The Visitor Magazine Issue 420 November 2018

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Your local independent monthly journal  01963 351256 www.thevisitormagazine.co.uk

Issue 420 November 2018

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The Somerset Poppies A Remembrance event at The Bishop’s Palace, Wells 11th - 25th November

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glass of squeezed orange juice with no additives is my daily start to breakfast. Smug that I’ve just consumed the first of my healthy ‘five portions a day’, I know that I’m well on my way towards the recommended daily intake of vitamin C, vitamin B9 and potassium. So I was disturbed to read that fruit juices have been shown to contain almost the same amount of sugar as fizzy drinks. According to the doctor, ‘there is no such thing as good sugar drinks’ and ‘the high fructose content in fruit juice massively outweighs any benefits one would gain in nutrition’.

Thanks to the bombardment of conflicting advice, eating and drinking has become fraught with difficulty. We have long been told that the humble potato is good for us, being low in fat, high in carbohydrates and containing plenty of fibre. Yet researchers in the United States have claimed that eating potatoes four or more times a week increases the risk of high blood pressure. Apparently it matters not how the potatoes are cooked, the risk of developing hypertension is the same.

And hospital nutritionists advise us to eat oily fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines at least once a week, although French researchers say that eating it as often as once a day increases the risk of developing diabetes by a quarter. And some experts claim that salmon farming in Britain is so full of pollutant chemicals it could lead to cancer and birth defects.

Others claim that salty food can double the risk of getting cancer, so perhaps we should stop eating smoked salmon and smoked mackerel, bacon, ham and all sorts of pickled foods.

Vegetarian and vegan authorities, who may not be entirely unbiased in these matters, warn us that fish oils are contaminated with some of the most deadly poisons known, and instead we should be taking plant oils which, it claims, are a far superior and safer source of essential omega-3 fatty acids. But medical authorities tell us that palm oil and coconut

oil are saturated fats that increase blood cholesterol levels and should be avoided.

And after using low-fat vegetable oil spreads in response to scares about butter increasing my cholesterol level, I was heartened to read that researchers in Sweden have discovered that people who take eight or more portions of high-fat dairy produce each day are at a lower risk of developing diabetes than those who have only one portion a day.

A glass of red wine is my daily nightcap.

Some experts claim that red wine prevents blood clots from forming, causes the arteries to dilate, reduces blood pressure and increases good cholesterol. Others issue dire warnings, so it’s worth remembering the wise words of John Mortimer: ‘There is no human activity, eating, sleeping, drinking or sex which some doctor somewhere won’t discover leads directly to cardiac arrest.’

NN.

Advertising Deadlines December Issue published Thursday 22nd November - Deadline Friday 9th November

PO Box 1, Castle Cary Somerset BA7 7BP

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Proprietor Helen Dunion Editor Max Dunion Advertising Julie Crowe

© The Visitor Ltd. 2018

(Items marked ©GT are the copyright of Geoff Thompson)

CONTENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS & CLASSIFIED - 50 ANTIQUES & COLLECTING - 23 BOOK REVIEWS - 25 CASTLE CARY - 14

CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE - 19 CROSSWORD - 50

FESTIVE MENUS & VENUES - 36 GARDENING - 45

GLASTONBURY - 23

HOUSE & HOME - 28 LEISURE - 24 LETTERS - 4 NOTE TO ADVERTISERS Advertisements are accepted subject to our standard terms and conditions as printed on our rate card, available upon request. We cannot guarantee any specific page or position, but will always do our best to comply with clients’ wishes.

ARTWORK Artwork & design by our production department and photographs taken by our photographers are the copyright of The Visitor Ltd.

Clients or agencies supplying artwork or images should send uncompressed TIFs, JPEGs or PDFs, 300 dpi minimum if actual size, or at a higher resolution if smaller than size required, along with a hard copy print-out.

For advertisement sizes see our Rate Card.

The views expressed in articles & letters contributed to this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher.

LOOKING GOOD - 27

MENTIONED in DISPATCHES - 4 MOTORING - 26

MUSIC for the MONTH - 24 NOTICE BOARD - 24 PAPERCHASE - 48

PHONE-A-FIRM - 48 PUBS - 41

SUDOKU - 25 STREET - 22

THEY SAY - 43

WINE & DINE - 44

Drawings by GEOFF THOMPSON

THE VISITOR November 2018 3

Letters to the Editor Time - the greatest gift

Sir, With Christmas on the horizon, and the shops now beginning to fill with sparkly trinkets and treasures, many of us will have been getting to grips with our Christmas shopping.

Personally, I believe that you can never have enough presents, and rather than the cost of a gift, what matters most is the thought that goes behind it.

Present giving is about knowing the recipient well enough to seek out something that you know will please them. In my case, given my passion for reading, and my love of food, wine and travel, many of the gifts I am lucky enough to receive reflect those interests.

Some of my most treasured gifts over the years have included a goose-down pillow and a handmade jigsaw of a favourite picture.

Present giving should be an expression of love and affection, not something that you feel duty bound to give. We will all have had the experience of receiving gifts that, being polite, we will

4 THE VISITOR November 2018

thank the giver for, whilst inwardly groaning at the bizarre hand-knitted sweater in colours that you hate, that will be hidden at the back of the wardrobe, only to be hauled out each time they visit, to show willing.

In my case, I have a large box under the bed that I use for unwanted gifts, as they make handy raffle prizes. Heaven forbid that I should on some future occasion return the gift to the original giver!

Often the most treasured gifts can be those that someone has spent time and energy on making.

Although I am not fortunate enough to be a mum, I know all too well the pride and pleasure in receiving a child’s hand-made card or picture.

Let’s not forget that, for those of us with few pennies to spare, doing something for someone else can be just as precious; running an errand for an elderly neighbour, helping with the gardening or dropping round with a home-made meal.

Why restrict gift giving to birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas? What can be better than knowing that you have brightened someone else’s day?

Gift giving is a two-way street.

Whilst it is always lovely to be on the receiving end, it can be just as rewarding to give something that will bring someone else pleasure. In this busy world, the greatest gift of all must surely be our time.

Linda Piggott-Vijeh Combe St. Nicholas TA20 3NE 0797 178 5069 @LindaVijeh

Mentioned in

Dispatches

Spectra Musica in Wincanton

'The Water is Wide' promises to be another enchanted evening as Spectra Musica bring you songs from 'South Pacific' and other watery numbers including, Shenandoah, Skye Boat Song and The Boatmen's Dance.

As the name, Spectra Musica implies, their repertoire covers a broad range of styles and composers. They will also bring to you music from Kathryn Rose, Brahms, Monteverdi and Stanford. They hope you will be amused by Aaron Copland's, 'I bought me a cat'!

The evening will be led by their talented Musical Director, Peter Leech and concert pianist Anita D'Attellis will feature throughout the evening.

Join them on Saturday 17th November at the Church of St Luke and St Teresa in Wincanton at 7.30pm. Tickets, priced £12, are available from 01963 350160, from tickets@spectramusica.co.uk or on the door.

The Somerset Poppies – a Remembrance Event at The Bishop’s Palace 11th - 25th November 2018

The Somerset Poppies, a remembrance event involving nearly 4000 Somerset children, takes place this November at The Bishop’s Palace, Wells.

Almost 8000 silk poppies will be displayed from 11th November onwards, each one representing a Somerset serviceman who lost his life during World War One. Every poppy will have been created by children from 19 schools in and around Wells, with every child in each school having taken part.

The poignant and moving display will be free to view, between 11th and 25th November and poppies are available for sale, to pre-order for only £5, at: www.somersetpoppies.co.uk Dan Vidler, local teacher from Coxley School, who is organising the project, believes that children of all ages should have the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of remembrance through participation, reflection and research. ‘Wearing a poppy each November is important, but for many children, that’s where their involvement ends. We hope that with children of all ages taking part, they’ll be able to recognise the scale of loss for our county 100 years ago, learning more about remembrance through educational resources designed for each age group. As well as feeling a sense of pride in contributing to one of the largest commemoration events (involving children) in the country, we hope the learning and understanding that children develop will have a lasting impact.’

Alongside the educational and artistic aims of the project, the final outcome will be to raise money for the two charities: Wells branch of the Royal British Legion and SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity, through the sale of poppies. Each poppy costs just £5 and all proceeds will go to the charities.

‘I was inspired to create The Somerset Poppies after seeing the 19240 Shrouds of the Somme, by Rob Heard, in 2016. My class at Coxley School created some shrouded figures of their own, 301 in total, to represent the Somerset soldiers on the first day of the battle. Seeing the display in Exeter and talking to Rob, the artist, it really emphasised the opportunity to explore the topic on a large scale with children.

Our project also takes direct inspiration from the Tower of London Poppies - Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red - back in 2014, and the hope is for children

7E CURRENTLY HAVE ROOMS AVAILABLE

Mentioned in

Dispatches to build an awareness of work by contemporary artists, within this context.’

‘The whole project would not have been possible without the financial support we have received, offered generously by Wells City Council, Wells branch of the Royal British Legion, David Wilson Homes and Wells Civic Society, as well as many local businesses, all of which are listed on our Facebook page. We are extremely grateful to every organisation that has sponsored The Somerset Poppies, as well as to The Bishop’s Palace for kindly hosting the event.’

While The Somerset Poppies will be free to view at The

Bishop’s Palace, Wells, there is also an opportunity to view the display before it opens on 11th November, by buying tickets to a ‘Preview’ event, on the evening of 10th November, where the poppies will be displayed under floodlights with children from local choirs singing songs from the WW1 era. Tickets cost £15 and only 100 are available to buy from The Bishop’s Palace Shop or online at: https://www. ticketsource.co.uk/thebishops palace. ‘We hope that as many people as possible will come to view the poppies, both Wells and Somerset residents and people from further afield. Visitors will join the children of Wells in developing a deeper appreciation of the losses for our county during World War One.’

Development Service, Tea Room Arts in South Cadbury will be the recipient of almost £10,000 of lottery funding from Awards for All. The lottery funding will help to deliver a project that will celebrate community spirit in the Vale of Camelot.

From its base in Chapel Cross Tea Rooms, Tea Room Arts hosted a short series of community workshops in the basic use of digital equipment.

Somerset Film, an organisation that provides media training for community groups, ran the sessions; this has stimulated a desire to do a more focused programme, to include more in depth training and to create a

project that celebrates the Camelot area.

Rose Adams, Chairman of Tea Room Arts said, ‘We want to use digital technology to capture the spirit of community in the villages of Camelot, to give voice to the isolated, encourage dialogue, raise aspiration and promote cohesion and tolerance across the generations.

‘We would like to engage professional support and additional resources from Somerset Film to train a group of volunteers, to help them, through sound recording, film and photography, document and present the stories of all our community groups and activities.

With constructive mentoring, we

Vale of Camelot community spirit to be celebrated after lottery funding

Thanks to the support of South Somerset District Council’s Arts

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THE VISITOR November 2018 7

individuals who, in addition to improving their own skills, will be able to support other people to use the equipment.

Mentioned in

Muchelney Pottery Christmas Exhibition 2018 3 November - 5 February 2019

Dispatches

would like to collate the visual and audio information and create a touring exhibition that shows the Pride of Camelot! This will be shown at various events, in village halls, schools and other spaces where local people will be invited to share the celebration of our diverse community.’

Tea Room Arts recently set up the Holman Hub digital media centre, using a range of computers, film and photography equipment that they inherited.

Some of it quite old so the funding will help to buy some more up to date equipment and to provide training for local people in its use. The first two training sessions are on Thursday 25 October (7:00pm to 9:00pm) and Saturday 24 November (10:00am to 1:00pm). For further information email tearoom arts@gmail.com.

Representatives from community groups from the cluster of ten parishes that make up Camelot have already

8 THE VISITOR November 2018

Participants at a Somerset Film digital workshop at the Holman Hub, Chapel Cross Tea Rooms, South Cadbury.

indicated that they are very keen to be involved. The varied range of community groups and societies, schools and churches will be invited to engage, as participants, trainees or potential audiences for an exhibition that will tour the area next autumn.

Councillor Sylvia Seal, Portfolio Holder for Leisure & Culture at South Somerset District Council said, ‘Receiving a £10,000 lottery funding is a great achievement and will help to deliver a project that will engage with many groups from several different communities in the Camelot area.

It will also help to update some

old equipment which will enable users to use more modern technology to produce better quality digital media. This funding would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the support of SSDC’s Arts Development Service and I wish everyone involved all the best on this project.’

South Somerset District Council’s Arts Development will contribute an additional £1,000 to the project, to ensure that as a legacy of the project, there will be an improved digital production facility for the community to use and a body of well-trained

The Christmas Exhibition features new work by Jamie Condon, Joanne Horrobin and Holly Webb.

Jamie Condon: Jamie is a self taught painter who favours acrylics for their vivid colours and fast drying properties. His subject matter is many and varied, though nature and human figures often feature in his work. He sometimes likes to incorporate local, Somerset inspired images into his work, reflecting his love of the county he now calls home.

This can range from local buildings and landmarks to the flowers, butterflies and people of the Somerset Levels. He is also very inspired by music and often gives the paintings musically inspired titles!

Joanne Horrobin: Joanne combines her love of colour with metal to create small-scale sculpture and vessels. Using traditional metalwork techniques taught by her father Joanne forms and planishes copper and

then hot fuses vitreous enamel at 800 degrees to create unique designs. The enamel design and colours are intuitive, of the moment and unique.

Joanne’s main influence comes from living on Exmoor, and the study of land and sea scape, this has inspired her to create pieces of work that preserve memories, of colours, intricate designs for example of a butterfly wing and the lines that have been ploughed onto a field.

Holly Webb: Holly trained as a designer jeweller at Loughborough College of Art and Design, graduating in 1978. She lives and works on the beautiful

Somerset Levels in the hamlet of Thorney where she produces an eclectic mix of handmade jewellery, mostly in gold and silver and often incorporating semi precious stones.

Also in the gallery you will find the latest signed ceramics by John Leach, Mark Melbourne and Nick Rees, baskets by David Drew and handcrafted leather goods by Jake Leach (Bare Naked Designs).

Shop and gallery open Monday - Saturday, 9-1, 2-5. John Leach Gallery at Muchelney Pottery Muchelney, Nr. Langport, TA10 0DW, 01458 250324, www.johnleachpottery.co.uk.

The Winter Fair

The famous HFT Christmas Fair has now become The Winter Fair fundraising for the local charity in Wincanton, The Balsam Centre, on Saturday 17th

The next Wincanton Model Railway Exhibition take place on Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th November.

November at Wincanton Memorial Hall, 10.00am -1.30pm.

Entry: 50p.

Wonderful stalls of Deli and Cakes, Trash & Treasure, Toy Stall, Jewellery, Books, Tombola, The Bag Lady, The Balsam Centre Stall, Art Gallery, Kitchen Dresser, Second Chance

Wardrobe, Gifts, Plants, Raffle and a delicious Café. A chance to meet, shop and chat – it’s unmissable. See you there!

THE WINTER FAIR

Jamie Condon - Dancer No. 6.

Part of the Christmas Exhibition at John Leach Gallery, Muchelney.

In aid of THE BALSAM CENTRE Wincanton Memorial Hall Saturday 17th November 10.00am - 1.30pm Entry: 50p Fantastic stalls for everyone

THE VISITOR November 2018 9

Mentioned in

Dispatches

Research and the Shaftesbury Art Centre 'Raise the Roof' appeal.

The organisers would like to thank everyone who helped to arrange the event including the

models, staff, friends. Everyone had a great time.

Shirley Allum, in the last 21 years, has raised an impressive £70,000 for various charities.

Fashion shows at the Shaftesbury Art Centre on 19th September raise £4,000 for charity

Shirley Allum Fashions & Lingerie of Shaftesbury held 2 fashions shows at the Shaftesbury Art Centre 2.30pm & 7.00pm on 19th September.

The event raised £4,000 with all the proceeds of the tickets and draws donated to Brain Tumour L-R: Jenny Parker, Shirley Allum and Val Baker handing over a cheque of £2,000 to the Shaftesbury Art Centre (for the Raise the Roof appeal), another cheque for £2,000 was sent to Brain Tumour Research.

10 THE VISITOR November 2018

Wincanton Model Railway Exhibition

It’s that time of year again, over the weekend of the 10/11th November at King Arthur's School, Wincanton, there will be a Model Railway Exhibition.

Opening 10.00 both days with a 16.30 finish Saturday & 16.00 Sunday. There will be plenty of layouts and stands on site, spread across 2 halls for the enthusiast, occasional modeller or entertaining the kids for a few hours.

Currently standing at 20+ layouts booked to attend from all the popular gauges – n, oo, ho, o and the layouts modelled on areas, not just in the uk but from around the world including America & Switzerland with a special note this year to the First World War. No less than 3 layouts in attendance (1 sat only) depicting this time in our history.

With these layouts, some use off the shelf items – track, buildings, rolling stock, etc. Whilst others have ‘scratch built’ buildings and locomotives based on actual places and built to exacting detail.

Preservation stands attending include the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway, Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust and the local Gartell Light Railway from near Templecombe.

Six traders are supporting the event, so there’s no fear in not being able to find that item you’re missing. From new & second hand rolling stock to all your electronic components to model die-cast cars & vehicles to match in with your railway. Not forgetting there will be catering facilities on site with cakes, teas, coffees and snacks by Carol’s Cafe.

Admission is adults £5, concessions £4. All children must be accompanied. There will be a 2 minute silence on Sunday at 11am.

Cedrics announced winner of Champion Sweet Preserve for their marmalade at the Taste of The West Awards Ceremony 2018

Cedrics were announced as winner of Champion Sweet Preserve for their Marmalade at the Taste of the West Awards Ceremony 2018.

The overall winners of this year’s Taste of the West Awards were announced at a prestigious ceremony held in The Great Hall at Exeter University, attracting an audience of over 400 fanatic foodies. With the help of BBC television presenter Victoria Graham, a staggering 42 awards were given out to 38 South West

food & drink businesses.

Cedric & Dorothy Tuck have been running Cedrics® at The White Swan in Misterton, Nr Crewkerne for 40 years this year.

A company spokesperson said: ‘To be announced a finalist for the champion title was just fantastic.

Then at the awards to our amazement we won Champion Sweet Preserve Marmalade 2018.

WOW!’ ‘Cedrics would like to say thank you to all our customers for their continued support and to inkREADible Labels Limited from Torquay in Devon who sponsored

the award.’

Cedrics® have won over 25 Taste of the West Awards, in particular their Gold Award winning Somerset Cider and Apple Cake, their jams, marmalades, chutneys and jellies all in the last 7 years since entering their first product in the prestigious competition. Cedrics® now have a product with a gold in each of those categories. Last year’s Gold was for Pumpkin Beer Chutney. Cedrics products can only be purchased at Cedrics, over the telephone or online at www.cedricscakes.co.uk

Blackmore Vale and Yeovil National Trust Association November Events

On Saturday 3 November 2018 Blackmore Vale and Yeovil NT Association presents a talk by Felicity Herring: Artist’s view of 19th Century Rural Britain, at the Digby Hall, Hound Street, Sherborne at 2.30pm. Entry is £3.00 / £5.00 (includes tea and biscuits). www.BVYNTassoc .wordpress. com.

This fully illustrated talk shows how 19th Century artists portrayed rural Britain, many of them showed idyllic pastoral scenes but others showed the reality of the hardworking life lead by the agricultural worker.

Reflections of life in the countryside: the homes, working conditions, health, education and leisure are highlighted.

Mendip Dance Club

Sweet success! L-R: Jonathan Tull. Cedric and Helena Tuck after Cedrics won the Champion Sweet Preserve award.

At the recent AGM all officers gave very positive reports for the eighth year of the Club’s existence. It continues to attract new members and now has a core of teachers each with their own special genre who enjoy the enthusiastic and open-minded response of the dancers.

A highlight of the past year was the extended class taught by the Dance Master of professional

THE VISITOR November 2018 11

Mentioned in

Dispatches Company JSLN, four members continue to perform with Yama Dance Company based at Bath University. A visit to see Rambert Dance in Bath and to Mark Bruce Dance Company in Frome were arranged and the Club picnic was reinstated.

A further outing is booked for November - Rambert Dance.

The initial aims of the club remain the same i.e. to provide a weekly accessible dance opportunity for all over 50 year olds regardless of experience and ability, although younger members are now welcome.

The club continues to operate throughout the year on a pay as you go basis with reduced charges for those in need and the first class free.

New dancers may come along to Chilcompton Village Hall on any Tuesday from 2pm until 3.30pm where they will find a warm welcome, www. mendipdance.wordpress.com.

12 THE VISITOR November 2018

Christmas Fayre Saturday 1 December 2018

Fund raising event on Saturday 1st December at The Marion Hall, The Avenue, Yeovil (near hospital).

Doors open at 10.30am with various stalls including homemade cakes, Christmas flower arrangements, and preserves, tombola, gifts, jewellery and toiletries, bottle stall, bric-a-brac etc. Tea/coffee, cakes and Indian lunches will also be served. Entrance Child 50p, Adult £1.

Cheddar Male Choir Annual Concert 2018.

On Saturday 3rd November at 7:30pm Cheddar Male Choir and soloist Francesca Bowkett will be performing at the Sidcot Meeting House, Oakridge Lane, Winscombe BS25 1PD, to help raise funds for the choir charity. Cheddar Male Choir helps other charities and good causes by singing concerts for ‘The Children’s Hospice South West’, ‘Somerset and Dorset Air Ambulance’, ‘Freewheelers Blood Bikers’, ‘RAFA’ ‘The Prince’s Trust’ and numerous others.

The choir’s 23rd annual concert will be a great celebration of songs from the

Cheddar Male Choir are performing on Saturday 3rd November at Sidcot Meeting House, Winscombe.

musicals, pop charts, spirituals and some traditional male voice songs. Tickets are £8 and available from Deane’s of Cheddar, a choir member or on sale at the door on the night.

Certainly, this is a night not to be missed. Please support this concert which will have something for everyone.

Concert by The Royal Marines Association Concert Band (with violin) in St Michael's Church North Cadbury on Saturday 17th November

The Royal Marines Association Concert Band is comprised of past members of the Royal Marines Band Service, with whom many will be familiar at the Remembrance Concert at the Royal Albert Hall and at Royal and Public occasions.

On retirement from the regular Corps, those who wish to continue their musical career

within a similar environment, choose to do so within the RMACB. The band performs at venues around the country and abroad, including at the Octagon in Yeovil annually. The Brass Quintet comes from the Band.

It consists of 5 Musicians (2 Trumpets, Euphonium, French Horn, Trombone) and on this occasion will be supplemented by a violin, which will feature in 2 pieces, notably ‘The Ashokan Farewell’ beloved of listeners to Classic FM. The Quintet fulfils over 50 bookings a year with their eclectic choice of music which ranges from traditional marches to Overtures, Classical pieces, West End Musicals, Jazz etc.

They travel across the globe and perform concerts in UK Embassies abroad, including Tokyo. They have also performed in London for the Lord Mayor and Worshipful Companies.

of Jutland but died only a few days later aboard HMS Hampshire with Lord Kitchener when it was sunk off Orkney in 1916. The route around Yeovil leads you to the town centre war memorial where you can find the name Walter Horace Adams, and those of many others who lost their lives.

Find out more about Wally by visiting a temporary

Mentioned in

Dispatches

New commemorative walking trail to highlight World War I history in Yeovil town centre

South Somerset District Council’s Community Heritage Access Centre (CHAC) is delighted to announce that it has secured funding as part of the Small Grant Big Improvement programme from South West Museum’s Development.

The funding secured will enable the team to create, with the aid of a volunteer, a new WWI commemorative walking trail leaflet that takes you around Yeovil town centre.

In this centenary year of WWI, and in memory of the efforts and sacrifices made by the people of Yeovil, staff and volunteers at CHAC are creating a self-guided walking leaflet that helps people navigate around the points and features of interest and relevance in the town both pre, during and post WWI. Objects cared for at CHAC will feature in the accompanying leaflet and should help people understand more about Yeovil and the town’s role in the War. The project has been made possible by a £300 grant awarded by South West Museum Development using funds from Arts Council England. It would also not be possible without the time and donation of CHAC’s volunteer team, particularly Ian Tasker, the design volunteer.

Councillor Nick Weeks, Portfolio Holder for Heritage at South Somerset District Council said, “We are delighted to secure the funding from SGBI and with our volunteers support we are looking forward to creating an important trail at this significant moment; in memory of those who fought in WWI. By creating a self-guided trail, we hope that many people will discover the often hidden history of our town, including schools, groups and individuals, learning about Yeovil’s vital contribution during WWI”.

Former local resident, Walter Horace Adams (Wally), features in the trail leaflet. Wally joined up to serve for his country in 1915 aged 16 and after serving a year, he survived the Battle

exhibition in the Town House over the winter months where objects will also be on show.

Free guided walks led by the CHAC team will take place in November. Further details and how to book will be released nearer the time or you can contact CHAC on heritage @southsomerset.gov.uk.

The Visitor CAN BE READ ONLINE: www.thevisitormagazine.co.uk

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Walter Adams who features in the new commemorative walking trail leaflet.

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WHEN I VISITED Castle Cary on a sunny afternoon in early October it was still warm enough for drinkers to be sitting outside the White Hart. Across the road the Horsepond Inn had re-opened after extensive refurbishment and the town was still displaying the bustle of a thriving old market town and scores highly for its number and variety of

shops and services. As I have noted before in Visitor articles, no comparable settlement in Visitorland can boast such a hive of retail activity nor such a diverse range of shops, and it is this that is a crucial part of the town’s attraction to visitors.

It has certainly developed into a mecca for anyone seeking elegant, unusual, high quality

The George Hotel, Castle Cary.

gifts. The centre is packed with a remarkable variety of specialist traders – remarkable considering the combined population of Castle Cary and neighbouring Ansford is barely 3,500 – including dealers in art, antiques, books, electrical appliances, flowers, gifts, home furnishings, ladieswear, pharmaceuticals, wines and goodness knows what else. And they’re all within easy walking distance between the

14 THE VISITOR November 2018

pond at The Triangle, where George’s fruit and vegetable store is located, up to Pithers Yard on the High Street, and on Woodcock Street and Bailey Hill.

When you’re window-shopping in the town it’s worth remembering that until the late 18th century most of the properties in Cary were twostorey, built of rough local stone and thatched – the front part of the George Hotel remains as an

to protect the buildings from livestock in the street. I accepted this explanation with the proverbial pinch of salt until I saw a photo dating from around 1890 showing cattle outside the shops. According to the Living History Group’s publication ‘Time to Reflect’, on market days both the Market Place and High Street as well as Bailey Hill behind the

Market House were given over to the display and sale of livestock, and had been since medieval times. It wasn’t until 1913 that a new market yard was opened at Millbrook, behind what is now the Horse Pond Inn, but the High Street railings remain in place.

The Market House, dating from 1855, occupies pride of place in the centre of Castle Cary and

A. Bishop Electricals and Needful Things of Castle Cary.

example. And behind the 19th and 20th century facades of some of the town centre shops are buildings dating from earlier centuries, especially on busy Fore Street that stretches from the Market Place to the horsepond and is lined with a broad range of small shops. The size, architectural style, materials and appearance of many of Cary’s buildings help to explain how the town has changed and expanded

over the last 300 years.

Indeed, much of its charm lies in the minutiae that the inquisitive eye spots while strolling through the streets.

Years ago when I first started nosing into Castle Cary I wondered why there is a short stretch of railings outside two of the shops on High Street – A. Bishop Electricals and the Roderick Thomas estate agency – and I was told that they were

THE VISITOR November 2018 15

nowadays houses the tourist information office, the town museum and a spacious area for events and meetings. The steep path alongside the Market House, linking the Market Place and Bailey Hill, is named The Pitchings. In bygone days it was common for the stones on steep slopes to be laid in a special way so that they stayed firmly in place and were not too hazardous for people, animals and carts to travel over. In this quaint corner of Castle Cary the pitching stones survive on the ground and in the name.

HIGHFIELD HOUSE Residential Care Home

If you are considering a move into residential care ...

Highfield House provides excellent care in a homely environment.

Situated in the centre of Castle Cary we benefit from all the delights that Castle Cary has to offer within a short walk. Our calibre of staff is second to none and we are here to cater for each and every individual person.

Please feel free to contact us for any further information.

Telephone: 01963 350697 Email: manager@highfieldhouse.net www.highfieldhousecastlecary.com

At the bottom of The Pitchings stands a former pub, The Angel.

Originally named the Catherine Wheel it was certainly trading in the early 1700s and was rebuilt around 1770. It was renamed the Angel in 1799 and closed around 60 years ago. Since then it has been used as an antiques shop, ladieswear boutique, shoeshop and nowadays a delicatessen and wine store. And on Bailey Hill the town’s pepper-pot lock-up survives to attract the interest of visitors.

Erected in 1779, the little grey stone building contains a single cell just seven feet in diameter and ten feet high and is roofed with a distinctive large stone dome and topped with a circular ball. Two iron grilles beneath the eaves provide ventilation.

Unusual in Castle Cary’s shopping centre is the red brick that predominates on the first part of Woodcock Street, the road on the left where Fore Street meets the Market Place. These buildings date from the late 19th century and originally housed the Constitutional (or Conservative) Club and the Boyd Institute (the Liberal Club). Nowadays they are shops and include the noted wine importer and dealer, The Wine Wizzard.

DAVE MARSH HARDWARE LTD

The Market House, Castle Cary.

The town’s other attractions include its countless examples of good-quality provincial architecture – products of past prosperity – as diverse as the handsome Georgian post office on Bailey Hill, the imposing Methodist Chapel on Upper High Street and Ochiltree House opposite the chapel, for many years the home of John Boyd who developed extensive horse-hair works on land behind the house.

Boyd’s successor in the business, William Macmillan, also lived here and his son Douglas, founder of Macmillan Cancer Relief, is commemorated by a plaque on the wall. Other nooks and crannies waiting to be explored include Pithers Yard, once the premises of furniture

and cabinet makers C Pither and Son and now occupied by several small businesses, and South Street which I described in some detail in last November’s issue.

Another browser’s paradise which I must mention is Needful Things which is now in its 20th year of trading in Castle Cary.

Opening in October 1999 at 7 High Street as a retailer of home accessories, decorations and gifts, it soon added the adjacent shop to expand its range of ladieswear and its bespoke curtain-making service. Then it acquired another shop across the road to focus on fabrics and soft furnishings, and has built up a clientele that comes from many miles around.

Like so many of the town’s shops, it offers something special that can’t be easily obtained from the national chainstores, and personal service that makes shopping a pleasure rather than a chore, especially with Christmas fast approaching.

One summer Saturday I brought a friend from the Midlands to explore Castle Cary.

The really useful shop!

Garden – D.I.Y. – Plumbing & More

★ Key Cutting ★ Dulux Paint Mixing Services ★ Christmas Lights ★ Tree Stands

Suppliers and Fireside Accessories LOTS OF CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS

Fore Street, Castle Cary •  01963 350316 Also Incorporating

KITCHEN ESSENTIALS ...

Everything for the Cook and Kitchen ★ Stellar ★ Brabantia ★ Judge

 01963 359494

16 THE VISITOR November 2018

 Wines for the festive season 

She was surprised to see so much history in so small a town – and to see so many fascinating shops to browse. Long may it stay that way.

Roger Richards.

Six reasons to try an Indian head massage at Heal and Sole Holistics

Indian head massage is a system of healing that has been practised in India for over a thousand years. Ideal for relieving stress and tension, here are just a few of the reasons why you might want to try it yourself.

1. It prevents migraines, headaches and back pain, by relieving tension in the upper back, neck and head.

2. It detoxifies, by stimulating and improving lymphatic drainage and blood flow to the neck.

3. It promotes hair growth, by increasing oxygen to the scalp.

4. Improves your sleeping pattern, by relaxing and soothing the body and increasing your sense of wellbeing.

5. Combats anxiety and depression. By encouraging the supply of oxygen to the brain, it is a natural mood booster.

6. Improves your memory. By inducing a deep sense of tranquillity it allows your mind to quieten and awareness to be restored.

To book a treatment please call Heal and Sole Holistics on 01963 350639 or visit their website www.healandsole.co.uk.

Three Counties Landscape and Tree Services and The Market Garden

With over 30 years of experience Julian Shave and his LISS/CSCS qualified team offer a range of services including walling, water features, patios, tree planting,

pruning, lawn care and garden maintenance.

Julian and his team can supply you with an appropriate planting scheme for your garden and are able to source rare plants. Three Counties offer a complete service for commercial customers.

The Market Garden in Castle Cary supplies the town and surrounding area with fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers, house plants, planted pots, fruit baskets, gardening gifts and more.

The shop is open 9am to 5pm and is now taking orders for locally grown Christmas trees, wreaths, holly and festive floral arrangements, logs and kindling.

A delivery service is available.

Pop in and pick up an order form or call 01963 350650.

Remember your pets on the 5th of November

Firework night is looming.

Although it may be a few weeks away, if your pet is afraid of loud noises you need to take action now!

Nearly 50% of dogs have a genuine fear of loud noises and as 5th November approaches this can be a most distressing time of year for them. There are no magic cures for frightened animals but here are a few suggestions, which we hope will help to make things less distressing for your pets.

Preparing for Fireworks night

• Identify a safe quiet area for your pet. Provide a bed and some familiar items. Providing an unwashed item of your clothing may help so that the dog can smell your scent.

• Consider placing a pheromone device nearby.

• Minimise the noise and light coming into the house by shutting

all the windows and drawing the curtains early.

• Walk dogs early to avoid going out once the fireworks have started. Keep them on a lead in case unexpected fireworks are encountered • Try to mask the noise by turning on the television or radio.

If possible do this before the first fireworks start. Keep the volume at a comfortable level to avoid adding to the problem.

It is better to make these preparations now and not leave it until the last minute.

When the Fireworks start

• Encourage your pet to go to the ‘safe area’ and stay there. If they choose to hide somewhere else, let them do so. They will tend to seek out a place where they feel most secure.

• Let them have a free run of the house. Animals which are frightened will attempt to escape.

If their efforts are thwarted they are more likely to become aggressive or destructive.

• Ignore your pet if it shows signs of fear. Although it seems natural to try to soothe or reassure your pet, this would only reward fearful behaviour and makes the problem worse in future.

• Reward calm behaviour with praise or a treat.

• Do not get cross with your pet.

Punishment of fearful behaviour will only make them more anxious.

• Try to stay calm and relaxed yourself. Act as a good role model.

Medications

There are certain products and medications available from your vet for pets with firework phobias, which we will be happy to discuss with you. Please contact The Delaware Veterinary Group for advice. We also have an experienced Registered Veterinary Nurse with additional qualifications in behavioural therapy. She can discuss and help to plan a programme of therapy for noise phobias.

The Market

MAX FOOTE Associates Ltd

Chartered Certified Accountants and Registered Auditors 26 Lower Woodcock Street Castle Cary BA7 7BH Tel: 01963 351052

Business and limited company accounts, self assessment tax returns, VAT, Payroll, Book-keeping and Training Personal and professional service

Garden

Always a good choice of fresh fruit & vegetables ... place your Christmas order now!

Fresh Flowers, House Plants, Planted Pots, Fruit Baskets, Gardening Gifts “Dedicated to excellence in Animal Care for over 100 Years”

24 Hour Emergency Service provided by our own staff CASTLE CARY 01963 350307

Fulford House, Torbay Road, Castle Cary, BA7 7DT

www.delawarevets.co.uk • info@delawarevets.co.uk

CHRISTMAS TREES O WREATHS O HOLLY Floristry  Bouquets  Weddings  Funerals — FREE LOCAL DELIVERY —

Three Counties Landscape & Tree Services Ltd

£1 DISCOUNT ON A CHRISTMAS TREE WITH PRESENTATION OF THIS ADVERT

Hart House, Fore Street, Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7BQ 01963 350650 • 07738 524254 • jshavelandscape@aol.com www.threecountieslandscaping.co.uk

THE VISITOR November 2018 17

Needful Things, Castle Cary

Needful Things of Castle Cary has Christmas displays like no other! Pop in to see this, their 20th Christmas. With themes such as, ‘Swan Lake; Frosty/Silvery; The Nutcrackers; The Mice - Tree; Jewel-tones and Country Christmas’ to name a few. As usual they have all your Christmas needs in one enchanting store: Wreaths / Garlands / Beautiful Baubles / Elves and Fairies in their enchanted forest / Christmas Napkins and Crackers / Snowy or Scented Candles / Stocking Fillers and of course, gifts galore for friends and family. Great ideas for secret Santa presents from well under a tenner. So whatever your Christmas needs this year, pop into Needful Things of Castle Cary and find it all!

Castle Cary Museum Special Announcement

Celebrating the Centenary of the end of World War 1. The Museum is extending its Season until 11th November, Remembrance Sunday. This is to give everyone the final chance to see our

exhibitions, which include the beautiful ‘Poppy Quilt’ made by Catherine Millar. You will be made very welcome.

Castle Cary Carnival 2018

The community of Castle Cary & Ansford gave their traditional warm welcome to the town’s amazing Carnival procession, on Saturday the 13th October. The standard of floats and walking entries alike was higher than ever – some being simply outstanding.

The dazzling big carts, creative local floats and vibrant walking entries made for a hugely entertaining procession for the welcoming crowd. Many thanks to everyone for helping raise nearly £2,500 for local good causes.

Castle Cary & Ansford’s Illuminated Carnival showed how a community can come together to put on an spectacular show. ‘The standard of entries was significantly higher this year,’ said Carnival Society Chair, Di Pinnions. ‘Small and large, so many of the entries were just amazing – a testimony to the

Indian Restaurant and Takeaway www.miahscastlecary.co.uk

Woodcock Street, Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7BL Email: Currybest17@yahoo.com

01963 350425 / 351888

5pm - 10pm Sunday to Thursday 5pm - 10.30pm Friday & Saturday 7 Days a week including Bank Holidays

Best overall cart at Castle Cary Carnival 2018 was ‘A Fisherman’s Tale’ from Kipling Carnival Club.

creativity of our local community.’

Best overall cart was the spectacular ‘A Fisherman’s Tale’, from Kipling Carnival Club, in a very welcome return after a year off. Best group was Hot Rock Carnival Club Juniors with ‘On Safari’.

Once again the Ansford Academy team – now known as Ansford Entertainers Carnival Club – put on a magical float, ‘Narnia’. Theirs was the only cart entered by a Carnival Club based in the town – an amazing achievement. Supported by the Notting Hill carnival club, Mahogony, Ansford’s entry builds connections and capability that will sustain the future of carnival.

The standard of walking Masqueraders was extremely high and very entertaining.

Local walking entry, Sue and Curtis Pexton, ‘Dia da Meurtos’ (Day of the Death) got the authenticity thumbs up from a Mexican woman in the crowd

who wanted her photo taken with them!

The New Male Majorettes once again got the biggest laughs!

Good luck for their entry in Britain’s Got Talent! The sisters, Izzy and Lottie Wheeler, kept it in the family with 1st and 3rd in the juvenile category. And congratulations to high stepping, twinkling and twirling ‘Amberlights’ who came first in the majorettes’ competition.

‘The Carnival Society would like to thank everyone who helped make the evening such a success’ said Treasurer, Jeannie Thanisch, ‘So, a huge thank you for cheering the procession, helping raise close to £2,500 for our local charitable causes, marshalling, collecting and the 1000 other ways the community gets behind our big night out.

Carnival spirit is alive and well in Cary!’

For full Carnival results, and more about Castle Cary’s carnivals, see www.cacs.org.uk.

Castle Cary Post Office Cards, Stationery, Diaries, Calendars, Soft Toys Medici, Ling, Caspari, Woodmansterne, Noel Tatt and many more Christmas Cards & Boxes  Lamy Pens

 Euros & Dollars on Site: all other currency next day  Passport Checking  Top-Ups  Bill Payment - Car Tax - Post Office Homephone - etc.

Bailey Hill, Castle Cary. Tel: (01963) 350237

RICH’S AUTO SERVICES N N

TYRES — EXHAUSTS — BATTERIES Saturday mornings by appointment

Unit 4, Torbay Road Trading Estate Torbay Road, CASTLE CARY, BA7 7DT 18 THE VISITOR November 2018

01963 350568

Cards for Good Causes, Charity Christmas Card Shop - Pops up in Yeovil.

Cards for Good Causes, the UK’s largest multi-charity Christmas card organisation, has opened its pop-up shop just inside the door of St. John’s Church, Yeovil. Staffed by volunteers, it sells Christmas Cards & Gifts for more than 35 national and local charities including St. Margaret’s Hospice and Clic Sargent.

The Christmas Cards are an important source of funding for charities, and help to raise

WARD & SIBLEY

November is a time for remembrance: this beautiful poppy jewellery collection is perfect any time of year.

Now available from Ward & Sibley of Yeovil. Prices start from around £16.

The Jewellers of Yeovil

ESTABLISHED OVER 70 YEARS

NOVEMBER PROMOTION FREE clean & setting

check on gemstone rings (ends 30/ 11/2018)

 Complete refurbishment of jewellery – soldering charms onto bracelets, sizing rings, repairing chains, jewellery cleaning

 Watch repairs including battery replacements  Jewellery handmade to your own design Customer parking at rear of shop

 Seal, hand, and machine engraving

 Valuations for insurance and probate  Pearl and bead re-threading

THE CASKET, 103 MIDDLE STREET, YEOVIL Tel: 01935 474065 “ Where customer care comes first”

THE VISITOR November 2018 19

monogrammed wool throws, there is something for everyone on your list this Christmas.

Visit www.jonnyssister.co.uk to see their extensive range of personalised gifts for adults,

children and the home.

Visitor readers can benefit from an exclusive 15% discount, enter VISITOR15 at checkout until December 20th 2018.

All new Official Collector's Edition Prints

by Sir Quentin Blake.

Edition sizes of 495.

Above: It's Large and Grey and Lots of Fun Image size 275mm x 245mm, framed price £130.00.

Below: School Fancy Dress Image size 275mm x 245mm, framed price £130.00.

Available now at Martock Gallery, Martock.

Christmas at St John’s Church, Yeovil.

awareness of their work. You can choose from an array of charity cards and Christmas essentials, including advent calendars, wrappings and stocking fillers.

This years local card is Christmas at St John’s Church, Yeovil - taken by a local volunteer - and is available in packs of 5 or 10 cards from the shop.

In the past ten years, charities received more than £40 million from Cards for Good Causes representing at least 70p in every pound out of

which charities had to pay for the production and distribution of their Cards and any VAT.

Jonny’s Sister

Jonny’s Sister has been the home of British made personalised gifts since 2005.

With a talented team working out of their Somerset studios they produce unique and bespoke personalised items which are neither eye wateringly expensive, nor take months to make. From award winning Letter Cushions, personalised enamelware and

Complete Framing Service Available

‘Simpkin Fast’ by: Sir Quentin Blake Official Collector’s Edition Print (image size 470mm x 195mm)

Framed price: £199.00

Martock Gallery Open: Monday - Friday 9.00 - 5.00, Saturday 9.30 - 4.30

20 THE VISITOR November 2018

Water Street • Martock • Tel: (01935) 823254 • www.martockgallery.com

Rifleman Firearms, Hambridge, Somerset

Rifleman Firearms is home to a 90-Yard air rifle range with over 100 targets, set from 15yards out to the full 90-yards!

They also have 2 60-yard electronic air rifle ranges, perfect for zeroing your air rifle!

As well as their air rifle range, they are also currently building their state of the art, full bore range! Which will be

100-yards, with a unique military target retrieval system.

Full updates for the full-bore range can be found on the Facebook page @rifleman firearms!

They also offer gift vouchers as well, perfect for the upcoming Christmas season, including have-a-go gift vouchers and shop vouchers. All of their vouchers can be ordered online at www.riflemanfirearms.com.

Pet Portraits

There are many Christmas gift ideas available from Scenes of Gillingham.

AN IDEAL CHRISTMAS GIFT ...

Artist Materials • Tuition Books • Accessories Extensive Range of Prints, framed & unframed, wide choice of topics  On-the-premises Framing Service 

High Street, Gillingham Tel / Fax 01747 824050

email: scenesol@aol.com • www.scenes-online.co.uk

A portrait of your dog in pastels

A pet portrait from C.A. Adlington could be an ideal gift this Christmas.

Contact C. A. Adlington

01749 813524 pasteldogportraits.co.uk

THE VISITOR November 2018 21

for the upturn in embroidery and cross stitch.

Autumn sees a new range of poly-cottons and Christmas fabrics arriving with Christmas crafting lines including cardmaking, polystyrene rings, cones and balls.

They stock various childrens crafting kits and stocking fillers such as craft bags and sewing boxes that make excellent Christmas gifts.

New craft lines this season include: mosaics, rug yarn and embossing folders.

Despite internet competition, Crispin Crafts keep their pricing competitive, so why not pop in to the shop at 8 Farm Road, Street, BA16 0BJ. They are open Monday to Saturday 9am until 4.30pm.

Visit: www.crispincrafts.co.uk their website – or join their Facebook page and Instagram for further information!

Street Cellular Crispin Crafts is a friendly, family run business stocking a large variety of Haberdashery, yarn, fabric and crafting items from leading brands.

Crispin Crafts

Crispin Crafts & Haberdashery A family run business for 30 years

 Fabric  Crafts  Haberdashery  Knitting Yarns  Ribbons  Christmas Fabric CHRISTMAS GIFTS inc.

Sewing Boxes, Knitting Bags, Craft Kits, Gift Vouchers and more ...

Call in and see our extensive range

8 Farm Road, Street, Somerset, BA16 0BJ Opposite The Crispin Hall - towards Clarks Village

Tel: 01458 447655 Email: crispincrafts@outlook.com www.crispincrafts.co.uk

@CrispinCraftsAndHaberdashery 22 THE VISITOR November 2018

crispincrafts2018

Crispin Crafts is a friendly, family run business stocking a large variety of Haberdashery, yarn, fabric and crafting items from leading brands.

Having been in the business for so long, Sue and Trev have seen crafting fashions come and go and it is great to see the resurgence of crochet and knitting as the manufacturers of knitting yarns launch new and exciting products.

Crispin Crafts new DMC (stranded threads) stand now stocks the 35 new colours, plus metallic, satin and variation threads! This comes just in time

Street Cellular is one of the few independent mobile phone specialists left that are unbiased to which Network or mobile you have. Established for nearly 30 years, you can be sure that they have expert knowledge and experience.

In addition to selling a wide range of mobile phones, both new and used, they also offer a fast repair service for most models including iPhones’, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola and many more + iPads’ and Galaxy Tab’s normally with mobiles they try and achieve a same day turnaround - whatever the problem, from unlocking to liquid damage they can help.

There is also a choice of new and pre-owned equipment to suit most budgets.

Glastonbury

Edward Howells Associates Limited - Chartered Certified Accountants

Edward Howells Associates are based in Glastonbury but deal with clients in the surrounding areas of Street, Wells and further afield.

They deal with a wide range of business types, from small tax repayment claims to the preparation and audit of accounts for companies. Their core business is dealing with family businesses, whether they operate as a sole trader, partnership or limited company. They deal with basic compliance work of account preparations, tax, VAT returns and payroll, plus general business and tax planning matters. Do give them a call if you would like an informal, no obligation chat.

Above: Colourful Glastonbury High Street. Photo: A G Baxter / Shutterstock.com.

Glastonbury Post Office

Glastonbury Post Office is run

by Gerald Cross together with one of his two sons and five other members of staff. Having run this busy Post Office for over seventeen years, Gerald and his staff are well known to their customers and offer a friendly and helpful service.

If you are planning a winter break don’t forget you can get your travel insurance, travellers cheques and currency from the Post Office.

Christmas is looming so remember to send your overseas parcels and cards off in plenty of time.

STATIONERY • ACCOUNTS • STAMPS

GLASTONBURY POST OFFICE AND CLASS CARDS

35 High Street Glastonbury BA6 9HG

Telephone 01458 831536

MONEYGRAMS • BUDGET CARDS

T E L E P H O N E • G A S • E L E C T R I C I T Y • WAT E R • G I R O T R A N S A C T I O N S

GREETINGS CARDS • HOLIDAY INSURANCE • FOREIGN CURRENCY • PENSION PAYMENTS

Edward Howells Associates Limited

CHARTERED CERTIFIED ACCOUNTANTS Registered Auditors * Preparation of Accounts Personal & Corporate Taxation * VAT & Payroll Business & Limited Company Set-Ups Business Planning & Advice Registered Office: 20a High Street, Glastonbury Somerset BA6 9DU Tel: 01458 831700 * Fax: 01458 831189 Email: accounts@edwardhowells.co.uk

A collection of Bernard Leach letters recently sold by Lawrences Auctioneers of Crewkerne.

Bernard Leach collection purchased by museum

A fascinating archive of Bernard Leach letters was sold by Lawrences Auctioneers in October.

Consigned for sale by his adopted son Maurice Leach, the letters were written by Bernard to his second wife Laurie in 1934-1935 whilst spending a year in Japan.

The letters are personal in parts and also discuss his day to day life in Japan at that time.

The letters were punctuated with a variety of drawings and give a rare and informal insight into the ‘Father of Studio Pottery’.

Bidding on the day was strongly contested by phone bidders and they were eventually sold for £3400 (plus buyers premium). The collection was purchased by the Crafts Study Centre Museum in Farnham which hold the largest collection of Bernard Leach material in the Country.

Lawrences Auctioneer Simon Jones said, ‘This was a really intriguing group of letters and it was a pleasure to look through them. We are delighted they have been purchased by the Crafts Study Centre, so that they can continue to be seen and used for research in the future.’

The letters give an insight into Bernard Leach’s day to day life during his time in Japan.

Antiques Fairs

•

Chasty Cottage Antiques

•

Saturday 10th November Digby Hall, Hound Street, Next to Library SHERBORNE • DT9 3AA 9.30am – 4pm • Trade 8.30am • Admission £1

Future Dates: Saturday 8th, 22nd, 29th December  01963 370986 www.chastycottageantiques.co.uk

THE VISITOR November 2018 23

November Notice Board HENSTRIDGE

TUESDAY 6TH NOVEMBER 2018 Blackmore Vale U3A ‘Chiropracty’ a talk Henstridge Village Hall 2.30pm Members £1.50 Visitors £2.50, refreshments included.

LANGPORT

The Gartell Light Railway’s last Open Day of 2018 is on Sunday 28th October, 10am - 4.30pm.

The Gartell Light Railway

The narrow-gauge Gartell Light Railway, near Templecombe, is having its last Open Day of 2018 on Sunday October 28th.

It is planned to run both steam locos, ‘Mr G’ and ‘Jean’ as well as the replica Class 33 diesel hauling blue, green and red trains respectively. The first train departs at 10.30 and the last at 16.20. Two of the trains have accommodation

for wheelchair users.

As usual, departures will be from Common Lane station at 25 minute intervals with reversals at Pinesway Junction, Tower View and Park Lane involving two simultaneous departures from Pinesway junction. Each trip lasts for approximately 35 minutes and your ticket covers the whole day and you can ride as many trains as you wish.

Drinks and snacks are available in the large ‘Pines’ Refreshment Room.

The railway is just off the A357 between Templecombe and Henstridge and there will be signposts to help you find the GLR if you haven’t been before. There is a large car park when you arrive.

Fares are Adults £8.00, Seniors £7.00, Children under 14 £5.00 and family tickets (2 adults and up to 2 children) £22.00.

Please see the advertisement for details or go online at newglr.weebly.com

INNER WHEEL CLUB of Langport and Somerton meet every 2nd Monday of each month at Langport Arms Hotel in Langport. Time: 12.00midday for 12.30, lunch extra. Contact: Dorothy Wadeson - 01458 252648.

MARTOCK

DORSET POLICE MALE Voice Choir, 7:30pm on Saturday 17th November at Martock Church, TA12 6JL. Tickets: £9 or £8 at 07955 467896. Visit: www.martockonline.co.uk/events, www.dorsetpolicemalevoicechoir. co.uk.

MERE

QUIZ FRIDAY 16th November 2018. Grove Buildings, Church Street, Mere, BA12 6DS. £2.00 per person – teams of 4. Come and join us as a single, couple etc, and we will make up a team for you. Start time 7.30pm. Raffle & Refreshments. Organised by Mere Girlguiding with proceeds to Group Funds.

MONTACUTE

THE UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, A Concert for Armistice Day. Montacute Church, 7.30 pm, 11th November, with members of Folk South West and actor Denis Lill.

Tickets £5: 01935 824786. All proceeds to the church.

NORTH CADBURY

SATURDAY 17TH November, a concert by The Royal Marines Association Concert Band (with violin) in St Michael's Church North Cadbury. 6.30 pm. Tickets £15 (including refreshments) available from North Cadbury Shop, by phone 01963 440929 or at the door. All proceeds to the Friends of St Michael's.

Sponsored by J A and E Montgomery, North Cadbury Court.

WINCANTON

SATURDAY 17TH NOVEMBER: The Winter Fair in aid of The Balsam Centre, Wincanton Memorial Hall 10.00am-1.30pm Fantastic Stalls for everyone.

Advertise your DECEMBER event here

A Notice Board entry costs just £5 for 20 words and 30p per additional word. Send details to: ‘Notice Board’, The Visitor, P.O. Box 1, Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7BG or info@thevisitormagazine.co.uk.

All entries to be pre-paid.

Payment can be made by cheque BACS or credit/debit card over the telephone by calling 01963 351256. The December issue deadline: 9th November.

OCTOBER ...

Friday 26th

Wednesday 31st

ROSS KIRK Old Pound Inn, Aller PAUL HENSHAW Wyndham Arms, Kingsbury Episcopi

NOVEMBER ...

Sunday 4th Friday 9th

Friday 16th Friday 16th

Friday 23rd Friday 30th Friday 30th

24 THE VISITOR November 2018

BOWIE FASHION Quicksilver Mail, Yeovil HELLS BELLS (AC/DC TRIBUTE) Quicksilver Mail, Yeovil CRAWFISH JUNCTION Cross Keys Inn, Lydford-on-Fosse BB TIM Quicksilver Mail, Yeovil PETER BURNS Quicksilver Mail, Yeovil THE PAINKILLERS Old Pound Inn, Aller THE MUTTER SLATER BAND Quicksilver Mail, Yeovil

AN ADVERT IN THE PUB PAGES ENSURES A FREE MENTION HERE!

BOOK REVIEWS

So, you think you know your Pop music, do you?

By John Osborne  Answers can be found on page 48

1) Which Beatles album was released 50 years ago, on the 22nd November 1968?

2) Name the ‘Slade’ hit remade by Oasis.

3) ‘Desmond Dekker and the…’?

4) Name the uncredited female singer on Meatloaf’s ‘Dead Ringer’.

5) George Harrison’s ‘All Those Years Ago’ is a tribute to whom?

6) Who had a big hit with ‘Mirror Man’ in 1982?

7) Alanis Morissette begged the question ‘Isn’t it… (What?)’

8) Name the male who has a 'Shotgun' in the charts right now.

9) ‘London 0 Hull 4’ was a 1986 album by whom?

10) Which 60’s song that begins ‘Dirty old river, must you keep rolling, rolling into the night’?

Bonus Question

Name the one-time member of E.L.O. who had a solo hit with ‘Clog Dance’?

What year?

Great Quotes in Music (108)

“The only reason I am successful is because I have stayed true to myself.”

- Lindsey Stirling, an American violinist and 2015 winner of the Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Album

Sudoku

by

T. M.

Fill in the grid with the numbers 1 to 9 so that each row, each column and each 3x3 block contains all the numbers 1 to 9.

Round the World on a Shoestring - Pete Strickland.

Brown Dog Books, 2017.

286pp softback.

ISBN 978-1-78545-164-5. £13.99

Wyld Dreamers - Pamela Holmes.

Urbane Publications, 2018.

254pp paperback.

ISBN 978-1-911583-04-2. £8.99

If you were growing up in Castle Cary in the 1950s the name Pete Strickland might ring bells with you.

Cary born and bred, Pete left Ansford School at the age of 15 to join the Royal Navy and after 12 years’ service he started work as a timber salesman in Bristol. But he had not lost his urge to travel, and when the opportunity arose to embark on an overland trip to Australia on a shoestring budget his interest was immediately aroused.

Thus in November 1971 he and three other young men left England in a 21-year-old Land Rover packed with camping gear on the night ferry from Southampton to Le Havre, the start of a journey that would take them through France, Switzerland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran to Afghanistan. There they sold the vehicle and continued by hitch-hiking and by using bus, train and boat through Pakistan, parts of southern India, Ceylon, Malaysia and Thailand to Singapore and thence to Perth in Western Australia. The journey of almost 20,000 miles had taken around five months.

Pete’s book is a account of the journey. Its particular strengths are his vivid descriptions of the landscapes and settlements through which he passed.

The world has changed dramatically since Pete made his epic journey. Political unrest and military action in some of the countries he visited have made it impossible to follow the same route today, and the massive increase in air travel and international tourism have changed the face of others. His book provides a valuable historical record of how things were before the changes.

Copies are available from Bailey Hill Bookshop in Castle Cary (and other good booksellers if you quote the ISBN number) and direct from the author via www.shoestring travellers.co.uk.

NN.

The first part of this novel is set in 1972. The ‘Wyld’ in its title is Wyld Farm, a farmhouse somewhere in the Brendon Hills in West Somerset; the ‘Dreamers’ are a pair of students and their girlfriends who have been invited by the son of the owner to spend a couple of summer months helping him to renovate an empty cottage next to the farmhouse. The couple of months grows to a couple of years as the group becomes beguiled into a communal life of sex and drugs and rock’n’roll (and very little work on the cottage), bankrolled mainly by the owner, until he turns them out and they go their separate ways.

The second part, set 25 years later, brings them together again when they learn that the owner has died and left the farmhouse to his son and the cottage ‘in equal parts’ to the four dreamers. All have changed – matured is perhaps too strong a description – in the quarter-century, but secrets from their communal past come back to trouble them and affect their friendships and their attitudes to Wyld Farm.

Within this imaginative scenario Pamela Holmes has woven several plots and sub-plots, mainly concerning their relationships and the impact on them of happenings outside the commune. All are wholly credible and well told, and the story progresses at a rapid pace, but I found it hard to warm to any of the characters. All are drawn as selfish individuals whose ‘dreams’ are ultimately self-centred – even Amy who grows some vegetables and learns to cook for the group but treats her caring parents with disdain. So the further I progressed into the novel the less I cared about what would happen to any of them, but perhaps life’s like that. Maybe a young woman reviewer would find the book more satisfying.

NN.

THE VISITOR November 2018 25

MOTORING

VINTAGE Motor Cycling

I HAVE SPOKEN before in these pages of the delights to be had from taking holidays with your car or motorcycle club. We have just returned from two such holidays and although both were run on similar lines they were quite different, but both very enjoyable.

The first holiday was a week's riding with our Cornish Section.

Based in a large campsite near Newquay you could either camp with a tent, or take a caravan or motor caravan, or as we did you can rent a static caravan on site.

The daily rides were around the one hundred mile mark although these could be revised as the rider wished. Stopping for a coffee stop midmorning and a lunch stop and the afternoon tea and cakes stop meant we never did more than thirty miles at any one stretch which makes for relaxing riding.

Their local knowledge meant we were taken to places of great beauty or of special interest.

Evenings were spent in the temporary club room mulling over the day's activities and planning the next day's adventures. It was all beautifully organised and so very enjoyable, even one day's rain could not dampen our enthusiasm or enjoyment.

The next break was a five day excursion to see our friends in the Isle of Wight Section for an event called the Scurry. Nothing could have been more inaptly named as we did everything but scurry. Similar to our Cornwall trip but somehow less urgent and even more relaxed. Again we toured the island seeing the best spots and some interesting places.

If you have not done so I can recommend this type of holiday.

You spend your time with friends with a similar interest, there is always plenty of time to talk about our hobby, and without doubt you will come away having made new friends. There is a wide variety of these events spread all over the country so there is always somewhere different to go and meet new people. I know the car clubs do similar events and suspect all hobby groups will do the same.

Why not give it a try?

My photo this month relates to one of these holidays. It was taken in The Square at St. Just in Cornwall. When visiting that area it seems compulsory that the consumption of a pasty is needed for sustenance. Here members of our group are seen surrounding the town's monument either consuming or having consumed the famous pasty, and delicious they were too.

November is well and truly autumnal but events continue as

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usual but with slightly less frequency. The Somerset Section start on the 1st with their club night at Cossington. This will be a film night given by stalwart member Harry Rayner featuring old film of the TT races. On the 4th they have the Guy Fawkes Run (nearly exactly the right day for it) starting at the Cheddar Garden Centre. The Wessex Veteran and Vintage Section just have their club night at East Stour on the 12th, this will be a talk on Dad's Underground Army, which sounds rather intriguing.

The Dorset Section start their month on the 7th with the Lunch Meet which will now be held at the Henstridge Golf and Leisure Centre. Next will be the club night at the same venue on the 14th and this will be a Quiz Evening. On the 18th there will be a new event called the Memorial Run and this starts at the Hillbrush Visitor's Centre at Mere. Lastly we return to Henstridge on the 24th for the Breakfast Meet. Weather permitting there is still plenty of opportunities to use those old bikes. As usual you can ring me on 01935-872528 for more details of any of the above.

With my holidays and attending bike shows I am afraid my own maintenance regime has failed. Nearly every bike I have needs work of some sort, or if no mechanical work is needed then it will need a jolly good clean. At this time of year I should have sufficient time to get on top of these tasks so it is back to the workshop for me to knuckle down and get some proper work done.

The chance of getting some restoration work done is very remote at present as I must first

Pasty time at St. Just, Cornwall.

look after the bikes we are using.

It appears now that there is a long winter ahead of us but for sure all too soon we will be welcoming spring and a new season of riding, and I will still not have caught up.

It might be wishful thinking but I hope I still retain the average number of brain cells in working order. So why then do I find myself in this technological age with every gadget too complicated for me to understand.

Even the cooker has more knobs and dials than I need, what is wrong with a simple on/off switch.

My computer has a greater capacity than I will ever need as I use possibly 10% of its capability. I have recently changed my car and van and both are controlled by computers far beyond my need. All I want is to turn the key and drive off. Now I can sit on my drive and play with gadgets for hours and never move an inch (sorry - two centimeters).

As for 4G phones well you can forget that. The question is this.

Is the world going crazy or is it just me or am I getting too old to keep up? Now the simple engineering on my 1920's bikes I do understand, and what's more I have the ability to fix them myself.

Rod Hann.

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for nervous system support may also be helpful. Wishing you a warm and cosy winter.

Jenna Evans.

Family Health with

Jenna Evans

Family Health Q & A

WELCOME to my fourth Q&A column! Family Health is now a forum for you to ask me your health questions. I can’t of course guarantee they will all end up in print or be answered in person - but I will try! You can write to me c/o Ceres Natural Foods, 9-11 Princes Street, Yeovil, Somerset, BA20 1EN; email info@ ceresfoods.co.uk or message me on my Facebook page Alchemical BeautyUK. Q. I suffer from Raynaud’s disease and as the colder months are approaching I wondered if you knew of any remedies that may help? I try to keep my extremities as warm as I can - lots of gloves and thick socks, even indoors - but I’m keen to implement any other nutritional changes to improve my circulation.

A. Raynaud’s disease is a term used when blood flow to the extremities becomes constricted, usually triggered by the cold or stress. It affects women more than men and can cause numbness, tingling and pain. Mostly affecting the fingers and toes, the ears, nose and nipples can also have the same symptoms. There’s a distinct 3-stage process with Raynaud's. The skin becomes white at first as the blood flow constricts, then blue, and finally red as circulation returns.

You’re absolutely right to keep those fingers and toes as toasty as you can but there are certainly some remedies that might be helpful.

Diet plays an important role, with the usual suspects of sugar, caffeine and animal fats being considered the worst offenders. Include plenty of colourful fruit and vegetables as the flavonoids in these can help protect and stabilise circulatory function. Vitamins C & E are useful for collagen formation and as a circulatory antioxidant respectively.

Find Vitamin C in peppers, cherries, berries and super fruits such as amla and camu camu. Vitamin E can be found in nuts, seeds, wheatgerm and avocados. Iron and magnesium can be helpful minerals.

Iron deficiency can be associated with Raynaud’s and supportive

foods include green leafy veg, legumes, dark chocolate, cashew nuts, blackstrap molasses and apricots. Magnesium is an important vasodilator. All green foods provide magnesium and so do nuts such as almonds and brazils.

Consider a high strength Multi Vitamin & Mineral to help top up these vital nutrients.

Including plenty of onions, garlic, ginger and cayenne in your cooking will help improve blood flow.

Cayenne is probably my favourite spice for this and you can get it as a supplement or make it into a tea.

Start with only a pinch to a mug of hot water to begin with but you can work up to a half a teaspoon or so if you can tolerate it. I’m not a fan of hot and spicy foods but even I will drink this tea if I feel the need - it really warms the periphery and is a fantastic remedy if you feel an infection brewing. In fact, a traditional herbal remedy for cold feet involves sprinkling cayenne powder into your socks and shoes.

Other remedies that can be helpful include Ginkgo Biloba and GLA. Gingko is a top circulatory herb, primarily used to improve blood flow to the brain and as such has a great reputation for improving memory and well as keeping our hands and feet warm. Don’t expect the rapid results that you may get from cayenne with this remedy but over time it can really improve circulation. GLA - Gamma Linolenic Acid - found in Evening Primrose, Borage and Blackcurrant seed oils may also be helpful.

Aromatherapy can be great too.

Use oils such as ginger, rosemary and black pepper in baths and as a massage oil. Homeopathically, the tissue salt Combination L for circulatory disorders or Number 5

The Dress Circle

 Jenna is an Holistic Health Coach and creator of bespoke beauty products. She can be found on Facebook at ‘Alchemical Beauty UK’. Jenna is also a multi-award winning Product Advisor at Ceres Natural Foods, Yeovil. To make an appointment, please pop in or call 01935 428791 for details. Always check with a health professional before making any dramatic changes to your diet and lifestyle or starting a new supplement, especially with any existing health conditions

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Older Brits are 'keeping quiet' about potentially serious health issues - by Grant Bailey

One in five 50-somethings is 'keeping quiet' about a potentially serious health issue, it has emerged.

Research revealed a worrying number of older Brits are yet to tell loved ones they have problems ranging from hearing loss to heart disease and arthritis to mental health issues.

And even more alarmingly, one in 10 have been keeping the information to themselves for longer than 12 months.

Six out of 10 said they are keeping schtum so they don't worry their loved ones, and another 29 per cent feel 'too embarrassed' to share the details of their condition with others.

Maarten Barmentlo of Signia, which commissioned the study, said: ‘As we get older it is natural for our health to become more fragile, and it’s a lucky few who make it into old age without acquiring something to worry about.

‘What is important to remember is a problem shared is a problem halved, and sometimes carrying the worries of a health issue can do more harm than good.’

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This is how much money and time it takes for Brits to keep their homes in top condition

By Emma Elsworthy

IT’S OFFICIAL – an Englishman’s home really IS his castle. Researchers who carried out a detailed study found keeping the 'castle' in tip top condition demands 104 hours of decorating or DIY, 493 hours cleaning and £1081 on tradesmen coming round every year.

It also emerged more than one third feel ‘incredibly proud’

28 THE VISITOR November 2018

of their homes, with half admitting they regularly spend hours ensuring it is beautifully presented.

Furthermore across the average home’s lifespan, owners will fork out an incredible £505 a year on updating décor including furniture, soft furnishings and kitchenware.

In addition, £203 will be spent each year on DIY, while a further £144 a year goes on buying cleaning products.

But despite the obvious pride, one in 10 owners have not

invested in any sort of home security system, and 41 per cent only consider it when they’re away from the house.

A spokesman for Yale, which carried out the study among 2,000 homeowners in conjunction with National Home Security Month, said: ‘It seems bizarre that homeowners are so focussed on creating a home which they want to show off to family and friends, and yet many have done little to protect that investment.

‘Two thirds of respondents haven’t installed any kind of house alarm or home security system.

‘And just 17 per cent have put a security camera up on their

wall to keep an eye on who’s coming and going from their immaculate homes.’

Outside the house, the average Brit will spend over 11 hours a month gardening, adding up to 132 hours over a year – the equivalent of five and a half full days.

When we’re not working on our homes, we’re worrying about them – Brits will spend more than four hours each week fretting about how their castle needs a clean or some DIY doing.

And then there’s a further seven hours spent weekly devising exactly how best to make the changes – by updating with a lick of paint or moving

a piece of furniture.

More than six in 10 homeowners agree that ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’. And a huge 86 per cent believe their home is their best investment, therefore it is wise to look after it.

However, the OnePoll.com study also found a lack of security found in many British homes suggests this is far from the truth. And a fifth of Brits admit they don’t feel their home is quite as secure as it could be when they aren’t there. And while 45 per cent of adults will ask a neighbour to check on their property while they’re away from the home for a long holiday, just 15 per cent are currently a member of the local neighbourhood watch scheme.

Four in 10 adults admit they never check the locks on the windows and doors before going to bed at night, and 43 per cent don’t even check them when leaving the house.

A further 54 per cent of those polled never think to hide their precious possessions away from windows, and eight in 10 haven’t checked their insurance covers everything in the home.

The Yale spokesperson added: ‘It is evident from the research that Brits are spending hours on the up-keep of their property, but aren’t investing the same effort in its security.

‘It is bizarre to think that homeowners are spending time and money on creating a home to be proud of, but are then leaving it so vulnerable to opportunist thieves.’

usually at their lowest during the early hours, the risk for many people is waking up shivering and being too cold to get a good night's rest. The Sleep Council has produced some top tips to help ensure we don't turn into ice cubes during the night but stay warm as toast: Wear night clothes such as pyjamas or a large T-shirt to keep you cosy. Natural fibres such as wool, cotton or silk are better than synthetic materials. Have a warm bath just before you go to bed. This will raise your body temperature which in turn will also help to make you sleepy.

Have a warm milky drink

before bed. Try to take some exercise which will get the circulation going.

It is also worth looking at the bedroom, the bed and the

bedding all of which play a part in keeping you insulated in the cold night air. Keep the bedroom around 16° to 18° and free from draughts.

A warm winter wake up winter sleep tips from The Sleep Council

Stay warm in bed this winter and take advantage of the longer nights to refresh your sleep routine, is the advice from The Sleep Council.

Dark mornings and evenings can have lots of amazing health benefits including helping you get a better night's sleep.

Melatonin - the hormone that stimulates sleep - is produced when daylight starts to fade, which occurs far earlier during winter. So take advantage of the fact that your body will fall asleep earlier and stay asleep for longer.

However, with temperatures

THE VISITOR November 2018 29

Avoid a saggy bed. It may be nice to cuddle up to share a bit of body heat when you first get into bed, but it can be very u n c o m f o rt a b l e a nd c l a m m y during the night if you are thrown together by a bed that isn't giving you the correct support.

Look for a mattress which has a thicker side for use during the

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winter. A soft sleeping surface is a better insulator than a flat one. Use a fleecy underblanket to retain the heat.

Choose a duvet with a high tog rating or use several layers of bedding rather than one single layer. Layers will trap the air and are easily removed if you get too hot.

A hot water bottle is an ideal way to keep cosy once in bed.

Make sure it has a cover on it to avoid scalding and also so that it won't feel cold in the middle of the night.

Electric blankets are ideal.

Underblankets will warm the bed up before you retire for the night, while overblankets maintain a constant temperature throughout the night.

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hundreds of installations in the Somerset area and has numerous satisfied customers.

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Their system will dry out cold wet walls, reducing the humidity and condensation which will subsequently reduce your heating bills too. The process will be effective on terraced, detached or any sort of building, whether they be solid, cavity brick or stone walls.

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Trade body advice as ‘condensation season’ looms

As darker nights draw in and temperatures drop, the start of autumn usually marks the time of year when homes across the country are affected by ‘condensation season.’

It’s a common sight in houses nationwide, as windows steamup and excess water forms in droplets across surfaces.

Caused when water-laden air comes into contact with cold surfaces - such as windows and cold walls – the presence of condensation can point to problems in a property’s ability to expel excess moisture in the home.

According to national trade body the Property Care Association (PCA), it’s an issue that is on the rise.

Steve Hodgson, Chief Executive of the PCA, said: ‘As temperatures drop, the issue of condensation and dampness can become more problematic, as

properties start to be affected by fogged glass and water settles on cold wall surfaces.

‘This is the most common form of unwanted dampness in buildings and it forms when the air in buildings has a high level of relative humidity, caused by activities such as cooking, bathing or showering and drying clothes.

‘Most of the time, a few simple steps can address it and condensation is not an issue at all.

‘However, in recent years, PCA members are seeing a number of factors, predominantly linked with modern living, that make this issue a rising trend, including increased levels of occupation and rising fuel costs, as well as a drive to make homes more energy efficient.

‘Efforts to reduce air leakage through draught proofing and retrofit insulation, as well as the changing climate patterns featuring warmer, wetter weather – are also of significance.’

Householders affected by the issue can access the PCA’s free online guide, which offers a range of useful tips to help manage the issue.

‘Condensation in your Property,’ is an eight-page guide providing several key pointers to help householders control the problem.

Available to view at www.property-care.org/Home owners.Damp_Control.

Condensation.asp the publication includes a variety of useful tips, including using pan lids when cooking and avoiding drying laundry on radiators.

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It also advises running cold water in baths before adding hot water, a process which can reduce the steam that leads to condensation by up to 90 per cent.

However, in situations where condensation persists, the PCA advises that effective ventilation is often the best approach to tackle the issue.

The trade body has a Residential Ventilation Group which focuses on delivering effective ventilation in residential buildings, providing homeowners with a point of reference and resource to help them find the expert advice and expertise they need.

More details can be found at www.property-care.org/ homeowners/domestic-airquality-and-ventilation/ And for those interested in the technical perspective, the PCA has produced a video offering a comprehensive overview of the issues faced.

Featuring interviews with academics at University College London, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering (UCL IEDE), the short film is available to view at https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=QFQ2a9XEop8&f e a t u r e = y o u t u . b e , www.property-care.org.

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They supply and fit Roger Oates runners, Crucial Trading floorcoverings, Rubber Flooring and all traditional carpets.

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Somerset that have been empty for six months or more, South Somerset District Council are working with empty property owners to assist them to bring their properties back into use.

There were 643 properties empty in the previous year; a rise of 14 this year.

The council work in partnership with not-for-profit lender Wessex Resolutions CIC

South Somerset District Council supports empty property owners

As part of National Empty Homes Week 2018, South Somerset District Council is reaffirming its commitment to support empty property owners and bring the buildings back into use.

National Empty Homes Week is a chance to raise awareness, celebrate progress and consider what more needs to be done to bring empty properties back into use to help meet housing needs.

In October 2017, the number of long-term empty homes recorded by English local authorities was 205,293. Not only are empty properties typically unsightly as their condition deteriorates over time, they also bring down the value of neighbouring properties and reduce the availability of local housing.

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THE VISITOR November 2018 31

to provide finance for home repairs. This enables an owner to then either rent their newly renovated property or put it on the market or move back into it themselves. By bringing an empty property back into use, the local community benefits through the addition of new housing and a pleasant place to live.

Through providing loans, the council are ensuring that funds for homeowners are sustainable which means that every repayment goes back into the council pot to lend to homeowners in the future.

Siblings, Chris & Julie took a loan from Wessex Resolutions CIC to bring their empty property back into use.

Speaking about the loan, they said, ‘Having inherited a property in the South West which was uninhabitable, Chris and his sister Julie were not having any luck selling it. They were facing the burden of a long-term empty property.

Wessex Resolutions CIC

32 THE VISITOR November 2018

provided a capital repayment loan to enable Chris and Julie to realise the value of their asset and bring an empty property back into use.’

Councillor Jason Baker, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Health added, ‘There has been a fantastic decrease in the number of empty properties in South Somerset over the last 12 months, but we are keen to work with other homeowners to reduce that number even further.

‘An empty property can become unsightly and unwanted in an area; by taking up the option of a Wessex Resolution CIC loan, we can help to bring properties back into use.’

For more information about obtaining a Wessex Resolution CIC loan, call 01823 461099, visit www.wrcic.org.uk or email enquiries@wrcic.org.uk.

Loans have a fixed interest rate and typical 4.2% APR and are subject to status. Missing future payments could affect

your credit rating and ability to obtain credit in the future.

Wessex Resolutions CIC may insist on loans being protected at the Land Registry by a Title Restriction.

New CPS Polling shows housing crisis impact Survey by ComRes for Centre For Policy Studies shows public want more housing and lowerhouse prices - but support for Green Belt remains strong

New polling by ComRes for the Centre for Policy Studies, carried out to measure the impact of the housing crisis on public attitudes, confirm that Britain has switched from being anti-housing to pro.

The survey of 2,036 adults confirmed the shift detected by the British Social Attitudes Survey over the past six years: voters now say, by a margin of 48% to 33%, that they would support more homes being built in their area.

This pattern holds true across

all ages, social classes and political persuasions, and in every region except the SouthEast.

By an even wider margin, of 63% to 19%, voters agree that house prices near them have become too high. The proportion agreeing ranges from 79% in London to 45% in the North East - but the majorities are both commanding and universal.

However, while a majority of voters would support limited building in the countryside, the proportion agreeing has remained unchanged since 2010.

And two of the most prominent proposals for development weakening green belt protections around train stations and other existing infrastructure, or permitting building on the least attractive land within it - are both unpopular with the voters.

There is, however, a clear message that if local communities received more of the benefits from housing being built, residents would be more likely to support house-building

- and that people would be more likely to support house-building if the homes were of better quality.

The polling also backs up previous CPS polling showing that home ownership remains universally popular. A majority at every age, would advocate buying a house rather than renting, showing that there is both the appetite for more housing and the will to allow the Government to act to deliver it.

The findings were reported exclusively in The Sunday Telegraph, alongside a commentary by Robert Colvile, the Centre for Policy Studies' Director. The polling was also covered by Bloomberg, City A.M., BBC Radio 4, and LBC. The full findings can be found on the ComRes website: http://www.comresglobal.com/pol ls/centre-for-policy-studieshousing-poll-september-2018/.

Robert Colvile said: ‘Unsurprisingly, this polling backs up the assumption that people want houses they can

afford - and think that house price inflation has gone way too far.

‘What’s interesting about this poll is that a significant majority, 48% of voters, support

more homes being built in their local area. This is a huge shift from attitudes even a few years ago where NIMBYism was the clear winner.

‘It’s clear from this polling

that if this Government is to win over ordinary working people, fixing the housing crisis should be top of ministers' to-do list.’

The Visitor CAN BE READ ONLINE: www.thevisitormagazine.co.uk

THE VISITOR November 2018 33

Most South West homebuilders and renovators trust their trades according to The South West Homebuilding & Renovating Show

People in the South West are among the highest to have confidence in tradespeople in the UK, with over 94 per cent of them trusting the advice received on house projects according to new research conducted by The South West Homebuilding & Renovating Show.

To consolidate the relationship even further and ensure that current and future homeowners have access to all the latest products and services available on the market, the event is making its comeback at The Bath & West Showground from 17-18 November 2018.

Visitors, no matter what stage they are at with their projects, can find answers and inspiration all under one roof, as the event is packed with expertise and resources for every key building and interiors sector.

Topics from extensions; conversions; home DIY; planning permission; interiors; lighting; doors; windows; renewable technologies; heating systems; project insurance; energy efficiency; home insurance; building regulations, and more will be discussed extensively by specialists at 12 masterclasses and 12 daily seminars.

One of the show highlights is The Advice Centre, where consumers are invited to bring their plans along to receive oneon-one recommendations. Clear bespoke guidance will help avoid common pitfalls and will ensure that projects can be achieved on time and within budget.

This section also hosts the Ask the Builder area in collaboration with the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), which will allow homeowners to soak up vital information about works around the house through free 15-minute consultations.

For topics such as tackling structural engineer calculations, internal alterations and innovative project designs, visitors are recommended to make a stop at the Ask an Architect area. Here, chartered architectural specialists from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) will share their

The South West Homebuilding & Renovating Show takes place at The Bath & West Showground, Somerset, 17-18 November 2018.

knowledge with visitors who have specific demands.

One of the stepping stones when embarking on a project is making sure that the planning application is approved. For this, Sally Tagg and her team will be on hand at The Planning Clinic, offering the latest details about new regulations and laws, and advising people how to reduce the risk of being put through this stage again.

In addition, Potton, which focuses on building sustainable timber homes, will be hosting its Design Lounge to provide directions to people who want to make the most use of this material when building or

renovating their property.

Regular columnists from Homebuilding & Renovating Magazine Ask the Experts Zone include: Michael Holmes (director of content and product development for Homebuilding & Renovating magazine); Jason Orme (editorial director of Homebuilding & Renovating magazine); Allan Corfield (selfbuild expert); Sally Tagg (planning expert); Mike Cruickshank (self-build and timber frame construction expert) and Tom McSherry (finance expert). Standard tickets are £8 in advance or £12 on the door (children under 16 go free). For further information, visit

www.homebuildingshow.co. uk/somerset or call the ticket hotline on 0844 874 0485 (calls cost 7p per minute plus network extras).

For a chance to win tickets to The South West Homebuilding & Renovating Show, simply answer the following question; Q: In what county is The Royal Bath & West Showground where the show is taking place?

Send answers to ‘Ticket Competition’ The Visitor, PO BOX 1, Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7DY or email info@ thevisitormagazine.co.uk. Entries to be received by 9am on 8th November 2018 - good luck!

The Advice Centre, where consumers are invited to bring their plans along to receive one-on-one recommendations.

THE VISITOR November 2018 35

Festive Venues & Menus

Bar – Dining – Accommodation

Christmas Menu 2018

Available from Saturday 1st December until Saturday 22nd December

TO S TA RT Local venison terrine with sloe gin jelly and warm toast Lemon risotto cakes with smoked salmon and horseradish cream Twice baked soufflé topped with melted camembert and cranberry relish Sweet potato and blue cheese soup and homemade bread MA INS Traditional roast turkey with cranberry and pancetta stuffing and pigs in blankets Warm mushroom and thyme dauphinoise potato tartlet Beef short ribs braised in red wine with root vegetables and garlic crust Roast fillet of lemon sole with prawn and saffron chowder Pan fried duck breast with pomegranate glaze and orange sauce P U DDINGS Traditional homemade Christmas pudding with brandy custard Espresso Martini cheesecake with coffee syrup and vanilla ice cream Chocolate and hazelnut pavlova with chocolate sauce and honeycomb cream Mulled winterberry brulee with cinnamon shortbread Trio of regional cheeses with biscuits and fig jelly 2 courses £21.50  3 courses £26.50 £5 non refundable deposit required per person at time of booking Please contact us for any dietary requirements and children’s menu

36 THE VISITOR November 2018

Festive Venues & Menus

The MUDDLED MAN Your hosts, Mick, Jean and Garry welcome you to

Lower Street, West Chinnock Tel: 01935 881235

Pre-Christmas Dinner Bookings now being taken

2 Courses + Coffee - £17.50  3 Courses + Coffee - £19.50

Christmas Day Dinner

Drink on arrival, 7 Courses, 1/2 bottle of wine + Coffee - £65

Children under 15 half price — Booking Essential —

THE VISITOR November 2018 37

Festive Venues & Menus

The George Inn, Market Place, Castle Cary, BA7 7AH 01963 350761 castlecarygeorge@aol.com

Christmas Menus

Christmas Party Menu December 1st – 24th 2 Course - £15.95, or 3 Course - £21.95

Starters Parsnip Soup with a hint of Apple, with Crusty Bread Chicken Liver Pate, with Melba Toasts and Onion Chutney Smoked Salmon, Rocket and Horseradish Crème Fraiche Rolls Classic Prawn Cocktail, with Marie Rose and Granary Bread Mini Baked Camembert, with Bacon Breadsticks and Wild Cranberry Sauce Creamy Garlic and Herb Mushrooms with a stilton Crumb

Main Course Traditional Roast Turkey Crown, with Pigs in Blankets, Honey Roast Parsnips, Chestnut, Bacon and Cranberry Stuffing, Sprouts, Roast Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables with Rich Turkey Gravy Loin of Venison, Roasted with Celeriac Mash, Roasted Vegetables, Braised Red Cabbage and a Juniper Berry Jus Chestnut, Mushroom and Squash Wellington, with Triple Nut and Apple Stuffing Balls, Honey Roasted Parsnips, Roasted Potatoes, Chestnut Sprouts and Winter Vegetables with a Tasty Gravy Honey Glazed Gammon, with a festive Bubble and Squeak, Roasted Potatoes and Cider Sauce Lemon and Herb Crusted Fillet of Hake, with Lemon and Caper Mash, Greens and Hollandaise Sauce Desserts Chocolate Yule Log Bramley Apple and Blackberry Crumble, With Toasted Almonds Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce and Double Cream Warm Treacle Tart with Lovington’s Vanilla Ice cream Traditional Christmas Pudding with Brandy Sauce or Custard

38 THE VISITOR November 2018

Christmas Day Menu - £59.95

To Begin - Cauliflower and Chestnut Soup with Crusty Bread

Starters Smoked Salmon, Rocket and Horseradish Crème Fraiche Rolls Classic Prawn Cocktail, with Marie Rose and Granary Bread Mini Baked Camembert, with Bacon Breadsticks and Wild Cranberry Sauce Candied Pear, Pecan and Goats cheese Tartlet with Onion Chutney Devils on Horseback, with Salad Garnish Followed By - Bucks Fizz Sorbet

Main Courses Traditional Roast Turkey Crown, with Pigs in Blankets, Honey Roast Parsnips, Chestnut, Bacon and Cranberry Stuffing, Sprouts, Roast Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables with Rich Turkey Gravy Loin of Venison, Roasted with Celeriac Mash, Roasted Vegetables, Braised Red Cabbage and a Juniper Berry Jus Chestnut, Mushroom and Squash Wellington, with Triple Nut and Apple Stuffing Balls, Honey Roasted Parsnips, Roasted Potatoes, Chestnut Sprouts and Winter Vegetables with a Tasty Gravy Lemon and Herb Crusted Fillet of Hake, with Lemon and Caper Mash, Greens and Hollandaise Sauce Desserts Chocolate Yule Log Baileys Crème Brulee, with chocolate Shortbread Boozy Irish Cream Liqueur Chocolate Brownie Trifle Lemon Curd Roulade Traditional Christmas Pudding with Brandy Sauce or Custard

Festive Venues & Menus

Christmas Menus The White Hart, Fore Street, Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7BQ 01963 350077 ● www.thewhitehartcastlecary.co.uk

Taking bookings for Christmas Day and Christmas Parties.

We can also hold your own New Years Eve Party, please call for more details.

Christmas Fayre Menu 1st December - 23rd December

Christmas Day Menu

Start

Start

2 Courses £14.95 ● 3 Courses £17.95

3 Courses £29.95

Smoked Salmon, Orange and Cranberry Salad with flaked Almonds Baked Camembert with Cranberry, Walnuts with dipping Breads Thai style Prawns with Prawn crackers Chicken Liver Pate with Cranberry, Red Onion compote with Melba Toast Parsnip and Apple soup Smoked Trout Terrine with a Grapefruit Salad Pulled Beef fritter with Horseradish cream

Main

Main

Roast Turkey with all the seasonal trimmings Game stew, Whiskey dumpling with seasonal trimmings Vegetable and Cranberry Nut Roast with seasonal trimmings Supreme of Cod Encrote with Sherry cream

Roast Turkey with all the seasonal trimmings Nut roast with all the seasonal trimmings Sirloin of Beef with all the seasonal trimmings

Dessert

Dessert

Christmas pudding with Brandy sauce Artic roll with christmas pudding ice cream and Winter Berries Chocolate Fondant, Rum soaked Berries and Chocolate ice cream Winter Eaton mess, Winter Berry Ice cream

Christmas Pudding with Brandy sauce Terrys Chocolate Orange Cheesecake with Chantilly cream Pear and Almond Tart with Christmas Pudding Ice cream Coffee and Mince Pies

For Christmas Table Top Sale & other upcoming events, please check our Facebook page for details.

THE VISITOR November 2018 39

Christmas Parties

Friday 7th, 14th & Saturday 15th December

Looking for somewhere to host your staff Christmas Party this year?

The Queen’s Arms Christmas parties offer a bespoke three course meal, DJ, crackers and party poppers. £30 per person, £10 non-refundable deposit per person.

Tables up to 10 people or exclusive use available up to 100 people.

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' ' ' ' Saturday 1st December ' 10am-5pm | December Entry free 1' beverage | Entry free Local and producers joining at ' ' food ' ' ' ' ' us here ' '

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' ' ' ' of goods ' available ' ' ' for you ' The Queens Arms, selling a variety to indulge or to give to loved ones as gifts, just in time for Christmas.

If you would like the opportunity to promote your business and be a part of our7 !December market, !!!!!!!!!!/&)0#%&'!, ! ' we would !!!!!!!!!,8&591:5'' also be interested from you. ' in hearing ! ' '

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Saturday '8th 7pm £75 per person or £675 per table of ten '

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! ' by four-course meal with Champagne reception with canapés, !followed ! ! ! a! live !band ! to end ! ! the ' evening. matching champagnes and

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Tel: 01963 220317 | Email : relax@thequeensarms.com ' www.thequeensarms.com ! ! !

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Festive Venues & Menus

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B EER & S KI TT L ES P. A. BAXTER

FREE BEER! A gallon of beer – completely free – for all men, every month. Now there's a sign we chaps would like to see, is it not? Well it's true, the Government are giving 5 litres to each and every male in the country. Now this is an initiative to keep the male population happy if ever I have seen it, and what man wouldn't be? Now, whilst I do look forward to the day when this does happen, it isn't actually happening here in Blighty. No sadly, it is rather a long way away in North Korea. Purely by chance I switched on the haunted fish-tank one night and there was our national treasure, Michael Palin, in the aforementioned country giving a few details about their way of life, and my ears pricked up at the mention of the beer. The way life is conducted there is rather different in comparison to here, although as someone slightly cynically pointed out to me, over there you can't talk about the way Government works, but over here things are conducted in the same manner, just that we do get to talk about it...

There's been a lot of talk about loneliness recently, and we even have a Government minister who is dedicated to the problem. Quite what that person is going to do about it I have no idea, but this is where your local pub comes in.

The late Jo Cox MP was at the f ro nt o f a ca m p a ig n t o end loneliness and even described it as reaching epidemic proportions, especially in the over 50's, estimating that 2 million people will be major sufferers within the next seven years. It won't be the first time that in this column we recommend a trip to the local.

Despite all these wonderful technologically clever electrickery devices (or is it because of them?) loneliness is a problem that has continued to escalate. Remember, the pub is one of the few places us reserved English men and women can strike up a conversation with a complete stranger. In fact, over 40% of us will meet their future life partner at the pub! What is the responsibility of the pub in this situation? Well surely it must be welcoming, and the landlord, landlady and staff must give that welcoming smile and cheery greeting, (irrespective of what sort of day they have had) and still be prepared to hear what sort of day the customer has had, even if it can be a little tedious – as I'm sure we've all overheard that type of conversation. Of course, one may have to force a smile, and be a little more approachable sometimes, particularly if there has been some of lifes' challenges when God's banana skin has been thrown in your path – something we will all experience in our time on Mother Earth. However, the fact remains, if you want to have friends; you need to be one.

The summer is over. Well it didn't take a genius to work that out. How was your real ale this past few months?

Hmmm, mine too. I'm sorry to say, I have handed back more pints of dodgy/vinegar like stuff in the last few months than I have for years. Whilst we are quite entitled to do this, only 4/10 people will do so, and I see many pints that have been started and left, or just placed on the bar whilst the customer walks out. Neither are good for the cask ale movement, the pub or customer, and I find it amazing that it appears to me that the pub (i.e. license holder/staff) are not taking enough notice.

It really does only take one dodgy pint to be put off for life.

As the recent article by CAMRA quite rightly states, 'people love the idea of real ale, believing the traditional hand pumps to be a vital part of a good pub'. Nevertheless cask sales have dropped by a staggering 6.8% over the past year, despite England having 2,500 breweries producing over 10,000 different ales!

Furthermore an amazing two thirds of 18 -24 year olds have never tried a real ale. Paul

Nunney of Cask Marque suggests that bar staff not only sample the ales themselves but should offer the same to the younger potential customers in a way of winning them over to cask as they are unlikely to have tried it. (some older ones too, I would respectfully suggest). Nevertheless the future of the sector depends on the younger drinker. So what is the answer to the decline in

sales? I'd be a rich man if I could be the one that reversed the trend, but when pubs serve a 'warm' pint let alone a dodgy one, they're not doing themselves a favour. Real ale should be served 'cool' not cold, at 11-13C, which is cooler than a red wine but not as cold as keg ales or lager. Interestingly, two thirds of real ale drinkers think it should be cooler than 11C. I'm one of those people,

THE VISITOR November 2018 41

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B EER & S KI TT L ES P. A. BAXTER

particularly in the summer when the ambient temperature (and being held in a warm hand) soon pushes the temperature way up, even taking the last half pint or so to the border of being unpalatable. Some while ago a former landlord of our local put a Porter through the cooler as well as having it on a beer engine and straight from the cask. A great choice of three deliveries for the customer.

Surprising to myself at that time, the one through the cooler proved most popular. Cask Marque are a non-profit making organisation that gives the pub the right to display their logo if the beer comes to their exacting standards. We all know some pubs with this accreditation, and some perhaps do not deserve it. However, these pubs are regularly visited by their inspectors who decide whether they can continue to display the badging, having tested temperature, clarity and taste of the beer. Incidentally it also gives the customer the right to ask for a sample of the beer before purchasing their drink, which should be given with good grace. Personally I always wait until any crowd at the bar has cleared before asking for a small sample so as not to annoy the staff or waiting

42 THE VISITOR November 2018

customers. To sum up this topic and as far as I and my contemporaries are concerned, the excuse that 'the hot summer weather makes it impossible' to serve a cool(er) pint just does not wear with us. Landlords; it's up to you! (N.B. Many of the facts and figures of this topic were from the CAMRA 'Cask Report' 2018).

There's just time to mention a nice couple of pubs of note the Baxter crew visited this past month. It's been a very long time since we paid a visit to the White Hart in Bishops Caundle.

Very obliging and friendly staff/owners, not a massive menu but enough to chose from and the lovely food was well presented as well as excellent pints of ale in the shape of 'Betty Stogs' a 4%ABV ale from Skinners Brewery in Cornwall, and an equally good pint of Bath Ales 'Gem', a real favourite of your writer.

'Trelawney' was also on a beer engine. A lovely pub with a roomy extension to the 400+ year old part, (mind your head!) and, I'm pleased to say, a separate skittle alley/function room complete with its own bar, kept alive by the various skittle leagues that overlap in the area.

Next, The Admiral Hood, right on the southern edge of the Visitor area at Mosterton, provided us with a venue for a celebratory lunch for a good friend, and clearly a popular venue with virtually every table taken. 'Trelawney' was my choice after the lunch (I rarely drink during the day, but hey it was a mate's Big Birthday) whilst the choice of the Birthday Boy was 'London Pride', a guest ale. Here too, skittles really contributed to the pub turnover, with a staggering 12 home teams. How? Well you may probably have worked it out, for sometimes they need to play in shifts. So here's to the revenue-generating power of our beautiful game! Cheers!

P.A.Baxter. skittlealley@hotmail.com

Dinnington Docks, Dinnington near Hinton St George, Somerset.

Historic Somerset village inn changes hands for the first time in 19 years

Dinnington Docks, a historic country inn situated in the village of Dinnington near Hinton St George, Somerset, has been sold through specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co to a first time buyer.

The Grade II listed two storey property, which dates back to the 17th century, was made famous when featured on the Time Team TV programme following the discovery of the remains of a Roman Villa in Dinnington. The inn retains its traditional character, maintaining some of the building’s original period features such as mullion windows, open fireplaces, an exposed stone internal wall and ceiling beams. Comprising three linked trade areas, the main bar, a family room, and a dining

room, the pub caters for around 60 patrons, plus further outdoor picnic bench seating in the spacious beer garden.

Despite its rural and scenic location, the inn is easily accessible by main roads A303 and A30, linking it to the nearby larger towns of Crewkerne, Ilminster, Yeovil and Chard.

Well established and popular in the local community, the long standing inn is also a short drive from the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a draw for outdoors enthusiasts and visitors to the area.

Previous owners, Roger & Hilary Hardisty decided to sell Dinnington Docks after having owned and operated the pub for 19 years. Mrs Hardisty comments, ‘We have loved every minute and hope the new owners, locals Matthew and his wife Michelle, enjoy it as much as we have. The business needs

Vinny didn’t get an invite to the wedding

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to move forward and be developed to ensure its successful future, without taking away the ambience and character of this traditional country village inn.’

Mr Matthew Mills, who purchased Dinnington Docks, comments, ‘The Docks has always been a favourite of mine and many locals too. I’m looking forward to bringing it back to its former glory, developing the wet and food sales. We have exciting plans to restore and extend the building too, ensuring it remains an asset to the community and a landmark property.’

Nicholas Calfe, Director based in Christie & Co’s Bristol office comments, ‘Village inns with such a rich history in the building and the local area are very special and Mr and Mrs Hardisty have done a fantastic job of running the business while maintaining the pubs traditional feel. I was delighted to help them find the right new set of hands to take over the reins and am sure that Dinnington Docks will only continue to go from strength to strength.

‘Freehold pubs in the Somerset countryside continue to perform well, acting as hubs for the local community and typically are ideally placed for the high numbers of visitors who come to the area.’

Dinnington Docks was sold off an asking price of £385,000 for the freehold interest.

Pete Lambden & Staff welcome you to .....

168 Hendford Hill YEOVIL

Watch my daddy in bed and tired watch his hair been turning grey He's been working and slaving his life away He's been working so hard I've been working too babe Every night and day

THE FIRST PERSON to tell me the song gets a free drink.

Last month no one guessed that it was Walkin the Dinosaur by Was not Was



We have had a few good parties up here this month, Dion and Lyn became Mr and Mrs Schonfeldt and celebrated in some style here at the top of the hill.

A well planned, well executed and thoroughly enjoyable day was had by all. Congratulations to you both.  Aaron and Kirsty got engaged, they are going to become Mr and Mrs Perks.

We had a great do for them here and on the same day his football team won 5-0. So all in all a good day for Aaron.

Congratulations to you both.  Another young man who had a good day here was Graham Waddleton, he invited his friends, put on a bit of music, made sure there was a nice bit of food for all the guests and had a few drinks to celebrate his 70th Birthday - Well done Graham!!

We have quite a bit of entertainment coming up next month. On Sunday 4th we have a charity function in the form of an afternoon tea with BOWIE FASHION, tickets are available from the pub. Don’t worry the bar will be open as well  On Friday the 9th we have live in the function room HELLS BELLS with their incredible AC/DC Tribute show, tickets are £10 and available from the pub. On the 16th we have BB TIM live in the Bar, music will start at about 9.15 pm. On the 23rd, making his debut at the Quicksilver we have PETER BURNS - again the music will start at about 9.15 pm. On the 30th The fabulous MUTTER SLATER BAND will be here and we hope we will be hearing some of their new album that was released this month! This is a FREE gig in the bar! A little bit of advance notice - the first Friday in in December is my birthday with live music from MR D’ARCY - come along and you never know I might even buy you a drink!

Toot Toot!!! 

BOOKINGS

 01935 424721

AROUND THE

H O U S E S IN SHEPTON MALLET ... cosy accommodation can be found at The Kings Arms, aka The Dusthole ... informal dining for families at The Highwayman ... great food and a good choice of well-kept ales at The Natterjack, Evercreech Junction ... if you like to tax your brain, don’t forget the pub quiz on 28th October at The Cross Keys Inn, Lydford-on-Fosse ... friendly welcome awaits at The Quarry Inn, Keinton Mandeville ... if you want to know what’s going on at The Barton Inn, Barton St David, check out their blackboard ... and don’t miss singer and 12string guitarist Ross Kirk at The Old Pound Inn, Aller on 26th October.

Cruising on to Castle Cary where The George Hotel has an interesting Gin Bar ... traditional pub meals served at The White Hart ... Sky Sports live at The Horsepond Inn ... always a warm welcome at The Bay Tree Inn, South Cary ...

Christmas Party bookings now being taken at The Orchard Inn, Galhampton ... it’s farewell to Jon and Gemma and welcome to new landlords Caroline and James at The Catash Inn, North Cadbury ... we’ve heard good reviews about The Marston Inn, Marston Magna ... check out the annual membership for the Tipsy Queen at The Queen’s Arms Corton Denham ... an enjoyable evening was had at The White Hart, Bishop’s Caundle ... the Christmas menu is available from 16th November at The Hunters Lodge, Leigh Common, Wincanton ... and Lemon risotto cakes with smoked salmon and horseradish cream sounds like a delicious starter from the Christmas menu at The White Lion Inn, Bourton.

Making our way to Yeovil we find that The Quicksilver Mail is the only pub in Yeovil to be included in next years Good Beer Guide ... large appetite? 7-courses for dinner on Christmas Day at The Muddled Man, West Chinnock ... and finally ... refined comfort food from locally sourced seasonal ingredients served at The Barrington Boar, Barrington, near Ilminster.

They Say That Mark Hopkins of Bradfod Abbas has lost his mojo when it comes to skittles this season.

That when Yeovil Market Trader Steve Atwell turned up looking 20 years younger, the public assumed that his pickles contained an anti-ageing ingredient and people came from miles around to try the ‘elixir of youth’.

That thanks to fantastic support from locals and those from further afield, £12,000 was raised at the North Cadbury Court Motown event in July.

That after 22 years at the helm of Mere Literary Festival, Adrienne Howell is stepping down as Director, and she is wished ‘all the best’ for the future.

That when Ronny and Ruth White of the Yeovil Ramblers took a diversion whilst rambling in Wales, it was like an episode of Wrong Turn 4 the horror series.

That a winding country road in a picturesque corner of Somerset has been named the best to drive on in the UK. Data scientists pinpointed the B3135 from Cheddar to Ashwick, which meanders through the rolling Mendip Hills, as the most pleasant to cruise along.

That both Romans and Zombies will be visiting Ham Hill Country Park on Wednesday 31st October.

That in 2018, septuagenarianism is hitting the class of ‘65 from Tottenham High School for Girls.

That is has been requested that The Visitor’s Sudoku is to be kept at full size.

That Mike Hawkins of Wincanton does not do BRAKE Dancing.

THE VISITOR November 2018 43

The Spirit of Foraging

NOW THAT SUMMER is well and truly over, and the nights are drawing in, the prospect of a cosy night in front of a roaring log fire, with a good book and a warming tipple, seems ever more appealing.

In recent weeks farming communities across the country, having gathered in the last of their crops, have been holding their annual services of Thanksgiving.

I always enjoy attending these services as they are such joyful affairs (I love the hymns) and often involve tramping across fields; certainly, in Somerset, the vistas across those few fields that are still farmed can be a wonderous sight.

As an inveterate forager, it also gives me the opportunity to scrump the last of the blackberries. This summer has yielded a bumper crop of autumn fruits, berries and wild foods, and the roadsides have been bustling with folks disposing of their excess produce, which I have been taking full advantage of. The trouble is, everything comes in at once. My store cupboard and the freezer are full to bursting point with all things apple; freshly squeezed apple juice, crumble, apple cakes, crab apple jelly.

Given my keen interest in

44 THE VISITOR November 2018

alcoholic beverages, it seemed natural to make good use of my hedgerow finds in other ways.

This year I have been making a range of flavoured spirits, using sloes, wild cherries, elderberries, blackberries, and the last of the raspberries from Forde Abbey. Uncomplicated to concoct, and put into interesting bottles, these make great, and relatively inexpensive, gifts.

It is best to use a fairly neutral spirit in order to get the most out of the natural fruit flavours; any cheap brand of gin or vodka will do the job nicely.

I also like to use brandy, especially for the cherries.

Sadly, despite gathering a bucket load of walnuts, I was not swift enough to pick them whilst still green, which is necessary if you wish to make walnut liqueur.

Here’s how to make your own fruit spirit:

Simply fill a clean jar or bottle with clean, unblemished fruit, add a couple of table-spoonfuls of sugar (you could add more but I am not keen on overly sweet liqueurs), seal and give it a good shake before storing in a cool dark place for a couple of weeks (I forgot about mine for several months), shaking it up every few days.

The resulting beverage is great as an after-dinner tipple, or a little added to a glass of

Flavoured spirits are easy to concoct.

Champagne or Prosecco makes a lovely variation on the popular Kir Royale. The macerated fruit can also be good when used in boozy puddings, but it does pack a punch.

For something a little more risqué, use Sloe Gin to make the cocktail known as a Sloe Comfortable Screw.

1 fl.oz. vodka 1 fl.oz. sloe gin 1 fl.oz. Southern Comfort Fresh orange juice

Pour the vodka, sloe gin and Southern Comfort into a tumbler, fill with ice and then top up with the orange juice.

I also like to make elegant, boozy jellies, served in Martini glasses, for a posh festive dessert.

Sloe Gin Jellies

Serves 6 4 oz. caster sugar 2 fl. oz. fresh orange juice 3 tbsp. fresh lime juice 1 sachet of gelatine 8 fl. oz. clear apple juice 4 fl. oz. Sloe gin

Heat the sugar in the orange and lime juice until dissolved.

Sprinkle the gelatin onto this and leave until dissolved.

Add the sloe gin and apple juice, and stir well.

When cool, pour into the Martini glasses and refrigerate until set.

To serve, decorate with orange wedges, and serve with thick cream and brandy snaps.

For those who have missed the boat for this year’s harvest, or are too lazy to make their own, Lyme Bay Winery produces a wide range of award winning English ‘Country Wines’ from a variety of hedgerow treats, including blackberry, cowslip, elderberry, elderflower, nettle and sloe, all at around 11%abv., and £8.90 a bottle. Available widely, usually from the smaller country stores that pepper our towns and villages.

For those interested in learning more about foraging, Greg Power, who lives in Wincanton, and runs ‘Handmade In Blighty’, regularly holds foraging workshops.

Tel. 07931 834650 or email info@handmadeinblighty.com.

L.P-V.

GARDENING MONTHLY

WHAT WOULD WE Brits talk about if we didn’t have the weather to discuss?

The long range forecasters have predicted a cold winter, in some cases starting as early as October, but October has been an unseasonably mild month so far, with temperatures reaching 22 degrees here in Somerset (although the east of the country has experienced temperatures higher than that).

So, be prepared for anything in November!

Storm Callum left lawns and flower beds covered with leaves, but trying to clear debris whilst still breezy is a job and a half, so wait until the wind drops.

Making compost at this time of year is a major activity - the aim of the composter is to turn that big pile of rubbish left at the end of the season into

friable material that will feed your garden in the months to come. The compost heap needs to be moist and to get hot enough to kill off weed seeds, insect pests and various diseases.

Dahlia’s have been spectacular this year, giving the autumn garden some lovely colour, along with Chrysanthemums. Pyracantha and Cotoneaster are full of berries as I write but once the weather turns colder birds will have a feast, leaving just the dark green glossy foliage. At a glance the plants look very similar but the Pyracantha

Pyracantha can be grown as groundcover, or against a wall or fence.

Approved contractor to Dorset & Somerset C.C.

ALL ASPECTS OF TREE CARE AND DANGEROUS TREE REMOVAL

TR EE PLA N TIN G

PHONE: NORTH CADBURY 440660

Utilise the generous grants now available to restock neglected woodland or areas of wasteground

Don’t be beaten by winter!

125BVX Blower & Vacuum £250.00

120i - Kit Battery £240.00

BenJohnson

445 + Free safety kit £500.00

GARDEN MACHINERY

QUALIFIED ARBORIST

You’ll find a huge selection of garden machinery at Ben Johnson in Shaftesbury Comprehensive choice of machinery and tools including ...  Chainsaws  Leafblowers  Strimmers  Hedgetrimmers  Mowers

... from manufacturers such as Webb, Echo Husqvarna, Greenworks and Cub Cadet Plus

at

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 Don’t leave it until the last minute

Ben Johnson, 17d Wincombe Business Park SHAFTESBURY, SP7 9QJ Tel: 01747 851021 • www.benjohnsonmowers.com THE VISITOR November 2018 45

(commonly known as the Firethorn) has vicious thorns, making it an ideal intruder deterrent. It can be grown as groundcover, or against a wall or fence but if growing it as a hedge, plant them close together and within a couple of years they will be almost completely impenetrable.

Jobs for the Month

Raise patio containers onto pot feet or a flat stone to allow them to drain freely and prevent waterlogging. Insulate with bubble wrap and/or fleece to protect plants from frost.

Precious plants need to be moved into a cool greenhouse or at least into a sheltered spot.

Prune roses to prevent windrock, the damage caused from wind moving tall plants in wet soil and breaking the roots.

Now’s the time to plant tulip bulbs for a spring display and to plant out winter bedding such as pansy, viola, primrose, wallflower, and stocks.

Gooseberry bushes can be planted from now and until early spring, whenever the soil is workable. Space bushes 1.5m/5ft apart.

To plant bare-rooted fruit trees dig a large hole and use a fork to loosen the soil in the base, forming it into a slight mound. Place the tree in

position with its roots spread out over the mound. Replace the soil around the roots, gently lifting the tree several times to ensure soil trickles evenly between them. The old soil mark on the stem should be about 2.5cm below the surface. Firm the soil.

Once the lawn has had its final cut of the year,

thoroughly clean the mower.

Scrape off soil and old grass cuttings, wash the mower and wipe dry. Cover all metal parts with a thin layer of oil or grease, then place mower in a dry well-aerated shed. Have electrical parts checked by a competent electrician.

Clear old runner bean stems and leaves and place in the

compost bin. Remove canes, brush off soil, wash with disinfectant and store in the shed ready for next year.

The 5th November is a good opportunity to have a bonfire and burn accumulated garden rubbish, especially plants infected by diseases. But please, before you light it, check for sleeping hedgehogs.

Lee Holmes Garden Machiney of Somerton have a large choice of ride on mowers in stock.

Full ground preparation and laying service available

The Farmhouse, Somerton Door, SOMERTON, TA11 6JA Tel / Fax: 01458 272091 www.evergreen-turf.co.uk • info@evergreen-turf.co.uk

FIXED PRICE SERVICING

On all types of garden machinery ● Sales ● Repairs ● Servicing ● Sharpening ● Call out ● Robotic installations ● Collection & Delivery

LEE HOLMES Garden Machinery

15 Cary Court, Bancombe Business Park, SOMERTON Tel: 01458 274261 • www.gardenmachineryrus.co.uk 46 THE VISITOR November 2018

Discover Wild Things this Halloween at RSPB Arne

RSPB Arne invites the public to Wild Things at Halloween.

Spooky themed nature activities throughout the day, and a special night-time walk in the evening.

Saturday 27 October, 11am -

3pm. Night walk from 6pm7pm.

Ed Chivers, RSPB Arne Visitor Experience Manager, said: ‘Halloween is upon us, and much of our wonderful wildlife is hunkering down and hibernating. But here at RSPB Arne, in the depths of our

Above and below: The charm and quality of traditional English timber craftsmanship is embodied in all that Sparkford Timber Buildings and Gates create in their Somerset workshops.

enchanted forests, mystical marshes, and haunted heathlands, there are many beasts that still go bump in the night.

‘Wear your fear-inspiring fancy dress, and your weirdest wellies when you join us for our wild activities this Halloween.

We’ll be offering a range of children’s activities from 11am - 3pm in the café garden - will your little ones be brave enough to hunt for creepy crawlies, look for fairy-tale fungi, or make a stick skeleton? There will also be a special night walk from 6pm-7pm when we will be looking and listening for bats.’

Activities 11am – 3pm in the café garden. Night walk 6pm 7pm.

Daytime activities are free.

Night walk: £4 per child (20% discount for RSPB members).

For full information visit: www. rspb.org.uk/arne.

Photo: Michael Harvey (rspb-images.com)

All types of Fencing

• Gates • Trellis • Fence Panels • Tool Sheds • Summer Houses • Garages • Workhouses • Greenhouses • Field Shelters

All Buildings are hand-made at Bourton using Scandinavian Redwood Shiplap Timber.

Bourton, Gillingham on the old A303 Nr. Zeals For Free Survey/Estimate/Brochure

TELEPHONE 01747 840752

THE VISITOR November 2018 47

the en d bi t . . .

PAPERCHASE

IN EARLY OCTOBER Reach plc relocated the offices of the Blackmore Vale Magazine from Stalbridge to a business park 15 miles away on the western edge of Yeovil. BVM editor Fiona Dart attempted to put a brave face on the move, writing that because the magazine has been in its Stalbridge office for almost 40 years ‘the building is starting to show its age. To help us operate at our best and continue delivering the magazine you know and love, it’s time for a change of venue.

That’s why we are moving into more modern offices in Somerset.’ These offices are the same ones into which the Western Gazette was moved when its historic town centre base in Yeovil was closed several years ago.

Fiona sees this as an advantage. ‘Not only will it be a lighter, brighter place for our teams to work, it will allow for greater collaboration with other colleagues from our parent company, Reach plc, which will help make our finished product even better,’ she wrote. I see this as a potential disadvantage. You might recall my rants in a couple of columns in 2017 about the editors of the Western Gazette and the Western Daily Press, both published by the same parent company, increasingly lifting chunks of each other’s papers and reprinting them unaltered.

I gave as examples the car road tests, gardening features, book reviews, celebrity interviews, cookery recipes, film reviews and the ‘property talk’ columns.

Is this what is meant by ‘collaboration’, I wonder.

I’m not alone in disliking this practice. A reader in Wells wrote a couple of months ago to tell me that she no longer buys the Wells Journal as ‘much is reprinted in the Western Daily Press and vice versa’. She says that she had written to the editor of the Western Daily Press three times recently ‘to comment on duplicated stories, spelling mistakes, production errors on the crossword pages plus the increasing ‘magazine’ type pages of fashion/gifts/ health etc etc’, to which he had

48 THE VISITOR November 2018

replied that he had no proofreader and a reduced staffing level. True, I’m sure, but it doesn’t address the reader’s concerns. We know that cost-cutting has had a detrimental effect on the Western Daily Press and Western Gazette, judging by the decline in standards that have been reported ad infinitum in this column. And we know that cost-cutting is in response to declining advertising and sales revenue. What we don’t know is what the steps the publishers are taking to improve the situation. Seemingly none, judging by the editor’s reply.

Cynics like me might view moving the BVM in with the Western Gazette is just another cost-cutting measure. Fiona also wrote that ‘the majority of our team still live in the heart of the Blackmore Vale so, if you can no longer get to us, we’ll do our best to get someone to you’.

So most of the BVM staff now have to commute to and through Yeovil to get to work. Costcutting perhaps for Reach plc but not for its workers. I get the impression that Fiona’s words are written more in sadness than enthusiasm, and it’s a sadness that I share. Local newspapers are at their best and thrive when they emanate from the communities they purport to serve. I suspect my correspondent from Wells would agree.

Chronicler.

ANSWERS TO POP MUSIC QUIZ on page 25

1) ‘The Beatles’ known as 'The White Album' 2) ‘Cum on Feel the Noize’ 3) ‘Aces' 4) Cher 5) John Lennon 6) ‘Human League’ 7) ‘Ironic’ 8) George Ezra 9) 'The Housemartins' 10) ‘Waterloo Sunset’ - The Kinks Bonus Question Mik Kominski - 1979

Solution to October

Sudoku

PHONE - a - FIRM

Plumbing

Domestic Appliances

Taylors Domestic

Appliances Ltd. Sales & Repairs for Dishwashers, Washing Machines, Cookers, Tumble Driers etc.

Ridge View, Penmore Road Sandford Orcas DT9 4SE

Professional repairs by qualified engineer on most makes of appliances.

01963 220366

Email: taylorsdomesticappliances@gmail.com Covering the areas between Wincanton Castle Cary, Sparkford, Sherborne and Yeovil

Oven Cleaning Mister Oven Ovens - Hobs - Agas etc

Tel: 01935 475065 Mob: 07752 695264 www.misteroven.co.uk

Clean Ovens Domestic Ltd Covering Somerset and Dorset

AGAS • RANGES • OVENS HOBS • EXTRACTORS Eco-Friendly Materials Used Experienced + Fully Insured Friendly Staff

Tel: 0800 7076629 Mobile: 07563 693145 www.cleanovendomestics.co.uk

DEADLINE for December Issue is Friday 9th November

Fire & Security Alarms

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Plumbing

Damian Hoddinott PLUMBING SERVICES

Competitive rates for all your plumbing needs

01963 441232 07971 676111

Denture Repairs

Are you a denture wearer?

Fires / Chimneys / Stoves

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Multifuel Stoves ... over 200 on display Chimneys Relined ★ Full Installation Service

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HETAS • OFTEC • GAS SAFE

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Home visits a speciality

Fuel Storage Tanks

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Transport & Storage

07921 074602 • 01749 677440 • Solidfuel3@aol.com

Framing

SCENES

Artist Materials & Gallery

 Picture Framing  Restoration  Large Selection of Prints and Paintings  Greeting Card Blanks High St. Gillingham Tel: 01747 824050 www.scenes-online.co.uk

The Visitor can be read online at: www.thevisitormagazine.co.uk

Logs

Building

Dave Hoddinott Fully QuAliFieD BuilDer estABlisheD 1973

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Roofing

For all your roofing requirements

Roofing

Flat Roofing • Tiling Slating • GRP Roofing

Bourton Roofing Co.

For further information & estimates contact Allan Carey

 01747 840064

All New Work Fully Guaranteed

01963 33528 / 07885 723915 Email: allancarey541@hotmail.com

Slate  Tiling  Flat Roofing.

UPVC Fascias  Guttering FREE ES T I M AT ES

... or 07866 296453 Email: info@bourtonroofing.co.uk

Logs

SEASONED HARDWOOD LOGS

Small and Large Loads tel: 07973 871708 evenings: 01935 825506

THE VISITOR November 2018 49

Classified Ads

Send Details to: The Visitor, P.O. Box 1, Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7BP. 30p per word (£5 minimum) pre-payment essential.

For a Box Number please add £2.

Payment can be made by Cash, Cheque, Postal Order, BACS, Credit / Debit Card.

✽ If you require a receipt a s.a.e. must be enclosed with payment, or your email address.

Prize Crossword No. 385 Set by Frank Butler

19

SEND COMPLETED ENTRIES TO: The Visitor Crossword, P.O. Box 1, Castle Cary, Somerset BA7 7BP – to arrive by Friday 9th November.

Correct entries are placed in a hat and the winner is the first name drawn. The prize is a £10 voucher to spend with any one advertiser in this issue of The Visitor.

Please do not forget to state your choice of advertiser and your name and address.

NAME .....................................................................................................................................................................

ADDRESS .............................................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................................................................. ..................................................................................................................................................................................

Tel: ......................................................................... Cheque Enclosed for £ .................... Minimum £5

Wanted

Personal

r e D u N D A N t M O t O r M O W e r s , rotavators, chainsaws, strimmers, cement mixers, etc. tel: 01460 77844

Just sOMerset iNtrODuCtiONs. Bringing people together. Call Alison tel: 07584 250285, www.justintro ductionsgroup.co.uk

DAVe Buys All tyPes OF tOOls, salvage, bygones and collectables.

Daves tools, est. 1989. tel: 01935 428975

POstCArDs, pop memorabilia, coins, badges, old toys, games, and anything military. tel: Clive 01749 675456 A l l s P O rt s P r O G r A M M e s a n d books, memorabilia and ephemera – especially football. large collections welcome. Cash paid. tel: Clive 01749 675456 ClAssiCAl AND JAzz lP records. tel: 01458 834102 / 07704229979 email: tonyartony@aol.com

Storage

s tO r A G e f o r f u r n i t u r e i n l o c k e d cubicles. lock-up garages to let. tel: sparkford storage on 01963 440045 or 440526 or 440692

Trees For Sale

CiDer APPle trees, cookers, eaters. traditional varieties, locally grown, barerooted. Delivery. John Whittick – 01963 220855

www.country-link.org.uk COuNtry liNK sOCiAl GrOuP. Fresh air, fun, food and friendship. tel: Andy 01225 834834 or Val 01749 342918

GeNuiNe hONest Guy looking to meet female age 38-48 for socialising.text: 07929 066821

GeNt 60, outgoing, G.s.O.h., 5ft 9ins, non-smoker, solvent, no ties, O.h.A.C. likes meals out, holidays, gardening, places of interest. seeks special female friendship / relationship. Photo please.

Box No. 5, the Visitor, P.O.Box 1, Castle Cary, BA7 7BG

Passport Photographs

PAssPOrts – passports – passports – also studio sittings, and golden weddings.

Any time to suit you. easy parking opposite the Quarry inn. tel: Graham Cox, Photographer, 01458 223769.

Services

hOusehOlD & GArDeN ruBBish CleAreD, old sheds / outbuildings demolished, etc. tel: 01460 77844

The Visitor CAN BE READ ONLINE: www.thevisitormagazine.co.uk

GUNS WANTED FOR CASH

Any size, any condition, make or model We collect in any area  Registered Firearms Dealer

Tel: 07970 742471

Across:

1. A duet, humming oddly, in season. [6] 4. Assert how old you are, typically. [7] 9. Pa’s driver, dancing, catches falling drops. [4-5] 10. Pa, apt to assemble paper mulberry bark. [5] 11. Hen returns with rugby, giving Indian statesman. [5] 12. Cut down fruit comes back in sight. [9] 13. Cause confused about Greek letter in an augury. [7] 15. US soldier overrun by returning cart, very sad! [6] 17. Fended off guard. [6] 19. Idea of ham-string in race.

[7] 22. Be curt with tup to find flower. [9] 24. On in beer is on its own. [5] 26. Referred, losing judge, got it wrong! [5] 27. All I put into dance is delay!

[9] 28. Digs tin arrangement bringing news. [7] 29. Imprison in a bird? [6]

5. Taupe ordered to feed oneself! [3,2] 6. Prang with a pie, sorted it seems. [9] 7. Go by quietly, work out please! [6] 8. Part of poem is reluctant. [6] 14. Letter, losing time in shed, gave cover. [9] 16. Trouble to share out worshipping. [9] 18. Seed rising about cad for ages! [7] 19. Stop, please, hiding a tendency to fall. [6] 20. Great mass holding this place or on that. [7] 21. Tar referred and not present.

[6] 23. Seen from the finish. [3-2] 25. Darted. Losing palladium, small mass. [5]

Solution to Crossword 384

Down:

1. Sum, finish article: things to be added. [7] 2. Last bit elevated part of leg?

[5] 3. Calumnies in manly arrangement. [9] 4. Alongside bar, seat rearranged. [7] 50 THE VISITOR November 2018

The Winner of our October Crossword is Heather Shave of West Camel, who chose to spend the £10 voucher at Podimore Recyling.