncan1890/iStock

COACHING ACCIDENTS Cindy Chant, Blue Badge Guide

Please note: Some people may find parts of this article upsetting.

oaching was dangerous and everyone knew it. Various perils of coach travel included many accidents and spills, quite apart from the likelihood of catching a severe cold or chest infection if you were sitting on the outside or top of the coach, and it was quite usual for travellers to make their wills before embarking on a long journey! The expression to ‘drop off ’ referred to those unfortunate travellers on a coach who did just that, and broke their necks by falling from the top of the moving vehicle. Travelling in winter was always deficient and the worst coaching winter was 1831-1837 when heavy snow storms closed down most routes in the country for nearly a week. This was a winter of extreme severity with more than thirty bridges washed away by flooded rivers, 70 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

thus causing havoc with the coach timetables. Fourteen mail coaches were abandoned and the only routes kept open were those to Poole and Portsmouth. Soft snow was a danger as it collected in hard balls on the horses’ hooves, making it impossible for the animals to gain a secure foothold. To help overcome this, tallow (a form of glue) was smeared onto the underside of the hoof. Ice was even more of a threat, and horses were often shod with long frost nails to ensure they would not slip. Though, the iron wheels of the coach compacted the ice and quickly made the coach into a lethal weapon, sliding sideways downhill, taking horses and passengers with it in its mud slide. The safety and stability of the coach rested, to a great extent, with the guard who was supposed to ensure that the baggage was evenly distributed on the coaching roof. If it was not loaded correctly, it could make the coach

rock violently and put everyone at great risk. If there was no guard, the responsibility was with the coachman, who often did not have the time or the inclination to see that the job was done properly. In 1811, a law was passed limiting the height to which baggage could be piled to two feet. The penalty for not keeping to this was ÂŁ5 for every extra inch above the maximum. Many accidents were usually driver-related or something to do with the roads, horses, harnesses, carriages, or riders; they occurred for a variety of reasons that ranged from intoxicated drivers or wheels falling off, to shying and bolting horses. There were many careless, irritable, ignorant, even drunk drivers. The roads were littered with obstacles, loose stones, remains of carriage accidents not cleared away, and the horses gave concern in themselves. Bolting horses, shying, rearing, jabbing, falling, kicking, undocked tails, swish tails and many other problems. Then there were many accidents caused by faulty harnesses; drivers were instructed to double check their harness for any defects before driving off. Of course, many drivers ignored these rules and realised the folly of their ways when an accident happened. Racing was a hazard most passengers had to endure on the main highway. Racing and competitive running by rival services were by no means unknown, not without their frequent casualties when racing coaches due to being behind time, as when the drivers were being competitive, the coaches would overturn resulting in broken carriages and fatally or severely injured passengers and dead horses. One of the worst and bizarre causes of an accident was that which happened to the Exeter mail coach on the night of 26th October 1817. As the coach reached the Pheasant Inn, someway past Salisbury at Winterslow, the outside leader horse was attacked by a lioness. The animal had escaped from a menagerie on its way to a fair in Salisbury. The lead horse, Pomegranate, was terribly injured having been mauled by the lioness before it was recaptured. However, the horse survived to become an exhibit in the travelling menagerie, whose lioness had done the damage. After making a lot of money for the owners, he was sold on to work on the Brighton and Petworth road where he worked for many more years. Next month, I will continue with more accidents but within our local area here in Dorset. Hair-raising stuff !

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Antiques

WEST COUNTRY LIFE

Richard Bromell, ASFAV, Charterhouse Auctioneers

count myself pretty lucky having spent the majority of my life living and working in the West Country. The Bromell clan are generally dotted around Dorset, Devon and Somerset, with a couple of family members who travelled further afield, and by that I mean Cornwall and London! With farming playing such an important role in the West Country, it will be no surprise to learn we have farming in the family. Back in the early 1970s, when I was very young, I spent quite a lot of time on my Aunt and Uncleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s farm in deepest Devon. Each day would start by letting the chickens out and collecting their fresh eggs with the ending by checking on the sheep. Uncle did not change his farm machinery often. In the early 1950s he bought his first, and only, combine harvester. Combining was hard then. Steep Devon hills; 72 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

it was extremely dry, hot and dusty. He was still running this until the mid 1980s, when contractors were finally brought in to collect the harvest. He also bought a grey Ferguson TE20 tractor in the fifties which he used every day on the farm right up to his death, and yes, it is still on the farm today. As a young boy, I loved rummaging around in the farm barns with the smell of diesel and straw. Convinced I would find an old vintage Bentley or Lawrence of Arabiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle, but not entirely unsurprised when I never did. The dream always stayed with me. However, recently, we were asked to clear an old Cornish barn. The owner had passed away and the family had no use for the motorcycles collected over the decades. At last, a proper barn full of old bikes; the Holy

Grail for any auctioneer. The bikes were dragged out one by one. Some had air in their tyres and moved freely, whilst others took a little more coaxing. Some had been in there for many decades, some were in use or at least taxed up to the 90s. There were a variety of motorcycles in the barn - all bar one were British made. The oldest motorcycle, a 1911 Bradbury de Luxe flat tank with a wicker sidecar. Three other pioneer period bikes included a 1921 Blackburne, a 1921 Royal Enfield and a 1927 New Imperial. Most of the other bikes date to the 50’s and 60’s. He clearly had a particular penchant for Royal Enfield motorcycles as there were 15 of them, with three Royal Enfield Continental GT’s all red and from 1966. These motorcycles, covered in decades of dust and needing recommissioning, repair and restoration, are entered into our Wednesday 6th May classic and vintage motorcycle auction where they are expected to sell for over £30,000. Due to COVID-19, it’s a live online-only auction to keep our staff and clients safe and to protect the NHS, which you can follow via charterhouse-bikes.com When the lockdown is lifted, rest assured I will be straight out there digging around in barns again, still looking for that vintage Bentley or Brough Superior motorcycle! charterhouse-auction.com

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We are now accepting entries for our forthcoming auctions: Classic & Vintage Cars | Classic & Vintage Motorcycles Furniture & Decorative Arts Silver, Jewellery & Watches | Beswick & Royal Doulton Wine, Port & Whisky | Coins, Medals & Stamps Email Richard Bromell with images for valuation to rb@charterhouse-auction.com Valuations for Probate, Insurance & Matrimonial Dispute The Long Street Salerooms Sherborne DT9 3BS 01935 812277 www.charterhouse-auction.com

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 76 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

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ELEANOR MILTON

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Interiors

A BRIGHTER FUTURE Eleanor Milton, Colour Consultant

n March, there came an unexpected and very sudden change in the way we communicate with each other. Overnight, we were unable to meet or greet our families and friends with a kiss, hug or pat on the shoulder. In England, the brilliant blue spring sky and emerging leaf and flower buds in window boxes, parks and countryside contrasted bewilderingly with the darkness of the lives of those in Europe. With many of us confined to our homes, we have had to improvise to continue — a pared-down version of our working lives prior to lockdown. And without the visual ‘noise’ which drowns out the detail of our everyday, we found ourselves staring critically at the 78 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

tiny world within our homes. Suddenly, we had a focus and distraction — a DIY to do list. Within the world of interior design, it was clear that blue was already firmly established as the colour taking us through 2020 - everything from moody indigo and iridescent humming-bird turquoise to the lilac-tinted blue of a late afternoon Cornish sky. But, as we poured over paint charts, always with one eye on the news bulletins, who could have predicted how often we would find ourselves looking at the colour Pantone 300. After scrutinising the paint charts, it’s always a case of where to start. A sitting room tends to take most of the knocks and scrapes of family life so, unless you enjoy

Image: Anthony Bowles, Autometry

endlessly re-painting, it’s worth taking some time to consider whether a calming sweep of neutrals like ‘Pearl Colour’ and ‘Portland’ by Edward Bulmer Natural Paint or a hit of deep strong ‘Card Room Green’ or ‘Dix Blue’ from Farrow & Ball will suit your walls and lifestyle. ‘Vert de Terre’ from Farrow & Ball works beautifully with Persian rugs on stone and wooden flooring and will bring the glowing colours in the rugs to life, as will Edward Bulmer Natural Paint’s clear green ‘Verdigris’ which also looks dreamy with the dusty pinks woven into oriental rugs. If your entrance hallway is low on natural light and you like a bit of terracotta drama, then speed-

dial Francesca’s Paints to bag her ‘Louise’s Orange’ and watch your black and white prints and wall art blaze with life. And although I never thought I’d use the words mouth-watering and sprout in the same sentence, do check out Bombay Sprout’s fabulous range of cotton dhurries for hallway runners and rugs — they truly are, well, mouth-watering. In the kitchen, things have changed dramatically. With the sudden restrictions on movement, households have had to adapt to not only the number of meals everyone expects each day, but many also have an increased number of expectant faces appearing round the kitchen door – and apparently there may even have been offers to set the table. In these circumstances, it is difficult to imagine a more stress-inducing time to pick to decorate this room, what with huge quantities of food being brought in and stored now that less frequent food shopping is encouraged. Plus, the extraordinary length of time now spent ‘prepping’ and then cooking and clearing up — before beginning all over again. So unless you are in solo lockdown or have a huge supply of frozen ready-meals, perhaps leave the plans to paint the ceiling on hold and if you feel brave freshen up some woodwork. Take a look at pulling a couple of areas together, for example cookery book shelving and cupboard doors using Duck Egg, Turquoise or deep gorgeous Indigo from Edward Bulmer Natural Paint. Traditionally, blues like Farrow & Ball ‘Cook’s Blue’ were popular in kitchens, as the colour was thought to discourage insects. Francesca’s Paints has some beautiful blues in her John W. Waterhouse collection, the story behind their creation will interest art lovers everywhere. If you are steadily tidying your way through the saucepan cupboards and wooden spoon drawers, then why not consider a lick of paint to brighten up the insides of these spaces too. There is no doubt this is an unsettling and desperately emotional time and, for many, it helps to focus on how far we have come and how much has been achieved both individually and collectively. On Thursday evenings, even though we cannot physically draw together as a community, wherever we are, we can still bang our saucepans with those same wooden spoons and clap our hands to show the strength of our gratitude to all those people who work within that uniquely British organisation, recognisable to us all by three white letters on a blue background. Pantone 300 - NHS Blue. eleanormilton.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 79

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 80 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

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Gardening

GARDENING JOBS FOR MAY

Brian King, Manager, Castle Gardens

uring these uncertain times, our gardens have become an even more vital space for solace and sanctuary, while also providing educational opportunities for children stuck at home. With spring being such a busy time in the garden, here are some gardening jobs that can keep us occupied, inspired and on top of things, while reaping the physical and mental benefits of being in contact with nature. If you have a greenhouse, then now is the time to make sure debris is cleared to stop the spread of disease, and apply shading in the form of mesh or liquid shade solution. Pests like red spider mite can begin to appear by now, so damp down the floors and check your plants regularly for any signs of attack. Hanging yellow pesticide-free sticky traps on the roof can help trap flying pests like aphids and thrips. The Lily Beetle, a very distinctive pest with its bright red body and black underbelly, will be one to watch out for during May, causing widespread damage to leaves and flowers. So be sure to check over any lilies and large fritillaries. Its larvae cause more damage as they secrete an unpleasant excrement around themselves to ward off predators. Remove the adult Lily Beetles by hand and spray any grubs as necessary, avoiding open blooms. Weeds will really start thriving this month, so it is important to pull them up on a regular basis, trying to get in there before the seed heads have a chance to develop and spread. Annual weeds with a shallow root system can be taken care of with a sharp garden hoe, border or hand fork. Try to weed when the soil is drier then leave the weeds to wither on the soil surface in the sunshine. When it comes to deep rooted weeds, such as bind weed, dandelions, thistles and ground elder, these need to be completely removed. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plenty to do in the vegetable garden this month too. Late frost permitting, it is time to plant out vegetable seedlings, such as runner beans, marrows and courgettes you have hardened off in your greenhouse or cold frame. It is important to listen to the weather forecast and be prepared to cover crops with fleece in the event of a late ground or air frost. By the middle of May, you will be able to sow French and runner beans direct into the soil and any leeks will need protection against leek moth. Towards the end of the month, you should be able to start harvesting early season vegetables like asparagus, lettuce and radishes, as well as any autumn and winter-sown broad beans and spring onions. Keep the harvest rotating by staggering seed sowings over a two- to three-week time scale and thin out seedlings that need to swell while growing. While you make the most of your garden, chances are you will notice some other visitors popping in, and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lots you can do to give them a warm welcome. Put up a bug hotel, or leave a log pile for beneficial insects, such as bees, hoverflies and butterflies, which will prey on any pests in a natural way and aide pollination. Lavender, hebe, buddleja and verbena bonarensis, are all pollinator-friendly plants and will help attract these helpful visitors into the garden. Keeping a steady source of water for your visitors is a nice way to help them stay hydrated during the warmer and drier months. Stay safe and enjoy your garden! thegardensgroup.co.uk

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Ardea-Studio-Shutterstock

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Gardening

DIARY OF A FLOWER FARMER Paul Stickland, Black Shed Flowers

84 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

n common with everyone else, we’ve had a very odd and unexpected month at Black Shed. It‘s been incredibly busy, with local bouquets flying out, full of fantastic tulips, spring bulbs, our home grown eucalyptus, a silvery arching cardoon leaf to set them off, hazel twig in bud, a few elusive anemones, the first of the ranunculus. Everyone seems to want to send their friends and family flowers; it’s quite understandable. With lots of older family in lockdown, what better way to cheer them up than by a surprise bouquet of local flowers. So many wonderful orders for local folk from friends and family all over the world. Other high street florists didn’t have any flowers and were closed. But we had flowers, lots. That kept Helen busy, using all the latest treats that spring brings to create beautiful hand-tied bouquets. I love watching Helen react to the ever-changing palette of flowers from the field, the bouquets evolving as the seasons change. Then we had really rather a lot of tulips, hundreds of amazing and exotic varieties - we’d planted 6000 wonderful varieties for all our spring weddings and florists… We’ve just found a courier company that specialises in the swift overnight transport of flowers all over the uk. And what’s more, it was affordable and reliable. We’d found some fantastic cardboard postal packaging. So we put up a post on Instagram for Black Shed Flowers by post… We had a hundred orders in 24 hours. Our packaging hadn’t arrived, our new printer was almost hurled out of the grain silo. We did have a lovely set of Black Shed floral greetings cards, stickers and business cards. I managed to somehow create an online store and link it up to our payment system. 10 days later, we’d sent out over 200 orders. Only a very few didn’t travel well or got caught up in the crisis. Offering full refunds if there were any problems and welcoming feedback, we rapidly improved our systems and packing. Helen, Carlyn and Tabitha making endless trips out on to the field to pick the best of those 6000 for sending out to our new customers. Tulips are quite forgiving. They travel well out of water, so they’re a good flower to test. But we wanted to have the flowers arrive field fresh. We started with plastic food bags and wet tissues. Effective, but not a particularly good look and we didn’t want to use plastic packaging. Then we found some amazing compostable flower bags that, by some miracle, hold about half a pint of water without leaking, and they came in black. To our delight, these worked just as well for a big bunch of tulips as they did for a bouquet, so we suddenly found ourselves able to send bunches of flowers and hand-tied bouquets. Our tulips are pretty much over now. We’re thinking of sending out ranunculus, Iceland poppies, peonies, delphiniums. I’m longing to try dahlias…Whilst all this malarkey has been going on, we’ve been planting out a thousand seedlings, sowing more, preparing and mulching new beds, building our new polytunnel - dreaming of it being filled with tomatoes, chillis, melons and peppers - wishing we had more foliage and looking forward to foxgloves and scabious, larkspur and lupins. And some gentle night time rain please? blackshedflowers.blogspot.co.uk @paulstickland_ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 85

ROB WOOLNER

Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

orset is a county rich with practising artists and today I’m visiting one of its longest serving talents - Rob Woolner, at his Chantry Studio in Glanvilles Wootton. An important, prolific artist, Rob has produced an enviable body of work which has been shown widely since the late 60’s. Meeting Rob, I can’t help but be taken in by his gentle charm. He’s a softly spoken man although a wicked twinkle in his eye hints at the rebel within (he likes a bit of David Shrigley, I discover). Dressed in varying degrees of blue and paint-flecked deck shoes, Rob looks every bit the artist as he goes about making us coffee. He grinds the beans and selects a pot with the quiet sensory precision of someone in pursuit of perfection. >

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88 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

‘I have always been attached to the Dorset landscape,’ says Rob, ‘I have lived a lot of my life here – 40 odd years – so yes the place is my life, it all comes from that…’ We wander down to Rob’s studio which abuts the house. The Chantry Studio as it is called – a striking construction of Shou Sugi Ban charred timber – was a collaboration between Rob and his daughter-in-law, an architect at the award-wining practice YOU&ME. The Japanese technique of charring gives timber added durability and a beautiful blackened silvery glow. Once inside however, the dark exterior is immediately contrasted by a haunting light. A high ceiling and symmetrical tiny slits for windows at the eastern end evoke an ecclesiastical presence, while ’floating’ walls that hang above the floor add a sense of levity. A wide, west-facing window frames the fields and hills beyond. ‘I want to make things that are contemplative, that are about quietness. A lot of people come in here and ask if this is a church,’ says Rob, ‘but I wanted that feeling of soundlessness and consideration. They are life-enhancing qualities,’ he explains. Rob studied at Camberwell School of Art in the

60s. Frank Auerbach was among his tutors and the likes of Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett were among the students. These were heady times; Artists such as Rothko and de Kooning, members of the American expressionist wave, were beginning to show in London. ‘It was a very figurative tradition at Camberwell,’ explains Rob, ‘there we were painting little grey paintings when all the American abstract expressionists were starting to show and we thought ‘what the hell are we doing?’, so suddenly all our paintings became huge abstracts.’ On moving to Dorset, Rob became more affected by the landscape. ‘If you look back at my early work you would probably think I was an impressionist painter,’ he says of the time. During the early 2000s his worked evolved into more abstract forms rooted in the county’s earth. ‘My pictures of Hambledon Hill were about the form and the wonderful movements in the land, and the Dorset hill-forts were a terrific starting point because they were real and physical and sculptural,’ he explains. ‘They are imbued with so much power. You can go there one day and it could be very benign and on another it > sherbornetimes.co.uk | 89

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is really spooky; hill forts are condensers of time, that is the sort of feeling that I find very important. The pictorial is not very important to me, but surface is important and form, you can see in my work that you ‘touch things with your eyes’ and I like the feeling of getting your hand on to the painting.’ For a period, his work became focused on working with mixed media, ‘I work with anything,’ he remarks, ‘natural pigments, oxides etc. because texture is such an important part of the visual language. It is my first response; it is as sensuous as colour. I like earth colours because they are just iron oxides, rust, things out of the landscapes. But I have started to use much more colour now.’ We are standing in front of two of his most recent paintings. From afar you would think they are textural, your hand longs to reach out and touch the raised ridges of the paint strokes, but on closer inspection the surface is smooth. The stark pale blue grid of Quiet Evening tricks the brain seeing into texture where there is none. Alongside, Red Fall, with its riot of colour, emanates an 92 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

apparent glow from behind its horizontal lines. ‘Light is something that interests me,’ says Rob. ‘It is romantic and exciting, you just react in a very subjective way to light, that magic moment of light in the early morning or in the evening, one is trying to distill that too.’ We stand and contemplate Quiet Evening a little longer, letting the yellows rise up through the blue and into our senses. ‘If you look carefully into the blue,’ urges Rob, ‘you can see weeks and weeks of underpainting. So many of my paintings are built up over layers; I like the idea of layers of time in a painting.’ Rob is known for crafting his paintings over a number of years. ‘I put things on the wall and hang current work etc. but they have got to stand the test of time. You have to come in everyday and say ‘that is absolutely right’. The objective is that it has to become immovable; it has got to have a rightness about it. If you have doubts after a month or two, it starts to worry you. After a year or two if I think something isn’t quite right, it comes off the wall again.’ He breaks into a lovely story about Bonnard who, >

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it is said, always travelled with a small paint kit in his bag and while at an exhibition of his work in Paris, he noticed something in one of his paintings that niggled him. So asking his wife to distract the guard, he whipped out his paints and altered the painting. We both laugh. Rob clearly loves his work and would be at a loss without it. ‘I really want to do it,’ he says, ‘it’s that feeling of getting up in the morning and wanting to see what you have done before. It is that kind of love that drives you on. If you didn’t have it, you wouldn’t do it. It sustains me. What I worry about is not wanting to do it and time is so precious. Having the time to work.’ It was mid-March when I met Rob and he was working towards opening his studio to the public for Dorset Arts Weeks. As I write this now, we are in lockdown and I suspect we still will be by the time you read it. There is barely a trickle of traffic outside and, for once, the bird song is drowning out human noise. But oddly, although many of us have a lot more time, it is hard for some of us to focus. We have lost our routines and more immediate

concerns cloud the creativity that some of us might have. But then I think of Rob and his own ritual: ‘I start every day early. As soon as I get up, I come to the studio in my pjs and look at the pictures. Sometimes you have ended the day on a high or with the feeling ‘God it’s crap’ and you’ve ruined everything. Or on the days when in the evening light everything looks good, but in the morning you come in and it’s a bit of a disappointment. But it is that which creates a kind of energy. If you don’t generate energy, how can you do it? My life is that of a hermit, I just want to get things right. Just get up, go in your pjs and have a look before the day’s distractions. Give yourself a shock.’ In the absence of this year’s Dorset Art Weeks and when the dust has finally settled, Rob’s work will be available to view at his studio by appointment. In the meantime, a book documenting his work from 2000-2016, with an introduction by John Renner, is available via Rob’s website. robwoolner.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 95

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 96 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

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Food and Drink THE CAKE WHISPERER Val Stones

SUMMER PUDDING

Image: Katharine Davies

98 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

first made a summer pudding using white bread that had begun to grow stale, but my family didn’t particularly like it. I thought back to when we had much-loved holidays in France, where my children devoured brioche loaves, and so the idea for this pudding was born. Rather than use a pudding basin, I utilise a 2lb loaf tin for this recipe. What you will need

A 2lb loaf tin or a pudding basin of your choice. A large saucepan A large bowl Some clingfilm or an alternative cover, along with another tin and weights (could use food) to press the pudding. Ingredients

500g strawberries, halved (or quartered, if large) 200g blackberries 200g raspberries 200g blueberries 1 tbsp crème de cassis 1 tbsp strawberry liqueur 1 cinnamon stick 1 tbsp chopped mint 10 - 12 slices of brioche loaf

Method

1 Place all of the fruit, cassis, strawberry liqueur, along with a cinnamon stick into a large saucepan and cook with lid on for 5-6 minutes, until the fruit is softened, but still holding shape. 2 Drain over a large bowl. Remove the cinnamon stick, then set aside the juice to allow to cool slightly. 3 Stir the mint into the fruit juice. 4 Dip the brioche slices into the cooled juice and set 2 slices aside for the lid of the pudding. Use the remainder of the slices to line the base and sides of the loaf tin. 5 Tip: any leftover juice can be placed into a jug, covered and put into the fridge to use when serving, if desired. 6 Fill with the cooked fruit mixture and place the remaining 2 slices on top, folding over any edges, if needed. 7 Cover with clingfilm, or an alternative cover, and place another smaller loaf tin or bowl (depending on what you have chosen for your pudding) on top of the pudding with some weights in - food can be used as weights, if you do not have any. 8 Place the pudding in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight. 9 Turn the pudding out of the tin and serve sliced with any remaining juice, fresh cream or crème fraîche. bakerval.com

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Food and Drink

ASPARAGUS ON TOAST WITH ST.GEORGE’S MUSHROOMS, CRÈME FRAÎCHE AND PICKLED ONION Sasha Matkevich, Head Chef and Owner, The Green

here are many ways to enjoy this glorious vegetable, but I think asparagus must always be blanched in well salted, boiling water first.

What you will need

A large frying pan and a wooden spoon. Ingredients Serves 4

600g asparagus (prepped and blanched) 400g St. Georges mushrooms, sliced 4 thick slices of sourdough bread 1 garlic clove 1 tbsp olive oil 25g salted butter 200g crème fraîche 1/2 pickled red onion (thinly sliced) 1 tbsp fresh parsley (chopped) 1 tbsp Dijon mustard Cornish sea salt and black pepper 100 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Method

1 Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Once it starts to sizzle, add the mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes. Season generously with salt and black pepper. 2 Add blanched asparagus and cook for 2 minutes, without stirring. 3 Add the crème fraîche and mustard. Stir to combine and increase the heat. Allow the crème fraîche to bubble and slightly thicken. Set aside. 4 Toast the sourdough bread under a hot grill on both sides. Rub all over with the garlic clove, as you would do for bruschetta. 5 Spoon the asparagus and mushrooms on top of the toast. Sprinkle with thinly sliced pickled onion, chopped parsley and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately. greenrestaurant.co.uk

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

ell what a month it’s been for all of us; every one of us affected in some way or another. The initial shock has worn off to be replaced by a new uneasy normal; we are all feeling our way and adapting to things we never even dreamed of. We watched China being locked down with a kind of third party removed incredulity, ‘that would never happen here’. For us, life has just got way busier and I didn’t think that was possible. Like many other businesses, we have had to adapt to a ‘new normal’ in a matter of a week or so. We have had so many new orders from customers, far and wide, and we are incredibly thankful to all of you who are ordering from us, helping to keep our young business growing in the right direction, especially during these extraordinary times that are upon us. Our big news this month is that we have built our new ‘on farm’ butchery. This completes the circle; from birth to your plate we have full knowledge of every bit of our pigs’ lives. Charlotte is going to be the main butcher, I have designated myself chief mincer and sausage maker. This has added a lot of extra work to our busy weeks, but also gives us much more flexibility and enables us to fulfil customers’ orders much faster. For Charlotte and me, we are very lucky and we know this, that our lives are almost as normal. As food producers, we are still out delivering to our customers daily, we are surrounded by the most glorious spring at home, the animals keep us very grounded - they know not of a pandemic, only food and sun on their backs. Our Indian Runner ducks are laying six eggs a day, we are surrounded by duck eggs. Charlotte has been making some amazing scotch eggs with some of these I could nearly live on her scotch eggs! Finally, our Castlemilk Moorit sheep have begun to lamb. Their timing was impeccable, after escaping on Monday and moving themselves four fields away to our neighbour’s farm! After a considerable effort to retrieve

them (Castlemilks don’t play by normal sheep rules!), I was ready to put them all in the cooking pot... Two days later, out popped the most beautiful little brown lambs I have ever seen. They look like baby fawns; their mothers hide them in the grass and they play dead like a fawn. So all thoughts of stew were forgotten and instead they have become the new focus of my camera’s attention. The pigs are behaving very well at the moment. I would say we are at peak pig farming enjoyment stage: dry, not too hot, basically they are healthy and happy and that has a similar effect on me. We are just about to start the big task of moving them on to fresh pasture; a big job and I will keep you updated. We have four sows that look as if they will farrow in the next two weeks, bringing us more spring babies. We are back to feeding them twice a day, the mud has gone and been replaced by dust in a big way - over the last few weeks, the incredible run of weather we have had only adding to it. Any spare daylight minutes I have are now are taken up by our garden; never has it seemed so important. I’m so glad to find this my pleasure not a chore. It’s so good when my head is scrambled with stuff and nonsense to do some weeding or planting - I love it! It is our garden’s second year, but nature is generous; it is incredible how established it looks already. Our love of herbaceous flowers means that at this time of year it is changing daily, as new soft leaves unfurl so quickly. Our rows of vegetable seeds planted are fast growing and our first peas are up and away. Oh, I nearly forgot we have a thousand lavender plants about to arrive any day to create our first lavender field. As I said, I know we are amongst the lucky ones at the moment, so I hope that our stories bring a bit of cheer to everyone who’s stuck inside during this beautiful time of year. thestorypig.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 101

Food and Drink

Vito Poma/Shutterstock

102 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

MARSALA

David Copp

he story of Marsala is also the story of the Woodhouse family’s; very, very distant relatives on my wife’s side. I enjoy the telling of it because it is an example of what made our country great for a while. In 1773 John Woodhouse, trading out of Liverpool, came to the Mediterranean to collect a cargo of soda ash or sodium carbonate as we would call it. A storm blew up and he took shelter in the small harbour of Marsala on the west coast of Sicily. He dined at the local hostelry and tasted the local wine made by an intriguing process called in perpetuum best described as ‘like the solera system used to blend younger wines with older in Jerez de la Frontera.’ Woodhouse liked the wine and thought it a better and cheaper style of wine than Madeira, currently all the rage in the country houses of England. So he dumped the idea of soda ash and filled his holds with 50 pipes, barrels each holding 110 litres. Knowing he would have to face rough seas across the Bay of Biscay on his way back to Liverpool, he decided to add some local grape alcohol to fortify the wine against seasickness. The wine survived and was well liked; it was enjoyed enough by those who tasted it to encourage Woodhouse to return to Sicily, buy up the best vineyards he could find and build a winery. Within 20 years, he had established a sound business with a good reputation. Admiral Horatio Nelson, who had been given a property on the island, liked it so much he ordered 200 pipes for the fleet in 1796. He wrote telling the Admiralty, ‘This is a fine wine for any gentleman’s table, but I like it because our seamen also put it to good use.’ Woodhouse got angry when Benjamin Ingham, a bright young man from Leeds, identified Marsala as a commercial opportunity not to be missed and moved in next door. However, Ingham was clever with money and not only attracted new investment to the island, but found new markets for Marsala in Europe and America. Another major investor was Vincenzo Florio from Calabria whose firm came to dominate the industry. When drinks fashions changed in England and the root louse phylloxera destroyed most of the European vineyards, Marsala lost its position. The three original companies amalgamated and were taken over by Cinzano in 1927. Good, well-made Marsala wines are still available. They are hardly fashionable any longer, having found it difficult to overcome its reputation as a ‘cooking wine’ or ‘granny’s secret tipple.’ This is a great pity because Marsala still makes some very fine wines as you will find out when you see what Marco de Bartoli has to offer - a name to look for if you do want to find out what Marsala is all about. Cantino Florio also do their best to keep the Marsala tradition alive with fine old wines. Since my wife likes mushrooms and is superb with her pan sauces, I am going to look for some Marsala (often sold in 50cl bottles) to see what she can do with chicken, onions, shallots and mushrooms in the kitchen while I pour her a chilled aperitif. Later, I will offer her something older and nuttier with the Gorgonzola, Rochefort or Dorset Blue. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 103

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Animal Care

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL Mark Newton-Clarke, MA VetMB PhD MRCVS Newton Clarke Veterinary Surgeons

e all know what happened to Easter this year. Pretty much the same as the previous couple of months, but let’s look forward; spring is in the air and nature’s timetable continues despite the trials and tribulations of the Earth’s dominant species. I hope, by the time this is published, Covid-19 has been curbed and life is starting to return to some semblance of normality. I am conscious I have expressed this hope before, in February, but maybe this time it’ll be true! I have had to re-write this article as my original was due to be published in April, just around the time of the predicted peak of the epidemic. It just didn’t feel right and was not in tune with the uncertainty of the time and the challenges yet to be faced. So, discussion of my favourite celebration of the year, the coming of spring and with it, the Easter festival was replaced with the sober reality of disease control. I hope the May edition comes with more optimism, a feeling I want to foster. The early spring colour of yellow (daffodils and forsythia) has given way to a mixture of blue and light green as bluebells, new shoots and leaves take over. At the time of writing, we have had as dry a month as it was wet during January and February. From flood to dust in a few short weeks. So what effect has the lockdown had on our pets? Well, for most of our dogs it’s been just great, family at home, constant company and attention, regular if short walks. Unfortunately, for a few pets this new domestic routine has become so attractive that any departure is met with profound displeasure. This is manifest by becoming anxious when left alone or even in a separate room for short periods and especially at night. This wellknown problem is called separation anxiety (a slightly outdated term but accurately describes the condition) and it has really come to the fore during the period of self-isolation and home-stay we have endured. Usually 106 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Veronika 7833/Shutterstock

confined to solitary dogs and often affecting rescued animals, the symptoms of separation anxiety can be very distressing for pet and owner. Howling and destructive behaviour are common. Treatment comes in two parts: behavioural therapy and medications designed to reduce anxiety. If your dog is suffering from aspects of this condition, contact your vet as with patience and the right treatment, help often makes life much better for everybody. Cats, on the other hand, have few problems no matter what besets the rest of us. Their biggest challenge is having to heave themselves off the sofa to eat and go to the toilet. However, the mild winter and the arrival of longer days provides the stimulus for feline sexual cycles to start and we have seen kittens coming into season since late February. If you have a kitten soon to reach puberty, have the spay operation done before the seasons start as the operation is technically much easier to perform and there is no chance of an unwanted pregnancy. I write this with the caveat that performing routine operations during Covid-19 must be sanctioned

by our governing body, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Hoping that time is over. So, how do you know if your kitten is in season? Well, it behaves very strangely, often vocalising and performing all sorts of physical gyrations. I have had emergency calls in the past from owners worried their kitten was having a seizure! In fact, some feline oestrus behaviour is so bizarre I have occasionally had my own doubts too. I have mentioned the now almost-forgotten Easter of 2020 (or perhaps it will be the most memorable) but I suspect all the unsold chocolate eggs that filled the supermarket shelves will still be there, to some degree. I know I have discussed chocolate and dogs so many times, but many owners don’t know what intake constitutes a risk of toxicity. In general terms, a dog can eat up to 14g of milk chocolate per kg of body weight (10kg dog = 140g!) before we would be worried. Dark chocolate, much worse and therefore less needs to be eaten before toxic effects can be expected, about 3g per kg. Cocoa powder is by far the worst, only 1/2 gram per kg can be toxic. So when you’re dusting your chocolate

cake or mixing your ganache, take care! Half a gram is a pinch (an ounce is about 22g) and if your dog is like any one of mine, the kitchen is a good place to be during cake-making. Just a light dusting of cocoa powder on the floor, missing the mixing bowl, will be lapped up within a few seconds. You all know the drill by now, if you suspect a toxic dose of chocolate has been ingested, don’t hesitate and call your vet immediately. This applies to other potential toxins that are commonly used at this time of year: slug and rat bait, anti-freeze, fertilisers and pesticides. There are antidotes to few of these, so a good old-fashioned stomach-pumping is necessary and the sooner it’s done, the better. Not really the cheery note I wanted to end up with, but I can honestly say we have never lost a chocolateengorged dog yet. My own came close to it, dear Coco Bean, who ate far above the toxic level but lived to tell the tale. As she did even after the many other dietary indiscretions committed in her long life time. newtonclarkevet.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 107

Animal Care

HORSE CARE DURING LOCKDOWN Sandra Lyons MRCVS, Kingston Vets

acing, eventing, show jumping, dressage, endurance, showing, TREC – equestrian competitions all over the country have been cancelled or postponed due to the Covid-19 national emergency. Apart from dashing everyone’s competition hopes for this season, how else is the lockdown affecting horse owners? Caring for your horse, while still complying with government guidance, during lockdown was initially an area fraught with confusion. Clearer guidance has been forthcoming since then. During lockdown, a journey to care for a horse is classed as essential travel. World Horse Welfare suggests being able to produce copy of the ID page of your horse’s passport, if you are stopped by the police while travelling. Transporting a 108 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

horse for any reason other than a genuine welfare need or veterinary emergency is likely to be deemed nonessential travel – tell your horse they need to stay home and stay safe! The British Horse Society advises that owners with horses on livery must respect the protocols implemented by their yard owner/manager, and should work as a team to agree on a plan for caring for the horse. According to a recent survey, 80% of livery yards now have social distancing measures in place, many restricting access times and setting time limits on visits. If you’re on a DIY yard, it might be possible to implement a buddy system where you can share field checks and various duties with other owners to minimise the number of journeys being made to visit horses and time spent on the yard.

danm12/Shutterstock

The same survey found that 40-50% of horses have been roughed off and turned out by now, reducing the management load on horse owners and yard staff. However, this can introduce a different set of welfare issues for horses. Increased time at grass can lead to increased risk of laminitis, obesity and equine metabolic syndrome. Spring grass coming through after the warm weather and recent rain makes this a particularly tricky time to have to increase turnout. Consider using grazing muzzles or strip grazing to help keep your horse to a suitable level of intake. In contrast, some yards don’t have the grazing capacity to increase turnout, and many people have stopped riding in order to minimise risks of needing emergency services, meaning horses staying in more

and are getting less exercise. Turning out in a ménage or doing some low-risk in-hand/long-rein work can help keep stabled horses occupied; remember it’s important to reduce feed when reducing workload. It’s a good idea to use a weigh tape to monitor your horse’s weight every couple of weeks and take action to avoid potential welfare issues if the numbers start going in the wrong direction! The BHS and WHW recommend not riding to minimise potential need for emergency services, but at the moment the choice is up to the rider. For more details from the survey mentioned on how the virus situation has been affecting owners, search Facebook for UK horse owners impact survey results. Discuss with your farrier the best course of action for your horse’s individual needs – it’s possible that a longer trimming/shoeing interval will do no harm, or it might be better to have shoes removed for the time being. If your horse has an emergency situation, your vet will visit, but will want you to follow distancing guidelines during the visit in order to minimise the risk of transmitting Covid-19. Expect to have your need for a visit triaged initially by phone or video call, and having clear images or videos to send to your vet will help them decide if a visit is necessary. Being able to take your horse’s temperature, pulse and respiration rate are simple and useful skills to master, especially now! Instructional videos from the British Equine Veterinary Association are very helpful. In order to maintain a safe distance, it might be necessary to sedate your horse in order to examine them, or the vet might need to bring a vet nurse with them to assist. Some procedures might be possible if the horse is calm and can be worked on while tied up. Some non-emergency visits might now be possible, such as annual vaccinations, after updated guidance from the British Veterinary Association and British Equine Vet Association last week. Visits for these will be risk-assessed by your vet on an individual basis, so please contact them to enquire. Please be aware that if the result of your vet’s risk assessment is that the procedure cannot be performed safely, and can be delayed without impacting animal welfare, then the visit cannot go ahead. Repeat medications can be posted out to avoid visits to practices, and in some situations medications can be prescribed without the vet examining the horse in person. If you want any advice for ensuring your horse remains healthy during lockdown, phone your vets and they will be happy to help. Stay safe everyone! kingstonvets.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 109

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Body and Mind

114 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

Sarah Hitch, The Sanctuary Beauty Rooms and The Margaret Balfour Beauty Centre

any of us have been suffering the burn out of stress leading up to the lockdown; it also impacts our sleep, diet, self-care and alcohol consumption. This draining pressure of fear for our health, our loved ones and financial stability transferred the negative effects of stress to our bodies. You may have noticed your skin becoming dryer or is more sensitive to your usual skincare routine? There may have been flaky patches and even outbreaks of eczema. Stress causes a breakdown in our barrier function leaving us dehydrated, susceptible to breakouts and reducing our ability to heal. Pare back your skincare routine to just basic gentle cleansing and nourishing creams or even, during these lockdown times, coconut, rape seed or olive oil make great basic moisturisers and should limit sensitivity. Now we are on lockdown, many of us will have spent some time getting very comfy in our pyjamas. Some of us will have slept very well and others will have felt very tired but not slept. The rush of adrenaline and being in a ‘fight or flight’ mode will impact on the skin not only with the obvious dark circles under eyes, but also in the skin’s ability to rejuvenate. Therefore, it can lose its radiance. Social distancing and a feeling of ‘oh well, no one is going to see me anyway!’ can also have a negative impact on our mental health and confidence. However, when we do take a bit of care by putting on our make-up or washing our hair, it is much easier to feel ready to face the day. In the same way that when you work at home, if you dress ready to work in something smarter, you’re going to be in the right frame of mind and more productive, compared to if you spent the morning in your pyjamas trying to achieve the same piece of work. When it comes to a skincare, lots of faces will be appreciating the ‘less is more’ make up approach and you might even find your breakout prone skin is improving. Take the opportunity to exfoliate your skin, face and body. Removing this winter layer of skin cells will make you feel brighter, lighter and help you feel spring-cleaned. Lots of us will have been in the garden in the beautiful weather and long may it continue. Just remember to go to easy on un-protected sun exposure. Absorb those vitamin D rays, but just be mindful not to frighten your skin with a damaging bout of sunburn this early in the year. Take your vitamins; vitamin C particularly will help to brighten lacklustre skin, help your immune system and your ability for cellular renewal when we are feeling a little bit dull and lifeless. Take the opportunity to get into a habit of drinking water whilst you’re at home with easy access to water and easy access to a toilet as well! You’ll see and feel the benefits of that within 2 to 3 weeks and certainly feel less lethargic for having a hydrated body.

Zhuravlev Andrey/Shutterstock

thesanctuarysherborne.co.uk margaretbalfour.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 115

Body and Mind

EASY RIDER Darren Halford, Riley’s Cycles

y girlfriend rolled her eyes at the mention of riding an e-bike. ‘Isn’t it cheating?’ she exclaimed. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be exercising? That belly’s not going to shift itself.’ Rude! Through slightly gritted teeth, I explained riding a bike doesn’t always have to be considered exercise, in the same way walking to the shops doesn’t have to be a race. I lured her outside to look at the bike I was testing, a fetching black Volt Pulse with suspension forks, suspension seat, fitted lights and integrated lock. ‘It looks like a bicycle,’ she jested. ‘That’s because it is a bicycle,’ I replied. After closer inspection, she decided to take it for a ride around the close. The sensation of riding an electric bike is a pleasant surprise. Normally, when you press down on the pedal, a considerable amount of force is needed to overcome the inertia, but with an e-bike the motor kicks in instantly and you’re away at what initially seems mild breakneck speed. My girlfriend shrieked, 116 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

then grinned, then departed the close with a little wave. She arrived home thirty minutes later, still grinning. ‘I want one,’ was her assessment. For most of its history, the bicycle has been used simply for ‘getting around’, commuting to work, and cycling to the pub or the shops. In the 1970s, I remember seeing the Westland morning shift streaming through the gates on their way home. The road was thick with cycles. Fast forward 40 years and the bike is replaced by car. The same road is now gridlocked daily. As we’ve grown more affluent, we’ve left the humble cycle to rust in the shed as we clamber behind the wheel of the motor car. It seems humans will always take the easiest option, even if it is disastrous for our health and environment. So is this so-called progress inexorable? Well, no, not completely. The car is here to stay, but there is now a slightly more virtuous, and healthier, way of getting around. Behold the e-bike.

bring indoors to recharge. The range of an e-bike can be anywhere from 20 to 80 miles, depending on the battery. The more powerful the battery, the higher the price in general. You don’t need a licence to ride one. If you were once a cyclist, but age, fitness or injury has the better of you, an e-bike is ideal. If you cycle with a club, but find the hills are getting too steep, an e-bike is for you. Dislike having to use your car, but struggle to lug shopping all the way from town? Well, an e-bike will make it achievable. Looking to get out and explore the countryside around Sherborne? Then an e-bike will allow you to do it in a way a car can’t. Using viewranger. com, a free app which shows accessible bridleways and lists cycling routes, anyone who enjoys the ease and freedom of a pushbike, but wants a little help to get around, can explore and will benefit from an e-bike. An e-bike is simply good fun. You enjoy the sun on your face and the wind in your hair, but you aren’t left exhausted at the end of the ride. There’s no need to worry about parking or filling up with petrol. Just pull straight up outside that cafe, or sports centre and stroll right in. Any drawbacks?

Image: Volt

Imagine your normal push bike, but with a motor in the rear wheel that assists the pedalling. That is, in essence, an e-bike. When you press down on the pedal, a sensor detects the movement; an electric motor kicks in to help propel the rider forward. Imagine you are pedalling downhill. This is how riding an e-bike feels all the time. There is a legal top speed of 15.5mph, so you’re not going to break any records, or get a ticket in the post. But, you are going to get up Sherborne Hill with ease and you are going make it to Bradford Abbas against that nagging head wind. The rise of the lithium battery has aided the abundance of electrically assisted bicycles. The price range is huge – anywhere from £400 to £50,000. Yes, I said £50,000 — for a bike! However, a decent one with well-made components starts at around £1000. The battery is removable which means at the end of a ride you can simply disconnect it from the bike and

Before I tried one, I couldn’t help but feel that riding an e-bike would be an unnecessary addition to my life. This was soon forgotten. Instead of driving into town, you find yourself hopping on the bike. The panniers and rack make transporting stuff a doddle. Yes, you’ll still get wet if it rains and you still have to put up with those motorists who seem to think cyclists don’t belong on the road, but the negatives are outweighed by the positives. E-bikes already account for 25 per cent of all the bicycles on the road in Holland. We are at a fraction of that, but once you start riding one, you notice just how many others are quietly doing the same. Usually because you’re waving at each other as you pass. Now, you don’t get that in a car! Volt Pulse Price: £1,559

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rileyscycles.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 117

Body & Mind

SLEEP DURING UNUSUAL TIMES

Dee Swinton, Dorset Mind

e’re in the middle of a crisis that has happened without apparent warning and has left us all feeling extremely out of control. Like being on a runaway rollercoaster. It’s no wonder really that the first thing that has been dramatically affected is our sleep. And by that I mean good quality sleep; it doesn’t have to be the recommended full eight hours.

Olly Kava/Shutterstock

118 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

I know that right now my sleep pattern is highly erratic — my mind over-works at night and it takes a concerted effort for me to unwind. This means that I stay up much later than I normally would - and of course this has a knock-on effect as I’m still working, albeit from home, as normal. Not only this, I’m restless in the night and wake much earlier. It doesn’t make for a very healthy sleep pattern. I know I’m not alone — friends have reported similar experiences and scary new ones. Frightening incidents such as panic attacks in the night; and one friend has even experienced sleep paralysis despite never having this before. So what’s really happening? It’s all down to the science… But before I explain further, I should re-assure everyone that these unusual symptoms are perfectly normal in times of crisis. Your body is in fact doing exactly what it should be doing – functioning properly! And knowing that just might help you rationalise the thoughts and anxiety you might be having as a result of this (or is it the other way round?). The COVID-19 outbreak is worrisome. The virus has presented us with a mortal threat that many of us have never experienced before. It’s uncontrollable, as pandemics are, threatens everyone without prejudice, and has completely turned our ‘normal’ life as we know it, upside down. When we are exposed to danger, our brain springs into action and triggers the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response. The amygdala can be found behind the ear and is a tiny part of our brain, but an important one in terms of survival. When a threatening situation is triggered, the amygdala sends messages to your body and gets you ready for one of the aforementioned responses. Physically you’ll notice that your heart-rate increases, your breathing will be affected and your muscles are ready for action – as chemicals such as cortisol and adrenaline flood your body. You’ll also feel super-alert. In the situation we’re currently in, our bodies are on high alert much of the time. Our amygdalas cannot differentiate between an emergency and a stressful situation that has no immediate threat (most of the time). The flood of chemicals results in heightened stress and anxiety, especially as we’re being advised to stay home and save lives – the exact opposite to what our body really wants to do: run away!

So what can we do to counteract these irrational thoughts? Breathe. It’s very simple — but so effective. By focusing on your breathing and doing some basic breathing exercises, you can have some control over the physical reactions that the fight or flight response triggers. Breathe slowly in through your nose and out through your mouth for two minutes. And make sure you breathe deeply – from your stomach, not your chest. It can help calm you down. Try it. Give distraction techniques a go — from laughing (which releases endorphins that counteract the chemicals) to speaking with a trusted friend, who will actively listen and be kind to you. Keeping your hands busy can also help with anxiety too. From gardening to cooking; drawing to knitting; painting or making something. These are all forms of mindfulness, as you focus completely on what you’re doing — to the point of not noticing anything else around you. Self-care is also hugely important. Relaxing in a bath or taking a shower, exercising, yoga or dancing. Eating healthily. These all contribute to helping your body calm down. Another technique Dorset Mind recommends is to limit your social media feeds. Get rid of your notifications and news apps and try a digital diet – switch off at least one day a week. If you want to find out about what’s happening in your area, only use trusted sources such as the NHS who aren’t politically motivated. You’ll feel much better, I promise. And overall, be kind to yourself — don’t fall into bad habits such as self-medicating with drugs or alcohol — it can be highly detrimental to your mental health in normal times, let alone crisis. In terms of sleep — try to go to sleep at a regular time each night. Go to bed with a book or try a meditation app such as Headspace or Calm to clear your thoughts. Make sure your bedroom is well ventilated and welcoming. And lastly, remember that this will pass. We will get through this together. Dorset Mind is committed to helping local people with their mental health. The charity believes that no-one in Dorset should face a mental health problem alone or without respect. That’s why they have replaced their face-to-face support for both adults and young people with online and phone options. dorsetmind.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 119

Body & Mind

BECOMING MINDFUL OF YOUR BREATHING

Dawn Hart, Hatha Yoga and Meditation Teacher reathing comes naturally; we don’t have to think about it to stay alive, but as we grow into adults and acquire a whole host of amazing skills, all too often we take this basic but vital process for granted.

Are you sitting comfortably with a straight back?

Try this… notice your own breathing for a few seconds. Don’t try and control it, just notice what is happening. Breathe in and out through your nose, if you comfortably can, otherwise use your mouth. Now, take a slow, deep breath in and gently release it. What happened then? Maybe, as you inhaled, your abdomen just below your belly button pushed outward or, maybe, you felt your chest move outward as your ribcage expanded and your belly drew inwards a little. Either way you are breathing, so why does it matter? Have you ever watched a baby while it’s sleeping and noticed how its belly expands when it breathes in and sinks back when it breathes out?

Awake or asleep, this is how it should work for us all. As we inhale the abdomen expands, the diaphragm flattens and moves downward, allowing the lungs to fill with air. If we are breathing deeply, the ribcage will also then expand a little, allowing the lungs to fill more fully. As we exhale, it all sinks back. So why for many of us is the majority of our breathing happening in our chest area?

This is often due to stress. When stress hormones are released, one consequence is we breathe faster and, therefore, more shallowly into the chest. We breathe faster to distribute oxygen-rich blood to our muscles, so we are ready to spring into action reacting to whatever has caused the stress or perceived threat. This is clearly helpful in many situations, but the majority of us don’t need this on a daily basis, yet our bodies are behaving as if we do. This is because emotional, financial or social stress has become a part of our everyday lives. Our brains deal with this stress in the same way, keeping us in a state of ‘ready’. Breathing is an activity managed by our subconscious - very helpfully most of the time, but when the message to the brain is to ‘stay ready for action’, we find ourselves in a cycle that has a negative impact on our physical and mental wellness.

120 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Becoming aware of our breathing and re-learning how to breathe deeply is a step in the right direction

It can help our bodies come out of this constant state of alert. Positively impacting our blood pressure, metabolism and heart rate. Releasing endorphins instead of adrenaline and increasing feelings of peace and contentment helping us deal with challenges and promoting better mental health. I re-learnt how to breathe through yoga. Combining gentle movement with meditation and breathing exercises can be very powerful but you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to practise yoga to do it. I have created the video below with some practical tips you can try now.

I have also recorded an audio breathing exercise and breath-awareness meditation for you to try here. yogasherborne.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 121

Body & Mind

AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE FITTER, STRONGER AND MORE FLEXIBLE Simon Partridge BSc (Sports Science), Personal Trainer SPFit

am sitting here writing this, having just taught my tenth free, live, online fitness class on Instagram. Something that, up until three weeks ago, I had never contemplated or thought I would have to do. However, on Saturday 21st March, as we all now know, the world changed. On this day, we had to cancel our classes, close the SPFit studio and stop our running club. We run a small and very friendly personal training and strength and conditioning gym offering. I won’t lie when I say that closing it, like many other small businesses have had to, brought me to tears. I had to entertain the thought that we may never reopen again. However, very quickly my thoughts turned to seeing it as an opportunity for us all to get fitter, stronger and 122 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

more flexible. Many of my clients are self-employed or run their own businesses and I made a promise, there and then, to teach live online classes for free and for the duration of ‘lockdown’, however long that may be. The reason for not charging is simple: to help as many people as possible. If I’m honest, spreading some kindness and doing something new has had a positive impact on me personally too. We have now taught 10 free classes to date and, going forward, will be teaching 4 to 5 each week. So, what can we do? Let’s keep it simple: Get fitter

We are allowed an hour of exercise a day, so just get out for a walk or a run. It doesn’t matter how far or fast. It

and mobilising our joints. Remember, flexibility and mobility are two different things. Yoga and Pilates are two great forms of exercise too. Sources of information and help

There is so much ‘fitness’ online now; everyone is doing it. Use a trusted source and keep it simple. Lots of local personal trainers and exercise instructors now teach online. Please support them. From my experience, members say it is just like the classes they used to do, before the crisis hit. Online personal training

Both personal trainers at SPFit, Simon and Jared, are busy coaching 1:1 personal training sessions online. These have been unexpectedly successfully, as both the client and personal trainer have concentrated even more on the process of coaching, than when they were in the gym. We have had a big ‘thumbs up’ to online 1:1 coaching from all our clients so far. Will you be fitter, stronger and more flexible when this crisis is over?

Whether you are just starting your fitness journey, a regular ‘gym-goer’, or you play sports competitively or recreationally, this is an opportunity not to miss. Find new ways to train and exercise. Definitely work on your weaknesses, mine being flexibility, but most of all have fun and keep smiling. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am happy to help all. Good luck everyone! worawit_j/Shutterstock

SPFit Online Programme ____________________________________________

doesn’t matter if you are just starting or an experienced runner; just enjoy exercising outside and have fun.

Strength and Conditioning Workshop

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To maintain or increase both your strength and muscle tone can also be really simple. Do any exercises which involve resistance such as the humble press-up, squat, lunge, sit-up or plank.

Broga - the original fitness yoga

Get flexible

All details for our online classes are set up as specific events on our Facebook page SPFit-Sherborne and also posted to Instagram on @swjpartridge.

My last article questioned how effectively we stretch. This is my biggest weakness and now that many of us have more time, we can spend five to ten minutes stretching those tight muscles

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spfit-sherborne.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 123

NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT Craig Hardaker, BSc (Hons), Communifit

pring has well and truly arrived and I hope you are fit, strong and well. Everyone involved with Communifit would like to express our thanks to those involved in the NHS for keeping us safe – you really are heroes. As are all the care workers involved in nursing and care homes. I have always been very fond of the staff working in the homes where we deliver our ‘Sit and Strengthen’ exercise programmes; they are always full of energy, passion, love and commitment towards their residents, and it is constantly shown in great abundance. Although currently we cannot deliver our programme in person, our exercise videos have proven to be an effective replacement in keeping residents strong — both physically and mentally. The staff working in these homes are under great pressure to prevent Covid-19 from entering and need all the PPE they can get. The current climate is difficult for all in nursing and care homes, but it has also created great opportunities. A chance to bring additional smiles to the residents whilst loved ones communicate via phone or video calls. The homes we deliver our exercise programmes to have well and truly embraced this method of creating extra happiness. In-house activities, games and events, to name a few, have popped up. The successes of their efforts have gained national recognition through social media such as: BBC, Metro, Lorraine TV and Heart FM. A big well done to all for embracing the change and being absolute heroes! For most of us, we have more time at home. What opportunities can this bring to us? Here are a few ideas. Hobbies

Now is the perfect time to start a new hobby. Whether 124 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Image: Stuart Brill

Body and Mind

this be painting, a new exercise class, learning new recipes or, like me, playing the guitar. Let’s use this extra time to learn something new. Stay positive, be creative and learn! Gardening

What a great exercise gardening is! Mowing the lawn, cutting hedges, potting plants – let’s make our gardens full of colour bringing only happiness and joy. The weather is perfect to top up your Vitamin D in the garden. Just remember, bend your knees not your back… Be Kind

There are so many kind gestures evolving from such a negative situation; it is bringing the very best out of people! Sherborne Viral Kindness are the driving force behind this. Offering to cook and deliver meals, shop for food, collect medication and much more. Why not offer help to those who need it most? We have created exercise cards for isolated over-70s and need help delivering them — please get in contact. Exercise

It’s a great time to dedicate some free time to you. There are multiple free exercise classes on offer or, for a bit more structure and guidance, we have a variety of options for all age groups and abilities. Maybe try something new and invest time into your well-being, as a well-known advert once said, you’re worth it! Whatever you decide, keep smiling and embrace the opportunity of being time-rich. Wishing you all the very best. communifit.co.uk

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Body & Mind

YOGA IN LOCKDOWN Emma Rees, Yoga Instructor, Yoga with Emma

was driving back from a client when I heard the radio bulletin, urging us to cease non-essential social contact. I was about to teach two busy classes, but quickly set about shutting it all down. That was mid-March, and like almost every yoga teacher in the country, I took my work online, through my website and the now ubiquitous Zoom platform. In an effort to continue providing a service, save my business, and maintain my own wellbeing, I’m settling into the ‘new normal’ of sharing yoga online. I’m lucky to be able to continue teaching, at a time when we probably need yoga more than ever. First of all, and most importantly… yoga is just as much about promoting good mental health as it is about physical wellbeing. So, try to let go of expectations: you don’t have to emerge from lockdown as the fittest, strongest and most productive version of yourself. It’s hard to avoid the pressure — particularly on social media — to use this time to ‘improve’ yourself, whether it’s maintaining a fitness programme, becoming an expert home-schooler, or perfecting bread-making. These are great goals for some people, but for others they increase anxiety in an already challenging time. I definitely look and feel different in my body since lockdown began, and that’s ok. Now is the time to be kind to ourselves and each other. That said, a bit of exercise might help, and indoor options that fit into your schedule have never been more relevant. Some clients use online yoga first thing in the morning to boost energy. Others use it after a day of 126 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

home-working, to alleviate tension from hunching over a computer, perhaps in a chair not designed to be office furniture. Yoga is no magic pill, but a little stretching and mindful breathing can also help you manage stress and anxiety. We’re all feeling the strain – uncertainty about the future, worry for our families, and the challenge of everything being under one roof — so perhaps it’s worth a try. If you join a live class, you’ll see others doing the same; it’s just a grid of little faces, but there’s a surprising sense of motivation and community. Setting up home yoga isn’t too difficult. I’d recommend finding a nice space, where you can focus, but in reality, I’ve taught plenty of sessions where students are interrupted by noise, pets or children, and it’s not a problem — they just jump back in when they can. Choose a style that’s right for you and consider how to access the classes: I teach live sessions but also have a portal with pre-recorded videos; many teachers offer a mix of free and paid sessions, to make yoga as accessible as possible whilst maintaining some income. Yes, the technology can be a bit daunting at first, but it’s manageable. Recommendations are always best, and look for a well-qualified instructor: even online, you need a teacher who will ensure you can enjoy the class safely. One of our key values in yoga is about giving your body what it needs in the present moment, and that’s never been truer than it is now. Good luck and stay safe. emmareesyoga.com

POSITION OF STRENGTH Lucy Morland, MSc (Hons) Grad Dip MCSP HCPC MAPCP MAPPI, Chartered Physiotherapist, 56 London Road Clinic

Fizkes/Shutterstock

hat strange times we currently find ourselves in? Never has it been more important to keep our brains and bodies as active as we can to combat the potential effects of prolonged lockdown. Current UK guidelines recommend that adults aged between 19-64 take at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical exercise every week, with the specific aim of being physically active every day. Obviously, during lockdown this is much more difficult, but keeping your muscles strong will improve your mood, help with sleep, reduce anxiety and decrease the risk of deconditioning or any musculoskeletal conditions developing or deteriorating. Due to the current Covid-19 situation, most face-toface consultations and ‘hands on’ therapies have had to stop and it has never been more vital to take responsibility and ownership of your own body. It is important to realise that pain can be caused not only by a variety but, often, a combination of physical, psychological and social factors. With many now needing to work from home and children being home-schooled, sitting at unfamiliar desks coupled with poor chair heights can cause problematic postures. Sitting hunched over a screen can result in painful spinal problems and headaches, as well as chest muscles becoming tight which can lead to further associated shoulder joint and arm pain. Long periods of sitting with your hips and knees flexed can cause the muscles at the back of your legs (hamstrings) to shorten and become tight. This can then have a knock on effect and cause further back and neck pain and stiffness.

It is important to remember that your back is stronger than you think and that although many people worldwide will commonly experience some form of back pain, it is rarely dangerous and will seldom require surgery. According to research, 98% of people that experience a spinal strain, although distressing and often disabling, will recover within 6-8 weeks without any further intervention. However, should you have an acute episode of back pain, it is important to keep active and not fear bending or lifting as this is unlikely to cause further damage. Importantly, only use painkillers in the shortterm to facilitate improved sleep, and initially use plenty of ice over the affected area followed by heat to relax any muscle spasm. Remote consultations are available for those who would benefit from further input, advice and a graded exercise programme to assist recovery. There are many different physical ‘keep fit’ programmes that can be accessed via different social media avenues to keep you active in your own homes. However, for those that do not have access or the ability to use technology, this is simply not an option. So, make sure you try as much as possible to get outside and have a walk, perhaps in the garden or have a bike ride, whilst maintaining social distancing. Look around and enjoy all that springtime brings. Think how lucky we all are to live in this area of the country. Take a deep breath, enjoy the peace and the birdsong, the reduction in traffic and pollution, but most importantly, stay safe and well. 56londonroad.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 127

Body & Mind

MENTAL HEALTH ADVICE DURING CORONAVIRUS

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

he Coronavirus’ effect on our mental health is unprecedented and needs special attention. It is presenting with anxiety, fear, panic, depression as well as anger, irritability and rage. We are all anxious and fearful of contracting it, ourselves as well as our families and loved ones. There are many other rational fears such as running out of food and vital supplies, a dread of not being able to pay the bills and getting into debt, despairing over our future livelihood due to business failure. There are also understandable anxieties, bordering on paranoia, of cleanliness and germs. Also panic of being forgotten and left alone – isolation and loneliness are frightening. Thankfully, there are many resources available to help at this time. The Government and the NHS are leading with measured, balanced advice and support. Many businesses and companies are recognising the need to work together and look out for each other - there have been many examples of cooperation and benevolence for the greater good of the population. Along with this external help, it is also a time where we must look to ourselves and our immediate companions to be resourceful, in order to attend to our own mental health needs. Perhaps, we should view this time of social isolation as a sabbatical - to learn something new, tidy the loft (bag and bin), get creative with watercolours or colouring pencils, write a journal or short story, teach yourself chess, read a book or re-watch Poldark and Downton Abbey. By watching YouTube videos, you can learn Yoga, Pilates, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, meditation or how to bake a cake and loaf of bread. We are still allowed to exercise, once a day, according to the very sensible Government guidelines - so get out and run - or walk swiftly, if running is not possible. 128 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Slowly build up your distance and pace. Many studies demonstrate clearly the benefits of exercise for mental health, weight control, joint health, mobility and balance. Top up your naturally synthesised ‘happy hormones’, the endorphins, to give yourself that ‘feel good factor’. Despite all these measures, there will be many people who still feel anxious, fearful, as well as varying degrees of depression. Please contact your local surgery and talk with your GP who is best at gauging your level of mental health. You may only need that contact and support, backed up by referral to counselling services, in order to address your problems. Another option would be the mental health charity MIND and the Samaritans, both accessed by telephone. You may, however, need treatment with an anti-anxiety medication; from my experience in general practice over many years, I have found Citalopram, which has a license for anxiety, is extremely effective. It belongs to the SSRI class of antidepressants that are ‘clean’, non-sedating and nonaddictive. Panic attacks are well controlled by taking the long-acting beta-blocker drug Propranolol 80 mg tablet once daily. This will deal with palpitations, fine tremor, dry mouth and excess sweating - all familiar symptoms of panic and fear. If you are less keen on conventional medication, you could try the flower essence Rescue Remedy or homeopathic Aconite 30c or herbal chamomile tea infusion. I hope that my suggestions are balanced, achievable and effective. Even if they have sparked just one idea, I will have helped with mental health difficulties during this horrendous time. doctorTWRobinson.com GlencairnHouse.co.uk

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 Teresa or Daniel on 01935 812647 100 Lenthay Road, Sherborne DT9 6AG Email: info@wsbrister.com www.wsbrister.com

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sherbornetimes.co.uk | 129

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Legal

CORONAVIRUS FAQS FOR COMMERCIAL PROPERTY LANDLORDS AND TENANTS Justin Hopkins & Maeve England, Mogers Drewett

s the UK deals with the coronavirus outbreak, considerable strain is being put on commercial property landlords and tenants. Our Dispute Resolution Partner, Maeve England, and Commercial Property Partner, Justin Hopkins, answer the most frequently asked questions. What help is there for businesses unable to pay rent?

The Government has introduced measures to protect commercial tenants in the Coronavirus Act 2020. Section 82 of the Act prevents landlords from evicting commercial tenants, whether by changing locks or by commencing court action for possession, during the period commencing 26th March and ending on 30th June. There is also the option for the Government to extend this period, if needed. Measures in the Act mean no business will automatically forfeit their lease and be forced out of their premises before that date if they miss a payment. If proceedings to forfeit the lease have already started in court, no order will be made for possession to occur on a date on or before 30th June. Does this apply to all businesses?

The measure covers business tenancies, but not licences to occupy, tenancies at will or certain other tenancies such as farm business tenancies and tenancies not exceeding 6 months. If you are unsure whether you have a lease or a licence, you should seek legal advice. Do business owners need to apply for this relief?

No, the measures apply automatically to all eligible tenancies. However, the measures in the Act are not a rental holiday. All commercial tenants are still liable for the rent and will have to make this up at a later date. Commercial tenants should therefore speak with their

132 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

landlord about their situation and agree a course of action. What if a landlord has already evicted a business?

The protection only applies during the ‘relevant period’, beginning 26th March and ending 30th June 2020 ‘or such later date as may be specified’ by the Government. If a landlord has already repossessed a premises, before the relevant period, the protection will not apply. However, if proceedings have started, any order cannot be for repossession before 30th June. There are provisions in the Act dealing with orders for possession that have already been made and which fall on a date on or before 30th June. What can landlords do if tenants do not pay?

For landlords, in the immediate aftermath of the crisis, it will be preferable to have tenanted premises and tenants whose businesses have the best chance of surviving. Commercial tenants will still be liable for the rent. Communicating and working collaboratively with tenants now to find short, and long-term solutions, is often the best way forward. Many landlords are offering rent concessions, such as varying the frequency of rent payments, agreeing a rent suspension, basing a proportion of rent on percentage of turnover, or accepting a reduced rent for a temporary period. Landlords and tenants should check their insurance policies to ensure they are covered for business interruption. Although, there may be exclusions for force majeure events (which vary by contract) and pandemics. Finally, remember that leases vary and have different provisions that could include a rent suspension or a force majeure clause. Implications can be significant, therefore landlords and tenants should seek legal advice before taking action. 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

FAITH

Andrew Fort B.A. (Econ.) CFPcm Chartered MCSI APFS, Certified and Chartered Financial Planner, Fort Financial Planning The following is an extract from FFP’s 2nd Covid–19 bulletin sent to clients on 30th March 2020.

s I write this note, over 25% of the world is in some sort of lockdown. Many of us are scared. Many of us are fearful for ourselves, for our families and for the vulnerable. I am scared. Having lost one daughter only two years ago, I am scared at the thought of losing another member of my family, my staff or my clients. One way of managing is, perhaps, to find something to focus on. One suggestion is to limit your attention to things that meet two criteria – they matter to you and you can influence them. Much of what is happening at the moment we can’t control at all. Instead of worrying about your children or your friend, pick up the phone. Speak to them, share your concerns, and have a conversation. Do the jobs around your home that you’ve been putting off. Get the games out. Make plans for the future, when this crisis is finally over (as it surely will be at some point). The power of The Jars Strategy™ is that, by definition, you do not anticipate touching your longterm money for at least 5 years. While nobody would have predicted the effects of this pandemic, we do all know that there is risk in investing. At the risk of repeating myself, we now need to have faith in the future. Faith that the virus will, eventually, be defeated and that, in turn, markets will begin to recover, albeit slowly. The power of The Jars Strategy™ is that your short term money, money that you might need access to in the next 2 years, should be readily accessible and held in cash; precisely because cash should not fall in value. At the moment, there are very few positives around. However, one positive is that we will all be spending significantly less than we would have anticipated. There are no holidays to take, no restaurants to go to and no other leisure activities either. We could, perhaps, also be grateful that this virus has emerged in 2020. Never before has it been possible to so quickly identify the DNA of the virus. The DNA has been distributed to scientists all around the globe, who are using the best technology that we have ever had in the hope of finding a cure. Let us all hope that the great intellectual endeavour of these people will soon find a cure. Stay safe. ffp.org.uk

134 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

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Finance

WEATHERING THE STORM Nick Hunt, Hunt’s Accountants

pparently, a person can survive for 3 days without water and Ghandi survived 3 weeks without food. So how long can a business hold its breath and survive with no sales? A question no one wanted to find out the answer to. We were doing very well as an economy and certainly my experience of working with our clients was that businesses were generally strong and investing in the future. No one can plan for a business to be able to sustain the current crisis, if you did you wouldn’t be competitive. Most business owners are people who are always looking to invest, move forward and keep the journey going; they are not known for worrying and planning for disaster. The Government has rolled out support measures to deal with the enforced ‘pause’ that we all must do. But normally, anything as significant as the measures that have been rushed through would have had months of consultation and review to ensure they would deliver the intention. The problem when things are rushed is there will be cracks and holes that people and businesses fall through. 136 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

Measures such as the ‘Support for the SelfEmployed’ are well-intentioned no doubt and the public couldn’t be criticised for believing that the local plumber, electrician and gardener are being taken care of, but the reality is they are not. Since 2002, it has been the case that the vast majority of small businesses now trade as private limited companies and as such do not qualify for the scheme. Support for small businesses who have a business premises have been fairly quick to benefit from the £10,000 grant. All businesses have been able to furlough staff, meaning they stay at home and you pay them 80% of their wages which the Government will reimburse you for. This scheme went live last Monday and we have processed many clients through the new portal which seemed to go very well. HMRC have confirmed that, subject to approval, money will be paid directly to businesses within 6 days. You are also able to process payroll in advance and make claims in advance meaning your business could be able to have received the money from HMRC before having to make payments to staff.

Image: Clint Randall

This will certainly help cashflow for April onwards. Shops, cafés, and hotels can benefit from business rates holidays for 2020-21 year as well as grants of up to £25,000 per property, which again is certainly helping. Businesses have been able to defer paying their VAT bills until the 31st March 2021, without being charged interest, which will provide much needed working capital. HMRC have also been agreeing to deferring or offering time to pay on other business taxes through the ‘Time to Pay Helpline’. Further support has been offered in terms of loans which the Government offered an 80% guarantee to the bank. Whilst initially business owners were being asked for personal guarantees, this has now been removed on loans up to £250,000. Furthermore, anyone who was fortunate enough to get a loan approved early on, but unfortunately gave a personal guarantee, can, I understand, relax as the Government have told the banks they will not be allowed to pursue these. These loans are interest-free for the first 12 months and potentially capital repayment-free as well for the first 12 months. The overall loan period can be up to 6 years and

capped at £5m. There has been criticism nationally at the level of loans being approved and the time it is taking to actually get the cash into businesses’ bank accounts. We have helped clients apply for these loans and my experience has been that we are not seeing a uniformed approach being rolled out across the board. Each bank seems to be taking its own view on how to make these loans available, which means we are seeing quite wild shifts from one bank’s approach to another; it is making it very difficult for some, as business owners don’t feel they can quickly move and talk to another bank. However, there are over 40 lenders on the British banks accredited list currently on their website and so I would encourage people to pursue all options. british-business-bank.co.uk. I have been advising clients to build as much reserve as possible and as soon as possible; in essence, apply for everything. The biggest problem that this crisis poses is not knowing when it will end and, therefore, how to know what you need to survive. So even if you can pay your March VAT return bill today, I wouldn’t. You have been offered the deferment, so I would take it; calculate the return, set the money aside and when life goes back to ‘normal’, hopefully the money is still in the reserve account - pay it then. Something to consider is if you were to pay it now and then run into problems, there may not be support available and you might face someone saying, ‘well we gave you a chance to keep your cash reserves and you didn’t.’ I understand in 2019 there were 5.82 million small businesses in the UK. Small and mediumsized enterprises make up 99.9% of the UK business population. The UK is the most entrepreneurial in Europe and ranks fourth globally, according to 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Index. I started Hunts Accountants over 20 years ago and I have enjoyed the ride so far. I know how much small business owners put into making their ideas and dreams come true; it’s a fantastic thing to do and I wish you all well. During the current climate, it’s great to hear the spirit of clients who, despite being closed and have no sales coming in, are reviewing their business plan, utilising social media channels in creative ways and musing about a changed world in the future and what their place in it will be. I can’t wait to get back to seeing everyone face-to-face when we finally get our doors open again. huntsaccountants.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 137

TAKE YOUR TIME

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138 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

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Tech

last looked at this subject back in 2015, after having moved my personal computer to the shop meant that I was left with nothing at home. So, I decided to try and live without and this has worked for me so far. To make it work for you, you’ll need the following: a tablet, a Bluetooth keyboard, an internet connection, a Wi-Fi printer and a credit card. The Tablet: there are hundreds on the market; the Apple iPad, Android-based and Windows-based tablets from a variety of other manufacturers - all of varying sizes. They all run ‘apps’ which are the programs that ‘do stuff ’ like internet browsing, email, writing, calculating, picture viewing etc. All have cameras and all are touchscreen. I have an iPad (priced from around £300), but other tablets are available from as little as £99.99. A Bluetooth Keyboard: when you type on a tablet, you have an on-screen keyboard that pops-up; this is great for simple stuff like internet browsing, emailing or messaging, but a bit unforgiving if you’re typing a long piece of prose. What you need is a Bluetooth keyboard. I have a Logitech keyboard, which doubles up as a stand and cover, made to fit my iPad (about £30). An Internet Connection: EVERYTHING you do on a tablet will require an internet connection at some point; browsing, email, file saving, picture storage etc. There are three ways of achieving this: firstly, Wi-Fi at home or away; secondly, a Wi-Fi hotspot from your mobile phone, and lastly, a cellular connection. The 140 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

cellular option requires that your tablet has a SIM card slot. I use whatever Wi-Fi is freely available and use mobile hotspot as necessary. A Wi-Fi Printer: the paperless office I hear you laugh! At some point in time, you will want to, or need to, print something. Nearly all new printers are Wi-Fi enabled and nearly all support wireless printing from your tablet. I have a simple scanner/printer/copier from Argos at about £45. A Credit Card: tablets have very limited storage, if any, and all data needs to be stored in the cloud somewhere. What are you going to do with all your existing documents, pictures and videos from your old PC? Upload them to cloud storage! Many providers exist; Microsoft, Google, Apple, Dropbox etc. and all offer limited space for free with a payable upgrade when you run out. It’s really cheap storage at about £50 a year for hundreds of gigabytes of space. I use two; Dropbox and OneDrive. So, there you have it…It is possible to live without a PC and it can be challenging to work around the problem, but I have yet to fail! You just need to get into the right mind-set. The choice, as always, is yours, but if you think you need advice, you know where to call. Coming up next month: Retirement and Other Complications computing-mp.co.uk

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Muntanya is an independent trekking and outdoors shop offering clothing and equipment from major suppliers with advice on anything trekking from finding a local walking group, navigation and expedition planning. Come and have a chat about your latest adventure…. …even if you haven’t had it yet! 7 Cheap St, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 3PT 01935 389484 • 0787 5465218 david@muntanya.co.uk www.muntanya.co.uk

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Short Story

THE LONELY ROAD

Jenny Campbell, Sherborne Scribblers

f anyone had asked her, Caroline would have been unable to tell them at exactly what point the road to Whitefriars Cottage had begun to feel so lonely and threatening. There was nothing to account for it. No menacing strangers, no creak of footsteps following her or rustling in the bushes on either side. But it was significant that she drove down it, these days, rather than walked to and from the village as she and Martin had always done. It was not a long road – a mile and a half at most – eventually leading, at the village end, onto a busy A road into York. Perfect they had thought, on first seeing Whitefriars, for an easy commute to the university. Initially, they had been weekend escapees from the city, spending much of their time doing up the cottage and opening its doors to visiting relatives and colleagues who arrived with paint brushes, bottles of wine and various garden plants – all prepared to dig, weed and help decorate instead of sing for their supper. ‘A bit of trouble finding you,’ they would say, slamming car doors behind them, exchanging hugs and laughing loudly while secretly revelling in the adventure and unaccustomed cachet of ‘friends in the country.’ ‘Still,’ one of the women said, as she buried her nose in fragrant honeysuckle and bent to sniff the lavender bushes, ‘we can see why you fell in love with this place. It’s heavenly! Honestly, the minute we turned down the lane to your cottage it was as if the cares of the world seemed to drop away.’ That is how it had always felt to Caroline and Martin on their daily walks: the hedgerows on either side, growing a little higher and more unkempt, year on year, were intoxicating in their summer scent and home to all manner of spring flora and wild orchids, bluebells and foxgloves at their appointed times in summer. Pheasants and rabbits commonly used the lane as an official crossing from one field to another, often pausing sharply to assess the human intruders before fluttering upwards or scurrying off on whatever important mission they were on. Even in winter, mired in mud or with up to a foot or more of snow, the lane had a special charm, leading as it always did to the light and cosiness of Whitefriars beyond a small straggle of mainly holiday cottages. Curious about the name, people would occasionally ask, ‘I suppose there must have been monks living round here at one time?’ Whereupon Martin would launch into a potted history of the small community of Cistercians, in their white robes, who had taken refuge in the area around the

144 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

time of the Reformation. Both Martin and Caroline believed that it was the former presence of the monks which gave their cottage such a peaceful ambience, except for those occasions on which Martin’s older sister, Annabel, her husband, George, and their three raucous children came to stay. Annabel was not known for her tact, especially where her brother’s lack of productivity was concerned. ‘So, when are you two going to start doing your bit for society?’ she would demand over breakfast or, well into her third glass of red, over dinner. Caroline would always laugh it off with a flippant ‘Too bloody old, now, darling.’ But it had been a deliberate choice not to have children. Work consumed them both; with a constant stream of visitors, numerous interests and regular exotic holidays they had always felt more than fulfilled in their lives. It was only now, a year after Martin’s death, that Caroline began to wonder about that early decision and, in her increasing sense of aloneness, think how wonderful it would be to have children, grandchildren, ringing, texting, skyping or however else they communicated with parents these days. Much of the problem, she felt, was that so much had changed; not just in her life but in other people’s as well. A once thriving village had been reduced to a small newsagent-cum-everything shop, an equally small café that closed in winter, the Fox and Hounds pub, a garage, the local vet and a village hall. One evening, driving back from a horticultural meeting in the hall, the darkened road seemed longer and lonelier than ever. And it was in this frame of mind that Caroline almost ran the car into a ditch at the sudden appearance of a white robed figure walking ahead of her. Heart thumping, she shook her head, as if to clear it of the vision which must surely be only in her mind. Then, it stopped and, fearing a collision, Caroline slammed hard on the brakes. What happened next was so extraordinary that she could never explain it to anyone without sounding totally mad. But the monk – for that is definitely what he was – turned to her with such compassion and love on his half-shrouded face that all fear vanished, even as he did. Do good spirits linger on in the world to help the living? Caroline could not say. She only knew that the road ahead, now, was as beautiful and welcoming as it had always been. Not threatening at all. In adapting to new circumstances it was merely her perception of it that had changed — and that made all the difference.

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Literature

LOCKDOWN READING LIST Wayne Winstone, Winstone’s Books

ith the end of lockdown not yet in sight, having a plentiful supply of books is more important than ever. Here at Winstone’s, we’re working hard to keep the good reads coming! Reading is one of the healthiest and happiest ways of dealing with isolation – we may not be able to meet up with friends and family, but we can introduce whole new casts of characters into our lives. We may have had to cancel our holiday plans, but we can still travel to

far-flung lands. Our working lives may be on pause, but we can still learn new things and expand our horizons. Children may not have school, but they can still bury themselves in a good book. As our doors are currently closed, we’re bringing the browsing to you. These are simply the highlights, but we’ve so much more available. Give us a call and we will happily recommend something perfect... there really is something for everyone.

FABULOUS FICTION

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

Now is the perfect time to discover the joint recipient of last year’s Booker Prize. Like fellow winner Margaret Atwood, Evaristo has a solid backlist. So you may have just found your new favourite author.

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth MacNeal

Beautiful doll maker, Iris, becomes the subject of a dark and dangerous obsession in this lush and evocative gothic thriller. This remarkable debut was a Sunday Times bestseller, Radio 2 Book Club pick and Radio 4 Book at Bedtime.

Middle England by Jonathan Coe

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

When Coe wrote this Costa Prize-winning novel (a return to the characters of his earlier book The Rotters’ Club), we were in the grip of Brexit mania. What a difference a short few months make! This may well read like historical fiction now.

An intelligent and incredibly assured debut novel about the true story of the CIA’s role in the publication of Doctor Zhivago. Perfect for fans of espionage, statesmanship, and fine Russian literature (oh, and love stories).

146 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

PRIZE-WORTHY NON-FICTION

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez

The Making of Poetry by Adam Nicolson

A multi-award winning book by a remarkable author, scientist and speaker, Invisible Women reveals how, in policy, design and research, we are systematically ignoring half of the population with disastrous consequences.

Shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award 2019. Adam Nicolson walks in the footsteps of Coleridge, Wordsworth, and his sister Dorothy as they walked in the Quantock hills forging a poetry that sought to remake the world.

The Volunteer: the True Story of the Resistance Hero

Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me

who Infiltrated Auschwitz by Jack Fairweather

by Kate Clanchy

Winner of the Costa Book of the Year 2019, The Volunteer is an enthralling story of resistance and heroism against the most horrific of circumstances.

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold

Teachers missing the classroom, and home-schooling parents with renewed respect for those who teach will both enjoy this. Kate Clanchy wants to change the world and thinks school is an excellent place to do it…

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

Sunday Times Bestseller and winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction 2019, The Five is the untold story of the five women brutally murdered by Jack the Ripper.

One of the most consoling and comforting books of the year… possibly of all time.

Winstone’s are open for orders Monday to Saturday, from 9am to 4pm, with home delivery available for local orders, and postal delivery for those further afield. Call 01935 816128 or email winstonebooks1@gmail.com For more reviews and service updates visit winstonebooks.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 147

Literature

LITERARY REVIEW Patrick Francis, Sherborne Literary Society

Apocalypse How? Technology and the Threat of Disaster by Oliver Letwin (Atlantic Books 2020) £14.99 Sherborne Times Reader Offer Price of £13.99 from Winstone’s

ince standing down as MP for West Dorset before the election at the end of last year, Oliver Letwin has wasted no time in issuing this urgent wakeup call to face up to the dangers posed by our growing dependence on global telecom networks and the internet. His premise is that ‘the increasing power, pervasiveness and interconnectivity of the modern, high-tech networks on which we increasingly rely will carry with them increasing risks for our economy and society.’ The structure of the book is an interesting blend of fact and fiction. The analytical chapters alternate with ones where we are taken forward in time to the first few days of 2038. In this ‘parable’, as Letwin calls it, the national grid has suddenly collapsed and it is quickly apparent that the social and economic consequences are dire. By now, we are in a world that is utterly reliant on the internet, automated electric cars and global satellite systems - all based by this time on 7G. The cast of characters includes government ministers and other senior officials who are holding regular COBRA meetings, unsure whether there has been a cyber-attack or a space weather event, but desperately trying to deal with a threatened breakdown in law and order and the actual collapse of social care. It will be of interest to readers in this area that some of the story is set in Yeovil and East Coker and there is one reference to Sherborne – but no more spoilers! As the author warns, ‘we are dealing with a coming reality rather than science fiction.’ He argues that unforeseen catastrophes, or so-called ‘Black Swan’ events, are in fact increasingly likely to happen in complex 148 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

global networks. Reminding his readers that the NHS was badly affected by an unexpected cyberattack in 2017, Letwin says that it is impossible to make any network 100% resilient. In his view, it is therefore vital to build fall-back options to ‘enable us to carry on during a period when the key networks have failed.’ He highlights the importance of ensuring that cash is not entirely replaced by electronic transactions and, when discussing possible short-term analogue fixes, he mentions walkie-talkies. At this point his analysis seems more persuasive than his proposed solutions, though he is surely right to highlight the severe social and economic consequences of the massive dislocation, for example to food and medical supplies, arising from any such manmade or natural disaster. Worryingly, he goes on to claim that liberal democracy will be under threat if demagogues can claim that ‘open-textured global networks should be abandoned in favour of national-based fortresses.’ He has more to say about the international implications of network failure in the final chapter, in which he draws attention to the emergence of China’s Huawei and India’s Tata Communications as key players in the development of communications networks and software respectively. He concludes by arguing that there is an urgent need to build ‘a new international framework for global network protection’ but, as we have seen with regard to climate change policy, this is much easier said than done. sherborneliterarysociety.com

Win stone Post!

In self-isolation? Bracing yourself for lock-down? Or simply taking the opportunity to cosy-up at home until it all blows over? Throughout the coming weeks, we will be providing a home delivery service.

If you live within a 2 mile radius of the shop, we will deliver your books to your door* Deliveries will be made between 5-6pm the same day if the bookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in stock or the day after if we need to order it in. For those who live a little further afield, we will happily pop your book in the post using Gardners Home Delivery service. We can take secure payment over the phone, so just call us with your requirements and we will be very happy to help

For a list of titles worth locking yourself away with, visit: www.winstonebooks.co.uk/Sherborne or follow us online: @winstonessherborne @winstonebooks @winstonebooks All efforts will be made to keep this service running throughout this period, staff health permitting. We reserve the right to withdraw this offer at any time.

Thinking of letting your holiday home? We know that your holiday home is just that â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a home. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why our local team is dedicated to managing your property with the same care and attention you would. With tailored services to suit your needs, you can be as involved as you like, so why not get in touch today?

01929 448 708 newowners@dorsethideaways.co.uk dorsethideaways.co.uk

APRIL SOLUTIONS

ACROSS 1. Disturb (8) 5. Soothe (4) 9. Cuban folk dance (5) 10. Rebuttal (7) 11. Variety of rummy (7) 12. Theme for a discussion (5) 13. Occurring in spring (6) 14. Sheep known for its wool (6) 17. Red cosmetic powder (5) 19. Frees from an obligation (7) 20. Rich sweet roll (7) 21. Form of oxygen found in the atmosphere (5) 22. Anxious; nervous (4) 23. Careless (8) 150 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

DOWN 1. Irretrievable (13) 2. Type of conference (7) 3. Clearness (12) 4. Immature insects (6) 6. Greek writer of fables (5) 7. Spite (13) 8. Unofficially (3,3,6) 15. Make better (7) 16. Move back (6) 18. Exploiting (5)

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

Katie Windle, Chaplain, Sherborne School for Girls

question that I am asked most mornings, by at least one of my children, is: ‘Mum, what are we going to do today?’ Quite a question these days! ‘How will we use our time?’ — something that many of us have had to ask ourselves at home these past weeks without work or occupation, travel, social visits or even online shopping, under the current lockdown measures. Of course, we have other questions too. Tons of them. How long is this going to go on for? When can we see our family or friends? Will I keep my job or get into university? Will I be able to afford things? Will I get coronavirus? What will happen if I do? Have I had it? How am I going to get through? Unfortunately, we don’t have the answers to these questions right now. Despite how much we want them to, the government officials and chief scientists also don’t have the answers. Circumstances are unfolding beyond our control and if we are to remain mentally and physically healthy, we need to focus our attention on the things we do have control over. ‘How then, will we use our time?’ — a question that each one of us does have control over and can answer for ourselves right now — aspects of life which are uniquely our own. In our family, I choose what meals we eat and when we eat them together. It is my choice as to how I limit my intake of the news and my children’s screen time or how I encourage them to do something more productive. I decide how I speak to my family when I’ve had enough. I have a say over whether to ring a friend or colleague, or whether to donate food to the foodbank. Each of us have many things we have a say over — beginning at home. Teresa of Avila, an ancient Christian writer, described the soul of a Christian as an ‘interior castle’ that has many rooms. Each of these rooms needs to be occupied by God – if we are to truly live well: to help us in our relationships, our routines, with our attitudes and habits, our plans, our words, actions and occupations — the whole of our lives. In his life, this king chose kindness and love over power and control. He chose forgiveness, healing and reconciliation over grudges and bitterness. He chose patience and prayer over frustration and misguided action. He chose to serve the poor and vulnerable, break down isolation and build community instead of waiting for others to do so. From the first days to now, Christians recognise that, with Jesus in charge, the world could be a very different place and that they could trust him to lead them into a better future. As we watch events unfold over the next few weeks we, like Frodo in The Lord of the Rings facing the full force of the enemy, are going to wish that it ‘need not have happened in our time.’ But as Gandalf the Wizard reminded him ‘So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’ sherborne.com

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MAY 2020 | FREE

A MONTHLY CELEBR ATION OF PEOPLE, PLACE AND PURVEYOR

LIFE AND LIMB with waxwork sculptor, Mike Wade

bridporttimes.co.uk

OUT NOW

Read online at bridporttimes.co.uk 152 | Sherborne Times | May 2020

TATLER SCHOOLS AWARDS 2020 ‘BEST HEAD OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL’

Green by name and nature

AT L E A S T YO U C A N S T I L L E N J OY A G OO D M E A L Award-winning food in the comfort of your own home

TA K E AWAY

AVAILABLE THURSDAY – SATURDAY 18.30 – 21.30 ORDERS FROM 17.30 COLLECTION OR DELIVERY PLEASE CALL 01935 813821 OR EMAIL INFO@GREENRESTAURANT.CO.UK Visit our website for menu 3 The Green, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3HY 01935 813821 @greensherborne www.greenrestaurant.co.uk