Sherborne Times August 2021

AUGUST 2021 | FREE

A MONTHLY CELEBR ATION OF PEOPLE, PLACE AND PURVEYOR

BACK TO EARTH with Medical Herbalist, Kim Creswell

sherbornetimes.co.uk

WELCOME

A

hh… Sherborne in the summertime – iced coffee and gelato, swifts and picnics, dogs in the river and children in the trees.

Festivals, fairs and shows make a comeback, regrouped and raring to go. Visitors peer through estate agent windows, commutes and careers reconsidered. Businesses continue to bud and blossom, new faces, fresh thinking and a glint in their eye.

Sherborne is home to many independently-minded characters who have chosen to make their own way – be it as sole traders, artists or entrepreneurs, they are liberated from the norm and true to themselves.

One such character is willow sculptor and medical herbalist, Kim Creswell.

While Kim’s harmonious, sustainable lifestyle might be considered by some as ‘alternative’, I would suggest that perhaps we are the ones off-kilter and a rethink of ‘the norm’ is long overdue.

Have a great month and keep well.

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 Print Stephens & George Distribution team Barbara and David Elsmore Nancy Henderson The Jackson Family David and Susan Joby Christine Knott Adam May Sarah Morgan Mary and Roger Napper Mark and Miranda Pender Claire Pilley Ionas Tsetikas

Laurence Belbin laurencebelbin.com David Birley Elisabeth Bletsoe Sherborne Museum @SherborneMuseum sherbornemuseum.co.uk Natalie Bone Sherborne Preparatory School @Sherborneprep sherborneprep.org Jules Bradburn The Sherborne Market @MarketSherborne thesherbornemarket Richard Bromell ASFAV Charterhouse Auctioneers and Valuers @CharterhouseAV charterhouse-auction.com Mike Burks The Gardens Group @TheGardensGroup thegardensgroup.co.uk David Burnett The Dovecote Press dovecotepress.com Rob Bygrave Sherborne Science Cafe @SherborneSciCaf sherbornesciencecafe.com Paula Carnell @paula.carnell paulacarnell.com

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.

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4 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

John Gaye & Jonathan Stones Sherborne Literary Society @Sherlitfest sherborneliterarysociety.com Nicola Girling Girlings Hearing Services girlinghearingaids.co.uk Craig Hardaker Communifit @communifit communifit.co.uk Rachel Hassall Sherborne School @SherborneSchool sherborne.org Andy Hastie Cinematheque cinematheque.org.uk Samantha Henderson Sherborne Abbey Festival @AbbeyFestival sherborneabbeyfestival.org Alex Hennessy Dorset Wildlife Trust @DorsetWildlife dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk Mike Hewitson MPharm FFRPS FRSPH MRPharmS The Abbey Pharmacy @TheAbbeyPharm theabbeypharmacy.com

David Copp

James Hull The Story Pig @thestorypig thestorypig.co.uk

Lucy Cotterell Mogers Drewett Solicitors @mogersdrewett md-solicitors.co.uk

Annabelle Hunt Bridport Timber @BridportTimber bridporttimber.co.uk

Nathan Cracknell ReBorne Church @ReborneC rebornechurch.org

Johnny Jones The Queen’s Arms @QueensArmsPub thequeensarms.com

Rosie Cunningham

Rob Kellaway Glenholme Herbs glenholmeherbs glenholmeherbs.co.uk

Cindy Chant & John Drabik

1 Bretts Yard Digby Road Sherborne Dorset DT9 3NL

Andrew Fort Fort Financial Planning ffp.org.uk

Jemma Dempsey Nasreen El-Mariesh Wellbeing by the Lakes wellbeingbythelakes wellbeingbythelakes.co.uk James Flynn Milborne Port Computers @MPortComputers computing-mp.co.uk Simon Ford @simonfordgardening simonfordgardening.wordpress.com

Lucy Lewis Dorset Mind @DorsetMind dorsetmind.uk Peter Littlewood Young People’s Trust for the Environment @ypte weareypte ypte.org.uk

Eleanor Livingstone BVSc MRCVS Friars Moor Vets @FriarsMoorVets friarsmoorvets.co.uk Chris Loder MP @chrisloder chrisloder.co.uk Alan Lyons Bath & West @BathandWest bathandwest.com Nigel Masters Opera in Oborne @operainoborne operainoborne.org Sasha Matkevitch The Green Restaurant @greensherborne greenrestaurant.co.uk Mark Milbank Sherborne Scribblers Mark Newton-Clarke MA VetMB PhD MRCVS Newton Clarke Veterinary Partnership @swanhousevet newtonclarkevet.com Simon Partridge SPFit @spfitsherborne spfit-sherborne.co.uk Julie Plumley Future Roots @FutureRootsNet futureroots.net Clarissa Ready @ClarissaReady @fashionkitcompany Phil Sales Charlton Horethorne CE School charltonhorethorne.somerset.sch.uk

Steve Shield Sherborne Town Council sherborne-tc.gov.uk Val Stones @valstones bakerval.com Emma Tabor & Paul Newman @paulnewmanart paulnewmanartist.com Catherine Trotman Elliscombe House @elliscombe elliscombehouse.com

82 8

Art & Culture

AUGUST 2021 74 Gardening

130 Finance

24 Events

82 Kim Creswell

132 Tech

32 Community

90 Food & Drink

136 In Conversation

38 Family

100 Animal Care

140 Short Story

52 Science & Nature

106 Body & Mind

142 Literature

64 On Foot

120 Home

144 Crossword

68 History

128 Legal

146 Pause for Thought

72 Antiques sherbornetimes.co.uk | 5

27 - 29 AUGUST 2021 BRITISH CIDER CHAMPIONSHIPS

WEST COUNTRY FOOD & DRINK ROAMING PERFORMERS LIVE MUSIC SAVER TICKET - £15 PER ADULT 2 CHILDREN ADMITTED FREE WITH EACH ADVANCE ADULT TICKET WWW.BATHANDWEST.COM/TICKETS

Art & Culture

ARTIST AT WORK

No. 33: Clarissa Ready, Knitted viscose/rayon fringe wrap, £145

C

reativity was all around me growing up, from doing up houses and all that involved, to painting, print, dress-making and knitting and it is the strength of the female line in my family, the ‘threads’ of the generations, passing down these skills that had a profound effect on my life.

My grandmother could knit a cable and lace jumper over a couple of days and I remember she used to almost ‘flick’ the yarn as her needles worked quickly.

I have enjoyed sharing yarn and fabric hunting trips with my mother as we excitedly headed to Bradford to explore the Yorkshire mills.

I love learning and remember reading that the women of Shetland could make a Fair Isle jumper in a day whilst carrying peat and children on their backs - a challenge indeed and near impossible today! I will never be able to achieve close to this in my lifetime, but all these experiences have amalgamated into my love of art and textiles, passed down through their love.

This knitted wrap is inspired by 1930s fabric and fringing but with a contemporary ‘Flamenco look’, modelled by Ana Albu and photographed

by Miki Cullingford, both Art & Design BTEC graduates from Yeovil College, where I teach and head the A Level creative programme. It is part of a collection of knit, stitch and drawings bringing together key memories and new directions and as part of a collective exhibition at Yeovil Art Space during Somerset Open Studios in September. A warm welcome for all who can visit and share textiles and knit stories! @thefashionkitcompany

____________________________________________________________ Saturday 18th September - Sunday 3rd October Somerset Open Studios 2021 One of the country’s largest Open Studios events, showcasing the work of Somerset

Art Works Members in a range of private and pop-up workspaces across the county. somersetartworks.org.uk

@somerset_art_works @SAW_Somerset

somersetartworks.page

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8 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Image: Miki Cullingford sherbornetimes.co.uk | 9

Art & Culture

ON FILM

Andy Hastie, Yeovil Cinematheque

A

lthough I am on the Cinematheque committee bringing quality world cinema to our area, one of my passions is British cinema, especially from post-war into the 1960s. This was a time of much social change in the country, with the founding of the NHS in 1948, and people desperate to leave behind the austerity of the war years, looking to the future with hope. The Attlee government commissioned a national Festival of Britain in 1951, mainly sited on bombdamaged land on the Thames South Bank by Waterloo Bridge. Various pavilions housed displays celebrating British scientific progress, town planning possibilities, modern design in the arts, home and architecture. The Festival Hall and National Film Theatre were built.

The Festival was constructed on a shoe-string budget, overseen by a presentation panel, including such heavyweights as the architect Hugh Casson and furniture designer Gordon Russell. The British Film Institute was asked to contribute, sponsoring documentaries which were integral to explaining the Festival’s ethos, while nationwide local authorities staged film festivals and cinema chains programmed British films.

However, at the end of 1951 a new Conservative government was elected, and one of the first things Winston Churchill ordered was the bull-dozing of the site and the toppling of the aluminium ‘Skylon’, a 90 metre high cigar-shaped structure, which had been the Festival’s iconic symbol, to be sold as scrap.

Some features still remained for a few years after, and I remember as a child walking out onto cantilevered viewing platforms over the Thames, and an elevated tree walk amongst the canopies of the plane trees in Battersea Park.

British film in the early 1950s now reverted back to 10 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

We are the Lambeth Boys (1959)

the usual war propaganda, often starring John Mills, or dramas with middle-class ‘chaps’ like Jack Hawkins, and it was in this climate that the director Lindsay Anderson with friends Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and others formed the ‘Free Cinema’ movement, in order to get their films shown. They felt that British films in the 1950s were completely cut off from the reality of everyday contemporary life in Britain, with a patronising representation of the working class. Six programmes were commissioned between 1956-59, at the National Film Theatre to show their work.

Momma Don’t Allow (1956) documents a Saturday night at a jazz club in North London, featuring the Chris Barber band. It captures the relaxed, confident ‘teddy-boys’ and their girlfriends, in joyous extended dancing sequences which light up the screen. When we showed this short film at Cinematheque a few years back the audience burst into spontaneous applause as it ended, which is rare in cinema but very welcome! I think they were remembering their own misspent youth.

Perhaps we should show it again. We are the Lambeth Boys (1959) filmed around a youth club in Kennington, South London follows the teenagers at work and play, culminating with their cricket team going off for a match with a ‘toff ’s’ team in the London suburbs. No money to hire a coach, they all pile into the back of an opentopped lorry to get there. Both these short films are well worth watching and are available to see on YouTube.

We have had to put back opening up Cinematheque again until September, but more details will follow next month. cinematheque.org.uk swan-theatre.co.uk

AUG 14–15 / SEPT 11–12 WORKSHOPS / YOGA FOOD / DRINK / MUSIC HOLE & CORNER SHOP HOLEANDCORNER.COM USE SHERBORNE10 TO RECEIVE 10% OFF ALL WORKSHOPS @HOLEANDCORNER @THEGUILDWILTSHIRE THE GUILD, KING STREET, WILTON, WILTSHIRE, SP2 0RS DESIGN MR SMITH AND MEGAN GALLACHER

Art & Culture

CONFESSIONS OF A THEATRE ADDICT Rosie Cunningham

Carrie Hope Fletcher as Cinderella. Image: Tristram Kenton 12 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

T

he Holburne Museum in Bath is an absolute gem. It is walking distance from the centre of Bath over Pulteney bridge and has a delightful garden cafe opening onto a beautiful garden which borders Sydney Gardens where you can stroll along the canal walk. Currently there is a unique exhibition on of 23 Canaletto paintings of Venice, lent for the first time in more than 70 years by Woburn Abbey from their private collection.

Grouped together, they give a stunning insight into Canaletto’s skill.

These paintings were commissioned by the 4th Duke of Bedford who was in Venice on his ‘Grand Tour’ in 1731. Painted over nine years, these are the largest set of paintings that Canaletto ever produced. On until 5th September, I recommend a visit to Bath.

If you felt that a visit to Bath was too much, there is a really beautiful and well thought out online exhibition by The Holburne Museum of Thomas Lawrence entitled Coming of Age which can be accessed via YouTube. Lawrence spent his early years living in Bath and developing his skill. Worth a watch.

I recently visited the Banksy exhibition being held at Seven Dials, Covent Garden. Billed as ‘the world’s largest collection of privately-owned Banksy art’ it didn’t disappoint, set out underground in a warren of old paved cellars the atmosphere was appropriate to this non-conformist art form. There were some surprises and many pictures which I had not seen before.

The murmur of appreciative students and other adventurers surrounded us, and we emerged in a feistier, more challenging frame of mind. On until 21st November.

Close by is Lumas, a shop that sources new artists’ work from art fairs and prides itself on representing both emerging and established artists. The whole premise is to sell exciting art at an accessible price. They have 250 artists on their books and over 3,000 limited edition, signed pieces of art. This is modern art with huge visual impact and appeal –‘The liberation of art’.

Looking ahead, the Donmar Warehouse has a production of William Shakespeare’s Henry V with Kit Harington, of Game of Thrones fame, in the title role. On from 11th February 2022, the ticket’s will no doubt sell out faster than snow melts.

I have gone for some light-hearted entertainment and booked tickets to see Rufus Hound in The Good Life, based on the classic 1970’s television series. This comedy is written by Jeremy Sams and features the well-loved characters Tom and Barbara and Margo and Jerry, eco-warriors versus Surbiton middle class. On at the Richmond Theatre from 23rd November 2021.

Don’t forget Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella at the Gillian Lynn theatre, for which he was prepared to go to jail for in order to open his show at full capacity (or was that a publicity stunt?). Far from the traditional story, this interpretation places Cinderella as the town pariah amongst the fairy tale setting of Belleville where everyone and everything is gorgeous and picturesque! I, for one, am there. On now. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 13

Art & Culture

AN ARTIST’S VIEW Laurence Belbin

I

had a slow but enjoyable trudge up to Hambledon Hill to gather information to work on, for an exhibition put on by Bournemouth Arts Club Southern Contemporaries. The title of the show is ‘View From The Ridge’ and is being held at Shaftesbury Arts Centre from 22nd July until 3rd August.

It has been some years since I was there last, walking 14 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

the ramparts. I’d forgotten how abrupt it was. As I approached the top, with a green hill in front of me and nothing else but the sky I was reminded of The Sound of Music opening shot and couldn’t get the tune out of my head! A bit further on all that changed. A herd of cows appeared on the crest and suddenly I had the iconic image of the 1964 film Zulu and instead of Julie Andrews

I had Stanley Baker in front of me! I have got to stop day dreaming. Both films have severely damaged me I’m sure!

I was there for most of the day drawing and using watercolour. The panoramic view was brilliant and I was accompanied by the sound of sky larks. I pretty much drew the full 360 degrees in sections. I plan to work in the studio from these and others I did at Shaftesbury the week before. I really had to focus, there was so much to see I wasn’t going to be a slave to the detail and try and fit in every field. As long as I got the feeling of the openness and height I’d be happy. The sun was very hot at times but patchy cloud broke up the intensity a little. Most of the work was done on an A3 pad of cartridge paper using a HB pencil.

I was concentrating on the shapes and rhythm of the landscape rather than the hill fort itself so the foreground lines were important if only to help indicate being high up. Not everything I did that day works individually but when seen altogether as a day’s study it stands up as being worthwhile doing. This is what gathering information is about, not finished work.

I could see Shaftesbury, Melbury Beacon, Alfred’s

Tower and Compton Air Field plus others which fitted in nicely with the views from Shaftesbury which include Hambledon Hill, The Quantocks and the Mendips. There are other hills that also feature but I don’t have all the names.

I recently had my car booked in for some little job at Sherborne Garage and as it was able to be done while I waited I spent the time sketching. I like to draw no matter what. I find by drawing anything you come across can keep the observation skills sharp. By sticking to subjects you know, you never really push yourself. I didn’t have time to dawdle as the activity didn’t stop. So, by working quickly with pen and only putting in the important parts I capture the scene.

Only then do I go back to finalise areas that need refining. Things like the shading in the workshop to bring out and give contrast to the cars and figures.

This little sketch is another for my ‘Places of Work’ collection. I did another of the farm yard buildings and by then the car was ready. I left them all working hard and went to my studio to do the same! laurencebelbin.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 15

Art & Culture

AUGUST

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Sunday 1st August 4pm

Wednesday 4th August 3pm

PaddleBoat Theatre - Rustle

Treehouse Theatre - The Elves & The Shoemakers

Gaggle of Geese, Buckland Newton

Nether Compton Recreation Ground

paddleboattheatre.co.uk

treehousetheatre.com

01300 345455. £6, £5 u18s, £20 family

01935 815033. £6, £5 u18s, £20 family

___________________________________________

Imagine that you’re far from home playing in the woods all on your own and all is still and calm and clear -but what’s that rustle you can hear?

Three young explorers are setting up camp in the great outdoors to tell the best campfire story ever told: where sleeping bags become monsters, torches illuminate the forest’s darkest secrets and unlikely friendships are made.

Join us for an interactive family adventure jam-packed with puppets, songs and outdoor surprises. Suitable 3+

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Set in a world without music, where humans have forgotten what dancing is for, the race is on to secretly save the shoemaker's shop from going out of business and trying to find a way to help humans remember music and the joy of dancing - all without being discovered!

With themes of kindness and neighbourliness which feel so relevant this year, the elves will need everyone’s help in this immersive and interactive show. Expect live music and the energy, humour and pathos of great storytelling as we rediscover the joy of live events. This brand-new show from Dorset’s own Treehouse Theatre will keep your feet tapping for the rest of the day! Suitable 3+

SHERBORNE_TIMES.qxp_Layout 1 19/07/2021 22:06 Page 1

THE FREE WESSEX ARTS AND CULTURE GUIDE

EVOLVER MAGAZINE

Pick up your copy every two months at arts venues, galleries, art shops, cafés, libraries and tourist information centres (etc) throughout Dorset, Somerset, East Devon, West Wiltshire, Bristol and Bath Or subscribe online at: evolver.org.uk Instagram: evolvermagazine

16 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

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Sunday 15th August 2pm

Thursday 19th August 7pm

Bash Street Theatre - The Cameraman

Circus Around & About presents: A Circus Double

Yetminster Community Sports Club

Bill featuring Roll Up, Roll Up (Simple Cypher)

bashstreet.co.uk

Halstock Village Hall Field

From sometime in the future, a jaded detective looks back on his early career as a young crime-fighter in the ‘Roaring 20s’ - the days of fake news, a world pandemic and global warming.

Set around a seedy French cafe, this playful homage to the film-noir genre features voice-over narration and live musical accompaniment, including guitar, piano and accordion. There is topical intrigue, mistaken identities and silent comedy as the storyline follows the fortunes of an inept cameraman who inadvertently becomes involved in an international robbery.

Based in Cornwall, Bash Street Theatre has built an international reputation for performing fastmoving, silent comedy theatre shows with live musical accompaniment. In 2021 the company will celebrate its 30th birthday with the tour of a brand new and exciting comedy caper in cinematic style!

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01935 873546. £10, £5 u18s, £25 family

and Pirate Taxi (Pirates of the Carabina)

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01935 891744. £10, £5 u18s, £25 family

A double bill of extraordinary family-friendly circus shows.

Prepare to be amazed by Roll Up, Roll Up as Simple Cypher perform explosive tricks with effortless agility. This skilled duo combines freestyle hip hop and acrobatics with juggling in an innovative and original way in this playful production.

Pirates of the Carabina are award-winning circus artists, acrobats and musicians. Their brand-new show Pirate Taxi tells their own tale of running away to the circus, with humour, original music and an ingenious set. Suitable 5+ All events are touring Dorset with Artsreach, the counties touring arts charity.Please bring a chair/rug and dress for all weather. Full information, including Covid guidance available online and when booking. artsreach.co.uk

BRUTON ART SOCIETY 68th Annual Exhibition

Affordable Art from Regional Artists Some of the best amateurs and professionals in Somerset, Wilts, Dorset & beyond

21 - 28 Aug 2021 Kings Bruton Memorial Hall, Bruton BA10 0ED

11 - 5 daily Free entry

Exhibition

www.brutonartsociety.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 17

Art & Culture

OBORNE RIVALS IMPERIAL COURTS OF EUROPE Nigel Masters, Opera in Oborne

O

pera started out in the music rooms of the Imperial Palaces of Europe, with intimate gatherings of perhaps thirty or forty courtiers enjoying new pieces by geniuses such as Mozart. So, what is good enough for the Imperial Courts of Europe is good enough for Oborne!

Opera in Oborne has thrived for ten years by bringing fine musicians to the intimate acoustic of St Cuthbert’s church. In 2021, relaunching after our enforced closure last year, we even get the new piece by Mozart!

Not one to be idle, our music director, Stephen Anthony Brown, has used lockdown to weave together the fragments of three unfinished Mozart operas to create The Goose of Cairo – a one-act comic gem.

Stephen writes ‘Among the extraordinary stage works that Mozart left us when he passed away in 1791 are three peculiar and rather brilliant unfinished operas. One can only speculate the reasons for Mozart ceasing work on these pieces. They are Zaide (1780), L’Oca del Cairo, and Lo Sposo Deluso (both abandoned in 1783). It seems from correspondence that Mozart was not pleased with the plot of L’Oca del Cairo, but he had already completed several arias, ensembles and the finale before he was offered the libretto of Lo Sposo Deluso. Work on Lo Sposo ceased in turn after only a handful of sketches and a wonderful overture had been completed. Mozart was not to complete another opera until he approached Da Ponte to work with him on Le Nozze di Figaro in 1786.

To make a single act piece for a small ensemble is the most enjoyable task and all the music for L’Oca del Cairo except for a small part of the finale is included in this edition.’

This will be a true world premiere for Oborne and performed before a lucky audience of just sixty people.

Opera in Oborne is that happy combination of professional singers, an enthusiastic grass roots 18 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Image: Jim Johnson

community production team and a hugely supportive local venue, The Grange Hotel. The performances are necessarily small scale, as befits a tiny rural Dorset village, but the intimate setting brings an immediacy to the singing that cannot be matched in a grand auditorium. Perhaps most importantly, it makes fine music financially accessible to local people with ticket prices kept to a bare minimum.

This year the loyalty of the local audience has been more in evidence than ever. At the time of writing, the number of seats has had to be limited to ensure social distancing, with a number of places necessarily unallocated. However, wonderfully, the seats that cannot be allocated have been funded by truly generous individual members of the audience. The apparently empty seats will be filled by ‘Angels’ instead.

Also, local businesses, still hard-pressed by lockdown, have nevertheless stood by us, maintaining their support for the adverts in our programmes.

With such loyal local support, not to mention a full choir of ‘Angels’, Opera in Oborne cannot be less than fit for the crowned heads of Europe – and for the rest of us! operainoborne.org

___________________________________________ Friday 6th and Saturday 7th August 8pm Opera in Oborne St Cuthbert’s Church, Oborne

Opera in Oborne, in conjunction with Intermezzo, will

produce the Mozart double bill over two nights. There is also an outdoor concert of light music on the Sunday 8th August at 3pm. See website for full details. Tickets at £40pp for the

operas and £20pp for the concert from info@operainoborne.org

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Supporting Opera in Oborne...

Pre-opera suppers

Friday 6th and Saturday 7th August, 5.30pm

Pre-concert luncheon

Sunday 8th August, 12.00pm

All £27 for three courses

Call 01935 813463 to book www.thegrange.co.uk

Art & Culture

A FESTIVAL IN MINIATURE Samantha Henderson, Sherborne Abbey Festival

Ruth Rogers

F

or over twenty years the Sherborne Abbey Festival has brought wonderful music to Sherborne. We have welcomed internationally renowned performers to Dorset in addition to providing opportunities for many young local musicians to perform in inspirational venues and to take part in workshops with professional performers. The cancellation of both the 2020 and 2021 festivals due to the Covid outbreak and associated lockdowns was a great sadness, as was the Abbey being hit by the all too familiar sound of silence in the ‘live’ musical world.

Despite these cancellations and disappointments, the Festival has continued financially to support the Abbey choristers throughout the lockdowns and, when chorister rehearsals moved online in April 2020, the Festival purchased a laptop for one chorister who would have been otherwise unable to participate in the ‘Zoom rehearsals’ three times a week.

20 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

We are now thrilled to be able to present our first ‘mini’ Festival from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th September this year. There will be concerts spread over three days including afternoon matinees and full-length evening concerts covering music from the Renaissance period of Queen Elizabeth I to contemporary composers such as John Ashton Thomas and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

The Festival will open at 3pm on Friday 24th September, in the Gransden Hall at Sherborne Girls, with a programme of French music for piano and cello performed by local husband and wife duo Ana Manero and Arturo Serna. Ana made her orchestral debut at the age of 13, and at age 17 performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Op 26, with the renowned Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela. She is currently Head of Keyboard at Sherborne Girls. Arturo is well known locally as the

conductor of four south-west orchestras and as a teacher in many of the schools.

Those who know their choral repertoire, and who enjoy jazz, will be in for an absolute treat on Friday 24th September, at 7.30pm in Sherborne Abbey, when the rich tones of saxophonist Mark Lockheart (Loose Tubes, Polar Bear) combine with the sonorous beauty of the Abbey organ played by Roger Sayer (organist of the Temple Church and of Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar).

An extraordinary and unique exploration of the works of English choral composers including Stanford, Tallis, Purcell and John Ashton Thomas, ideally suits the Abbey’s wonderful acoustics and of course the Abbey Organ which was overhauled with festival funding just before the first lockdown.

At 3pm on Saturday 25th September we welcome back classical guitarist Felix Stickland to the Tindall Recital Hall in the Sherborne Music School. As a professional guitarist Felix has played in many of the bands of well known London musicals, but today he will be performing an extensive programme of music for classical guitar by British composers including Dowland, Walton and Britten.

Returning to the Gransden Hall at Sherborne Girls on Saturday at 7.30pm, a performance led by locally born flautist Rosie Bowker, with her ensemble Pocket Sinfonia, involves a programme of Shakespeareinspired works by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Prokofiev, using both modern and period instruments in clever reinterpretations of orchestral masterpieces for small chamber ensemble.

On the last day, Sunday 26th September at 3pm, soprano duo Fair Oriana present ‘The Trials and Triumphs of Oriana’— their intimate yet theatrical programme of Renaissance music with a contemporary twist. Accompanied by period instruments, they explore the public and private faces of Queen Elizabeth I, and feature two commissions that set her own words to music.

The artist for the mini-Festival’s final concert, at 7.30pm in Sherborne School’s Big School Room, needs little introduction. Ruth Rogers, the Festival’s Artistic Adviser, leads the Iuventus Ensemble in two chamber music works by Schubert and Mendelssohn.

Leader of the London Mozart Players and guest leader with the Hallé, Scottish Chamber, BBC Philharmonic, City of London Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras, Ruth Rogers has been described as ‘one of

the most gifted young violinists in Britain’ (Musical Opinion) and, when reaching the finals of the BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of the Year in 2004, was chosen personally by Lorin Maazel to perform with the tenor Andrea Bocelli.

The mini Festival is grateful for permission to perform in the Abbey and in Cheap Street Church, and in the venues at Sherborne School and Sherborne Girls. Their continued support of the Abbey Festival is testament to its ethos to encourage music locally.

The Festival is entirely run by volunteers with 70% of the events in the annual May Festival being free to enter, thus trying to encourage as wide a participation as possible.

The Abbey Festival is also grateful to the many ‘Patrons’. These Friends of the Abbey Festival have supported its development from the start. As a Patron you benefit from advanced bookings and ticket discounts, and as a Gold Patron you are invited to a Festival supper evening and interval drinks. Please visit the website sherborneabbeyfestival.org/Patrons for details of how to support us.

___________________________________________ Friday 24th September Ana Manero and Arturo Serna (piano and cello) 3pm Gransden Hall, Sherborne Girls Salvator Mundi

Mark Lockheart (saxophone) and Roger Sayer (organ) 7.30pm Sherborne Abbey

___________________________________________ Saturday 25th Felix Stickland (guitar) 3pm Tindall Recital Hall, Sherborne School Pocket Sinfonia

7.30pm Gransden Hall, Sherborne Girls

___________________________________________ Sunday 26th Fair Oriana Angela Hicks and Penelope Appleyard (soprano), Sam Brown (lute), Harry Buckoke (viola da gamba) 3pm Cheap Street Church

Iuventus Ensemble - Led by Ruth Rogers Well known to local concert-goers and leader of the London Mozart Players

7.30pm Big School Room, Sherborne School

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sherborneabbeyfestival.org ticketsource.co.uk/sherborneabbeyfestival sherbornetimes.co.uk | 21

Mini

FESTIVAL

Mini

Friday 24th September

3.00pm Ana Manero (Piano) & Arturo Serna (‘cello).

Gransden Hall, Sherborne Girls – £10 7.30pm Salvator Mundi: Mark Lockheart (saxophones) & Roger Sayer (organ).

Sherborne Abbey – £12

Saturday 25th September 3.00pm Felix Stickland (guitar). Tindall Recital Hall, Sherborne School – £8 7.30pm Pocket Sinfonia, led by Rosie Bowker (flute) with violin, ‘cellos & piano. Gransden Hall, Sherborne Girls – £10

Sunday 26th September 3.00pm Fair Oriana present The Trials & Triumphs of Oriana. Cheap Street Church – £10 7.30pm The Iuventus Ensemble, led by Ruth Rogers (violin). Big School Room, Sherborne School – £15

More information and tickets available from: sherborneabbeyfestival.org and ticketsource.co.uk/ sherborneabbeyfestival

General booking opens 3rd August

WELLBEING

BY THE LAKES FESTIVAL 8-12TH SEPTEMBER 2021 10AM-6PM DAILY | DORSET

DAY TICKETS £12.50* | WWW.WELLBEINGBYTHELAKES.CO.UK *Excludes bookable activities. Please see website for more information. Please note no children under 14 (including babies) or dogs are permitted on site

Wellbeing by the Lakes - Sculpture by the Lakes, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 8QU

art ne rs rp Ou

Yoga . Fitness . Pilates . Breathwork . Qoya . Sound Healing Expert Talks . Guided Meditations . Delicious Food . Art Gallery Award-Winning Gardens . Marketplace . Massage & Healing Therapies

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Set at the inspirational Sculpture by the Lakes, Wellbeing by the Lakes is 5 day festival dedicated to wellbeing, exploring what it means to be mindful and live well in today’s world.

BOOK NOW

Events

THE SWEET TASTE OF VICTORY Alan Lyons, Head of Shows, Bath & West

I

t has been widely reported that the British public has developed a love of ‘homegrown’ and British produce as a result of the lockdowns experienced in the past year. Two quintessentially British products which have benefitted from this are cider and honey.

Indeed, it has been estimated that over 1.1m new shoppers bought cider last year when they were unable to go to the pub.

As people stayed at home during 2020 and their cars remained firmly parked on driveways, air pollution plummeted. This was a huge benefit to the native bee population, which thrived in the cleaner air. Much daily exercise in the hot spring and summer was taken in the countryside, where walkers saw beehives and apple orchards, making them more aware of where their food and drink came from. This was also good news for the thousands of farm shops up and down the country, which saw huge increases in sales as interest in ‘farm to fork’ and the carbon footprint of products grew.

The quality of these products can vary, which is why competitions to find the best honeys and ciders have been going for hundreds of years.

Apiculture; the art of beekeeping, has been practised for thousands of years across the world and the Egyptian pyramids have proven that if honey is packed in beeswax by the bees it will last for at least 3000 years.

By comparing honeys and products of the bee throughout the centuries standards are improved or 24 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

maintained. In 1888 competition standards were laid down and honey shows were added to different sections until 1901, when the competition in apiculture was given its own section.

The Royal Bath & West Show Bees and Honey Section covers the South West of England and the level of competition is just one step below the National Honey Show.

Up to 400 entries are typically made to cover various types of Honey; ‘Runny’ (which is clear and pourable), ‘Set’ (firmer and cloudy), ‘Comb’ (still contained within its original hexagonal-shaped beeswax cells, and has received no processing or filtering), ‘Sections’ (where small pieces of comb have been drawn and filled with honey and placed into a container), ‘Chunk Honey’ (a piece of comb in a jar filled with liquid honey), and other products like beeswax in several different forms like one ounce and eight ounce blocks, candles rolled, moulded, and dipped, and wax flowers that look almost real. In a normal year there are cake and sweet classes, and mead in its different forms becoming ever more popular again.

Qualified international judges take pride in their task of selecting the best in each section, looking for cleanliness of jar and contents, and the aroma and clarity of honey. Results are eagerly awaited by the competitors in each class as the points for getting a placement card are accumulated to give the best in each

Images: Shannon D'Arcy

group, with the Best in Show taking the Blue Ribbon which gives a free entry to the National Honey Show.

It’s not just honey: agricultural shows have been in the business of organising competitions to identify the very best ciders in their areas for over 150 years. This hasn’t just been for the fun of it – although there is a lot of fun to be had in judging ciders. The competitions were introduced originally to improve the standard of cider being produced on farms across the West of England, a standard which had fallen to a very low ebb by the middle of the nineteenth century, after the imposition of excise duty damaged the urban market for quality cider and farmers focused on making cheap, cheerful but often distinctly rough cider for themselves and their workers.

The Royal Bath & West Cider Championships now regularly attract well over 500 entries from across the country. Teams of judges swirl, sniff, slurp and spit their way through dozens of entries in each of the classes, with the best of the best being short-listed for the Championship judge off.

What are the judges looking for? Bright, cleantasting, fruity ciders and perries, in which you can almost taste the orchards where the fruit was grown.

Some of the dry ciders and perries can be sharp, but never vinegary; the sweeter ones unctuous, but never sacchariny. There is no requirement as to the type of apples used – the tradition in the East of England is

to use cooking varieties. But the chances are that the Supreme Champion will have been made from a mixture of bittersweet and bittersharp apples, because nothing is more fundamental to a good cider than good apples.

For the winners, there is no greater seal of approval than a prize card from the British Cider Championships. Family cider-makers like Harry’s Cider, from Long Sutton in South Somerset, who won in 2018, have used the accolade to give their businesses a huge boost. And regular judges at the Championships will tell you that the competition is succeeding in its continuing mission to improve the quality of proper ciders and perries, right across the board.

Cheers! bathandwest.com

___________________________________________ Friday 27th - Sunday 29th August Bath & West Country Festival 2021 The Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 6QN

Three days of action-packed events for all the family and a

haven for all enthusiasts of rural life. Activities, demonstrations and entertainment; including falconry, country skills and dog training, plus fast-paced excitement in the Main Ring and a

much-enhanced food hall experience. Tickets are available at bathandwest.com/tickets

___________________________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 25

Events

TIME WELL SPENT

Nasreen El-Mariesh, Organiser, Wellbeing by the Lakes

T

he experience-rich Wellbeing by the Lakes Festival returns next month with a carefully curated programme of expert talks and panels, guided meditations, fitness and movement classes, art demonstrations and workshops, sound baths and healing therapies.

While the full festival line-up has yet to be announced, it will include a mix of local and national wellness educators and advocates, from meditation and yoga teachers to life coaches and best-selling authors, 26 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

illuminating practices to help festival-goers live more mindfully, be healthier, and feel happier.

Building on the success of our inaugural WBBTL in 2019, this year’s event has been extended over five days, with even more practitioners and an even bigger marketplace offering practical tools and teachings across every avenue of what it means to live well.

This festival offers people an opportunity to step away from their busy lives and enter a world of calm and reflection. One where they can discover refreshing

Image: BNPS

new insights and take away tools and techniques that allow them to be more mindful and live well in our fast-paced and demanding world.

This will be a welcoming and relaxed event where people are invited to try new practices and be inspired by new ideas. The aim is to create an enriching and even transformative experience in this beautiful, natural setting.

The ticket price has also been lowered to £12.50 – the standard entry to Sculpture by the Lakes – to make Wellbeing by the Lakes even more accessible.

All classes in the Move & Flow and Strong Body tents (including yoga, breath-work, Qoya, Pilates, HIIT & mixed ability fitness, along with sound baths and healing therapies such as massage and reflexology) will be bookable in advance and paid for separately – this allows festival-goers to create their own bespoke programme of sessions and experiences to enjoy.

And that is alongside everything included in the daily ticket price – free expert talks and author sessions, guided meditations, a curated marketplace, and the café and art gallery, as well as the freedom to explore the tranquillity of Sculpture by the Lakes’ 26-acre surroundings and breath-taking sculptures.

New for this year, the festival will be partnering with Happiful Magazine and Yellow Kite publishers, who together will be curating the programming of free talks on the Riverside Stage each afternoon.

Their speakers will include Rachel Bamborough, founder of SUP4, who will talk about the happiness ‘getting on board’ can bring. Happiful writer Kat Nicholls will be chairing a panel on self-worth and sharing actionable advice, and RED’s Hannah Beecham will share how a walk with her mum turned into a nationwide movement that brings positivity to thousands of people every year, while Clinical Hypnotherapist and Psychotherapist Dominique Shipstone will offer insights on how to embrace your true self and stop hiding who you really are.

Yellow Kite Books meanwhile will bring some of their amazing authors to the Riverside Stage – wellbeing and mental health advocates such as Josh Roberts, author of Anxious Man, Poppy Jamie, author of Happy Not Perfect, and Jillian Lavender, author of Why Meditate?, among others.

Wellbeing by the Lakes promises, as before, to be an incredibly calming event, absent from stress and the tensions of modern life, where you can connect with your mind, body, and breath and find your way to more peace, joy, and fulfilment. ___________________________________________ Wednesday 8th Sunday 12th September 10am-6pm daily Wellbeing by the Lakes Sculpture by the Lakes, Pallington, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 8QU. Tickets are available now for £12.50 - the same cost

as standard entry to the park. Unfortunately children under

14 or dogs cannot be permitted due to deep and fast-flowing water at the site. wellbeingbythelakes.co.uk

___________________________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 27

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Events

MARKET KNOWLEDGE Rob Kellaway, Glenholme Herbs

Welcome to The Sherborne Market!

What brings you here?

The Sherborne Market has such a nice atmosphere – we look forward to it each month. Jules does a great job of organising it, so it’s always a pleasure to trade. Being local we enjoy seeing lots of familiar faces as well.

Where have you travelled from?

Not far! We have a herb nursery in Sandford Orcas, just outside of Sherborne.

Tell us about what you’re selling.

Herbs are our speciality – we grow a huge range of culinary and medicinal species. Over the years we have also expanded into pelargoniums, salvias, wild flowers and sempervivums.

Where and when did it all begin?

Our family has been growing plants in Sandford Orcas since 1955, changing from cut flowers to herbs in 2005.

The business consists of Alan and Alison Redman, their 30 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

daughter Maxine and myself, son-in-law Rob. What do you enjoy most about selling at markets?

We love interacting with our customers and helping them to choose and succeed with their plants. This business came about from our passion for plants, and there’s nothing better than having someone come and show us a photo, or describe how their garden is thriving.

If you get the chance, which fellow stallholders here at Sherborne would you like to visit?

It’s a great market, with so many interesting stalls it’s hard to choose. We often have Viper Gin next to us, they’re lovely people with great gin!

Where can people find you on market day?

Our stall is always next to the Post Office on Cheap Street. Please do come and say hello! glenholmeherbs.co.uk

Flying the flag for local

Hand picked & selected artisan market featuring local producers, suppliers, amazing food, arts and crafts.

2021 dates

August 15th September 19th October 17th November 21st

Community

FROGS, FRUIT AND FRIDGES Steve Shield, Town Clerk, Sherborne Town Council

I

am pleased to report the new water features which form part of the wider enhancement project in Pageant Gardens have now been completed for everyone to enjoy. The existing pond areas have been transformed into a tranquil haven for the benefit of the local community in so many ways. This space now consists of four new water features which include stacked slate spheres, a spillway bowl and basin and a main waterfall with secret pond to support wildlife and underground rainwater storage reservoir.

At the centre of the water garden is a circular walkway with a curved hardwood bench. Oak seating cubes will also be placed nearby to some of the water features. Resin-bound gravel pathways lead off in various directions, passing through planted flower beds and an oak root stumpery; all within proximity of the water areas.

Natural Waterscapes, who are based in Sherborne, have delivered a fantastic project for the community and it is hoped that visitors to the gardens will see the transformation as a positive move forward, following such difficult times recently.

The Town Council is delighted to have received confirmation that 15 cherry trees will be donated to the Council as part of the Sakura Cherry Tree Project who are overseeing the planting of thousands of cherry trees across the UK. Sakura Cherry Tree Project in the UK marks 150 years of Japan-UK friendship and the continued cooperation between our two nations. It was launched in the joint communique issued by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the then Prime Minister Theresa May when the two met in Japan in Autumn 2017.

Because cherry blossom (sakura) is the national flower 32 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

of Japan, over six thousand cherry trees will be planted throughout the UK in the coming years.

These cherry trees will bloom in time and the legacy of the warm friendship between our two nations and the stories behind this project will be remembered every spring for many years to come.

The trees will be planted in a number of places in the town, including both Pageant Gardens and Paddock Garden. It is also hoped that young people will assist with the planting scheme, as they will ultimately be the beneficiaries of the blossom in years to come and when the trees reach full maturity.

The Town Council has been working on the introduction of two community fridges, one in each of the East and West wards of the town. The community fridge idea was originally introduced by Hubbub which coordinates the world’s largest Community Fridge Network with over 150 community fridges running in the UK. It is a space where everyone can share surplus food, including donations from local food businesses, producers, households and gardens. The fridges differ from food banks in that they help to reduce food waste, offer fresh food and give the opportunity to possibly try something different.

The fridges themselves will be located, subject to any planning conditions, at St Paul’s Church and the West End Community Hall. The Council hope that once the fridges are in place, community volunteers will be forthcoming to assist with day-to-day running of this community resource. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Cllr Jane Carling on 07814 511294 or email jane.carling@sherborne-tc.gov.uk sherborne-tc.gov.uk

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

Community

THE GROVE SURGERY GARDEN PROJECT Jules Bradburn, The Sherborne Market

A

nd so it all began, on the first Sunday in July chirped on by a cheery robin, dodging showers and taming the wilderness that had overtaken the once loved gardens at the Grove Medical Centre.

Fourteen volunteers armed with gardening tools and masses of enthusiasm led by Vicky Morland started the transformation. The vision is a three stage project transforming the former gardens and land at the rear of the Grove Surgery to a tranquil garden space for use by staff and patient groups at the surgery.

The transformation is being funded by The Sherborne Market, the monthly Sunday market is a not-for-profit organisation returning surplus funds back to the Sherborne Community for projects that will benefit the local community. We are thrilled to be in a position to finance the Grove Surgery Garden Project, it is the first community project benefitting from our funding. Gardens and tranquil spaces are so beneficial to so many people and we are pleased to play a part in 34 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

this valuable community project.

Alex Kimber, Practice Manager at the Grove highlighted the space at a recent team meeting and asked Vicky Morland, one of the team of social prescribers at the Sherborne Area Primary Care Network to form a team and see if the garden could be recreated and extended. Just a few social media posts later and a team of gardening volunteers had been formed.

‘The vision is a peaceful space for bees, wildlife and humans. For patients to be able to relax and most importantly the nurses to enjoy a beautiful garden on their short lunch breaks, to be able to take a breath and listen to nature,’ says Ali Harrington, Nurses’ Clerk at the Grove.

The first stage is to clear the brambles from the land at the rear of the surgery. There is a patio space and some planted bedding areas but they are overrun with brambles and ivy. There is a walled shady area with a plum tree which will make a fabulous seating area.

Once these areas are cleared then we will be able to see what we have to work with and be able to make new planting plans.

The second stage to set new accessible paths and paved areas so everyone can enjoy access and to have sufficient outdoor furniture and space for all who want to enjoy the garden areas. We need to decide on a perennial planting scheme and decide where new trees can be planted. We are hoping to plant a garden that will attract bees, insects and nature to the gardens.

The final stage will be the wild flower meadow which can be seen from the GP’s rooms. ‘We would also love to add a water feature, as water is tranquil and soothing but will also benefit nature in the garden,’ adds Ali Harrington.

The garden will need maintenance, but the team are hoping to make it a minimal maintenance garden.

The huge roof at the surgery will help fill rainfall water butts and the team are hoping to run piping for the

self-watering irrigation system which will hopefully include a mass of hanging baskets for the whole building next spring.

Gardener Patsy Jupp is helping to clear the garden and has volunteered her time as she feels it’s a really great way of thanking all the hard working surgery staff for all they have done for the community during the pandemic.

Dr Christine Foster was the original inspiration for the garden space, during her time at the practice she managed the hanging baskets and set out the planting around the patio. ‘We are keen to continue her vision and recreate a fabulous garden space,’ says Vicky Morland.

The Grove Surgery are looking for volunteers, water butts, good compost for soil improving, well-rotted manure, irrigation piping and a volunteer tree surgeon to help remove some stubborn tree roots. If you can help with the project in any way please contact Vicky Morland on vicky.morland@dorsetgp.nhs.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 35

Community

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

O

ne of the most important parts of our history in Sherborne, of which we should be very proud, is that Alan Turing, the genius behind the enigma-solving computer during the Second World War, was educated here.

It is significant in so many ways. Last month, a bust of Alan Turing was unveiled at Sherborne School to mark what would have been his 109th birthday and we were also fortunate to have a display of the new £50 note which features Alan too. In being depicted on our bank notes, he joins the ranks of Churchill, Austen, Turner, Shakespeare, and other Britons instrumental in our common history.

Alan Turing was one of those people who pushed the boundaries, he was unconventional, he challenged theories and wrote his own. His many qualities were ultimately those that led him to crack the enigma code and enabled us to succeed in thwarting the enemy in World War II. Historians estimate that his work shortened the war by years, saving millions of lives in the process.

Less well known and arguably irrelevant in the light of his incredible achievements was his sexuality. As a homosexual Turing was prosecuted because, in those days, his choices were deemed a criminal offence. To avoid prison, he accepted the punishment of chemical castration with hormone therapy but the trauma led him to take his own life shortly afterwards. In my mind, it is a matter of national embarrassment that we could treat one of our war heroes in this way, but, as is so often the case, we as a nation come to right these injustices.

In 2013, Her Majesty the Queen gave a posthumous pardon to Alan. Only since then has his name become much more prominent, particularly after the 2014 film ‘The Imitation Game’ through which many people learned of Turing’s story.

The unveiling of Turning’s memorial also had relevance because June was ‘Pride Month’, the time during the year when, in my mind, we recognise all the things that we have in common – which unify us 36 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

as a country – whilst at the same time, celebrating the many things that differentiate us and make us individual. Because regardless of to whom we are attracted or whom we love, we are part of one equal nation where everyone’s life matters.

Recognising these differences and respecting them has been an important part of reconciling wrongs and fixing injustices over time, such as those done to Alan Turing and thousands of other LBGT+ people in this country.

We must remember that there was, and is, real injustice in the world – racism leading to slavery, homophobia leading to punishment, misogyny leading to fewer rights, and many other wrongs that human beings have enacted on each other. We have come such a long way in righting these wrongs but, as we have got closer and closer to an equal society, the battles have narrowed and become smaller yet in

Image: Justin Glynn, courtesy of Sherborne School

many ways they are more vicious. Identity politics is the culmination of this.

We must be careful of this current considerable wave of identity politics. It is a dangerous thing and something for which I have disdain. It is the politics that focuses on difference rather than what we have in common. Identity politics is about exclusion, not inclusion. It is the politics of discrimination, busily trying to pitch one group against another. It is the politics of differentiating race, sex, sexuality, religion.

It is the politics of diverging values and isolation. It does not result in harmony, or celebration of inclusion, or a more equal society. Instead, it threatens to define people based on immutable characteristics, creating an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality when in reality there is far more that unites us than divides us. It is a downward spiral and one we need to get out of – urgently – for it is an albatross around our necks generating too much

friction, often by the desire of people to be ‘offended’ – and increasingly, being offended on behalf of others.

My partner and I were very proud to be part of the event to mark Alan Turing’s life at Sherborne School on 26th June. It was a powerful statement as to how the country has evolved. A statement of how we have recognised our failings, that we have fixed or are fixing the wrongs that need to be reconciled, that we continue to learn from our history, but more importantly, that we know what inclusion really means for the future.

Ours is a wonderful country, and while not perfect, beneath it all we are lucky to live on this great island together. That doesn’t mean we should stop trying – we have a long way to go. Nor should we let a few people bent on dividing us stop us from celebrating all that is great and different about the United Kingdom. chrisloder.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 37

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 38 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Our Pupils, seizing the opportunity www.sherborneprep.org

Follow our story

t HE tOy b ArN ’s

MAIZE MAZE OP E N dAI ly uN t Il 3 sEPt EMb E r Tickets & info: toy-barn.co.uk ( 01935 815040 Blackmarsh Farm, Sherborne DT9 4Jx

The

Toy Barn

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sherbornetimes.co.uk | 39

UNEARTHED Oscar Filtness, aged 11 Sherborne Prep

M

oving into Year 7 in September, Oscar Filtness has always had an affinity with the water. He was a keen swimmer with a demanding training schedule and a love for pirates, so sailing seemed a suitable sport to try! Rowing was in the family rather than sailing, however Oscar pursued his interest at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Centre attending their Sea Monkeys holiday club.

Progressing quickly and spending most of his weekends sailing Oscar’s parents invested in a Topper which allowed him to take the sport more seriously and aged 9 he qualified for the 4:2 National Championships. Sailing in temperatures as chilly as minus 3 degrees in the winter is clearly not for the faint-hearted and Oscar was duly rewarded for his commitment by selection for the 4:2 and 5:3 regional squad aged 10.

Oscar now trains in various locations across the South West and was placed 1st in the 4:2 fleet in the winter sailing competition last year. He was due to compete in the World Championships in Ireland this summer but unfortunately the event was cancelled due to COVID. Oscar is currently training for various regional competitions in Toppers and is hoping to qualify for the 2022 World Championships in Lake Garda. Next stop the LA 2028 Olympics! Or who knows? Maybe Paris 2024! sherborneprep.org

KATHARINE DAVIES PHOTOGRAPHY

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

40 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Children’s Book Review

by Grace Robinson, aged 11, Leweston Prep

Once Upon a Crime - A Murder Most Unladylike Collection,

by Robin Stevens (Penguin Random House Children’s) £6.99 Sherborne Times Reader Offer Price of £5.99 from Winstone’s Books

O

nce Upon a Crime is Robin Stevens’ latest book in the Murder Most Unladylike series.

In the book, there are six gripping mysteries mainly solved by two teenage girls called Daisy and Hazel but sometimes by their friends, Alexander and George, and the last case is solved

by Hazel’s ten-year-old sister, May. Hazel is a shy, Chinese girl who came to England to go to an English boarding school and that is where Hazel met her best friend Daisy and together, they form the Detective Society.

Daisy is a clever, popular girl who always seems to

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

know things that other people don’t.

Daisy and Hazel meet Alexander in the third book, First Class Murder.

It turned out that Alexander shared Daisy and Hazel’s interest in solving mysteries and he has his own detective society with a boy called George and soon they all become friends. Daisy and Hazel meet George in the fifth book, Mistletoe and Murder.

I give this exciting book 4 out 5 stars and recommend it to 7-13 year-olds who like books about adventure or crime.

Family

I

t was only right that the dog should dominate proceedings, she often has through her near 15 years of being with us on this planet. Here I was on the most important day of my life, save getting married and the birth of my children, explaining to the surgeons and nurses in the room why my husband wasn’t with me. ‘The dog’s incontinent, it’s her medication so she can’t be on her own for too long and it’s too hot to leave her in the multi-storey carpark, so…’ and at this point I jab furiously at my phone to get the husband up on speed dial. ‘You’re on speaker,’ I shout as if to someone in a distant call centre.

42 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

I’d been waiting for this day, seemingly forever. The only thing between me and the results of my PET scan, to reveal if the cancer had gone, was a computer screen and my scrubbed up surgeon. In my fluster to get in and sit down I’d failed to notice there were 5 medical professionals in the room, ‘Oh, this is not good,’ I told myself, ‘Why are there so many of them, it must be bad news.’ And as I was beginning to indulge in this negative self-talk the consultant dragged me back to the real world, ‘I expect you want to know the results of your scan?’ If ever there was a rhetorical question it was this one and suddenly, unable to talk, I nervously

MiMaLeFi/Shutterstock

nodded my head, squeaking out a breathless yes.

‘You’ll be pleased to know there is no sign of any active cancer…’ He carried on talking but the words stopped making sense, tears were streaming down my cheeks and I was shouting at my husband, ‘Did you hear that, did you hear what he just said?’ And I so wanted him to be there, I so wanted to hug him after everything we’d been through over the past 8 months; from the diagnosis to the surgeries, the treatment and now the recovery. I became aware of a tissue being pushed under my nose by Jo, the lovely Jo my cancer nurse, who’s been a constant

source of knowledge and support since this nightmare rollercoaster ride began. In the absence of my husband I had a massive urge to hug them all, but I remembered an episode of Grey’s Anatomy where all the doctors and nurses talked about how they hated being touched by their patients, and anyway, Covid etiquette probably frowns on any such interaction, even when it is a cancer patient being given good news. So, instead I adopted a very conservative but firm handshake, which is silly as I’ll be seeing them again in 6 weeks for yet another check up.

Back in the hot multi-storey my face becomes wet again as I sit next to the husband and weep happy tears, the dog wondering what all the fuss is about and why she’s been dragged from her bed to sit in a car that’s not going anywhere. The journey home is punctuated with phone calls to friends and family and updates on the WhatsApp group. And then I just sit quietly looking out the window, taking in the trees and the sky.

Once home, a bottle of champagne is immediately put in the fridge, the husband hadn’t wanted to put it in earlier for fear of tempting fate. That evening, once the children had been happily despatched, that bottle was joyously opened and the bubbles flowed, my first glass of fizz for six months. But the wretched cancer still had the last laugh. You see radiotherapy for head and neck cancer patients not only robs you of your saliva but also of your taste buds. When they do slowly return, it is as if you are a five month old baby, starting out on solids and grimacing when given new foods to try and something like champagne is just too harsh and acidic for those fledgling taste buds. Oh, the unfairness of it!

No matter how much I try, it just tastes awful. Fuming, I sit on the sofa arms firmly folded like a truculent teenager and sip at a canned diet drink instead.

A few days later I look at my diary, it’s surprisingly empty now. Bereft of daily hospital appointments I am now free to get on with living my life again, the concept of going back to work seems novel and even exciting. Time to dust off my networking glad rags and press the flesh or bump the fists or whatever it is that people do now. Writing has helped get me get through the last 8 months – I now want it to become a bigger part of my future. Suppose I better start dot.comming myself and get some business cards printed. Look out world, here I come… jemmadempsey@hotmail.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 43

Family

A DIFFERENT PATH Julie Plumley, Founder, Future Roots

G

rowing up on a Dorset farm I had first-hand experience of the very unique environment farming provides. The 25 years I spent working as a social worker convinced me that if you could provide a safe, positive learning environment for young people, particularly those who are experiencing high levels of adversity, then you could really make a 44 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Image: Alex Turner

difference to someone’s life.

Thirteen years ago, I resolved to give young people most at risk the chance to have something that I myself had been lucky enough to experience while growing up: life on a farm. My husband and I bought Rylands Farm, 30 acres of farmland in the beautiful hamlet of Holnest, just outside Sherborne. It’s here that Future Roots was

created and it isn’t too fanciful to say we aim to become the young people’s sat nav, going on their journey at their pace.

Obviously there are times where we need to help them re-route to avoid a car crash or where they might get stuck in the mud! We’re proud to mention that to date no young person has been excluded or prevented from attending the farm once they are a participant.

When youngsters describe their journey to us it’s because they feel safe and can achieve something that’s valued.

This is so important for young people to be able to learn.

Some young people attend Future Roots for three days a week, up to a maximum of 15 hours a week.

For the first six weeks there is an assessment by the team which concentrates on the pupil’s strengths.

Using the organisation’s specially developed Resilience Model, the team will work to create a feeling of safety and belonging for the child while providing them with a unique set of life opportunities learned from working on the farm. These services, together with the opportunity to study Functional Skills, Levels 1 and 11 in Maths and English and take a City & Guilds in Land-based Operations, means youngsters leave Future Roots ready for work or more education.

In conjunction with local schools the organisation also runs 13 week Short Break courses designed to complement their education as well as to demonstrate the opportunities farming can offer.

Alternative provision is very much needed right now to compliment mainstream schools. We are lucky in this area that Dorset has some very forward-thinking childfocussed schools who believe in the work we do and have seen the benefit of this work over the past 13 years.

I am particularly passionate about promoting the work we do at Future Roots right now because unregistered schools and alternative provision are sometimes being put in a negative bracket together.

What is not being highlighted is the importance that different opportunities make for some young people to succeed. This alternative learning environment is especially relevant for those going through traumatic experiences and those currently being identified as having failed. Alternative provision has made a massive difference to many young people throughout COVID. Those young people lucky enough to access it through their social worker or school have done so much better than young people who have been isolated at home.

I firmly believe that we have to give credit to the services who have seen the benefit of an organisation

like Future Roots and worked really hard to find the provision that suits the young people’s needs; somewhere that doesn’t marginalise them further through labels and unnecessary formal interventions ...no child is at Future Roots because they’re bad or mad. They are here because they have untapped potential and need a different learning environment.

A prime example of a lad who has turned his life around is Jordan (pictured) who featured on BBC’s Countryfile last month together with Joe, who you can see on the programme shearing sheep at our farm. bbc.co.uk/iplayer Local lad Jordan went from being a young person struggling with mainstream school, making negative decisions, and feeling he was not good enough to get a job, to a 19 year old who can hold his head high and be proud of the man he has become.

Attending Future Roots from the age of 13, Jordan worked really hard to complete functional skills Maths and English with our tutor Debbie, as well as working with mentors Sonya and Darren to do the practical Level 1 Land-based Operations and with volunteer Mike and farm coordinator Chris to learn skills and put his strengths into practice.

He completed his MO1 tractor test at Kingston Maurward and his apprenticeship in partnership with Future Roots and Kingston Maurward. Thanks to work experience at other farms arranged through us Jordan secured a full time job on a dairy farm where his boss already thinks a lot of him. He’s not only a hard working reliable employee; he has become a thoughtful and responsible individual.

There are always reasons for behaviours (not excuses) and there is always a solution. Interestingly three quarters of the young people who come to the farm are boys in their early teens referred by their school or local authority. I can’t help but think society has something of a ‘downer’ on boys currently. Yet it is very important to make young men feel valued.

COVID restrictions have meant that even primary school kids feel fearful and scared of hugging, but at Future Roots they can hug the animals and even our 14 year olds love to do this.

I think farming is the greatest untapped education, health and social care service. It enables young people to become work-ready. It gets them into life. If anyone wants to know more or would be willing to make a donation, however small, please contact me via our website. futureroots.net sherbornetimes.co.uk | 45

Family

WHY CHOOSING A SMALL SCHOOL MAKES SENSE Phil Sales, Head, Charlton Horethorne CE Primary School

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hen your child is only 4 years old, you will have to make one of the most important decisions of your life. Which school do I choose? Many children will come from the gentle world of home or a small pre-school and some will then go on to attend a school with over 300 children. Don’t forget, however, that there are other options out there with many small, rural village schools offering something a little bit different. Small schools offer personalised, individual care and support whilst still achieving excellent academic results. Small schools can offer tailored learning to suit children with different needs in a caring, nurturing environment. Relationships and empathy are at the heart of all they do.

All About Connections

In a small school, children quickly connect with each other and their adults. Everyone supports everyone else and children rapidly become part of a close-knit school family. Pupils engage with other children who have similar interests and maturity but may be in different classes. These connections branch out to parents and the local community, forming the backbone of school life, which supports our children in so many ways.

In small schools, no child slips through the cracks because they are known as individuals. These key relationships are developed in so many ways to ensure pupils make progress socially and academically. This tight community can help to support children’s mental health and wellbeing, in addition to building their resilience and perseverance.

Children in small schools quickly make friends and become a part of the family. As you would expect, the older children support the little ones and help them to 46 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

make the best start in school.

Supporting Learning Development

Small schools generally have smaller class sizes, giving a low student-to-teacher ratio. Many classes will have both a teacher and teaching assistant, meaning children receive challenging, high-quality teaching in an environment where they feel safe and supported.

Children are guided and encouraged in every lesson, which helps them to shine!

In small schools, parental contact is easy, and it is another vital cog in supporting learning development.

Image: Holly George

Parents feel a sense of belonging if they can help in their child’s learning journey and this also helps to bridge the gap between home and school.

Inspiring Children Through a Child-Led Curriculum

All children have interests and talents, and these reveal themselves at different times. All schools have the potential to nurture a child’s gifts. However, in a small school an inspiring curriculum can be beautifully tailored to a child’s needs, interests and learning styles.

With small classes, there is greater flexibility to ensure that the curriculum enthuses and excites children,

whilst nurturing and developing any interests and talents they may already have.

Ask yourself: Are you looking for a safe, supportive and nurturing environment where your child can flourish? Do you want your child to learn in a family atmosphere, receiving individual attention on a daily basis, while building relationships with children and adults that could last a lifetime? If so, then a small school could be the choice for you! charltonhorethorne.somerset.sch.uk sast.org.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 47

Family

Image: Katharine Davies

PUTTING THE ‘PREPARE’ BACK INTO PREPARATORY

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Natalie Bone, Head, Sherborne Prep School

he Bill Gates prediction that 65% of today’s students will have jobs that do not exist yet is an interesting one. And what a lifesyphoning year we have endured which has proved the unfathomable really can swiftly become a reality.

Never before has education been so sharply under scrutiny with most of the world drawn into pondering the dilemmas that educators face today. On the plus side, however, learning seems to have crystallised into a sanctuary and refuge and I cannot recall a time when school has been so desired and valued.

Turning to teaching later in life perhaps allowed me a more reflective approach to what we are doing 48 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

in education and why. I recall an epiphany moment listening to Sir Ken Robinson’s Changing Education Paradigms TES talk. My own classroom practice led me to ponder the purpose of education, the restrictions of the current model and the crucial elements it could not afford to be without. Of course, the challenge then was how to do justice to those children in my classes whose learning was my responsibility. This continues to be my main driving force today as Head.

There is no doubt that schools face much competition to keep the transfer of knowledge vibrant and engaging but the role of the teacher has changed enormously. Gone are the days when the teacher was

simply the source of information – Google is at our fingertips delivering this at breakneck speed. Instead, the teacher must be the catalyst for engagement and the coach for the development of learning and life skills.

These are the only useful certainties we can equip our children with for their future. The best education today ignites and sparks a hunger for discovery, develops a child’s ability to select and apply relevant information, hones problem solving skills and extrapolates the wonderful benefits that collaboration offers. This is the real art of teaching and the core purpose of education: we must ensure the next generation secures a passion for the art of learning as well as the ability to discover, develop and thus evolve.

Creativity plays a central role in what a school should be delivering. This goes further than merely subjects offered and embraces the many different ways that children learn and think and feel. It is the kind of creativity which can receive statements like, ‘Miss, I think I have found a different way to solve quadratic equations.’ It can involve approaching learning in a thematic style to make things relevant and applicable to the world around us and holds out the possibility of creative innovation for all. An example of this might be learning about the ‘Rain Forest’. With all subjects delivering this topic – Geography, History, Music, Maths, English, Design Technology, Food and Nutrition, Religious Education, Science, Languages – every subject can be applied and the creativity is inspiring. This has been a vibrant and innovative way to secure the children’s attention and is an approach to learning that inspires and captivates.

Teachers often find it most challenging to inspire those pupils who have been disengaged or uninterested in their learning. Those who are weaker, have learning needs or are simply unmotivated can do well when equipped with the right scaffolding and support. Way harder are those who had never had their desire for learning ignited; never found that spark of curiosity which propels achievement. Years ago, we forced children to learn through the intimidation of physical penalty and that method of motivation certainly produced many casualties. Thankfully, we have moved beyond such Dickensian methods. Children today are savvy, ambitious, are seeking authenticity, thrive upon connection and are faced with a vast array of options which compete for their attention. We must help them to taste the fulfilling satisfaction of learning and also the positive connection that overflows in the

relationship between teacher and pupil.

Sherborne Prep appealed to me partly because it is a school with tremendous potential to prepare children for the uncertain but exciting future that they will face.

My vision is to ensure preparation for life is the beating heart of this outstanding preparatory school. Childhood years are powerful foundational stages of a child’s learning and emotional development and we have a wonderful opportunity to help them experience life and learning in all its fullness. Sherborne Prep has a long established and well-deserved reputation for nurture and care along with a superb body of staff capable of the connection, stimulation and inspiration that children need and deserve. The merger with Sherborne School provides exciting opportunities to expand even further the breadth of each child’s experience whether through academic enrichment, sport, co-curricular activities or innovation and collaboration with an inspiring body of staff.

Whilst academic success and development are undeniably important, education today must also be about the development of character and values.

The Sherborne Prep Dragon Values are a perfect springboard to enabling children to become capable, solutions-focussed, authentic, courageous and intuitive people who will be prepared to embrace their future – whatever that may be.

After the events we have all experienced over recent months I believe the world has never been so able and willing to examine what is important and scrutinise whether what we do is fit for purpose. Sherborne Prep is also ready to do the same. The commitment to our young pupils and their families is burning bright and is the expression of educators who are passionate to make a difference in the lives of others. We at Sherborne Prep are primed and set to make them ready for their future adventures. sherborneprep.org Natalie Bone starts at Sherborne Prep School as Head, in September 2021. Natalie was previous Head of Junior School at Sidcot School. Previously a Houseparent and teacher of Mathematics at Millfield School and Head of Mathematics and a House Parent at Millfield Preparatory School, Natalie has a degree in Economics from the University of Reading and before entering teaching was a professional dressage competitor and trainer as well as having a successful career in finance. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 49

Family

PRIDE IN SHERBORNE Rachel Hassall, Archivist, Sherborne School

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n June 2021 the Pride flag flew above the Courts at Sherborne School in honour of Alan Turing’s birthday and of Pride month. The Pride flag is a symbol of inclusivity and demonstrates the School’s commitment to creating an environment of respect and understanding regardless of sexuality.

Sherborne School is very proud to include Alan Turing amongst its most distinguished alumni. Today, Alan Turing is recognised as not only an icon for the LGBT+ community, but also for his crucial work during the Second World War at Bletchley Park and for his enormous contribution to the development of computer science and artificial intelligence.

Alan’s nephew, Sir Dermot Turing, acknowledges that it was the quality of the teaching that Alan received at Sherborne School which laid the foundation of Alan’s interests in mathematical logic, computer science, and developmental biology.

50 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Sherborne School proudly honours Alan Turing’s achievements in a number of ways. Annually, since 1956, the School has awarded the prestigious Turing Prize for Science. The prize was founded in Alan’s memory by his mother who also donated to the School the internationally-important Turing Archive.

Those who cross the School site from Abbey Road to Acreman Street will pass the Alan Turing Laboratories. Opened in 1966 it has the distinction of being the first building anywhere to be named in Alan’s honour. The naming of this building, which is home to the School’s biology department, recognises Alan’s ground-breaking work on morphogenesis when he used a computer to simulate the development of leaves and petals, animal spots and stripes.

Outside Westcott House in Horsecastles, where Alan Turing boarded when a pupil at Sherborne School, is a blue plaque which was unveiled in 2016 by

Image: Andy Carver

Sir Dermot Turing to commemorate Alan’s connection with the house. Sir Dermot Turing returned to Sherborne on 26th June 2021 to unveil a bronze bust of Alan by acclaimed sculptor David Williams-Ellis. The bust, which was generously commissioned by Kathryn Ballisat, a former Sherborne resident who has now moved back to London stands proudly at the heart of Sherborne School where it is overlooked by the library where Alan studied. Also on display at the School is a limited-edition print of the artwork for the Turing £50 banknote issued on 23rd June 2021, the 109th anniversary of his birth.

Alan Turing was a proud Shirburnian. When he left Sherborne School in 1931 he joined the Old Shirburnian Society for alumni and remained a member until his death in 1954. He also kept all the prize books and medals he won at Sherborne, including the King’s Medal for Mathematics and the Morcom Prize for

Science, which his mother later donated to the School.

In later life, Alan subscribed to an appeal to raise funds to build a memorial at Sherborne School to commemorate the 242 Old Shirburnians who died in the Second World War. He also returned to Sherborne on numerous occasions to visit his former teachers and to attend house suppers, making his last visit on 9th March 1953 to give a talk about ‘The Electronic Brain’.

When Alan Turing left Sherborne School in 1931 his housemaster wrote to him saying ‘thank you to you for your help & loyalty, as well as for the enjoyment you gave by being here. I will guarantee that Turing will be a household word until the present generation has disappeared.’

Sherborne School takes that promise seriously and continues to proudly promote Alan Turing’s name and achievements for current and future generations. sherborne.org sherbornetimes.co.uk | 51

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 52 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

D I S C O V E R | E AT | S H O P | S TAY | C E L E B R AT E

Welcome to Symondsbury Estate, set in the beautiful Dorset countryside just a stone’s throw from the Jurassic Coast. Join us for lunch. Browse our shops.

Visit the gallery. Explore our fabulous walks and bike trails. Relax and unwind in our holiday accommodation. Celebrate your wedding day...

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Inside Out Dorset, Friday 24th - Sunday 26th September 2021 +44 (0)1308 424116 symondsburyestate.co.uk Symondsbury Estate, Bridport, Dorset DT6 6HG

Science & Nature

GARDEN TIGER MOTH & CATERPILLAR Alex Hennessy, Marketing and Communications Officer, Dorset Wildlife Trust

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aterpillars often inspire a flash of excitement as they are spotted creeping across a pathway or nestling among vegetation. Moth caterpillars are often much more colourful than the adult moths they grow into, but not the garden tiger – this moth is striking in all stages of life.

The striking caterpillars are large, black and covered in long, dense, black and ginger hairs and they are commonly called ‘woolly bears’. They feed on stinging nettles, dock leaves, burdocks and many garden plants. When the time comes to pupate, they form a thin cocoon in vegetation and later emerge in their adult form.

The garden tiger is well-protected against predators, with a selection of traits that help it survive. The hairs on the caterpillar are irritating, deterring birds as well as parasitic flies and wasps. The adult’s bright colours warn predators that it is unpalatable, while adults can also rub their wings together to create a rasping noise.

The garden tiger is a large, brightly coloured moth, on the wing towards the end of the summer during July and August. This night-flying moth favours scrub-covered sand dunes, woodland edges, wet meadows, parks and gardens.

It has a chocolate-brown, furry body, brown and white patterned forewings, and bright red-orange hindwings with four or five large black spots each.

This species is common but has been in decline in many areas since the 1970s and 80s, particularly in the south-east of England. Its preferred habitats are more commonly ‘tidied’ or sprayed with weedkiller, reducing its choices for safe places to pupate, live, breed and feed.

You can help encourage moths like the garden tiger by leaving some plant debris around your garden instead of tidying it away, such as leaves and old plant stems. It’s important not to use pesticides or herbicides and growing a variety of different plants will help attract different moth species too.

Discover more ways to help wildlife at dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/actions.

Image: Amy Lewis

Garden tiger moth facts: There are several tiger moths in the UK, which could be confused for a garden tiger. Here are some tips to identify them: • The wood tiger and cream-spot tiger have yellowy-orange hindwings instead of red.

• The jersey tiger has white stripes on its black forewings.

• The scarlet tiger has white spots on its black forewings.

dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk 54 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Image: Tom Marshall

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 55

Science & Nature

FLOODS, FIRE AND FURY Tony Allen & Rob Bygrave, Sherborne Science Cafe

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rofessor Michael Lockwood is the Director of Research at the Meteorology at Reading University and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In May 2013 he gave a wide-ranging talk to the Sherborne Science Cafe on global warming and the possible causes. He talked about the history of measurements of the sun’s output and variability from tree rings to space born instrumentation. He highlighted the evidence that since reasonably accurate measurements have been available (approximately 200 years), though cyclical, the average output of the sun has not changed significantly. What has changed is the amount of greenhouse gases in the upper atmosphere, particularly CO2. This again has a cyclical component, but the average has increased dramatically in the last 40 years and very recently has reached 400ppm.

Other gases have also increased but to a lesser extent.

CFC’s have recently stopped increasing following the Montreal Protocol but the hole in the ozone layer has not yet started to decrease.

The reasons for the CO2 increase were discussed but apart from volcanic activity, responsible for about 10%, they are all man-made. Professor Lockwood then went on to discuss the possible consequences, partially 56 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

prompted by questions from the audience. He had no firm conclusions but a number of views from his position of being in the centre of climate research.

The main subjects commented on were: • There is no evidence the Gulf Stream will be choked off any time soon.

• Winter ice at the poles is reducing on average.

• Average sea water height is very difficult to measure but has not increased significantly to date – it will increase due to ice melt and expansion due to temperature increase, about 50% from each cause.

• El Nino affects the climate significantly but not global warming.

• He does not believe the Earth is self-healing. It could finish up like Venus, but given the political will, it is possible to reverse the generation of greenhouse gases.

It may take a global catastrophe to kick-start a recovery.

Surprisingly, there were no questions from the known sceptics and the Professor received warm applause from the audience. TA Since Professor Lockwood’s talk the global levels of the three main greenhouse gasses, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide

MDay Photography/shutterstock

Illustration: NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory

have risen as shown by the data collected by the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) based in Washington D.C. Carbon dioxide levels are now higher than at anytime in the past 3.6 million years.

Levels of the two most important anthropogenic greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, continued their unrelenting rise in 2020 despite the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic response, NOAA announced today.

The graphs depict the mean global atmospheric burden of carbon dioxide as analysed from measurements collected by NOAA’s Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network.

The atmospheric burden of CO₂ is now

comparable to where it was during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period around 3.6 million years ago, when concentrations of carbon dioxide ranged from about 380 to 450 parts per million.

During that time sea level was about 78 feet higher than today, the average temperature was 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in pre-industrial times, and studies indicate large forests occupied areas of the Arctic that are now tundra.

The Global Monitoring Laboratory makes highly accurate measurements of the three major greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, from four baseline observatories in Hawaii, Alaska, American Samoa, and the South Pole, and from samples collected by volunteers at more than 50 other cooperative sampling sites around the world. These measurements are incorporated into the Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network and are a vital reference widely used by international climate researchers.

At the time of writing floods deluge Japan, fires rage in Canada and California, and fury hits the Caribbean as hurricanes tear in earlier than usual. RB sherbornesciencecafe.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 57

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Science & Nature

TIME TO ACT, NOT ARGUE Peter Littlewood, Director, Young People’s Trust for the Environment

‘

I

t is no good squabbling over who is responsible or who should pay. We shall only succeed in dealing with the problems through a vast international, co-operative effort.’

It’s amazing to think that these words, regarding the effects that the world’s greenhouse gas emissions were already having on the planet were spoken by Margaret Thatcher to the United Nations, back in 1989. She was a research chemist before turning to politics. Whatever you may think of her politics, she accurately predicted the situation we now find ourselves in, over thirty years later.

Recent weeks have seen record temperatures in the Pacific northwest regions of both the United States and Canada. And records weren’t just broken – they were smashed! Canada’s all-time record highest 60 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

temperature stood at 45C, set in the dustbowl days of 1937. That was until a temperature of 49.6C was recorded in the village of Lytton, British Columbia on 29th June 2021. In fact, Lytton broke temperature records for three days in a row, as the effects of the extreme heat continued to build. Lytton is on a line of latitude that is only slightly to the south of London, perhaps warning us of things to come.

So what caused the prolonged extreme heat? Two high pressure systems, one from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and the other from James Bay and Hudson Bay in Canada formed a ‘heat dome’, which acted rather like a lid and prevented heat from escaping. The heat dome brought high temperatures both day and night, coupled with largely cloudless skies. The heat extended high into the atmosphere, while the pressure systems effectively

Toa55/Shutterstock

blocked the flow of cooling air from off the Pacific.

Whilst America as a continent is used to high temperatures, the Pacific north-west is not, and people there are less adapted to extreme heat than in other parts of the US. Homes there don’t generally have air-conditioning systems, so temperatures in houses and apartments quickly climbed to over 100F. Airconditioned rooms in hotels were soon selling for well above their usual nightly rates as people desperate to escape the heat and get some sleep in a cool space booked them up.

The high temperatures killed hundreds of people and they’re estimated to have killed billions of sea creatures. The heat buckled roads, melted power lines and caused wildfires and thunderstorms.

And temperature records aren’t just being broken

in the US and Canada. Pakistan, Siberia, Estonia, Moscow and Helsinki have all recorded their highest ever temperatures in recent weeks.

As I write this and with much of California’s wildfire season yet to come, more high temperatures are on the way to the western and southwestern states of the US. Over 31 million people are in the path of a fresh heatwave, which according to the National Weather Service carries a ‘very high’ heat risk, bringing increased risk of heat-related illness.

These recent events have sounded alarm bells for climate scientists across the world. It looks like we’re going to see increasing instances of extreme heat across the world. Authors of a recent study have stated that the latest heatwaves have exceeded the worst-case scenarios of climate modelling. It now seems that the UK and other parts of the world could end up victim to similar extremes of temperature in the future.

What still remains unknown is whether the heatwave-affected areas were simply unlucky, or whether we have crossed some kind of climate threshold, where even small increases in global temperatures can lead to much more frequent instances of extreme heat. Climate scientists aren’t sure of the answers yet, but factors like the slowing of the jetstream could be making heatwaves both more likely and more potent than ever before.

Heatwaves were the deadliest weather disasters in both 2019 and 2020. The planet looks on course to suffer more devastating heat in the coming years.

Architects and city planners are already starting to incorporate more green space and cooling areas into their designs.

We’re already at about 1.2C above pre-Industrial levels for global temperatures. By 2050, we could hit 2C above, which would make the western US heatwaves a reality every 5-10 years.

So, rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions is going to have to be an even greater priority for us all.

With COP26 now just a few months away, we have to hope that the world’s leaders can agree on a clear pathway to net zero. And as Margaret Thatcher said so presciently 32 years ago, it’s not about squabbling over who is to blame for what and who needs to pay.

It’s about recognising that there’s a problem that needs fixing and taking collective action to make a difference.

The time for action is now. ypte.org.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 61

Science & Nature

HONEY HARVEST

Paula Carnell, Beekeeping Consultant, Writer and Speaker ‘From their bellies emerges a fluid of diverse colours, containing healing for the people…’ Qu’ran Verse 16, The Bee

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s the last of the bramble blossoms become fruit, beekeepers across the land open their hives and collect the season’s honey harvest.

For many, the quantity of honey harvested measures the success of the beekeeping year. ‘How many lbs or jars did you get this year?’ is a frequently asked question. For more and more, caring for bees is no longer all about the honey. The realisation that the balance is wrong and we need to do more to help bees is influencing those 62 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

who are now called to work with bees. Ten years ago, the suggestion of having a tree hive seemed absurd to many, ’How do you take the honey?’ ‘We don’t.’ was my reply to an astonished questioner.

Now I am asked more and more about how to find tree hives, where to hang them, and how to entice the bees in.

I am not an extreme Natural Beekeeper. I believe in the connection of all things, an agreement between us and the bees. I ensure that I do all I can to provide

them with safe, nutritious forage, safe homes, and freedom to do what nature intends. In return they share rewards from the hive – propolis, wax and some honey.

When I had my first colony, I was stunned to learn that bees were fed with white sugar fondant after the harvest. Even if some honey was left in the brood box, this wouldn’t sustain a strong colony through the winter months. I am still mystified that anyone thought white sugar would. Imagine feeding our kids, or ourselves on sugar fondant for 6 months of the year – would we emerge from the winter months all healthy and nourished? I think not. I believe this is one of the many contributory factors behind the sicknesses that bees are suffering.

I recently spent two days judging honeys from around the world for the London International Honey awards. 90 honeys passed my lips and were waved under my nostrils, looking for hints of perfection, or adulteration. Thankfully, honey quality has improved since I first judged 3 years ago, and so only a couple of honeys forced me to exclaim a ‘eeuw’!

Even my ‘eeuw’ is someone else’s joy or medicine.

The environment that the honey is harvested from, and how it’s harvested plays a big part in the aromas and taste. A heavily smoked hive extracting honey from aggressive bees, leaves a smokey aftertaste, which some are used to, others detest. A fine rare Arabic honey harvested on a goat farm, carries the aroma of farmyard to those of us far away from those desert bees. It instantly took me back to the remote Rustaq beekeepers in Oman, with their goats wandering freely amongst the hives, and the homes.

I have been on a quest to find the most delicious, medicinal and sustainable honeys from around the world, and my collection of single varieties is growing fast. I love running honey tastings and seeing the shock of how even a set of 4 honeys can have widely different aromas, flavours and consistency. A recent honey tasting at a local village school found that Spanish blackberry honey was by far the favourite when compared with Dorset hawthorn, Romanian sunflower, and Spanish almond. In the UK it’s not common to find single variety honeys. Partly due to the landscape, only small clumps of various plants, beekeeping practices, as well as lack of knowledge leave us with more regional blends than the exciting single varieties we could have – dandelion, clover, lime tree, hawthorn, bramble and borage. I have been on a personal mission to save the dandelion as it is by far my favourite honey.

If only more knew of this distinctive bright yellow creamy delight – I am sure we’d see more lawns and fields covered in it, if only to maximise the honey crop! I started a Honey Tasting Club in June as a way of sharing the ranges of honeys available. To ensure I would have the exact varieties I wanted, I ordered the years supply for my members in advance, an expensive gamble that I am so grateful of now. Increased problems with importing honeys has meant a shortage as the extra paperwork and processing is delaying shipments by months. Honey I ordered from Canada in December, arrived in late June! There are still many incredible honeys from around the world that we cannot import into the UK, as they are produced by an ‘unrecognised’ species of bee. There are 11 species of honey bees around the world, and we only accept honey from Apis mellifera, the Western honey bee. It is a tragedy for rural communities around the world with excellent sustainable beekeeping practices, that they are excluded from trading their harvests with a large proportion of the world. Then in addition, there are countries that aren’t on the ‘accepted’ list, meaning that even Apis mellifera honey can’t enter our borders.

I appreciate that agreements and rules need to be in place, however at the moment the rules favour the mass importation of tasteless, adulterated honey that only benefits the large organisations who can manage the bureaucracy, leaving many beekeepers exploited and in poverty. In the case of honey, local isn’t always the best. Our small islands have been polluted with toxic chemicals in industry and agriculture, our wildflower meadows and forests depleted as well as beekeeping practices outdated and causing stress to bees. I am enjoying supporting small producers who care for their bees, where the forage is clean and abundant, and my purchases put roofs on homes, send children to schools and give communities security. Manuka honey is a prime example of differing qualities within a single variety. Mauri beekeepers working in alignment with nature and the wild manuka flowers growing in their region, will have a completely different quality to the same named honey harvested from vast chemicallytreated monocultures of the same plant grown with chemical fertilisers in China. Where do you buy your honey, and do you know how it’s harvested? If a bee’s lifetime’s work is a tiny 1/12th of a teaspoon, please be sure to value that drop of liquid gold! paulacarnell.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 63

On Foot

On Foot

NIGHT WALK ON EGGARDON HILL Emma Tabor and Paul Newman Distance: 2½ miles Time: Approx 1½ hours Park: Limited parking on roadside near the summit of Eggardon Hill (Roman Road and King’s Lane).

Walk Features: An area rich in prehistoric earthworks including barrows and a nearby burial chamber as well as mediaeval strip lynchets and the dramatic banks and ditches of Eggardon Hillfort. Some steep sections are rewarded with incredible views across West Dorset and Lyme Bay towards Dartmoor and back towards the Isle of Wight in the east. There is also tranquility and an abundance of wildflowers inside the southern part of the hillfort which is owned by the National Trust.

Refreshments: The Marquis of Lorne, Nettlecombe.

64 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

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ach month we devise a walk for you to try with your family and friends (including four-legged members) pointing out a few interesting things along the way, be it flora, fauna, architecture, history, the unusual and sometimes the unfamiliar. For August, we take a night-time ramble on the slopes of Eggardon Hill under a full moon, inspired by tales of smuggling and with the chance to see glow-worms.

The walk can be enjoyed at any time but at dusk you can still appreciate the wonderful panorama across the Marshwood Vale and explore the drama and enormity of Eggardon’s defences. Needless to say, care should be taken, especially on the banks and ditches of the hillfort and, if walking late, don’t forget a torch. A detailed Ordnance Survey map is also handy to help identify the many prehistoric remains surrounding this area.

Directions

Start: SY 547944 The walk starts at the road junction nearest the triangulation point at the top of Eggardon Hill.

1 From the start, cross the Askerswell road and follow the road to Powerstock. After 200 metres, take the bridleway to your left, through a small metal gate.

Head across the field to the far right-hand corner nearest the hillfort. Pass through a small gate onto a track and turn right. After a few yards you’ll come to a five-bar gate. You can take a detour to the right here and explore the centre of the hillfort, which is divided by a boundary as one part belongs to the National Trust and the other half is privately owned. Aerial photos have revealed the shape of an octagonal structure inside the hillfort, believed to be the outline of a coppice planted by the smuggler Isaac Gulliver, and used as a marker for ships out in the channel. There are excellent views west towards the summits of Pilsdon Pen and Lewesdon Hill and you will also be able to see the ‘Bell Stone’ outcrop at the western end of Eggardon. Inside the fort is also a good spot for glow-worms, adonis blue butterflies and spotted orchids in summer.

2 Returning to the five-bar gate, head down around the outer edge of the hillfort keeping the fence to your left and the hillfort to your right. After a few minutes, the track rises slightly, then drops to bear left and meet a small gate into a field. Go through this and follow a slightly sunken footpath down the right-hand side of a field bordered by a hedge and trees. After a short while, this emerges onto a track.

Keep walking downhill and, after another short

"Inside the fort is also a good spot for glow-worms, adonis blue butterflies and spotted orchids in summer." distance, the track reaches North Eggardon Farm.

3 Turn left at the farm buildings and follow the drive which bends right and then left, away from the farm and towards a dwelling on the left. Pass in front of this, on a grassy path, to a five-bar gate.

Look out for the large sarsen stones in front and to the side of the house, which are sandstone deposits from the Ice Age. Go through the gate into a field. Bear slight right across this, which is boggy in places, following the telegraph poles to the far corner and go through a gate into a short, wooded section. The path here can be very muddy. Emerge into the corner of a field, which is boggy. Cross this and head downhill to the right to go through a gate. Keeping woods on your left and a stream on your right, the path turns left and then downhill towards a pond on the left. Go through a gate and head uphill where the path meets a driveway. Pass through another gate and turn left into a gateway for South Eggardon Farm. After a few metres the footpath leaves the driveway on the right and goes through a five-bar gate into a field.

4 The path crosses the field, less distinct at first, to then follow the contours of the hill above, beneath a line of trees and with the farm down to your left.

In 150 metres, the path turns right in front of a gate and deer fence and heads steeply uphill. Keep the fence on your left; the path then turns left where the fence meets the tree line. Go through the gate here, again following the path along the contours of the hill. The path ascends gradually, with increasingly better views across West Dorset and to Eggardon. Keep the line of trees on your left, which then turns into a small wood which you pass through. Climb more steeply as the path heads for the corner of the field near the top of the hill, to meet the road. Cross the stile, turn left onto the road and head back to where you parked your car.

If you finish your walk in time to make the pub, the road from Eggardon to Nettlecombe travels along the outer rampart of the hillfort for a spectacular drive. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 65

CHARTERHOUSE Auctioneers & Valuers

Forthcoming Auction Programme

Silver, Jewellery & Watches 5th August Wine, Port & Whisky 6th August Antiques & Interiors 6th August Automobilia & Enamel Signs 18th August Coins, Medals & Stamps 9th September Model Cars, Trains, Toys & Dolls 10th September Classic & Vintage Motorcycles 17th October

Thursday 5th August £1,000-2,000

Contact Richard Bromell for advice on single items and complete collections Valuations for Probate and Insurance

The Long Street Salerooms, Sherborne DT9 3BS 01935 812277 www.charterhouse-auction.com

Affordable interior fabrics thefabricbarn.co.uk 66 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

01935 851025

The Joinery Works, Alweston Sherborne, Dorset DT9 5HS Tel: 01963 23219 Fax: 01963 23053 Email: info@fcuffandsons.co.uk

www.fcuffandsons.co.uk

DESIGNERS AND MAKERS OF BEAUTIFUL FINE BESPOKE JOINERY SINCE 1897

History

LEGENDS OF THE SILVER WELL Cindy Chant & John Drabik

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here is something very special and reassuring about the gift of water, the giver of life, rising from the depths of Mother Earth. Just as the Cerne Abbas giant is a symbol of male fertility, so the gently flowing spring nestled at the base of the hill, is considered a symbol of feminine energy and has become a peaceful place for ritual and healing.

For centuries this sacred well has attracted a variety of pilgrims and is still used as a sanctuary for prayer, meditation, petition, or prophecy. Some visitors maintain the old traditions while others toss a coin into the mystical waters and make a wish.

The spring, known as ‘St Augustine’s Well’ or ‘Silver Well’, gives the impression of a natural outdoor chapel.

It is guarded by two solemn upright stones which may have come from the ruins of St. Catherine’s Chapel once standing high on the nearby hill. One has a clearly visible eight-spoked St. Catherine’s wheel neatly carved on it. Tradition has it that maidens placing their hand on this stone on May Day, or Midsummer Day, while partaking of the water, would be delivered a suitable husband. Others would pray to St. Catherine, donate a gift of scented petals and rotate three times, both 68 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

clockwise and then counter clockwise, and await their husband to be.

‘St Catherine, St Catherine O lend me thine aid And grant that I never May die an Old Maid A husband St Catherine A good one St Catherine But ar-a-one better than Nar-a-one, St Catherine’ St. Catherine is also considered a healer for eye complaints, so it is customary for those suffering to take some laurel leaves to the well, use them to create a cup and scoop up some water to bathe the eyes.

It is said that St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, once visited here. He was sent by Pope Gregory in 596AD to convert the Saxons to Christianity. While taking their rest and to quench the thirst of his band of missionary monks, he dug his staff into the ground crying ‘Cerno El’, and up sprang a fountain of crystal-clear water. Another legend states,

he asked some local shepherds whether they would prefer beer or water to drink. The temperate lads asked for water, and so St. Augustine struck the ground with his staff, and created an everlasting flow of water.

Maintaining their pagan beliefs, the irate local inhabitants did not take too kindly to the preaching emissaries so, after tying cow and fish tails to their garments, drove them away. In turn Augustine cursed the villagers and vowed, whosoever spoke against him would grow tails themselves.

The well became a holy shrine, and a chapel dedicated to St. Augustine was built over it, but later destroyed during the Dissolution. It is not difficult to imagine baptisms by total immersion being performed here, and one story suggests that new-born babies would benefit by dipping them into the waters, as the sun’s rays first touched them. This, more than likely, is rooted in pagan ritual.

The other name, ‘Silver Well’, originated from the story of St. Edwold (b.835), brother of the East Anglian king, Edmund, who was killed by the Danes.

He became a wandering hermit and had a vision of the spring. On his travels he asked some local shepherds for bread and water, and, in return for some silver coins, they showed him the well which he immediately recognised as being the one in his dream. He built a hermitage nearby and remained there until his death.

The abbey was founded in 987, and the Benedictine Monks utilised these stories and generated a huge income from the tourists of the Middle-Ages. An ageing parish priest, one of the abbey brethren, severely ill and on his deathbed, dreamt that St. Augustine came to him magnificently dressed in his ecclesiastical fineries. He told him to go to the well and repeat the ‘Fiftieth psalm’ three times, and each time to dip himself into the water. The priest duly obeyed and was miraculously rescued from the jaws of death and restored to good health.

Drinking the water was said to be a cure for a number of ills and very helpful for those who wish to become pregnant. A more morbid superstition is that on Easter Day, if you face away from the well and look over your shoulder, you will see in the reflection, the faces of all who will die that year.

There is no denying, the well, an outdoor chapel full of peace and tranquility, is rich in folklore. Should you perchance visit this sacred place, please respect it, say a prayer in your own way and take some of its peace with you, but we do not recommend you drink the water!

FREE HOME VISITS Specialist Matthew Denney will be in the Sherborne area on Thursday 26th August to value your objects & antiques

Consigning Now for our Autumn Sales Silver | Vertu | Jewellery | Watches | Ceramics Oriental | Pictures | Furniture | Clocks | Rugs Books | Coins | Medals | Militaria | Collectors

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lawrences.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 69

History

LOST DORSET

NO. 14 CERNE ABBAS

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David Burnett, The Dovecote Press

mongst the country pubs to have finally reopened is the Giant Inn, once the Red Lion Hotel, and the only remaining free house in a village once famous for its beers and 14 inns. The original Red Lion was destroyed by a fire in 1898 and rebuilt by Groves Brewery, hence the Victorian leaded windows.

The more recent closure of rural pubs was mirrored in the late 19th century as well.

The agricultural depression of those times halved Cerne Abbas’s population, leading to the loss of its fairs and silk mills, partly a knock-on response to being overlooked by the railway network. A cause of much concern by the leading townsfolk at the time, the railway’s absence has helped preserve Cerne Abbas as one of Dorset’s loveliest villages. The two boys are sitting on the ‘chute’, a hole in the street that once carried drinking water from St Augustine’s Well to the main streets.

Lost Dorset: The Villages and Countryside 1880-1920, by David Burnett, is a large format paperback, price £12, and is available locally from Winstone’s Books or directly from the publishers. dovecotepress.com

70 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

OBJECT OF THE MONTH

THE UTILITY WAISTCOAT Elisabeth Bletsoe, Curator, Sherborne Museum

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his 1940s waistcoat has a classic design, in a dark grey wool mix with satin twill backing, six buttons fastening the front, and four jetted pockets. It is lined with cream coloured fustian featuring a subtle grey pinstripe.

Careful examination reveals a small label sewn into the inside right, with a motif that looks like two grey cheeses: the ‘CC41’ designed by Reginald Shipp of Hargreaves label makers. The figure 209 printed on the label refers to ‘medium weight wool’.

The CC41 is one of the most iconic symbols in the history of clothing, demonstrating that the item met with the government austerity measures in place at the time. Military requirements created new demands at the start of the Second World War, which led to a sharp increase of 25% in the price of civilian clothing within the first two years. In 1941, Oliver Lyttleton, President of the Board of Trade, introduced clothes rationing which, as with petrol and food, sought to distribute limited supplies more fairly across the population and prevent wastefulness among the upper classes. Raw materials had to be conserved and manufacturers needed to become more efficient in their working practices. The Utility Clothing Scheme largely succeeded in these aims, where the government took control of imports and supplied cloth to manufacturers who were encouraged to produce a limited range and longer runs of ‘utility’ material. Style was also subject to austerity regulations, restricting how much cloth was used. The public were given added incentive to buy such clothes as they were tax-free.

Ration books were supplied to each household with originally 66 coupons for each adult (this number decreased as the war progressed). Since a woman’s winter coat might be as much as 18 coupons, a man’s

overcoat 13, while a warm dress required 11, the scheme allowed for approximately one new outfit per person a year. Our waistcoat reflects one of the many ways in which a global event like war could have an impact on everyday life in a community in Britain.

The clothes were mass-produced to specific guidelines and were affordable for the working person, durable enough to last a number of years.

Perhaps understandably there was a backlash of opinion particularly when there was a ban on trouser turn-ups and limitations put on waistcoat design; fears grew that everyone would begin to look identical. The word ‘utility’ also seemed to have negative connotations. Public information films, however, showed how different colours and prints could still provide variety and the Make Do and Mend initiative encouraged people that items could still be altered or remade into new ones. There is some hand stitching around the back vent of our waistcoat which bears testimony to this.

Material shortages were still experienced immediately after the war and clothing rationing continued until 1949, with the CC41 utility scheme lasting until 1952. One interesting consequence of the emphasis on durability is that many utility items have survived and they are now eagerly sought after by vintage enthusiasts due to their classic style, well-made quality and a physical connection to the past which adds to their desirability. sherbornemuseum.co.uk Sherborne Museum remains closed for the immediate future allowing vital repairs to be carried out. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 71

Antiques

TAKEN FOR GRANTED Richard Bromell ASFAV, Charterhouse Auctioneers

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here are many things we take for granted these days, such as washing machines, mobile phones, TVs and cars. However, it was not all that long ago when all these items were not widely available to most people.

As a young lad staying at my aunt’s farm in deepest Devon, I was fascinated by a mangle in the laundry room. This was a small room in a group of outbuildings.

Built in the late Victorian period, it was still in regular use in the early 1970s and housed a mangle for wringing water out of washed clothes and bed linen. As a child, I can still hear my aunt warning me not to put my fingers in the mangle rollers. Thankfully today, mangles are redundant due to developments in washing machines.

When mobile phones first started to appear they were a rare sight. This was not only to being incredibly expensive – a year’s contract could cost £2,000, but also because there was little coverage to begin with. Mind you, driving around the West Country visiting clients today there are still plenty of places with no signal! But nowadays, most of the population over the age of 6 or 7, I guess, has a mobile phone.

Recently many of you would have seen we auctioned the contents of a private TV and radio museum near Dorchester. My kids laughed at quite a few of the old TVs and found it difficult to comprehend them broadcasting programmes in black and white over just three channels. A far cry from today with Freeview, Sky and other network providers having 100s of channels beaming down their programmes in glorious technicolour on large screens.

As motor cars first started to appear on the road they were a luxury afforded by only the super-rich. There was no doubt many cynical people who thought they would never catch on and replace the horse and carriage, but how wrong were they.

Over the past few decades the technology going into vehicles has progressed at a fast rate, not only in the engines and gearboxes, but with all the ancillaries too.

72 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Take headlights for example. On my car, the headlights have automatic dipping as it recognises other road users in the dark and even people wearing high visibility jackets which reflect the light. They also ‘look’ around corners, moving left and right – great technology keeping us safe.

However, for many years, vehicle lights were pretty ineffective, pushing out just a few candles of

power. Lucas, with their King of the Road lamps, were favoured by motorists and manufacturers alike, and we have a collection of Lucas King of the Road lamps from a collector near Salisbury in our specialist auction of automobilia and enamel signs on 18th August.

As usual, they are in all shapes and sizes, but one sticks out as it is head and shoulders above the rest. By this, I mean its huge size. Made of brass, and measuring

31cm high, it is larger than the size of my head. No doubt it would have graced a large Edwardian motor car, or possibly even a steam engine.

Whether it will go back on a vehicle or be made into a lamp to go on display in a garage, a study or mancave, only time will tell. charterhouse-auction.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 73

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 74 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

A month of maintenance The garden is a busy place in August, with the children off school and barbeques fired up on a regular basis, so it’s important to find a little time to keep everything ship-shape.

Regular watering, feeding and deadheading will allow pots and borders to continue bursting with colour, as friends and family visit on those long summer days. A whole host of fruit and vegetables will also be ready for picking, so make the most of the harvest for some memorable al fresco dining.

For watering cans, feeds, tools or any other gardening supplies, you can visit us any day of the week: Monday to Saturday: 9am – 6pm Sunday: 10am – 4:30pm For the safety of both customers and staff, we will continue to encourage visitors to wear face masks inside and follow social distancing guidelines around the garden centre.

Castle Gardens, New Road, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 5NR www.thegardensgroup.co.uk

thegardensgroup

01935 814633

castle@thegardensgroup.co.uk

Co.ofLandscapers GARDEN DESIGN STUDIO

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 75

Gardening

WATER

Mike Burks, Managing Director, The Gardens Group

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t the time of writing, the news is full of the extreme temperatures in Canada and the western US. Everything is tinder dry and the potential for wildfires in that part of the world must now be very high. Some plants, especially those in a garden situation, will really struggle in such conditions and the same is true for us should we have a hot dry spell in the summer months.

Other areas of the garden will recover and very easily and this includes your lawn. The RHS have been saying that it’s important in times of sustainable living that lawns are abandoned and not watered. Water is a finite and precious resource, so it’s also important to use it wisely.

But the plants that won’t cope and need to be kept in good health will require the right amount of water. The 76 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

amount that each plant needs will depend on, amongst other things, the type of plant, the time of year, where it’s planted, the soil type and the weather conditions.

Knowing a plant’s requirements will come through experience. Sometimes I’ll be asked to water the crops in the polytunnels in the nursery at the weekend. I really enjoy doing this, but the first time I do it I’m never sure whether I’ve given too much or too little. The following day though I start to get a feel for it as the thirsty plants will obviously look like they need more water whereas those that are more sparing in their use will still look moist.

At this time of year plants in pots and hanging baskets will need watering every day, even if we’ve had rain, as most of the downpour will have been deflected

Alexey Yudenkov/Shutterstock

away from the compost in the pot by the foliage.

The retention of water can be helped with the use of a moisture retentive gel that can be added to the compost but even then, this is only a small help and won’t stop the need for a good soaking.

Established plants in the border that have been there for a number of years usually will have a root system extensive enough to find their own water.

Help for such plants is best achieved by laying on a mulch such as Bloomin’ Amazing. This will reduce the amount of evaporation from the soil surface and will also trap in moisture that is applied. The added advantage is that as the mulch breaks down it gets incorporated into the soil, improving its structure and helping further to hold onto moisture for when the

plants need it. It also acts as a slug deterrent.

When planting anything new out, use a product called Rootgrow around the plant roots. This contains a naturally occurring beneficial fungi that attaches itself to plant roots and helps the plant obtain water and nutrients. It also can protect the plant against soil borne diseases such as Honey Fungus.

New plantings really need a good soak three or four times a week until they establish. Whereas it’s easier to do this with a hosepipe, sometimes this makes everything look wet but actually the plants get very little of the water. My suggestion is to give each plant half a large watering can full, but I bet that you’ll still want to use your hosepipe so measure how long it takes to fill up half a watering can and then spend this amount of time with the hosepipe on each plant.

I love watering, but then I’m easily entertained, so for those who may get bored there are some devices that can be used to help. Soaker, seep or leaky hoses are excellent for this. You might say that yours already leaks, but the type I’m describing needs to be laid out winding through the plants in the border or veg garden and when attached to the tap the water seeps gently and evenly into the soil. This method uses far less than splashing around with a hosepipe.

Also available are mini irrigation systems. These involve a supply pipe, usually half an inch in diameter, which is laid around the garden. From this main pipe ‘spaghetti’ tubes are attached, on the end of which can be fixed drip nozzles which are placed in pots, hanging baskets or grow bags and can even be dotted through the border. At the tap end of the system a timer is positioned so that watering takes places at a specific time of the day for a specific period. Again this is an efficient way of watering.

Saving your own water is an excellent idea.

Rainwater collected from most roofs is excellent quality and better for plants than the stuff in the tap. For extra volume, water butts can be connected together and, although the pressure won’t be great, hose pipes and/or seep hoses can be connected to the tap.

The timing of when to water is often discussed and when we get to this stage of the spring and summer it’s best to water in the early morning or in the evening.

This means that less water is lost to evaporation and also any that gets onto plant leaves is less likely to scorch on a hot, bright, sunny day. thegardensgroup.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 77

Gardening

WET AND WILD

Simon Ford, Gardener and Land and Nature Adviser Lesley Andrew/Shutterstock

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ardens, cover about 2.5% of our land, ranging from a tiny patio to acres of lawns and herbaceous borders. We read about catastrophic declines in so many species of plant and animal and yet, everyone with a garden, however small, can do their bit to help reverse the decline.

I have worked as a Wildlife Adviser for the National Trust in south-west England for over 30 years and am 78 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

now working as a freelance Land and Nature Adviser as well as a gardener, specialising in wildlife. My aim is to find ways to allow nature to return to our countryside and gardens.

In this month’s article, I will look at one of the best things that can be done to encourage nature in the garden, which is to make a pond.

People often think that they do not have the space

for a pond, but in reality, even a bowl or trough will start to attract pond life. In our small town garden, right in the centre of Sherborne, we have two ponds (I will explain why later) and in the allotment on Harbour Road, I have also dug a small pond.

In the past, ponds would have been much more common in the landscape, as they were used to water stock, or formed in old quarries, but sadly, many have now been filled in, become polluted, or drained.

Organisations such as Dorset Wildlife Trust and the Farm Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), work with farmers to encourage wildlife, but gardeners can make a real difference by creating a water feature. In Sherborne, we have Fat Fish Aquatics who are based in Castle Gardens who can help with advice and supplies.

Before getting out the spade, it is worth thinking a bit about the position. If put under dense trees and shrubs, it tends to quickly fill with leaves and get little light. However, if placed in full sun all day, this can cause smaller water bodies to get quite warm and encourage algae. Therefore, semi shade is a good compromise, although don’t be put off if you do not have this.

If you have young children, you will need to consider their safety and install a fence or place a heavy mesh over the water to avoid accidents.

Some people like formal square or rectangular ponds and others, round or more natural shapes. Pond life does not really care, so choose what you feel will fit with your style. It is rare to have soil which will hold water without some form of liner, although when gardening on Blackmore Vale, the clay in some places is pretty impervious! You can buy pre-formed, moulded plastic liners or you can use heavy butyl rubber sheets or if you like building, you can lay a concrete liner; although they have a tendency to crack. Polythene can work if it is heavy duty, but tends to perish quite quickly. My very first pond was an old ‘copper’, used for boiling clothes and I sunk it in to the ground and it worked very well.

I always like to include a series of steps in a pond, so there is a deep area for wildlife to go to in the winter, when it is frozen, but also shallow areas to plant marginal species. Also, please always include some form of shallow area or ramp, in case a hedgehog or other wildlife falls in. These areas are also really attractive for birds to take a bath, as we see in our pond with a procession of sparrows, dunnocks, blackbirds and bluetits.

Once you have dug your pond, you will of course want to fill it with water. Ideally, you should avoid using

tap water as it has chlorine and in the Sherborne area will be very limey. A water butt or allowing it to fill with rainwater is great, but again, don’t worry too much as tap water left for a few days, will be fine for pond life.

The pond can be edged with stone slabs, rough stones, wood, or I prefer grass, which can be allowed to grow long. Ragged robin, purple loosestrife, meadowsweet and yellow flag iris look beautiful next to a pond.

Pond plants provide shelter and oxygen and also a place for dragonflies and newts to lay their eggs. It is important to choose carefully though, as some species are invasive or tend to take over. I prefer native species such as marsh marigold, water forget-me-not, starwort, hornwort, brooklime and water lily, although nonnative pickerel weed, and water hawthorn are also a good choice. Flag iris looks lovely but can grow and take over quickly, although it is good for a larger pond.

Some people like to install fountains and small water features, which is fine, but is not necessary for pond life.

So, now you have your pond, but what about insects and animals? Don’t be tempted to catch them from other ponds as this can bring diseases. It is amazing how quickly it will become colonised naturally and hopefully soon you will see your first water boatmen, back swimmers, and diving beetles. Once established, dragonflies and damselflies should find you and may lay eggs, which become fearsome creatures in the bottom of the pond. Frogs, toads and newts will hopefully also find your pond, particularly if there are other ponds nearby and next spring, you may have your first frog spawn and tadpoles!

If you really want to see wildlife, one thing which you should ideally not do is to add fish (goldfish, koi carp or larger carp in big ponds). This is because they are rather partial to most insects and tadpoles and also tend to stir up the sediment and make the pond murky.

This is the reason we have 2 ponds, because fish eggs were presumably attached to the plants we bought and we found our first pond had about 20 koi carp. We now have one pond with fish and no tadpoles and another with no fish, but lots of wildlife!

After all that work, take a chair and sit back and enjoy watching blue tailed damselflies courting, tadpoles wriggling, pond skaters skating and water snails munching algae. Believe me, it is very peaceful and therapeutic and you can feel smug having done your bit for wildlife! Good luck. simonfordgardening.wordpress.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 79

Now you can enjoy your garden all year long with our vast range of awnings, sun rooms, pergolas, wooden constructions and decking. Completely bespoke and fully customisable for every home or business. Our outdoor rooms can be free-standing or attached to your property. Call us on 01935 324377 or email us on info@sunroomsuk.com today for a free no-obligation quotation. If you would like to see more of our work, visit our website at www.sunroomsuk.com.

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80 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

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KIM CRESWELL Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

I

t’s a typical summer’s day: rain tips down and windscreen wipers flap as I jolt my way over obscured potholes along a tiny lane in search of medical herbalist Kim Creswell. Mercifully Kim is ready and waiting to greet me with a mug of homegrown chamomile tea. We stand in her barn, drinking our tea and wait for the rain to pass.

It doesn’t, so we venture out, heading for the consulting room and dispensary that Kim built herself, using local and recycled timber. Jars of dried herbs and foraged plants line the wall and I take in the views across the botanic garden. ‘It’s very important that people see the plants themselves when they visit,’ she explains. Kim spent five years studying herbal medicine and is a fully qualified Medical Herbalist and member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. Kim has long practiced what she preaches, using medicinal plants herself for many years. In person Kim positively glows with well-being and is a living testimony to her approach to life. >

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84 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

‘Even at the age of nine I had a shed in the garden where I would spend my time making potions out of fennel seeds and lemon balm’ she explains. Her love of the land become the inspiration for her life on the road.

‘In my teens they built the M25 through my favourite woodland where I had played as a child – Wisley woods in Surrey – and that was the motivator,’ she says of her decision to go on the road for what ended up to be over a decade. ‘During that time, I gained so much knowledge from foraging in the hedgerows that it was a no-brainer to train in medicinal herbs.’

The rain lets up long enough for us to explore Kim’s eight-acre small-holding. As we walk, Kim points out the various herbs and their benefits. There is marshmallow, the root of which is packed with polysaccharides that are good for the gut and which can also make a drawing poultice. Lime blossom, which can help hypertension and aid sleep. Marjoram, St John’s Wort and masses of broadleaf plantain prized for its healing and anti-inflammatory qualities. I have always been a bit wary personally of picking and eating wild herbs for fear of their potency or an allergic reaction.

This makes listening to Kim all the more fascinating and valuable. ‘Herbal medicine provides an opportunity

to tweak the things in your life you can make better and to alleviate existing illnesses,’ she explains.

Around 150 years ago there would have been a resident herbalist in every village. It was how we kept ourselves and loved ones well. Herbalism is a long and ancient tradition that nowadays finds a place alongside contemporary medicine. The traditional herbalist would work with what grew on the land and could be foraged locally. Now of course, the dominance of Big Pharma and its convenient synthetic reproductions of many traditional cures has diminished our connection with the land. Thankfully Kim and a growing community of qualified herbalists hold true to these ancient skills and are able to impart their encyclopedic knowledge.

In some instances, herbalism offers a rational alternative to our over-reliance on the overstretched healthcare system. Common, complex or chronic ailments are treatable with herbs and they may also hold the key to treating long-Covid. ‘As a qualified practicing herbalist, I have to register every patient, just as a regular GP would,’ explains Kim. ‘I also have access to, and can prescribe, legally regulated herbs which are not available over the counter.’

We weave our way through the herb beds, our > sherbornetimes.co.uk | 85

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sherbornetimes.co.uk | 87

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clothes damp from the long grass and Kim pauses by a walnut tree. ‘It’s 15 years old,’ she says, stroking the leaves.

‘I planted it when I first bought the plot.’ Kim has since planted a number of tree species for their therapeutic benefits. ‘There are many preparations you can make from bark,’ she explains, ‘and birch can help with urinary infections.’ While discussing the intelligence of plants and the healing effects of nature we meander down to the far end of the plot, where the withy beds lay.

Kim has been working with willow for many years.

Alongside her herbal medicine practice, she runs willow weaving workshops and creates living willow sculptures – a medium where the cut willow takes root and the original sculpture becomes an organic ever-evolving form. ‘Willow just found me,’ says Kim, ‘so did medical herbalism. I think we have lost touch with so many ancient skills and our modern lifestyles are divorced from reality. Here I try to live a natural life that is in tune with the seasons and have a feeling of interconnectedness with nature. It’s too easy to lose a sense of time and place in our current world. I suppose I am consciously choosing a way of life which is not reliant on the state and that gives me a feeling of empowerment.’

On our way back to the barn I meet Kim’s two ponies:

Fay and Valentine – who even at the ripe old age of 28 still has the shiniest of coats. ‘I’ve known Valentine since she was two,’ says Kim, ‘she used to pull my wagon when I was on the road.’ As we leave the ponies in their field and wander across her land I have the sense that Kim is at very much at one with the earth. There is a wildness and lightness of touch in her manner and methods.

Her respect for the land is reflected in her intention to be entirely sustainable and run the apothecary off-grid.

The water comes from a nearby spring and much of her heat is generated by the wood-burner, fuelled by logs collected in the winter when she lays her own hedges.

There are a few solar panels too which power a battery for the little electricity that she needs.

Soaked but satisfied, in the shelter of the barn, I clutch another warming mug of Kim’s chamomile tea as she shares her future plans to run craft and herbal workshops. I can see it all. The environment that Kim has nurtured here draws you in, inviting you to be healed. This is a place to kick off your shoes, reach for the sun and take solace in the earth. kimcreswell.co.uk goldberryherbs.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 89

elizabethwatsonillustration.com

FROM

Order our homegrown Tamworth produce from the fields outside Sherborne - Buy Local!

TABLE

The finest Tamworth quality and flavour, a taste of the past!

FIELD TO

Lavender Cafe & Shop Now Open At The Farm Every Thursday - Sunday 10 am - 4 pm

Here you can sit and enjoy our beautiful views, lavender field, garden and animals together with our homemade cakes, sausage rolls, scotch eggs and much more!

Please contact James and Charlotte | Tel 07802 443905 | info@thestorypig.co.uk The Story Pig, Lavender Keepers, Great Pitt Lane, Sandford Orcas, Sherborne DT9 4FG See more at www.thestorypig.co.uk 90 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

NOW OPEN

12pm - 11pm Wednesday – drinks and bar snacks Thursday to Sunday – lunch and dinner www.thequeensarms.com info@thequeensarms.com 01963 220 317 The Queen’s Arms | Corton Denham | DT9 4LR

Food and Drink THE CAKE WHISPERER Val Stones

CHOCOLATE, DATE AND PEANUT SQUARES

Image: Katharine Davies 92 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

I

am continuing my development of bone-friendly recipes and as I love dates, peanuts and chocolate I have used these ingredients to create a relatively healthy tray bake. Dates and peanuts are high in protein and minerals.There is no added sugar – the dates add natural sweetness and using dark chocolate helps keep the sugars to a reasonable level. This recipe includes vegan alternatives. Serves 12 Preparation time

15 minutes plus time for chocolate to set.

What you will need

A brownie pan – either 20cm square or 18cm x 28cm Microwaveable bowl Ingredients

30g unsalted butter or coconut oil plus extra for greasing 180g pitted dates 225g salted peanuts, plus extra 30g chopped to scatter on the chocolate 25g sesame seeds 50g unsweetened peanut, almond or cashew butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 40ml whole milk or almond milk 2 tablespoons date syrup 50g granola 150g dark chocolate (53% cocoa), broken up Method

1 Grease and line brownie pan, allowing sufficient to be able to lift out when set.

2 Blitz the dates, peanuts, sesame seeds, nut butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, milk and date syrup until well ground and forming clumps, stop occasionally to stir the mixture.

3 Place the mixture in a bowl, stir in the granola and combine well.

4 Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, level off and press down firmly.

5 Place the chocolate and butter in a microwavable bowl and melt on low for one minute, stir and then heat for a further minute until melted.

6 Pour the chocolate over the nut mixture and spread. Scatter the remaining peanuts over the chocolate.

7 Place the pan in the fridge for at least 30 minutes until the chocolate is set, remove from the fridge and lift out, with a sharp knife cut into 9 or 12 squares. Place in a container and keep in the fridge, will keep for 2 weeks. bakerval.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 93

Food and Drink

MOJO VERDE

T

Johnny Jones, Head Chef, The Queen’s Arms

his is a version of salsa verde, but with a bit more of a ‘kick’. It tastes fantastic with both meat and fish and is a great one to have ready to use when entertaining – spoon it over barbecued food before serving or drizzle over your dinner party dish – guests will love it.

We are serving it at The Queen’s Arms with lamb rump, broad beans and olive oil potatoes.

Ingredients 1 bunch of coriander 1/2 bunch of parsley 4 cloves of garlic 1 green pepper 1 green chilli 1 pinch of cumin 300ml extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar 2 teaspoons of salt Place all ingredients in a blender and blitz for a few minutes until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Done! thequeensarms.com

94 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Image: Tory Mcternan sherbornetimes.co.uk | 95

Food and Drink

WILD SEA BASS CURED IN TARRAGON WITH FENNEL AND PINK GRAPEFRUIT SALAD Sasha Matkevich, The Green

Image: Clint Randall

T

his is a perfect way to celebrate your fresh catch. Let’s just hope there will be plenty of large sea bass coming in this month.

Ingredient Serves 6

1500g wild sea bass (filleted, skinned and pin-boned) 1 fennel bulb 3 pink grapefruits 3 dill sprigs, chopped 100ml cold pressed olive oil 2 tbsp lemon zest 1 tbsp lime zest 100ml lemon and lime juice 250g Cornish sea salt 500g caster sugar 1 bunch fresh tarragon 400g soured cream Cornish sea salt and black pepper to taste Method

1 Put the sea bass on a tray, large enough to hold the fillets in the cure.

2 To make the cure, combine lemon zest and lime zest with lemon juice, sea salt, caster sugar and tarragon in a bowl and mix together well.

96 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

3 Pour the cure over the fish, making sure it is evenly distributed and fish is covered all over. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 4 hours.

4 Wash off the marinade with cold water and pat dry with kitchen paper. Wrap in cling film and return to the fridge for an hour.

5 Remove any tough outer layers from the fennel and slice very, very finely with a sharp knife. Quickly put fennel in iced water and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

6 Meanwhile whip the cream with salt and pepper until it’s firm and refrigerate. Peel and segment pink grapefruits, removing all membrane and pith, then cut into small pieces and place in a large bowl with the dill and olive oil. Season with sea salt to taste.

7 To serve, thinly slice the sea bass, drain the grapefruit and set aside, reserving the dressing.

Drain the fennel and give it a good shake in the colander to remove all the excess water.

8 Add the fennel to the reserved dressing and mix well.

9 Divide the sliced fish between six plates and top with the grapefruit. Spoon the soured cream in the middle of each plate and garnish with fennel.

Serve immediately. greenrestaurant.co.uk

A MONTH ON THE PIG FARM

I

James Hull, The Story Pig

’m sitting on one of our new picnic benches looking at the most amazing view. The hills ahead of me are shrouded in mist – I try to imagine what it might have been like up there on Cadbury castle, when it was a hill fort hundreds of years ago. I wonder what they would have made of our tipi springing up.

It’s still – there is early morning chatter from the local rook population, no doubt just limbering up and waiting for me to feed the pigs their breakfast so they can come and try and steal. The lavenders are to my right, covered in early morning dew – they are purple now, what we have waited patiently for, every row a different colour. As I write the mist is burning off. Lilly, our naughty boy cat, is back from a ten-day trip away…

He’s going to the vet this morning to put a stop to his wanton meanderings. Blue, our gorgeous dog that so many of you have now met, is sat with me, his nose on the bench – he too is waiting for more exciting things to happen. To my left there is a group of twenty big, growing pigs in the paddock next to the tipi – they slept outside last night. They have been next to us since the spring and are big now – big enough to knock me down when it’s feeding time! For months it was easy enough to fight my way through them with a turn of speed and a dive to the left or right, to give them the slip, then throw the feed in, a sigh of relief and onwards. Not now though, they are tuned in to my every move – they are huge, immovable objects, 20 of the biggest rugby players you will ever see. They run in front of me, one runs the opposite way, they slow me and that’s it – if I am not down by then it’s a miracle. Sometimes I take Charlotte (no I don’t send her in there!) – she walks along the fence as a decoy, giving me just enough time to run to their trough before they turn and pile in.

It’s been busy here at the farm – the shop and cafe are open every Thursday to Sunday, 10am-4pm.

Charlotte is baking continually and I am front of house – not sure how that happened! We have both learned so much already – we have learnt that most people are lovely (with a few notable exceptions!), that some people don’t read signs (what seems obvious to me is not!), that people think our garden is tidier than I do, that everyone is blown away with our view, that our huge log is a hit with our smaller visitors, that I hate

moving the picnic tables to mow underneath, but that I can’t let the grass grow long there either, that everyone loves a tipi, that every time we earn a pound we could spend two, that sunny weather is better for business (we knew that).

A few weeks ago we hosted an Open Farm Sunday event. This year, for obvious reasons, many farms did not take part. We decided to – it has become a big part of what we do here at The Story Pig. Across the country around 100 farms opened their gates to the public, to try and let people have a better understanding of farming and the countryside. At the time of the event we had been open two weeks, we had new staff, we were almost new to dealing with the public and we were new to the very likely prospect of hosting a very wet event with no way of knowing how many people would come. As the Sunday approached, the weather forecast got worse, my mood darkened, should we cancel, could we cancel, we couldn’t cancel. So we did what we could to cope with the forecast storm – we moved the cider bar and the band inside, and we prayed. When I woke on Sunday morning and checked the weather forecast, it had changed to light rain and I dared to hope that it might be ok. And guess what we hardly had a drop all day. On the stroke of ten the cars started to roll in and then they kept coming all day long. To say we had a good turn out would be an understatement – 1,000 people visited us that day and everyone seemed to have a good time, so a massive thank you to all who came and supported us.

To our friends Len and Sonia and Luke and James John who gave their day to help us and our new staff who had no idea how busy we would be. It was fantastic to see so many people here at the farm – this is what Charlotte and I dreamt of. As I frantically carved the hog roast to keep up with the never-ending queue, our amazing local singer, Theya, burst into life next to me – the barn was a throng of life. I held back the tears, for the last few years we had been building to this point and here we were.

Remember Story Pig isn’t just for Open Farm Sunday – we are open every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We hope to see you soon. Now I have to read this to Charlotte without her starting to cry! thestorypig.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 97

Food and Drink

YALUMBA David Copp

Y

alumba is an Australian aboriginal word meaning ‘all the land around’. It was the name given to a new South Australian winery built in 1852 in the Barossa Valley by Samuel Smith from Wareham in Dorset.

After consultation with his brave wife Mary, the mother of four young children, Smith emigrated to South Australia in the hope of finding a better life for them all.

He found work as a gardener near Angaston in the Barossa Valley. His employer, George Fife Angas’ was a major investor in the new colony of South Australia, and was ready to help hard working settlers such as Smith to make his land productive.

An enlightened employer, Angas granted his gardener leave of absence to prospect in the Victorian gold rush of 1852. Four months later Smith returned to Angaston with £300, the proceeds of his ‘finds’. He used the money to purchase thirty acres of land with two horses, harness and plough; to build a new family home and to plant an orchard and several hectares of vine, which he tended after completing his day’s work as a gardener.

98 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

The vines he planted were from the progeny of prephylloxera Syrah vine cuttings from the Upper Rhone Valley sent back to Australia by James Busby, a Scots botanist, who had lived in Australia and was convinced the variety would flourish in South Australian soils.

In due course Smith’s wine business was passed down to another branch of the family related to Clem Hill, the captain of the Australian cricket team. Since when, the Hill-Smith family have turned Yalumba into one of Australian most celebrated family wine businesses.

Syrah (misspelt as Siras in the written records, soon became Shiraz on Australian lips) was immediately at home in the warm dry climate of the Barossa Valley.

For a while it was considered a workhorse variety producing ‘gutsy’ fortified wines popular among the agricultural community. However, there was so little demand for it elsewhere that the South Australian Government initiated a vine pull scheme to replace it with Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, the two varieties most popular in the UK, by far Australia’s biggest export market.

Yalumba is a great story of bravery, pioneering and passion, which started in Dorset but was fully developed by the Hill Smith family in Australia. Robert Hill Smith’s strategic decision to sell off the fortified wine business and concentrate on table wines was the basis of its success. It remained successful because the family retained control and constantly sought good practice and innovative approaches to improve its range of offerings from basic day-to-day wines to its signature wines such as Octavius, an old Vine Shiraz classified by Langtons as Outstanding for its purity of fruit and balance. A recent change in UK distribution arrangements has brought Yalumba into the John E Fells stable alongside other great wine families such as Baron Ricasoli, Bouchard Pere, Guigal, Te Mata and Symington Ports. It is good to report that the enterprise of a Dorset family should have become so successful.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Yalumba Samuel’s Collection Barossa Shiraz £15 Vineyards of Sherborne Ripe plums, aromatic hints of lavender and hddigital/Shutterstock

lashings of rich, complex chocolatey notes packed full of dried currants and savoury

However, a number of Barossa growers, marshalled by winemaker Peter Lehmann, determined to save their older Shiraz vines and prove to the variety could produce very fine table wines.

They succeeded in style. Within a decade or two Barossa Shiraz earned the plaudits of the top French producers in the Northern Rhone such as Michel Chapoutier and Gerard Jaboulet It also attracted the acclaim of Robert Parker, America’s most influential wine critic.

Within two more decades Langton’s 2018 Classification of Australian Wine listed 12 Shiraz out of 22 of the very best Australian wines classed as Exceptional, meaning the most accomplished wines from exceptional fruit.

From the beginning, Yalumba determined to control the quality of its fruit by establishing its own nursery to supply all its plant material. It also supplies other wineries at home and overseas, and is at the forefront of the development of new varietals and grape vine growing programmes.

spice – this is a generously flavoured classic Barossa Shiraz, named after Yalumba’s

founder Samuel Smith. It’s made from a

variety of vines, varying in age from 10 to 35+ years, which contributes to the diversity expressed on the

palate. Try it with a lamb dish – perhaps a pie or slow cooked shanks – for a memorable dining experience.

Yalumba Samuel’s Collection Barossa Viognier £15, Vineyards of Sherborne We absolutely shout about this Viognier

– it’s always fantastic when a winery that receives a lot of attention for a particular variety, in this instance Shiraz, produces

something entirely unexpected and glorious.

Let us introduce you to Yalumba’s Viognier. It’s packed full of luscious stone fruit and is quite simply a pure expression of delightful exotic fruit. vineyardsofsherborne.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 99

elizabethwatsonillustration.com

Pet, Equine & Farm Animals

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Free registration appointment for new clients when accompanied by this advertisement 100 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

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www.newtonclarkevet.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 101

Animal Care

OUT OF HOURS

Mark Newton-Clarke MAVetMB PhD MRCVS, Newton Clarke Veterinary Surgeon

L

ike many people, I’m struggling to keep up with the pace of time over the past few months.

Glen’s reminders of the copy deadline for each edition of the Sherborne Times seem to appear with less and less time between them, even though I know this not to be true. Summer just slips through our fingers whereas winter sticks like mud.

At least some of the rhythm of normal life is returning for most of us, although for those in the caring professions, it never stopped. Strange how the daily work patterns changed at the clinics during lockdown, becoming more intensive during the day 102 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

but much quieter at night. Fear of contacting Covid at a hospital’s A&E department may partly explain the drop in human patients who presented to the NHS but it remains a mystery why this was mirrored in the veterinary sector, at least around here. This coincidence continues as both the medical and veterinary professions are seeing a rebound in out-of-hours work and emergency admissions, although I suspect for different reasons. My guess is the backlog of human cases put on hold over the past year is starting to feed through into hospital departments, a factor that also affected the veterinary profession as for many months

Juice Flair/Shutterstock

"Dedicated emergency care is available in many parts of the country, where vets and nurses work proper night shifts and have the day to sleep."

we were not allowed to perform routine procedures.

We all saw the sense in that, reducing contacts between owners and staff and saving precious oxygen supplies for NHS intensive care units. Unlike our human counterparts, we managed to catch up quite quickly as we did not have three waves of new Covid cases to deal with. The recent increase in worried owners calling for advice during the night and at weekends is probably now due to the rise in pet numbers over the past year.

It has been traditional in both human and veterinary medicine to work all day, be on-call all night and then work again through the following days. Why this was ever even allowed, let alone adopted as the norm, I really don’t know. Sleep deprivation, intensive work pressure and the exhaustion that follows just do not create the best conditions for critical decisionmaking, funnily enough. My daughter is about to start as a junior doctor in York so I will be interested to know if the NHS has done anything to help their situation (I suspect very little). In the veterinary world, dedicated emergency care is available in many parts of the country, where vets and nurses work proper night shifts and have the day to sleep. I am glad to say that we have at last made arrangements with an emergency care provider, giving a higher standard of care to those animals that need attention at night and improving our own quality of work during the day.

Many of you may already know that the Yeovil surgery on Preston Road will now open on Sunday mornings and stay open until 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Never an easy one, increasing opening hours, as staff cannot be in two places at once. Consequently, Swan House in Sherborne will not open at weekends but of course any Sherborne clients wishing to be seen will be welcomed at Preston Road.

My last piece of practice news is the arrival of another veterinary surgeon, Emily, who like Oliver spent many weeks with us as a student before qualification a year ago. Both have seen a lot of ‘action’ over the last year and with our team of experienced vets around them, we look forward to seeing how the next generation will move the profession forward. I fully expect to be astounded at what young people can achieve when motivated and supported, in this profession or any other. Let’s hope the post-pandemic world is ready for them, as I am sure they are ready for it. newtonclarkevet.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 103

Animal Care

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A VET Eleanor Livingstone BVSc MRCVS, Friars Moor Vets

W

hen tasked with writing an article on how we spend our days I realise really it is quite complex, largely because truly no two days are the same!

Most mornings I begin my days doing what we would describe as ‘fertility work’ on dairy farms. In order to produce milk a cow needs to have a calf each year so their fertility and breeding is vitally important to ensure that dairy farming is as welfare-friendly and as efficient as possible. We undertake pregnancy diagnosis (PD) of cows served, largely by artificial insemination (AI) and also by a bull. This AI allows for a wider range of genetics to be available on the farm through multiple different bulls being used, selecting for the most desirable characteristics with the ultimate aim of producing future offspring who are as healthy and productive as possible.

In doing our pregnancy checking we use ultrasound scanners, creating an image of the foetus not dissimilar to human pregnancy scans, where we check for a heart beat and to see if there are twins. Unlike human pregnancy scans it is a rather dirtier process! The image 104 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

that we see is projected to a headset, that we term ‘goggles’, comparable to a virtual reality headset you may have seen on the TV. While we do our routine visits, which we mostly conduct weekly, fortnightly or monthly depending on how many cows are in the herd, we also have an opportunity to discuss any individual animals who are unwell, discuss herd level health problems and successes and talk about changes that we can make together, always striving for the healthiest herd possible. These fertility visits are often one of the highlights of my day, revisiting my clients who I see on a regular basis, who often in turn become your friends, and in addition to talking about the cows, being able to catch up on the news from the farm etc. In that sense farm animal practice is very similar to James Herriot’s day, with strong relationships between vets and farmers. That said, rarely do I stop for breakfast/ lunch as he often did!

One of the most enjoyable bits of being a farm vet is the variety of the job with each day entailing something slightly different. We are the GP, the

Czechia/Shutterstock

paramedic, the family planning clinic, the midwife and the consultant! It is therefore quite hard to describe how the day progresses after our usual mornings routine appointments. Individual animal medicine forms part of the day, one of our team is always available for emergencies, such as calvings and lambings and TB testing must be done. Increasingly, and differently from James Herriot’s time we spend more time looking at data, assessing where a herd or flock is performing strongly and where they could improve. This in turn leads us to discuss with farmers ways in which we could implement improvements practically to benefit the herd or flock. Alongside this we spend time writing protocols and health plans to ensure that the farm is complying with all necessary health and welfare obligations.

Along with health planning and the paperwork side of things I enjoy farmer training, helping to increase their skill set and that of farm workers. The farmers that I deal with now are enormously more capable than James’ contemporaries. This is a positive spiral in improving animal health by educating farmers and their farm workers. As a practice we provide training

in lambing, the safe and responsible use of medicines, calving cows, undertaking AI, trimming feet and more. We also run discussion groups for like-minded individuals to bounce ideas off one another and to benchmark performance whilst introducing novel ideas and technologies. The preparation for this normally takes place in the afternoons whilst we have more time.

Ultimately life as a farm vet isn’t much like James Herriot’s anymore. We have far superior waterproofs deeming less requirement to strip off at every occasion!

Not only this but there are many more women now practising as farm vets, often outnumbering the men.

The technologies that we have access to are very advanced and continuously increasing. Historically being a vet would have been very ‘individual animal’ focussed. Whilst this is still important, increasing the health of the herd or flock in a proactive way has long replaced the emphasis of our work. Some things that do remain constant are the relationships, fun and the beautiful countryside we work in. friarsmoorvets.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 105

elizabethwatsonillustration.com

YogaSherborne Classes on-line, outdoors and inside (subject to guidelines) • Hatha Yoga • Relaxation and guided meditation Contact Dawn for more details 07817 624081 @yogasherborne hello@yogasherborne.co.uk Yoga Alliance qualified teacher

Stunning new beauty and wellness salon now open in Trent.

Offering an extensive range of professional treatments such as Decleor face and body • Pregnancy • All beauty treatments and much, much more!

1 Trent Court - Sherborne - Dorset - DT9 4AY 01935 851824 | naomi@thelazybarn.co.uk | www.thelazybarn.co.uk

An independent trekking and outdoors shop offering clothing and equipment from major suppliers.

7 Cheap St, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3PT • 01935 389484 • 07875 465218 • david@muntanya.co.uk • www.muntanya.co.uk 106 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Sherborne 01935 812 112

Dorchester 01305 250 240 robin-james.co.uk

@robinjamesaveda

Body and Mind

SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET Lucy Lewis, Dorset Mind Ambassador

M

any people are aware that soaking up the sun can have benefits for both physical and mental health, but not everyone knows how sunlight improves our wellbeing.

Here are some of the key factors that explain why sunlight can boost your mood – and how you can make the most of them. However, do always remember to take appropriate care and caution in the sunshine to ensure you don’t become dehydrated or damage your skin.

Serotonin Production

When sunlight passes through the eye, it affects parts of the retina that trigger serotonin production. Serotonin is a hormone that is associated with wellbeing; it can improve your mood and help you feel calm. Without enough exposure to sunlight, your serotonin levels could drop, causing you to have less energy and feel lower in mood. To maintain healthy serotonin levels, try to spend some time every day in natural light.

Vitamin D

Ultraviolet-B radiation in sunlight prompts vitamin D production in the skin. Vitamin D has been associated with improved emotional regulation and preventing mental health conditions such as depression and schizophrenia. Research has demonstrated that people who experience depression or schizophrenia are more likely to have low vitamin D levels compared to the general population. Additionally, taking vitamin D supplements has been associated with improved depression symptoms. Some research has suggested that vitamin D plays a role in the regulation of serotonin.

Circadian Rhythm

You might be familiar with the concept of the body’s ‘internal clock’, which is also referred to as a person’s 108 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm uses sunlight (or lack thereof ) to determine whether it is time to feel awake or go to sleep. Without enough sunlight, you could disrupt this rhythm, making it difficult to get enough sleep at night, meaning you are sleep deprived the next day. Sleep deprivation is often very detrimental to mental health; it can lower your mood and mean you have less energy to cope with your day. Therefore, it is essential to absorb enough sunlight, particularly first thing in the morning, to boost your mood and energy levels.

Eldar Nurkovic/Shutterstock

Sunshine Tips

While sunlight has its advantages, it is very important to stay safe. This means drinking enough water, avoiding sun exposure at the hottest parts of the day, and using adequate SPF protection. Talk to a pharmacist about sun safety if you require further support.

Remember, you can also increase your sun exposure in small steps. Try drinking your morning coffee outside, or walking to work or school. You can also move your desk or sofa in front of a window to gain some extra rays. Additionally, you can boost your sun

exposure by investing in light therapy devices. You can purchase a light box to help you boost your serotonin levels, or a daylight simulation lamp, which will wake you up with gradually increasing light, mimicking a sunrise. Try incorporating more sunlight into your daily routine to improve your wellbeing.

If you are in crisis, ring 999 or The Samaritans free on 116 123. Visit dorsetmind.uk for resources, signposting, and information about our individual and group mental health services. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 109

Body & Mind

Image: Katharine Davies

A HEALTHY NEW APPROACH

A

Mike Hewitson MPharm FFRPS FRSPH MRPharmS, Chief Pharmacist, The Abbey Pharmacy

s a community pharmacist the last 18 months have been professionally rewarding, despite the challenging circumstances in which we have found ourselves practicing. We have seen enormous changes in the way that the public access healthcare, and while some people have opted to move online, my skills have never been more in demand. Our GP practices, which were already stretched pre-COVID, have had to change how they care for patients, with more emphasis on remote consultations. For some patients this has been difficult to adopt, and many have chosen to speak to their community pharmacist because they wanted face-to-face care without the need for an appointment. The NHS wants to encourage more patients to speak to their pharmacist, and has for many years promoted community pharmacy as a first port of call for a range of minor ailments and advice about medicines and long term conditions.

Recently the NHS has launched a formal service called the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service which allows NHS111 and GP practices to refer patients directly to a community pharmacy for advice and treatment of minor ailments. This is a positive development which helps to reduce pressure on GP appointments, provides the patient with ready access to highly trained healthcare professionals and supports our local pharmacies.

As we look to the future it is clear that patients and the public have become more open to treatment by a range of healthcare professionals, not just their GP. 110 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Having just completed training as an Independent Prescriber, I am now able to write a prescription for virtually any medicine, which will help me to treat patients for a much wider range of conditions: from my own interest in dermatology through to travel vaccinations and beyond. Taking any medicine should be an informed choice, and this should always be balanced by a healthy respect for these powerful tools but it is one that patients should ultimately decide.

Community pharmacies sit at a crossroads between formal NHS & private healthcare, and the informal world of wellness. We see people at all stages of life, before they are ill, which is crucial for preventing ill health such as the epidemic of diabetes caused by our unhealthy lifestyles. A colleague has helped me to lose 3st in weight, and I would like to help others to do the same, which is in the long term interests of both the patient, but also more widely, society and our community.

As patients’ expectations have changed by the pandemic, so too must our approach as healthcare professionals, with greater flexibility, more innovation and a relentless pursuit of healthier, happier patients.

We need to give younger people in particular, a reason and the opportunity to engage with us rather than a faceless, digital screen. Inevitably this means adopting new technology to offer the best of both worlds, but with a named, and accountable healthcare professional with whom they can build a relationship. theabbeypharmacy.com

TRANSFORMATION

Respecting the past, embracing the future In the 231 years since we were established, The Abbey Pharmacy has seen many changes in our society. We continue to evolve and are now, more than ever, committed to meeting the changing needs of our customers.

Our vision for the transformation of The Abbey Pharmacy invests not only in the health of our community but also our high street – we need your support in making this a reality.

To find out more about our exciting plans and to register your support, please visit www.theabbeypharmacytransformation.com

Established 1790

Body & Mind

SOCIAL BENEFITS OF EXERCISE

Image: Stuart Brill

Craig Hardaker BSc (Hons), Communifit

H

appy August! We hope everyone is feeling wonderfully healthy, relaxed and happy – if not then exercise may well be your answer!

All too often we hear about the physical benefits of exercise. Whether it be improving your cardiovascular fitness, building strength, increasing mobility or even losing weight. These are all very important areas that we must continue to build upon. But what about the social benefits? Let’s discuss this more.

More enjoyable

For so many people it is fair to say that they do not exercise just because they find it enjoyable. Indeed if it wasn’t for the health benefits, many may struggle to find the motivation to make the effort.

For a lot of people, exercising in groups is a much more enjoyable experience than merely exercising on their own. Classes can be fun, yet challenging, and participating with others just makes everything seem more possible.

Targets and times can be shared, as can techniques and any difficulties that may present themselves.

Train harder

We are more likely to train harder when in the presence of others. We keep each other going when we want to stop. We help each other to challenge ourselves.

112 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Even the least competitive person can become more competitive when exercising – giving that bit more in the presence of others than they would if training alone.

Form friendships

Having fun and training hard with other people will help form a bond with other attendees. This bond may then result in a friendship developing. Many of my class attendees have made new friends, and now meet for socials outside of the exercise class environment. It is a great way to meet new people.

More reliable

We have all had that feeling of ‘should I go, or shouldn’t I go to the exercise class?’ But if you know your friends are attending, and maybe persuading you to attend – this can be the difference between attending the class or not. Motivation will rise and fall throughout your exercise journey, so sticking with your objectives and staying reliable is important to achieving your objectives.

So, in conclusion, there are not only physical benefits to attending regular exercise classes – but plenty of social benefits too. communifit.co.uk

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Body & Mind

IMPROVE YOUR PRESS-UPS Simon Partridge BSc (Sports Science), Personal Trainer SPFit So how good is your press-up?

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

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

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

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

114 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

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

The press up is probably the first strength training move most people learn. And it does not matter if you cannot do one or you can do sixty, you can make this superb exercise easier (regression) or harder (progression) to suit your own strength goals. As you get stronger, you can always change your routine by simply using some of the following: Work through these progressions, focusing on your form.

• Hands elevated press-up – putting your hands on a box or a bench can make it easier (notice no mention of press-ups on your knees) • Tempo press-up – slow down the lowering phase and/or add a pause at the bottom of your press up • Standard press-up • Feet elevated press-up – putting your feet on a box or bench can make it harder • Handstand press-up – with your feet against a wall One of our favourite ways to progress press-ups for clients of all levels is to use a suspension trainer. Check out the photo of Kate, who only started to use a suspension trainer last month.

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

Sports Massage

Now Available osc_info@sherborne.com

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sherbornetimes.co.uk | 115

Body & Mind

ALL EARS

T

Nicola Girling, Girlings Hearing Services

here is a stigma associated with hearing loss and that’s something we work really hard to address at Girlings. Hearing is one of our vital physical senses; most of us cannot imagine being without it. I often wonder, why is it that we are so open about problems with our sight or our dental needs – with designer glasses and perfectly white veneers now so fashionable (and so costly). In fact, we often choose to draw attention to these very areas of ourselves that need improvement or correction. Yet many of us are a long way from applying the same attitude to hearing loss, or being open to the ultimate accessory that will address the issue – hearing aids.

I’ve seen first-hand how the cutting-edge technology of modern hearing aids, which can adjust to every environment and seamlessly link with smart devices, can improve a person’s quality of life; and yet there is a reluctance to talk about it.

I believe that, in order to change society’s views toward hearing loss, we really need to open up the conversation. Most people lose their hearing gradually and might not even realise it. So often it is family and friends who notice the symptoms first, which is why many of our hearing aid clients are brought along for their first appointment by a son or daughter.

Although we are reluctant to discuss the problem, it remains that there are 11 million people across the UK with a hearing loss – the partial or total inability to hear in one or both ears. There are a number of different reasons why someone might lose their hearing, including age, prolonged exposure to loud noise, or genetics. Ear infections, autoimmune diseases and traumatic injuries all play a part too, and we see a very wide range of clients – across all age groups - in our clinics.

Hearing loss is also a major contributor to loneliness and isolation, and nothing ages a person more than continually having to ask people to repeat themselves, but this need not be the case. If you are worried about your hearing, or are concerned about the hearing of a family member or friend, then I encourage you (or them) to contact your GP, or a 116 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

hearing professional you trust, to seek advice in order to improve your hearing and restore your quality of life. Sometimes, this could merely involve removing excess ear wax to unblock your hearing potential! If you would like to find out more about the symptoms of hearing loss you will find useful information on our new website, details below.

When I first became a trainee hearing aid dispenser in 1984, I certainly did not imagine how hearing technology would develop, nor that my future family business would lead in the field of clinical ear treatments. I qualified in 1986 and, being a West Country girl, my husband Ian and I decided to return to Dorset with our young family and set up our own independent hearing practice.

We chose Sherborne’s Swan Yard as our base and opened there in 2001, by which time Ian was also qualified as a registered hearing aid dispenser

Ian, Nicola and Dan Girling

(RHAD). In 2014 we took the opportunity to move to the ‘sunny side of the street’, opening our current Swan Yard premises at Number 4, conveniently situated next to the Old Market Yard Car Park.

In between times, we also launched a second clinic in Fordingbridge in 2011, enabling us to care for clients in Hampshire, while reaching out to those with a hearing loss in the Wiltshire and Salisbury areas too.

This year is very special for us. 37 years after I first started in my hearing career, Girlings celebrates a double anniversary, with 20 years in Sherborne and 10 years in Fordingbridge. Not only that but we are growing the company. Ian and I were delighted to welcome our son Dan to the business in 2019, as a fully trained hearing dispenser, enabling us to secure the future of our independent hearing healthcare service. As a family, and now a business run by two generations, we feel thankful and privileged to have

been able to serve so many long-standing clients during the past twenty years in Sherborne and look forward to doing so for decades to come.

To mark this special anniversary year, we have also expanded into a specialist area with the launch of The Microsuction Company, which offers clinical ear treatments, including ear wax management, and is based near our home in Maiden Newton - further extending the reach of our hearing businesses to Dorchester, Weymouth, Lyme Regis and beyond.

While expanding, we remain firmly rooted in our family-run business ethos, supporting our local communities and providing the friendly, impartial advice and innovation in hearing technology upon which our reputation has been built. girlinghearingaids.co.uk themicrosuctioncompany.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 117

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

Choice of Hearses available including our Land Rover Hearse

A J Wakely& Sons

Independent Family Funeral Directors – 24 Hour Service –

Helping the bereaved of Sherborne and Yeovil for over 30 years

Sherborne 01935 816 817 ˙ Yeovil 01935 479 913 Pre-payment plans available www.ajwakely.com Please contact Clive Wakely, or a member of our dedicated team for any advice or guidance.

118 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

WE'VE CARED FOR YOUR EARS SINCE 2001

Celebrating 20 years of providing independent family-run hearing care in Sherborne *AUGUST OFFER* A FREE ACCESSORY WITH EVERY PAIR OF NEW HEARING AIDS (QUOTE STM20)

tel: 01935 815647

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The very latest HEARING AID INNOVATION Ear wax removal with MICROSUCTION Hearing tests with AUDIOLOGY EXPERTS Experienced and IMPARTIAL ADVICE A local, friendly, FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS

4 Swan Yard, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3AX www.girlinghearingaids.co.uk

INDEPENDENT & HCPC REGISTERED

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 120 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Home

BRINGING IDEAS HOME

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Annabelle Hunt, Bridport Timber & Flooring

fter being cooped up inside our homes for so long now, the thought of going to a favourite hotel or restaurant fills me with enormous anticipation as I know I will come home having enjoyed great food and inspired by beautiful interiors.

Hotels offer a masterclass in creating mood and atmosphere. Over the last few years, the stylish boutique hotel look has become a popular source of inspiration for many homes. My favourites are those with a relaxed, lived-in feel, as though you are staying in the home of an eccentric relative.

Pattern can be a great starting point when you are setting out to create a mood and define a room but, with so much choice, choosing from the multitude on offer can sometimes feel a little daunting. Curtains can be expensive so it’s important to get them right and the thought of using wallpaper on all four walls may seem like a big commitment. The answer is to look for designs that will stand the test of time, from small delicate motifs that add subtle interest to large-scale prints that bring drama.

The important thing is to choose a design you’ll love living with day after day and don’t be afraid to use a big pattern in a small space. A great way to experiment with pattern is to wallpaper a hallway or cloakroom. As rooms that we don’t tend to spend lots of time in, they’re perfect for a little playful experimentation.

When thinking about your colour palette, the best way to approach it is to choose patterns first and then paint colours. It’s so much easier to find a paint to match a fabric, wallpaper, or rug that you have already fallen in love with. Be bold and be prepared to take risks - are you aiming to complement or contrast with your chosen design? Walls and large pieces can be either patterned or plain, and in a beautiful colour or complementary neutral.

That fabulous jewel bright sofa may look disappointingly lacklustre against a white wall but if the wall were painted in a bold colour it could elevate it to an entirely different level.

Mix up patterns and colours and play with scale and size of patterns as too many different designs in a similar size can feel overwhelming. For example, use large patterns on furniture and a smaller scale design on curtains or vice versa. Similarly, a mix of new and old pieces, and plenty of different textures with linen, velvet and woollens will bring interest and variety.

Finally, never underestimate the importance of small details as they create focal points within the room. Swapping a tired old lampshade for something more beautiful is one of the quickest transformations you can make. Arrange a small collection of objects on a shelf or consider a high contrast piping on an upholstered chair or cushion. Just go with your gut and try not to overthink it. Too much matchy-matchy can come across as a little contrived. Whether you are relaxing in the finest hotel or putting your feet up at home, the trick with any good interior is to make it feel like it isn’t trying too hard. bridporttimber.co.uk

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Farrow and Ball Lotus sherbornetimes.co.uk | 123

Home

RETURNING HOME Catherine Trotman, Owner, Elliscombe House

S

ituated atop a hill in Higher Holton, between Wincanton and Castle Cary, sits Elliscombe House. This Edwardian house, built in 1901, was formerly the residence of a member of the local Heathcote-Amory family and, after passing through other owners, became a nursing home.

In recent years Elliscombe House has sat empty, until my husband and I acquired it with a vision to transform it into a luxurious residential and nursing home. I have been able to draw on my interior design experience, both in the UK and abroad, to blend traditional design with modern style. As the home is currently unable to accept visitors, I’ll ask readers to take a virtual tour in their minds as I describe the 124 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

significant restoration project which has taken place!

Externally the overgrown garden, with magnificent trees, has been tamed; whilst the area around the house has been landscaped with terraces, pathways and planting which will become a sensory feast during the spring and summer months.

A magnificent orangery, beloved of upper classes since the 17th century, has been added on the south side of the house, in a style which is sympathetic to the original building; alongside a ground floor extension.

Keen to retain as many original features as possible, the house still boasts a stunning, heavy, Spanish-style front door, with impressive iron hobnails; stunning fire places and a dramatic Edwardian panelled staircase.

Indeed this is one of the first things to meet the eye on entering the house. One arrives in a lofty hall painted in Farrow and Balls’s ‘Hay’ – the chalky yellow colour was chosen for its warmth and character, inviting visitors into the comforting feel of the house.

Leading off the hall is a passage housing a bar area for teas, coffees and nibbles by day, and a glass of whatever takes your fancy in the evening. Two impressive bow-fronted rooms house the Drawing Room and Dining Room, each with fabulous original fireplaces, sweeping views south over the garden and a blend of traditional and contemporary furniture, lighting and artwork.

There is a confident use of colour throughout the reception rooms, and great care has been taken to create spaces that are as energising and uplifting as possible without being too overwhelming or harsh. Every step of the way, our aim has been to create a nurturing environment with a homely feel, as far removed from ‘institutional design’ as is practically possible.

Wanting to imbue Elliscombe House with all the comfort, charm and personality it would have had as a noble country house in years gone by, the reception rooms have been furnished with antique items, teamed with comfortable upholstered furniture from premium care furniture specialists, Shackletons, in Dewsbury.

During the extensive decoration process, the peeling back of many layers off the walls revealed numerous wallpapers and paint colours which were original to the house when it was a family home. We have retained this in our branding – the logo colour was inspired by a paint shade discovered in the dining room; whilst a Spanish tile design has also provided inspiration.

The design of the shared spaces also incorporates as much flexibility as possible, with a palette of colours flowing throughout, so that furniture can be moved around, and spaces re-purposed as occasions demand.

The newly built Orangery, for example, is designed for sitting or dining; but also contains an audio-visual system for film nights and is wired to accommodate a huge Christmas tree as a focal point during the festive season.

On the eastern side of the house is a large sitting room with generous windows and French doors leading to a large terrace. In years to come the home aims to recreate the kitchen gardens from a bygone age, with residents able to have their own plots. Linen-look curtains are given a lift with a burnt orange stripe, which, teamed with navy, is carried through the woven upholstery fabrics on the chairs.

"The peeling back of many layers off the walls revealed numerous wallpapers and paint colours which were original to the house when it was a family home."

The importance of blending modern sympathetically with traditional can also be seen in the heating system, so vital in an historic property. The panels for the state of the art low energy, infrared heating have been installed on ceilings, reducing the intrusion of contemporary fixtures in traditional spaces, and freeing up walls for furniture.

Upstairs throughout, bedrooms and bathrooms have been extensively re-configured to provide the new residents with more space and greatly improve facilities. Every bedroom boasts a stylish, en-suite wet room whilst the rooms themselves have been tastefully decorated in a neutral, homely and simple fashion, with block-printed Indian quilts, cushions and lampshades lending a splash of colour.

Two shared bathrooms have had a complete makeover. Traditional elements such as tongue and groove panelling and wallpaper from Morris & Co and Colefax & Fowler combine with the latest in modern luxury, including an assisted bath with an air-spa system and calming lights. Space for aromatherapy and massage has been created within an appealing and homely environment, as one might expect to find in a traditional country house.

The sunny salon boasts an enormous seascape artwork and woodwork picked out in indigo blue, purposefully decorated with a different vibe to provide a sense of ‘going to the hairdresser’.

Throughout the home, the aim has been to imbue each room with a sense of difference and personality whilst maintaining the feel of the ‘family home’ which Elliscombe House was for so many years. Even when life becomes smaller and perhaps largely restricted to immediate environs for the new inhabitants, there can still be a sense of ‘arrival’ and change – change which has, for Elliscombe House, meant a return to its beginnings. elliscombehouse.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 125

Lettings & Property Management

Coming to the market this month…

Nr Longburton

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

1 Horsecastles, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3FB T: 01935 816209 E: info@stockwoodlettings.co.uk

Storage/workshop in rural location, recently built, parking.

Electric and water supply.

Beaminster

Delightful cottage presented in excellent order, two reception rooms with fires, modern stylish kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, study, small courtyard.

Town centre location.

Sherborne

Sherborne

Ground floor apartment in quiet location, bright sitting room, shower room, double bedroom, modern kitchen, parking allocated.

Sherborne

Detached family home, recently extended to offer good sized accommodation. Sitting room, kitchen with oven provided, dining room, three bedrooms, family bathroom, garage and parking, enclosed garden, shed.

Modern semi-detached house, sitting room, kitchen/dining with doors to garden, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, parking, large garden.

www.stockwoodlettings.co.uk

DAVE THURGOOD Competitively Priced, High Quality Carpets, Vinyls, Woods & Rugs SHERBORNE SHOWROOM NOW OPEN Unit 12, Old Yarn Mills, Westbury, Sherborne, DT9 3RQ A family run business established in 1998, we promise a highly professional level of service Tel: 07733 101064 or 01935 817885 www.lsflooring.co.uk

Wayne Timmins Painter and Decorator • • • • •

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

01935 872007 / 07715 867145 waynesbusiness@aol.com 126 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Painting & Decorating interior and exterior

07792 391368 NO VAT www.sherbornedecorators.com michellethurgood@sky.com

Dorset Residential & Commercial Ltd BUYING A NEW-BUILD HOME IN DORSET? A recent report states that more than half of new-builds have problems only discovered once the buyer moves in.

Get a Snagging Report and advice from an independent expert, one who is local with experience of the building industry.

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Legal

HOLIDAY SEASON HR ADVICE FOR EMPLOYERS Lucy Cotterell, HR Consultant, Mogers Drewett

F

ollowing the Government’s decision to ease restrictions on foreign travel, many employees who have built up holiday entitlement and are longing for a break will be looking to book a getaway this summer. With this come new holiday-related issues that employers may have to deal with.

Employees holidaying abroad

Pre-Covid employers would not normally have asked what employees are planning to do with their time off before approving holiday requests, but with the UK operating a traffic light system to categorise countries, some employers may now consider asking employees, as the destination could impact the amount of time needed off from work.

How to deal with quarantine and self-isolation requirements

If an employee is required to quarantine and self-isolate, this time can be treated in various ways: • The employee works from home, as usual or if possible, from their quarantine hotel • The employee extends their holiday, with the additional time coming out of their overall leave entitlement • The employee takes unpaid leave • The employee is regarded as having committed a disciplinary offence on the basis that they have knowingly made themselves unavailable for work The most common approach last summer was extended holiday or unpaid leave, however treating this is as a disciplinary matter is becoming more common, 128 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

especially where an employer incurs additional costs associated with arranging unexpected cover (e.g. overtime or temporary workers).

Dealing with last-minute holiday requests and changes

The three-week review of the traffic light system will undoubtedly lead to an increase in late holiday requests as new destinations go on the green list. Alternatively, as destinations are recategorised to amber or red, requests to reschedule booked holiday will also be made.

Unless the contract says otherwise, the statutory position is that employees must provide twice as many days in advance of the first day as the number of days holiday requested: for example, ten days’ notice of a five-day holiday and employees do not have any legal rights to cancel or reschedule holidays once booked, apart from in cases of sickness/family leave.

In these situations, employers could enforce notice period for requesting leave or still insist on the employee taking their booked holiday as planned even if they can no longer travel as planned.

This approach should be treated with care, and this may become a contentious issue.

As the situation continues to change and to ensure that you apply any discretions fairly and consistently our advice is that employers should update and communicate their holiday policies so that everyone knows what the rules are and how they will apply to them. mogersdrewett.com

NAVIGATING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

ON YOUR SIDE, AT YOUR SIDE FOR: For Individuals

For Businesses • Land & Rural Estates

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• Tax & Trust Advice

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• Dispute Resolution

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• Probate & Estate Planning

Our experts are here to help – get in touch today.

mogersdrewett.com | 01935 813691 | enquiries@mogersdrewett.com

Finance

A WINNER’S GAME

I

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

n many of my monthly articles I make reference to having a real investment strategy when investing money. Most readers would, I suspect, agree that they do not have a well thought out detailed investment strategy.

An investment strategy incorporates many different aspects. Indeed, I have often described it as the old-fashioned music hall act of spinning many plates at the same time. The more plates that continue to spin, the greater the likelihood is that the strategy will succeed.

One aspect of a successful strategy is in applying the principles of behavioural finance.

Behavioural finance, a subfield of behavioural economics, proposes that psychological influences and biases affect the financial behaviours of investors and financial practitioners. In essence, it assumes that financial participants are not perfectly rational and self-controlled; this assumption applies to investors as well as investment managers.

There are many aspects to behavioural finance and this short article can’t address all of them. Some of the more common aspects include herd behaviour (following the crowd), self attribution (a fancy name for overconfidence in one’s own knowledge or skill), confirmation bias (a tendency to accept information that confirms an already held belief ), loss aversion (being more concerned about the pain of loss than the pleasure of gains) and emotional (anger, anxiety or excitement) decision-making.

One of the conclusions of the mistakes that can follow as a natural result of our psychological behaviour with regards to investment can be taken from the game of tennis. As I write this article the second week of Wimbledon is taking place. Charles Ellis, a guru of the investment world, described professional tennis as a ‘Winner’s Game’. The outcome of matches is generally by winning points, not losing them. In contrast amateur tennis matches are generally won by the opponent making more mistakes than the victor. Experts win about 80% of the points; amateurs lose around 80% of the points. Amateurs are, Charles Ellis says, playing a ‘Loser’s Game’.

The power of this observation, which has a direct link to behavioural finance, is that for a successful investment experience it is wise to avoid other people’s mistakes. That is why a successful investment strategy encompasses many different strands (the spinning plates analogy) rather than concentrating on any one element. A successful investment strategy is indeed boring as it should avoid the (perceived) winners by concentrating on avoiding mistakes. ffp.org.uk

130 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

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sherbornetimes.co.uk | 131

Tech

WINDOWS 11

James Flynn, Milborne Port Computers

B

ack on 29th July 2015 when Windows 10 was released, we were told that this would be it, the last Windows software. So, what’s the crack?

Here is some history.

Like most software companies Microsoft have brought out new versions of their software every 2-5 years, some good and some not so good. Windows XP was great (we still have a few clients on this) then came Windows Vista (let’s not go there as this was a disaster). Windows 7 came quite swiftly after and we all thought this would be it and most people upgraded from XP to 7 which, for bigger companies, would have cost a fortune. Then, out of nowhere came Windows 8 and just like Vista was a disaster! Can you see a trend?

After Windows 8 came Windows 10 (9 was skipped!) and to the majority this has been great just like Windows 7, although there will always be some people that just don’t like it. They discontinued Windows 7 on 14th January 2020 and said the only option is Windows 10 unless you’re a business in which case you can pay Microsoft a large fee each year to keep updates going on their Windows 7 machines. Another big expenditure for large companies, either pay to upgrade to Windows 10 or pay to maintain Windows 7! It was and still is free to upgrade to Windows 10 from 7 or 8, although if you rang Microsoft or spoke to a few big-name retailers they would say you need to pay for Windows 10 or buy a new computer from them. We still currently upgrade approx 10 people a month from 7 or 8 to Windows 10, which I think is quite a lot. And now dates for your diaries – 132 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Windows 10 will be discontinued on 14th October 2025 and Windows 11 will be released sometime this October.

Should you upgrade to Windows 11 when it’s released, or can your computer take Windows 11?

If you already have Windows 10 installed on your computer and it is less than 2-3 years old, then your computer should be able to take Windows 11. If it is older than this or you have a lower spec’d computer or notebook, there is a compatibility checker that Microsoft will provide closer to the time.

Should you upgrade? Well, we still have customers on all the versions of Windows but most are now on Windows 10. Windows 11 is based on Windows 10 and by this, I mean the behind-the-scenes is mostly Windows 10 but what you see on the front is Windows 11 with new sparkly wall papers and the start menu changed again and moved to the middle of the screen.

Windows 11 has been released to developers and beta testers, but we don’t know much else about it – if there are any bugs or bad updates or even how easy it is to upgrade. One of the big questions will be how easy it is to go back to Windows 10.

So, at this stage and when released in October I would be wary of upgrading to Windows 11 unless you have nothing to lose and really want to. If you do, make sure you have a good back-up, just in case!

As ever, if you want to know more, you know where to come. computing-mp.co.uk

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134 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

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IN CONVERSATION WITH

MAJOR GENERAL JOHN STOKOE CB CBE David Birley DB Your career is like a Boys Own adventure story, you joined the Army as a boy and rose through the ranks to Major General. How did it all begin?

JS I was born in 1947 in Harrogate. My father was a regimental sergeant major in the Royal Signals and we travelled the world. We were in Cyprus and then Egypt. We returned from there on the troopship Empire Windrush – better known for its role in the Windrush Generation. Most of my secondary school time was in Hong Kong. We returned when I was fourteen and I went to Richmond Grammar School in Yorkshire.

DB Did you have a happy childhood?

JS Yes, I did - it was great fun. Moving around so much you made friends quickly. After Hong Kong I could not settle at an English Grammar School and I thought ‘how could I get out of schooling?’ The only way I could think of was to be an Army Apprentice Tradesman. I was fifteen and three days when I signed my papers and found myself back in Harrogate in 1963 for three years. I was promoted to Lance Corporal and sent to the Royal Signals depot so they could see what I was made of. Deemed appropriate for officer training, I went to Sandhurst for two years and was then commissioned in 1968.

DB Because you had come up through the ranks did you get your leg pulled by the public school types at Sandhurst?

JS Some found it difficult in that our backgrounds were so different. They looked down on me but it did not worry me. I was given the Royal Signals Order of Merit prize which I guess was quite an achievement for an ex-boy soldier.

DB How did your career evolve?

JS I was asked if I would like to serve with the Gurkhas in the Far East. I never had any thought of doing so, but it sounded interesting! So I went to Malaya followed by Hong Kong, India and then Nepal. That was a fascinating country with wonderful people. I have great fondness for Nepal and trekked across the Himalayas both with my work and on holiday. I also met my wife, Jenny, who was an Army Nursing Sister in Nepal, caring for Gurkha families and Nepalese hill people. I then joined the Grenadier Guards in 1972 as a platoon commander, with tours of Germany and Northern Ireland. I returned to Northern Ireland in 1974 for two years as an intelligence officer. After various appointments, I became the Colonel responsible for Army plans in Germany then, as a Brigadier, the head of Royal Signals Germany. After my time at the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1994, I went to the MOD, responsible for Army policy, followed by two years at Army HQ at Wilton as a Major General at 48.

DB To what do you attribute your spectacular success?

JS A number of things. Firstly the unstinting support of my wife, Jenny. I also believe that if you enjoy what you are doing, those working for you will also enjoy it, which gives great satisfaction. With a good team you can manage both good and difficult times. Also not looking to the next job all the time; enjoy what you are doing and continue to be surprised at what you are asked to do next. For example when I was thinking of leaving the Army I was asked to stay on for a while as an acting Lieutenant General to become Commander of the UK Field Army, which capped it all. >

136 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Image: David Birley sherbornetimes.co.uk | 137

DB Had you another career in mind?

JS Not really – I was 51 and thought I would go and see what the world had to offer. I didn’t want to be just another retired major general in the defence world being used for his contacts. I was approached by Amey Services to advise them on their defence business which was fun but not quite my style. While bidding for a contract I met Lend Lease who asked me to join them.

I became head of marketing for Europe and the Middle East. They designed and built large developments such as the Bluewater retail complex, the Olympic Park in Stratford and the new Elephant and Castle development. I really enjoyed construction, spending a lot of time on the road getting out and about. Sitting in an office doesn’t achieve much.

DB Do you have any regrets?

JS None at all. I enjoyed every minute. I felt I could make a difference and have a positive impact on people. I was in the Army at the right time when it had major global reach and was in Industry when it was coming out of recession and generating significant prospects. However, my experiences from prolonged intelligence work over two years in Northern Ireland in the mid 1970s had a profound impact on my later life after leaving the Army. I still suffer from PTSD for which I receive regular treatment. The Combat Stress charity has been a huge help over the years.

DB What have you learnt along the way?

JS That people are key, as is the way you treat them. The youngest member of your team is as important as the oldest. Also to teach and train people so they can achieve their goals. Not to overly criticise as that demoralises everyone.

DB What brought you to Sherborne?

JS We lived in Ashmore on the Cranborne Chase, moving here in 2013 to be in a larger community, able to walk to shops etc. We had friends living in Sherborne and spent a day with them looking round the town and thought ‘this is the one!’ We have made numerous friends amongst the wonderful people here.

DB What are you involved in now?

JS I have worked for a number of military charities and now work for the Royal Signals Benevolent Fund. It helps me put something back into the Army which gave me such a rewarding life. I am also a school governor. A friend introduced me to the Dorset Historic Churches Trust of which I am now chairman. Our task is to help preserve the wonderful historic church buildings in Dorset for us all to enjoy. We will assist with projects such as tower repairs, roofing and heating. Our only fundraising event is our Ride and Stride day which happens in September and we put all our effort into it. It raises around £90,000 which enables us to give grants to needy churches three times a year. I have also just started with the CPRE, advising on the regeneration of Sherborne town centre.

DB What do you do in your down time?

JS Jenny and I walk a lot – we love the Jurassic coast. During lockdown we discovered so many walks around Sherborne. I also paint – fiddling around with pencils and watercolours!

DB Do you have a personal wish?

JS To keep giving value to people. If I can leave this world having lived life to the best of my ability and helped people along the way, that’ll satisfy me.

DB Do you have a wish for Sherborne?

JS For Sherborne to become once again the vibrant heart of Dorset. Sherborne is a lovely town but there are areas that could be so much better. We need to attract investment into our town and fill our empty shops to make it a really active and exciting place.

138 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

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Short Story

BANK HOLIDAY

A

Mark Milbank, Sherborne Scribblers

s long as you have a bit of capital it is easy to start a safari company in Africa. Buy a couple of Land Rovers, a lorry, some tents, light moveable furniture for the tents etc. etc. Call the company ‘Rhino Safaris’, or something like that, and you are ready to go.

Did I say, ‘a bit of capital’? Amend that to a lot because all of that is just a start. Where are all the clients coming from? They have never heard of some aspiring ‘White Hunter’ who is about to charge them through the nose for the pleasure of taking them out into the African bush. So a vast amount of advertising is necessary – not to mention word-of-mouth recommendations.

I did have a bit of capital and thought that I was God’s gift to any American who had enough money to pay for my priceless services. Also I did genuinely love the African bush and newly independent Zimbabwe was as good as anywhere to give it a go.

I duly spent all my capital on the above equipment, put an ad in a couple of geographical magazines in America and waited for the flood of bookings. Nothing happened.

Then one day, as I hopefully opened my post, I got a letter from an old school mate who lived in New York. He had seen one of my ads.

‘Great idea!’ he enthused. ‘If you can fit them in, my cousin would love to do an African safari with his family – he was talking about making plans when I last saw him so, unless he has booked with someone else, I think I can persuade him to come with your outfit.’

I wrote back immediately (no e-mails in those days!), outlining a possible itinerary and asking who his cousin was and how many of the family would be coming.

I got a reply by return. My friend’s cousin was probably one of the ten richest men in America – Philip Pillsbury of Pillsbury Flour. A total of four of them would like to come and would I send the cost.

To my delight my quote in US dollars [not the suspect Zimbabwe dollar] was accepted and dates soon booked.

I planned to take them camping on the banks of the Zambezi River, then to the luxury Bumi Hills Lodge on Lake Kariba, onto Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park and end up with more camping in the lowveld. Three weeks in all with a pretty hefty bill attached. To my further delight they accepted this and I asked my friend when I could expect payment, which I needed in advance, as because being an unknown tour operator in Zimbabwe, all accommodation in the luxury lodges expected payment up front.

My friend replied saying that on no account must I press Mr Pillsbury for payment as this was the one thing that really annoyed him. He had accepted my price without a quibble and certainly would pay in full.

But when?

I took my friend’s letter to my bank together with the planned itinerary and cost. I explained that I had to pay a lot of this cost up front so could I have an overdraft to do so?

140 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

My Bank Manager hummed and hawed for a long time, but even he had heard of Philip Pillsbury, and finally agreed to the substantial loan required on condition that I paid in Pillsbury’s US dollar cheque as soon as I received it – i.e. presumably before the start of the safari. Failure to do this would result in dishonoured cheques.

The Pillsbury party duly arrived and I booked them in to a couple of suites in Harare’s Meikles Hotel before starting on the 3 week safari the following morning.

No sign of any cheque though, so I told my wife to pay for each lodge just before we got there in the hope that the much needed cheque would be forthcoming sooner rather than later and just hoped the bank would continue to honour these payments.

The actual safari went off really well. We saw the ‘Big Five’, caught tiger fish in the Zambezi, wondered at the magnificence of Victoria Falls, saw a kill in Hwange and walked in the lowveld bush. All four Pillsburys appeared to thoroughly enjoy it all and Philip was utterly charming.

But still no cheque.

I was really worried by now, but as we were about to shake hands and say good bye he suddenly reached into his pocket and produced a cheque saying, ‘Oh! You gave me an invoice before we started, I have added a bit to it as thanks for a great trip. See you in the ‘States sometime. Bye.’ And he was gone. I glanced at the cheque. It was at least 10% more than I had billed him for. But could I pay it in to my suffering bank account before they bounced all the cheques that I written during the last 3 weeks, in anticipation of this vital payment, and so ruin my reputation as a tour operator before it really got started?

I rushed to the bank as soon as I could on that Tuesday morning clutching the precious cheque but fearing the worst. Surely some of those cheques that I had written before the safari even started would have bounced at the start of a new week, yesterday.

There was a long queue in front of all three tellers and I chaffed at this extra delay. At last I was able to hand the cheque to a smiling lady teller.

‘Sorry to have been so slow this morning,’ she said, ‘all due to yesterday’s Bank Holiday, I suppose.’

‘You mean, the bank was shut yesterday?’ I stammered stupidly.

‘Yes, of course, it was a Bank Holiday.’

‘Please give me a print out of my account and pay this US dollar cheque in at today’s rate – what is it by the way?’

‘Oh! You are in luck. Where have you been? Hadn’t you heard? The Government devalued the Zimbabwe dollar by 25% yesterday so your US dollar cheque is worth 25% more today than it would have been if you had paid it in yesterday!’

Thank goodness for Bank Holidays.

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 141

Literature

SHERBORNE LITERARY FESTIVAL STARTING AFRESH

John Gaye, Sherborne Literary Society

Dr Hilary Jones

A

s the restrictions of the last fifteen months are gradually lifted, the world is coming back to life, reviving the prospect of enjoying pleasures and freedoms too long denied. After its enforced inactivity, the Sherborne Literary Society is greatly looking forward to relaunching itself with an exciting programme of events for the coming autumn.

I am thrilled to announce that to help this re-start we have a new Events Director – Caroline Hopton. She has been working hard to put together an interesting and varied programme of events for this year and into 2022.

Caroline has worked in various related roles over the years. Her first job, aged 18, was as PA to the Managing 142 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

Director of the publishers Sidgwick & Jackson, which published some of the most notable and controversial books of the time.

She then cut her teeth in the art world as a gallery assistant in the West End before becoming a director of Guy Nevill Fine Paintings Ltd. at the same time serving on the committees of Sadler’s Wells and The Haven Trust, certainly providing plenty of variety to her early years. She then, with a partner, went on to open her own gallery in Chelsea at the extraordinarily young age of 30, specialising in 18th and 19th Century British Sporting Art before going on to deal in British Contemporary Art.

After 15 very exciting years they closed the gallery when Caroline and her husband, Richard, started a family and moved to the country. Having been brought up near Salisbury, she relishes living in Dorset with Richard and their 2 teenage children.

Now she has taken on the challenge of Events Director for the Literary Society and having filled the role myself for some years I feel we are in very good hands.

So to the present and future. We will be staging a wide variety of events regularly throughout the year rather than concentrating on the four or five days of a festival. This confers greater flexibility and allows us to venture beyond authors whose books are intended for the Christmas market. As Caroline says, ‘This allows the Society to be open for business, as it were, throughout the year - the gift that keeps giving!’

The autumn programme starts on Tuesday 7th September at 7pm in The Digby Hall with the wellknown TV doctor Dr Hilary Jones talking about his novel, Frontline. This is the first instalment of an exhilarating family saga, charting the rise of a prominent British medical family in the twentieth century. It is set on the World War One battlefields of Europe as a global influenza pandemic looms; a mysterious respiratory illness, christened ‘Spanish Flu’ by the soldiers. A strangely appropriate subject for our times, prescient and moving with a cast of irresistible characters, this pacey, brilliantly told story is set to be the read of the autumn. He will be donating a portion of the proceeds from Frontline to NHS Charities Together, the national charity partner of the NHS and the umbrella membership organisation for the UK’s 241 NHS charities.

Later in the autumn we are looking forward to welcoming back both Andrew Lownie, talking about his new book on the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Max Hastings, talking about Operation Pedestal, the amazing 1942 operation to relieve Malta. Both authors have been regular and very popular speakers at Sherborne usually attracting full houses for their fascinating talks.

We have also secured Simon Heffer who will talk about the very revealing and totally updated Chips Channon’s diaries and Adam Nicolson, scion of that great literary family and brilliant naturalist, who will reveal the wonderful world of the inter-tidal zones.

Interspersed with these headline events will be a programme of more informal events – under the banner

‘Words With Wine’ – giving local authors a chance to talk about their work and reach a new audience.

Surely all a very good reason to become a member of the Society. Annual subscription is only £10 a year for adults, £5 for under 18s. Benefits include 10% discount on books purchased at Sherborne’s independent bookshops and a regular newsletter with early information about forthcoming events. All the events’ information, ticket purchasing and details on how to become a member are available on our newly revamped website. sherborneliterarysociety.com We very much look forward to seeing you in the autumn and in 2022.

___________________________________________

Tuesday 7th September 7pm-10pm Sherborne Literary Festival Autumn Programme - Dr Hilary Jones The Digby Hall, Hound Street, Sherborne, DT9 3AA General admission £10, Members £9 (+ booking fee). sherblitsoc-drhj.eventbrite.co.uk

sherborneliterarysociety.com/events

___________________________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 143

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JULY SOLUTIONS

ACROSS 1. Imitator (8) 5. Among (4) 9. Card game (5) 10. Requests the presence of (7) 11. Prompts (7) 12. Armature of an electric motor (5) 13. Tangled (of hair) (6) 14. Floor covering (6) 17. Loop with a running knot (5) 19. Design style of the 1920s and 1930s (3,4) 20. Provoked; encouraged (7) 21. Dramatic musical work (5) 22. Clothing (4) 23. Gusty (8) 144 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

DOWN 1. Carrying out trials (13) 2. Not tidy (7) 3. Agreements; plans (12) 4. Serving no functional purpose (6) 6. Short choral composition (5) 7. Available for use as needed; optional (13) 8. Unnecessarily careful (12) 15. Go before (7) 16. One who wantonly destroys property (6) 18. Academy Award (5)

Literature

LITERARY REVIEW Jonathan Stones, Sherborne Literary Society

Songbirds by Christy Lefteri (Manilla Press 2021), £14.99 hardcover

T

Sherborne Times Reader Offer Price of £12.99 from Winstone’s Books

he richly decorated front cover of this novel is illustrated, not by the migratory songbirds which form part of its main plot, but by a bee-eater, which may be an ironic reference to the novel ‘The Beekeeper of Aleppo’ which brought the author to worldwide fame, and of which this book is the follow-up.

The backdrop has moved from Syria to Cyprus, where Petra, a young widow, and her daughter live in an apartment in Nicosia. On the floor above them lives Yiannis, divorced and childless, who has been financially ruined by the stock market crash of 2008, and who supplements his meagre income from picking mushrooms by poaching songbirds which migrate in their thousands through Cyprus on their way to and from Africa. The process by which the birds are caught, dispatched and sold to restaurants on the island is described in an elegantly vivid detail which may not be for the fainthearted.

Into this mix has arrived some nine years before, Petra’s live-in maid Nisha, also a young widow, who has left her own mother and daughter in Sri Lanka to find work in the West as the only way she can support them and to provide for her daughter’s education. Nisha communicates with her daughter by the use of Yiannis’ iPad, an activity of which to her subsequent selfreproof, Petra has been oblivious through her previous indifference towards Nisha’s own circumstances. Yiannis has fallen in love with Nisha and has proposed to her, in the course of which he has also confessed to the illegal source of his previously undisclosed income. It is at this point in the story that Nisha disappears overnight, and

the rest of the novel centres on Yiannis and Petra’s searches for Nisha, and in so doing, their journeys towards self-discovery and growing sympathy for the army of semivisible female domestic workers in their midst. Petra must also come to terms with her previous failure to relate to her daughter, and to rebuild that relationship in the aftermath of Nisha’s disappearance.

The novel therefore is concerned both with the social justice issues arising out of the human trafficking by western societies of women such as Nisha, and with the effects which her disappearance create in the relations between the main characters.

The mechanism by which the author pursues her layered intentions lies to a considerable extent in the design of the chapters, which alternate between Yiannis and Petra speaking to the reader in the first person. These are in turn interspersed with short third-person chapters which describe, at first obscurely, but with gradually increasing ominousness, a decomposing hare lying beside a contaminated lake on the island. The author extracts considerable poignancy and pathos from this interesting and unusual technique, leading to a denouement which carries with it a sense of tragic inevitability.

“A beautifully crafted novel that sits at the intersection of race and class, that flags the frank truth of the life of migrant workers for whom a flight to freedom can become the most finely woven trap.” Jodi Picoult sherborneliterarysociety.com

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PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

P

Nathan Cracknell, ReBorne Church

erhaps your home is like ours? Dotted with pictures of special occasions and holidays.

In a time of restricted travel, it seems hard to remember the days when we could easily visit foreign shores and enjoy the sights, cultures and experiences of such visits, without worrying about green lists and isolation periods. For now, most of us will have to content ourselves with the pictures from previous trips.

One such group of pictures was taken from the shore of a large lake near the city of Shkodra in northern Albania. It shows a majestic sunset over a serene lake, with mountains rising steeply from the far shoreline. In the pebbled foreground is a group with some of my family and friends, we are all smiling broadly. They are beautiful photographs. They are wonderful memories.

If you saw these pictures, I’m sure you would agree that they are nice. But would they make you wax lyrical? I doubt it. Even though the photographs are reasonable, they don’t really do that evening justice. The camera fails to capture the almost magical atmosphere that was strangely tangible. It doesn’t convey how the sunset lingered for what seemed like an age before finally fading into the night sky. Nor can it really replicate the love and happiness felt by those in the picture. Separate from the experience of being there, these pictures are limited in their ability to convey what that evening was really like. This is often true in life. If we want to know what something is really like, we have to experience it for ourselves.

In the Bible, we see that people thought this way about Jesus. They heard stories about him, and they wanted to see him for themselves. As a result, large crowds often gathered wherever he went. We are also told of people like Zacchaeus, who wanted to see Jesus for himself, but did not feel able to join the crowds surrounding him. So he decided that he would climb a tree and watch as Jesus passed by. He wanted to experience Jesus but from a safe distance.

Recently, I heard a church leader at an online conference linking this story to a phenomenon that has arisen from the pandemic. Since the first lockdown, the majority of churches now stream content online, providing the opportunity for their congregations to continue to worship together despite restrictions. It has also provided a new opportunity for those who, like Zacchaeus, want to see what Jesus is all about, but from a safe distance. For this reason, many churches are now planning to maintain their online services even after restrictions are fully lifted.

This is good news for those who want to investigate Jesus for themselves, but who may not feel able to attend a church in person – and clicking an online link may be easier than climbing up trees. As it happens, after Zacchaeus climbed that tree, his life was never the same again. rebornechurch.org

146 | Sherborne Times | August 2021

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