Sherborne Times January 2022

JANUARY 2022 | FREE

A MONTHLY CELEBR ATION OF PEOPLE, PLACE AND PURVEYOR

sherbornetimes.co.uk

WELCOME

W

ith things being as they are it’s easier to find certainty in the past than the present, let alone the future. Amidst swathes of transient tat there is comfort to be found in an item so well made that it holds its own, decades or even centuries after it was created. Perhaps it’s no surprise that many of us are rediscovering the joys of repair and restoration (were it not for the ones received this Christmas I’d be gladly darning my sorrowful old socks).

In the wake of Big Retail, large commercial units sit dormant on high streets across the country. While this might seem an intimidating prospect, it doesn’t take an industry expert to point out their potential.

Our attitude toward gainful employment is changing. Increasing numbers have opted out to follow long-held dreams of running their own business, while others – the ‘slashers’ – spin multiple small endeavours. For these microbusinesses, the flexibility and low cost of apportioned collaborative space offers an enticing platform – a safe place to test ideas and realise ambitions. It just takes an open-minded landlord and someone with enough guts and gumption to make it happen.

Cue Phillip Traves and Craig Wharton. Where others saw a big, empty space, they saw an opportunity and now 71 Cheap Street – formerly The Edinburgh Woollen Mill – is home to Sherborne Antiques Market, a vibrant community of 42 dealers and restorers. As consumer habits evolve we look to our smaller independents for products or user experiences that can’t be found online. Sherborne is seeing an exciting influx of these businesses and collaborative commercial spaces like the Antiques Market might just encourage more.

What’s in store then for 55 Cheap Street I wonder? Artist studios and gallery space? Artisan food hall? Craft market? No doubt someone’s already weighing up the options.

I wish you all a happy and healthy 2022 – a year, I hope, of realised ambitions, repair and restoration.

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

CONTRIBUTORS Editorial and creative direction Glen Cheyne Design Andy Gerrard Photography Katharine Davies Feature writer Jo Denbury Editorial assistant Helen Brown Sub editor Jemma Dempsey Social media Jenny Dickinson Illustrations Elizabeth Watson Print Stephens & George Distribution team Barbara and David Elsmore The Jackson Family David and Susan Joby Mary and Roger Napper Mark and Miranda Pender Claire Pilley Ionas Tsetikas

Elisabeth Bletsoe Sherborne Museum sherbornemuseum.co.uk

Craig Hardaker Communifit communifit.co.uk

Richard Bromell ASFAV Charterhouse Auctioneers and Valuers charterhouse-auction.com

Dawn Hart YogaSherborne yogasherborne.co.uk

Mike Burks The Gardens Group thegardensgroup.co.uk

Andy Hastie Cinematheque cinematheque.org.uk

David Burnett The Dovecote Press dovecotepress.com

Sue Hawkett

Rob Bygrave Sherborne Science Cafe sherbornesciencecafe.com Paula Carnell paulacarnell.com

James Hull The Story Pig thestorypig.co.uk

Charlotte Carty Sherborne Prep School sherborneprep.org

Richard Kay Lawrences Auctioneers lawrences.co.uk

Cindy Chant & John Drabik Sherborne Walks sherbornewalks.co.uk

Tess Kelly Sherborne Sports Centre sherbornesports.co.uk

Malcolm Cockburn Sherborne Scribblers

Lucy Lewis Dorset Mind dorsetmind.uk

Gary Cook cookthepainter.com David Copp Rosie Cunningham Jemma Dempsey

1 Bretts Yard Digby Road Sherborne Dorset DT9 3NL 01935 315556 @sherbornetimes info@homegrown-media.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk

James Flynn Milborne Port Computers computing-mp.co.uk

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

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

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

4 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Peter Littlewood BA (Hons), FRSA, Cert Mgmt (Open) Young People’s Trust for the Environment ypte.org.uk Gemma Loader BVetMed MRCVS Kingston Veterinary Group kingstonvets.co.uk Chris Loder MP chrisloder.co.uk

Simon Ford DWT Sherborne Group dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Paul Maskell The Beat and Track thebeatandtrack.co.uk

Andrew Fort B.A. (Econ.)

CFPcm Chartered MCSI APFS Fort Financial Planning ffp.org.uk

Sasha Matkevich The Green Restaurant greenrestaurant.co.uk

Andy Foster Raise Architects raisearchitects.com 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.

Mike Hewitson MPharm FFRPS FRSPH MRPharmS The Abbey Pharmacy theabbeypharmacy.com

Daniel Gornall Mogers Drewett Solicitors md-solicitors.co.uk Mark Greenstock & John Gaye Sherborne Literary Society sherborneliterarysociety.com Wesley Gullin Sherborne Town Ladies Football Club sherbornetownfc.com

Gillian Nash Mark Newton-Clarke MA VetMB PhD MRCVS Newton Clarke Veterinary Partnership newtonclarkevet.com Simon Partridge SP Fit spfit-sherborne.co.uk Val Stones bakerval.com Emma Tabor & Paul Newman paulnewmanartist.com Julia Witherspoon julianutrition.co.uk

70 6

Art & Culture

JANUARY 2022 60 Antiques

120 Legal

16 What’s On

64 Gardening

122 Finance

18 Community

70 Sherborne Antiques Market

124 Tech

24 Family

78 Food & Drink

126 Short Story

38 Science & Nature

88 Animal Care

128 Crossword

50 On Foot

94 Body & Mind

129 Literature

54 History

114 Home

130 Pause for Thought

We are looking to expand our portfolio With a local and enthusiastic team, Dorset Hideaways are well placed to make the process of sharing your holiday home easy and enjoyable.

We are dedicated to managing your property with the same care and attention you would and with tailored services to suit your needs, you can be as involved as you like.

01929 448 708 newowners@dorsethideaways.co.uk dorsethideaways.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 5

Art & Culture

ARTIST AT WORK

No.38: Gary Cook, Cloudbreak, ink, watercolour and charcoal, 30 x 20 cm, £695

I

’ve spent the past few years seeing the woods for their trees. Ash and oak and the wildlife dependent on them have been my artistic focus. Oak trees, for example, provide the habitat for around 2,300 species, from bats to beetles and lichens to mammals. I delicately inscribe the names of these animals into my watercolours to highlight the interconnectedness and importance of our woodlands.

6 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Lately, the luminous quality of the River Stour has drawn my eye. So, I am building a series of paintings celebrating its magnificent 60-mile journey to the English Channel. Capturing its watery reflections is proving an exciting and uplifting challenge.

I’ve visited its source, only then registering why the wonderful Stourhead estate is so-called; it marks the spot where the river starts. As it wends through Dorset, many villages are named in its

honour: West Stour, Stourpaine, Stourton, Stour Provost, Sturminster Newton - illustrating how our ancestors instinctively appreciated its vital role in our lives. I’m painting its twisting course as it falls 750ft from its Wiltshire birthplace to Christchurch Harbour, showcasing its beauty and its environmental importance. These paintings will form a solo exhibition titled ‘Wend’ at the Art Stable in Child Okeford later this year.

___________________________________________ Saturday 11th June - Saturday 9th July Gary Cook - Wend The Art Stable, Gold Hill Organic Farm, Child Okeford, Blandford DT11 8HB theartstable.co.uk

cookthepainter.com

@cookthepainter

___________________________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 7

Art & Culture

ON FILM

Andy Hastie, Yeovil Cinematheque

O

ne of the quirks one learns from being involved in the running of a film society is that, over a season, the last film before Christmas is usually the least well attended, whilst the first film after Christmas is always one of the busiest.

Why should this be? One can only guess, but it may be that people are only too keen to be with relatives in December, but come January they’ve had enough of them! Other explanations welcome, but I hope a big crowd do turn up on 5th January, as they’re going to see a cracking film.

On this date Cinematheque are showing Birds of Passage (2018) a powerful Colombian award-winning epic crime thriller. Set in the 1970s among the Wayuu 8 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

people in northern Colombia, the film explores the rise of a Wayuu man, Rapayet, and his family as they enter the drug trade, prosper, but slowly lose their traditions and former way of life. This isn’t narco-trafficking drug cartels fighting over supplying the West with cocaine, but rather a marijuana war between two indigenous clans.

If anyone has seen Embrace of the Serpent (2015), the extraordinary previous film from the husband and wife directors Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego, they will know of their interest in traditional Amazonian cultures through dreams, the spirit world and magical realism.

This they bring to Birds of Passage, creating a film of both gangsters and spirits – a fascinating hybrid of genres.

The film took over ten years to complete and

Birds of Passage (2018)

is based on real stories the directors heard during their research of Wayuu culture. To reflect this, they brought members of the Wayuu community into the film’s production – 30% of cast and crew was made up of locals. The result is a glorious mix of Western crime thriller and mysticism – The Godfather meets Gabriel Garcia Marquez! Ancestral traditions and cultures are put at risk when set against greed and the corrupting forces of wealth and power. This certainly is a beautifully photographed and unique film, while even Barack Obama named it as one of his favourite films in his 2019 annual list.

‘A textured and utterly unique re-imagining of the family crime saga’ Christina Newland, Sight and Sound

magazine. ‘An absolutely extraordinary film’ Jessica Kiang, The Playlist.

Do try us out if you are interested – all details are on the Cinematheque website. Thank you.

A happy and peaceful New Year to all, stay safe. cinematheque.org.uk swan-theatre.co.uk

___________________________________________ Wednesday 5th January 7.30pm Birds of Passage (2018) 15 Cinematheque, Swan Theatre, 138 Park St, Yeovil BA20 1QT Members £1, guests £5

___________________________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 9

Art & Culture

CONFESSIONS OF A THEATRE ADDICT

I

Rosie Cunningham

saw Austentatious at the Fortune Theatre in London. Termed as ‘an improvised Jane Austen novel’, six actors took to the stage and created a new Austenesque play based on suggested recommendations and directions from a lively audience. The result was a very silly, very witty, collaboration. Nobody knows how it will end until the evening finishes, there was much ‘corpsing’ by the actors on stage and it was a thoroughly good evening. The team which comprises Austentatious can be hired for private functions.

The National Theatre’s production of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane is at the Duke of York’s Theatre. The storyline follows the ‘boy’, played by James Bamford, through the transient, every day, yet mystical magic of his childhood memories which reflect his love of fantastical literature. He and his friend, Lettie (Grace Hogg-Robinson), lead the ensemble through enchanted forests, never letting go of each other’s hands particularly in the face of danger. The special effects and scenery, including puppetry, floating doors and other magic, conceived and designed by Fly Davis, were enthralling. This was a Neil Gaiman fan-fest deluxe and if you enjoyed Stardust, this is for you. On until February 2022.

If you didn’t catch Anything Goes, Cole Porter’s toe-tapping razzmatazz joy, written after the Great Depression, the musical is touring the UK in 2022. This is the antidote for anyone feeling the blues. Winner of multi-Tony Awards, the show features well-known songs such as I Get a Kick Out of You and You’re the Top, dancing, comedy and farce. Starting at the Bristol Hippodrome in April 2022 and finishing back at the Barbican Theatre in July.

My Fair Lady is transferring to the London Coliseum from Broadway in May 2022 which is something that I am very much looking forward to. The story of Eliza Doolittle, the cockney flower seller who is transformed into a lady, based on the original play, Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw. Described as a ‘confection of a show’ by the New York Theatre Guide.

Constellations, which ran in the West End recently, is now available to rent on demand if you missed it. Four different casts take the journey through the multiverse and the infinite possibilities of a relationship. Whilst the words remain the same, the intonation and body language, makes for a unique rendition each time. I saw it twice and loved both interpretations.

It costs £15 to rent each production via the Donmar Warehouse website.

The Art Fund is sponsoring a fabulous exhibition entitled Waste Age: What can design do? at the Design Museum in Kensington High Street until 20th February 2022. A new generation of designers are finding value in discarded items and working toward a circular economy, for example Stella McCartney who reworks old fishing nets into jackets and trousers. My daughter was enthralled.

Finally, the Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution exhibition is open at the V&A until May 2022. This is an exploration of Carl Fabergé, the man behind the internationally-recognised firm symbolising Russian craftsmanship, luxury, and elegance. Well worth the £18 entry fee.

10 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

James Bamford in The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Image: Manuel Harlan sherbornetimes.co.uk | 11

Art & Culture

Paul Bril (1554-1626) Mountainous Landscape with Satyrs and Goats by a Cascade, oil on canvas, 65 x 89.5cm

FLEMISH WITHOUT A BLEMISH

DECODING A MYSTERY FROM HISTORY Richard Kay, Director, Picture Department, Lawrences Auctioneers

O

ne of the very first pieces of advice I ever received when I started working in the auction world 35 years ago was, ‘A signature is the first part of the clue but it must be the last part of the proof.’ The presence of a signature is intended to focus one’s thoughts upon the supposed artist but, should the attribution itself prove to be quite implausible, the quality of any signature may be disregarded. However, should the picture prove to be entirely plausible in every other respect, an uncharacteristic signature can be ignored.

12 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Sometimes, pictures only become interesting when they are unsigned; sometimes they become even more intriguing when they are signed. Just such a conundrum arose with the landscape scene illustrated alongside.

The Somerset-based family who had owned it for over 150 years had always believed it be by Paul Bril (1554-1626), an Antwerp-born artist who travelled to Rome and blended Flemish and Italian styles with great skill and faultless technical aplomb.

Helpfully, the picture was even signed, but this was

where I began to placing it in the feel concern rather 1616-1619 period. than reassurance. The He determined that signature was bold a third variant of the and wholly legible: subject, offered at P. BRILL. D. Not auction in Germany only was the spelling in March 2021, was of the surname a picture by Ryckaert unexpected but the that had indeed ‘D’ could indicate been misattributed ‘delineavit’ (a Latin to Bril. But, most term meaning that thrillingly, he was Bril had devised the able to suggest original composition with probability but that this picture Willem Van Haecht, The Gallery of Cornelius van der Geest, 1626 rather than mere had been copied by possibility that our another hand). In addition, I soon discovered that an canvas was the very picture depicted within a Flemish almost identical subject by Bril himself had been sold masterpiece called The Cabinet of Cornelis van der

by Sotheby’s in New York in January 2015. Could Bril Geest, painted by Willem van Haeght in 1626 (see really have painted two such similar pictures? If so, image). It may be seen on the floor at the back of the why? As my mind began to tumble with possibilities, room in the centre of the picture. it had to be borne in mind that the paintings of a Bril This remarkable discovery lifted the picture above contemporary, Marten Ryckaert (1587-1631), are the mire of doubt and linked it, almost beyond any often recklessly assigned to Bril. And yet there was further argument, to the distinguished collection of a more than sufficient quality in the details to make noted collector in early 17th Century Antwerp: exactly me feel that this perplexing picture really had to be a where one would expect to find a museum-quality rarity by Paul Bril himself. work by Bril. The deduction dismissed any possibility Clearly, more thorough research was going to be of its not being by Bril since Van der Geest would not required to pick apart the tangled threads of possibility. have countenanced a less than exemplary work by Bril One detail became apparent quite readily: the picture in his own discerning collection. had been the property of a distinguished Australian art The puzzling signature could be addressed as an dealer, Thomas Ware Smart, an ancestor of the vendor, aberration of no concern. As all the other aspects who had died in 1881. The dates of Smart’s professional of the picture endorsed the attribution to Bril, the career hauled the picture back deep into the 19th atypical signature was nothing more than a variation in Century when ‘fake’ works by Paul Bril were less an era of notoriously imprecise spellings. It was indeed commonly found (the cunning commercial temptations the first part of the clue and the last part of the proof. to deceive were much more slight at that time).

The curious ‘D’ could indicate that from this picture an But, as I pondered, the deus ex machina was the engraving was devised by another hand. superb – dare I say Bril-liant? – expertise of the Drs Pijl will be including the picture in his noted Flemish art historian Drs. Luuk Pijl. I had sent forthcoming catalogue raisonné – a definitive academic him a few clear photographs for his thoughts and survey of all of Paul Bril’s oeuvre in this medium. His he responded so eagerly that I knew that I had the authoritative imprimatur served to reassure bidders attention of just the right man. Drs. Pijl compiled that the picture was all that had ever been hoped of a skilful assessment of the picture that resolved all it – and rather more besides. The picture is now back the complexities and straightened out all of the in Antwerp. In our October auction, the blend of tangled threads. He noted that ‘our’ picture was a provenance, quality, expertise and rigorous scrutiny little less refined than the 1619 example that had ensured that the price topped £55,000. been offered at Sotheby’s in 2015 and so he worked on the assumption that it predated that composition, lawrences.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 13

Art & Culture

COUNTER CULTURE Paul Maskell, The Beat and Track

No. 5 Aphex Twin

R

ichard D. James, better known, amongst numerous other pseudonyms, as Aphex Twin can be described as ‘beyond prolific’. He makes ambient music that will take you to another planet, and not necessarily return you. He makes techno that can make you dance for eight hours straight in a room full of strangers. He makes drill n’ bass that tears your face off. He makes music that defies description.

He programs his computer to play the Klavier. The idiosyncratic pioneer of electronic music has led a career that is as uncompromising as it is long, as confusing as it is brilliant and as uplifting as it is dark and sinister.

Born in 1971 in Ireland, Richard D. James grew up 14 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

in Redruth, Cornwall and spent his early years honing an interest in electronics and computers. By the age of 14 he was proficient at computer programming and modifying synthesisers and other electronic units to create strange noises and rhythms. During the late 80s and early 90s James DJed at clubs and raves, incorporating his own tracks into his sets as well as gaining a National Diploma in Engineering at college.

Within one year James’s output exploded with regular DJ slots in the South West, the release of his first EP (Analogue Bubblebath) on Mighty Force records, the formation of his own record label (Rephlex) and the signing to renowned Belgian record label R&S

Records. This was only the start. As momentum grew with the success of his EP he went into overdrive. He subsequently recorded two more Analogue Bubblebath EPs, two EPs under the pseudonym of Caustic Window, the Red EP as part of the Universal Indicator collective, along with two EPs on R&S – Digeridoo and Xylem Tube. All this while he was trying to study electronics at Kingston Polytechnic. He later admitted that techno eventually put an end to his studies.

With touring support slots with electronic groups such as The Orb, Orbital and Moby, James’s Aphex Twin moniker was in demand and he was signed to Sheffield-based Warp Records. Warp started with the immediate release of James’s second album Selected Ambient Works Vol II. This was quickly followed up by the release of a fourth Analogue Bubblebath EP and Classics, a compilation album.

It was in 1995 that James burst into the mainstream, charting with the release of I Care Because You Do which features the now iconic self-portrait of James on the front cover. While classical music composer Philip Glass was commissioned to create orchestral versions of tracks from the album for the release of a subsequent EP Donkey Rhubarb, James found time to record the EP Hangable Auto Bulb, under the name of AFX which would kick-start the short-lived scene of drill ‘n’ bass. A fourth Aphex Twin album was released in 1996 on Warp entitled Richard D. James Album incorporating jungle, orchestral strings and insane electronica. In later years the NME would name this the 55th greatest album of all time and the album would receive plaudits from across the music industry. Typically James had no regard for any praise received for his work and simply moved on to the next idea, the next genre and the next sound.

Eccentric or simply uncompromising, James has always done things his way: programming computers

EM_ST.qxp_Layout 1 08/12/2021 21:14 Page 1

and synths to produce automatically, self-composed music; releasing a digital death metal song entitled Come to Daddy (which, much to his confusion and distress, became a massive underground hit with the help of a disturbing Chris Cunningham video); and writing one of the most beautiful pieces of piano music Avril 14th (featured on the double album Drukqs).

He has also produced music that when fed through a certain type of receiver converts the sound to images – in this instance another self-portrait.

In the 30-odd years of performing and recording, the unrelenting Richard D. James has recorded different genres under different names; programmed computers to write his music automatically; refused to remix Madonna and Bjork and dared to submit a remix of a Lemonheads track which only contained one note of the original song and a set of random beats and bleeps. He has stated that he has more music unreleased than he has out in the public domain. This is quite a statement since he has recorded nine studio albums, six compilation albums, 49 EPs and seven singles under the names Aphex Twin, Blue Calx, Bradley Strider, Caustic Window, GAK, Q-Chastic, Phonic Boy on Dope, Polygon Window, Power-pill, Smojphace, Soit-p.p, The Dice Man, The Tuss and User18081971.

Obviously James isn’t content with this. In October 2020, Novation Digital Music Systems released the AFX Station analog synthesiser on which James collaborated in the design and manufacturing process.

Aphex Twin is still producing music ‘for his own consumption’, until he next leaks tracks onto the dark web or has a laptop stolen on a train or just decides on a new name and creates a new genre. Who cares? He cares…because we do. thebeatandtrack.co.uk

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

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 15

WHAT'S ON Listings ____________________________ Thursdays 7.30pm-9.30pm

to us on ‘Success With Houseplants’

Series (Energy Gathering

____________________________

Oliver’s Cafe, Cheap Street.

Visitors £2. 01935 389375

Scottish Country Dancing

Workshop) £20. healer@smallfinds.org.uk

Long Sutton Village Hall. 01460 929383

____________________________

or anitaandjim22@gmail.com

____________________________ Sunday 2nd 2pm-4pm Singing Bowl Soundbath Oborne Village Hall. £15. Bookings 01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com centreforpuresound.org/events

____________________________ Wednesday 5th 10.30am

Saturday 22nd 7.30pm

The Probus Club of Sherborne:

Friday 14th 7.30pm

aKa Dance – A Real Fiction

The Samaritans - with guest

Tim Kiphuis Trio –

speaker William Christopher

The Five Elements

Halstock Village Hall.

The Grange Hotel, Oborne. New

Yetminster Jubilee Hall. Violinist

probus-sherborne.org.uk

and double-bassist Roy Percy. High-

members always welcome. 01935 813448.

Tim Kliphuis, guitarist Nigel Clark

A mix of dance, theatre, meme and pop culture. artsreach.co.uk 01935 891744. £8, 35 u18s, £20 family

____________________________

energy brand of classical, gypsy jazz,

Tuesday 25th 7pm

01935 873546

AGM and Words with Wine

138 Park St, Yeovil.

Saturday 15th 10am-2pm

Crossing the Genres: Finding Thomas

cinematheque.org.uk (see preview page 8)

Cheap Street Church Hall.

Thursday 6th 8pm

and avoid landfill. Not for profit

Sunday 30th 2pm

needed. repaircafesherborne@gmail.com

Oborne Village Hall, Oborne. £15.

Movement and my

____________________________

Lancashire Grandmother

Thursday 20th 8pm

centreforpuresound.org/events

Digby Hall, Hound Street. Dr Jane

Sherborne Historical

14, in the fight for women’s suffrage, illuminate the bigger picture.

Christopher Massy-Beresford charts

3pm & 7pm

empire over three centuries and its

Treasures of the Fan Museum

sherbornehistoricalsociety.co.uk

A talk with the museum’s curator Jacob

____________________________ Wednesday 5th 7.30pm Birds of Passage (2018) 15 Cinematheque, Swan Theatre,

celtic and world music. artsreach.co.uk

Sherborne Literary Society –

____________________________

The Raleigh Hall, Digby Road.

Members £1, guests £5

Repair Cafe

____________________________

Bring household items to be repaired

Sherborne Historical Society Talk: ‘Deeds Not Words’: the Militant Suffragette

organisation. Volunteers and repairers @repaircafesherborne

Hardy. A talk with Peter Tait.

Tickets £5 available at Winstone’s

____________________________ Singing Bowl Soundbath Bookings 01935 389655 ahiahel@live.com ____________________________

Crozier explores the final years, 1903-

Society Talk: From

Planning ahead

Caravels to Carnations

____________________________

using a piece of family history to

Digby Hall, Hound Street.

Wednesday 2nd February

sherbornehistoricalsociety.co.uk

the development of Portugal’s trading

Sherborne Art Society –

sudden end only 45 years ago.

Digby Hall, Hound Street.

____________________________

Moss. All welcome. Non-members £7

____________________________ Thursday 13th 2.30pm Sherborne and District Gardeners’ Association Meeting Digby Hall, Hound Street. A member of the Castle Gardens team will talk

16 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Friday 21st 6pm-8pm Ethereal Realm Mindfulness

theartssocietysherborne.org

____________________________

JANUARY 2022 Thursday 3rd February 8pm

Sherborne RFC

Saturday 1st

Sherborne Historical Society

1st XV, Tribute South West 1 East

v Welton Rovers (A)

Terrace Playing Fields.

v Devizes Town (H)

Talk: Britain’s Gurkhas:

Gainsborough Park,

Saturday 8th

pitchero.com/clubs/sherbornerfc

Saturday 15th

Col. David Hayes CBE traces

Friday 7th 7pm

Saturday 22nd

the history of the Gurkhas.

v Frome (H)

v Bishops Lydeard (H)

sherbornehistoricalsociety.co.uk

Saturday 15th TBC

____________________________

____________________________

v Grove (A)

Their Place in our History and our Future Digby Hall, Hound Street.

v Portishead Town (A)

Saturday 22nd 2pm

Sport

v Newbury Blues (H)

____________________________

Saturday 29th 2pm v Marlborough (H) ____________________________

To include your event in our FREE

Sherborne Town FC

listings please email details – date/

1st XI, Toolstation League 1

time/title/venue/description/price/

(3pm unless otherwise stated)

contact (max 20 words) – by the

sherbornetownfc.com

listings@homegrown-media.co.uk

Raleigh Grove, Terrace Playing Fields.

5th of each preceding month to

Friday Lunchtime Recitals Cheap Street Church, 1.45pm

(unless otherwise stated)

7th January Soloists I

18th February Pianists I

14th January Soloists II

4th March Chamber Music

21st January Strings

11th March Pianists II

28th January Singers

18th March Wind Band Recital, Big School Room, Sherborne School

4th February Brass 11th February Woodwind

FREE ADMISSION ALL WELCOME sherbornetimes.co.uk | 17

Community

THE SHERBORNE LITERARY SOCIETY

O

John Gaye

ver the years I have frequently received missives from people writing to the Sherborne Literacy (sic) Society. I can reassure them that our members are not only very capable of reading but actually enjoy it enough to attend literary events in order to hear about new books from the authors.

Indeed, during the last months of semi-isolation, for many of us reading has never been so important.

That love of books seems to have survived despite dire predictions that ‘moving pictures’, then TV and then computer games would supersede the appeal of reading. In addition, although many bookshops have gone to the wall, Sherborne is blessed with its very own independent bookshop, Winstone’s, which has been so successful it has since opened up branches in both Frome and Sidmouth. Its owner, Wayne Winstone, has been a huge supporter of the Society from the start, not least in helping to source some of the very best authors in Britain, and many of the most promising new ones, to speak at our events.

Part of what makes Sherborne so very special for those who live in the town or surrounding villages are the many societies, covering a wide range of both the world of the arts and of science, that are run by volunteers for the benefit of all. They all contribute to making the town a unique place to live and often provide events worthy of London or other major cities.

18 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Not least among them is the Literary Society with its events covering many different genres and subjects.

The Society held its last formal 3-day festival in 2019. Since then it has switched to running major events on a regular basis throughout the year, thus ensuring that we are not limited to a specific time of year, usually aimed at the pre-Christmas publishing frenzy, which clashes with hundreds of other festivals which have since sprung up around the country in October or November.

We aim for true diversity; not just in the choice of author but to be more relevant to our audience, in the variety of subjects covered and in the genre of the literature, which may range from Pam Ayres’ wonderful poetry to Adam Nicolson on the natural history of our coastline to Andrew Lownie’s very revealing biography of King Edward VIII. We also hope to identify those authors who can make for an entertaining evening and provide an amusing or revealing commentary on their book while avoiding those who cannot, however well they may write.

In addition, we provide a regular forum whereby local authors can promote their books and at which members of the Society can enjoy a more informal evening over a glass of wine and some canapés.

For more details of membership (£10), its many advantages and for the full programme of events visit sherborneliterarysociety.com

Community

GROUND WORK

SHERBORNE TOWN LADIES FOOTBALL CLUB Wesley Gullin, UEFA B-Licensed Coach

S

herborne Town Ladies Football Club was founded in 2018 and settled happily into its home at the Consol Stadium, Sherborne Terraces.

A successful maiden campaign saw the club achieve Dorset Women’s League and Dorset County Cup titles – a fantastic first step towards the club’s ambition of providing a sustainable environment for talented female footballers. Just one year after its inception, Sherborne Town Ladies Football Club expanded in order to provide structured coaching for young girls in the area as part of ‘player pathway’ – something the club recognised as being in great demand in the local area. This began in 2019 with the creation of an Under 11 Girls team. Since then, the club has grown to include four teams, with several youth team players representing Dorset as part of the county’s Advanced 20 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Coaching Centre. This provides players with additional opportunities to be coached as part of the England Talent Pathway, and something the club is very proud to support should players wish to take their football to the next step.

The latest of these youth teams to form is the Under 9 group, started just last summer. Despite continuing concerns around Covid-19, the team quickly filled its quota of 14 players, and took its place in the Dorset Youth Football League, U9 Girls division. The league is non-competitive, with teams playing a series of sevena-side matches focussed around learning and having fun. The team began training on Friday evenings on the Terrace Playing Fields, with matches being played on Saturday mornings. A vast majority of the players have made their first steps into structured football, with

Image: Calli Dale

"The club has grown to include four teams, with several youth team players representing Dorset as part of the county’s Advanced Coaching Centre."

many never playing a game before, so there was a lot for the young recruits to learn! But learn they did, and with smiles on their faces the girls went into their first league match against Bridport Youth U9 Girls on Saturday 4th September 2021. In an exciting, evenly-matched encounter, the young zebras played brilliantly and scored five goals, with all five being scored by different players. Since their debut, the team have played a further 10 games and scored a whopping 26 times. One player who has certainly found a talent for scoring is Sherborne’s Pippa Stroger-George, with the speedy striker getting two goals in her last two games. Pippa’s great attitude to training and her keenness to help and encourage her teammates, are both characteristics which the club seeks to promote within its values.

Goalkeeper Imogen Hann has also discovered a talent, wowing the supporters and coaches alike with her bravery and quick reactions!

The Under 9 girls still have half the season to play, but will also be entering a league plate competition in the new year. This will see the teams placed into small groups, with the winners of each group getting to play in a cup final at the end of the season! The team has had such fantastic support, particularly from parents and guardians, something I’m keen to praise.

Rain or shine, you’ll find plenty of encouragement and cheering coming from the zebras’ supporters on a Saturday morning – a friendly group of people really have come together to get behind their team. Calli Dale, proud parent of Sherborne Town U9’s toughtackling Brooke Dale, has kindly taken the position of team photographer, capturing some fantastic moments as the girls embark on the start of their footballing journey together.

Sherborne Town Ladies Football Club has an ambition to be affordable and sustainable, in order to be inclusive to everyone in the community. Part of this commitment to keep costs low requires the club to do a substantial amount of fundraising, both through functions and events up at the Consol Stadium, and via sponsorship from local businesses and organisations.

If anyone would like to support this project as it continues to grow, there are lots of ways to get involved; from attending an event, sponsoring an individual player, helping supply kit or equipment, all the way to sponsoring a whole team, so the Club would love to hear from anyone who might want to join us on this journey! sherbornetownfc.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 21

Community

OUR MAN IN WESTMINSTER Chris Loder MP

T

he tragic deaths in the English Channel last November have brought to the fore once again the stark realities we face with people trafficking and illegal immigration into the UK. It’s also vital that we approach discussions about immigration with compassion, pragmatism and firmness so we can try to prevent further deaths because, if we are honest with ourselves, this awful tragedy has been an accident waiting to happen.

Immigration has always been an important, but contentious issue in the UK, although in recent times, the debate has changed. Some like to bring a wilful confusion to the different situations of asylum seekers, refugees, economic migrants, illegal immigrants – by conflating these issues together under the same umbrella.

Over-generalising ‘immigration’ is harming our ability to have a constructive and respectful debate about the issue. I often get frustrated when I listen to the opposition suggesting we as a country are very opposed to giving safe refuge to those in need because of a very real concern about illegal immigration.

When immigration is spoken of as though all those entering the country are asylum seekers fleeing war and terror abroad, it sounds coarse on the part of those who speak out opposed to illegal immigration. The problem when you conflate asylum seekers and refugees with people circumventing our legal immigration system is not only that the debate is stalled, but the reality would be an uncontrolled application process, entirely overwhelmed and broken. Perhaps this would be the political objective for some?

To put this in perspective, in the year ending June 2021, the UK gave asylum to 10,725 people and 6,449 dependents. We have seen in the responses to China’s anti-democratic laws in Hong Kong and to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan how the people of this country are ready to mobilise in support of people who need a safe place to live and flourish.

22 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Image: Len Copland

And we have done that here in Dorset, as well as other parts of the country. In the same way, we have welcomed refugees from Syria too and it is absolutely right that we continue to do this. We have given safe refuge to more than 17,000 people from Afghanistan.

The same for the 5.4 million Hong Kong residents to whom we have offered safe refuge should they choose.

I listened to ‘Thought for the Day’ by the Bishop of Leeds on 25th November on Radio 4.

He complimented President Macron saying that he conveyed human solidarity so well when he offered his sympathies to the families of those who drowned in the English Channel. But I think President Macron’s warm words ahead of an election next year will not stop this from happening again. It is so awfully sad that scores of people have died in this way. And if those people who lost their lives were seeking asylum in the UK, we need to ask some difficult questions, i.e. why is there such an issue in France? Why do those

people not want to stay there? Why do many fortunate British citizens have an interest in France, such as a holiday home or a retreat where they are welcomed, but yet as a country it’s seemingly so inhospitable to migrants – to the extent they risk their lives in small boats crossing the English Channel?

The criminal gangs who charge desperate people vast sums of money to make such a perilous sea crossing are criminal, cruel and inhumane. It sells a lie to people in need trying to get to the UK that it is better to come by boat than to apply for asylum. And when we see French Police looking on, allowing these boats, facilitated by traffickers, to leave those shores, there is something much darker to all of this that sits very uncomfortably with me, about how much is really known about the shady world of people trafficking in France. This is what makes me feel that, by default, although not explicit, the Bishop in his interview was inferring that either France is not a safe country for refuge or that it has become

much more anti-immigration than maybe we realise.

By default, if those who brave the Channel really are seeking refuge, we should ask ourselves, and our French neighbours why.

I have received a number of very strong views on both side of this argument, but the reality is that most people are aligned with the view that the UK should give safe haven to those in need of refuge, but illegal immigration needs to be stopped in its tracks.

But we also have to recognise that our own Government has much to do and our own inability historically to grasp this issue for some time has exacerbated the situation. The Nationality and Borders Bill is the Government’s legislative vehicle to get the powers from Parliament that it needs. We started this before Christmas and can expect new laws to address these issues in the spring. chrisloder.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 23

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 24 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

We are inquisitive Book a personal visit and tour to find out more about life at Leweston A co-educational Prep, Senior and Sixth Form Flexi, weekly and full boarding options Daily buses across Dorset and Somerset 01963 211015 | www.leweston.co.uk | admissions@leweston.dorset.sch.uk

UNEARTHED Jessica Craw, aged 14 Leweston School

J

essica, a Year 10 Art and Design scholar, joined Leweston in Year 7 and has always had a passion for art. She chose to continue the subject into GCSE to gain more lesson time and further her existing skills and techniques. Last year Jessica completed her Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, choosing art as her showcase skill, uploading six months’ worth of work which focused on coloured pencils as her medium.

Recognising Jessica’s determination, her tutor and Head of Biology, Mrs Dawson recommended that she enter the Nancy Rothwell Award – part of a competition run by the Royal Society of Biology. The award brings art and science together and has encouraged and celebrated biological specimen drawing since 2014, promoting the value of observation, creativity and artistry in science learning and discovery. Jessica’s hard work paid off and her piece Maned Wolf was awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the 12-14 category. Over half term she was thrilled to visit the Whitworth Gallery to see her entry as part of the exhibition. Her drawing will be on display in the gallery in Manchester until January next year.

Jessica said: ‘I enjoyed the experience because I loved seeing the progress I would make with it, and I liked learning more about the animal, art and anatomy itself.

Seeing as the animal was rare and real diagrams were scarce, I challenged myself to create my own diagrams by cross-referencing photos online and photos found on medical studies, pushing myself a bit out of my comfort zone!’

Spurred on by her impressive achievement, Jessica now aims to expand her knowledge even further and hopes to enter more competitions in the future whilst continuing her Art and Design studies. leweston.co.uk

KATHARINE DAVIES PHOTOGRAPHY

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

26 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Children’s Book Review Aurelia Pettegree, Aged 8, Leweston Prep

The History of The World in 100 Animals (Illustrated edition)

by Simon Barnes and illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon, (Simon & Schuster) £20 (hardcover) Sherborne Times reader offer price of £18 from Winstone’s Books

S

imon Barnes is a well-known travel and nature writer. In The History of The World in 100 Animals, he picks 100 creatures that have had a big impact on humans throughout history. Animals we are familiar with like gorillas and bats are included, plus some unusual ones, like the nasty loa loa worm and the saola, which was only discovered by scientists 30 years ago because of the Vietnam war.

The front cover is colourful and vibrant. It has a cute penguin, an orange, scaly snake around a tree branch and a squid which reminds me of a rocket head. At the bottom of the front cover there is a jaguar which looks like it’s stalking its prey. The cover makes me want to learn about the animals.

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

The drawings inside are bright and detailed and they have drawn the animal doing what it would usually do. The drawings are realistic and describe it well.

The facts are interesting and when you start reading, it makes you want to read more. I learnt things that I did not know were true, for example, that sharks cannot breathe if they stop moving and also that there are only 20,000 African lions left in the wild.

It is really sad that humans won’t stop killing the creatures of our planet. We need to stop because if we don’t they will become extinct. I have learnt a lot from this book and I think it is important that children know these facts.

Books to keep you busy this winter!

Family

COLOURING PAGE

Illustrations: Daniela Barreto/Shutterstock

28 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

VOLUNTEER DISTRIBUTORS REQUIRED

BRADFORD ABBAS LEIGH LONGBURTON NETHER & OVER COMPTON SHERBORNE THORNFORD YETMINSTER PLEASE CALL 01935 315556 OR EMAIL info@homegrown-media.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 29

Family

30 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

HOME FRONT

A

Jemma Dempsey

mongst the many films we as a family watched over the Christmas break, perhaps the one requiring the most tissues was Marley and Me. For those oblivious it is a simple story – of how a pet can come to dominate family life, take centre stage, be adored and shouted at in equal measure and generally cause mayhem along the way. In this case Marley is a Labrador, a loveable but quite mad example of the generally docile breed – for that read ‘eats things like answerphones, shoes, contents of bins and anything else generally not nailed down, as well as going bonkers during thunderstorms’. Which if you live in Florida is a bit of a problem.

The book, which I read many years ago, made me blub like a baby and had me vowing never to watch the movie should one ever be made. But when the husband suggested it one cold, dark evening I acquiesced, though knowing the ending, which you can of course guess, I knew I’d need tissues at the ready. Unsurprisingly, the book received a typical Hollywood makeover and it starred Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. I’m just glad I didn’t go to the cinema to watch it as there would have been Kleenex everywhere, and I’m sure not just from where I was sitting. Of course, it wasn’t just me who got emotional at that film and afterwards we each made a special effort to give our stinky, old Labradoodle a bit more love than usual, despite the evil smells coming from her rear end. Aged 15 we’re all very mindful that we might not have her around for much longer, that we too might be finding a special place for her in our garden, just like Marley.

So, I begin my 2022 determined to be more grateful for the things I have in my life, including my ageing dog. This time last year I was about to embark on my cancer treatment, petrified about what lay ahead. 12 months has passed and I am still here; the world is still turning, although I am somewhat changed, both physically and mentally. But what about New Year resolutions – are they even a thing anymore? Do people still set themselves these challenges when statistics show 80% of the time they’ll give up before the end of the month?

Lose weight, exercise more, quit smoking, spend less money, live life to the fullest… take your pick these are some of the most common pledges and why I won’t be setting any this January.

This self-inflicted quest to be better, have more, look different… it’s so tiring for most people who just want to live a simple life and get on with those around them. Yes, if you really want to change, make it happen but don’t vow to do it on January 1st – you’ll just end up disappointed.

Instead, I’m planning to be grateful. Practising gratitude sounds easy but as with most selfimprovement, it rarely is. Aside from my flatulent dog, I’m grateful that I still have my parents around, that the husband hasn’t scarpered after a year where even the strongest of marriages would have been tested. I am grateful for my two boys, though not for their ubiquitous mess, but am learning to just close their bedroom doors and not sweat the small stuff. I am grateful to my wonderful friends who’ve kept me sane by letting me laugh and cry this past year. And I am grateful to the Sherborne Times, for allowing me to rant about my cancer and for indulging you with stories of my somewhat weirdly wonderful home life. To those readers who’ve emailed me over the months, thank you – I think I’ve replied to each and every one of you. I will endeavour to keep up the good work.

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 31

Come and visit our warm community in action

Arrange your bespoke visit by contacting Charlotte at admissions@sherborneprep.org | 01935 810911 www.sherborneprep.org

Discover THE WORLD OF SCENT

Follow our story

F R E E G A R D E N E N T RY BISTRO – BRUNCH , LUNCH , COFFEE , CAKE , AF TERNOON TE A C R E AT I V E WO R K S H O P S F R E E P E R F U M E E X H I B I T I O N & TO U R S S C E N T E D G A R D E N TO U R S CINEMA & SUPPER G I F T S H O P – PA R T E R R E P E R F U M E S , BOOKS, INDOOR PLANTS

AT T H E H O M E O F PARTERRE FRAGRANCES OPEN ALL YEAR To plan an event or book a table contact us on 01258 786022 or enquiries@keynestonmill.com Keyneston Mill, Nr. Blandford Forum DT11 9HZ For opening times please visit

W W W. K E Y N E S TO N M I L L .CO M

32 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

T H E S A N C T UA RY BEAUTY ROOMS

20%

OFF

ALL T R E AT M E N T S * T H RO U G H O U T

J A N UA RY

* REDUCED

DISCOUNT OF 10% ON CACI COURSES & RETREAT PACKAGES

T H E S A N C T UA RY, 8 A C H E A P S T R E E T, S H E R B O R N E , T E L : 0 1 9 3 5 8 1 5 0 8 5

W W W. T H E S A N C T U A RY S H E R B O R N E . C O . U K

Family

CHOOSING A SCHOOL As easy as A, B, C

Charlotte Carty, Registrar, Sherborne Prep

Image: Katharine Davies 34 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

T

he New Year provides a fresh start and an exciting 12 months of adventure and opportunity lie ahead. There may be some key dates already in the diary and there may be other tasks that you know are approaching. At this time of the year, many are considering which school will suit their child for the next chapter in their lives.

To whom will you entrust your most treasured possession for a significant period of their life?

This can seem a daunting question. However, the answer could be as simple as A, B, C! A is for ‘Ask’

Ask about the school. Research and try to find out as much as you can about the schools you are considering. Ask friends, relatives, parent networks. Ask your child! Depending on their age, they could be one of the most important resources available to you. Each child is different and what might be right for one child may not be right for another.

Scour the websites of the schools and try to narrow down your choices to your favourite three or four. Focus on what you are looking for. What does the school offer that will ensure your child thrives?

B is for ‘Book’

Book a visit. Open events are useful tools but dig a little deeper with an individual visit, if possible.

You can then see the school in action, see the children about the school, see them interacting with staff and with each other. It is these glimpses into life at the school that will tell you so much about what actually happens there. Take a close look during your visit. What is available outside the classroom as well as inside? Do the children look happy and engaged?

Whilst academics are the life-blood of any educational institution, consider whether the school has similar values to those you hold dear. Schools and home should be a partnership and you should feel comfortable with the people who will be supporting your child in the coming years.

Frequent questions I have from prospective families are around class sizes, extra-curricular clubs and outdoor space. However, each tour is different and I have been asked about the food, bus routes, scholarship entry to senior schools, support in the classroom, our policy on devices at school, wrap-around care and so on. The questions are as individual as the families enquiring.

No question is silly if it is important to you.

C is for ‘Choose’

Now is the time to choose a school for your child. Choose with confidence. Choose a school which you believe will suit your child and your family best. Remember, everyone is different and parents will have different criteria for choosing a school for their child.

Do engage in any transition events offered by the school over the months before joining. This is very helpful for both the child to get to know the school and to start making friends, but also for the parents to start to understand how the school operates on a day-to-day basis.

After all the research, after all the advice and after all the visits, it will almost certainly come down to a gut feeling as to which school is right for your child. Trust yourself. You know your child best. sherborneprep.org

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 35

Family

FOREST SCHOOL

Simon Ford, Land and Nature Adviser and Gardener

A

s a child, I spent much of my time outside in all weathers, coming home with mud all over me and welly boots full of water. I particularly remember cycling to a beautiful beech wood near our house, with a deep mossy floor, where we made dens, climbed trees and hid in the dense stands of holly. In the spring, it was carpeted with bluebells and wood anemones and smelt of rotting wood and hyacinths.

On the edge of the wood, there was an old chalk pit, which sadly had been used to dump old cars and prams, where you could swing out over the precipice on a rope and you could imagine ‘Stig of the Dump’ emerging from behind a hollow ash tree!

Sadly now, many people are nervous of allowing 36 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

their children to roam and go ‘feral’, concerned about their safety. This has led to a real disconnect with nature and the countryside. Organisations such as the National Trust realised that this was a real issue and started a great campaign, known as ‘50 things to do before you are 11¾’, encouraging children to again look for tadpoles, climb trees and jump in puddles and get wet.

Of course you might get stung by nettles, need to wash your clothes or get a bruised leg, but this surely is far better than spending all your time stuck on social media or playing computer games until the small hours, with the resultant mental health crisis.

In enlightened Scandinavia, teachers were also coming to similar conclusions and came up with the

Image: Katharine Davies

concept of ‘Forest Schools’. Although I don’t really like the jargon, the purpose was to create a ‘childcentred inspirational learning process for holistic growth, supporting play, exploration and to support risk-taking.

It develops confidence, self-esteem through learnerinspired hands-on experience in a natural setting’. Here, we are very lucky that most primary schools have a Forest School-trained leader. At Sherborne Primary School, Key Stage 1 teacher Fran Ellis has developed these ideas and put them into practice. Working as a volunteer every week for the past six months I’ve seen first-hand what the children get out of the many activities there. The school is very fortunate in having not only a nice big playing field, but also a wonderful

‘natural play area’, with a small orchard, chickens, a wildflower meadow, a pond and a fire hearth, surrounded by logs to sit on. There are raised beds, which have been planted with vegetables and flowers (some generously donated by Castle Gardens). Children can also visit the neighbouring allotment, where we have our vegetable plot, to learn about growing things to eat. There is even a shelter, with a natural roof if the weather is very wet. This is so different from the school where our son works in a deprived part of inner city Southampton, where there is only a small tarmac yard, surrounded by a high wire fence, with no trees or plants.

Children are allowed to attend Forest School in relatively small groups, with the aim of allowing them to learn in a non-classroom, natural setting. Each week, there are different activities which Mrs Ellis devises and we have some tools and equipment to use to make things.

Examples of activities include: a ‘mini-beastie hunt’ – looking for woodlice, centipedes and spiders under logs and rocks and examining them with magnifying glasses; collecting leaves and flower heads and pressing them onto white cotton; making stickmen, and ladies, with sticks collected from the grounds and tied with wool; making collages with leaves and berries; drawing a tree; ponddipping. One of my favourites is to whittle some sticks and then make a flour and water paste, which is twisted on to the sticks and cooked over an open fire, making a simple bread. Delicious! The children are allowed to take their endeavours home and have often said it is their favourite day at school (sorry Mr Bartle!). It is really interesting to see children develop new skills, like working as a team, tying knots, being quiet to listen to birds as well as one of their favourites – making mud cakes!

There are a number of Forest School sites in Dorset at places such as Fontmell Down near Shaftesbury, which schools can book and have an adventure. These are often deep in the woods, with an area for a fire, somewhere to put up a tarpaulin to provide shelter and a composting toilet.

I can still trace my interest in wildlife back to being 7 years old and going to a pond to look for newts and dragonfly larvae with our teacher. Perhaps we have the next budding David Attenborough or eminent scientist who will be inspired by what they have learnt at Forest School. I believe it is imperative that children are able to have fun and enjoy the natural environment, so that they can help look after it in the future. simonfordgardening.wordpress.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 37

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 38 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Science & Nature

DRAWN TO THE LIGHT

Angle Shades Phlogophora meticulosa Gillian Nash

T

he beautiful angle shades moth may fly in any month of the year, even though its main flight seasons are early summer and autumn.

An unusual wing shape and pattern in delicate hues of pink, buff, brown and olive green provides efficient versatile camouflage among the autumn leaves or shadows of summer vegetation whilst resting in daylight hours. Its unique form makes identification unmistakable and a closer look will reveal folds in the wings which further aid camouflage to protect from predators. The nocturnal adult moth feeds on the nectar of flowers such as buddleia, many other open-type flowers and in late summer may be seen by torchlight extracting juice from blackberries and other over-ripe fruit with its long proboscis. Eggs laid by this second generation will hatch to overwinter in the larval stage, feeding when the temperature is above 5˚C. The night feeding larvae may appear on almost any low-growing vegetation or garden plant, can 40 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Anna Seropiani/Shutterstock

be seen in any month and is sometimes found in greenhouses, hiding by day among the leaves of overwintering plants. Confusingly, in its final stage of growth the stocky caterpillar can be either brown or bright green but always with a subtle chevron design along its length and a distinct continuous or broken white line on its sides.

Having fully feasted on its chosen leaves, the larva forms a cocoon just below ground level where it will spend the winter – the adult moth of this second generation emerging the following early summer.

Common and resident, numbers can be significantly boosted in some years by migration from Europe, especially in southern counties and coastlines. The angle shades moth can be found in almost any habitat and is frequently seen in both town and country gardens.

With first records for Dorset around the 1800s, it seems to have been, and remains, a consistently common species in the county and throughout most of Britain.

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

And so the adventure begins...

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... +44 (0)1308 424116 symondsburyestate.co.uk Symondsbury Estate, Bridport, Dorset DT6 6HG

Science & Nature

ENERGY EFFICIENT HIVES Paula Carnell, Beekeeping Consultant, Writer and Speaker

42 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

T

he National Honey Show, somewhat confusingly shortened to the NHS, is held annually in London and is an excellent opportunity to meet and catch up with fellow beekeepers. The 2021 event was particularly exciting as the year previous had to be held virtually. Beekeepers from across Britain swarmed into the capital to ensure the event was a success with competitions for honeys and bee-themed products along with an extensive lecture and workshop programme.

Of particular note was a talk by German bee researcher Torben Schiffer. He, like me, is especially interested in the effect of honeybees in the environment and the impact they have on our native solitary and bumble bee species. He suggested we should have ‘exclusion zones’ around known native bee colonies and a stop to the mass importation and relocation of honeybee colonies. He also advocated a permaculture system for agriculture, banning of agrochemicals, forbidding intensive queen bee breeding, forbidding feeding honeybees with sugar, and, amongst other points, a strictly regulated beekeeping system. I was shocked and of course excited that such ‘revolutionary’ statements could be made during the opening lecture of what is usually considered to be a conventional beekeeping event. I also shared my excitement during an interview with Esther Coles of the Queen Bees podcast.

But the real penny dropper for me was the debate around hive insulation. I have been lucky because I started beekeeping using a WBC hive, which already has an extra layer of outer boxes or ‘lifts’, protecting the hive within from extreme temperatures. As I use more variety of hives, I have become aware of how some colonies absolutely thrive, and others don’t and Torben’s lecture clearly demonstrated the insulation difference between a large natural tree cavity, or log hive, compared with a standard national or Langstroth beehive box. He also shared figures of how much nectar a colony needs per year; an average managed colony needs 225kg of honey JUST to maintain their colony core temperature of 35 degrees.

His team had calculated that the average nectar production from plants between March and October per kg/km squared was 7203kg in extensive landscape, and 4112kg/km squared in intensive landscape (farmland countryside). He then found that energy saved by colonies living in well-insulated hives was from 12 times to 20 times compared with

conventional wooden hives.

This has major implications for honey producers.

If the bees need to eat less because they are in better insulated hives, not only will survival rates improve, but there will be more surplus honey to share! It seems that the sweet spot for wooden hives is an 8-10 cm thick hive wall which substantially reduces the energy demand on the bees. This would match a tree cavity in the wild, or a heavily cloomed straw skep hive.

He went on to compare the temperatures in full sun-exposed apiaries to those in shade, and again he clearly demonstrated the extra efforts required by bees to maintain a steady, safe temperature. In cities, many hives are placed on roof tops, with little or no shade. He measured the surrounding temperatures on a typical Berlin summer’s day and was astonished that beekeepers would even consider leaving bees in such an exposed position. If the bees overheat, they require more water, plus more bees would be leaving the interior of the hive to help reduce the temperature.

This now influences my recommendations for hives.

I have supported clients who choose to have nationals or Langstroth hives, as they are often cheaper because less materials are needed, however, I have now seen first-hand that a well-insulated hive really does support the bees!

This information also emphasises the use of nonwooden hives. Polystyrene hives are common place now, particularly for new or small colonies. As a rule I don’t like polystyrene as it breaks down and is not environmentally-friendly. However, I am warming to the Apimaye plastic hives as seen in action in the humid Cocos Keeling Islands. These hives were designed for use in Eastern Europe and China, and a bee scientist friend of mine in Belgrade has found the bees manage to maintain good, warm temperatures throughout the winter in these longer term plastic hives. Although initially I turned my nose up at them, I’d certainly prefer to see a hive made to last many hundreds of years than a beautiful Western Red cedar felled.

January may feel like a new fresh start, however for the bees it’s a vital time to start preparing for the first spring blooms; keeping themselves warm and being able to move more freely around their hive is vital to their survival. Time to pop out and check your bees are protected and maybe start creating some thicker boxes for the coming season! paulacarnell.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 43

Science & Nature

GREEN RESOLUTIONS

Peter Littlewood, Director, Young People’s Trust for the Environment Image: Katharine Davies

N

ow that the new year is upon us, it’s time to think about some resolutions. Perhaps you’re looking to lose weight, drink less or even plan to actually use that shiny new gym membership for more than a month or two in search of the new you!

Or maybe you could make a change or two to benefit the planet. You might already be doing some or all of these, but here are a few ideas to help you make a difference in 2022:

in 2022 you could start making that adjustment by eating a little less meat each week.

1. Eat less meat. Vegetarian and vegan diets are getting more and more popular, but if you don’t feel ready to give up meat just yet, why not think about having two or three meat-free days a week? In the UK, we ideally need to be eating 70% less meat and dairy products by 2030 to help meet our targets for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. So maybe

3. Try to buy more of your fruit and vegetables locally.

Supermarket fruit and vegetables have often been produced in faraway countries and have travelled thousands of miles, giving them a massive carbon footprint. Local farmers’ markets are a great place to pick up fresh produce that has been grown locally and hasn’t had to travel great distances.

44 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

2. Get to know your local butcher. As well as eating less meat, you can make sure the meat you do eat is better quality. They can provide you with a much wider range of cuts of meat than you can get at a supermarket and will know much more about the providence of the meat they’re supplying.

2022. If that seems too extreme, try breaking it down into smaller chunks, and commit to not buying any new clothes for a month and see how it goes. If you do end up wanting to buy new clothes, always ask yourself: will I wear this at least 30 times? If you don’t think you will, don’t buy!

6. Learn how to fix your tech. It’s easy to get caught in upgrade cycles for our electronic devices these days, particularly mobile phones. But you really don’t need to have the latest, shiniest version every year. It’s best to hang on to your device until it’s no longer receiving security updates from the manufacturer. Nowadays, that’s typically three to five years. If they stop working, you can often fix devices yourself, with the aid of websites like ifixit.com, which provide step-by-step instructions and photo guidance for doing your own repairs. And when the time comes to replace your tech, make sure you either recycle it or sell it. Each phone, tablet or computer contains quantities of valuable metals and minerals that can be re-used to make new devices, and recycling them means less of the raw materials need to be extracted from the planet.

Gold Hill Organic Farm, Child Okeford

4. Buy less stuff. We live in a consumer society, but our consumption is driving the overexploitation of the earth’s natural resources. Earth Overshoot Day (the day on which we use up all of the natural resources that can be replenished naturally during that year) happened on 29th July 2021 and it’s getting closer and closer to the start of the year. Try to make sure everything you do buy is either useful or beautiful. If it doesn’t meet these criteria, you don’t need it and that brief feeling of excitement you got at the time of purchase will fade very quickly! And remember to check out charity shops and websites like eBay to see if you can get what you want from someone who has already bought and used it, rather than brand new.

5. Challenge yourself not to add to your wardrobe in

7. Switch to green energy. It’s easy to switch to a tariff that uses 100% renewable energy. Exactly how they do this varies and you can look for recommendations from organisations like the Energy Saving Trust if you want to ensure that your green tariff is really helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions. You could also look at increasing your home’s insulation or even changing your gas boiler for a green heating option, like an air-source heat pump. Heat pumps are a major investment and won’t work well in older houses, unless you make a lot of changes. But they’re an excellent option for houses that are really well insulated and energy-efficient.

8. Do more to reconnect with nature. Just getting out into the countryside for a walk has great benefits for people.

Research has shown that being in the outdoors helps to improve mood, reduce stress and improve your physical health too. We live in a beautiful part of the country.

Treat yourself to more time to get out and enjoy it!

If each of us makes a few changes this year, then cumulatively it will add up and make a difference. ypte.org.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 45

Science & Nature

PROPELLING OURSELVES TO A LOW CARBON FUTURE Rob Bygrave, Sherborne Science Café

Jordan Paw/Shutterstock

P

ropellers are an essential and often overlooked component in the engineering field. Known most particularly for their use in aircraft, both fixed and rotary, they are also found in a large number of other applications. These range from the mundane (e.g. small cooling fans in electronic devices) to large, visible installations (e.g. wind turbines); from applications hidden in hydroelectric generators (e.g.

Francis Turbines) to screw propellers used for driving much of the world’s shipping across the oceans.

Impellers, the first cousin of propellers, are very similar components and have similar design 46 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

constraints. The distinguishing feature is that a propeller converts rotary motion into axial thrust.

Impellers, in contrast, are used to create a negative, sucking force as part of a pump.

Because propellers essentially turn one type of energy into another, whether as a generator or as a propulsor, their efficiency has a direct bearing on the planet’s carbon footprint. The plethora of applications for propellers and impellers means that any design or practical improvement in their efficiency will have a very positive, environmental impact.

Jon Fraser, lecturer at UWE Bristol and director at

Start Here: Impeller and Propeller Systems, presented an intriguing and contentious talk at our April 2019 meeting concerning his efforts, over many years, to improve the effectiveness of propellers and impellers.

Intriguing because he seemingly offered a relatively easy fix to improving efficiency of propellers and impellers, and contentious because he felt unable, at this stage, to reveal the pertinent secrets of his new, augmented design to an eager audience.

Jon’s career experience had been in industrial design at a government level and in retirement as a keen environmentalist in local politics. His background also encompassed memories of his uncles, as RNLI crew members, versed in the nature of the violent seas of Ross and Cromarty, venturing out in appalling conditions to rescue distressed seafarers. These memories had made him particularly sensitive to the needs of the RNLI for a better propulsion system for their boats. He is also convinced of the veracity of good quality turbines, both as alternative energy sources (wind and tidal) and for use in the developing world, most particularly in healthcare, where a dependable and easily accessible source of electricity is essential.

An audio-visual presentation showed the effectiveness of the new propeller design when emplaced in an outboard motor and tested in the sea at Portland. The propeller demonstrated little cavitation and a tight rod of bubbles showed in the wake of the propeller. Cavitation, a significant issue in propeller and impeller operation, is caused by rapid changes in pressure in a liquid leading to the formation of vapourfilled cavities where pressure is very low. These collapses can generate shock waves which in turn can cause wear, tear or fatigue, especially if cyclic. In a naval context, cavitation in a propulsion propeller creates noise, giving away position.

As speed of the test boat increased, the wake narrowed, unlike that from a conventional propeller.

Jon described the contrast between a standard and his augmented propeller as that between a blunderbuss and a sniper rifle. Timed, measured runs had shown a fuel saving of 10%, a better turn of speed and greater stability at full throttle. Dynamometer readings with the boat secured to land, but engine running in the water, showed a 20% increase in thrust. Similarly, in helicopters, his augmented rotors were silent in operation, unlike conventional rotors which whistle, losing energy by cavitation.

Whilst top aerodynamic engineers at

AgustaWestland’s helicopters had dismissed his design, the RNLI, Lloyd’s Register and the Wolfson Unit Test Tank were taking the project seriously, as was a major marine engineering company in Southampton (CJR Propulsion). A further twist to Jon’s augmented design provides a tantalising insight into the science of fluid dynamics. Modern fluid dynamics is built on the mathematics of the Swiss mathematician, Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782). Although the mathematics has advanced considerably since the 18th century, there remains within this body of work the so-called ‘Bernoulli Conundrum’ which has not yet been solved and for which there is a prize of £1M for the first correct solution. Jon had an inkling that his augmented propeller design may provide a lead into solving the Bernoulli Conundrum.

At the time of his presentation industry’s response to Jon’s augmented propeller design was mixed and further test-tank trials were continuing in Southampton.

In the field of innovation, it is the case that vested interest, sloth, lack of foresight and general disinterest can kill a new invention which should rightly claim a place within current practice (think: Frank Whittle’s development of jet engine, to name but one example).

Jon admitted that these were significant impediments and he was seeking exposure to peer review where an objective, public and critical appraisal of his designs could be made.

If this is truly the breakthrough in propeller and impeller design that Jon believes it is, we will have been privileged at Sherborne Science Cafe that his cuttingedge invention was first raised here! sherbornesciencecafe.com

___________________________________________ Wednesday 12th January 7.30pm Return of The Great Egg Race This lively competition returns with practical tasks, quiz,

refreshments and prizes. All you have to do is form a team (4 members max), register online and join us for a postChristmas science party! sherborne.scafe@gmail.com

___________________________________________ Wednesday 26th January 7.30pm Understanding Epilepsy – Speaker: Professor Roland Jones from Bath University Digby Memorial Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne. From sacrifices and exorcism to cannabis and the human brain in a dish. sherborne.scafe@gmail.com

___________________________________________ sherbornetimes.co.uk | 47

plankbridge.com 01300 348414

Established for 20 years, Plankbridge shepherd’s huts are exclusively endorsed by the RHS

© The Royal Horticultural Society 2020.

Endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society. Registered Charity No 222879/SC038262. rhs.org.uk

Crafting quality timber buildings and gates since 1912 Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 7LH Tel: (01963) 440414 | Email: info@sparkford.com | @sparkfordtimber | www.sparkford.com 48 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

11 Dreadnought Trading Estate, Bridport DT6 5BU 01308 458443 www.bridporttimber.co.uk

Hardwood Flooring Specialists Registered Farrow & Ball Stockist Bespoke In-Home Colour Consultancy Certified Bona Contractor

On Foot

50 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

On Foot

RINGSTEAD AND WHITE NOTHE Emma Tabor and Paul Newman

Distance: 4¾ miles Time: Approx. 2¾ hours Park: Ringstead Bay car park (fees apply) Walk Features: This is a good hike to start the new year with! The route starts with a gradual incline to reach the top of White Nothe from Ringstead and there is one steep descent on the return from Falcon Barn. The outer route makes the most of this stunning section of the Dorset coast, with sweeping views across Weymouth Bay as you walk up to White Nothe and then views to the east, past Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove towards St Aldhelm’s Head. Care needs to be taken along the cliff edge, particularly on the approach to White Nothe.

The return section along Old Dagger’s Gate Road is straightforward and looks inland towards the Frome and Piddle valleys. It’s a walk best enjoyed when the low winter light is playing across the Channel.

Refreshments: The Smuggler’s Inn, Osmington >

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 51

On Foot

E

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 January we walk from Ringstead to the top of White Nothe, discovering a wealth of unusual buildings and structures including the wooden chapel of St Catherine’s by the Sea, Ringstead radar station, White Nothe coastguard cottages and various barns and tumuli. It’s also possible to take a detour at the end and make another, much smaller, circuit around the woods to the west of Ringstead and the remains of Ringstead village, as well as taking time to view the marvellous sweep of Ringstead Bay overshadowed by the protective bulk of White Nothe. The views west to Portland and Weymouth and across the Channel are dramatic, while the views east reveal some of the rock formations and deep geological time for which this coast is known.

With such a dramatic and inspiring landscape, it’s not surprising that the area was home to writers and artists between the two World Wars, with Llewellyn Powys living in the coastguard cottages at White Nothe and his brother, Theodore, living in nearby East Chaldon, as well as Sylvia Townsend Warner, Valentine Ackland and Elizabeth Muntz to name but a few.

Directions

Start: SY 752 814 1 Park in the beach car park at Ringstead Bay. Note: fees apply. Make your way south towards the beach and, after the kiosk, turn left to follow a coast path sign to White Nothe 1¾ miles.

52 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

2 Walk down this track with cottages and the sea on your right. Keep on this track for a few hundred yards as it winds away from the sea and up towards the cliffs and White Nothe. At a sign for National Trust South Down, on the left, it is worth a quick detour to see the remains of Ringstead radar station. Back on the footpath, go through a kissing gate then up the footpath - as you look back there are now good views towards Portland. Keep walking more steeply uphill until you reach the small wooden chapel of St Catherine’s by the Sea on your right. Take time to explore this beautiful little chapel, as well as the grounds with benches looking out over the channel. One of the surprising features of this chapel are the windows etched by Simon Whistler, son of Sir Lawrence Whistler who engraved the windows of nearby Moreton church.

3 Walk back to the footpath and turn right. Almost immediately after the church there is a footpath sign. Here, bear right along the smaller path just signed for White Nothe (not the one marked for the Coast Path). Pass a house on your right with a large wooden fence around part of its garden.

Follow this path to soon cross a drive which leads to Holworth House. On the other side of the drive, go through a kissing gate and into a field.

The path now runs about 10 metres inside a fence and then up some steps - keep climbing until you reach another kissing gate and the highest point of the walk. There are incredible views all around from here. Go through this gate to follow along the footpath - be aware of steep drops along here as the path runs along the cliff edge. Keep on the

path until you reach the former coastguard cottages at White Nothe.

4 Here, it is worth walking to the southern tip of White Nothe to the lookout post. A marker stone indicates a steep smuggler’s path down to the beach. In a previous walk we looked at some of the inspiration for the novel Moonfleet and this path is believed to be the setting for the scene where John and Elzevir make an impossible escape from the excise men on the beach. To the left is a stone bench which makes a good spot for a picnic, especially as the views from here take in the dazzling white chalk cliffs which roll and dip towards the broken limestone band comprising Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove and beyond to St Aldhelm’s Head.

5 Go back to the coastguard cottages. Keeping them on your left, carry on along the footpath until it starts to bend around to the left and the cliffs are straight in front of you. After 400 yards, a marker stone indicates straight on to Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door, and left for Daggers Gate and South Down NT. Here, go left, away from the sea and through a metal kissing gate into a field. Follow the footpath along the fence, keeping this on your left.

Just after a couple of burial mounds on your left, you meet a stone sign and a metal gate. Here, go sharp left through this gate, now starting to walk back towards Ringstead. This track is called Old Daggers Gate Road.

6 Follow this straight, grassy track with lovely views to your right, inland. After ⅓ mile the track goes slight right and then, after 100 yards, slight left,

following the field boundary. Go through a small metal gate beside a large metal gate and then onto a stone/flint track. Head down towards another set of gates. Go through these, continuing on the track, past a fine-looking thatched barn on your left and then up through a small metal gate to the right of a larger gate to meet the track coming from Holworth House. Turn right onto the track.

7 Follow this track, passing a drive on your left for Marren and other cottages. Keep straight on up the track, through an open gateway and then another open gateway. Just past the entrance for Falcon Barn, on your right, look out for a footpath sign on your left. Here, turn left down a narrow grassy and overgrown footpath. After a few yards, take the first right and, in a few more yards, reach a stile.

Cross this, into a field which slopes away in front of you. Walk straight down this hill, looking out for another stile in the hedge on your left, about halfway down the hill (don’t go all the way to the bottom to Southdown Farm). Go over this stile into the adjacent field and walk across the field, keeping parallel to the sea and aiming for the right-hand corner of this field. After crossing a track coming from the farm, go through another gate with a stile, then straight over this field keeping parallel to the hedge on the right-hand side. Again, head for the right-hand corner with a stile, taking you into a boggy area with a pond. Go slight right, across a small, wooden footbridge, then over another stile, into a paddock, going straight ahead to then leave the paddock by a stile and onto the road. Turn left to take you back to the car park and the start. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 53

History

LOST DORSET

NO. 19 SHERBORNE David Burnett, The Dovecote Press

T

here were two bitterly cold winters in the late 19th century, those of 1881 – ‘the Great Victorian Blizzard’ – and 1891– labelled the ‘Great Snowstorm’ by the press. During the former Sherborne was effectively cut off by heavy snow blown in by gale force winds. Streets became impassable. People had to be dug out of their homes, and a soup kitchen was set up to distribute 30 gallons of soup and bread a day. In 1891 the ice on Sherborne lake was thick enough to roast an ox on it, which once carved was given to the ‘poor and needy’. A notice was placed on the lodge gates and at the Digby Estate office in Cheap Street informing the townspeople that the ‘ice is bearing’.

54 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Lost Dorset: The Towns 1880-1920, the companion volume to Lost Dorset: The Villages and Countryside, is a 220 page large format hardback, price £20, and is available locally from Winstone’s Books or directly from the publishers. dovecotepress.com

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 55

History

DORSET’S CUNNING MEN Cindy Chant and John Drabik

duncan1890/iStock

C

ontrary to popular belief, not all witches were female. Wizards, warlocks, conjurers and cunning men, were all names given to male witches. Of course, some were malevolent and seemingly responsible for such misfortunes as crop failures, poor milk yield, illnesses, and general domestic or agricultural problems. However, like their female counterparts, most were healers and offered a range of services to the community, including to those who had been ‘bewitched’ or ‘overlooked’. They practised both folk and ritual magic and with their knowledge of herbs, spells and incantations, they performed their deeds and sold their charms.

In his novels, and personal writings, Thomas Hardy made reference to several. In The Withered Arm, Gertrude, a young wife suffering a debilitating problem with one arm, was directed to a cunning man over Egdon Heath. He was John Trendle, known for his humble ways and many accomplishments, which he always played down. After an examination he proclaimed, ‘Medicine can’t cure it… ’tis the work of an 56 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

enemy’. He broke an egg, and allowed only the white to fall into a glass of water. Gertrude was invited to look at the resulting shapes and identified the face of the one responsible for her withered arm… a sad tale, which you may like to read for yourselves.

One of the earliest recorded cases in Dorset, is that of John Walsh of Netherbury, near Beaminster. He trained as a surgeon and physicist and later claimed to communicate with the Devil, who personally asked him to give a drop of blood each year, as well as a gift of two living things - a cat, dog, or some chickens were the animals of choice. Walsh also had ‘familiars’ (animal guides), and sought counsel from the faerie realm who assisted him in finding lost or stolen goods and animals, and also in counteracting spells for those who had been bewitched. At his trial in Exeter in 1566, he was accused of divination and sorcery. Although he denied doing harm to anyone, he was cruelly treated. There are no details as to the poor man’s fate, but sadly these accusations would have carried the death penalty.

In the 17th century John Read, a self-educated

farmer from Milborne, had a great interest in the occult and secretly collected many books on the subject. He demonstrated his knowledge and magical abilities by using ancient symbols and incantations which he had learned and practised. On one occasion an astonished friend became very disturbed after witnessing one of these proceedings, ‘…the air became sudden changed and grew darkish and became like a mist with jostling wind, and with thunder and lightning in the distance.’

Two centuries ago Dr Buckland, a famous Dorset cunning man who lived near Kings Stag, developed a cure for scrofula (the ‘Kings Evil’), also known as tuberculosis. It consisted of cutting the head off a live toad and placing the still wriggling, clammy body into a small muslin bag. This would immediately be placed around the neck of the patient, under their garments, against the skin. For those who fainted during this process, there would be no hope. This well-tried remedy served just as well for those who were ‘bewitched’. Each May he held an annual ‘Toad Fair’ in Stalbridge, and there he sold his miraculous cures. Seven shillings, a considerable amount, was the usual asking price for the unfortunate decapitated toad. The entrepreneurial doctor eventually decided it would be more profitable to tear the limbs from the toads, and sell these separately.

Another cunning man, with a huge reputation having convinced the locals that he possessed magical powers, was said to have lived at the top of Glue Hill in Sturminster Newton. When a farmer discovered his sheep had gone astray, he sought the man for help.

‘Cross me ‘and with silver,’ he would say, ‘and you’ll vind be marnin’ the sheep be back in vold.’ Sure enough, the anxious farmer found the sheep all safe and well in the morning. But after a few days they would stray again, and the farmer again would visit the cunning man, with more silver coins. Sheep and cattle seemed to stray often in that area. Farm tools also went missing, and when consulted, the cunning man asked everyone to cross his palm with silver, then he told them all to put out the lights and in the morning they would find their tools. But one of the men peeped in the dark, and found the cunning man replacing the tools. Needless to say the farmer was livid with rage, and shouted out, ‘you wold bugger! So ‘twas thee was it! Give I back my money.’ His reputation was soon in tatters, and very few crossed his hand with silver.

Now that you have had an insight into the old ways, take a closer look at your men folk. You may find most will profess to be ‘cunning’ – but only a few are!

FREE HOME VISITS Specialist Matthew Denney will be in the Sherborne area on Thursday 27th January to value your objects & antiques

George Russell, `AE` (1867-1935), Two Ladies Amid Sand Dunes Oil on Canvas, in original frame Estimate: £6000-9000

Forthcoming Fine Art Sales 18th, 19th, 20th & 21st January 2022 Consigning Now for our Spring Sales FREE VALUATIONS ALSO AVAILABLE

Online | Phone | Email | Whatsapp To make an appointment call or email 01460 73041 matthew.denney@lawrences.co.uk Professional Valuations Available for Probate & Insurance Complete House Contents & Attic Clearances Arranged

lawrences.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 57

History OBJECT OF THE MONTH

JAMES PARK’S PURSE Elisabeth Bletsoe, Curator, Sherborne Museum

T

his small but very special artefact, a khaki purse trimmed with red leatherette, measuring 9.5cm by 5.5cm, acts as a touchstone for the history of an extraordinary man. Inside, in one of its four compartments, is a tiny slip of paper on which is handwritten, ‘given to James Park on his return from S.A. war. Contained ½ sovereign I think?’

Recent research shows that James was born in Sherborne on 9th February 1879, the son of Mark and Harriet Park of Newland. On leaving school he entered the building trade, but in January 1900 he lied about his age in order to enlist with the Dorsetshire Regiment, which was then engaged in the Second Boer War. In April of that year he was posted to the 2nd Battalion and embarked for South Africa. His departure from Sherborne railway station, along with two other local recruits, was reported in The Western Gazette: ‘fog signals were exploded and the townspeople assembled in strong force to see the men off, cheers being given and hearty wishes expressed for the safe return of the trio.’

The Dorsetshire Regiment saw action with the Natal Field Force, under the command of General Buller, at the decisive Battle of Laing’s Nek. It was here, in June 1900, that the British succeeded in outflanking the Boers; this prevented the disparate enemy forces from communicating with each other through the pass in the Drakenberg mountains.

James returned home to Sherborne in June of the following year. The purse, donated to us by his daughter Hilda, was given to him as a memento of gratitude from the town; on the back is stamped ‘With Sherborne’s Thanks’.

58 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Just before the outbreak of the First World War, James was once again working as a builder and contractor but was called up again in 1914 and served with the Dorsetshire Regiment in India and Mesopotamia. The Second World War saw him once more in khaki, this time as Quartermaster of the Sherborne Company of the Home Guard, in which his wide experience was found of considerable value.

There followed a great many more years of service to the town he loved. James was known as the ‘Father of Sherborne Urban District Council’ and was three times its Chairman, as well as representing the council on numerous committees, where he was a great advocate for the poor and the sick. He was a founder member of the Sherborne Branch of the British Legion, a member of the South African War Veterans Association and of the Dorset Regiment Old Comrades Association. In 1931, he became Chief Officer of the Sherborne Fire Brigade.

In later life he became unwell and was warned of the consequences if he did not curtail his activities, but this he found almost impossible to do. On Christmas night in 1948 his health took a serious turn for the worse, and he died at home in Westbury the following Tuesday. The Western Gazette lamented that Sherborne had ‘suffered the loss of one of its most devoted sons.’

From 11th January, the museum will be open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10.30am to 4.30am. If you’d like to volunteer as part of the front of house team, please contact info@sherbornemuseum.co.uk sherbornemuseum.co.uk

At Bill Butters Windows Ltd we offer total window, door and conservatory solutions. Based in Sherborne we design, manufacture, supply and install high quality aluminium and uPVC products using market leading suppliers to service both the retail and commercial sectors.

For more information visit our website or come down to the showroom.

Unit 1a > South Western Business Pk > Sherborne > Dorset > DT9 3PS T: 01935 816 168 > sales@billbutterswindows.co.uk > www.billbutterswindows.co.uk

Antiques

SEEING RED

I

Richard Bromell ASFAV, Charterhouse Auctioneers

have always seen myself as a complete petrol head. My interest in cars started very early.

My first memory of a car was going out in my grandfather’s Rover many years ago. He owned a P5B Coupe, still a cool car today, but back then safety belts were not compulsory and neither did it matter how many passengers you carried in a car. This resulted in the family all fitting in it on an outing, although I had to go in the boot; thankfully we all survived.

Moving forward to my teens and I had weekend jobs in Sherborne petrol stations. This was back when there was attended service and we would fill up the cars with petrol and even check the oil when asked. My first job was at the Bere Regis coach station filling cars, now long gone and developed into the entrance of Coldharbour car park. Soon after this, I moved up to John Youngs garage opposite Barton Farm, now Budgens.

Back in those days the petrol stations were pretty much just that, they sold petrol. I remember one day a chap came in and asked for diesel and we had to send him on to Yeovil where diesel was stocked.

Moving forward to the 21st century and my interest in cars continues, added in to this are now motorcycles with some of my favourite auctions the classic & collector car and motorcycle sales we hold at the Haynes International Motor Museum.

These auctions always have a wide variety of vehicles, but every once in a while one lot gets my full attention. Coming up in our March classic car auction is one such lot – a really cool looking 1989 Porsche 911 Targa. Painted in the classic Porsche colour of Guards red, this car takes me back to 1989. However, back then rather than driving a red hot Porsche, I was in my poverty spec Vauxhall Astra company car as a young auctioneer and valuer.

As mentioned in this column before, nostalgia plays a big part in buyers bidding and collectors collecting. Whilst I really wanted a Porsche back in the 1980s, along with extra wide braces and the obligatory Filofax, I have, to a degree, moved on.

Still a confirmed petrol head, I now drive an electric car and currently (unlike some of my petrol head chums) have a clean driving licence, despite my electric car being the fastest vehicle I have ever owned.

So, am I tempted by the Porsche? Possibly. But I will, as usual, have to get Mrs B on board and I am not sure it makes a good car to take the dog in for a walk on the way to work. There again, I do have a little time to convince her before the auction. charterhouse-auction.com

60 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 61

CHARTERHOUSE Auctioneers & Valuers

Forthcoming Auction Programme

Silver, Jewellery & Watches 3rd February Antiques & Interiors with Wine, Port & Whisky 4th February Classic & Collector Cars 3rd March Classic & Collector Motorcycles 9th March Further entries invited

A 1929 Sunbeam TT90 £15,000-17,000 in our March Classic & Vintage Motorcycle Auction

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 62 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

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

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 64 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

January at Castle Gardens

Grow your own

Seed potatoes, onion sets, shallots and garlic in store now.

New season seeds

From Thompson & Morgan, Mr Fothergill’s and Seeds of Italy.

Summer flowering bulbs

Wide range, such as begonias,dahlias, lilies, gladioli and much more.

Store room clearance

Lots of gardening bargains, from pots and tools to plant supports and more.

Castle Gardens, New Road, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 5NR

www.thegardensgroup.co.uk

thegardensgroup

Beautiful gardens designed for you Offering a range of garden services, from advice on planning to a full garden design and build, Black Dog Garden Design aims to provide a professional and friendly design service throughout Dorset and Somerset that will inspire you to realise your vision and create a garden that you will enjoy.

Call 07718 902904 or visit www.blackdoggardendesign.co.uk

01935 814633 thegardensgroup.co.uk

White Hart Garden and Property Maintenance Marcus Smith

Mobile - 07762 798473 Home - 01963 23692

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

01963 371123 / 07791 588141 yenstonewalling@btinternet.com www.yenstonewalling.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 65

Gardening

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS Mike Burks, Managing Director, The Gardens Group

E

arly January isn’t always the best time for gardening outdoors but it’s the perfect time for making plans. Firstly, make a list of all of the things you would like to achieve in the coming year.

Have fun with this and be ambitious. There’s no need to put any financial or physical limits on it at this stage and that makes it even more enjoyable!

My list might include the following: Dig Less - No-dig gardening is environmentally sound and could also be a whole lot easier. The latter may 66 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

not be true, but the former is and it’s something that large scale agriculture is doing too. Many farmers now don’t plough between crops but over-sow the next crop on top of the stubble or debris of the one before. The advantages are many fold and include a reduction in fuel costs associated with ploughing but also a gain in terms of soil structure and, when we get torrential rain, less soil is lost to run-off. No-dig also means that carbon is left in the soil whereas cultivation releases carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. The question is though, how do you improve

might also be helping in reducing localised flooding if you can collect torrential rain rather than let it go straight down the drain or out into the road. I was speaking to a developer recently who was telling me that they would be incorporating water storage tanks on new housing developments from now on which is very encouraging and long overdue. When visiting a wildlife gardener a couple of years ago, he showed me an extraordinary array of water butts and also a huge collection of two litre milk bottles which he’d used to collect water during the winter. He hadn’t used tap water for several years and had a beautiful, well-watered garden. You may not want the milk bottles but a water butt can look neat and tidy and is very useful.

Leave a Wild Area – A small corner of your garden can be left to get a bit out of hand to provide a sanctuary for wildlife. They will love it and in return they will help you control pests in your garden and give you additional enjoyment as a result. While it would be great to find that hedgehogs and slow worms have moved in, you will definitely start to see ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies as well as ground beetles in your abandoned area. Butterflies and moths too will appear, as well as more birds. The beneficial insects will improve the pollination of flowers in the garden leading to bigger yields from your crops, but some will also head out and chomp away at insect pests, such as greenfly that may otherwise cause you problems.

Image: Katharine Davies

your soil without digging, and the answer is to lay onto the surface of the soil materials such as your own garden compost, well-rotted farm manure and/ or soil improvers like Bloomin’ Amazing. Such materials will break down over time and will get dragged into the soil by micro-organisms, worms, woodlice and the like, improving the soil structure, boosting fertility too.

Save Water – Rainwater is loads better for your plants than tap water and cheaper too. What’s more, you

Stop Using Peat – The harvesting of peat from bogs damages environments and worse, releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A recent study showed that more than a quarter of multi-purpose composts were being used for soil improvement which is a waste of good quality materials. Instead, use soil conditioners or your own garden compost. If you do use a bought product choose a good quality peat-free potting compost and pay close attention to watering and feeding to get the best results.

Try Something NEW – Have a look at the displays of seeds and have a go at growing something you haven’t before. That might be a fruit or vegetable but equally it could be an ornamental such as an annual flowering climber. If that isn’t good fun, you can always blame me! thegardensgroup.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 67

TAKE YOUR TIME

AVAILABLE ONLINE sherbornetimes.co.uk

68 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

BALFOUR EST.1979

Turn over a new leaf to beauty & wellness

20% with

OFF

ALL TREATMENTS * THROUGHOUT JANUARY

C L I E N T S R E D E E M I N G G I F T VO U C H E R S W I L L BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE FULL DISCOUNT! REDUCED 10% DISCOUNT ON C ACI COURSES, INTENSE PULSED LIGHT TREATMENTS, & PAMPER PACKAGES.

S WA N YA R D , S H E R B O R N E , D T 9 3 A X 0 1 9 3 5 8 1 6 1 7 7 W W W. M A R G A R E T B A L F O U R . C O . U K

SHERBORNE ANTIQUES MARKET Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

F

ull disclosure here: I am a huge fan of clutter.

Of course, I don’t see it as clutter, more a spread of ‘collections’ that I have built up over the years. There are the books, the mid-20th century chairs, the German ceramics… It was only last year when I squeezed in moving house between lockdowns that I realised that my obsessions were turning into a health hazard. The removal man lifted the final two heavy boxes into the van with a, ‘What’s in these then?’ and I replied, ‘Snow globes,’ and I knew, with a heavy heart that I should rein myself in. But you see those snow globes represent my life. I have bought one in every country I have visited. They cost very little yet each one brings back a place, a moment in time and that is the great thing about collecting.

You can imagine my glee when I discovered Craig Wharton and Phillip Traves had taken over what was The Edinburgh Woollen Mill and turned it into Sherborne’s Antique Market; it offered a whole new world of potential, right on our doorstep. >

70 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 71

72 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

‘Everybody’s welcome here,’ says Phil. ‘People can come in with a fiver and go out with change, but equally there are some expensive items for sale,’ adds Craig. They have 42 dealers who sell in the market. Craig goes on, ’there are those who have been doing it for 50-60 years.

Everyone brings something to it. It’s an antique market for so many people.’ Their youngest dealer is Tom Hurst – he’s 21 and a tribal specialist. Likewise, they also host experts Paul Atterbury (Antiques Roadshow), Tim Medhurst (Antiques Road Trip) and Debbie Serpell (Dickinson’s Real Deal).

The mood at the market is certainly convivial.

Craig has made a big pot of tea and Evie, their Boston terrier joins us on the sofa. The potter Anna Stiles drops in with a box of homemade flapjacks, while customers and other dealers chip in for a chat. When I ask Craig and Phil what they would say is their USP, it’s another dealer who answers: ‘You make antiques accessible to everyone.’

You could take that literally. Craig’s mother recently passed away and was in a wheelchair at the end. It meant that when they were designing the layout of the market, accessibility was high in their mind. ‘We get mums and pushchairs and people with mobility issues

and it was something Craig was very hot on from the day before we opened – we measured out the shop to ensure there was full mobility access,’ explains Phil. ‘The aisles are over one metre wide not the shop standard of 85cm,’ adds Craig.

I have a hunch that their backgrounds have played a huge part in the success of this new venture. ‘It was always an ambition to do this,’ explains Craig, ‘because although I flew [as an air steward] with an airline for 32 years, in the end I was always buying and selling. I have been in antiques since I was 14, and the secret here is the way we treat our dealers, our customers and the general public. 42 independent businesses are making a living out of being here and hopefully they are treated properly.’ Frankly, if you can manage the whims of demanding first-class passengers on a long-haul flight you can manage most things. I’ll leave you to ask Craig about Shirley Bassey.

Phil also comes from a service industry, albeit one closer to home. For more than 18 years he managed the Avenue Auctions at Duke’s auction house in Dorchester, where he was also their toy specialist.

‘The 18 years went quickly,’ Phil muses, ‘and I had a great time working there but it was time for a change. > sherbornetimes.co.uk | 73

74 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 75

The lockdown made us think and I missed the restoration work that I used to do.’

‘We talked about opening a business together,’ explains Craig, ‘and The Edinburgh Woollen Mill came on the market. I wrote to the owner of the property, and she wrote back asking what we wanted to do with it. We got on well. She had had her fingers burned by a faceless organisation having the building and not doing any work to maintain it, so she said: You know what, I am going to take a step in the dark and go with you guys because you live in Sherborne.’

Transformation from clothing shop to antiques Mecca complete, the window display has since become a bit of a talking point in the town and is very much representative of what is happening inside. ‘When we 76 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

opened, we painted the backdrop of the window display bright blue because we wanted to show that antiques can be used in a modern interior,’ says Craig. ‘We change the display every Monday,’ explains Phil. For February they will be celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. There is plenty of substance to back up the style too and they pride themselves on customer service.

‘Cheap Street is closed between 11am-4pm,’ says Craig, ‘and pedestrianised, which is great, but if a customer needs to collect a piece – such as a chair – we are happy to walk it round to their car. That’s just what we do.’

Both men came to collecting in a different way; Craig as a teenager who would bury himself in the antique and junk shops around his hometown of Cardiff. ‘I learned as much as I could but then I started

work with the airlines at 19 and as things progressed I went long-haul. It was the Far East that drew me. I would largely go to Bangkok and at the time, the 1940s and 1950s buildings were being knocked down. Items were just being left on the street – things like Art Deco light fittings – and I would pick them up and bring them back to the UK to sell. There was a market called the Chatuchak which had 30,000 stalls where you could find anything. But really it was history that drew me to antiques, the fact you could own a little bit of it.’

Eventually, his interests led him to becoming an antique dealer in Petworth.

‘I have always found things that survive interesting,’ says Phil. ‘Everyday things that shouldn’t have survived, for example packaging, such as wrappings or labels or original paper in drawers that go back 150 years. It’s rare survivors that interest me – it’s the historical worth not the value.’

So, what should we do if we want to get into collecting but don’t know where to start? ‘If you love it, grab it,’ says Craig without hesitation. ‘Always go for what you like – if you buy for profit, it will go wrong,’ adds Phil. What about buying antiques for a contemporary home? ‘Trust your inner self, trust your judgement and have the confidence to do it,’ says Craig.

‘Put it this way, the world of antiques has changed in the last few years because it is not necessarily purist anymore. Back in the day you would go for a George III chest of drawers and it had to be original with original handles etc but now it’s about the look. If it goes with your interior, go for it. I look for something that is decorative and current,’ he adds. ‘Just mix it with things,’ Phil says. ‘Totally eclectic,’ agrees Craig.

The word eclectic is also one you would choose on entering their home – an ancient property dating back to 1360 and a mere hop and a skip from the market. The interior walls, painted in Little Greene’s Bronze Red make for a striking welcome and provide an appropriate backdrop to a wealth of artefacts, from gilt-framed paintings to Lucite coffee tables. This extraordinary home exudes Phil and Craig's taste in collecting, one honed over many years.

On one shelf of a mammoth bookcase, housing a library of annuals and style bibles (and the odd mechanical toy), perches a collection of cards and photographs signed by Queen Mary. ‘They preserve a moment in time when that monarch has taken a pen and her hand has touched the card,’ says Craig, an example of his love for history. Upstairs I am shown

Phil’s collection of bottles. ‘My first was an old gin bottle,’ remembers Phil. ‘My parents were in the pub – The Britannia in Parkstone – and I was in the garden. I dug up this old green gin bottle and after that I started collecting bottles and tins.‘ Phil and Craig discovered the house after a trip to Sherborne in 2020. ‘I said let’s pop to Sherborne – it’s like a mini-Bath but we can’t afford it. It was a boiling hot day and by coincidence we saw the house in an agent’s window, viewed it that day and liked it,’ explains Phil. Craig recalls, ‘We could see the potential. I lost my mum two and a half years ago and it was almost as though she was putting things in place for us. That’s how it felt.’

The house has been through many guises – from the Chapel of St Andrew in 1360 to the Bridewell from 1500-1798. It is brimming with character and has enough space for Phil and Craig to have their own workspaces. At the end of the garden there is, of course, an icehouse heated and lit only by flame – perfect for evening cocktails. In the garage I am introduced to Phil’s pride and joy.

‘It’s a 1956 Morris Minor Traveller, the last of the Series 2 split screens. I bought it in 1985 when I was 16,’ he says proudly. ‘I renovated it and it was used in the film A Murder of Quality which was shot in Sherborne in 1991, with Glenda Jackson in the lead role. Then I sold it and bought it back nine years later, it had had six different owners in that time,’ muses Phil, his eyes full of adoration. ‘Phil is the most talented man you will ever meet,’ says Craig. ‘He did all the car’s restoration and does all the restoring of our own items and furniture in the market.’

I ask if they have a favourite piece in the market and they’re hard pushed to answer: ‘I don’t really have time to go round and see what other people are selling,’ says Craig. ‘Good job,’ chips in Phil, ‘you’d bring it all home.

You don’t like selling it do you?’ Craig admits to his addiction, adding with a wink, ‘I’ve been to Betty Ford to dry out.’ I am left wondering if she runs a clinic for snow globe addiction as we head back to the antiques market.

‘We’re very lucky to be living here,’ says Phil, nipping off to help a customer. ‘The town has such a lovely vibe and we’ve met so many friendly people.’

Craig offers a parting comment before getting back to work himself, ‘We’ve put down roots at last and what a fabulous town to do it.’ sherborneantiquesmarket sherbornetimes.co.uk | 77

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 78 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

FROM FIELD TO

TABLE

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

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

Lavender Cafe & Shop Reopens 22nd January Then Every Saturday - Sunday 10am - 4pm

Enjoy our beautiful views, lavender field, garden and animals together with our homemade cakes, warming drinks, 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

SEVILLE ORANGES Available from

SHERBORNE MARKET STORE 52 Cheap Street, Sherborne

FRUIT & VEG • ECO LIVING • REFILLS • PET FOOD Open 7 days a week • Telephone 01935 812509 sherbornemarketfruitandveg@aol.co.uk @marketsherborne

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 79

Food and Drink

Image: Katharine Davies 80 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

THE CAKE WHISPERER Val Stones

SPICED MARMALADE CAKE

T

his cake came into being because I love marmalade and, after so much fruit cake at Christmas, this is an ideal cake for eating in January and February; well, really any time of year. In January, I make Seville marmalade and make enough to give away as gifts, and to use in my baking as well as on toast.

The recipe is based on the banana pecan loaf in my recipe book, but I exchanged bananas and pecans for marmalade and added zest. I replaced the eggs with milk and a little vinegar to create buttermilk. There are sweet sultanas in the cake, and they balance out the sharpness of the marmalade, and a little mixed spice adds warmth to the flavours. For a cake that looks so plain, it packs a lot of flavour.

If you follow this recipe, it will be sufficient for a loaf tin and if you double the recipe, it is perfect for a large, round family cake. I usually leave this cake for a couple of days to mature, so the flavours improve, and the top becomes sticky.

Preparation time: 15 minutes Baking time: 1hr – 1hr 15 minutes What you will need: A loaf tin 7 1/2 x 3-inch (19 x 8.5cm), or a round cake tin/pan 9-inch (23 cm), greased and lined.

Ingredients Serves 8 (or serves 14 in a 9-inch round tin)

225g self-raising flour, sifted 100g butter, at room temperature 112g caster sugar A pinch of fine sea salt 1 teaspoon mixed spice 112g sultanas Zest of half an orange and lemon 175ml whole milk 1 teaspoon vinegar 1 heaped spoon of marmalade 1 tablespoon Demerara sugar

Method

1 Set the oven for 160C fan, 180-190C, 350-375F, gas 4-5 2 Rub the butter into the sifted flour until crumbly.

3 Add the sugar, salt, spice, sultanas and zests.

4 Add the vinegar to the milk, then, a little at a time, add all the ingredients until they are well combined.

5 Fold the marmalade into the mixture - it should be a good dropping consistency, where the mixture drops from the spoon easily.

6 Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly with a spoon that has been dipped in water.

7 Sprinkle the top with Demerara sugar.

8 Bake on the middle shelf for 1hr -1hr 15 minutes.

The cake should have shrunk away from the sides a little and the top will be firm but springy. If you listen to it, there should be a few whispered pops; if too noisy, then return to the oven for a few more minutes.

9 Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack. When completely cold, store in an airtight tin. bakerval.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 81

Food and Drink

CHALK STREAM TROUT COULIBIAC Sasha Matkevich, The Green

Image: Clint Randall

T

his old classic proved very popular recently and was one our biggest sellers on our takeaway menu.

A coulibiac is a Russian dish which is traditionally made using salmon, rice, eggs, mushrooms and dill, which are encased in pastry, but here it is with trout.

3

Ingredients

800g trout fillet, skinless and pin-boned 500g puff pastry 1 egg 2 cloves of garlic, minced 100g unsalted butter 2 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped 1 tablespoon of chopped dill 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley 1 tablespoon of chopped capers 2 banana shallots, julienned ½ teaspoon of caraway seeds 150g cooked brown rice 1 head of hispi cabbage, stalks removed and finely julienned 1 tablespoon of sauerkraut 1 generous teaspoon of wholegrain mustard Fresh black pepper Dorset sea salt Method

1 Blanch cabbage in salted boiling water for no more than 30 seconds and cool it down immediately in iced water, strain it and dry on a kitchen towel.

2 In a large frying pan gently melt the butter and add 82 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

4 5

6 7 8

9

shallots, garlic and carraway seeds. Cook gently on a medium heat for seven minutes making sure the onion stays white and translucent. Add sauerkraut and cook for a further two minutes stirring continuously and transfer to a large bowl.

Add chopped eggs, hispi cabbage, dill, parsley, capers and brown rice to the bowl, mix well and set aside.

Pre-heat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

On a well-floured surface roll out the puff pastry into a sheet big enough to encase the trout fillet. Place the mixture in the centre in a neat, rectangular shape, place the trout on the top and then spread the mustard over that, seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper. Fold the edges of the puff pastry to each other and secure neatly on top of the fish making sure it is entirely enclosed and that there are no holes.

Beat the raw egg with a fork and glaze the puff pastry using a pastry brush.

Refrigerate for 10 minutes and glaze one more time using the leftover raw egg.

Place the coulibiac in the pre-heated oven on baking parchment and cook for a minimum of 24 minutes. Check the coulibiac is hot in the middle (at least 52 degrees Celsius).

Remove from the oven and rest in a warm place for at least 10 minutes.

Nazdarovya. greenrestaurant.co.uk

DIVIDING ASSETS

MAKE SURE YOU GET A FAIR SLICE What are your rights if you own a home with your partner and split up?

Humphries Kirk family law team can advise on property rights and options of cohabiting and married couples.

Use the QR code reader on your smartphone to read our article on cohabiting and property.

…that’s refreshing

|

www.hklaw.uk

Get in touch with our experts.

Bournemouth 01202 421111 Cranborne Chase 01258 840507 Crewkerne 01460 279100 Dorchester 01305 251007

Parkstone 01202 715815 Poole 01202 725400 Swanage 01929 423301 Wareham 01929 552141

www.hklaw.uk

Food and Drink

A YEAR ON THE PIG FARM (PART II) James Hull, The Story Pig June

August

And wait we did, with our aprons on and with a nervous excitement. The hard work had been done and we were ready but would people come? Well, yes you did – at ten on the dot the cars rolled in.

Charlotte had baked up a storm and I welcomed customers to our spot of paradise. Our view was the talk of the town and we discovered that you all liked a tipi as much as we do. The weather was amazing and we got busy!!

The weather was basically rubbish in August; days of drizzly mornings, but of course it’s the school holidays – what could we expect! We were a bit quieter on wet days and this gave thought to next year and what we would do differently to be less weather-dependent. I haven’t mentioned the pigs in all this, but they are still here, showing themselves off to all our visitors and they have been well-behaved this summer. Our meat sales have been building steadily week on week, as people come to understand what we are doing. This is very satisfying for both of us.

July

We hit our stride – Charlotte was now baking an incredible amount every week and word was spreading about her homemade cooking. I felt more at home in the cafe, the garden was looking amazing, although far off how I wanted, but we had less time than ever now and weekends to ourselves were a thing of the past. Any downtime between customers in the late afternoons when I might contemplate nipping into the garden was thwarted, for as soon as I took off my apron that was sure to trigger the rolling in of another car.

84 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

September

We were the stars on the front of the Sherborne Times and we had so many new visitors! It’s amazing what being on the front of a publication can do. The weather picked up and as the days and nights turned a little bit autumnal people started to ask us en masse what we would do in the winter.

October

The weather was very kind, having some of the

nicest days of the year; the low light, the long shadows, our view still doing its thing. The garden slowing down, but still looking good. We, like many others, were struggling for staff to help us. Charlotte and I were doing more than we thought we could.

We are still small and luckily it’s all about us here, so we manage and work harder, always my answer to most problems. Staff you can find, but good staff, where have they all gone?

November

We decided we would put the tipi up inside the shed.

It’s the best way to store it – up and inside – and it looks amazing, much bigger and really very cosy. We’re really pleased with our winter option and think our customers will be too!

December

And then with hardly a missed heartbeat it’s December, and the end of another year. It’s raining, it’s dark, it’s gloomy. I’m muddy and dreading the next few months of pure pig drudgery. The fields are turning from green to brown. The pigs spend their time inside their cosy pig arks, waiting patiently for spring. They are so similar to us in lots of ways.

As I write the Christmas orders are pouring in and we are just about to remember how to make pigs in blankets. Our huge tree is towering over us in the

winter cafe. We decorated it with lights but it was so big we didn’t have decorations for it, so we put a call out to all the children who visit us, asking them to make a decoration to hang on the tree in exchange for a gingerbread pig made by Charlotte. The children come in shyly, holding up their offerings and proudly hang them on the tree. I have to say this has been a lovely thing, very successful, and I’m sure a link back to Christmas past because it shows children are still the same really. Our tree now stands quietly laden with all sorts of beautiful homemade decorations – we are so grateful. It’s going to be a busy last week before Christmas as we prepare all our orders (well, Charlotte and Max will). We have nine new gilts that are ready to pop at any time and with four sows also going to farrow we are going to be full of piglets. We have already had 70 piglets born in the last few weeks from seven mothers – this is a good average for us. So, thank you to all of our lovely customers. We thank you for your support and lovely comments this first year, you make us feel very special. We are looking forward now to spring and moving the tipi outside again, to other exciting developments and to another breed of animal soon to join our farm. After Christmas we will re-open the cafe and farm shop on Saturday 22nd January. If you need meat in between give us a ring, if we can help we will. See you all on the other side! thestorypig.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 85

Food and Drink

CLOSURE David Copp

I

n the 1960s traditional corks came under attack because some of them allowed the wine in some bottles to be ‘corked’. I was learning the trade at the time which included spending time serving wine in restaurants. It was common practice for the sommelier to open the bottle, take a sniff at it and pour a small amount into a glass for the customer to approve. Very occasionally a bad or infected cork would give off a musty or mouldy and unpleasant smell or flavour. The technical term trichloroanisole (TCA) need not bother us here other than to say it was very unpleasant, even

86 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

though on most occasions it was very slight.

In 1964, Peter Wall, then director of South Australian winery Yalumba (started by the Smith family from Wareham in Dorset) became fed up with the number of tainted corks and commissioned a French company to develop an alternative closure.

They came up with an aluminium cap, which has been widely used ever since and is now the closure of choice for most mass market wines across all styles and price points. They are generally called screw tops and consist of an aluminium cap lined with plastic,

Parilov/Shutterstock

which integrates a metal skirt that hugs the top of the bottleneck, just like a traditional stopper’s foil.

Their greatest advantage is that are very consistent and do not allow TCA to develop in the bottle.

There is less oxygen interaction with wines in comparison to cork, and theoretically winemakers can reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide used as an antioxidant before bottling.

Because wines under screw cap reside in a relatively oxygen-free atmosphere, they’re believed to be longer lived. Long-term studies have shown

very positive results, yet it remains a controversial topic within the wine industry because some oenologists argue that with limited oxygen contact, wines under screw cap don’t age at all. When in South Australia’s Clare Valley I had a conversation with Jeffrey Grosset, who makes really top-class white wines of very particular and delicate flavour and he was convinced that screw cap enclosed wines aged beautifully, just more slowly.

For most of us the real advantage of screw caps is that one doesn’t need gadgets and normally rather less muscle power. The most negative impact of screw caps is that they are made from from aluminium, most often produced from a strip-mined bauxite.

Processing aluminium can be a dirty process, which has an environmental impact we could do without.

Aluminium is non-biodegradable, and though it can be recycled, it’s suspected that most screw caps end up in the rubbish bin. Furthermore, their plastic liners, if not removed, can make recycling impossible.

The real advantage of using the best quality corks for distinctive, and often expensive wines, is that they allow the wine to breathe because their porous nature allows oxygen into the bottle, and other gases out. If a wine needs a long time to age – I am thinking of classy Burgundy and Claret, Rioja and Barolo (and I am sure the best Californian wines) it should be allowed small contact with the air. The tight seal on screw caps does not allow this.

For more expensive vintage wines you wish to keep and mature for ten or more years I would recommend natural corks that allow tiny amounts of air in and out.

Most fine wine producers do not skimp on buying top quality corks because they know from experience what it can do for their wines.

But the truth is that there is much to say on both sides of the cork versus screw cap battle. My instinct is that cork is a remarkable natural substance; because of its cellular wall composition and structure and because it has elastic and compressible qualities which make it ideally suited to sealing wine bottles. A really good, wax-coated cork will provide a good seal on a wine bottle for 30 years or more, allowing the wine to develop and mature into something very special indeed. Moreover, taking the cork out of an old bottle of wine and decanting it has become a valued part of the tradition of wine. There is something special about uncorking an old bottle when with friends. sherbornetimes.co.uk | 87

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 88 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Independent veterinary services for livestock in Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire Collection points for livestock medicines and supplies at Sherborne, Sturminster Newton, Blandford and Shaftesbury Please call the office on 01258 472314

www.friarsmoorvets.co.uk

Award-Winning Dog Behaviour Specialists covering Dorset, Somerset and beyond • New Puppy Training Package • Dog Behaviour Packages • Online Video Classes • Advice Line • Pack Walks

naturalbalancedt.com

Contact Sarah on 07769 705807 or sarah@naturalbalancedt.com

Free registration appointment for new clients when accompanied by this advertisement Kingston House Veterinary Clinic Long Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3DB Mon-Fri 9.00-10.30, 16.30-18.00 Sat 9.00-10.30 T: 01935 813288 (24 hours) E: sherborne@kingstonvets.co.uk kingstonvets.co.uk

Sherborne Surgery Swan House Lower Acreman Street 01935 816228

Yeovil Surgery 142 Preston Road 01935 474415

www.newtonclarkevet.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 89

Animal Care

THE HEAVIES

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

W

e all want to start 2022 on a positive note as after the Christmas cheer, January can fall a little flat. I am not great on New Year’s resolutions, partly because I’m now too old to get through my long list of things I want to improve!

One recurring element of our lives and that of our pets, especially in January, is tackling the weight that may have been gained during the festivities. I like to put a positive spin on this, as in general, only healthy individuals put on extra pounds. When a cat or dog is presented to us in the clinic we always check their weight, as loss is an important clinical sign, assuming it isn’t deliberate (on the part of the owner).

Dogs and cats are very different in their responses to weight loss, due to evolutionary differences in their physiology and eating habits. Cats eat little and often, with the calorie intake at each meal estimated as being about equal to the nutrition provided by the average mouse. The vast majority of cats self-regulate their body weight, even though food is often provided ad-lib.

Imagine what would happen if a full bowl of food was constantly provided for the average Labrador! However, some cats behave like greedy dogs and will over-eat, to the point of obesity. Almost always these cats were rescued from a feral existence where food was scarce and life was harsh. So who can blame them?

Whatever the cause, the fatty puss is far more likely to suffer from a variety of problems. Diabetes, respiratory disorders and urinary tract obstructions are all on that list and we are seeing more arthritis in elbows. The latter due to repeated heavy impacts from jumping down onto hard kitchen floors. Type 2 diabetes occurs in cats (but not dogs) and like humans, is strongly associated with body fat levels. As we all know, giving insulin for this form of diabetes does no good at all so blood sugar levels have to be controlled with drugs and diet. Luckily, weight loss often improves the situation and blood sugar levels can return to normal.

Obstructions in the urinary tract are back in the ‘Top Ten’ after a few years of slipping down the charts. We don’t know the reason why this should be, 90 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Bilanol/Shutterstock

although diet must be involved in more ways than one. Lack of activity and the feline tendency to drink little water add to the risk that the cat’s urethra will block up with a waxy mixture of mineral crystals and protein, made in the bladder. This is exclusively a male problem, caused by the tiny aperture that urine has to exit the body. If you have ever seen a cat spraying, that impressive stream can only be produced with high pressure and a fine nozzle! When the nozzle gets blocked, the bladder cannot empty and the result is a urological emergency. The signs are constant attempts to use a litter tray and intense pain, although cats are good at hiding their feelings. This is not the time to wait and see, call your vet and impress on them that this is a genuine emergency. If you are really lucky, your poor cat will have a cystitis rather than

an obstruction – the signs being very similar but the outcomes very different.

So what do we do with the chubby puss? The key message is gradual weight loss as the feline metabolism is prone to over-active fat mobilisation in response to a crash diet. For dogs and humans this does not constitute a major problem, but for our feline friends this fat finds its way to the liver and results in hepatic lipidosis or fatty liver syndrome. A benign name for a potentially life threatening condition as treatment has a poor success rate, with many cats refusing to eat. And we all know that when a cat refuses to eat, it’s definite.

Ironically, anorexia is a real problem for some cats as it seems to be the ‘go-to’ symptom for many diseases.

I often say, you can have a slim and hungry Labrador or a fat and hungry Labrador but you will always have a

hungry Labrador! Not the only breed to have problems with satiety but we should remember where the vast majority of their food comes from. Us. So if there has been too much family sharing of turkey and potatoes in December, it’s time for some ration control. Key to this is have a standard measure for your dog food, as a handful can vary from day to day. Start off your canine ‘Weight Watcher’ with an accurate weight (drop into the surgery when we’re quiet and use the digital scales) and then repeat the weigh-in on a monthly basis. Increasing exercise has a very small effect on the canine waistline (hyperactive spaniels being the exception) so I’ll leave you with the good news that struggling through the winter storms is not necessary. Just feed less! newtonclarkevet.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 91

Animal Care

COCCIDIOSIS

IS YOUR HERD OR FLOCK AT RISK? Gemma Loader BVetMed MRCVS, The Kingston Veterinary Group

C

occidiosis is a protozoal disease that invades the cells of the intestines in sheep and cattle.

Coccidial oocysts (similar to eggs) will be present in most environments and a low level of exposure at a young age will result in an immunity against disease. Disease only occurs if animals are subject to heavy infections/challenges or if their resistance has decreased. Adults will be the initial source of disease, however due to their immunity it only clinically affects younger, naive animals.

The majority of the life cycle of this parasite occurs within the intestines of the host animal. This results in the production of thousands of oocysts 92 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

which are shed in the faeces. The oocysts, once shed, require optimum temperature and moisture in order to mature and become infective. These conditions can occur in straw yards/pens as well as at pasture, predominantly in spring and autumn. Infection occurs via the ingestion of infective oocysts.

Coccidial parasites invade the cells of the intestinal wall causing damage to the gut lining. This in turn results in poor digestion and reduced water reabsorption. Clinical signs can vary from being just simply a decrease in weight gain to more significant effects such as bloody mucus diarrhoea with straining, lethargy, dehydration, weight loss and increased

susceptibility to other infections. These signs occur relatively late on in the infection process when damage to the intestines has already taken place. Killing the parasite at this stage will not reverse this damage therefore long-term effects may persist e.g. poor growth rates.

The most important role of treatment in infected animals is to reduce both the severity of disease and the number of oocysts shed (which in turn decreases the risk of new infections in other susceptible animals).

Treatment of clinical cases should include oral fluids with electrolytes to address dehydration, as well as coccidiostats to reduce disease severity and oocyst shedding. Affected animals should also be isolated to reduce the spread of infection.

Coccidiosis treatment is likely to be effective when it is instigated in the early stages of the coccidia life cycle – this is before clinical signs are seen. Therefore, a strategic plan of preventative treatment based on previous history of disease before clinical signs occur is much more effective and economically viable than reactive therapy in already infected animals. Most coccidiostatic drugs available for prevention and treatment will allow the animal to develop immunity against coccidiosis whilst preventing intestinal damage and economic losses.

Points to consider when it comes to prevention and control • Employ management practices that reduce contact with faecal material - bed-up pens Wendy Love/Shutterstock

frequently, reduce stocking densities and use well-drained pastures.

• Reduce faecal contamination of water

"Coccidial oocysts will be present in most environments and a low level of exposure at a young age will result in an immunity against disease."

and feed by raising buckets/troughs above ground level. Moving feed points around regularly.

• Limit contact between animals of differing ages (i.e. early and late lambs) • Avoid over-grazing pastures as this will force animals to graze down to the roots of plants where they may pick up a higher number of oocysts.

• Minimise stress in young animals, as this will increase their susceptibility to disease.

kingstonvets.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 93

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 94 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Sherborne 01935 812 112

Dorchester 01305 250 240 robin-james.co.uk

@robinjamesaveda

Body & Mind

POSITIVE CHANGE

Mike Hewitson MPharm FFRPS FRSPH IP MRPharmS, Pharmicist, The Abbey Pharmacy

A

s sure as December is known for overindulgence, January has become synonymous with ‘detox’, weight-loss and all manner of other virtues. Sadly, there is a lot of bunkum which is peddled at this time of the year by people trying to flog fad diets, miracle supplements or some super-secret celebrity-endorsed elixir of life. Don’t get me wrong – there is absolutely nothing the matter with taking stock, and reviewing where the last 365 days of life have left you: be that lighter, heavier, fitter or happier. But don’t be forced into this by guilt or worse – the nagging of your better half. Meaningful change to your lifestyle has to begin, and end, with you.

It doesn’t matter how much someone else wants you to change, if you don’t want to then it simply won’t happen. For all of my professional career I’ve helped people to give up smoking. It is something I enjoy doing because it is hugely rewarding, but it is not for the faint of heart. Research suggests it takes the average smoker something like six quit attempts before they 96 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

pack up for good (I’ve just checked some more recent research which suggests this number could be as high as 30!). Having helped hundreds of people over the years, I can say that the biggest difference I notice between people who give up, and people who don’t, comes from why they are there in the first place. Some people are there to appease a loved one or to stop their doctor nagging them – this isn’t a great basis on which to start something which is inherently difficult because it comes from a negative place.

Although this is anecdotal n=1 stuff (i.e. not scientific evidence), in my personal and professional experience these people are much less likely to actually stop. The ones that I experience most success with are the people who are trying to make a positive change to their own health for a range of reasons: to achieve a specific goal, to improve their own health, because they want to be healthier for their family. It is much easier to deal with bumps in the road when there is a clear goal in mind. People move between these two groups at

Image: Katharine Davies

their own pace, sometimes never at all, but when they do, the results can be amazing. I once helped a chap to give up about six times, and he came back to see me one final time, and explained that he had to give up as he wanted to start a family. It would have been easy to dismiss this as the latest in a series of failures, but to be honest, the biggest failure is to stop trying. As his motivation had now changed, from a negative to a positive goal this made all the difference to him, and here he is now about 10 years later, still not smoking, and with a healthy young family. This is one of the greatest achievements of my professional career.

The ‘detox’ market is now big money, worth billions of pounds, and has grown to encompass cleansing drinks, skin regimes and supplements. Building on the notion that our bodies are slowly being poisoned by everyday life, from the air that we breathe to the food that we eat, there are countless theories on how to counteract these ills. Truth is your body came equipped with a pretty fantastic detoxification system,

called the liver. Your liver performs over 500 vital functions, including elimination of foreign substances, such as medicines or environmental pollutants. Your kidneys also play a vital function in eliminating waste products and together they work exceptionally well, without the need for chia seeds, pro-whatever-youcall-it, or charcoal! While I wouldn’t discourage you from eating a healthy, varied diet, there is no need to go on a detox or purge because your body will get rid of substances it doesn’t need on its own.

Speaking of diet, it is absolutely true that the UK could do with losing a few pounds, and exercising more. Generally a combination of eating better (less processed foods), and moving more is the best way to achieve a good outcome – exercise to improve cardiovascular fitness, and a reduction in the amount of saturated fats you eat will help to reduce the risks of heart attacks and strokes. There are various diet trends which ask you to eliminate certain foods from your diet, I wouldn’t suggest doing this without taking professional advice for example from a dietician. In fact, the British Dietetic Association has produced some helpful information on this very subject (bda.uk.com) Bottom line is that there is very little scientific evidence to support the claims being made about these diets.

One area which has a little more scientific basis is intermittent fasting (IF), which is the practice of fasting for prolonged periods during the day, e.g. for 16 hours, with an eight hour ‘feeding window’. There is evidence to suggest that this is an effective strategy for weight loss, and may have some benefits for other conditions such as type 2 diabetes. Fasting can trigger some interesting biological signals, for example making insulin more effective and reducing the signals which make us hungry. There is research which suggests that it can have a positive impact on diabetes control, even helping to reverse the condition in some cases. Reports also suggest that it can have a positive impact on cardiovascular health, cancer prevention and reduce inflammation.

While we are still unsure of the long-term impacts of intermittent fasting on health, it could be worth having a conversation with a healthcare professional about how to do this safely – it isn’t for everyone. My own personal experience is that IF is easier than it sounds, and has helped me to lose three stone, and feel better.

Whatever 2022 has in store, make a positive change in your life – you won’t regret it. theabbeypharmacy.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 97

Body & Mind

A NEW YEAR ON YOUR TERMS Tess Kelly, Duty Officer & Events Organiser, Sherborne Sports Centre

W

elcome January – arriving with a sudden jolt to wake us all up from the shiny sparkly haze of December. Taking down the decs and eating the last Lindt ball, thoughts of work, exercise (or lack of ) and not overindulging for the rest of eternity start to sneak back in.

Some welcome the new year with relief as a chance to breathe and clear space not only in our physical surroundings but more importantly our minds after the emotional overload of Christmas. Time to make plans and begin with a fresh start. After the last couple of years in a pandemic I think we’re all hoping to take on more opportunities and experience what the world has to offer again!

For many though, this time of year is hard and the January blues can feel very real, especially for those already suffering with depression and mental health struggles. The magic of Christmas quickly disperses into a distant memory and the cold dark days can feel consuming without the distraction of twinkly fairy lights, leaving energy and motivation to hit a new low.

However you’re feeling at the beginning of this new year, embrace January and 2022 in a gentle and sustainable way to support your wellbeing and choose resolutions from a place of kindness that are right for you.

Choose for You

If a health-kick feels like what you need right now, do it!

Just make sure your motivation isn’t coming from a place of self-hatred or destruction. Lots of media will use January to pray on our insecurities and the pressure for a ‘new you’ can be intense and confusing. As someone who’s battled with body confidence, I’ve learnt the importance of making decisions by being honest with myself from a place of curiosity, not as a punishment.

If the incentive isn’t right, it will only add to the exhaustion and pressure and be impossible to sustain.

98 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Image: Katharine Davies

Keep Moving

Being active is beneficial for all ages. Improving circulation, flexibility, strengthening muscles and bones and lowering stress levels to name a few, so find your fitness whichever way feels right for you.

Here at the sports centre we have spin classes to keep you pedalling throughout the winter months, yoga to connect the body and mind, and a pool and personal training to give you direction. Experiment to find something you enjoy which will work best with your lifestyle. If you struggle to get motivated, try signing up to something for an extra incentive or ask a friend to get involved too so you can encourage each other.

The Whole Package

Getting moving and motivated is always a great idea just remember to check in with your whole self to make everything feel a lot easier. Our body works best when it’s being looked after in all ways, so adding small goals such as getting eight hours sleep and two litres of water

per day can be just as important as your daily workout.

The Great Outdoors

No one ever feels worse after spending time in nature and any natural light through the winter months is super-beneficial for getting your daily dose of vitamin D and boosting mood. With the beautiful Dorset countryside surrounding us and breathtaking coastline nearby, maybe walking the path or some open-water swimming would be the perfect new hobby?

Make Time for Rest

Listen to your body – especially if you have taken up a new fitness regime. Give yourself time to recover and replenish. I recently read the book Wintering by Katherine May and it was an important reminder that for many creatures this is a time for hibernation to conserve energy and repair. The seasons show us that life is in flux and there is literally nothing in nature that blooms all year long, so why would we expect ourselves

to be able to? If you’re not feeling like a high intensity exercise regime through these winter months – try something a little more gentle like walking or yoga.

Don’t Compare

With everyone flaunting their #newyearnewme it’s easy to feel like you’re not doing enough, but remember it’s only the good bits people like to share. If it’s not making you feel great, January is a great time to have a break from social media and fitness apps as there’s not a lot going on! Use the break to focus on other kinds of goals like improved breathing or strength that are measured by how you feel rather than by a number.

Whatever your resolutions are this year – enjoy them.

It may feel like a never-ending month but look closely for the snowdrops appearing and a little extra light each day and you’ll see we’re moving forward and overcoming the challenges of winter, as well as some of your own. sherbornesports.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 99

Body and Mind

COPING WITH ‘GEN Z DREAD’ Lucy Lewis, Assistant Psychologist and Dorset Mind Ambassador

Jacob Lund/Shutterstock

100 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

S

ometimes, the future can appear bleak – especially for young people with many decades of uncertainty ahead. Unlike previous generations, Generation Z (those born 1997 – 2012) have grown up constantly exposed to negative information and fake news as part of their normal.

My situation

I grew up with a smartphone. I’ve been consistently bombarded with sensationalised headlines about social inequalities, housing crises, environmental catastrophes, and political extremism.

With the current uncertainty, and not an entirely unreasonable sense of doom, it can be difficult to even get out of bed each day and work towards a future that we’re not overly convinced we will have.

Here is some key reasoning behind ‘Gen Z Dread’ – how you can support your children with these feelings, and strategies young people can utilise to combat the dread I had.

What are we dreading?

In a global study of young people, 56% of those surveyed stated they believe that humanity is doomed.

This might seem extreme, or overly dramatic in a typical adolescent sense. But these beliefs, while unhelpful, are not unfounded. Many intelligent people around the world have stated that time is running out for us to address climate change; others say it is already too late.

It is difficult to listen to politicians’ reassurances, when they deny the need to act whilst profiting from inaction, over scientists who have studied environmental science intensively. This is the main reason for eco-anxiety: it is not an unsubstantiated belief.

Additionally, research indicates that Gen Z are more socially conscious than previous generations. When you combine this with relentless exposure to sensationalised news, it is difficult to believe that the world is a good place. It is not unfounded to feel powerless, overwhelmed, and like it is necessary to expect the worst.

How to support young people

Primarily, try to understand. Being scoffed at for being ‘dramatic’ or ‘overly sensitive’ invalidates feelings and is extremely unhelpful. It teaches young people not to talk through their difficult thoughts and feelings, potentially contributing to mental illnesses. Even if you cannot understand why many young people are so pessimistic, realise that the feelings are very real to them – and

distressing. Validate the emotion by saying things such as, ‘That must be really difficult for you.’ and support them by asking, ‘How can I help you to cope?’

Cognitive reframing

I have struggled with this dread for most of my life. In recent years, I have been able to move forward with it by changing the way I think about these beliefs. It felt awkward to challenge and change my thinking patterns at first, but it became less so over time until it became habit. Here are some of the ways I reframe my thoughts about the future to be more adaptive and less distressing – without denying the world’s problems: 1 Firstly, I ask myself, ‘Is this thought helpful?’ If making myself miserable could improve the world or the future for myself or others, it could be worth it, but all it does is make me suffer in the present. I therefore conclude that there is no positive outcome to my rumination.

2 Secondly, I work on acceptance. Accepting the negatives does not mean admitting defeat, but seeing reality as it is. Once acceptance is mastered, it makes space for change and improvement.

3 Thirdly, I pick my battles! I wanted to save the world when I was younger. However, it is impossibly draining and unfeasible to try to solve every problem. I began feeling less powerless when I made the decision to work towards one problem. For me, this was mental health. If everyone chose a cause they were particularly passionate about and worked towards improving it in any small way, the world would be a better place. That belief motivates me to live through the uncertainty.

Additionally, there are many free Cognitive Behavioural Therapy resources that can help you to challenge these thoughts and adapt healthier thinking patterns.

To summarise – we can’t change the reality of the world, but we can change the way we think about it, and how much we let those thoughts affect our lives.

Check out dorsetmindyourhead.co.uk for mental health resources and support services for young people 11 upwards.

When to seek help

If your thoughts and feelings about the future are affecting your ability to function in different areas of your life, talk to your GP about a mental health assessment. In a crisis, call 999 or The Samaritans on 116 123 for support. dorsetmind.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 101

Join in

osc_info@sherborne.com

www.oxleysc.com

*Direct Debits only

January and receive April * for FREE.

1:1 PROGRAMMES FOR MANAGING THE MENOPAUSE MAYHEM Struggling with low energy and exhaustion? Fed up with feeling anxious and over-whelmed? Had enough of feeling irritable and moody?

Drenched by hot flushes and night sweats? If you are wondering where the ‘you’ of your late thirties has gone, I can help you find her.

I’m Julia, I’m a BANT registered nutritional therapist and I specialise in women’s health, supporting those in their forties onwards transition through menopause with ease, so they can embrace the rest of their lives with renewed vitality, energy and confidence.

Visit my website to find out more about me and the support I can give.

You will also be able to download my Perimenopause Top Ten – ten steps you can start taking TODAY to get on top of symptoms. julia@julianutrition.co.uk | 07709 317458

julianutrition.co.uk

I want the rest of our lives to be the best of our lives! And they really can be.

Contact me via email or phone, or book a free introductory consultation via my website. On-line and in person consultations available. @julianutrition

102 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

@juliawitherspoon_nutrition

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 and Mind

GET OFF YOUR MAT AND DO SOME YOGA! Dawn Hart, YogaSherborne

PAstudio/Shutterstock

T

he word yoga can be translated as bringing together two parts, in this case your body and your mind. Combining physical movement, breathing and meditation is incredibly beneficial to your physical and mental wellbeing. Once you start you usually want to do it as often as possible, so why is it not that easy?

Attending a class keeps you committed and you are focused without distraction. However, nowadays classes 104 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

together are not always an option. Even when they are, you may not have the time or money to do them as often as you’d like.

So, that leaves doing yoga at home and despite knowing you will feel great afterwards, it still takes self-discipline to make the time. You also need to get changed, make space for your mat and then of course stop the world spinning for an hour so you get some peace. Let us assume this doesn’t all line up for you on a

regular basis, so there must be another way.

You may be familiar with the term ‘on the mat’, meaning you are not only physically there but you are fully present, mentally and emotionally. Your mat is your anchor but you can’t carry it around all day so there needs to be other ways you can be ‘on your mat’ without actually being on it!

By breaking down the elements of your yoga practise and doing it for shorter times throughout your day you can keep the momentum, ready for when you do have more time. Here are some ideas: Waking up

• Laying in bed just as you’ve woken up – sit up if you think you’ll fall asleep again! Three deep belly breaths – feel your abdomen rise as you inhale and sink back as you exhale. This energises you with fresh oxygen and calms a busy mind.

• Sit on the side of your bed, ease out neck and shoulders with slow, smooth movements in time with your breathing. Easing out kinks from a heavy sleep and embedding the movements means you are more likely to use them again during the day.

• On the floor, at the side of your bed. On all fours slowly arch your back up as you exhale, down as you inhale. This energises you and gets you moving.

• Close your practise – it may be short but pausing and thanking yourself for taking the time will affirm what you are doing.

During the day

• Walk outside. Whether it’s with the dog or to the shops on your lunch break, where and how long isn’t important if you use it well. Connect with at least one of your senses on your walk, for example: - Notice an object, a tree or a pattern in the sky. Pause and look at the shape, the texture, notice every detail.

- Feel the air on your skin, the temperature and how your skin feels.

- The power is in pausing and focusing on just one thing.

Don’t ask questions, just observe. Mindful moments like this even for 30 seconds at a time throughout the day will help calm your mind and your body.

• Yoga postures for 20 minutes. A short, balanced routine every day can have just as much benefit as an intense hour once a week. If you can do both, even better.

• Online classes are a helpful option. If you aren’t confident using them why not talk to your yoga teacher about creating your own short session?

"Where and how long you walk for isn’t important if you use it well" • No space? Before you start shifting furniture around stop and walk around the house – there may be a space you haven’t thought of using before. My mum practises in the kitchen, no sofa to move. She opens the back door in the summer and, most importantly, she can shut the door to the rest of the house.

• Go outside. One of my yogis loves walking and often comes across a peaceful spot where it would be perfect to lose herself in the flow. She now has a standing routine she can do in her walking boots and a short meditation for when she finds a handy tree stump or rock. There are so many postures you don’t need a mat for. Soft grass or carpet is just as good – just avoid postures that require more grip if you need to.

• You can do a lot in a minute: - 10 full lung breaths as you cook dinner or sit in the car before you get out.

- Standing in a queue or in the shower, bring yourself into mountain pose; focus on your feet then scan slowly up to the top of your head, bringing your body into line. Improving posture, core strength and self-confidence.

- Be kind to someone – simple yet powerful.

In the evening

• A last slow stretch before you get into bed.

• While lying in bed visualise a routine – it helps quieten a busy mind and learn that routine at the same time. You could talk yourself through a body scan or use a recorded meditation and then sleep well!

‘Strive for progress not perfection.’ All this keeps you topped up so when you are able to get ‘onto your mat’ you are ready to get the most out of it. yogasherborne.co.uk yogasherborne sherbornetimes.co.uk | 105

Body and Mind

NAVIGATING THE MENOPAUSE Julia Witherspoon, Nutritional Therapist

F

or women over 40, the transition through menopause can be a hugely difficult time which can last for years. I know this because I went through a really challenging time myself when I was in my early forties. I assumed women went through menopause when they were 50 and, yes, the average age women reach menopause (12 months without a period) is 51, but the decade or so of perimenopause can cause an array of quite debilitating symptoms which can take a tremendous toll on a woman’s life and wellbeing.

I spent two or three years thinking I was slowly going mad, probably getting early-onset dementia, being unable to sleep and becoming more and more anxious, moody, irritable and tearful. And I had no idea why. My GP didn’t mention perimenopause, my mother didn’t mention perimenopause, the counsellor I turned to in desperation didn’t mention perimenopause, but eventually, after doing my own research, I finally 106 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

understood that everything I was experiencing was absolutely normal for a woman of my age. All my ghastly symptoms were the result of declining sex hormones initiating a cascade of changes in my body, including imbalances in other key hormones like insulin (which regulates our blood sugar), thyroid hormones (which dictate the speed of our metabolism) and cortisol (our stress hormone).

This was a lightbulb moment for me and, over the course of the following weeks and months, I was able to completely turn my menopause experience on its head.

I was so astonished at how much better I felt, having made some diet and lifestyle changes, that I became really passionate about the power of nutrition for health and wellness and went back to college at the grand old age of 52 to study it properly. I had no support when I went through perimenopause and, although menopause was lifted out from under the carpet during 2021, there

Image: Barbara Leatham

are still too many women struggling alone. I want to help as many of them as I can to better manage (and potentially reduce or eliminate) their symptoms and get back in control of their health.

We spend around a third of our lives being post-menopausal and the actions we take during the perimenopause years may determine our health, our health risks and our health outcomes for the rest of our lives. And I want the rest of our lives to be the best of our lives!

One of the key things perimenopausal women (in fact everyone) can do to support hormone balance is to work on better stabilising their blood glucose levels.

This is not always easy when the modern-day diet is crammed full of foods that do the opposite. Sugary foods, processed foods and simple carbohydrates (e.g. white bread, white pasta and white rice which break down in the body into glucose) cause a pretty

swift sky-rocketing of sugar in the blood (much higher than is desired). There is then a release of insulin from the pancreas which enables that glucose to get into cells to be used for making energy. Once insulin’s job is done, blood sugar levels come crashing back down again (much lower than is desired) which can then cause lethargy and a craving for something sweet to get energy levels back up again. This can go on all day and is known as the blood sugar rollercoaster. Our bodies and our hormones do not like it!

And what happens when there is so much sugar floating around in the blood that there is no room in our cells to take any more? The excess gets stored in the liver before being converted to fatty acids and sent round the body to be stored as fat in the adipose tissue (particularly around the abdominal area). The more insulin our pancreas has to produce to deal with high blood sugar, the more body fat we store. Our bodies and most women do not like this either! Together with a slowing metabolism and loss of muscle mass as women transition through perimenopause, this means weight can really creep on and it becomes increasingly difficult to lose it again.

In order to minimise hormone-disrupting blood sugar spikes and weight gain, the best thing we can do is to eat a high fibre, minimally processed diet and reduce damaging sugars and simple carbohydrates.

Focussing meals round good sources of protein, healthy fats and a variety of vegetables will provide a slower release of energy, keep us fuller for longer and should prevent that ‘hangry’ feeling – mostly caused by meals containing too many sugars or simple carbohydrates.

Complex carbohydrates like wholemeal bread, brown rice, wholegrain pasta etc also break down in the body into glucose but much more slowly, so small portions of these can also form part of a healthy, hormone balancing diet.

I have created a four-step system for managing the menopause mayhem, incorporating nourishing whole-foods nutrition, exercise/movement, stress management and supporting our bodies to manage the onslaught of environmental toxins it is exposed to every minute of every day.

We will look at these steps in the coming months and they are not just important for perimenopausal women, but relevant to anyone invested in their health and who wants to make sure they remain as healthy as possible for as long as possible. julianutrition.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 107

MINDFUL

NESS

SHERBORNE

NESS LEE

YOGA Sherborne

Mindfulness Coach and Counsellor 8-Week ‘Mindfulness for Wellbeing’ course beginning Wednesday 12th January 2022 on Zoom www.mindfulnessherborne.com ness@mindfulnessherborne.com

Small Hatha yoga classes in Sherborne, Milborne Port and Trent Relaxation and guided meditation classes Talk to me about a 1-1 to help you gain confidence to join a class or develop your own practise at home @yogasherborne hello@yogasherborne.co.uk www.yogasherborne.co.uk Yoga Alliance qualified teacher

Muntanya is an independent trekking and outdoors shop offering clothing and equipment from major suppliers.

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

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.

108 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

LEADING INDEPENDENT HEARING CARE EXPERTS - IN SHERBORNE SINCE 2001 • Hearing aids designed to support your brain • Superb sound quality and speech understanding • Better hearing in a variety of environments • Effortless connections and direct streaming • Make hands-free calls from most smartphones • Use the Oticon ON app for easy, discreet control • A full day's power without disposable batteries • No obligation - trial at home before you buy!

Ian, Nicola and Dan Girling RHAD

t: 01935 815647 e: sb@girlinghearingaids.co.uk LOOKING FOR EAR WAX REMOVAL? WE OFFER SAFE & EFFECTIVE MICROSUCTION

Girlings Complete Hearing | 4 Swan Yard | Sherborne DT9 3AX

www.girlinghearingaids.co.uk

Body & Mind

Images: Dave Bendell 110 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

START AS YOU MEAN TO GO ON

H

Craig Hardaker BSc (Hons), Communifit

appy New Year everyone. I hope the Christmas festivities went well and that you didn’t forget those exercise targets for 2022 and completely overindulge! If you did, well, even more reason to dust down those targets, check again they are SMART, and get started. The first decision to make is not to become a ‘February finisher’ and by that I mean someone who promises to exercise regularly, often after a rather calorie-heavy season of goodwill, only to run out of steam and tenacity at the end of February (or before!). Keep exercising for the whole year and you’ll definitely enjoy the benefits. These benefits will not only be physical – stronger body, better mobility, weight loss if required – but also mental and that too, is extremely important.

There has been a huge positive, and perhaps well-overdue, shift in society’s attitude towards mental health issues. There is now a growing belief in a need for an openness, and an understanding that it is ok to seek help and support. Present discussions are leading towards a greater belief in the power of mindfulness, meditation and destressing as tools in creating a better mental balance. Similarly, the value of activities such as gardening, walking and craft-based hobbies have been one of the few positives to come from lockdown and hopefully people will continue to put emphasis on such activities as life returns to normal, ‘new’ or otherwise.

Exercise also feeds into the proven link between physical activity and mental health. General exercise is a proven mood-booster, helping to decrease symptoms of both depression and anxiety. It can also build self-esteem and confidence, and be of importance in increasing both the quantity and quality of sleep for some. Exercise needs not be either lengthy or strenuous (although for some it can be) but short regular pre-thought-out schedules can be very beneficial in improving our sense of well-being – when we exercise, the body releases chemicals which boosts this.

Regular exercise is often thought to make us mentally sharper. This may initially seem strange but on further reflection, perfectly acceptable. Although we tend to talk about the ‘mental’ and ‘physical’ as two separate things, the brain is of course ultimately part of the body and there is no reason why exercise shouldn’t improve brain function any less than helping with other parts of our anatomy.

Exercising in groups also has mental health benefits as the social act of meeting up – seeing old and making new friends – can only prove beneficial. Hopefully, Covid restrictions will not prohibit such important gatherings in the future.

This sense of community is central to all that we do at Communifit and I would like to start 2022 by thanking all the volunteers and those giving donations and support, who have helped make our events so successful. Without your help, our fundraising for local individuals and clubs and local and national charities would not be possible. So far, we have raised more than £10,000 and that is down to everyone who has contributed.

Thank you so much and I look forward to seeing you all in 2022. communifit.co.uk

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 111

Body & Mind

KETTLEBELLS

BURN MORE CALORIES AND IMPROVE YOUR RUNNING Simon Partridge BSc (Sports Science), Personal Trainer, SPFit

L

ast month I wrote about the benefits of yoga but now let’s really turn the heat up (no pun intended for those who practice hot yoga) with kettlebells.

The coronavirus lockdown saw many people buying home exercise equipment with many online stores running out of stock. But of all the kit our members bought to use in our Zoom sessions, kettlebells must have been the most popular.

Kettlebell training is perfect for nearly everybody and here are three good reasons why: Firstly, it links cardio and strength training together superbly. The whole body exercises will increase your metabolism, help you burn more fat and get stronger. I love kettlebell training as you see results relatively quickly because of a phrase you may have heard before, ‘functional training’. But what does that actually mean? For me, it is simply that the skills you learn will transfer to other activities and sports because kettlebell movement patterns link your whole body together.

Secondly, kettlebell training is all about your core.

You have to use the three main components of your core. You use your hips, trunk and shoulders together to become more efficient at producing strength, power and absorbing force throughout your whole body.

Thirdly, kettlebells will help you understand the mechanics of your body, especially your hips. Hinging

112 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Oleks Boiko/Shutterstock

movements are such an important movement pattern. Deadlifts are often seen as the king of strength training. Efficient hinging at the hips is so important and swinging a kettlebell delivers more ‘bang for your buck’. We all want to get the most out of our time in the gym. And I believe that power is often more useful than strength. If you have read my previous articles, you will know that strength and power are NOT the same.

For those that like statistics and want to develop more power including jumping higher – a recent

study showed a 19.8% increase in the vertical jump height amongst participants who did kettlebell swing training for 12 minutes, twice a week for six weeks.

The single or double-handed swing is the perfect ‘finisher exercise’ by putting it at the end of a weight training programme to improve your cardiovascular fitness and burn fat. Try 30 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest for five sets.

I regularly use the coaching cue ‘triple’ or ‘full extension’ – this is a movement pattern where you extend your ankles, knees and hips in many forms

of training. But it is a fundamental movement in kettlebell training which mimics how we use those joints in running and jumping.

Yoga and kettlebells can help you run faster and further and burn more calories and fat. Try them both and see how much you can improve all your other forms of training, sports and running.

Good luck. Make the most of the New Year and achieve your goals. spfit-sherborne.co.uk sherbornetimes.co.uk | 113

elizabethwatsonillustration.com 114 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

We’re more than just a coffee bar (although we do make a good coffee!)

Here at Rosefinch you will also discover gorgeous contemporary furniture, gifts, homewares and craft supplies, alongside unique pieces by local artists.

We also run workshops where you can improve your skills or learn a new craft with friends. Create your very own pieces and bring joy to your home.

We aim to spark creativity in everyone, every day.

Come on in, have a mooch, enjoy a coffee and be inspired!

NOW OPEN ON HALF MOON STREET, SHERBORNE, OPPOSITE THE ABBEY Monday - Saturday 10am - 4pm 07921 861087

rosefinchsherborne rosefinch_sherborne rosefinchinteriors.co.uk

Home

Sneksy/iStock

LEARNING HOW TO BUILD

W

Andy Foster, Raise Architects

hen I started work, I wanted to get close to people with real expertise. My aim was to work with anyone who was a master of their trade. I wanted to absorb what they knew and acquire the strategies that they used to do what they did.

Some people I worked with were good and generous teachers. Others were not that interested in bringing on the inexperienced. And some saw their expertise as a source of power and were consequently reluctant to share it. Sometimes the culture within which the work was done was conducive to personal development, sometimes it wasn’t. A large amount of luck was 116 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

involved in obtaining the right project opportunities.

And there was always an inevitable tension between the time available to learn and the time available to produce.

Becoming proficient in a professional environment can be a hit-and-miss affair. It takes effort on all sides to create a healthy culture of learning through doing, reflecting on experiences and writing things down so that they can be shared.

‘We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience’.

John Dewey

Despite the years at university, when starting work for the first time it can be surprising how much new knowledge is required and how many new skills need to be developed. Learning in the early stages is hampered by the fact that those who know how to do things, don’t necessarily know how best to pass that knowledge on. And there is a further paradox, in that most skills can only be explained in terms understandable to those already versed in those skills.

For the beginner, there comes a point when you have to put any feelings of inadequacy to one side, and just have a go. You give your first attempt everything you’ve got only to find that, maybe, it’s not quite as good as you wanted. But you start to discover what you don’t know and what you need to work on. And you start to see things differently.

It takes time, patience and considerable resilience to develop new knowledge and new skills across a broad front. And it requires the right opportunities at the right time, with access to help and support when needed and the internal motivation to keep wanting more.

‘How do you know all that?…It’s obvious… Well then, why didn’t I see it?… You have to have some familiarity… Then it’s not obvious, is it?’

Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Getting to intermediate level in any subject is an achievement, but it is not without risk. Having some knowledge is a good thing, but it can also lead to complacency. You get so far, and then your abilities begin to plateau. Attitude is all important. Curiosity, openness to learning and humility are all key. Can those attributes be acquired or is it down to the story of the individual? What role does the business play in motivating people to do better? I think it’s a two-way street. A team effort.

In the early days, you’re happy to absorb whatever comes your way. But over time you need to develop a sense of where you’re heading. Without this, it becomes difficult to set goals, and you can’t draw the route map for getting there. The best practices I worked for were clear in where they were going, but they were also capable of asking the question: what do you want to do? And they had the flexibility to accommodate the objectives of individuals when things felt right.

Over time, personal ambitions increasingly need to be aligned with the ambitions of the practice within which the work is being done. The objectives of one should complement those of the other. Both need to learn how to learn. And, surprisingly quickly, there comes a point in time when those being coached, become the coaches. ‘ You can’t learn if you think you already know. You will not find the answers if you’re too conceited and selfassured to ask the questions. You cannot get better if you’re convinced you are the best’.

Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy.

When I was a graduate, I thought I’d be joining a profession that had figured out what it was doing. I thought it would have fixed processes and strategies that could be relied upon and all I had to do was learn them. I soon became aware I was wrong and that I was boarding a moving train.

I realised that the company that I’d joined was changing because it was a developing business. And I understood that the profession was changing in response to political, societal and technological developments. There were clearly some enormous challenges to overcome and the role of the architect really seemed to matter.

Now, all of these years later, I am having to re-learn everything I know and do - as is the entire profession and the wider building industry. There are many drivers of change but chief among them are two: climate change and the repercussions of The Grenfell Tower Inquiry. Both require us to take responsibility for our actions; one with regard to safeguarding future generations, the other with regard to safeguarding current occupants.

As building users, you have a role to play too - by demanding that our built environment is safe and inclusive, fossil fuel-free, energy efficient, built from materials that are regenerative and local, blends the best digital technologies with traditional craft skills and contributes positively to community and place.

Buildings account for 40% of CO2 emissions and we need to learn how to rectify this together. The future is scary and exciting and the rate of change is accelerating. It was ever thus, only now it is more so because the stakes are much higher. raisearchitects.com sherbornetimes.co.uk | 117

Wayne Timmins Design, Installation & Maintenance of Commercial, Industrial & Domestic Ventilation Systems Please contact Steve Martin for advice on 01747 839758 or 07966 535810 steve.martin@expert-air.co.uk Expert Air Limited Heating & Ventilation Engineers Kington Magna, Dorset www.expert-air.co.uk

Painter and Decorator • • • • •

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

01935 872007 / 07715 867145 waynesbusiness@aol.com

Heating installation specialist Oil, Gas , LPG , Renewables All general plumbing

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

07943 868726

patrick@patricksplumbingandheating.co.uk www.patricksplumbingandheating.co.uk

DAVE THURGOOD Painting & Decorating interior and exterior

07792 391368 NO VAT www.sherbornedecorators.com michellethurgood@sky.com 118 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Covering South Somerset & North Dorset Small Business Support

Networks & Cabling

New PCs & Laptops

Wireless Networks

Repairs & Upgrades

Broadband Setup

Virus Removal

Disaster Recovery

The Weighbridge • High Street • Milborne Port • DT9 5DG www.mpfix.co.uk

01963 250788

Wishing our clients a happy, safe and prosperous 2022 Lettings & Property Management

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 www.stockwoodlettings.co.uk

Working from home?

No room for an office desk?

Fed up with using the kitchen table?

Maybe we can help From our Sherborne workshop we build custom, retro-style desks designed to fit smaller spaces Available in natural oak and colour-matched finishes Find out more at www.newdeskcompany.co.uk or email andrew@newdeskcompany.co.uk

The New Desk Company Sherborne, Dorset

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 119

Legal

THE IMPORTANCE OF FINANCIAL PLANNING FOR DIVORCE Daniel Gornall, Chartered Financial Planner, Mogers Drewett

Image: Guy Traynor

F

inancial planning is important to help us all achieve our desired future lifestyle. However, when faced with relationship breakdown or divorce, the inevitable changing circumstances mean that the need to reassess your financial situation is crucial in order to allow you to begin the next chapter of your life.

A family solicitor will be able to guide you through the relevant legal issues you will be facing, but having an in-depth understanding of your new financial goals and objectives and how to achieve them will impact on what divorce settlement is needed. So having a legal and financial team will definitely benefit clients going through divorce or separation.

Divorce financial planning involves making you fully aware of your options while ensuring you understand the true value of your assets in order to help you develop a long-term strategic financial plan and ultimately achieve the best possible divorce settlement for you.

120 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Case Study – Mrs. X was offered a financial settlement in her divorce but wasn’t sure whether it would be sufficient to fund her future expenditure needs.

A financial planner was engaged to assess her financial information and conduct a budgeting and cash flow analysis. The settlement proposal was tested using cash flow modelling and determined that she would have an income shortfall at age 75. The immediate lump sum amount required to fund the shortfall was calculated and Mrs. X was subsequently offered a higher settlement to ensure she has sufficient income to age 90.

In this case study, had Mrs. X not engaged a financial planner to assess her financial situation and expectations for the future, the divorce settlement she would have agreed would have left her with an income shortfall. mogersdrewett.com

NAVIGATING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

ON YOUR SIDE, AT YOUR SIDE FOR: For Individuals

For Businesses • Land & Rural Estates

• Mergers & Acquisitions

• Lasting Powers of Attorney

• Residential Property

• Farm Succession Planning

• Commercial Contracts

• Family

• Wills & Inheritance

• Commercial Property

• Employment & HR

• Later Life Support

• Tax & Trust Advice

• Business Start Up

• Dispute Resolution

• Dispute Resolution

• Financial Planning

• Probate & Estate Planning

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

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

Finance

KEEPING IT REAL

I

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

n my last article I endeavoured to explain the difference between ‘real financial planners’ and those financial advisers who use the same phrase, but in truth are not financial planners.

I explained that the starting point for a real financial planner is to identify where you are now and where you want to get to at some point in the future. This is the crucial step that gives meaning to any investment decision. Sadly, it is the step that most investors fail to take.

Without this knowledge, without identifying the rate of return that you actually need, how can anyone realistically decide the type of investment that is suitable for them? All financial advisers are obliged to identify a client’s ‘risk profile’ or ‘attitude to risk’. Without identifying the rate of return that is needed to achieve your future goals you may end up taking significantly more risk than is actually required. Of course, the opposite can be true as well; that you don’t take enough risk to achieve your goals.

A ‘real financial planner’ will begin with the end in mind. They will thoroughly crunch the numbers to identify what’s going to happen to your financial bucket, using conservative and prudent assumptions – all discussed and agreed with you, of course.

Your goal, like many people, might be to ensure that you can live the life you want without ever running out of money. If real financial planning identified that you only required a real rate of return on your invested capital of just 2%, would you still chase higher returns? While some people would, there are many who would prefer to have less risk (and fewer sleepless nights) knowing that a lower return would still provide the security to get on with life without worrying. A low-cost, low-risk, well diversified, tax-efficient portfolio can be designed to give you what you want: financial security and peace of mind.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with risk provided you understand it. There is nothing wrong with risk provided you can stomach the bad years as well as the good.

Knowledge is key. A real financial planner will help you to make the decisions that will be good for you.

A real financial planner will help you to gather together all of the pieces of your financial jigsaw and rearrange them so that you can achieve your future goals – in other words, put together the various pieces to match the picture. ffp.org.uk

122 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

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

FFP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

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

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

For a fresh take on your accounts, speak to Hunts

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

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 123

Tech

NAVIGATING THE JANUARY SALES ONLINE James Flynn, Milborne Port Computers

I

n the good old days, the January Sales were a way for retailers to shift unsold Christmas stock. Today, retailers have discovered that they can have a ‘sale’ whenever they want, and they buy stock deliberately to be able to sell it in a ‘sale’.

The latest trend of Black Friday and Cyber Monday pre-Christmas sales are good examples of retailers stocking-up for a sale. However, being the cynic that I am, I do question if the deals are really as good as they appear. Many retailers will simply have sold the goods at an inflated price for the legally requisite period, only to massively ‘discount’ them in the sale.

Supermarket wines are a great example of this: a single facing of a wine at £10 in a corner for six weeks becomes a whole end-of-aisle display at £5 a bottle (50% off ). Nobody questions if the wine was actually worth £10 in the first place as it’s rarely possible to find the product elsewhere. This brings me onto my next area of cynicism: price-matching. We get offered a price that if we can find a better deal elsewhere then we’ll get double the difference back, or some other waffle. The reality is that the product will be an exclusive for the retailer and impossible to match elsewhere. Computers are a good example of this where the specification is never like-for-like between shops.

Always ask yourself, why is the item on offer in the first place? Is it old stock? Is it low specification?

124 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

Is it the line that makes the retailer the best margin?

I’ll openly admit that if I can find a real bargain in IT equipment then we do tend to buy a load of it simply because we’ll make a better profit. That’s called good business, however it’s only good business if you can afford the cash outlay, or you can sell out before you have to pay for it. Picking up a ‘bargain’ in the sales on credit is never a good bargain!

So, what are you to do if you’re looking to get some new kit in the sales? Be clear what you’re looking for and write down the specification, then start searching online and visit as many retailers as you can find.

Compare the prices and detailed spec and try to find the best compromise. It is often difficult to find exactly what we’re looking for so we have to accept a product and then modify it ourselves.

Be clear that the sale is really genuine and check that the headline price is not someone else’s normal price and, finally, delivery charges can make all the difference.

The product you’re looking for may be cheap, but you might have to pay £9.95 delivery; whereas another online store might sell it for a higher price but with free delivery. Be a savvy shopper!

As always, if in doubt or if you need help, you know where to come! computing-mp.co.uk

Take our independent advice

A lifetime mortgage is a form of equity release that allows you to take a portion of the cash tied up in your home. The amount you can borrow depends on your age and the value of your property.

Unlike a regular mortgage, you are not required to make any repayments before the end of the plan. Instead, each year, interest is added to the loan. The loan and the interest are repaid in full, usually from the sale of your property, when you die or have to go into long-term care.

and get the best product from the whole market and save money. Our low advice fee could save you thousands.

There are all sorts of reasons you may wish to release cash from your home including but not limited to: home improvements, supplementing your retirement income, purchasing an investment property, gifting to a loved one or making special purchases.

Independent financial advice should always be sought before considering any form of equity release as it is vital that you are fully informed of the risks and costs.

Call us today on

01935 317707

to arrange your FREE initial consultation 86 CHEAP STREET, SHERBORNE, DT9 3BJ afwm.co.uk

@AFWMLtd

AtkinsFerrieWealthManagementLTD

Atkins Ferrie Wealth Management is a trading style of AFWM Ltd. Company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration No 07502341. Registered Office:Lakeside Offices, The Old Cattle Market, Coronation Park, Helston, Cornwall TR13 0SR. AFWM Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority No 607283.

YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

Short Story

NIP

T

Malcom Cockburn, The Sherborne Scribblers

he phone rang, ‘This is Sherborne Station, there is a dog for you here.’ I had been expecting the call, so I jumped into the Land Rover and hastened to the parcel office which in those days housed all manner of parcels, day-old chicks, Cornish clotted cream and sundry perishable goods. Today the carriage of the above items has been long abandoned by our railway and the parcel office is home to ‘Cycles 4 You’.

Back then, sitting patiently and demurely among the parcels and boxes was a collie dog with a label round her neck which read Nip, and that was all.

We bonded immediately and she sat beside me nervous but plainly relieved, for her journey must have been outside any experience in her six or seven years of life ’til then. There would have been at least two changes of train between Lanark in Scotland and Sherborne.

My father started his farming life in the borders of Scotland and he would buy replacement ewes and rams from a livestock agent, Murray Jackson. When we moved from our farm in the hills and mountains of the Borders to the gentle Dorset farmland, a new dog was needed to herd the cows and sheep, and Murray Jackson’s service included supply of ‘part-worn collie dogs’! These dogs, after some five years racing up hill and down dale, were no longer ‘fit for purpose’, but they retained all the formidable skill of a trained border collie. The first dog to come south had been Wull, and I inherited that dog when I returned to the farm after working in Australia. I have to say that Wull and I never bonded.

When he lost his temper with me he would go off round the farm on a sulky walk-about. You had to be careful feeding him because I think he knew the phrase ‘to bite the hand which feeds you’! I have wept and grieved over the loss of many pets, but sadly not Old Wull when he passed on. Nip was to be his replacement.

Since there was an absence of any working instruction (as we have come to expect with kitchen gadgets and such) Nip and I had to ‘play it by ear’,

126 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

and that could be from a whistle or a shout. All I knew were three voice commands: ‘Go by’, ‘lie down’ and ‘heel’. The first is used nationwide and means, ‘make a sweep anti-clockwise to gather the flock’, starting to my right. Luckily our fields were not big and I am sure Nip must have poopoo’d my sad efforts. She had learned to bring a flock to the fold from a distant hillside; and without her help nothing would have been achieved by me when shearing, dipping, worming etc. were order of the day.

Initially, I made a bed for her in the shed attached to my cottage; in Scotland the sheep dogs spend all year in outside kennels, and it was said that they lived on porridge – I don’t believe it and Nip had dog food from Mole Valley Farmers and plenty of tasty extras. Of course eventually she moved into the house and slept by the Rayburn while it was the cat who was turned out. There are many tales of Nip riding on the back of the motor-bike, Nip playing tag with the pet fox cub around the farm house and here’s another one; she would always ride in the back of the pick-up truck and one day I had to go to the far end of a Yeovil trading estate to collect newly sharpened saws. When I got home Nip was not there, ‘Oh my God!’ she must be left in Yeovil. Asking all over the trading estate several people declared they had seen a dog going towards the A30. Suddenly, I knew where she would be; she had found her way across Yeovil and along the A30 to Mole Valley Farmers, knowing my other likely port of call. I had indeed taken my pet to work that day and every other day of her dear life.

In a Matter of Words – The Sherborne Scribblers’ first collective work of prose and poetry is available now from Winstone’s Books at £9.99

sherbornetimes.co.uk | 127

GRAPHIC DESIGN SERVICES Suppliers of both new and pre-loved vinyl, official t-shirts, merchandise and memorabilia.

Come visit and “Try before you buy”.

The Beat & Track, The Old Shambles, South Street, Sherborne, DT9 3LN

07730 356719

thebeatandtrack@icloud.com www.thebeatandtrack.co.uk

Hi I’m Robin, I’m a graphic designer with over 10 years experience.

No job is too big or too small, get in touch today!

Let’s make your design look AWESOME!

P: 07871 818 741 E: robin@hitopdesign.com

Flyers & brochures | Menus Posters | Business cards Photo restoration | CV design Invitations | Personalised gifts Corporate communications Logo design | Prospectuses Website design | Branding And much more...

W: hitop.design

DECEMBER SOLUTIONS

ACROSS 1. Fathers (4) 3. Male journalists (8) 9. Breaks into pieces (7) 10. Spike used by a climber (5) 11. Compact (5) 12. Zeppelin (7) 13. Afloat (6) 15. Notable inconvenience (6) 17. Entirely (7) 18. Brown earth pigment (5) 20. Fit with glass (5) 21. Become husky (of a voice) (7) 22. Salad sauce (8) 23. Corner (4) 128 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

DOWN 1. Deprived (13) 2. Looking tired (5) 4. Scoundrel (6) 5. Occult (12) 6. Sporting contests (7) 7. Failure to be present (13) 8. Happiness (12) 14. Go back over again (7) 16. Snake (6) 19. Beads (anag) (5)

Literature

LITERARY REVIEW Mark Greenstock, Sherborne Literary Society

Dream-Child: A Life of Charles Lamb by Eric G. Wilson (Yale University Press 2022) £25 (hardcover) Sherborne Times reader offer price of £23 from Winstone’s Books

C

harles Lamb (1775-1834) was an English essayist, poet and co-author with his sister Mary Lamb of Tales from Shakespeare which used to be popular as a young person’s introduction to our leading English dramatist. The last full-length biography of Lamb was by E.V. Lucas in 1905. This new contender by an American Professor of English Literature, weighing in at over 500 pages and half a kilogram in hardback, bids fair to reinvigorate interest in this half-forgotten character, who doesn’t quite fit into any conventional category but explores the borderland between genius and madness, faerie and reality, whimsy and pathos.

Lamb was a close friend of Coleridge, Wordsworth, Southey, Hazlitt and other writers of the Romantic age; small physically, with a brown face, dragging gait, a stutter and a winning smile, he worked long and unrewarding hours as a clerk in the Inner Temple, while striving desperately to keep his home life together after his sister Mary knifed their paralysed mother to death in a fit of madness in 1796. His two collections of Essays of Elia (1823 and 1833), printed month by month in The London Magazine, are probably his most solid achievements, and it is from these that Wilson draws throughout his book to help us grasp the essentially ironical personality that Lamb presented to the world.

Quoting too from his poems and letters, and drawing on a wide selection of comments by his friends, the author gives us a consistently intimate and compelling picture of a man of whom Coleridge wrote: ‘Charles Lamb has more totality and individuality of character than any

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

other man I know, or have ever known in all my life.’ This is no hagiography: Lamb’s faults, his tendency to melancholia, his addiction to tactless punning, his chronic and increasing drunkenness, his hopeless yet obstinate love affairs, his intemperate views on religion and politics, are all faithfully displayed, with a sympathetic insight that draws the reader into his inner and outer lives simultaneously.

Wilson’s professorial role permits him to interject his own running commentary and to make comparisons with modern (largely American) figures, occasionally tempting him into over-elaborate verdicts, e.g. when he claims that the hilarious essay ‘A Dissertation upon Roast-Pig’ makes Elia, ‘a cannibal in love with his victim, as unhinged as Hannibal Lecter,’ and ‘reveals the psychosexual roots of imperialism.’ Such sallies apart, the biography presents a masterly array of detail within the broad picture of the London scene during the later Georgian period. I thoroughly enjoyed this work, which will surely become accepted as the standard account of Lamb, as well as throwing fresh light on his more celebrated contemporaries. After Charles’ death in his 60th year from the skin disease known as erysipelas, Wordsworth lamented the vanishing of ‘the frolic and the gentle Lamb’; Wilson shows that he has never truly gone away – indeed, had he lived today, he might be welcomed as a shrewd, highly original and wittily provocative satirist of our modern fetishes and follies. sherborneliterarysociety.com

NEW YEAR NEW CHAPTER

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

W

Sue Hawkett

e are delighted to be holding our Snowdrop Service on 4th February. What is this service and why do we feel it is important, significant, inclusive and comforting?

Most of us may be vaccinated but Covid 19 has far from disappeared – the latest variant a cause for concern. We have to adapt to an emerging ‘new normal’, being mindful of its silent presence. We must be responsible, vigilant and aware of others who may be vulnerable.

We are designed and meant to live in a community, in families, with neighbours; to have the companionship, warmth, love and fun of those we live with, learn from and work with. We have learnt, with greater emphasis, our dependence and interdependence on one another. We are a resilient, caring and adaptable people. Charities have adapted their work or come into existence, like our own Community Kitchen. Our health services continue to work flat-out in ensuring that we receive vaccinations and appointments and treatments where possible.

During lockdown our churches were forced to close, which was extremely sad, but they quickly found ways to reach out. The number of people viewing church services on YouTube rose dramatically, bringing God into homes in a very direct and personal way.

Although we may feel more confident with the measures put in place, so affording our greater freedom, the enforced separation over the last two years has taken its toll and had an impact on the lives of many. This has been most keenly felt by those who are ill, elderly, live alone or in a care home or had a loved one who has died. It is those who are grieving that I want to talk about. Because of the restrictions, access and time with loved ones has either been prohibited or restricted in hospital, hospice or care home. That important human touch has not been allowed and wearing PPE has inhibited the closeness in saying goodbye and, in some cases, prevented being physically present at the time of death. If the last time you saw your loved one was waving goodbye as they were being lifted into the back of the ambulance, that only serves to amplify the shock of being separated. We must not forget the impact that this has had on people and on NHS workers.

Although funerals can now take place it was only recently that the severe restrictions to them was lifted. The necessary and natural emotion of grief and sadness has not been able to be expressed. It has been ‘bottled up’ and so the process has been interrupted. The need for people to come together to acknowledge their grief and sadness and to remember in a quiet, safe place has been comforting for many.

At this time of year we hold the Snowdrop Service for those who have been bereaved. An initiative, hosted by Sherborne Churches Together and supported by the Yeatman Hospital, Marie Curie, Weldmar Hospice and Cruse is open to those of all faiths or none. In times of grief and loneliness, for many it is our God who is the source and comfort we need. __________________________________________________________________________ Friday 4th February 11am Sherborne Snowdrop Service Sherborne Abbey. For further details see local social media and posters or contact sherbornesnowdrop@gmail.com

__________________________________________________________________________

130 | Sherborne Times | January 2022

SHERBORNE A town with learning at its heart

Sherborne Prep Acreman Street Sherborne Dorset DT9 3NY

Sherborne Girls Bradford Road Sherborne Dorset DT9 3QN

Sherborne School Abbey Road Sherborne Dorset DT9 3LF

admissions@sherborneprep.org 01935 810911

admissions@sherborne.com 01935 818224

admissions@sherborne.org 01935 810403

www.sherborneschools.org

Green by name and nature

LO C A L LY S O U R C E D I N G R E D I E N T S S E A S O N A L P RO D U C E MICHELIN BIB GOURMAND WINNERS 2019, 20 20 & 20 21 Tuesday - Saturday Lunch 12pm - 2pm | Dinner 6pm - 9pm 3 The Green, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3HY 01935 813821 @greensherborne www.greenrestaurant.co.uk