The Purbeck Gazette - Issue 168

Editor’s note...

Welcome to the January 2014 edition of YOUR Gazette! Hopefully some of you are having a bit of a festive break about now, and enjoying putting your feet up for a change!

A big hello to those working in service industries and retail outlets, where time off over Christmas just doesn’t happen - thanks for all of your hard work over the past twelve months throughout Purbeck. January tends to bring a touch of winter blues to us all, so our feature for this month is ‘Banish those winter blues!’, where local businesses have come together to let you know about their sales, spring cleaning assistance, incentives to ‘keep fit’ and good grub to be had in January. Please do go along and see them, or call and enquire about their services - get rid of the winter blues today! We also have the usual packed letters pages, and a crammed community section, bursting with your news, views and events. Enjoy your monthly read, keep warm and go out for a bimble in the countryside at some point soon - during the winter it is ours alone, with very few tourists around. Get out there and enjoy it!

Thanks, as always, for your support and kind words throughout the last year - we’re still here, stronger than ever, and hopefully continuing to serve you, the community, as best we can!

Here’s to 2014! Bring it on!

Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contained in this

but the Editor is unable to accept responsibility for any omissions or errors that may occur. The inclusion of any article or advertisement does not constitute any form of accreditation or approval by the Editor. No part, written or visual, of this

Please send all letters to ed@purbeckgazette.co.uk with ‘letter to the editor’ in the email subject line. Please do not exceed 350 words. If handwritten, please ensure it is short and legible.

PLEASE DO NOT DUPLICATE LETTERS TO OTHER PUBLICATIONSWE DO NOT PRINT MULTI-PUBLICATION LETTERS.

FEBRUARY 2014 deadline - 12 noon 10th JAN

Patrick Produces Protest!

Dear Nico,

Like many readers, I enjoy a bit of vicarious mud slinging on the letters pages. However, last month a splat reached me and I didn’t much appreciate it. Patrick (originally of Stoborough) waded in to the discussion on Navitus Bay wind farm, defending the need for this technology on our coastline not as a sensible option to produce renewable energy but as an ‘infrastructural investment’. Without it, or some such large project he argues, Swanage continues to be a ‘black hole of career opportunities’ and will soon be overrun by ‘retirees and those who are too economically or educationally deprived to relocate’.

Well, Patrick. Here I must protest. While we may need to adjust to a new aesthetic in the name of progress, we don’t need to worry about the quality of this community without a wind farm.

Young people leave, so they should, but they come back too. I did. I am neither economically nor educationally deprived, nor are the many other thirty-somethings starting their own businesses in the area.

What makes Purbeck so special is not only its physical beauty - in my opinion, unquestionable - but the people who are passionate about it. Witness them in the letters pages, including Patrick himself I wonder? From whence does he write? Somewhere probably teeming with opportunity, but not so engaging that he leaves the issues facing his old home without comment. Milton Keynes? Stevenage?

Wind farms, fracking, ugly solar panels. Nothing is perfect, but in the search for power nothing can stay the same.

Whatever we settle on, Purbeck will still be beautiful, Swanage will still be full of lovely folk and the community will still thrive.

Hester Ashby, Swanage, by email.

Dear Editor,

Everyone needs to ‘get real’.

I was interested to read Patrick’s (originally of Stoborough) letter in the November issue describing Swanage as a ‘gaping black hole of career opportunities’ and that ‘if Swanage is not to open the idea of infrastructural investment’ then the ‘community will be made up almost entirely of retirees and those who are too economically or educationally deprived to relocate’. Well I’m certainly not retired, I’ve managed to accumulate a few quid in the piggy bank and although I’m sure like a lot of people I ‘could have done better’ at school, I don’t feel myself educationally deprived. I’ve lived in Swanage for over forty years and have both initially worked and subsequently run my own businesses both in Swanage and Bournemouth. I choose to live here because it is one of the best places in the country to live whilst having the larger conurbations of Bournemouth, Poole, and Weymouth etc within a short drive. There is opportunity for work and enterprise throughout the area, the eastern gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and Dorset, while retaining Swanage as your home should you choose; hardly a gaping black hole.

Patrick was correct in his assertion that Swanage requires investment, but it requires investment in the right areas. Tourism isn’t diminishing but it is changing and Swanage needs to recognise and adapt to that change, it needs to make the most of what it has naturally to offer while responding to market trends. For the same reasons that people choose to live here, so people choose to visit here as opposed to opting for our larger ‘noisier’ neighbours. As Radio 2’s Chris Evans commented last year following a visit “The locals don’t want their well-kept secret getting out but I have to tell the world about this modest but perfectly formed cove on the south coast, with fish and chips to die for and a stretch of open water that could give the Cote D’Azur a run for its money.”

We need to make our town less of a secret.

What we don’t need is the wrong type of investment. Apart from the

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overwhelmingly negative impact the largest windfarm operating today will have on a highly sensitive region and the dependent local economy, this is quite simply the wrong solution in the wrong place - just ask the Germans. It is stated by Navitus that an estimated site-specific capacity factor of 35% (10% higher than the average in Britain) could generate enough electricity for around 790,000 UK households. Germany is being caught out by precisely the same delusion about renewable energy that our own politicians have fallen for. Like all enthusiasts for ‘free, clean, renewable electricity’, they overlook the fatal implications of the fact that wind speeds and sunlight constantly vary. The ‘wind industry’ talk in terms of their ‘capacity’, hiding the fact that their actual output will waver between 100 per cent of capacity and zero. In Britain it averages around 25%; in Germany it’s lower at just 17%.

The more a country depends on such sources of energy, the more there will arise - as Germany is discovering - two significant technical problems. One is that it becomes incredibly difficult to maintain a consistent supply of power to the grid, when that wildly fluctuating renewable output has to be balanced by input from conventional power stations. The other is that, to keep that back-up constantly available requires fossil-fuel power plants to run much of the time very inefficiently and expensively.

Earlier this year it was highlighted that households will see their electricity bills soar to cover the £17 billion cost of bringing energy from offshore wind farms. Building wind farms off the coast has been the preferred alternative to putting up more huge turbines in the countryside, but the influential Public Accounts Select Committee (PAC) warned that consumers will pay for the policy, while power firms make billions due to a ‘soft’ deal agreed with the previous government.

So yes, as Patrick suggested, we do need to get real, but get real to the opportunities that exist for our town and get real about the real issues around the proposed offshore development.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Thompson, Swanage

Dear Editor,

Please find below a comment on the financial aspects of the proposed Navitus project:

It is regretful that Eneco are considering building a massive off-shore wind farm adjacent to the Dorset World Heritage coastline. This is not a particularly windy site by UK standards with mean ten year average wind speeds of 9.32m/sec (BERR) as opposed to off shore sites around the coast of Scotland and Ireland with mean average wind speeds in excess of 11m/sec.

If off-shore wind has to be built to meet government targets then we should at least focus on the best sites. To make the Navitus project viable, consumers will have to pay around £140/MWh (or three times the current market wholesale price) for the energy. This makes the deal with EdF for carbon free nuclear energy at £92.5/MWhr look cheap, with shale gas generation with CCS as a potentially cheaper option still. Decisions on these developments will continue to drive up energy prices for years to come. Shifting the subsidies to general taxation serves only to hide the costs. There is no short term fix and developments like these have to be considered against a long term overall optimum energy strategy that is currently not visible.`

Barrie Murray, Swanage, by email.

Dear Editor,

There have been warnings for the past forty years of inevitable big increases in the price of energy, which have gone unheeded. In 1974 Shell UK Ltd. published a book ‘Energy- to use or abuse’ warning of the danger unless energy was used much more efficiently.

In 1989 the Commission of the European Communities published a study

by an international committee of experts ‘In favour of an energy efficient society’ which showed that huge reductions in energy use could be made. The President of the Commission commented “Unless we change our ways whilst there is still time, our society will risk dislocation and eventual collapse.”

Then, in 2007, the International Energy Agency announced that the era of cheap energy had ended. So we now face a certain future of increases of energy prices – and everything else – as supplies of crude oil begin to be increasingly insufficient to satisfy increasing worldwide demand for transport fuels.

The reason why the price increases are now inevitable is that oil, natural gas and coal are limited natural resources. Whenever an oil or gas field has been half consumed, production rates begin to fall. The present rapid decline in North Sea oil and gas is an example.

We are now within ten years of half of the world reserves of crude oil being used up; with consequent reductions in production and increasing prices. In future, according to experts, the cost of producing scarce supplies could increase at least ten times traditional costs. If the present transport fuels are replaced by electricity, the cost will be at least three times as much as oil costs.

These national changes cannot be avoided, so it is no use pretending that the increasing price consequences can somehow be abolished so long as worldwide demand for energy continues to increase. Some immediate relief could, of course, be provided if the 5% VAT was removed; and Government schemes imposed on the energy companies cancelled. These add 11% to the cost of electricity and 3% to the cost of gas.

But now that there is so little time left before crude oil begins to be increasingly scarce, all that people can do is useless. The good news is that a 10% saving can be achieved in household heating consumption by a mere 1% reduction in temperature, and there are plenty of ways of using less electricity.

Yours sincerely, John Davis, Swanage.

No Advantages For You & Me

Dear Editor, Navitus Bay Wind Park

This is the misleading name for a wind power station, which, if approved will waste billions of pounds, kill birds and sea mammals and greatly diminish the World Heritage Coast and AONB’s on the Dorset and Isle of Wight coastlines, which in turn, is very likely to cause many tourists to look elsewhere for their holidays.

Why choose this area? Ask The Crown Estate. There was no public consultation involved in the hastily chosen area which appears to contravene most of their ‘rules’, particularly the siting of wind farms within twelve nautical miles of the coast in arguably the most environmentally sensitive area in England.

What’s it for? We are told that there is a desperate need to use wind for energy production to reduce the amount of CO2 we are producing as this is responsible for climate change.

This is based on a theory backed up by computer climate modelling software. The physical records of global temperature have, so far, proved that over 95% of computer models are wrong and their dire prediction of catastrophic temperature increase has been as accurate as the Met Office’s long term weather forecasts!

What are the advantages? None for you and me. EDF and Eneco, the foreign companies behind the scheme, would earn a guaranteed profit (currently three times the wholesale price of electricity) from all energy they produce,

whether we need it or not. Politicians in Central Government and EU bureaucrats (thankfully, local Conservative MP’s are against it) can say it’s helping with their self imposed low carbon legislation. Politicians would have a job to go to in the wind/renewables industry when they leave office, if they or their families are not already doing so. What are the disadvantages? The project is in the wrong area, far too close to land and in the middle of the main South/North bird migratory routes. We are directly or indirectly paying twice for electricity as all wind farms require backup when the wind doesn’t blow or is too strong. Thermal power stations (mainly gas) are left running inefficiently in what’s called ‘spinning reserve’.

The result of ‘spinning reserve’ is that it needs to be highly subsidised as the energy companies can’t make a profit on a part time power station and additional CO2 is produced as they are not running in the way they are designed to do – this perversely makes the whole wind industry carbon positive thus destroying its main reason for existence – the reduction of CO2.

As the only benefit of building the wind farm would be profit and political expediency, why not move it to an area where it can’t be seen and causes minimal damage to the environment? Or, preferably, abandon the scheme entirely.

Do keep in touch with events over the next few months by checking the local press, NB’s website, www.ChallengeNavitus.org.uk and www. SaveourDorsetSeaside.co.uk.

NB’ s much criticised proposals will be presented to the Planning Inspectorate soon and if accepted we will have an opportunity to register and present our views to the Planning Inspectorate.

Mike Sanderson, Swanage, via email.

Time To Think Large

Dear Nico,

We must think large for power supplies

The December issue of the Gazette had several letters expressing views on energy production ranging from, wind, water, solar etc. These were mainly small generators. What is perhaps not appreciated is the enormous amount of electrical energy needed by our modern society. The total generating capacity needed for the country is about 50-60 GW (Giga Watts), that is 50 - 60 million KW( Kilo Watts) or the equivalent of 50 - 60 million one Kilowatt electric fires!

Many thousands of solar roof panels each giving a few kilowatts (during daylight), while very useful to the owners in giving good monetary returns (paid for by everyone in increased cost of electricity), will not make a significant difference to our overall requirement for power and only very small reductions in carbon dioxide(CO2) production

The same can be said of other small units of power generation (solar, water or single wind turbines) serving individuals or local communities.

For example, in 2012 generating capacity was about 52 GW. The total installed solar power was only about 1% of this. This figure includes large solar arrays as well as roof mounted units. Another 4 or 5% was made up from Hydro, Biomass and Landfill so your correspondents were correct in some respects, although one must think ‘LARGE’ generators, for example the hydro power was mainly from large dams (hydro electric).

In 2012 some 5000 turbines with installed power of 8.8 GW supplied, due to wind variation, only 2.5GW, about 5% of total capacity. Our leaders seem to be concentrating on offshore wind to meet our day-to-day power needs. I think too much will be a mistake mainly because substantial back-up of gas power stations is needed since these can be brought on line quickly. We have had periods of no wind and no power, and power when it is not wanted, for which the National Grid is charged for turning off turbines!

Also many turbines will be needed: the proposed Navitus Bay wind farm has about 200 turbines of installed capacity about 1 GW (1000MW), but on average it will only deliver 0.3 GW. On this basis we will need about a further 10,000 similar turbines to produce an average of 20% of our generating capacity! Even then, there will be periods of no wind, no power. Since gas stations are not expensive to build, and will be needed as back up, why not cut wind power and build more gas stations along with some nuclear stations?

If we are serious about reducing carbon dioxide then nuclear power, which is very reliable, is the obvious choice for essential services. Gas fired power stations would make an alternative - they produce only about half the CO2 of coal fired stations. To meet peak demands at certain times of the day or during periods of very cold (or hot) weather, both gas fired stations or Hydro Electric are suitable since they are reliable, and can be brought up to power rapidly.

At present, due to the closing of power stations, capacity to meet peak demands is getting dangerously low (down to 5% this winter) giving a real possibility of power cuts in very cold weather.

Gas is a very useful power source for industry and domestic use as well as for power stations. We are however, having to import it from abroad which leaves us very vulnerable. Hence the great interest in fracking. Our energy policy is a mess or at least non existent - maybe our leaders too are worried and are looking for a way out that also leaves us independent I close with this thought: China is putting one coal fired station into operation per week. If we stopped all CO2 emission now China will put back all we have saved in one year! Germany too is replacing its closed nuclear stations with coal.

Why, at great expense, are we bothering?

So that in future we might be able to make the plaintive cry “It wasn’t our fault - it was all those foreigners”? Carbon dioxide reduction must apply to all countries (some hope!!).

Derek Stevens, Langton Matravers, via email.

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A Necessary Cut Back

Dear Editor, Low-hanging danger

A word of warning for readers of above-average height! Walking along De Moulham Road, Swanage, recently after dark, I failed to notice a branch of a kerbside tree that was hanging no more than six feet off the ground. If this had been a tree which had perhaps shed its leaves, this would probably have not been a problem. However this tree (and there are others along the road) has spikes rather than leaves and having walked into the branch, my forehead was cut. Had I been two inches taller (or the branch two inches lower), it may have been an eye and not my forehead which made contact, with much more serious consequences

Rather than report this incident and wait for the cash-strapped local authority to prune the tree (during which time someone could lose an eye), I decided to carry out some pruning myself.

But I hope to alert your readers to this danger so that serious injury will be avoided.

Name and address supplied, withheld on request due to pruning without permission!

An Uneccessary Cut Back

Dear Editor

Wanton Tree Vandalism

On Encombe Road, Swanage, opposite the new Swanage Sea Rowing Club HQ there was for many, many years one of Swanage’s few remaining trees. It was a magnificent healthy tree, nature’s largest living being, forming a major landmark in the area and appreciated by so many.

Who on earth gave approval for this wanton act of vandalism, which seems to becoming a favourite pastime in Swanage?

Alan W Smith, Swanage, by email.

Seagull Wars?!

Dear Editor,

Your readers may recall an article entitled ‘The Seagull Whisperer’, which appeared in your September edition, telling the story of how a seagull’s nest was tended to by a local resident. I would warn readers, who may wish to undertake the same action, that they should reconsider.

Recently I visited the RSPB headquarters at Sandy in Bedfordshire and spoke to a member of the wildlife team. His response to the magazine article was:-

“Seagulls do not need any artificial shading or protection over them. They are quite naturally used to nesting in open, sunny, windswept sites and can manage quite well without any human interference.” He considered the placing of any shelter unnecessary and misguided.

“There is a danger, in that passers-by and residents needing access to garages close to the nest, would be attacked by nesting gulls, as they are fiercely protective and aggressive.”

If any person encroached upon property not belonging to them to place a shelter over the nest, and it was then removed by the owner of the property, so long as they did not destroy the nest when doing so, then the RSPB would have no interest in investigating a complaint from a member of the public.

John Barringer, Peveril Heights, Swanage

Further Praise For Hospital

Dear Editor,

I agree completely with your correspondent David Kington (Letters, December edition) regarding Dorchester Hospital. I too have recently had a hip replacement on Ridgeway Ward and could not have had better treatment.

The hospital is spotlessly clean and the staff are brilliant. Let’s hope all hospitals can become like this.

Mrs E. Hordle, by email.

Is This The ‘Right’ Response?

Hello Nico,

The article by Mr Lindop (Letters, Nov’13) really needs an alternative reply. He is patently a left wing supporter, so let’s look at his comments. Firstly, the trade unions to improve worker’s rights. The evidence is that unions cause unemployment - the recent case of the demands in the plastic/ chemical manufacture for instance, where the unions eventually backed down after the owners threatened to ‘pull the plug’ on unprofitability.

Secondly, expanded welfare state - where does this man think the money comes from? Certainly not from the recipients of welfare.

Thirdly, likewise building thousands of houses (probably for welfare recipients). Money does not grow on trees - it has to be earned.

Fourthly - bureaucracy - now there is the real waste - the reported £27 billion extra costs incurred by business in red tape on-costs to industry.

The real cost in bureaucracy shows in the amount of ‘suit’ (so called) jobs - all non producers - that proliferates all the time. The Lords with 600+ suits, the House of Commons too with 600+ similar numbers (do we need all those?).

The E.U. with thousands, and they all have secretaries and hangers-on, and of course the unions too - and they all have huge pensions. I have experience of both sides of working. I commenced as employed in 1950, and as an employer in 1958, so I am aware of how it now takes three men to do the work of the yesteryear.

It would be interesting to know what Mr. Lindop did for a living, and does he own his own home?

Regards, Mike Hobson, by email, Swanage.

‘Knight’ Of Swanage Tyres

Dear Editor, Knight in shining armour

On the last day of November I didn’t sail up the ‘Ally Ally O’ but was stuck on my allotment with three dogs locked in my car! Keys both to car and house inside, RAC card also and no mobile.

How can one get in such a idiotic mess? Thank goodness for good neighbours everywhere – a very kind gentleman gave me a lift to the garages in Victoria Avenue, but woe was me, they weren’t open for mechanical help.

Wandering around the corner, ready to weep and wail, I found Steve and his colleague fitting tyres at Swanage Tyres. With lifted hopes, I asked if anyone could open cars. “I’ll do that for you!” said the knight in shining armour, Sir Steve, and with that I was whisked back to the allotment post haste, admittedly not on a white steed, but hey!

After a walk round he asked for a bean stick (of which there were many), and ingeniously inserted it through a very small gap to press the switch on the dash. How brilliant was that!! And he refused payment!! He was truly a Purbeck Good Neighbour, even if he’s not on our volunteer list, so a million thanks. And I still did my shift collecting for Save the Children!

Jean Gibbs, Purbeck Good Neighbours.

Railways In Rhyme

Dear Sirs,

I write railway themed poetry – and on other subjects as well – I am just wondering if the enclosed poem might be of interest to your readers on the Isle of Purbeck?

Since retiring from the Civil Service in 1995, I have been published here, there and everywhere with many of my railway poems appearing in Heritage Railway Society newsletters and magazines.

I have also had poems published in the newsletter connected to the Friends of London Transport Museum in Covent Garden and also in the library

attached to the National Railway Museum in York. About twelve years ago I wrote some poems for the then Anglia Railways based in Norwich. They put up these poems in the waiting rooms of Diss, Norwich and Ipswich and I was filmed and interviewed by BBC Lookeast on a train rattling between Norwich and Ipswich.

I have also been filmed by ITV when a group of London Transport Museum Friends explored the Northern half of the Piccadilly line and their 1930’s stations between Arnos Grove & Cockfosters.

Although I do not have an email address – preferring snail mail instead –you may like to know that if you log onto Google and type in my name, Steve Glason, various examples of my work as a poet can be read by all and sundry.

Yours faithfully, Steve Glason, Norfolk.

The Swanage Branch - A Poem by Steve Glason.

Ah Swanage – decked in Southern green

Through Isle of Purbeck can be seen

Corfe Castle with her lofty pines

Norden and those vanished mines.

Once gateway to a sunny coast

This scenic railway now the toast

Of milling crowds from Waterloo

And other parts of Dorset too.

Restored engines – push/pull ‘Tanks’

Tackling gently rising banks

‘West Country’ trains – no longer scrap

Worgret back on transport map.

This lovely route – rebuilt from scratch

Has landed funding – what a catch

For public running – night and noon

And be in Wareham fairly soon.

Thank You Purbeck

Dear Nico,

On behalf of HM Coastguard, may I thank you and the community of the Purbeck area for your thoughts following the recent incident at Tilly Whim.

We would like to say a special thanks to a couple of local businesses who fed and helped us in other ways.

In the days following the incident, the teams were overwhelmed with the emails, letters and support given to us.

As volunteers, it means so much to the team knowing the community support our work.

Kind regards,

Ian Brown, Station Officer, HM Coastguard, Swanage.

Call For Micro Chipping

Dear Editor,

May I start by sending my heart felt condolence for the family who suffered the loss of Toffee the Chihuahua by a larger dog that should not have been off its lead un-muzzled, given its provocative nature? Sadly, a dog licence could not prevent that nightmare scenario ever happening again. I fully understand the sense of helplessness in your campaign to bring back old technology such as the dog licence that was abolished years ago with good reason. But it’s important to remember how impractical that licence was and although it was proof of ownership, it failed on all accounts for tracing a dog’s owner and holding them to account when the poor animals were often left abandoned. We need to embrace modern technology to encourage responsible dog ownership and animal welfare issues. Micro-chipping pets has so many more advantages and I will attempt to redirect your campaign based on information and technology I have campaigned about for the past fifteen years with numerous Environment Secretarys.

This government has already announced compulsory micro-chipping for every dog by 2016, enforceable by a £500 fine. To micro-chip my own dogs cost me £12 for each dog and a vast majority of dog owners I know have already signed up to the register.

The chip is the size of a grain of rice implanted in the dogs neck and is a once in a dog’s lifetime application - thereafter no further costs are required if you keep the dog. The new law will eventually see all puppies micro-chipped at about six weeks old and the new owners of those puppies will have to register their personal details to a data base along with any other subsequent owners if there is a change of detail. A little like registering a car.

On animal welfare grounds, the Dogs Trust, Blue Cross and Battersea Dogs and Cats home are reported to be offering a micro-chipping service free for the next three years. If a dog warden or police officer finds a dog under suspicious circumstances in the future, a quick scan with a small handheld device would give valuable information as to who owns that dog, their address, dog’s description and breed including the dog’s vet for any medical history that may be required.

We are only a stone’s throw away from being able to record dogs entering and leaving public parks and open spaces by placing discreet monitoring devices, which in the case of Toffee would have been of immeasurable importance for the on-going enquires.

In addition, government figures reveal that more than 100,000 dogs are dumped, lost or stolen each year at a cost of £57 million to the taxpayer and animal welfare charities, who may be the only friendly experience your pet has, if the worse should happen.

It’s ludicrous that in a nation of dog-lovers, thousands of dogs are roaming the streets or stuck in kennels because the owner cannot be tracked down. I hope I can convince your campaign supporters to promote the microchipping option now and it would be a big plus if some vets promoted special offers for those unable to get the service free of charge in Purbeck. I remain Editor, yours faithfully, Mike Fry.

a larger, more powerful one comes on the scene, which can result in an attack. However, there is a simple solution to the problem – muzzles!

If a dog cannot use its jaws, then at least there’s some chance of avoiding incidents like that which happened to Toffee, who may have been severely traumatised, but at least safe from those savage jaws and probably left in one piece, had the other dog been muzzled.

If the Government can choose to bring out legislation such as wearing a seatbelt or not holding a mobile phone whilst driving, why can’t it with equal ease make it compulsory that certain (if not all) breeds of dogs have to be muzzled in public places?

Yours sincerely, David Barron Howard, Poole.

Dear Gazette Editor,

I’m replying to an article in the December issue about Toffee, the Chihuahua who was attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier. The terror Toffee endured is unimaginable! I don’t profess to be an expert in dog behaviour, but speaking from experience, when our three and a half year old Yorkie was almost killed by a Doberman recently, it seems to me that size does matter.

By this I mean that the smaller dog breeds can be more vulnerable when

Dear Nico

Thanks so much for including my letter about the Guys Art calendar in the December edition. Jill Blanchard has agreed to stock it in the New & Secondhand Bookshop in Station Road, Swanage.

I was so shocked to read the piece about Toffee as well as Bertie the cat - both being killed by dogs in Swanage.

A Jack Russell terrier in our village was similarly attacked on the beach but was rescued; whether the dog was black or not I don’t know, but I shall ask. If it was, that dog has serious form, and needs to be sent for dog training and removed from its owner.

Thanks so much again for including the Guys Art calendar letter. The Gazette really provides a wonderful service to Purbeck.

Bridget Graham, by email.

No Justice For Animals

Dear Editor,

I read with interest your article on page 19 in the December 2013 Gazette regarding dog attacks on household pets.

My pet cat Honey was killed by two whippet-like dogs on Tuesday 19th November 2013. After being slowly and painfully mauled to death, the dogs then tried to eat her.

I was informed by the police that they would take no action as they only investigate dog on human attacks and referred me to the dog warden at Borough of Poole.

The dog warden told me they could only take action if it could be proved that the dogs had been mistreated or obtained illegally. However, the warden promised to investigate the matter but after nearly two weeks, I have heard nothing further.

Not only have I had to suffer the loss of a beloved pet, I have also had to act as a DIY detective, interviewing my neighbours for evidence as I was not a witness to the attack. Naively I thought that was the police’s job. There would appear to be no justice for animal murder in this country. Yours faithfully, Philip Malpas, Canford Heath, Poole

No Help For ‘Dog on Dog’

Dear Nico,

With reference to the dog attack in December’s Gazette, I’d like to express my sympathy for the owners of Toffee. They must have been devastated. When my dog was attacked in October 2012 I phoned the police to register that there was a dangerous dog around. However, I was assured that as the attack had been dog on dog, they would not become involved. The only person to report it to was the dog warden.

As I didn’t have any idea who the dog was, not having seen it before, and

I was not able to ask the owner as my dog managed to wriggle out of his collar and run home, with me in pursuit, there was no chance of anything being done about it. It seems police will wait until these animals injure a human, or even worse, before they will become involved in the incident. Dog licences may help, but there will always be those who are visiting the area with their dog, and who will not own up when their dog attacks another.

I hope that Toffee’s owners have come to terms with their loss, and now have another companion to help them.

Happy New Year to you and all your readers.

Best wishes,

Christine Bridson-Jones, Wool, via email

Exchange Remembered

Dear Editor,

I was saddened to read the letter from Robin Brasher, in the December Issue, that German school exchange visits are no longer very popular.

When I was a pupil at Purbeck School in 1984 I went on the German exchange, staying with a lovely host family and got on really well with my ‘pen-friend’ Ute.

Since then we have kept in touch and I went on holiday, staying with her, in 1990 and in the years after she visited me a few times in England. As time has passed and life goes by we have kept up to date with each other’s lives and I was honoured to be invited to her wedding in 2002. We both now have our own families and still send cards and photos thirty years on.

I would hope that when my own children are at Purbeck School they may too have the opportunity to go on the German exchange and experience a different way of life and language, Yours sincerely, Kim Hilton-Kent. Wareham

No Council Tax Refund

Hi Nico ,

Well I have finally received an answer to my letter regarding my request for a refund of my council tax (last edition) due to the reduction of policing in the local area.

My point is the same, the policing was budgeted for and then removed. I realise that schooling and so on is not always used by everybody, but do they expect us to believe that the closure of the police station was not on the cards for the 2012—2013 budget? Or do they make it up as they go along? Of course, we do have to pay for the newly elected police commissioner!

Regards, Peter Wakefield, by email.

(response to Peter’s request for a rebate on his council tax is below)

Dear Mr Wakefield,

Council Tax

With reference to your online complaint regarding your Council Tax. Please accept my apology for the delay in responding to your complaint.

I have noted your comments regarding Policing services and your request for a rebate. Unfortunately there is no provision in Council Tax legislation for compensation, rebates or refunds for services not received. Council Tax is a form of local taxation and is not specifically for payment of services received. Should you wish to discuss the situation regarding any services you feel are not provided please contact the relevant department directly. The website for the Police authority is www.dorset.pcc.police.uk.

I trust this clarifies the situation.

Yours sincerely, Mrs S. Miles, Senior Revenues Officer, Council Tax Revenues.

Dear Nico,

When I was a postman in the 1990s, I was invited along with colleagues from other offices to a two-day training course of talks and videos. One video itemised the dos and don`ts of being a postman. The list as follows:

Do not drop elastic bands on your round.

Do not walk on people`s gardens or lawns. Use the paths.

Make sure the post is completely through the letterbox to avoid getting wet in the rain, or theft.

If you see mail piling up inside a door over a number of days, tell someone. Above all - be polite. Some people might want to talk. After all, the postman might be the only person they see today.

There are people who complain to you that the mail is late. Be polite even if you are on your second or third round of the morning.

Best wishes, Michael Bridson-Jones, Wool, by email.

Local Books - Reader’s Choice

Dear Editor,

Whilst there exists a plethora of books on the subject of Swanage and the locality, two stand out.

May I share my passion for two (I have no axe to grind)? Purbeck - The Ingrained Island by Paul Hyland and described as ‘A classic…extraordinarily rich…a joy to read’ and one of the most compulsive books on English landscape, and, Seaside Surrealism, Paul Nash in Swanage by Penny Denton.

The Hyland ‘a remarkable book, as unlike a conventional guide book as could be, yet packed with all the information a guide should offer’.

I have given away the Denton to strangers on trains who have come back thanking me for introducing them to Dorset, after visiting the district for the first time.

Happy reading as your mind ‘travels’!

Sincerely, David Rose, Swanage, by email.

You Have Been Warned!

Dear Editor,

I am writing to warn readers about a letter which was recently received by a family member in Swanage, and I am concerned that similar letters may be sent to other unsuspecting people in the area.

The letter purports to be from a Furlong Sheng, an investment banker in China. Although the letter was sent through the post, royal mail postage being paid by a smart phone code, there is no indication as to where it was posted and no return address is provided, only an email address and fax number.

The letter takes the form of what those of us who use the internet will recognise as the traditional money raising scam. In this case, a very wealthy business man, who happens to have the same surname as my mother, has died intestate in China, and for a commission fee of some 49% of the $25.8 million dollars being held, Mr Sheng will make the necessary instructions for the deceased’s estate to be released.

My mother is invited to email or fax Mr Sheng, to advise him of the details necessary for the funds to be transferred to her bank account. My mother is asked to treat this letter as a matter of extreme confidence and to trust Mr Sheng who describes himself as a family man with a wife and children, and who ends his letter with the words ‘Thank you and God bless.’

Whilst I am sure that the majority of people will see the above as an obvious scam, I hope my letter will act as a warning to those who may have elderly and possibly vulnerable relatives.

From Michael Taylor, Swanage, by hand.

Last Word On Monarchy

Dear Readers,

I always believed that once a participant in a discussion resorts to personal insult, they have lost the debate, and have nothing else to say. Seeing that the letter from Martin Hobdell is virtually a carbon copy of the initial letter published in August from William Dortman, this is particularly true. ‘Fawning ignorance’? To describe the Monarchy as a ‘high end meet and greet facility’ does not strike me as being particularly ‘fawning’. I would also argue that there is nothing factually wrong in anything that I wrote. I can only conclude therefore that this label will be applied to anyone who has a different view than those set out by Mr Hobdell.

My response to Mr Dortman was intended as a fairly light response to the use of the term ‘obscene’ applied to a 1p per person per annum increase in the amount paid to fund the Monarchy. This amount represents less than 1/10,000 of the proposed annual increase in gas and electricity costs. Perhaps it’s time to have a closer look at the anti monarchy platform set

out by Dortman and Hobdell.

They argue that abolishing or nationalising the Monarchy would make billions of pounds available by releasing the wealth held in property and possessions. Currently the Queen owns Sandringham and Balmoral as her private residences and the Duchy of Lancaster; all other property, including Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle are in the care of The Crown Estates, an independent organization that reports to the Government, and currently deposits some £230 million to the treasury each year as profit.

The Royal Collection of artwork is owned by the State and is currently valued at £10bn; we could sell it, but then why not the contents of the National Gallery? If we could sell off the Crown Estates portfolio, worth about £7bn, this could cover about 15% of the proposed HS2 rail line. None of the above is likely to resolve poverty in our land.

After these shaky economics, Hobdell resorts to twaddle.

For some reason H & D feel acutely embarrassed by the Monarchy. When does this happen? During the past seventy years, which includes living overseas for ten years and visiting a variety of countries, not once have I ever been confronted with ridicule regarding the Monarchy. Quite the opposite, in fact.

H&D are also vexed that the Queen is of German descent. Sorry, but if you regard yourself as of Anglo-Saxon descent then you too have germanic ancestry. They are also concerned that wealth was obtained through atrocities committed in the distant past.....see world history!

Finally we get to that deep-rooted myth that in some way, the Monarchy perpetuates the British Class system. That argument may have been true a hundred years ago, but is difficult to justify today. Every country in the world has a ‘class system’, usually based on money and power, but often on some other measure of social status. If we feel hard done by in the UK it’s easy to blame a soft target. Hobdell continues this argument by saying that the British Class system, being anti-democratic, is regarded by the majority of the population, particularly the needy and poor as being damagingly iniquitous (wicked?).

Come on! If you were to ask anyone facing hard times the cause of their problem, the chance of them blaming the Monarch or the class system is virtually zero. I also am unaware of any survey that identifies this ‘majority’. As I stated in my previous note, the Monarchy has no political, feudal or financial influence on the day to day life of British citizens.

To put the budget for maintaining the Monarchy into perspective, it represents just 10% of the cost of picking up our litter from the streets each year! Now that is throwing money away.

I also doubt that members of the Armed Forces would consider service in The Falklands, Afghanistan or Air Sea Search & Rescue as being ‘pampered’. I do hope that the democracy envisaged by Mr Hobdell includes freedom of speech. This however is my last word.

P Sorrell, by email

The Happy Wanderers

Dear Nico,

Over the last ten years the Swanage Walking Group has probably walked along all the footpaths in and around the Isle of Purbeck. Perhaps the best walk was Jill and Shirley’s Lulworth Cove walk at the end of November. Although we share cars, the sight of fifteen cars arriving by the school at West Lulworth alarmed the local residents.

Crossing a ridge over the army ranges at Bindon Hill we arrived at a viewpoint by Mupe Bay. From here there was a magnificent view past Arish Mell, which is the western boundary of the Isle of Purbeck, past Worbarrow and Brandy Bays and on to St. Aldhelm’s head in the distance.

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Walking back along the coastal path we could see the fossil forest, but to go down the steps and be amongst the fossils was magic. There was nothing left of the trees that were there with the dinosaurs but we could see the remains of the earth surrounding them.

Next, Lulworth Cove came into view, devoid of summer holidaymakers.

Here we had the choice of descending some steps to the beach or walking up 368 steps to the cliff top path. We all decided to walk along the beach to Shirley’s cottage overlooking the green and the cove where we had some tea and mince pies.

Yours sincerely, Robin Brasher, via email.

Not Naked After All!

Dear Gazette,

Can you put a thank you on your letters page please? We recently returned to Wareham to visit family and friends. We unpacked the car with our bags and forgot one! It was left by the car and some very kind neighbour handed it into the police.

We thought we’d lost it forever and when we went to the police station the following morning thinking it’d had been stolen, there it was safe and sound. So thank you, anonymous neighbour, for handing in our case containing our clothes for a friends wedding.

We didn’t have to attend naked after all!!

John Ward, by email.

We descended the wooden steps for a brief stop on the shingle beach by the crystal clear blue sea with the bay dominated by chalk cliffs (pictured above).

Where Do We Go From Here?

The meeting with Martyn Underhill, the Police and Crime Commissioner, went very well and those present learned a lot. A shame that the ‘youth’ in attendance had been recruited from across the county; although they asked some pertinent questions, perhaps it would have been even more relevant if the ‘youth’ had come from Swanage! Most of the 70-strong audience were retired. In response to my request, Mr Underhill committed to holding another public meeting in Swanage in spring, at a time more suitable to the majority of the townspeople who work or go to school. He’s asked me to feed him with ‘hot topics’ but has also asked us to do our best to ensure that the meeting is well attended. So to everyone on Facebook who complained about the timings, this is your chance.

In a recent article, I suggested that respect had to be earned and didn’t come along with a badge of office. Mr Underhill – who’s earned my respect - has done a huge amount of work for Dorset since taking office and he seems genuinely dedicated to making life better for all of us. It’s also clear that he is being hindered at every turn by the County Council’s ‘lack of funding’ which will take 500 officers from Dorset’s streets this year. So I ask those of you campaigning for the return of a Police Station in Swanage to consider whether the cost of so doing would actually be better spent on a couple more ‘bobbies on the beat’. The Station wasn’t used often, but had to be heated and fully staffed. No-brainer when you look at it like that, isn’t it?

And let’s not pretend that Mr Underhill can help us to get the lights back on. The commitment he made to us earlier in 2013 was to lobby the DCC to put them on only if the crime rate increased as a result of the switch-off. Their statistics – and I have seen them – suggest that crime has actually gone down since the street lights went out. Many people have expressed relief at the blessed darkness outside their bedroom windows and at the absence of light pollution. Two sides to everything. So what would be the point of calling on Mr Underhill to put pressure on the Council when statistics show it to be un-necessary?

Of course, if we all reported crimes to the police rather than Facebook, the stats might swing in our favour. Or we could all go out a-burgling and put the stats up that way…….

So IF we’re going to ask him back then exactly what do we want to ask him to do in the light of the financial restraints imposed on him by the DCC?

I’m half inclined to suggest that he doesn’t waste his evening – especially if only a handful turn up like last time. So email me c/o Purbeck Gazette, I’ll forward your comments to him – but make me a genuine commitment to turn up on the evening. Whether or not there’s football on the telly……

The Christmas feeding frenzy is upon us. Everyone buying masses of food just before Christmas because most shops are closed on Christmas Day. And a huge amount of it ending up, uneaten, in landfill.

Next time you go into a restaurant, watch how much half-eaten food the waitresses are taking back. And it’s the restaurateurs – not the customers – who pay for this wasted food. Work it out. They’d make a good deal

more profit by serving a main dish with just a few vegetables…… “enjoy your meal, sir, and don’t hesitate to ask if you need any more”. I haven’t eaten a sweet in a restaurant for years simply because the main courses are too huge and sadly I haven’t room for a sticky toffee pudding. Who loses out? The restaurateur.

It seems wrong to me that while food is wasted in every restaurant in the land, there are people in our own country – let alone in Africa– who are starving to death. What we threw away after last New Year’s Eve party would have fed an African family for a week.

Supermarkets destroy food that’s gone ‘out of date’ rather than give it to the starving. Why is this? In order to present us with shelves of glossy apples and perfect potatoes, they over-buy and then bin what’s left at the end of the day. A local shop once started selling ‘dates and dents’ (damaged packaging and edible food past its recommended shelf life). So why did they stop?

Is it not time to take stock of our own situation? TV programme after TV programme these days seems dedicated to cynical exploitation of the overweight; the papers are full of the dangers of obesity. Was it one child out of three who’s now clinically obese? So how do we remedy it? Selfdiscipline, portion control, and not giving in to the kids whining would be a start. Maybe then we wouldn’t have so many sad children developing eating disorders and being so unhappy with their own shape and size. A doctor friend once confessed that most of the obese and overweight people he saw were so as a direct result of their inability to exercise self-control. Fact. Look at the papers and the glossy magazines. Our screen idols, pin ups and super-models are all skinnies. Personally, I’d rather be a size 12 myself than a size 20, because carrying that extra weight must be really uncomfortable. Imagine strapping seven 2lb bags of sugar round your waist. And that’s only one stone overweight.

I drink my fair share of units. And quite often, some of other people’s units as well. I haven’t exercised strenuously for years, so I haven’t worn out my hips, thighs, knees and ankles as have so many of my peers. I can still run. But don’t see the need because there’s nothing to run for. So that being the case, how come I’m still only 8lb heavier than the day I left school and only 4lb heaver than the day I stopped smoking (5.6.78 at 10.30pm)? Answer – because I don’t eat too much and I avoid junk food like the plague. Except crisps. And Hob-nobs.

So surely the answer to ‘War on Waste’ is simply portion control – and don’t buy so much in the first place!

And maybe consider giving some of the money you didn’t spend to a proper charity that feeds starving children rather than pays administrators. That’s if you can find one. Answers on a postcard please.

There! Made a change from bashing the County Council this month, didn’t it?

Maybe the Spirit of Christmas has come to me early.

Happy New Year to both my readers.

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Not on your Nellie...

Nellie and I were curled up on the chesterfield the other evening, having nothing better to do on a cold November evening. Not strictly true, of course, as there was plenty to do but we just didn’t feel like it.

Anyway, we decided to uncover the television and see if it still worked, which it did. We found ourselves watching a programme called Grand Designs where gullible people attempt to build themselves a house they cannot afford, ignore the good advice of their builders and architects and go bankrupt.

Nellie thought this would be amusing, and indeed it was, watching a house which resembled a sort of squared-off snowman being shoehorned into the back garden of a magnificent Queen Anne terraced house in Cheltenham.

What horrified us was not the grossness and inappropriateness of the design, or even the arrogance of the owners, but the fact this development had received ninety-five (yes, that’s 95!) objections and still permission was granted. It has long been a standing joke here in Swanage that if you want permission granted at PDC, make sure the Town Council turns it down first. Indeed, I was talking with a Petersfield town councillor the other day who bemoaned the self-same problem. But Nellie and I will share the secret with you: you pay to arrange a meeting with the appropriate planning officer, pay for your architect and your planning advisor to come along too, and you all cosy up and show him/her the nice plan, and ask how it can be tweaked to ensure success, and hey presto!! Your chances of a ‘pass’ are much higher. Any objections seem to be deftly elbowed into the bin and you can all skip off down the road to open the champers. Hopefully, though, my colleague Mr Hollister will be keeping an eye on them, and will he let them get away with it?

NOT ON YOUR NELLIE!

And speaking of Mr H, our very own resident petrol-head, has he ever mentioned to you that if you buy a European car, the indicator will be on the wrong side? Think about it; the logical location for an indicator stalk is the side opposite the gear change so that no interference of function occurs while negotiating, for example, a roundabout.

All manufacturers build cars for their home market in this manner, so that if you buy a Japanese vehicle - where they drive on the left the same as wot we do - your indicator will be correctly situated on the right side of the column. Sadly, European manufacturers can be a lazy bunch, and when they convert a car to RHD for export they swap the driving column in its entirety.

Luckily, Nellie and I drive an antique British car and have no problem with this, but if you see a Saab convertible flashing at you, it will be me in the wife’s posh wheels trying to turn the wipers on… and vice-versa, of course.

Decision Made On Shared Services Partnership

At the November meeting of Purbeck District Council, Councillors resolved not to join a shared service partnership with Christchurch Borough and East Dorset District Councils.

This followed a recommendation at the meeting by the Leader of Purbeck District Council, Councillor Gary Suttle, that the partnership should not proceed at this time.

In July 2013, Purbeck District Council had resolved to commission a business case to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of sharing services through partnership with Christchurch and East Dorset Councils. This initiative was in line with the Government’s strategy for improving efficiency in local government driven by the austerity programme and has been progressed by the Council Leaders and senior management from the three councils.

Councillor Suttle stated that having previously looked at partnership with councils to the West, “to carry out a similar exercise with Councils in the East of the county was important, not least in order to ensure that the way in which we work in comparison to others is always challenged and that our policies are continually tested for their relevance and robustness against others.”

At the full Council meeting, Councillor Suttle recommended: “That Purbeck District Council does not at this time proceed with a shared services partnership with East Dorset District Council and Christchurch Borough Council, but reconsiders this proposal following the national and local elections of May 2015 when its political leadership will be in the position of having four years in which to implement, operate and appraise this or a comparable partnership, should it so wish.”

The recommendation was put to the vote: Twenty three councillors voted in favour of Councillor Suttle’s recommendation not to proceed with the shared services partnership and one abstained.

The staff of Lloyds Bank Swanage would like to thank all of the customers and businesses who supported the ‘Tea, Tinsel and Talk’ day, which raised £345 for the Alzheimer’s Society, Lloyds Bank’s charity of the year.

This was achieved by holding a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses and selling a CD of Christmas Carols, entitled ‘Festive Memories’ and performed by the Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Community Orchestra and Choir.

Music can have great therapeutic benefits to people living with dementia and their carers, allowing them to reminisce, express themselves and socialise with others.

Even when memories are hard to retrieve, music is especially easy to recall. More information about the Alzheimer’s Society can be found at alzheimers.org.uk

Lloyds Bank ‘Tea, Tinsel & Talk’ Day Swanage Firestation Monthly Report

Hello and a Happy New Year to all!

At Swanage fire station we have been busy over the last few weeks.

On the operational side we have had the usual incidents that we would expect for this time of the year and these have included chimney fires, false alarms and other small incidents.

We also attended two major fires during December; a fire that started in a tumble dryer in a rest home in Swanage, and this involved the attendance

NOT

If

from appliances from Swanage, Wareham and Poole Fire Stations, along with our colleagues from the Ambulance and Police.

The other major incident that we attended was a fire involving the thatch roof of three properties at Winterbourne Whitechurch. In all, eight fire appliances, along with our command unit and welfare unit, attended this incident.

Back at the station, Firefighters Andy Mutter and Luke Carmicheal have passed their stage four probationary reviews. Firefighters Amanda Tachell and James Adams have attended an incident management course at our service training centre at West Moors near Ferndown.

This is the first step that is needed to get the qualifications to take command of an incident. Well done to all four of them!

We held a recruitment evening for the three Purbeck stations (Swanage, Wareham & Bere Regis) at Wareham in early December, but if you are over eighteen, fit and would like to become an on call firefighter, then all three stations are still looking to recruit people.

You can either contact me or visit our website for details.

My safety message for this month is to always ensure that your washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers are finished and switched off before you go to bed.

Stay safe and enjoy the new year!

Phil Burridge, Station Commander. Email sm16@dorsetfire.gov.uk

Web www.dorsetfire.gov.uk Twitter - @DFRSSwanagefire

Facebook - Station-Manager Swanage

St

Andrews,

Bloxworth, Restored!

Medieval church restored, thanks to Dorset Historic Churches

Trust

Agrant awarded by Dorset Historic Churches Trust has helped complete restoration works to the roof and tower of St Andrew’s Church in Bloxworth, which dates back to the 14th century.

With necessary repairs costing almost £17,000, Dorset Historic Churches Trust (DHCT) stepped in with a grant contribution of £6,000 to help fund the two-month project. The Trust joined other organisations, including the Erskine Mouton Trust and the Wolfson Foundation, as well as local fundraising efforts, to ensure the work was completed.

Specialist church architect, Chris Romain, oversaw the painstaking work to repair much of the 700 year old tower and roof. The work itself was carried out by local builder, A E Griffin & Son, based in Bere Regis.

St Andrew’s Church is best known for hosting the much-loved Dorset Carols, which the church has held since the beginning of the 19th century and in recent years has filled the church to capacity. Bloxworth also provides a major contribution to the Red Post Benefice Choir, currently supplying five of the 13 regular choristers supporting the five churches in the Red Post Benefice.

Barry De Morgan, Deanery Representative for DHCT, commented: “The Trust was delighted to be able to award this grant to St Andrew’s, in order for the important repair work to the tower and roof to be completed. It is wonderful to see the church restored to its former glory once again!”

Ion Acland, Secretary of the Parochial Church Council, added: “We are very grateful for the donation from Dorset Historic Churches Trust and for the fundraising activities from local parishioners.

“The repair work to the tower and roof has been needed for many years, so we are very relieved to have it completed. We look forward to this year’s Dorset Carols, where parishioners and visitors can enjoy the restoration in all its splendour.”

Priest’s Way Almost Completed!

Work on the £150,000 refurbishment of the Priest’s Way in Swanage is nearing completion. Once new signage is installed, the bridleway will be reopened with a simple ceremony expected towards the latter end of January. More details to follow.

Picture shows some members of the project management team in the area of South Barn: left to right Mark Bailey, Richard Townsend and David Clegg (Dorset Highways); Tara Hansford (Dorset Countryside) and Jonathan Kershaw (National Trust). Ian Vaughan-Arbuckle

Award Of Merit For Scout Leader

1st Langton Matravers Group Scout Leader, Linda Buckley, has received the Award of Merit for her commendable service to Scouting, which was awarded by Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, on behalf of the Scout Association.

The presentation was made by Mike Parks, County Commissioner for Dorset Scouts, on 12 November at 1st Langton Matravers Scout Hut. Attended by District Commissioner, Rosemary Miles, Section Leaders, Parents and of course Beavers, Cubs and Scouts in the Group. The evening also celebrated a Going-Up ceremony that saw several young Beavers and Cubs move up to their new sections and reaffirming their Promise. Linda has been with 1st Langton Matravers Scout Group since 2001, starting out as Scouts Sectional Assistant, quickly becoming Assistant Scout Leader in 2002, receiving her Wood Beads in 2004. She has helped District with Leader Training and in 2009 became 1st Langton Matravers Group Scout Leader, a role of providing direction and supporting the Section Leaders. The Award for Merit is given for outstanding service. Young People in the Group enjoy many activities and learn new skills including hiking, camping, rafting, canoeing, climbing, helping in the community. If you would like to be involved or help to support delivering the exciting programme to local Scouts please give us a call at County Office 01929 472374.

Update From Challenge Navitus

Campaign against huge windfarm made ‘significant progress’ in 2013, but real challenge lies ahead.

Challenge Navitus’s campaign to stop the building of the huge Navitus Bay windfarm made significant progress in 2013, but the real challenge will come in the spring when the developers, Eneco and EDF, are expected to submit a formal planning application.

“Opposition to this industrialisation of our coastline is beginning to impact on various levels. This is a bad plan in the wrong place.” said David Lloyd of Challenge Navitus. He cited the following examples of the campaign’s achievements in the past year:

It has attracted a massive increase in support from public opinion throughout the region, as well as elsewhere in the country. Many people are vehemently opposed to this scheme despite the efforts of Eneco and EDF to persuade them otherwise. Their consultation process was

Your Memories, Please!

Please send your memories and photos of George to:

widely criticised for inadequate visuals, and for failing to address people’s concerns satisfactorily.

Politicians representing affected communities have also been vocal in condemning the windfarm, raising their doubts in Westminster about the development’s economic case and its damaging effect on regional jobs, tourism and the environment.

Various influential, independent organisations, whose views will be sought by government as part of the decision-making process, have begun to raise concerns, particularly fears about the visual and environmental impact of the huge turbines so close to the coastline. UNESCO is investigating the impact Navitus Bay may have on the Jurassic Coast’s World Heritage status.

“It now seems that there’s a strong body of opinion within government that is having second thoughts about the economics of offshore wind and seems concerned to get the balance right between the UK’s need for new sources of energy and the subsequent impact on the environment. Looking after the environment requires more than simply building wind farms wherever they can be built,” said Mr Lloyd.

“The real challenge for this development will come in the Spring when Navitus Bay are expected to submit a formal planning application. We are ready to continue the fight to protect this wonderful coastline from avoidable industrialisation, and ensure it remains unspoilt for future generations to enjoy,” said Mr Lloyd.

“We would like to thank all our supporters, and urge them to keep up the pressure through the critical year ahead. It is a massive task to present the case against this proposal to the Planning Inspectors, and we will need all the help we can get.

Please keep in touch via our email subscriber list (on www.challengenavitus. org.uk) as we will be publishing advice and news as it arises.” said Mr Lloyd

Aed@purbeckgazette.co.uk no later than 20th January 2014

s many of you know, local legend, George Willey, is no longer writing for the Swanage & Wareham Advertiser after many years of penning ‘Tilly Whim’, his informative and often witty column.

George has been a well known local character of note for decades, and many, many local people from all walks of life have memories and stories of George. In light of George’s recent ‘demise’ from the Advertiser, Linda Welsh, renowned for her charity and fundraising work in Purbeck, is arranging a very special celebration night in George’s honour in February, to thank him for his tireless efforts for our community over so many years.

We are more than happy to be working with Linda on this great cause, and we join with her in asking all of YOU to email us with your memories and photos of George over the years, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.

So many of you have tales of George working with your groups and organisations, attending events and getting into scrapes whilst out and about later in the evening in his earlier days! We’d love to hear them all. The memories will be collated in a book, along with any photos which you can provide, which will be then presented to George during the celebration evening in February.

I first met George when I was nine years old, investigating what it would take to become a journalist when I grew up. I knocked on George’s front door, and he gave my younger self some wonderful advice, and also took the time to write down all the journalistic contacts he had for me. Thank you George. Nico Johnson

A Tribute to George

For many years we have enjoyed Tilly Whim, We readers of the Advertiser will miss him, We wish you well in retirement and I don’t mean to be silly, But I know for certain they will never find another George Willey You have the ability to make us all smile, You are a gifted man and you make life really worthwhile.

All the best George, have a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Hugh Elmes. Wareham.

Hemsbach Carols

The Wareham-Hemsbach Society brought December to a lively start with its Christmas party. Jenny Elmes with her hand bell ringers and Dr Jane Oakland with the Wareham Choral Society, led the carol singing.

We had visitors from the Swanage Town and the Wimborne Ochsenfurt Twinning Associations. Drinks, food, raffle prizes and coloured lights added to the fun of the festivities.

Robin Brasher, Publicity Officer of the Wareham-Hemsbach Society

Mobility Musings

2

013 was certainly memorable at Purbeck Mobility Limited. We increased our fleet of hire scooters and wheelchairs, kept up with the increasing demands of Social Services and local hospitals and still managed to have a joke or two with our many customers.

The long summer helped lots of our ‘youngsters’ top up their vitamin D. It made a change to leave covers off our display outside the shop in St Johns Hill and we achieved an award for our contribution to Wareham in Bloom.

We passed our 20,000th customer transaction through the till and sold the first in the county of a new breed of top quality scooter which can be seen up hill and down dale around Purbeck.

Sadly we’ve had to say farewell to some of our favourite characters around the area, all of whom it has been a privilege to know and serve. New faces continue to visit us for mobility and general living help. One of our latest customers decided to have an adventure with his new car-transportable scooter. Here he is (pictured above) on the top track to Swyre Head. A little bumpy but look at that smile. Well done Sir. Health and Happiness to all this January and throughout 2014. Bob Richardson, Managing Director, Purbeck Mobility Limited.

R.N.L.I. Crew Profile

Dave Turnbull

Full time job: RNLI Station Mechanic

Dave joined the RNLI in December 1992 as crew for the soon-tobe allocated D Class lifeboat. His father was on the crew of the all-weather lifeboat at the time so he’d grown up with the RNLI in his life and wanted to be part of it. He’s since been awarded the RNLI

long service badge for over 20 years of service.

Dave recalls one the most memorable incidents he’s been involved with at Swanage; “I remember the service that the crew did to the yacht Be Happy in October 1996. I didn’t go to sea as I hadn’t been on the crew that long and they needed the most experienced crew as the weather was horrendous. The atmosphere and the tension in the crew room was something I’ve never experienced since, especially the part when our radio operator (Dave Corben) said ‘There will be radio silence now as we attempt to get the crew off the yacht’. They needed everyone on deck to get the crew off the yacht and the wait for them to come back on the radio seemed like forever!”

“As the volunteer crew head into the New Year, they are keen to maintain the local support and momentum created during the first six months of the appeal for their new boathouse. Dave says; ‘The fundraisers and crew have got plenty of events planned for 2014 to continue the fundraising for the new boathouse. The new station is needed to house the Shannon class lifeboat which will replace our current Mersey class in 2015. The current lifeboat station was built in 1875 at a cost of £525. Although adapted to house each of the eight different all weather lifeboats and three inshore lifeboats over its 135 year history, unfortunately the dimensions of the current lifeboat station mean it will not be fit for purpose when the new Shannon class lifeboat arrives.”

“It will be rebuilt on the site of the existing boathouse, and designed to house, launch and protect the new lifeboat and provide much improved facilities for the volunteer crew including; a changing and shower area, a proper crew training room, mechanics workshop, office space, and room to co-house the station’s D-class inshore lifeboat. With over £200,000 to be raised towards the cost locally, 2014 will be a busy year of fundraising.”

Six Weddings In One Year For The Volunteer Crew Of Swanage Lifeboat!

Two of the six couples are now expecting potential future lifeboat crew of their own: the Turnbulls’ baby boy is due in February next year, with Matt and Becky Steeden’s baby due at the end of March.

All of the weddings featured at least a nod to the traditions of lifeboating. At most of the weddings, volunteer crew in ‘lifeboat yellows’ (the kit worn by RNLI crew) lined up outside the wedding ceremony, holding wooden oars to form an archway for the newly-hitched bride and groom to walk underneath. At two of the weddings, flowers were arranged at the reception in yellow wellies, worn by the crew when at sea on their all-weather lifeboat. Two of the weddings were also conducted by Rev Tony Higgins, Swanage lifeboat’s official chaplain.

Lifeboating has historically always been a family affair, but the past year has seen no less than six lifeboat weddings for the volunteer crew of Swanage RNLI. The nuptial trend began in October last year when Lifeboat Mechanic Dave Turnbull married fiancé Angela Medland, with the most recent wedding taking place in September this year, when Senior Inshore Lifeboat Helmsman Tom Greasty married his fiancé, Charlotte Bartle.

Earlier this year, both of the coxswain’s sons, Gavin and Matt Steeden, also married their long-term partners, only three months apart from one another. All of the weddings necessarily took place within Dorset’s seaside town of Swanage, in order that the crew could rush to the lifeboat station at a moment’s notice should the emergency pagers sound during the ceremonies.

Fortunately, none of the weddings this year were interrupted by an emergency call for help, but coxswain Martin Steeden, Father of the Groom twice this year, recalls his sister-in-law’s wedding in 1980 when the crew were called to a ‘shout’ not once but twice during the special occasion:

“My wife’s father was coxswain of Swanage lifeboat at the time. It was her sister’s wedding so he was due to be giving her away. There was a lifeboat shout just as the ceremony was about to begin – Vic, my father-inlaw, did still walk his daughter down the aisle, but the rest of the ushers, including me, had to dash off.

“My wife was left to do the ushering with our six-week-old son, Gavin, under one arm! We returned to the wedding afterwards but, from the window at the reception, the vicar spotted a boat on fire in the bay and off we all dashed again!”

Not only did six couples get married within the last year, but a further seventh Swanage RNLI wedding took place on 12 May 2012 between lifeboat crew volunteer Darren Tomes, a butcher by day, and fiancé Dee Bowden (now Tomes), who runs the family B&B in Swanage – making it a case of ‘Seven Brides For Seven Lifeboatmen’! Darren and Dee now have a son together, five-month-old James.

Swanage RNLI are currently fundraising for a new boathouse to replace the current building, which is 135 years old. They need to raise a total of £200,000. To find out more or donate to their charity appeal, visit RNLI.org/SwanageAppeal. You can donate £5 simply by texting RNLI SWANAGE to 70300.

Details of weddings (couples pictured above):

6 October 2012 - Dave Turnbull, 40, fulltime Mechanic at Swanage Lifeboat Station, married Angela Medland, 33, Social Researcher, at St Mary’s Church followed by a reception at Purbeck House Hotel

23 March 2013 - Ollie Clark, 24, Electrician, married Kate Whiffing, 28, Health and Safety Inspector, at St Mary’s Church followed by a reception at Purbeck House Hotel

7 April 2013 - Gavin Steeden, 33, Carpenter, married Kim Notley, 34, Senior Support Worker, at Swanage Town Hall followed by a drinks reception at Swanage Sailing Club then evening reception at the Square & Compass pub

22 June 2013 - Matt Steeden, 30, Offshore Engineer, married Becky King, 30, Charity Worker, at Swanage Town Hall, followed by a reception at The Old Malthouse

6 July 2013 - James Mack, 31, Design Engineer, married Claire Jones, 31, Teacher, at St Nicholas Church followed by a reception at Harry Warren House

21 September 2013 - Tom Greasty, 30, Fisherman, married Charlotte Bartle, 26, Support Worker, at Durlston Castle followed by a reception at Kingston Country Courtyard

New Service To Increase Recycling And Reduce Costs

Purbeck residents will be able to recycle more and receive a weekly food waste collection when the new recycling and rubbish collection service starts in March.

Some Purbeck households received their containers for the ‘recycle for Dorset’ service before Christmas, while others will get theirs during January or February.

Plastic pots, tubs and trays as well as bottles will be able to be recycled in the larger wheelie bin, together with cardboard, paper, tins and cans, aerosols and batteries. Glass will be recycled using residents’ green box.

Food waste will be collected every week from a lockable container and taken for composting or to generate renewable energy.

Residents should not start using their new containers until the current service ends in February. If new containers are put out before this they may not be emptied. New calendars will be posted during February.

The new service will be provided by the Dorset Waste Partnership –seven Dorset councils working together to drive down costs and improve services.

In Christchurch, East Dorset and North Dorset, where the service is already being used, the recycling rate has increased to more than 60 per cent – double what it was in some areas.

You can find out more about the ‘recycle for Dorset’ service at www. dorsetforyou.com/recyclefordorset.

Our feature, next month.... Purbeck Weddings

One of our most popular features, encompasing all that Purbeck offers for that special day. From wedding transport, catering and venues, to the all important wedding dress, the rings and the sundries. Special advertising offers & FREE editorial available - first come, first served! Call Joy to book on 424293 DO YOU HAVE BEAUTIFUL WEDDING PICS OF YOUR OWN? We need pictures of local couples to use within the feature - if you’d like to be included, please email your pictures (original jpg files) to ed@purbeckgazette.co.uk before 5th January 2014, along with your names and the date/location of your wedding!

My War-time Memories.

By Brian Guy

The Bombing of Caen.

Awe inspiring. But we know now that it was a complete waste of time and lives, but it must be said, we did not know it at the time. We were on the high ground and had a grandstand view as we were not far away from the city. The mighty fleet of Lancaster bombers flew in low over our heads, and a short distance in front of us, unloaded their bombs. Caen vanished under a huge cloud of dust and smoke that rose in the air, even covering us with some of the fallout. The result? Caen was destroyed, the roads were completely blocked and had to be cleared to get into the city. This caused a great deal of difficulty for those who had the job of clearing a way through. There is one fact about the taking of Caen, and the battles that took place before its fall, at that time, there were Eight SS Panzer Divisions in Normandy.

Seven and a half divisions to fight the British army, one half a division to fight the American army. The source of this information? The American general in command of the American Army. The battle for the City that had raged for weeks and had taken innumerable lives, now petered out, ending in a pitiful anti-climax. About half a dozen of us entered the city first by the left hand route, and with little opposition. The city we found was a shambles, destruction was so complete that the roads had disappeared and very many civilian lives had been lost. The destruction in itself caused the British and Canadians enormous troubles, troubles that required a great deal of work to open up the roads for transport, indeed, for movement of any kind.

The bombing of the city of Caen was a tragedy, it achieved nothing except the killing of the local population and made a mess that we had to spend a great deal of time clearing up. The Germans? Well there were only a few there, the fighting troops had retired to the other side of the Canal and River.

I still do not know what purpose it served, one thing stands out, and that was that our intelligence was very poor, or we would have known that in bombing Caen, we would only be killing the French. A tragedy! No sooner than we had taken the city, when we were withdrawn to prepare for further military actions against the enemy across the Canal. So ended another phase in the battles for Normandy. Blood soaked Normandy.

The American. The most willing prisoner - always on the move.

The British and Americans had broken through into the open French countryside, and then their tank columns had turned North, to enclose the enemy in what was to become known as the ‘Falaise pocket’. We were pushing at the back of the pocket, driving the enemy towards the ever-tightening noose at the head of this great trap. The Germans, in some places were running for their lives, in others they stayed and fought it out. In some skirmishes, they fought like demons.

During this time, the line between our forces and the enemy had become very fluid. One was never sure if we had passed the enemy, or whether he was still in front. To pay tribute to the Germans, they put up a fierce and spirited resistance in some of the rear guard actions that took place, actions that were fought with the purpose of giving their comrades time to get away.

Our company was battling down the Vire-Tinchebray road in hot pursuit, and had stopped for the day for food and refuelling. We set about digging

our fox holes and needed something to keep the rain off, doors keep you dry and also give one a false sense of security. Spud! Now there is a name to conjure with! Spud Murphy, our D.R., and myself always tried to share the task of digging our holes. First back from that day’s operation would start the hole for both of us.

We both decided that a door over our hole would improve our creature comforts and set off for a farm a short distance away. When we got there, all seemed safe and quiet, no sign of the enemy. We started to look for our door, no sign of civilians, they had long departed for safer areas. While looking for our door, we found the farm cattle in an enclosed yard, all suffering from wounds that had been sustained by setting off booby traps. This had an immediate effect of making us a great deal more cautious. Still in search of our door for the night, we came to a farm outhouse. This was one of those typical Normandy outhouses where they kept the great cider barrels up on racks at the back, and on the cobble stone floor. Spread-eagled on the cobbled floor was a dead German officer, resplendent in full uniform with sword and Nazi dagger, his medals pinned on his chest, including the Iron Cross. Knowing the Germans and their dirty tricks, we were only too aware that moving him would set off a booby trap of some description. Spud and I talked about “making him safe” by putting a rope round his feet and giving him a pull from a safe distance, to set off the very loud bang we knew would follow. In the end; we decided against it, some else could do it, it would be far to messy. Ridiculous isn’t it?

Now with even greater care, we moved on to an adjacent hay loft outhouse. Here was our door. To the left, an under cover open area with rusty farm machinery. Behind the door there were very narrow steps, leading up to the loft from the outside. Now! I can still see those steps, greyish coloured, wooden, worn from constant use, the treads of the stairs hollowed by years of scuffing farmers’ boots, a nice door. Just what we wanted! We had both decided that we would get it off its hinges when we heard footsteps coming down the loft steps, and a pair of German jackboots appeared. Spud pointed his empty Sten gun at him, and I drew my trusty Bowie knife that the Yank had given me, prepared to do this fellow some very serious harm.

When a voice called out. “I want to give myself up” in a voice with an American accent. In these unusual circumstances and with great caution, we let him come on. Having seen what they were prepared to do with their own officer, we took no chances. None! I have never seen anyone so keen to give himself up, he told us that he was the son of an American mother and a German father.

While they were on holiday in Germany the war had broken out and he was unable to get home. Subsequently he was called up to serve in the German army, and sent to Normandy. He told us that his mum had told him to stay behind and give himself up to the Americans. Having listened to him for some time, I was quite convinced that he was telling the truth, we gave him a cigarette and had quite a long chat before turning him in, he was not far away from the American sector, they were quite close, but not close enough.

For many years I have wondered what happened to this man. One cannot be anything else but curious, when faced with such bizarre events. I would give a lot to trace this man, just to find out what happened to him afterwards.

Sometimes I lay awake, and wonder about these people. Did the officer who asked me to cut his leg off live? What happened to the German paratroop doctor? Where did the American prisoner end up, and was he telling the truth? Or was it all concocted?

Reading the papers these days reminds me of a very different age. A time many of us older ones recall. In the days of our youth, if a poor girl got pregnant, she vanished from the scene for a while. For in those days, out of marriage pregnancies were a terrible disgrace.

How different now! That makes me wonder just how many of us were made ‘legal’ by a quick marriage? Now people just live together. Seems to work for the younger generation, doesn’t it? Now they don’t have wives and husbands, they have partners.

Me? Oh! I am old fashioned. I have a wife. Bless her. Huge grin!

Quakers On The Move

2014 will find the Quakers at ‘The Old Stable’ in Commercial Road in the heart of Swanage. Our first Meeting for Worship will be on 5th January 2014, at 10.30am, all are welcome including children. Refreshments afterwards.

Many people have heard of the Quakers, but few know about us and our work. Who are we? Our formal name is the Religious Society of friends. Our worship in based in Christianity, however all are welcome at our meetings whatever faith or belief system they may hold … or none!

Many of the greatest figures in the last three hundred years of English history have been Quakers, but Quakerism inspired the great missions of their lives. Compassion and social justice for all was the driving force. William Wilberforce felt compassion for slaves, Elizabeth Fry for women prisoners, John Howard who founded the Howard League for Penal Reform, the Cadburys, who instigated responsible housing such as Bourneville, Joseph Rowntree who set up a social welfare foundation, William Penn who founded Pennsylvania in USA and companies such as Fry’s chocolates, Wedgwood, Clarks Shoes and Huntley and Palmers biscuits. We worship in silence so that we may hear the voice of God that speaks within us all. We recognise that there is something of God in everyone.

We meet every Sunday, at 10.30am, the Meetings for Worship last about an hour and there is provision for children. All welcome.

News From Wareham Town Council

Town Clerk Rod Curtis reports on Town Council Meeting of 9th December 2013

Police Presentation –Sgt Jon McCarthy of the Wareham North Safer Neighbourhood Team attended the meeting. He briefed Councillors on the current crime situation in the County and in Purbeck, with particular reference to issues in Wareham.

Members took the opportunity to ask questions which were forthcoming on the effectiveness of local CCTV, increased crime following the ‘switchoff’ of street lighting in many areas after midnight, possible obstruction on the yellow lines by the railway station roundabout, and the use of special bins for safe retention of drug users’ equipment at the Town Council’s newly acquired public toilets. Councillor Osmond raised a concern regarding the scarecrow/deer scarer at the Saxon Magic Corner (Wareham in Bloom garden scheme) opposite the Saxon Roundabout, which had gone missing. Anyone finding it is requested to contact the Town Council on 01929 553006.

Council Budget for 2014/2015 – the draft budget was received and reference was made to a necessary increase in the precept (Council’s share of Council Tax) to meet increased anticipated costs in several key areas. These included costs associated with the maintenance of the toilets to meet the Council’s new responsibilities and to meet a shortfall in the cost of the lengthsman post - when Dorset County Council cut its funding by £5,000 for the County’s lengthsman scheme at short notice. The assumed precept, currently £138,100, could not be confirmed due to no figures having been received from the District Council on the Council Tax Support Grant for local towns and parishes. This in turn depended on the tax base for 2014/2015 and this was not available until mid-December. It was decided to agree the draft budget in principle and bring it back to 21st January meeting for confirmation and for adjustments to be made when the figures were known.

Council Calendar of Meetings – the Council’s Calendar of Meetings for the Civic Year 2014/2015 was approved and will shortly be available on the Council’s website www.wareham-tc.gov.uk for public viewing.

First World War Centenary 2014 – Council received news of various local events being considered for the commemoration of the start of the First World War including a concert by the Wareham Choral Society, a writers’ anthology following historical research, a parade of military vehicles, visits to the battlefield sites in France, and a special Town Museum exhibition. It was suggested that Council may only wish to participate in the annual

Remembrance Day service at the war Memorial which would be more special than normal in the centenary year. There being no agreement on Council participation at this stage, it was agreed to bring this item back to the next meeting for further thoughts.

Mayor’s Communications - reference was made to a greetings card for Christmas sent to the Burgermeister of Wareham’s twin town in Hemsbach. A recent coffee morning in the Corn Exchange had raised over £600 for the Mayor’s charities – the Mayor thanked all who participated in this event. The ‘Volunteer of the Year’ 2013 would be presented with the award on Friday 13th December at the Council’s Christmas Reception for voluntary groups in the town.

Renewal of Fairtrade Status – Councillor Dina Adkins of the Wareham Fairtrade Steering Group presented a certificate to the Mayor marking the renewal of Wareham’s Fairtrade Town status by the Fairtrade Foundation. Wareham Station Footbridge – Council received a response from the Chief Executive of Dorset County Council to its letter of 1st November 2013. Responses also from Network Rail/South West Trains Alliance were highlighted, regarding various concerns flagged up by the Town Council on the impending closure of the rail crossing for construction of the new footbridge.

A recent unannounced closure of the pedestrian rail crossing was being investigated by the Town Clerk. Further public consultation on the scheme was planned for 6th January 2014 in the Corn Exchange.

County Councillor Report – Reduction in No. 40 Bus Service. Councillor Mrs B Ezzard attended. Her report highlighted that, as the Wareham Member, she had defended retaining the evening service of the No. 40 bus as the town’s only public transport running between Wareham and Swanage in the evenings, to no avail.

The bus subsidy will be cut by DCC and the service will be reduced to a daytime only service, the last bus running from Poole and Swanage at 5pm in both directions. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on workers, young people, college students and the elderly.

Wareham Public Toilets Update – Grant Funding Good news! An application for grant funding for the total refurbishment of both toilets at The Quay and Howards Lane had been successful. Viridor Landfill Communities Fund had agreed to contribute over £113,000 for the project, which was heartily welcomed by Council.

It was agreed to authorise the commencement of works, including the appointment of a suitable project manager, with the aim of starting work first at the Howards Lane toilets early in the New Year.

Next Meeting: 21st January 2013 at 7pm in the Council Chamber – public very welcome.

Visit www.wareham-tc.gov.uk for full details of minutes and reports of our meetings.

Rod Curtis, Town Clerk, Wareham Town Council

F.A.R.T. Update

(Federation of Angry Retired Teadrinkers)

Clinging to the Wreckage - Tenax Ad Ruina

Shoreline Pete has been forced onto inland waters by the weather and has been checking upstream from the Mowlem. The dark tunnel didn’t put him off and he managed to catch an electric eel which was glowing quietly in the stream. He noticed that it had been ringed by a Mr EDF so he put it back and blow me, he found another one with a ring belonging to Mr SSE so he had to let that one go as well. However all was well when he found a duck washed up in the reeds and he is now looking for an orange to go with it.

Lot of road works in town, strange name really, I always thought the road worked better when it wasn’t dug up. However on the plus side it has improved our traffic light challenge. Five sets of Pelicans and, with careful timing and liaison, we can get all of them red at once. A fine example of team work.

Christmas has been and gone, after the incident last year with the nursing home chimney, a dram or two of Pursers rum and the young nursing lady, we didn’t do Father Christmas this year. As for the reindeer, all I can say is that Rudolph pie was advertised locally!

Pete couldn’t find a turkey washed up last year but he did come up with a cormorant. That was a novel flavour I can tell you, a bit fishy but it went well with some chips, mushy peas and vinegar.

Recycling Roger popped down to the new fangled recycling centre, very plush it is too. He was a bit surprised to find that it is open when most of us are at work and is shut when most of us are home and able to visit. Seems a bit of a strange arrangement. He did discover various bits and bobs that were up for grabs and one or two were even useful. One of his queries concerned the electric fence, was it to stop people stealing the recycling or was it to make sure you couldn’t get in after work? Or perhaps both?

We have recently been joined by a couple of retired gentlemen who have had experience of crossing the great waters. One of them was a regular, in and out of Poole, and not just for shopping. They certainly add a salty flavour to the mix, a bit like the cormorant I suppose!

Hope you all had a good time, and didn’t drink and drive - it’s dangerous; you could spill the drinks all over yourself.

Hero Marathon

Reaching fifty gave the perfect excuse to rise to a challenge and to benefit Swanage Heroes Haven in the process for Harmans Cross couple, Richard and Alison Purchase.

As he approached this milestone birthday Richard, who still plays hockey for Wimbourne, persuaded his wife to join him doing the Bournemouth Festival Half Marathon. Alison commented “ I ran my last half marathon twenty five years ago, so at first I was unsure about doing another, but I decided to run for Heroes Haven and that spurred me on through the training and where better to train than on the beautiful Purbeck hills”.

Richard and Alison both work in London and commute down at weekends. They were inspired when they heard about Swanage Heroes Haven and have spread the word amongst work colleagues, family and friends.They were delighted to hand over a total of £2800 to Lynne Connor on behalf of Heroes Haven.

Through The Keyhole Swanage Town Council

Our Gazette correspondent details the goings on in recent council meetings.....

Swanage Town Council Report.

As Councillors gathered for their final meeting of 2013 they will have been aware that in spite of hints in some quarters of economic ‘green shoots’, the town has seldom felt quieter. But at least Councillors can look back on a protracted period of great summer weather which brought thousands upon thousands of visitors to the town (and to the Council car parks, one of its few sources of income). While large visitor numbers do not always translate into similarly large financial receipts for traders, something of the longed for ‘feel good factor’ was back.

It was noticeable that even at high tide in summer, our thousands of young visitors had long stretches of sand to play on. Before the beach regeneration of 2005, sand was scarce at high tide and such numbers as came in 2013 simply could not have been accommodated – and visitors would presumably have packed up their buckets and spades and gone elsewhere.

The finance for that beach regeneration (along with the replacement of the ageing wooden groynes) was achieved by a partnership headed by the Department of the Environment, (DEFRA). Worryingly it was said at the time that Swanage was lucky to have got in under the wire - because such an enterprise would never be afforded again!! Though the sands of Swanage Bay seem to disappear and then reappear, their return seems to be at a constantly (though slowly) diminishing level.

Of great interest to the Council in 2014, therefore, will be the proposal for a trial which would bring us sand-loaded vessels from their work dredging Poole Harbour. Once in the bay, vessels would drop the sand at a designated point offshore. The hope would be – and this is what the proposed trial would study – that a proportion of the sand would find its way permanently onto the beaches. Also part of the trial would be the study of any deleterious effects on the sea bed – particularly the reefs. This is the only game in town as far as sand is concerned, so should this experiment fail, would someone please find Swanage a millionaire benefactor. We will call him Mr Sandman.

Another scheme, already authorised by the Council and going ahead in 2014, is the stabilisation of the green space around the War memorial and also of the downland above the Broad Road car park (this will be done through pinning, planting and drainage).

The annoying thing about this most necessary action is that it will take a huge chunk (approx £2m) from the Council’s current reserves of between £7 and £8m, and the casual visitor will see virtually no difference. The greenscape will look much the same as it did. But in both cases – and the same applies to the massive mudslide below the Pines Hotel – without remedial action the land and its clay undertow would simply slide downhill when next saturated.

The one large benefit of the seafront scheme is that it has allowed the Council to have the beach hut landscape between the Mowlem and the Banjo Jetty changed utterly and for the better (see pictures, below). The Council hopes this beach hut development will be prove popular and soon start making a sizeable financial contribution to council coffers.

As mentioned in a previous report, the first phase of the Local Plan consultation (including, for example, discussion of possible new housing sites on the edge of the town, and either the expansion of existing retail floor-space or the siting of a large new in-town supermarket) will be going ahead in January. Please check press and the town’s website for details. And come and contribute your two cents or euros worth.

Having learned that the journalist George Willey had left his position at the Swanage and Wareham Advertiser, and would therefore no longer be covering the affairs of Swanage Town Council as he had done for so many years, the Mayor and Council asked George if he would graciously attend the final meeting of the year so that a fitting tribute (plus mince pie) could be offered.

Unfortunately he was unable to attend on this occasion, so this will done in the new year. (George Willey is remembered with considerable affection by those who edited a predecessor of the Gazette. In their troubled times he was a most knowledgeable and welcome friend.)

Swanage Seafront Stabilisation Underway

Work is underway to deliver the Swanage seafront stabilisation scheme which will see the soil on the Recreation Ground pinned back to prevent land slippage onto Shore Road. The project also includes the construction of new public toilets, two-tiers of beach huts and a permanent kiosk on the corner of Shore Road and Victoria Avenue.

The scheme will cost approximately £2 million and is being funded directly by Swanage Town Council, principally from the proceeds from the leasehold disposal of Swanage Bay View Holiday Park in 2009.

Unfortunately, as the work cannot be classified as coast protection, no grant funding was available from central government.

Reaction to the proposed additional tier of beach huts, as shown in the image above, has been largely positive following the public consultation held earlier in the year. The design, by local architects Mark Carey Associates, has been sensitive to the conservation area, ensuring a break in the second tier and a restriction in the height of the huts to preserve the green appearance of the Recreation Ground from the beach.

Town Mayor, Councillor Ali Patrick said ‘This work is vital to protect Swanage seafront from the effects of land slips, ensuring that it remains a key attraction to visitors to the town. Although the stabilisation work

is expensive, it has provided the opportunity to breathe new life into this area whilst still retaining the traditional seaside character of Swanage’.

Councillor Patrick continued: ‘The income that the Town Council receives from the additional beach huts and new kiosk will help fund the facilities that the Town Council provides, including the Tourist Information Centre, public conveniences, parks, gardens and children’s play areas’.

Work will also be undertaken to stabilise land on the Downs, at an additional cost of approximately £300,000. This will hold back the encroachment of soil onto Broad Road Car Park, which has seen the size of parking spaces shrink in recent years as land slippage has worsened.

Weather permitting, both schemes are scheduled to be largely completed by Easter with a target final completion date of the end of May 2014. The new beach huts will be available for hire from mid-June onwards and because of their construction they can also be let over the winter. Anyone interested in hiring a beach hut should contact the Tourist Information Centre to be sent a booking form. They can be contacted either by telephone on 01929 422885 or e-mail mail@swanage.gov.uk

RAILWAY PURBECK’S

Whatbetter than a leisurely trip behind an historic steam engine through an area of natural beauty? The ride takes passengers through the beautiful Purbeck countryside, which includes stunning views of Corfe Castle.

The stations at Norden, Corfe Castle, Harmans Cross, Herston and Swanage provide access to historic villages, country walks and the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

Swanage is part of a great day out in Purbeck. Whilst passengers travel down to Swanage with its blue flag beach, Victorian pier, shops and restaurants, they can appreciate the rich history of the area. and the influence it had on authors such as Enid Blyton and Thomas Hardy.

Purbeck Railway Circle

On Friday 17th January 2014 Colin Stone will present a slide show entitled ‘Around Dorset’s Rail Routes’. Colin will take us on a photographic rail tour ‘clockwise’ around the county of Dorset with a few minor incursions into the neighbouring counties of Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire. The tour will start and end in Colin’s home town of Poole and among the locations visited will be Swanage, Weymouth, Portland, Yeovil, Templecombe, Salisbury and Blandford. Motive power on view will be steam, diesel and electric and there will be a selection of “Then and Now” images.

Prior to Colin’s slide show, the PRC Annual General Meeting will take place.

The Circle meets in Harmans Cross Village Hall, Haycrafts Lane, Harmans Cross at 7pm

Everyone is welcome

For further information please contact the General Secretary on tel: 01929 554765 or email: gordonjakes21@btinternet.com

In Memory Of A Truly Special Purbeck Man

Purbeck man, Terry Dorland (pictured, right), sadly died on September 29th this year, and although he is greatly missed, his family are extremely proud of his guts, determination and his well-known passion for charity work.

Terry was part of Swanage Carnival for many years, becoming involved with his old school pals in the 80s. Through this he became involved with many other charities. When one of his closest friends was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, he did his best to raise as much money and encourage awareness of this disease.

When Terry’s father had a stroke in his fifties, Terry became aware of how this illness took no prejudice and decided that he would help Swanage Stroke Club in whichever way he could; fundraising, organising and driving the minibus for many of the trips, or just being a good friend to the many that he came across.

Always ready to cheer them up with his wicked sense of humour! How upset they were all to find out that Terry then had an illness that he could not conquer.

During his years, he was nominated by Swanage Town Council for the Purbeck Towns and Parishes Volunteer of the Year 2008, and was very proud to be honoured with the Paul Harris Fellow award from Swanage Rotary, both of which he received with his mother.

Forest Holme Hospice looked after Terry in his last weeks with love, care and dignity, and a collection was done in their honour at Terry’s funeral. We are delighted to say a sum of £2490.24 has been collected. Swanage Conservative Club added to this by having a quiz and raised £250.

The family can’t thank everyone enough, as we feel fundraising is Terry’s legacy, we would like to form a base for fundraising, The Terry Dorland

Foundation. For our first fundraiser we would like to raise money and awareness for this wonderful hospice, who care for many illnesses, as well as giving emotional support to many families. We are having a Swanage Swop-Shop and Unisex Pamper day, ‘Dorland’s Delights’, followed by a disco for all at the Swanage British Legion on the 1st March.

The day will start at 12 noon. Please phone 01929422885 to book sessions, or simply come along on the day!

Should you be interested, or want to help or donate, just ring Carolyn on the above number and have a chat. Thank you all. The family.

Not Just Sundaes Update

Community café celebrates funding boost!

Customers, volunteers and trustees alike at Not Just Sundaes, Wareham’s very own community café, are all celebrating as news that funds have been secured to complete the final phase of the building project was announced.

The Talbot Village Trust has donated £50,000 to the community project, allowing them to finally improve the access for the disabled to the listed building.

The Talbot Village Trust is an East-Dorset based charity which helps hundreds of organisations, charities, churches and schools by contributing around £800,000 to the local community each year. “Not Just Sundaes is an important asset to the community and we are pleased to be able to support this project.” said Gary Cox, clerk to the Trust.

Chair of the project, Andy Bowerman said “This is fantastic news and is a great way to end an amazing first year for the project. We would like to thank all those that have visited us at Not Just Sundaes and supported this new community venture in Wareham. Whether through buying a coffee, making a cake, designing an ice-cream, popping in on a Friday night, fundraising, volunteering or just wishing us well, the community should be proud that they have made the project the success it has become!”

Unfortunately the café will have to close for a couple of months in the new year whilst the building work gets underway, but the project will not stop! With many volunteers still making all the necessary plans for our re-opening and official launch in the spring, Not Just Sundaes will be proud to become a place that will truly be able to welcome all members of the community!

To find out more information about how we are getting on, contact us via our facebook page (Not just sundaes Community Café), and we look forward to seeing you when we re-open in the Spring!

Swanage Town Twinning Association Update

Once again our Oktoberfest was a huge success. Next October we are looking to ring the changes with a different theme, so watch this space next year.

What a wonderful turn out of members for our A.G.M. and Social Evening. Nothing, I’m sure, to do with the wine tasting supplied by our Rudesheim friends, or the delicious buffet organised by our own Jan Ratcliffe, Social Secretary!

This year we had no difficulty filling all the official positions of office. The only changes will be Bob Ratcliffe, retiring as secretary, but who will still be a committee member, with Ruth Newton agreeing to take his place. We also welcomed Gloria Warrington on to the committee. Plans are being finalised for our visit to Rudesheim am Rhein, Germany in June next year.

There was no meeting in December, but we look forward to January, when once again we have the pleasure of the Rev Timbrell and his hilarious encounters of “Discovering Dorset”.

What a shock we had to hear our loyal and long standing Founder Member, George Willey, (Tilly Whim) will no longer be writing his column in the Advertiser. George goes back to the old Swanage Times days, when the office was in Rempstone Road at the end of the Railway Station. His column used to cover everything from productions performed at The Mowlem to in-depth profiles of famous people living quietly in the town.

Recently George agreed to give a talk at one of our meetings covering his life as a journalist and some of the most memorable events. One such experience moved us to tears, when he recounted the terrible tragedy many years ago, of the young school boys who were killed after finding a mine on the beach. The hall went deathly quiet.

No, there is only one George Willey, a great character, a raconteur. a professional and most of all, a gentleman. Well done George, we are proud to have you on board.

Janet Enoch, Vice Chairman and Publicity Officer.

Swanage Rotary - Responding When Disaster Strikes

On Friday, November 8, 2013, Typhoon Haiyan devastated a large path through the middle of the Philippines. Despite being accurately forecast, the loss of life and damage was shocking to all who saw it via the media. A very natural reaction from many in our community was “how can we help?” and Swanage Rotary was no different. International Group Chairman, David Chalcraft, explains, “After the massive response to the Tsunami in 2004, we recognised we needed to be prepared in the event of a future disaster so we could react quickly.”

So a disaster response team was formed and links were established within the Rotary organisation to ensure effective communication was possible. “We operate a twin-track approach in formulating our response.” said David, “We rely on the Rotary organisation to advise on the overall need and we rely on the local Rotarians in the area affected to tell us what is specifically required”.

Thus in the days following the typhoon it was quickly established that shelter and clean water were required. Swanage Rotary decided to focus on providing shelter by raising funds for ShelterBoxes. David explains, “The ShelterBox solution in disaster response is as simple as it is effective”.

Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family of up to ten people, blankets, groundsheets, water storage and filtration equipment, cooking utensils, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items. “The ShelterBox charity was formed by Rotary in Helston, Cornwall in 2000 and we have supported them ever since because it’s such a practical solution.” said David. As luck would have it, ShelterBox already had people in the Philippines who were still working there following an earthquake earlier in the year. They were able to commit their supplies from all over the region to get support on the ground very quickly.

“It rapidly became obvious that the scale of the disaster would need a substantial response.” said David. “We immediately committed funds from our contingency and agreed to hold a street collection to raise as much as we could.”

As word spread, offers of help arrived from friends, businesses and other organisations and so, on the 16 / 17 November, people took to the streets in Swanage. “The response was amazing!” said David. “People were so generous and when we explained what we were going to purchase and how it would be delivered, they dug even deeper.”

The total collected, over £6,200, enabled Rotary to purchase eight boxes in total. However, we were delighted when the Carnival Committee donated £1000 to the appeal. “It was a fantastic gesture and really helped

Rotary Shoebox Appeal

Dear Readers,

Swanage Rotary Shoebox Appeal

On behalf of Swanage Rotary, I wanted to thank all the schools, organisations and businesses that contributed towards this year’s shoebox appeal.

The gift of a shoebox that contains toys, toiletries, educational items or household goods is a drop of happiness to the people of Eastern Europe who live in a world of poverty. For many, it will be the first present they have ever received and it lets them know that somebody, somewhere, cares.

Approximately 200 shoeboxes were collected locally and these were combined with the hundreds of others across the south of England, prior to being shipped to Moldova, Ukraine, Montenegro and the Czech Republic.

because the need is so great.” said David. “The Christmas Market provided a further opportunity to give, as the plight of the people in the Philippines continued to be revealed.”

“I know from speaking to people whilst collecting that the attitude of the people affected has inspired many people. They are setting about rebuilding their lives and we want to support them.”

As luck would have it, there was a direct connection to Rotary in the Philippines, which proved a useful link with what was happening on the ground. In 2012, a group of Rotarians from Manila visited Purbeck as part of a study exchange with local schools and businesses. They spent time with us in Swanage and we were relieved to find they were all safe following the typhoon. “They really gave us an insight into what was needed and briefed us on how local Rotarians were directly involved with the relief efforts.”

So what of the future? “Sadly, it’s likely we will be called on again when disaster strikes.” said David. “In the meantime, we will replenish our contingency funds and keep working with our Rotarian colleagues to ensure we maximise the help we can give.”

If you want to find out more about Swanage Rotary, please look at our website at: www.swanagerotary.org

Rotary is involved in all aspects of the process, so we know the boxes are correctly packed, labelled and shipped to prevent problems. When they arrive, local Rotarians work with our distributors to make sure the boxes are targeted at the most deserving children.

We select our distributors based on their honesty and efficiency. Some of them are church based, often from the newer churches within the country, working hard to help the disadvantaged in their community.

Although these distributors are religiously motivated, they understand our insistence that boxes are given out following the Rotary ethos which is non religious and non sectarian and choose people based solely on humanitarian needs.

We do know that boxes are given to Christians, Jews, Muslims and people with no declared faith. The feedback we receive tells us how appreciated the shoeboxes are by the children who receive them.

Thanks to everyone who contributed this year and a happy New Year to you all.

Sue Whitton, Swanage Rotary

Whaling For Charity!

Seventhwave would like to send a big THANK YOU to all that attended our charity night on the 28th November. The Wareham Whalers, The Dorset Shanty Crew, kindly came and performed for us in the Restaurant, a lively group that were enjoyed by all involved.

We were very pleased by the turn out and are grateful to Seafresh, a local sea food company, that provided us with the fish for our light bite special, free of charge.

This meant that all ticket sales raised went straight to charity. The charity of choice was The Multiple Sclerosis Trust and we are pleased to announce that a grand total of £200 was raised on the night.

Thank you once again to all involved and I hope any similar future events get the same support.

From all the team at Seventhwave.

Out Of The Blue

Well I hope you are having or have had an enjoyable and safe festive period. I am holding my crystal ball as it’s only 9th December and it is telling me that our officers were very busy looking for drink drivers and doing their best to keep you all safe throughout December. As you read this it will be time for us all to reflect on 2013 and plan for the year ahead. I’m sure somewhere in there is something about working off all those mince pies and chocolate, they were nice though, so my crystal ball is tells me!

I attended a meeting with the PCC Martyn Underhill in Swanage on Thursday 28th October at the Mowlem. There I made mention of my family, who worry a lot about me being a police officer. Each time they worry I remind them that I work in one of the safest counties in the UK and am based in one of the safest areas of Dorset. We are blessed with living in a special part of the UK, benefiting from a beautiful landscape, with communities that are very well connected and experiencing low crime levels.

I mention the above as it’s always difficult for me to rationalise increases in crime, but when our crime levels are so low, it’s easy for a spike to occur, as happened in May and October 2013. Spikes can often disproportionally create an impression that we are in the midst of a crime wave and lack of police visibility is often to blame.

Yes, we have suffered a recent increase in thefts from unattended vehicles as well as sheds and outbuildings. Yes, there are fewer of us and we are working harder and smarter than ever before. Yes, we do fight a difficult battle around being visible; as we have a large rural area to police, the odds are against us being in the right place at the right time to catch someone in the act. This is why we ask that you don’t make it easy for the criminals; the majority of crimes I review still have an element of insecurity or sheer complacency. Don’t leave valuables vulnerable, lock your cars and property, install security devices and report anything suspicious, that’s all we ask as one of your commitments to us in 2014. Crime levels have remained consistently below five year averages in 2013 and we will be working hard to maintain this as one of our commitments to you in 2014.

Finally, just a word in response to all the concerns raised about dangerous dogs. It’s always very sad when another animal is harmed, but sadly it is often down to irresponsible owners or a natural instinct that animals possess. The police have to act within the legislation and policy that is written. In the simplest of terms:

If you are bitten by a dog, or if you are in fear of being attacked, (which

means reasonable apprehension that it will cause injury even if it does not do so) then call the police as we will need to investigate in order to establish if a criminal offence has occurred. The police look at incidents where people are hurt or in fear of being hurt, NOT injury or attack against other animals.

If a dog attacks another dog (or another animal) you will need to contact the dog warden in the first instance. We appreciate this is a stressful and frightening situation, but if the dog is only interested in the other dog then this would not be deemed as aggression against a person. If you intervene whilst two dogs are fighting and get injured then this is deemed to be transgressed aggression and does not come under offences that cover injury to people.

If a dog attacks livestock then the police would look at this. There are other offences around breeding, possessing and selling of fighting dogs as well. Sadly in the two articles produced last month both involved animals and not people, and as such the first port of call is the local dog warden, it has nothing to do with who answers your call as suggested. Police were contacted about Toffee but initially it was third hand and we had no details of the owner.

When we did speak with the owner she advised us that Toffee was taken by another dog whilst playing outside. A local Sergeant assessed this and quite rightly, as detailed above, referred the matter to the dog warden, the owner was fully informed of this. It was incorrect to say that we had not spoken to the family. At no point on either incident were we informed of any injury or fear of injury regarding a person. If you feel strongly about current dog legislation, which is a national issue, then you should write to your MP.

Follow our social media, Twitter - @PurbeckPolice and Facebook –facebook.com/Purbeck-Police, we really value your support and comments. To contact Dorset Police please call our police enquiry centre by dialling 101. Always dial 999 in an emergency when there is a risk of harm or a crime is in progress. Alternatively, call the free and anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111 (mobile phone tariffs may apply).

Safer Neighbourhood Sergeant, Jon McCarthy

In 2003 a retired engineer named Richard Valter died and left a legacy in the form of trust fund of £10000. He specified that the fund should be used to provide an annual prize of £500, to be awarded to a school or college student in Dorset who submitted a project involving engineering, science or technology, judged by the charity’s trustees to be of sufficiently outstanding quality to deserve a cash prize.

Dorset ASSET, an acronym for Assistance to Schools with Science, Engineering and Technology, was registered as a charity under the chairmanship of David Cockbaine MBE, MSc(Eng), CEng, FIET, MANS, MBCS with a board of trustees dedicated to encouraging students to study appropriate subjects at school and college to enable them to go forward to become professional scientists, engineers and technologists, which is acknowledged as an absolute necessity if the UK is to progress and prosper. Area managers and additional volunteers were recruited to visit local schools, to talk to teachers and students and to advise and encourage them to submit projects for consideration for cash prizes.

Since 2003 the trust has obtained additional sums of money from funding charities such as the Alice Ellen Cooper Dean Trust, the Community Foundation, The Ernest Cook Trust and professional institutions such as the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

There have also been donations from individual members of the ASSET trust, as well a donation from the Royal Naval Cordite Factory Association. As a result prizes to the total value of £1850 were awarded this year, in addition to financial support that has been provided to many Dorset

schools to enable them to take pupils to science museums and nature reserves.

Current statistics are showing that English children are falling behind in the vital subjects required to enable them to progress on to becoming professional engineers, scientists and technologists and it is all the more important to continue the work of Dorset ASSET and this can only happen if they are able to fill the existing vacancies.

These are for managers for Weymouth and Portland, Dorchester, East Dorset and the Purbeck areas, and the present chairman, Peter Taylor would be delighted if there were any suitably qualified and interested people in these areas who would be prepared to volunteer to help.

The trust is also seeking additional funding as present sources only provide support on an annual basis.

More information can be obtained from the Dorset ASSET website, www.dorsetasset.com.

Rock Star Helps To Ring In The Future!

The bells of St John The Baptist church in Bere Regis will be ringing in the new year on a positive note with the backing of Queen guitarist Brian May.

Dr May has pledged an item for auction at a live concert in the church to launch a CD which contains a song written especially for the bells restoration fund by local songwriter Linda Lamon.

The tune, called The Bells Of Bere Regis, features pupils from Bere Regis Community School and ladies and men’s choirs made up from the local community. Pip Evans from Bere Regis, David George from Wool and Callum Gibson from Ringwood play the music. Linda sings the lead vocals, with Anuska Gilbert from Sherborne on harmonies.

The CD will also include a recording of the New Woodland Song that was

performed by villagers, along with teenagers Ryan Fellows and Harry Butterfield at a tree planting event in nearby Shitterton organised by Dr May’s Save Me charity in September.

On Sunday 2nd February at 2pm, both pieces will be performed by the choirs with the live band. The free event will give the audience an opportunity to visit the bell tower, view photographs and bid at the auction. There will also be refreshments and a raffle in the cafe area where the CD and other items will be for sale.

Proceeds from the event will go towards the ancients bells’ restoration fund. Efforts by Bere Regis villagers so far has helped to raise the first £10,000 of a £60,000 target by selling stationery and holding coffee mornings, a quiz and an arts festival.

A village DVD and a 2014 calendar has also been produced for the cause, in addition to donations from funerals and weddings and many other personal contributions.

For further details about the CD and live concert please contact: Linda Lamon at zeplammy@yahoo.co.uk or on 07791-207-234 or 01929 474 040.

For the Bere Regis bells restoration fund please contact: John England (tower captain) on 01929 471 469 or John Cleaves on 01929 471 463

Pictures: Top, the bells, by kind permission of Julian Lightfoot Left - Linda Lamon and Nush Gilbert rehearse Brian May (right). Article by Linda Lamon.

PURBECK GOOD NEIGHBOURS NEWSROUND

We are waiting for your call - 01929 424363

If you are over 50, and living in the Purbeck area, our Good Neighbours are ready to take your call if you need some help at home. We now have over 100 volunteers in the area, so there will be someone who lives close by who will be able to give you a call back and arrange to lend you a hand. All we ask is a small donation, minimum of £2, to help with our expenses.

There are many varied ways our volunteers have helped so far. We have sown on buttons and turned up trousers. We have moved furniture. We have mended curtain rails and re-hung curtains. We have sorted out files and paperwork. We have taken all sorts of things to the local recycling centre.

We have taken a dog for walks while the owner was unwell. We have retuned televisions after a power cut. We have mended a kitchen drawer. And of course, we have replaced a lot of light bulbs, as this was where it all started when a lady could not go into her kitchen at night as the lights had all blown.

For more information, contact our Central number: 01929 424363 or email: purbeckgoodneighbours@yahoo.co.uk

As we enter another year we would like to take this opportunity to wish all our lovely volunteers and supporters a very Happy and Prosperous 2014

Swanage Area Senior Forum

We make ‘an offer that you can’t refuse’!

To help banish those post-festive blues that winter isolation can bring to many older people, the Committee of Swanage Area Senior Forum thought we’d try to see off this cold January with a flourish. And to help us, AgeUK have given us a generous grant to do just that! Perhaps you live on your own, or have physical problems getting out and about. Or maybe you know someone who lives quite a lonely, isolated life and who would really enjoy a special treat. Perhaps you’re a carer and a day’s break would be very welcome.

Would YOU consider joining us on a daytime outing to the beautiful market town of Wimborne Minster? Well, on WEDNESDAY 29TH JANUARY for just £3 a ticket, here’s what we are offering: Special coach transport from Swanage to Wimborne and return, to visit:

A) PRIEST’S HOUSE MUSEUM + GARDENS. See the stunning Roman wall paintings, 10 galleries including fascinating childhood gallery; period rooms from a 17th century hall to a working Victorian kitchen (with demonstration). There will also be a chance to handle and reminisce about with others – old, forgotten objects. Then we literally cross the road to visit.

B) WIMBORNE MINSTER. Guided tour for those who want it, including – for those fit enough – the famous Chain Library.

C) FREE LUNCH REFRESHMENTS are included. You are interested? Well, get cracking!

Telephone 07971 338486 or e-mail swanageforum@yahoo.co.uk to order your £3 ticket and get full details and transport pick-up points.

Visit:

Priest’s House & Garden

Plus a guided tour of: Wimborne Minster, and the famous Chain Library. Weds 29 January

£3 per ticket, incl travel & light lunch.

Tel: 07971 338486 or email: swanageforum@yahoo.co.uk

Wareham Senior Forum

It was really great to have so many members – old and new – attend our AGM and put forward some really good ideas for 2014, which the new elected Forum Planning Group will act on.

It was a special treat to have Wareham’s very own Pam Ayres, Maddie Stevens, reciting Pam’s poems. It created laughter throughout the morning and got us all in the festive mood.

As a ‘Thank you’ to our Wareham Senior Forum Members we want to banish the winter blues by holding a ‘Post Christmas Brunch’ at Wareham Parish Hall on Monday 27th January. All Members welcome and if you know of neighbours who are on their own and would enjoy a breakfast, then do bring them along.

We are lucky to have a new member join our Planning Group but there is still plenty room for new Members. The Forum Planning Group meets about six times a year and you can get involved as little or as much as suits you.

If you require more information about becoming a Committee member or would like to book a place on the ‘Post Christmas Brunch’, please telephone Sue – 07825 264353

‘‘

WarehamArea Seniors’Forum

Banish Those Winter Blues!

‘‘

Come and join us for a Post-Christmas Brunch with entertainment (Full English Breakfast, tea & toast)

Wareham Parish Hall (on Wareham Quay)

10am to 12 noon Monday 27th January

For information, or for transport to attend, call Sue on 07825 264353.

Age 50+All welcome

Festive Purbeck!

YOUR Pictures.....will return next month

Pictures above, the Swanage Christmas Fair, held on December 7th. Organised by Swanage Rotary and Commercial Road & and Friends. Pictures N.J.

Pictures above, Santa comes to Wareham on December 8th. Pictures Pam Bowyer-Davis

JANUARY FEATURE OVERLEAF!

BANISH THOSE WINTER BLUES!

It’s January; it’s cold, dark and miserable. Once the Christmas decorations come down, our houses often look bare and unwelcoming. Add a slither of winter sunshine peeping in through the window, highlighting marks on paintwork and stains on fabric and furnishings, and we’ll be reminded that much-needed spring cleaning is upon us.

Heating bills are on the up, leading many to chose between ‘eating and heating’ this winter - so how about revising that heating system in 2014 to help save money in the future? The addition of a woodburning stove can also do wonders for the ambience and feel of your home. January is time for the sales, so we include overleaf local furniture retailers who have some smashing deals to tempt you in-store this January.

Happy with everything indoors?

Then take advantage of some of our other offers overleaf - including sales from local clothing and fashion outlets (including designer wear). A new haircut or beauty treatment can also help to ‘banish the blues’, so take a browse through the following pages, and take-up some of the offers available throughout January!

Want to lose a little weight before purchasing any new outfits? Get yourself to the gym! Both Joe’s Gym in Swanage and Purbeck Sports Centre are included in the feature, so there is no excuse not to get fit this year!

If you have no need for new clothes, beauty treatments, fitness or spring cleaning this January, then wrap-up warm and head out with friends and family for a delicious meal in a local eatery!

Free Beauty Treatment? Yes Please!

Banish those ‘Winter Blues’ at Innovation who are giving a FREE beauty treatment with a cut & blow dry/ cut shampoo & set during January.

If you’re having a colour or a perm with your cut & blow dry/cut shampoo set, you can have a FREE manicure or Gellux polish if you’d rather. Enjoy the benefit of the education ‘The Team @ Innovation’ have had this year! They’ve received four in-salon training sessions with Wella, learning all the latest colouring techniques and fashions.

Discovering the latest from Wella – ‘Colour ID’, giving amazing fashion colour results that could never be achieved before, and can only be done with Wella’s latest product, ‘Colour ID’. There’s NOTHING else like it on the market! Pop in the salon and book a FREE colour consultation to find out more about this amazing product.

Innovation also had Celebrity Stylist Metin Warwick in for a day, giving ’The Team @ Innovation’ coaching in all the latest cutting and styling techniques. It was a very educationally-inspiring and motivating day, enjoyed by all the Team, from the most senior stylist to the most junior apprentice. If you’re going on holiday to ‘banish those blues’, don’t forget your sun protection – not just for your skin, but also for your hair! Innovation can give you the advice and sell you the products to do just this.

Also, all through January, there’s £10 OFF all LIMITED EDITION GHD’s and through December there’s £5 off all GHD brushes as well as £50 off the new GHD ECLIPSE – the most amazing and by far the best results are achieved with these. They are GHD’s latest innovation.

Designer Clothing SALE NOW ON!

What better way to beat those January blues, than to indulge in a bit of retail therapy!

After all your hard work over the festive period, why not pop in to Dress Code and treat yourself? We pride ourselves in stocking beautiful, quality clothing from several different designers, carefully selected to offer something a little bit different from the normal ‘high street’ offerings.

Pomodoro, Fransa, Signature, Brandtex and Emreco to name a few. A positive Aladdin’s Cave, with something to suit all budgets and tastes. There’s nothing like a new top or great fitting pair of jeans to give you a confidence boost on a grey January day. So whether it’s a pair of earrings, a cozy jumper, a bright cardigan or a whole new outfit, come in a have a good look around. And what’s even better, is that right now, nearly all winter stock is in the sale - much of which is half its original price!

Wishing all customers - regular and new - a very Happy New Year!

20% OFF Fabrics!

At Stewart’s House of Fabric we love patchwork, quilting and project fabric so much that we’ve decided to fill the shop up with it! To make room for all the lovely new fabrics we need to have a BIG SALE of our dress and end of roll curtain fabrics, so from 2nd January all our dress fabrics will be more than HALF PRICE! Not to mention the unbelievable prices of end of roll curtain fabrics.

Not wanting to leave out our lovely Brother sewing machines from the sale, we have some first come, first serve offers on our ex-demo machines and they still come with a full 3 year guarantee, boxed up ready to go and a free one hour lesson with Jean worth £25!

And the offers keep on coming – All our Prestigious curtain fabrics will be 20% off during the sale, so if you’ve been thinking of having some beautiful bespoke made to measure curtains now could be the time!

To complete our mission to banish those winter blues at Stewart’s House of Fabric, check out our new teaching timetable, there’s something for

everyone from sewing for beginners to patchwork and quilting ‘Block of the Month’ workshops. All the details are on our website. See you at the shop!

Designer Gold

Anew era is dawning for Golden Girl of Swanage. Mary has decided it will be far easier for all her devoted customers to be able to shop under one roof. So, after nearly thirty-four busy years, she intends to consolidate the business.

In the future, the best fashion lines from each boutique will be available from Golden Girl at 40 High Street, although for the time being, both shops will continue to trade as normal. Watch this space!

Stunning new stock is now arriving daily from top fashion names, such as Frank Lyman, Marble, NYDJ, Lindi, Steilmann, Kapalua, Laurie and Emreco.

So for all those lovely ladies who have called in recently asking what is afoot – Mary is NOT retiring - but with only one boutique to organise, she is hoping to have a little more time to visit her much loved Spain.

Pictured - Golden Shop Assistant, Wendy, busily stocking the new season selection!

The Warmth Of Real Fire

Purbeck Fireplaces

Woodburning & Multi-fuel Stoves

HETAS approved installation service

Flue components & liners

Twin wall Flue Systems

21a Commercial Road, Swanage, Dorset

TTel: 01929 426770 / 07800 843399

www.purbeckfireplaces.co.uk

here is nothing quite like settling down in front of a roaring fire, especially when the days are cold, and with our winters stretching out longer and longer these days. However, open fires are notorious for burning fuel very quickly, making them expensive choices when you are deciding on how to heat your property.

You have many different options when it comes to heating your home: electric or gas central heating, storage heaters, solar panels or a mixture of several different systems.

Wood, or multi-fuel burning stoves are an excellent alternative, or additional heat source, burning through fuel far slower than a traditional open fire, and radiating constant heat once lit.

Purbeck Fireplaces (www.purbeckfireplaces.co.uk) was established in 1996 and supply a range of British and European-made woodburners and multifuel stoves. They also hold a good selection on display in their showroom at 21 Commercial Road, in Swanage town centre.

Being a local, family-run business, Purbeck Fireplaces take an active interest in their customer’s requirements, and will work closely with you to ensure that your choices are the correct ones for the building you are intending to heat.

Purbeck Fireplaces will take you through the entire process of choosing

Stunning Designs Here In Purbeck

Ivamy Designs is a family-run, local business, complemented by our own team of experienced fitters. Kitchens, Bathrooms, Bedrooms and Office furniture are supplied, fitted and are available in various styles from traditional to modern.

We appreciate the importance of a good reputation and are proud to be members of the Trading Standards Buy with Confidence scheme.

As a team we undertake designing and every aspect of installation including cabinetry, plastering, interior renovations, plumbing, boiler installations, tiling and decorating.

Emma and Martyn are happy to call out to your home to take notes of your ideas and measure the room before entering the details into our 3D design programme. We then supply an itemised quotation including all the materials and labour, and are happy to re-plan and re-price until you are happy with the proposed project.

Our own team of fitters remove your old fittings (recycling appliances to a local charity where possible), complete any interior building alterations before plastering, plumbing and electrical works are undertaken.

We can then supply and install your kitchen or bathroom materials including worktops, sink, taps, heating, tiles, appliances, storage solutions and complete the project with our decoration service.

We will project manage your home improvements from conception to completion.

Why not brighten up your new year, and your home, by calling in to our showroom for a free no obligation quotation and see what offers we have available throughout January?

the correct wood or multi-fuel burner for your home, taking into account what you intend to burn, and the size of space that needs to be heated. They can advise you on the best location for your burner, and will supply and install all additional materials, such as flues and so on.

In addition, they also offer a full HETAS registered installation service for stoves, flue liners and independent flue systems, and can also undertake all related building works including fireplace openings and chimney stack repairs and renovations.

Showroom open Thursday and Saturday, 10am - 4pm, or pop into New and Secondhand Books in Station Road and see Sharon on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss your requirements. We look forward to seeing you!

Refresh Your Home!

Happy New Year to one and all!

What a great time of year to ‘banish those winter blues’ by spring-cleaning your home!

Here at Purbeck Furnishing we have everything you need from a new roller blind for the bathroom, to a luxury carpet for your bedroom, maybe a pair of curtains for the lounge or a bouncy new bed for the children.

We have a great range of styles and colours to suit all.

With carpets from £9.99 and vinyls from only £7.99, we can cater for any budget. We offer a full fitting service, with free estimates and advice on all flooring.

Need help? Take advantage of our personal service where will arrange to move furniture and take up your old flooring.

On our great range of beds we offer: free delivery, free set-up and free removal of your old bed. We can cater for all pockets, with prices starting at just £399.00 for a double bed. Come and take look!

Come and browse our brand new range of fabrics from Hardy’s and Simpson Interiors.

This is the perfect time to shop, while our sale is in full swing and take advantage of our genuine 20% off all our prices in January.

You can be sure of a warm welcome and expert advice, with over twenty five years in the business.

Get Cleaning!

Have you ever noticed that the moment the Christmas tree has been taken down and the decorations put away for another year, suddenly your room looks tired and ever so slightly shabby? Do the few rays of winter sunshine that stream through the window only serve to accentuate those grubby finger marks on the arms of the sofa and that coffee stain on the rug?

If you said yes to those two questions then you probably need the help of Ian, Lisa and the staff at Purbeck Valet (pictured, above).

Purbeck Valet provides a professional cleaning service for all curtains and soft furnishings and for the month of January, they are offering a generous 15% off on production of this month’s Purbeck Gazette advert.

Did you know that Purbeck Valet also offers a repair and alteration service? Whether your require something as simple as buttons replacing or trousers shortening, or a more complicated repair such as re-lining your curtains, you can be assured of speedy and professional service.

Many of us are tightening our belts at the moment financially, so if you browse the charity shops and find the perfect outfit in the wrong size, don’t worry! Bring it in to us and our staff will do the required ‘nips and tucks’ to make everything fit perfectly! We look forward to seeing you!

The Hot Local Experts!

In recent years electric heating has come a long way. Improvements in design, cost and features make these systems an attractive option for heating your home, office, shop etc. Picking a good electric system can be one of the most cost-effective ways to provide heating and comfort.

Electricity is the fuel of the future. With volatile oil prices, less and less natural gas and more renewable electricity production, heating your home with electric heating will ‘future proof’ your property.

Benefits of Electric Heating - It is 100% efficient at the point of use - every unit that you pay for becomes heat. It can be controlled with a degree of accuracy not achievable with other systems. It can be quickly and easily installed; there are no pipework or flue requirements to consider making it ideal for refurbishment, new-build and listed buildings

It can operate as a stand alone heater or complete system subject to requirement and budget, but with the added benefit of being able to add to the system at any time - making it perfect for extensions. It has low

lifetime costs as it requires very little maintenance. We are able to offer many different options as listed below:-

Electric Radiators - a wide range are available to suit everyone

Electric boilers - new electric boilers can replace your old one

Storage Heaters - New Dimplex Quantum can save you 25%

Zoning - Individual programmable radiator thermostats

Underfloor Heating - Comforting and radiating heat from below

Infra-red Heating - Perfect for large workshops or outside space

To keep running costs down, the most important things to consider within a property are good insulation and splitting the property into zones so you are not heating unoccupied rooms; also selecting the correct electricity tariff that is appropriate to your lifestyle and heating system. The Home Heat Helpline 0800 336699 can give advice on grants that are currently available for insulation.

A R Harris & Son Electrical Contractors Ltd are a long esablished local family-run company who take great pride in their work. If you would like any futher information on how to improve your existing heating system, we would be happy to help. See our advert below for contact details.

New Year - New You!

It’s been a busy year for Joe’s Gym. Sarah Shepherd says “We have seen a steady increase in the number of people using the gym, especially since we doubled our existing space a year ago.

“We now have a large, airy cardio suite, stretch room and dedicated weights room. We also offer free classes, swimming and individual training programmes, which are given by our fully qualified, friendly and motivational staff.

Joe and I are delighted with the support we receive from the people of Swanage.”

“Our business will reach its second anniversary in March and we owe a big thank you to our members.”

She went on to say: “We have very flexible ways for people to join, from daily to annual membership and no gym contract”

Joe’s Gym now works in partnership with Swanage Medical Practice and Swanage Hospital to offer prescription exercise for certain medical conditions.

A world record was recently broken in the Gym by two local Sea Rowers, Skip Graham and Max Burridge, who rowed

one million metres in 82.3 hours, which helped raise over £10,000 for Children In Need.

We will be offering more classes in the new year, including Boot Camp Circuits and the ever popular Zumba.

Bring the advert above along to the gym this month for a FREE trial!

Sticking To Those Health Resolutions Has Never Been Easier!

Too many mince pies?

Finding it difficult to get motivated? We all know that feeling! However, Purbeck Sports Centre can help you in 2014!

Why not try the 8-week beginners’ badminton course and get a free racket! Starts Monday 6 January, 6.30pm to 7.30pm. For ages 16 years plus. Book in advance.

Then there’s Hard HIIT, a 30 minute exercise class combining body weight exercises with high intensity interval training. This style of training raises your resting metabolism so you’ll keep burning calories long after the session has finished. Tuesdays from 7 January, 7.45pm – 8.15pm. Just turn up.

The kids will love Modern Theatre Dance! High energy steps, high kicks, leaps and turns are sure to get them moving. Boys and girls aged 6-11 years. Starts Wednesday 8 January 2014, 4.30pm to 5.30pm. Book in advance. Learn how to achieve complex tricks, propel yourself and negotiate obstacles with the exciting Free Running course. Starts Wednesday 8 January, 7.30pm to 8.30pm. Age 8 years +.Book in advance. You can also play squash, astro tennis, badminton or table tennis any Sunday between 10.00am and 4.00pm for only £1 per person (including equipment hire).

Choose to play one sport or (if you’re feeling energetic!) all four for just £1.00 per person. Turn up and enjoy! Why not have a dip in the pool afterwards as well for only £1.00 for juniors and £1.20 for adults. Visit www.dorsetforyou.com/purbecksportscentre or phone 01929 500 000 and get motivated!

Banish The Blues at seventhwave!

Seventhwave is gearing up for what will hopefully prove to be a busy 2014!

Our daytime menu is currently being refreshed, our fresh fish counter is being topped-up with a range of locally sustainable stocks, and our terrace furniture is being given a coat of varnish ready for the sunny weather!

With plenty of ideas being put together, we can promise that there will be an event available that will be to everyone’s taste. Check out our website and Facebook pages to be kept fully updated so you don’t miss out.

Book now for exclusive use of our restaurant during the evenings, which is proving highly popular for intimate family gatherings, social catch-ups, birthdays, anniversaries and weddings.

With a range of menus that can be tailored to suit your needs and a fully stocked, licenced bar, be the host with the most, relax and enjoy the views.

From all the team at seventhwave, we wish you all a happy New Year and look forward to meeting you in 2014.

The Autumn Statement For Investors

In Chancellor George Osborne’s words in his Autumn Statement, announced on 5th December 2013, ‘Britain’s moving again, let’s keep going’.

According to our analyst, ‘The Chancellor, George Osborne, delivered what consensus believes to be a rather more cautious economic forecast than recent survey evidence and macro-economic data might have indicated. Growth forecasts were edged higher, borrowing has benefitted from a cyclical revival and austerity measures have been left in place. In short, no need to revert to Plan B as Plan A is slowly delivering.

The overwhelming sense, with the usual highly-charged political theatre in a packed House of Commons, is that the Chancellor has erred very much on the side of caution. The Office for Budgetary Responsibility has raised its real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) projections to 1.4% for 2013 (previously 0.6%) and for 2014 to 2.4% (previously 1.8%) This brings the official forecast closely in line with independent economic consensus’.

According to our analyst, ‘As ever, the forecast outlined in the Statement was assessed as ‘fiscally neutral’ and some of the more general measures and tax changes are shown below. There was also a major push to try and counteract tax evasion.

The basic personal allowance has been increased from £9,440 to £10,000 for the 2014/15 tax year. The basic rate limit will be £31,865 and therefore the higher rate tax threshold of £41,865 remains the same as it was for the 2013/14 tax year. The actual rates of tax will be announced in the 2014 Budget.

The Capital Gains Tax allowance is set to rise from the current rate of £10,900 up to £11,000 in 2014/15 and £11,100 in 2015/16. From April 2015 a CGT charge will be introduced on future gains when a non-resident disposes of UK residential property. There will also be changes to the final exemption period (from 36 months to 18 months) for the disposal of property that has been a person’s private residence at some point.

The Inheritance Tax rate looks set to remain at £325,000 – a rate it has been at since 2009.

The ISA limit will increase from the current maximum of £11,520 to £11,880 for 2014/15 with up to a maximum of half of this (£5,940) being allowed in a Cash ISA. The amounts allowed in Junior ISAs will also increase from the current £3,720 to £3,840 in 2014/15.

Disappointingly, no provision was made for Child Trust Funds to be transferred to Junior ISAs, which generally offer better savings rates and flexibility.

The Government has abolished Stamp Duty for shares purchased in ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) in order to encourage them to relocate these funds in the UK.

The planned increase in fuel duty which was set for September 2014 has been cancelled and there will apparently be no more increases in this during the life of this Government.

Finally, base rates are currently predicted to increase during the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2015. However, whether they do, remains to be seen. Whatever 2014 brings in the economy, I hope it proves to be a happy and healthy one for you.

Kate Spurling lives in Swanage and is a stockbroker with Charles Stanley stockbrokers, Dorchester office – (01305) 217404 – kate.spurling@charlesstanley.co.uk

Charles Stanley & Co Limited is authorised by the FCA and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

Changes in Capital Gains Tax on Property

Selling your home

When you sell your home, any gain you make is tax free if you have lived there for the entire time you owned it. If you occupied the property as your main home (or elected for it to be treated as your main home) for just part of the time you owned it, the gain made for that period is tax free, as is the gain made for the last 36 months of ownership.

The government believes this 36 month rule has been abused, so is cutting this tax free period to 18 months for disposals made after 5April 2014.

Gains made by Non-residents

If you are not resident in the UK for tax purposes, any gains you make on selling property located in the UK is not taxed in the UK, although the gain may well be taxed in the country where you are a tax resident.

From 6April 2015, gains accruing from that point on homes located in the UK, will be taxed in the UK, where the owner is not resident in the UK.Anyone who emigrates and then sells their former UK home (or investment properties) after living abroad for a while needs to watch out for this.

The MKLPartnership, Chartered CertifiedAccountants Herston Cross House, 230 High St Swanage, BH19 2PQ

Phone: 01929 425552

web: email: www.mklp.co.uk mail@mklp.co.uk

FREE LEGAL ADVICE CLINIC IN SWANAGE

Anew free legal advice clinic will be starting in Swanage in the New Year for people living in the Purbeck area. The clinic will be given by Liz Gilmour, experienced local solicitor, of Genesis Solicitors.

The clinic will be held twice per month and it will be possible to book a half hour appointment in advance. The first sessions will take place on Monday 21st January and Monday 3rd February 2014 between 9am and 10am.

The clinic will take place downstairs at the brand new ‘Love Cake etc’ café and food shop located at 42 High Street, Swanage BH19 2NX.

If you would like to book an appointment please telephone Genesis Solicitors on 01929 530020 or email: liz@ genesissolicitors.co.uk.

For more information, please go to www.genesissolicitors.co.uk

Citizen’s Advice Bureau

Advice Sessions for older people in Purbeck

Purbeck Citizens Advice Bureau and Age UK Dorchester are working together to provide advice and help to older people in West Dorset.

Sessions operated by Purbeck CAB, will operate on alternate weeks at Swanage Town Hall (Monday) and Purbeck CAB (Friday) between 10am and 2pm.

Locations:

Purbeck CAB, Mill Lane, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 4RA

Swanage Town Hall, High Street, Swanage BH19 2NZ

Surgeries:

Wareham: 3rd, 17th and 31st January; 14th and 28th February

Swanage: 6th and 20th January; 3rd and 17th February

Purbeck Citizens Advice Bureau can be contacted on 01929 551257, bureau@purbeckcab.cabnet.org.uk

DCC Trading Standards

It’s now past Christmas and we have all bought presents, but do we know our rights?

Anything you buy must:

• be of satisfactory quality;

• be as described;

• be fit for purpose.

For example if you buy a television it should not be faulty. It should have the functions that the product description says it has, such as Freeview. It must be fit to watch and have a decent picture.

If you notice that something you have bought isn’t working properly or it is different to what you were told then the shop where you bought it should accept it back and give you a full refund. You need to be quick and tell them as soon as you know something is wrong.

The seller is responsible for sorting the problem out for you. They should not tell you to go back to the manufacturer.

If you have had the item for a while before you notice there is a problem with it you can still take it back to the shop who should offer you a repair or replacement.

Many people buy goods and services over the internet, by phone, or by mail order. These are all examples of ‘distance selling’, where you never meet the seller. Businesses that normally sell in this way have to comply with the Distance Selling Regulations and you have a right to cancel the goods. This right to cancel is unconditional for most goods. To cancel your order you must contact the seller in writing within seven days after the day you receive the goods, The right to cancel is to allow you to take time in your own home to examine the goods .

The Citizens Advice consumer service provides free, confidential and impartial advice on consumer issues.

Telephone the Citizens Advice consumer helpline 08454 04 05 06 or visit www.adviceguide.org.uk

Things Just Keep On getting Better!

by David Hollister

Christmas comes but once a year and as usual, we ventured to t’frozen North (well, actually to t’Midlands, but it doesn’t sound so adventurous, does it?!) to visit our good friends in Derby and eat and drink with them to celebrate the fact that most of us are still alive. Little bit of socialising, little bit of shopping, and a chance to try out a car which I’ve been looking forward to driving for about six months, ever since Westover Toyota asked me to give it a try.

The “Icon” version of the Auris Touring Sports retails at around £21,500, and is what in the past we’d have called an ‘Estate Car’. Masses of room for five passengers and a capacious luggage compartment which holds 530 litres (seats up) or 1658 litres (easy-flat seats down). One day I’ll work out how to convert litres into Waitrose bags but I can tell you it’s huge!

The brochure says “British Quality as standard”. Now perhaps twenty years ago that would have been more of a music-hall joke than a selling point – but the Japanese manufacturers have brought their incredible attention to detail to the UK and now we’re up there amongst the best. The Auris is actually built in Burnaston (Derby), so it was good to take it home and actually drive past the gates of the huge Toyota factory on the A38. Seemed fitting, somehow!

What’s so special, then? Well, this one has the Hybrid Synergy Drive, which is becoming legendary across the Toyota range simply because it’s so good. At low speed, in towns and in traffic jams, you’re using electricity and no petrol whatsoever. The journey from Bournemouth to Derby on a Friday afternoon, and indeed the return journey on a Monday morning, gave me ample time to test the EV mode as we crept forward through the traffic …

At normal speeds, the 1.8-litre motor cuts in, propels you up to an (alleged) 109 mph, and – if you’re in a hurry – from 0-62 mph in 10.9 seconds, which is pretty good for a car of its size, let alone the fact that it’s actually ‘automatic’. For those who prefer the ‘braking effect’ of a manual transmission, there’s an ‘engine braking mode’ – but the brakes on this car are incredibly good; the best I’ve ever experienced. ABS worked well… on several occasions when I braked a bit too hard!

We returned 55.4 mpg as against the published 70.6 mpg (that’s a very creditable 78%). 500 miles for a mere £57.50! Road tax is Nil (sorry Mr Osborne) and the ‘benefit in kind tax’ is at 10% as the CO2 figure is only 85g/km.This is one really economical car to run – but it doesn’t feel like it. Some ‘eco’ cars feel a bit underpowered but in this one you don’t notice any lack of power whatsoever – especially when you press the ‘pwr mode’ button which makes it even more sprightly when you’re in a hurry to get it back on time because a) you get lost in Birmingham and b) there’s a 30-mile diversion around Cirencester.

Yes. I got lost. The superb Toyota ‘touch and go’ sat-nav system is an optional extra which wasn’t actually fitted to the car we drove and which fact I didn’t actually realise until we reached Westover without our own ‘Tom Tom’. Silly me for assuming that a) it would come with a sat-nav as standard, b) that I could manage with a 3-mile to the inch road map and c) for forgetting that maps don’t do traffic warnings.. And my ‘driving glasses’ are totally different to my ‘map-reading’ glasses…

At this point it would have been possible to become somewhat agitated, but the comfortable seats, the excellent climate control, and a really good Bose stereo system kept us calm and in command of the situation. It’s easy to drive, easy to enjoy, and the both road noise and wind noise are minimal. The New Auris has adopted the sleek new Toyota ‘family’ styling, with a lower nose and roofline than its predecessor, reducing drag and contributing to the excellent fuel economy. It has LED running lights, and useful roof rails.

The multimedia system is a new world of High-Tech ideas, offers masses of information and is really easy to use, including Bluetooth playback, DAB radio, and a clear visual display which becomes the screen for a rear-facing camera when you engage reverse.

The best bit of the weekend was the three hours we spent on a sunny Sunday afternoon enjoying the beautiful Derby countryside at our leisure. No hurry to get anywhere, just driving where the mood took us, taking it really easy in the Auris because it basically said ‘steer me, and I’ll do the rest’.

They say ‘Better belongs to the curious’ so before you write this off as just another attempt to mollify the ‘greens’, just indulge your natural curious streak and give it a try. Seriously.

For anyone who’s considering a proper family car and doesn’t want to go as far as £27,000 for the Toyota Prius Plus (my ‘car of the year’ for 2012), this is a really serious contender.

Hybrid is the way we’re all going to be going in years to come, with the price of petrol and the ridiculous ‘green taxes’, and this is an outstanding example of tomorrow’s technology. It’s everything you’d expect from Toyota and a good deal more.

You can find out more from Steve Johnson at Westover Toyota on 01202 532020, and I’m sure he’ll be delighted to give you a test drive.

The Gourmet Peddler Normandy Pork & Cider

Last month I rambled on about clearing off to a race in Belgium, and how I was late for my deadline at the Gazette. Well, it actually came down to it being emailed over from my phone, moments before I disappeared in the channel tunnel, to appear in the wonderful world of northern Europe.

The trip was a great success despite Belgium being visually one of the dullest places in the world when it’s drizzly. At this time of year it’s always drizzly. We saw so many variations of fog and drizzle that it makes you wonder how people stay so nice. On our first night we went to a local bar near Roubaix, famed in the cycling world for its races along Napoleonic cobbled roads. Inside the bar people were smoking, which was a surprise. But a bigger surprise is when they discovered we had come from England for the cyclocross race; they treated us like visiting dignitaries, plates of pork with paprika and mayonnaise dip, drinks and regaled us with tales of ‘when I was a lad’.

The next day we didn’t bother going cycling as it looked wet, and spent an afternoon in the Tour de Flanders Museum, a museum dedicated to a single bike race! They had a bar, where on the menu they described the fantastic 8% beer ‘Duvel’ as ‘better than EPO’. What’s more there were several big screen TVs showing the national cyclocross championships. Eventually the penny dropped; the nice people the previous night thought we were pro-racers and in this race, the big race on the telly. Our race went well with me winning outright the first 400m of the hour long race. A cracking start, aided with some cheeky foul play, and my pink/blue striped leggings (I call this ‘euroflage’, as they are so ridiculously distasteful that it makes me invisible anywhere in Europe)... These race strategies saw me out in front of the pack, but within 1000m my bike was so clogged with mud, earth worms were trapped on my bike, and my race was over. But who wants to win the end of a race? Win the start, at least everyone can see you winning.

The race did have a great feature that should be adopted by other sports.... The Beer Shortcut, where downing a beer rewards you with a short cut and some fun as you ride out of a paddling pool and fly through the air. No beer involves a big detour and no air.

Our ability to fool people into believing we were international bicycle racers died the moment we came close to England. The most bloody awkward passport control lady ever, a Brit, was so unconvinced that these three tired blokes could possibly be athletes, that she grilled us with dumb questions including “Where are your bikes then?”... “They are the muddy things on the back of the van”.... until we missed our tunnel crossing! Belgium: cycling on the telly, museums, great beers, treated like kings, short

After going to Europe for a cycle race, it’s fair to say I’m still stuck on the delights of Pork.....

cuts rewarded with beer. England: miserable passport people, the world’s worst lagers, and cyclists treated like third class citizens.

Inspired by my explorations around the bars of Belgium and northern France... This is Normandy Pork and Cider. An incredibly easy recipe, that is tangy and smooth and feels like a big meaty cuddle.

Ingredients:

Pork steaks (I used local Pork)

Some good Cider (mine was transferred from a pint glass into my bicycle water bottle at the Square & Compass, so no idea what brand). But good cider is important, aim for a cloudy one, rather than some rubbish alcopop.

Single Cream

Shallots, finely chopped Mushrooms, chunky cut Salt and pepper

What to do:

Press salt and pepper into the pork steaks

Fry the steaks in a hot frying pan until getting golden Throw in the shallots and mushrooms

Pour over half a pint of cider

Add cream

Cook until the cream, cider, oil and juices make an awesome sauce. You have to cook pork well, so cut one steak open, the fattest one and make sure it’s done.

Serve with frites, or chips, depending where you are.

Want to experiment? Try the same basic recipe but have a flutter with some apples, celery, mustard, maybe even walnuts? You could casserole or tagine this instead of frying.

Next month: No more pork.

When we were children, the New Year was a time for huddling in the kitchen (the warmest room in our breezy old farmhouse), enjoying bribes for writing thank you letters. The box of Quality Street sat in the middle of the table, coaxing us into hours of scribing. One letter, one chocolate. Greediness disguised as goodness, Mum I salute you. In keeping with tradition, we have chosen now to say a few thank you’s on behalf of the Purbeck Producers. And this time it comes from the bottom of our hearts.

For the last three years since our move to Commercial Road, Chococo and The Purbeck Gazette have been our greatest supporters. It has gone beyond neighbourliness - though Chococo is certainly a good place to ask for a cup of sugar for our thermos flasks of a Saturday!

Claire, Andy and their Chococo team have rallied around us, giving practical help and lending us the benefit of their trade every Saturday. It is heartwarming to see a successful business coupling national success with a genuine passion for the local.

They continue to pull in awards and are sold not only from our humble Swanage streets, but also from the shelves of Liberty’s and Harvey Nichols. They have also recently opened a second ‘Chococo’ store in Winchester. With their ever growing success comes good press for Purbeck and an appreciation of local ingredients.

So thank you Chococo, we are proud to be a friend!

Likewise, Nico at The Purbeck Gazette, thank you for going beyond the call of duty. If the definition of community is a feeling of fellowship with others, then it takes spirited, motivated people like this hardworking editor to create it.

There is very little in it for The Gazette, but they have championed our producers from the start. We Purbeck residents are very fortunate to have a local rag that has taken the business of supporting local causes so much to heart, not just for popular appeal, but because they believe in us. Last but not least, thanks to all of YOU for supporting us through the year. The lovely Christmas market on December 7th introduced us to some new friends. We hope you enjoyed what you bought and please do come back for more.

That’s all for this month. Enjoy the Christmas leftovers this month while our producers have a break, but please do come and buy fresh at our next market on February 8th.

Editor’s note (whilst blushing!): Many thanks for your kind comments Purbeck Producers!! Here at the Gazette we believe strongly in community, safe in the knowledge that ‘community spirit’ is one of the most powerful tools to be found on this earth. In Purbeck we are lucky enough to have a wealth of community spirit, and to see various groups and individuals working together on many projects and ideas, thus making Purbeck the amazing place it is. It’s down to all of YOU - the people, so please keep supporting those around you, such as the Purbeck producers, in their efforts to make Purbeck great for all of us.

Durlston Past

You may remember our appeal last year in the Gazette for your pictures and stories of Durlston throughout the 20th Century. The response was extraordinary, with an amazing array of pictures, showing the radar base, the menagerie at the Aviaries, the Tilly Whim Inn and many others. We also received some fantastic recollections of happy holidays, growing up in the pre-fabs and working as a waitress in the 1930’s Castle, to name just a few. If you missed the exhibition last year, would like to see it again, or have new pictures or memories to add, we are pleased to say that it will be on show again, from the 21st January to the 23rd February, between 10am and 4pm daily.

Do come up and have a look and bring along your stories or photos, as we would love to record them or take copies, and add them to the exhibition.

Quarry History Walk with Trev Haysom

If you’d like to find out more about Purbeck’s fascinating quarry history, then come along to the Castle on the 26th January at 2pm for a walk with quarryman, Master Mason and Local Historian Trev Haysom.

Explore the Park and find out how quarrying has shaped the landscape, wildlife and history of Swanage and Durlston, and hear the stories of the men who worked in them. The walk costs £3 and booking is not required. Volunteer Work Parties at Durlston

If you have some time to spare and would like to try something new for the New Year, why not come along to one of our regular Wednesday or Thursday volunteer work parties? Meet new people, learn new skills and burn off a few Christmas calories, all while helping to protect Durlston’s fantastic landscapes and wildlife. Just come along to the Learning Centre on any Wednesday or Thursday at 10am and we will put you to work – general conservation work on Wednesday, or dry-stone walling on a Thursday. No experience is needed – just wear some old clothes and dress for weather – we will provide full training, steel toe-capped boots when required and tea, coffee and a good chance of cake! The work parties run from 10am – 1pm and free parking is available when volunteering. For full events and information, visit www.durlston.co.uk

Margaret Green Animal Sanctuary

Happy New Year from all our staff and animals!

Thank you to those who donated shoeboxes filled with toys and treats for our rescue animals to make them feel loved. Why not make doing something for rescue animals your New Year’s Resolution?

You can volunteer at either our Lincoln Farm Centre for rescue dogs, near Bere Regis, or with lots of other different kinds of animals, including cats, at our Church Knowle Centre, just behind Corfe Castle. Or how about sponsoring a cat pen or dog kennel? You will receive all sorts of goodies as well as regular updates on who has received care,

thanks to you and your sponsorship.

To find out more about how to do one thing to help rescue animals this New Year, visit www.margaretgreenanimalrescue.org.uk or call 01929 480 474.

Gazette Gardening - with Simon Goldsack

January is the depth of winter - all seems pretty gloomy… well not quite all. Every evening the days are getting longer, so by the end of January there will be ninety minutes more day than there was on the shortest day. There is generally less rain in the new year than in autumn. All the leaves have fallen, so this time when you tidy up your garden, it will remain tidy and the first bulbs such as snowdrops and early daffodils are starting to flower. Best of all though is that there are some cracking good plants showing off at this time of year. Below is a selection of some of my favourites Sarcococca confusa or Christmas Box (pictured, above) normally flowers from January to March. The leaves are an attractive deep green and the plant is quite happy in shade. Although the flowers are small they are extremely well scented. Plant it near a regularly used path to enjoy the fragrance every day.

Skimmia Rubella (pictured, below). The showy crimson pink flower buds

contrast well with the dark green leaves and when the buds open to white flowers in late March they have a powerful scent.

Garrya James Roof (pictured above) is an unusual plant but well worth growing if you have the space. It’s main attraction is the silvery grey catkins, up to fourteen inches long, which dangle from the bush in profusion producing a dramatic affect against the dark green leaves.

Ilex Golden King (pictured below) will brighten up dry, dark areas where little else will grow, but it is equally happy in sunshine.

The cheerful foliage contrasts well with other more sombre evergreens and although it has a male tag (King) it is actually female and has plenty of bright red berries.

January tasks

• Finish cleaning your borders, but be careful not to damage emerging bulbs

Steam Work

By John Garner

‘Single please’

We find ourselves blessed in these parts by having a steam railway within our midst. The line from Norden to Swanage can often be identified from the surrounding hills by the huff and puff of the steam locomotives as they roll back and forth between the two stations.

Swanage station opened in 1885. Whilst I always imagine one train station opening to be a supremely pointless exercise, this was cause for great celebration in Swanage, I should imagine. Although the first person to buy a ticket must have had a reasonably odd conversation.

‘Morning’ ‘Morning sir’

‘Certainly sir. Where do you fancy going to?’

‘Er. Where do you go to?’

‘Well nowhere as yet sir, but it shouldn’t be long before we get another station up and running.’

‘Ah. In that case better make it a return.’

‘Er righto sir. Where to sir?’

‘Back here, you idiot.’

‘Very good sir.’

Closed in the1970s, it is only by nature of a dedicated team of enthusiasts that the trains run as they do today. These folk appear to have worked fairly tirelessly since that closure in 1972 to rebuild the track and bit by bit, over a number of decades, reinstate the damage done in a few months by the railway establishment of the time. You can read all about it at the Swanage railway site.

The steam train is a wonderful thing. Almost a living, breathing entity, unlike your modern highly efficient, yet soulless creation. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to hurtle about the land in a bullet train such as the one my friend has just recently ridden on in Japan. Pinging around the country at two hundred miles an hour certainly gets you where you want to go pronto, but if you want to catch any of the scenery take a steam train where you can. Give me a filthy, sooty, smoky, oily, steamy steam train any day ahead of a quietly efficient diesel. Just the other day I was trying to put into words to my gently snoring wife the appeal of the steam locomotive as I watched Miles Kington’s excellent ‘Steam Days’ on BBC iPlayer, from back in 1986 I think. Being both a fan of steam trains and fan of the late, very great Miles Kington’s writing and broadcasting, I could not have asked for more.

The fascination for most owes a great deal for sure to a basic understanding of its means of locomotion. You see even the most rudimentary grasp of mechanics (and at best my grasp of mechanics is nothing other than rudimentary) allows a person to understand how a steam engine works. In (very) short, coal is burned to heat water that produces steam that drives pistons attached to wheels and away you go. Probably. Not away you go probably, but that’s probably how the steam engine works. What’s important to the observer is that he can see a bloke lobbing coal into a

firebox and another bloke (they’re always blokes) playing about with levers and wheels and switches and taps and eventually, if he gets this sequence right, the steam pressure shunts the train forwards and indeed backwards should the occasion demand it. Fairly comprehensible even to the novice. Whilst a more in depth working knowledge of the nuances of a steam engine and a grubby bag of appropriate tools are both useful accessories for the enthusiasts that work on these engines, the most essential accoutrement is undoubtedly a rag, which must always be handy to rub something down with, or clean the glass face of something with, or merely to allow the owner the chance to wrestle with something very hot. An un-smudged chap in and around a steam train without a rag slung over his shoulder at all times is in all probability an imposter or someone merely playing at steam locomotive enthusiasm and should be exposed as the charlatan he undoubtedly is, on the spot. People who spend all their free time and a great deal of their not so free time tweaking steam engines must possess the following four things:

1. A working knowledge of all things grimy.

2. The aforementioned rag.

3. A massive mug of tea, refilled every hour.

4. To be unencumbered with a girlfriend or wife, as there will be absolutely no point in being involved in any sort of relationship, as your steam enthusiast will rarely get to see their significant others. And when they do, it will be to explain to them how difficult it was to get the riveter to work properly that day and how, as a result, they will now have to work right through the night if that boiler is going to be secure and watertight by the time they finally get to the assembly stage in roughly twenty two years time. If they’re lucky. S.O. will be long gone by then, of that you can be sure. And steam enthusiast will not have noticed. He will be busy fettling with something made of either brass or copper. And he will be deliriously happy, as should we be, as it is the relentless fruits of these folks’ labour that breath life back into these rusting behemoths for their and our pleasure.

None of this of course is of any concern to your average punter, whose spirits can only be lifted by the sight of a steam locomotive chuffing through the Purbeck hills. Think ‘Brief Encounter’. Think ‘The Railway Children’. Think Buster Keaton and ‘The General’. All carry with them a romance filled with images and sounds that are redolent of a simpler time. Well, all except ‘The General’, which was a silent film, but I just include it because it’s brilliant. Whistles, thundering soundtracks and the air filled with smoke and steam. Who could ask for anything more? Well. The wife of one of your train enthusiasts could ask for her husband to come home on occasion, but apart from that there is much to be admired. And I suggest that the next time one goes past stop and take it all in. And when your lungs have fully recovered, doff your bowler hats and thank the tireless, single men and presumably occasional woman who have brought such marvellous, vibrant history back to life.

SWANAGE BLUES FESTIVAL 7. 8, 9 March 2014

by Steve Darrington

Wow! This will be the 21st Blues Festival I’ve organised for Swanage. What a lot of fun we’ve had and what a lot of extra business for the local economy out of season.

Many thanks to the venues and the advertisers, without whose support the festivals could not exist. Many thanks too to the Tourist Information Centre and the local retailers who are selling Weekend Wristbands and programmes to help towards festival funds.

The wristbands are still only £10 and when you buy one, you ensure the events can continue twice a year.

We received a huge boost recently when an independent film company made a short video about Swanage Blues Festivals. You really do get the feel of a ‘Big Town Party’ where people are celebrating, dancing, drinking, eating, laughing and generally enjoying themselves, Swanage and the music too. If you have Internet access, you can see for yourself on the festival website. Swanage Blues has expanded over the years to include more Open Mic and Jam Sessions, where blues friends show a great deal of support for each other’s efforts. There is a wide range of ages and the talent is truly stunning. “You could take this on tour anywhere in the world,” I’ve heard said on many occasions.

If you need accommodation or wish to dine while you listen to the music in one of the participating restaurants, it’s always wise to book early. There is more information in the festival programme or on the website at www.swanage-blues.org

Swanage Blues Book Review

Dark Pathway by Michael Hambling

The first in a trilogy of murder mystery novels featuring DCI Sophie Allen and set primarily in Swanage. Indeed, the first body is discovered not a stone’s throw from Eldon Terrace, and were I a resident of that tranquil cul-de-sac, I might never sleep soundly in my bed again.

The novel is only 144 e-pages long, and the main characters remain a little too thin for the reader to empathise with to any extent, but this may be remedied in the later books. The plot, however, is meticulously crafted, absorbing, and the narrative flows effortlessly.

I’m not a huge fan of murder mystery, finding the genre over-subscribed and therefore difficult, surely, for a new writer to compete in, but the tension builds insidiously and I found myself ensnared by Dark Pathway and then intrigued by the almost obligatory twist in the tail. It passes the cold tea and burnt toast test with flying colours, and that is what matters in a novel of this kind.

Hambling is more than capable of competing with the mainstream authors in this field and deserves your support to get him on to WH Smith’s ‘top ten’ shelf. After all, someone has to be there, so why not our local man? Do your civic duty and download this e-book to read on your new Christmas Kindle. From Amazon Kindle at only £2.52, or Kobo Reader online store at a mere £2.41. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

David Bishop

Join the‘Purbeck Quire’to celebrate the final days of Christmas, with concerts which include unique carols from Worth Matravers, written by quarryman, John Corben, which will delight, amuse and instruct you on the ways of our forefathers here in Purbeck.

Sat Jan 11th at 3pm at the URC, Swanage proceeds to the NSPCC

Sun Jan 12th at 7pm at Wareham Parish Hall

If you’ve never seen and heard the sound of a village band, with singers dressed authentically in Georgian style, now’s your chance!

Ball & Socket At Wareham’s Parish Hall

The stylish singing duo ‘Ball & Socket’ will be performing on Wednesday 29th January, 7.30pm at The Parish Hall Wareham, following the AGM of Wareham & District Development Trust. Come along to hear about WDDT’s excellent achievements for local communities during 2013, and enjoy Ball & Socket’s humour and gentle satire in the style of Flanders and Swann.

Entry is £3, including light refreshments, and the money raised will go towards the redvelopment of the Wareham Library garden, another WDDT community project.

To Play No More

Dear Editor,

May I let the theatre going folk of Swanage know that sadly the curtain has come down for the final time on The Purbeck Players. We will not now be able to stage ‘Yes, Prime Minister’ next year, or indeed any shows in the future. Due to circumstances beyond our control we have, effectively, been closed down by our umbrella group, The Isle of Purbeck Arts Club. The Players have been ‘treading the boards’ in Swanage since 1962 and over the years have staged many excellent shows (many of which have been award winning) including, Last Tango in Whitby, Seperate Tables, Cause Celebre, The Diary of Ann Frank, The Railway Children, Dad’s Army, ‘Allo, ‘Allo, Abigails’s Party, Fawlty Towers and this year’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, to name but a few of the more recent ones. We have also held play readings and entered drama festivals, again with success.

Over the years people involved with Players productions as well as having a great deal of fun both on stage and back stage, have learned new skills, have grown in confidence and even gone on to make a career both on the screen and in the theatre. We have also been able to support many local charities such as Heroes Haven, Julia’s House and Margaret Green Animal Rescue.

Thank you for supporting us over the years, we have had great fun entertaining the people of Swanage and I for one will miss it enormously.

Gail Green, Ex Chairman of The Purbeck Players Picture - Hound of the Baskervilles, Summer 2013, Purbeck Players

To help you achieve this, Swanage Therapy Centre is offering a

all the treatments listed below 15% discount

T: 01929 426506 For more information

www.swanagetherapycentre.co.uk

Swanage Therapy Centre started just over nine years ago and we have grown from two to thirteen therapists and two Pilates teachers. We are a genuine centre for health care locally and provide expert help from our team of friendly, professional, medical and complementary therapists.

We focus on you and whatever your needs, whether physical, psychological or emotional. We offer you continuity of care and a free consultation service to find the right therapist to help you. We are here to keep you working, keep you mobile, keep you active and keep you doing the things you want to do.

Are you suffering with injury, pain, stress or depression? Or would you like some pampering? Then come and try our discounted therapies!

For the whole of January we are offering 15% discount of off the following treatments:

Aromatherapy

Bio-resonance

Clinical Hypnotherapy

Counselling, Craniosacral Therapy

Deep Tissue Massage

Foot Care, Homeopathy

Hopi Ear Candle

Hot Stone Massage

Indian Head Massage

Massage

Life Coaching

Neuro-Lingustic Programming

Psychotherapy

Physiotherapy

Pregnancy Massage

Reflexology

Reiki

Sports Massage

Also 15% of all hearing aids purchased in January

Please see or website www.swanagetherapycentre.co.uk

Phone 01929 426506, or call in at 5 Court Road, Swanage, BH19 1JB

Matron’s Round

Our Local Hospitals’ Monthly Column

This month we are going to focus on the outpatient physiotherapy departments and I have asked the Lead Physiotherapist Megan Sutton to say a few words.

As New Year advances and everyone is recovering from over-indulging at Christmas, the focus often turns to improving health. Many New Year’s resolutions target diet and exercise. As a hospital we can often help with attaining these goals and the physiotherapy department can be key to achieving this.

We are fortunate in Purbeck to have two Physiotherapy departments; Wareham and Swanage. I manage both sites and am fortunate to have a great team of hardworking, knowledgeable staff, with one full-time and one part-time therapist. Also having dedicated friendly administrators is essential for the team, often being your first contact with the department. Maintaining or improving your fitness is often challenging but … it doesn’t

have to be that difficult. To maintain good health it is recommended that adults aim for thirty minutes of physical activity on most days of the week or one hundred and fifty minutes per week. This could mean playing a sport, going to the gym, swimming, walking around the neighbourhood, to the shops or along the promenade, or even pushing the lawnmower. It doesn’t have to be all at once, it could be divided up into ten minute bouts of activity.

It helps to focus on a goal. Athletes keep their eyes on the goal to help them stay motivated and focused and we do the same within physiotherapy. The key is to set realistic, achievable goals so that you don’t get overwhelmed and to increase these goals very gradually within your own capability. Many exercisers set their goals far too high which leads to failure and disappointment. It is much better to achieve a little than nothing at all.

Patience and perseverance pay off, so start slowly even if it’s just a walk around the block. Once that feels comfortable add a couple more. I have known patients to chart their progress by counting lamp posts, whether it’s walking, running or using a wheelchair. Easing into exercise will help you avoid injuries, keep you from getting overwhelmed and allow you to start actually enjoying the activity.

Using the rain as an excuse could mean that you are waiting forever. Why not make use of your lunch hour and make a start today?

So take good care of yourselves and remember we are here to help if you need us!

Matron Jane

Swanage Hospital Minor Injuries Unit - Open 7 days a week from 8am - 10pm

If you have an injury, we’re here to treat it! Call us on 01929 421329. We’re here for YOU, so use our services!

Swanage Medical Practice Update

Swanage Medical Practice

2013 has been a challenging but rewarding year for the Practice. There have been significant changes to the NHS structure, with two Partners joining us and a number of staff changes, including a new Practice Manager. You will also be aware that in May the Practice had a new computer system (TPP).

This was a difficult time for all our staff. However, after many months of planning, preparation and training, we are now working well with the new system.

We would not have survived the whole process without the support of everyone at the Practice and the understanding of our patients, many thanks to all.

Prescriptions

GPs are receiving increasing numbers of urgent prescription requests. These are hard to keep track of, resulting in the reception team spending valuable time searching for prescriptions rather than helping other patients.

They would be most grateful if, whenever possible, patients could request their repeat prescriptions, ideally on-line or from a chemist, one week before their medication is due to run out. This, we hope, will reduce the number of same day urgent requests considerably and provide you with a more efficient service.

Our GPs have advised that urgent requests will be issued within a 48 hour period from the date of submission. They are unable to guarantee a same day service.

The Practice can now send your prescription electronically to your chosen chemist. This means there will be no paper to lose, there is a clear audit trail and you won’t have to wait at the surgery. For more information about this service, please contact your local pharmacists.

Charity

We are happy to report that staff have again been fundraising for charity. They have raised £70 for Children in Need, £150 for the Lions Charity Swim, (this is the 18th year the Practice has participated in the swim) and helped to raise in excess of £1250 for the Wareham and Purbeck Branch MS Society. Well done everyone!

The Practice team look forward to the coming year and we wish all our patients a healthy and Happy New Year.

Sport

Swanage Sea Rowing Club - New Boathouse Open!

After a long and carefully planned campaign of fundraising and hard work from many trustees and members, the Club took possession of the Boathouse and celebrated with an opening ceremony on the 7th December. After volunteers worked to finish the decoration on the inside, representatives from the various funding trusts, construction companies and individuals gathered outside, with a sizeable crowd to hear the Chairman Martin Steeden thank the many people who had helped to make the project such a success, and how everyone could take pride in transforming the vision of a new home for the Club into such a magnificent building.

Mayor Mrs Patrick and Katherine Morris from British Rowing also spoke about the recognition and support the club has had during the project, and the professionalism and efficiency of the Committee members who made the construction go so smoothly. Amongst those who were recognised for their contributions, special appreciation was given to Lindy Phillips whose generous personal donation started the fundraising and encouraged others to contribute - in recognition of her support she walked to the doors under an arch of oars held by club members in salute and cut the ribbon to open the Boathouse.

The crowd was invited in to look around and enjoy mince pies and mulled wine, as a sea shanty was sung by members of the Sailing Club from the landscaped roof. The response from the public was universally positive about the sympathetic lines and integrated nature of the building; Martin Steeden commented that ‘There aren’t many rowing clubs that have their own castle!’, and rowers from other Dorset Clubs looked on with envy at the facilities we now have, which include a training area with six rowing machines linked to a computer.

The days of the old polytunnel are numbered, but it seems difficult to imagine how the Club coped in such a small space for so long. With the

Netball Success!

Thursday 21 November saw The Swanage School competing alongside seven other schools in the second round of the PEDSSA Netball fixtures at Parkstone Grammar School. A squad of ten girls under the stewardship of Miss Clayton and school governor, Amanda Rowley, acquitted themselves magnificently against strong opposition from across the region.

Captained by new arrival at the school, Lily Wyer, the Swanage team narrowly lost their first game 2-1 but went on to secure an impressive 2-2 draw against Lychett Minster School. Swanage were now into their stride and followed this improved showing with a memorable 2-0 win against a strong Parkstone Grammar ‘A’ Team.

Endeavour House captain Anja Kelly was on good form and top scored for Swanage with five goals over the course of the four games, whilst Bethany MacDonald was voted as Swanage’s ‘Most Valuable Player’ for her sterling work in defence for the Sky Blues.

With around fifteen girls attending the netball club each week, it was fantastic to see the match day squad secure the school’s first ever victory

new Boathouse comes additional responsibilities and there will be an expectation that all members will have to take some part in maintaining the building, and the extra running costs needed to pay for it will mean higher membership fees next year, but no one would want to return to the cramped and limited polytunnel.

The Boathouse is an investment in the Club’s future, its members and its expectations, and it is also an investment in the local community who will benefit from such a positive asset.

For more information, visit www.ssrc.org.uk. Barnaby Quaddy.

with such a committed performance - congratulations to all those who played their part in The Swanage School’s success. Squad: Grace Rowley, Evie Dyball, Kitty O’Connor, Anja Kelly, Lilly Wyre, Jodie Stannard, Ena Smith, Destiny Sebego, Bethany Macdonald

Win For St George’s School!

St George’s School Wins the Bill Higgins Football Tournament

On the 8th October pupils from St George’s Primary School played against St Mary’s and St Marks’ Primary schools in the Bill Higgins Football Tournament at Forres Field.

Thanks to Spencer, St George’s first match against St Mary’s ended in a 1-1 draw.

St George’s then went on to win their second game against St Mark’s due to a wonderful goal scored by Morgan, despite having received an earlier knee injury.

Goalkeeper Jackson saved many goals and was awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ trophy. The whole team played extremely well together, giving each other lots of support and encouragement.

Well done St George’s, your teachers and parents are so very proud of you.

Squad line up on photo: Sam, Toby, Leo, Jackson, Freddie, Morgan, George, Archie, Spencer, Oliver.

Swanage Tennis Club Call Beginners To Join

Swanage Tennis Club are introducing classes for beginners to commence in the New Year. The club are always keen to attract new members and have recognised that many people are keen to try this sociable and fun sport.

This is an opportunity for people who have always wanted to try tennis but have never had the chance and for those who might have played at some point but want to build their up confidence in the game. Moreover, this is an opportunity for people to have fun, keep fit and enjoy learning a new sport.

Nathan Fowler (pictured above left), the club’s Level 3 LTA coach is planning to run an introduction to tennis programme for adults of any age. The sessions will take people through the basic strokes and ideas involved in the beautiful game that is tennis!

Sessions will last an hour and will initially take place on a Thursday morning at 11am, starting on the 9th of January 2014. Each session will cost £6.

En Guarde!

Awonderful day was had by all the children aged 7 to 11 at Stoborough Primary School, when they had an opportunity to try fencing for the very first time.

Sara Sinaguglia, who took up fencing herself at aged 11 and was a member of the England gold medal winning women’s foil team at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, completed her level 2 coaching course this summer and delighted pupils and staff by coming into school to share her expertise and passion for the sport.

The taster sessions were delivered by Sara at Stoborough using the ‘Go Fence’ plastic kit, which makes it both safe and accessible to children who have never tried the sport. By the end of a fifty minute session all of the children had mastered the ‘en guarde’ position, basic movements and hitting techniques which allowed them to have a series of short bouts.

Sara hopes that with the right support and funding, she may be able to set up more opportunities for fencing within the Purbeck area, so hopefully the children will get to ‘have another go’!

If you are interested but cannot make daytimes, we would think of starting a Wednesday evening session. Please contact Nathan Fowler to book your place on the course asap (email n.dfowler@btinternet.com or text/ phone 07880628831).

Tennis Champions 2013

On Wednesday, 13th November, the club held their AGM. After a good meal, the club’s new honour boards were revealed with the names of recent doubles champions freshly imprinted upon them. The first victorious pairs to embellish the boards were the deserving winners of two hard fought competitions which took place on Sat October 19th. In brilliant sunshine, Deborah Miller and Linda Horvath took the ladies doubles title with Ian Marchant and Robbie Hale taking the men’s.

The mixed doubles victors, Annie Whitehouse and Andy Moore were two of many keen competitors who braved the elements on Saturday, 2nd November. Sixty mile an hour winds whipped through the courts –making standing up an issue – let alone tennis! Andy and Annie overcame the weather and their opponents to become the mixed doubles champions 2013.

Other presentations were made, including the award for most improved player of the year. Jamie McDonald (pictured right, opposite Nathan) took the title after having a great year playing for the club. Well done Jamie!

Swanage Ladies Victorious over Hale Gardens

On Sunday 24th November, Swanage ladies travelled over to Hale Gardens near New Milton. After several defeats at this venue over recent years the team were a little trepidatious.

The first pairing of Meg Mutter and Sam Christmas managed a win in their first match after a very close battle, 7-6, 6-4. The pair then went on to win their second match more easily, 6-4, 6-1.

Diana Dyer and Patti Sandham played well and won the first set 7-5. They lost the second (6-2) but eventually won the match on a tie-break. Diana and Patti lost their second match 6-0, 6-2 but Swanage had done enough to secure the victory in terms of rubbers (3-1).

Swanage Football Club

The club recently played hosts to Dorset FA as they chose us to host their CPD event. Tony McCallum, a senior coach for the FA, gave coaches an insight into their next level of progression. The evening started with some theory in the lounge bar.

Tony was assisted in the drills on the pitch by players from our U12/13 and U14 teams. All the youth players that took part were a credit to the club and by hosting an event such as this, took another step in the right direction.

The First team have been on a good run of form of late, winning six and drawing one of their last nine games. Benefiting the first team for sure is how they’ve managed to keep the same players playing week in week out together. It was pleasing to recently see the Reserves game against Poole Borough, in which we had four U17 players in the squad.

Michael Hernandez and Ben Locke started the game and both got on the score sheet, with Ben Sayers and George Lovell making appearances later on as substitutes.

The youth side of the club was really encouraged to see these players making that next step up to adult football. These boys have been trained from an early age by coaches from within the club and for them to break into the senior set up is a reminder of what we are about as a youth section and a club as a whole.

Hopefully all members of the club have thawed out since the Boxing Day swim.

We as a club were honoured to be chosen by the organiser, Julian, as one the benefiting charities and would like to thank him for this generous offer. Two youth teams are pleased to announce additional help on the coaching front as the U16s welcome Karen Hibbs, who is a level 2 coach. Karen has a wealth of experience in coaching youngsters. She was coaching the U15 at Corfe FC last season, following them up through the ages, she also had a big input into the girl’s set up. Karen also coaches the first school children at St George’s, Langton.

The U13s also have a new level 2 coach in Frank (Ali). Frank is also a very experienced coach having spent time coaching both Purbeck Panthers and Wareham Rangers. The U17s in their league have been struggling of late against some very strong sides. Their manager Godfrey Lovell says “The next few games are against opposition in and around us and we are determined to win these games as we don’t want to finish bottom of our league!”

The U16s great run of form continues as they won for the sixth league game in a row on Sunday beating Gillingham 3:0. They currently lie third in their league table.

U12s are flying this season, they progressed into the Quarter Final of the County Cup beating Poole Town away 4:1 and are currently sitting second in the league, losing only once in nine games.

Equally, the U11s are having a great season, remaining undefeated, winning all five of their games scoring thirty two and conceding just three goals. The U13 & U14 teams’ results haven’t been going their way of late, finding themselves quite often losing by the only goal.

Becky Travers’ girls are progressing well and although the U13s have yet to win a game, all the girls are enjoying playing football for their local football club. Becky is still on the lookout for more girls to strengthen her squad. Call Becky if you are interested in playing on 07793 710033

The mini-soccer teams U9&10 are both enjoying their games, these age groups are more about the enjoyment of the game as opposed to the results. Mini Kickers age 5-8 is going from strength to strength. It’s run on behalf of the club by Eddie Rainford on Saturday mornings from 10.00am to 11.00am.

The club is run by a friendly group of volunteers so if you feel like you have anything to offer, from washing the dishes to coaching one of our sides, call Mari on 07794 116375. Check out the all NEW website www. swanagefc.com for all things related to the club.It is going from strength to strength averaging between 300 and 500 hits per day. John Peacock. Picture: Dorset FA CPD event at Day’s Park.

Swanage & Wareham Rugby Football Club

It was a difficult November for Swans, for after winning against Ivel Barbarians on the 2nd of the month, the club were expecting to play away against Weymouth the following week, but unfortunately Weymouth had pulled out of the league, so Swans had a week off. This was not good, because that meant that the following week they were due to play in the semi-final of the Dorset/Wilts Cup against Trowbridge, who had beaten Swans in October

Once again the Trowbridge forwards proved too difficult for Swans, as after only four minutes, from a catch/drive move, the visitors scored their opening try scored by hooker Dave Martin. Lloyd Davis converted. However Swans came back with a penalty goal scored by Charlie Parish (3pts – 7pts). Swans were on the back foot and after fifteen minutes, two penalties by Davis had Swans trailing by 3pts – 13pts. Swans put in a valiant display for much of the first half, but a break by Trowbridge full back Ashley Chalk after thirty five minutes meant that at the break the visitors led by 18pts – 3pts. Swans started well in the second half as full back Jack Moriarty went in for a try, and Charlie Parish added a penalty goal. However Trowbridge powered their way over Swans defence, finally winning the tie by 11pts – 37pts.

On the 23rd November, Swans welcomed Dorchester to Bestwall, and got off to a great start. Scrum half Matt Roberts was on hand to score a try early on, with Charlie Parish adding the extras. Swans were dominating the play and by half time, winger Charlie Rowberry, had bagged himself two tries putting the home side 19pts – 3pts in the lead. Dorchester added another penalty goal early after the restart, but once again Charlie Rowberry was on hand to go in for a hat-trick of tries to give Swans a

26pts – 6pts lead. Dorchester reduced the lead by scoring a converted try mid way through the half, and with ten minutes to go, a lucky bounce enabled the visitors to run in a second try, but Swans claimed the victory by 26pts – 18pts.

The next game was away at Walcot, a side which played at Bath, but Swans went up there with a depleted side due to unavailabilities and injuries, showing seven changes from the Dorchester game. It showed, as Walcot scored a converted try in the first minute, and conceded a penalty goal to go 10pts-nil after ten minutes.

A few minutes later Walcot was awarded a penalty try as Swans pulled down a scrum on their own line. 17pts – nil. Swans responded but could not get on to the score board before half time. Early in the second half Charlie Parish scored with a penalty goal, but it was just ten minutes from the end that Swans had a push over try, from which centre Phil Graves emerged claiming the score but Swans were defeated by 17pts – 8pts. Principle games in January 2014 (all 2.15pm)

4th Swanage & Wareham 1st XV v. Sherborne league SC(S) Home Swanage & Wareham 2nd XV v. Wimborne 2nd XV D/W1(S) Away 11th Swanage & Wareham 1st XV v. Corsham league SC(S) Home 18th No game.

25th Swanage & Wareham 1st XV v. Trowbridge league SC(S) Away

Swanage & Wareham 2nd XV v.Frome 2nd XV league D/W1(S) Home

Swanage & Wareham 3rd XV v. Wheatsheaf D/W3(S) Home Ron Butler(Publicity Secretary)

Spotlight Event Diary

Diary Entries are FREE if your event is FREE. If you charge, then it’s £5 plus VAT per entry, per month. DEADLINE for Feb is noon, 10th JAN

KEY: * = Start time not known or n/a; Ffi = for further information; Sw = Swanage; Wm = Wareham; VH = Village Hall, Telephone code 01929 unless otherwise stated.

JANUARY 2014

Wed 1st

* Christmas at Corfe Castle The village of Corfe Castle is a magical place at Christmas. Take in the festive atmosphere, enjoy the log fire in our tea rooms, and browse for gifts in our shop. Ffi: Jon Bish, Communications Officer, 01929 452309 / 07748 650131 jon.bish@nationaltrust.org.uk

10:45 Swanage Walking Group Meet at the Mowlem on Swanage seafront for a new year’s day walk along the coast path up to Durlston Castle and return. Ffi 01929 422795.

Fri 3rd

* Christmas at Corfe Castle The village of Corfe Castle is a magical place at Christmas. Take in the festive atmosphere, enjoy the log fire in our tea rooms, and browse for gifts in our shop. Ffi: Jon Bish, Communications Officer, 01929 452309 / 07748 650131 jon.bish@nationaltrust.org.uk

10:00 Purbeck Citizen’s Advice Bureau Session at Purbeck CAB, Mill Lane, Wareham. Ffi: 01929 551 257 bureau@purbeckcab.cabnet.org,uk

18:30 Isle of Purbeck Model Railway Group Meets at Furzebrook Village Hall, Furzebrook Road, Wareham, BH20 5AR. Entrance £2, children 50p. For further information contact Terry Jenkins -07960 691479.

19:30 Swanage Photographic Society Meets in the Rectory Classroom, Church Hill at 7.30pm. Images, Essays, and Buffet.

Sat 4th

* Christmas at Corfe Castle The village of Corfe Castle is a magical place at Christmas. Take in the festive atmosphere, enjoy the log fire in our tea rooms, and browse for gifts in our shop. Ffi: Jon Bish, Communications Officer, 01929 452309 / 07748 650131 jon.bish@nationaltrust.org.uk

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at Swanage Station for a walk through New Swanage and along the chalk ridge to Corfe Castle, returning to Swanage by bus. Ffi 01929 422795.

20.00 Brian Harris Entertains At The Conservative Club, Swanage.

* Christmas at Corfe Castle The village of Corfe Castle is a magical place at Christmas. Take in the festive atmosphere, enjoy the log fire in our tea rooms, and browse for gifts in our shop. Ffi: Jon Bish, Communications Officer, 01929 452309 / 07748 650131 jon.bish@nationaltrust.org.uk

15:00 The MayDay Singers present a Celebration of Seasonal music at St. George’s Church, Langton Matravers. Free entry, retiring collection in aid of the selected charity, Purbeck Citizens Advice Bureau. Refreshments provided after the concert.

Mon 6th

10:00 Purbeck Citizen’s Advice Bureau Session at Swanage Town Hall. Ffi: 01929 551 257 bureau@purbeckcab.cabnet.org,uk

Tue 7th

10:00 Cottees Antiques and Collectables & General Sale Antiques, Collectables and General Auction. Viewing on Saturday prior to sale 10am - 12 midday and Monday prior to sale 9.30am - 5pm or Morning of Sale from 9am. Catalogue online www.cottees.co.uk For further information contact 01929 552 826

19:30 Wareham Camera Club Meets at Parish Hall, Wareham “Where the Sea meets the Sky” with Andrew Wilson Visitors welcome. Contact Roger Starling on 01929 553822

Wed 8th

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at the tank viewing area south of Lawrence of Arabia’s Cottage on Bovington Camp road for a circular walk in the Moreton area. Ffi 01929 425165.

14:00 Stoborough WI At Stoborough Village Hall Nutrition and Fitness for all with Clare Barratt.

19:30 Swanage Evening WI Meets at the Mowlem Community Room on the 2nd Wednesday of every month, at 7.30p Chris Evans, ‘Bournemouths’ Entry into Tatton Flower Show’. Guests welcome.

Fri 10th

14:00 The Purbeck Society ‘The Sacred Sites of Purbeck’, Gary Biltcliff, Author. Held at the Community Room, The Mowlem, Swanage.

Sat 11th

09:30 Coffee, Cakes, Gifts & Crafts At Harmans Cross Village Hall. Admission Free, all welcome.

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at the Sika Trail Car Park on the Wareham-Bere Regis road for a circular route through heathland and along the Wareham walls. Ffi 01929 426926.

15:00 ‘Purbeck Quire’ At The URC, Swanage. Proceeds to the NSPCC.

20:00 Live Music - ‘Tamco’ At The Square and Compass Pub, Worth Matravers. Ffi: 01929 439229 www.squareandcompasspub.co.uk

20.00 Dishevelled Entertains At The Conservative Club, Swanage.

19:00 ‘Purbeck Quire’ At The Wareham Parish Hall.

20.00 Fun Quiz At The Conservative Club, Swanage.

Tue 14th

19:30 Wareham Camera Club Meets at Parish Hall, Wareham “League Competition No 3” Visitors welcome. Contact Roger Starling on 01929 553822

19:30 Swanage Stamp Society Meets at Queensmead Community Centre, Swanage. New and experienced collectors welcome. Ffi: Contact John on 450293.

Wed 15th

09:30 Swanage Walking Group Meet at the disused Quarry Car Park just before Kimmeridge for a walk to Swyre Head and down along the ridge of Smedmore Hill. Ffi 01929 450164.

14:30 Studland History Group meets at 2.30pm in the Village Hall. The speaker will be Rob Curtis, “The Tolpuddle Martyrs”. All welcome. Ffi the Secretary 01929 439245.

19:30 Wareham & District Archaeology & Local History Soc Meets at Wareham Town Hall. Talk by Dr. Martin Green. Birds-eye view of Cranborne Chase - an archaeological landscape from the air. Visitors welcome, £2.

Thu 16th

14:30 The Purbeck Assoc of the National Trust At Carey Hall, Wareham. Illustrated talk ‘The Baronet of Bladen’ - Anne King will talk about Ernest Debenham’s establishment of an experimental farm enterprise in Dorset. Till 4.00pm. All welcome. £3.00 incl refreshments Ffi 01929 427300.

Fri 17th

10:00 Purbeck Citizen’s Advice Bureau Session at Purbeck CAB, Mill Lane, Wareham. Ffi: 01929 551 257 bureau@purbeckcab.cabnet.org,uk

16:00 Alexander Technique - Free Introductory Class At Wareham Library. . For more information and to book a place , contact: Kate 07798 791985 E-mail: thebrailsfords@onetel.com www.alexandertechnique-itm.org

19:30 Purbeck Railway Circle meets at Harman’s Cross Village Hall for a slide show entitled “Around Dorset’s Rail Routes “ by Colin Stone plus the PRC Annual General Meeting. Doors open 7pm. EVERYONE WELCOME. No admission charge; donations welcome. Ffi 554765.

10:00 Book, Cake & Coffee Sale At Moreton Village Hall (DT2 8RE). Books, Coffee, Cake and home made/grown produce. Free entry. Huge selection of books all at 25p. Make a morning of it in Moreton - visit Lawrence of Arabia’s grave, see the unique Whistler etched windows in the church and walk across the longest (probably!) ford in England . Enquiries: 01929 463221

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at the Sika Trail car park on the Wareham-Bere Regis road for a circular route via Great Ovens Hill, Gore Heath and Decoy Heath. Ffi 01929 422554.

14:00 Wareham Lions Club Seniors Party At The Purbeck School, Wareham.

20.00 Sammie Entertains At The Conservative Club, Swanage.

Sun 19th

13:00 Live Music - ‘Philip Clouts Trio’ At The Square and Compass Pub, Worth Matravers. Ffi: 01929 439229 www.squareandcompasspub.co.uk

Mon 20th

10:00 Purbeck Citizen’s Advice Bureau Session at Swanage Town Hall. Ffi: 01929 551 257 bureau@purbeckcab.cabnet.org,uk

Tue 21st

10:00 Cottees Antiques and Collectables & General Sale Antiques, Collectables and General Auction. Viewing on Saturday prior to sale 10am - 12 midday and Monday prior to sale 9.30am - 5pm or Morning of Sale from 9am. Catalogue online www.cottees.co.uk For further information contact 01929 552 826

19:30 Wareham Camera Club Meets at Parish Hall, Wareham “Presentations by Pat

Ashdown, Gordon MacPherson & Tim Green LRPS” Visitors welcome. Contact Roger Starling on 01929 553822

Wed 22nd

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at the car park for Hardy’s Cottage for an easy walk via Kingston Maurward, Lower Bockhampton and Puddleton Forest. Ffi 01929 424218.

Thu 23rd

19:30 Talk At Langton Village Hall In Langton Matravers village hall . Reg Saville will give an illustrated talk on Durnford House, its occupants and contents during the 17th century. All Welcome -- members £2.50 ; non members £3.50

Sat 25th

09:30 Swanage Walking Group Meet on road by Kingston Church for a circular Walk to Hounstout Cliff, returning via Hill Bottom and Coombe Bottom. Ffi 01929 422795.

20:00 Live Music - ‘Stoned Holy Rollers’ At The Square and Compass Pub, Worth Matravers. Ffi: 01929 439229 www.squareandcompasspub.co.uk

20.00 Stacey Lou Entertains At The Conservative Club, Swanage.

Tue 28th

19:30 Dorset Industrial Archaeology Society The Dorset Room, Colliton House, Colliton Park, Dorchester (opposite County Hall). The January meeting of the Society will consist of a programme of short verbal and visual presentations by members. Non-members are welcome (a small donation is suggested). Further details from: 01305 785968 or 871863.

19:30 Wareham Camera Club Meets at Parish Hall, Wareham “SAPA League Competition” Visitors welcome. Contact Roger Starling on 01929 553822

* Swanage Senior Forum Round trip to Wimborne Minster. Visit Priest’s House & Garden, plus a guided tour of Wimborne Minster, and the famous Chain Library. £3 per ticket, incl travel and light lunch. Tel 07971 338486 or email swanageforum@yahoo.co.uk

* Fun Quiz At The Conservative Club, Swanage.

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet in Bon Accord Road by Water Tower for an easy circular walk to Langton Matravers returning by Top Coast path. Ffi 01929 424218.

Fri 31st

* Michael Buble Tribute & Dinner At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Ffi: 01929 480205 www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

10:00 Purbeck Citizen’s Advice Bureau Session at Purbeck CAB, Mill Lane, Wareham. Ffi: 01929 551 257 bureau@purbeckcab.cabnet.org,uk

19:30 CAB Fundraising Night Emmanuel Baptist Church, Victoria Avenue, Swanage. Time & Tide present “The King’s Shilling”, true tales of Dorset soldiers from Waterloo to the Great War, in story and song. Entry: £7.50 inc ploughman’s supper and a glass of wine. In aid of Purbeck Citizens Advice Bureau. Contact: Davina 01929421939 or freedman@hardyhouse.plus.com

FEBUARY

Mon 3rd

10:00 Purbeck Citizen’s Advice Bureau Session at Swanage Town Hall. Ffi: 01929 551 257 bureau@purbeckcab.cabnet.org,uk

Fri 7th

18:30 Isle of Purbeck Model Railway Group Meets at Furzebrook Village Hall, Furzebrook Road, Wareham, BH20 5AR. Entrance £2, children 50p. For further information contact Terry Jenkins -07960 691479.

Sat 8th

09:00 Purbeck Produce Farmers’ Market At Commercial Road, Swanage. Local produce, from local producers. Ffi: www.purbeckproducts.co.uk

Wed 12th

14:00 Stoborough WI At Stoborough Village Hall. A Purbeck Countrywoman’s LifeKaren Harmer.

19:30 Swanage Evening WI Meets at the Mowlem Community Room on the 2nd Wednesday of every month, at 7.30pm. Trisha Lewis, ‘What Would Jane Do?’. Guests welcome.

Fri 14th

10:00 Purbeck Citizen’s Advice Bureau Session at Purbeck CAB, Mill Lane, Wareham. Ffi: 01929 551 257 bureau@purbeckcab.cabnet.org,uk

14:00 The Purbeck Society ‘The Valentine Card Collection of the Priest’s House Museum Wimborne’, A curator from the Priest’s House Museum. Held at the Community Room, The Mowlem, Swanage.

20.00 Live Music - ‘The Last Grasshopper’ At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Four course Valentines dinner. Ffi: 01929 480205 www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

Sun 16th

20.00 Scrumpy Pie Festival At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Ffi: 01929 480205 www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

Mon 17th

* Scrumpy Pie Festival At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Ffi: 01929 480205 www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

10:00 Purbeck Citizen’s Advice Bureau Session at Swanage Town Hall. Ffi: 01929 551 257 bureau@purbeckcab.cabnet.org,uk

Tue 18th

* Scrumpy Pie Festival At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Ffi: 01929 480205 www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

Wed 19th

* Scrumpy Pie Festival At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Ffi: 01929 480205

Thu 20th

www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

* Scrumpy Pie Festival At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Ffi: 01929 480205 www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

* Scrumpy Pie Festival At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Ffi: 01929 480205 www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

* The Churchfitters Wareham Music Festival at The Corn Exchange. Ffi: www. wareham-music.org.uk

Sat 22nd

* Scrumpy Pie Festival At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Ffi: 01929 480205 www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

* Scrumpy Pie Festival At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Ffi: 01929 480205 www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

14:30 The New Hardy Players Perform at Kingston Country Courtyard, Wareham, Dorset.With lunch, cream teas/coffes served from 1pm. Tickets £10, booking advised on 01929 481066 or by email relax@kingstoncountrycourtyard.com

* Scrumpy Pie Festival At The Greryhound Inn, Corfe Castle. Ffi: 01929 480205 www.greyhoundcorfe.co.uk

WEEKLY EVENTS

EVERY MONDAY

09.00 U3A Table Tennis Group meet at Harmans Cross VH.

09.30 Notelets Music Group for under 5s at Parish Hall, Wm.

09.45 Toddler Club URC, Sw. Till 11.15

10.00 Mowlem Indoor Market at the Mowlem. Home grown/made produce – cakes, pies, veg plants etc. Quality clothing, jewellery, per products and lots more. Open until 16.00

10.00 Table Tennis Club Sw FC All ages/abilities £2.50 Till noon. 425175

10.30 Extend Exercise Class to improve strength, balance & flexibility. At Furzebrook VH. Donations welcome. Ffi: 471490

13.30 First Steps Group for early walkers up to 2 years old at Wareham’s Children’s Centre, Streche Rd, Wm. Till 3pm Ffi: 552864

14.00 Pins and Needles at Harmans Cross VH.

14.00 Swanage Disabled Club meet until 4pm. Meeting place alternates between Catholic Hall & Queensmead Hall, Sw. Transport available. Call Mrs Daphne Saville on 01929 425241 ffi.

16.45 Soccer Skills Sw FC First Sch chldn £1 Till 5.45. 425175

18.00 Sw Tennis Club Snr Club Session. 426312

19.00 Wareham Choral Society meet URC Meeting House, Chch St, Wm. Till 9. New singers always welcome. 554229/553460

19.00 Swanage Youth Club. School year 10 and upwards. Till 9.30pm

19.00 Whist. Come & join us at the Reading Room, Church Hill, Swanage. Ffi, call 07984 968733

19.00 Purbeck Chess Club. Mortons House Hotel, Corfe Castle. Ffi, call Brian Beard 425988

19.30 Purbeck Quire rehearse at Wm Methodist Church. New/visiting singers (no audition necessary). String & wind players also welcome. Ffi: 423505 or 480737.

19.30 Wareham Art Club Workshop at Wareham Parish Hall. Ffi: 553718.

19:30 Badminton & Table Tennis Club, Adults, Swanage Methodist Church Hall. Small friendly club. All levels welcome. Til 10pm. 07917 473390

19.30 Wm Folk Dance Club Stoboro’ VH. All welcome. 553519/422730

20.00 DARTS at the RBL Club, Sw.

20.00 Sw Conservative Club WHIST & DARTS. Sw. All welcome

20.00 Herston Hall Management C’ttee Bingo

EVERY TUESDAY

09.00 First Steps Toddler’s Group. Swanage Methodist Church till 10.15am. Ffi: Tom Bullock on 421767, office hours, or tom@swanagemethodist.org.uk

09.30 Kiddies Corner Mother & Toddler Group (term time only) No fee - donations welcome. Purbeck Gateway Church. 551415

09.30 Wareham Art Club Workshop at Wareham Parish Hall. Ffi: 553718.

10.00 Sw Tennis Club Associate Club Session. Till 11. 426312

10.00 Short Tennis at Sw FC All ages & abilities £1.50 Till noon. 425175

10.30 Swanage Walking for Health Group starter walks (15-30mins). Start from the Mowlem Shelter on Swanage Seafront. Get back into the swing of things gently! Ffi: 475692

10.30 Twins Group - for Mums with Twins run by mums with twins at Wareham’s Children’s Centre, Streche Rd, Wm. Till 12 noon. Ante-natal mums expecting twins welcome. Ffi: 552864

11.00 Guided Church Tour at Bere Regis Parish Church. Volunteer-lead tour of this wonderful medieval church. No charge, but donations gratefully received.

13.00 Baby and Toddler Group at Harmans Cross VH.

14.00 Swanage Walking for Health Group. Walks of 60-90mins, various locations. Walks are very social, for a range of abilities. Walks start from car parks at Studland, Corfe, Arne, Durlston, Langton, Acton, Worth and Kingston. Ffi: 475692.

14.00 Harman’s Cross Village Hall Art Group Till 5

14.00 Wareham Short Mat Bowls. Furzebrook VH. Roll-up session, all standards welcome. Ffi 401799

17.00 Sw Tennis Club Junior Session till 6pm. 426312

18.00 Sw Youth Centre Girls’ Night (Yr 8+) Till 10

18.00 Yoga - gentle at Swanage Arts Centre, Commercial Rd, Sw. £6 for 70 mins or £20 per month. Private lessons also available. Ffi call Johanna (certified Yoga teacher): 07892 680360

18.15 Sw Bridge Club Mowlem Comm’ty Room. 423497

18.15 Sw Cricket Club Practice till 8.30pm

18.15 Sw Bridge Club Mowlem Community Room. 423497

19.00 The Mayday Singers rehearse at The Old Malthouse, Langton. New members very welcome, contact Paul Baird 07802431012

19.30 Swanage Group of Alcoholics Anonymous meets at Swanage Day Centre, High Street, Swanage. If you want help to stop drinking, you are welcome. Or call 01202 296000 for more details.

19.30 Sw & Langton Folk Dance Club Langton VH. Ffi: 424252

19.30 Belvedere Singers rehearsal at All Saints Ch, Ulwell, Sw. All singers welcome! 423350

20.00 Sw Regatta & Carnival Assoc Bingo Herston Leisure, Herston Yards Farm, Sw.

20.00 Sw Conservative Club Bingo, Pool & Snooker.

20.00 Carey Hall, Wm Bingo

20.00 LEAGUE POOL at the RBL Club, Sw.

EVERY WEDNESDAY

09.00 St Mark’s Toddlers Group, St Mark’s Church, Swanage. Herston, Sw Till 11am

09.45 Corfe Wool Workshop Corfe VH, East St. Members £1.50; non-members £2.50. Till12.00. 427067

10.00 Short tennis for adults at Swanage Football Club. All welcome. Equipment supplied. Till noon.

10.00 Little Fishes Baby and Toddler Group. Catholic Church Hall, Rempstone Road, Swanage. Term time only. Until 11.30am. Ffi: Alex on 07904 412067.

10.00 Breast Feeding Group at Wareham’s Children Centre, Streche Rd, Wm. Offering peer support and breastfeeding counsellor advice. Till 12 noon. Ffi: 552864

11.00 Volunteer Centre Drop-In at Swanage Library till 1pm. Find our about volunteering to support community groups & charities

12.30 Young Parent’s Group at Wareham Children’s Centre, Streche Road, Wm. Ffi: 552864. Till 2pm. Transport Available.

13.15 EBC TOTS meet Emmanuel Baptist Ch, Victoria Ave, Sw. Til 2.45. £1 per child.

14.00 Herston Senior Citizens meet Herston Hall, Jubilee Rd, Sw. All welcome

14.00 Health Qigong: Fitness and relaxation. Till 3pm. With Penny at the Mowlem Community Room, Sw. Ffi 07969925502

16.15 Swanage Football Club U-7s Training til 5.15pm. £1. Ffi: 426346

17.15 Swanage Football Club U-9s Training til 6.15pm. £1. Ffi: 426346

18.00 Swanage Youth Club. School years 7&8. Till 8.30pm

18.45 Sw Hockey Club Training Wm Sports Centre. Till 8. 424442

19.00 Sw Town Band rehearsals. Town Hall Council Chamber. Till 8.30. 426926

19.00 Wm Bridge Club at the Library, South St. 552257

19.00 Wareham Short Mat Bowls Club Roll-up evening Furzebrook VH. 401799

19.30 Swanage Musical Theatre meet Swanage Bay View Complex Rehearsal Room. All welcome. Ffi: 426161

19.45 Badminton Group meet at the Purbeck Sports Centre until 9.15pm for games of mixed doubles. Ffi, please call Kate on 01929 421806 or email katespurling@ btinternet.com

20.00 Sw Youth Centre Club Night (Yr 9+) Till 10

20.00 Sw Royal British Legion BINGO. High St, Sw

20.15 Dorset Buttons Morris Practice. URC Hall, Wm. 423234/421130

20.30 The Ship Inn Quiz Night at The Ship Inn, Langton Matravers.

20.30 Wm Swimming Club Adults. All standards + stroke improvement. Till 10

22.00 Sw Youth Centre Club Night (16+) Till 11.59

EVERY THURSDAY

08.30 Wm Home Producers Veg, cakes, plants, flowers, handicrafts. URC. New producers/helpers welcome. Till 11. 553798

09.00 Swanage Painting Club. Catholic Church Hall, Rempstone Rd, Sw. Friendly group. New members including beginners welcome. Till 1pm. Ffi: Jan on 01929 480471

09.30 Pottery Classes held in Wareham. Till 11.30am. For details contact Rachel 01929 480455 to book 15pw.

10.00 PEEP for 2 year olds at Wareham’s Children’s Centre, Streche Rd, Wm. A six week course in early childhood learning. Please call to book a place on 552864. Till 11.30am

10.00 Wm Parent & Toddler Group During term Parish Hall, Quay Till 11.45. 556806

10.30 Isle of Purbeck Arts Club Drop In Coffee Morning. Arts Centre, Commercial Rd, Sw. Til 12 noon. Come see find out what the Arts Club does.

10.00 Wool Country Market D’Urbeville Hall. Cakes, preserves, plants, crafts, vegetables. Coffee & biscuits available.

10.00 Sw Tennis Club Associate Club Session. Til 11am. 426312

10.00 Tea, Coffee, Biscuits at Queensmead Hall, Sw. Til 11am. Adm 50p

10.00 Volunteer Centre Drop-In at Wareham Library till 12pm. Find our about volunteering to support community groups & charities.

10.30 Harman’s Cross Village Hall Chinese Art Group

10.30 Mid-Week Market Morning Service URC, Church St, Wm. Prayer requests to Revd. Simon Franklin 556976

13.30 Under 1 year olds at Wareham’s Children’s Centre, Streche Rd, Wm. Anti-natal mums welcome. Till 3pm. Ffi: 552864.

13.30 Sw Badminton & Table Tennis Club Afternoon Club at Swanage Methodist’s Church. Till 3. 423429.

13.30 Toddler Group. All Saints’ Church, Sw. 423937. Till 3pm (Term times)

14.00 Life drawing classes at Harmans Cross Village Hall from 2pm till 4pm. For further information, ring 427621.

14.15 Sw Over-60s Meet in the URC Hall, High Street, Sw. All Welcome.

15.00 Guided Church Tour at Bere Regis Parish Church. Volunteer-lead tour of this wonderful medieval church. No charge, but donations gratefully received.

17.45 Swanage Youth Club. Learning Difficulties and disability (age 11-25) night. Till

7.30pm

18.00 Five High Singers, United Reformed Church Hall, Swanage. 11 - 18 years. Till 7pm

18.15 Sw Cricket Club Practice till 9pm

18.30 Swanage Sea Rowing Club Circuit Training at Swanage Middle School. Ffi: 07776 201455

19.00 Health Qigong: Fitness and relaxation. Till 8pm. With Penny at Furzebrook VH, Wm. Ffi 07969925502

19.00 Purbeck Gateway Club meets at Wareham Youth Centre until 9pm. Purbeck Gateway is a club for adults with learning difficulties. We meet during term time and have fun! All welcome. Ffi: Lew on 552173. Email: Lewisbell1@aol.com

19.15 Wm Town Band Brass & Woodwind players welcome. 551478/01202 242147

19.30 Short Mat Bowls in the Durbeville Hall, Wool. All standards welcome, till 9.30pm. Ffi: 552682

19.30 Sw Conservative Club Line Dancing

19.30 IoP Arts Club Choir meets till 9.30pm at Swanage First School (NOT Dec 14, 21, 28, Jan 4, Feb 22, Apr 5,12) till May 10

19.30 Swanage Youth Club Youth Action (year 7 - sixth form). Till 9.30pm

20.00 Swanage Conservative Club Shove Ha’penny

20.00 Herston Hall OAP Committee Bingo Sw EVERY FRIDAY

09.00 Stay & Play at Wareham’s Children’s Centre, Streche Rd, Wm. Till 10.30am. Ffi 552864.

09.30 Health Qigong: Fitness and relaxation. Till 10.30pm. With Penny at Furzebrook VH, Wm. Ffi 07969925502

10.00 Sw Country Market at Community Room, The Mowlem, Sw. Till 11.30 Free. New producers / growers always welcome.

10.00 Table Tennis Club Sw FC All ages/abilities £2.50 Till noon. 425175

11.00 Toddler Time For Under 5s And Carers. Wareham Library. Stories, songs and crafts. Every Friday, including school holidays. Ffi: 01929 556146

14.00 Pottery Classes held in Corfe Castle. 2 - 5pm. Call Rachel 01929 480455 to book. £10pw

14.30 Short Mat Bowls at Durbeville Hall, Wool. Till 4.30pm. All standards welcome. Ffi: 552682.

18.00 Purbeck War-Game & Model Club. Lower Salvation Army Hall, Kings Rd East, Sw. 426096 (shop hours)

18.00 Sw Youth Centre Club 12-13 (Yr 7-9) Till 8

18.00 Sw Tennis Club Senior Club Session. 426312

18.15 Sw Bridge Club Mowlem Community Room. 423497

19.00 Sw Youth Centre Seniors Club Night (Yr 9+) Till 9.30pm.

19.00 Swanage Scouts meet during term time at the URC Church Hall, Sw. Open to boys & girls aged 10-14 years. Ffi: swanagescouts4th@hotmal.co.uk

19.30 Short tennis for adults at Swanage Football Club. All welcome. Equipment supplied. Till 9.30pm. £3.

20.00 BINGO & TEXAS Hold’em Poker at R.B.L. Club, Swanage.

20.00 Sw Youth Centre Live Bands (as advertised) Till 10pm.

22.00 Sw Youth Centre Late Session (Yr 9+) till 11.59pm (members free)

EVERY SATURDAY

09.00 Sw CC U11 - U15 Practice till 10.30

09.30 Sw CC U9 & U10 Practice & Kwik Cricket till 10.30

10.00 Men Behaving Dadly - Group for Dads/Grandads/Male Carers & their children at both Wareham and Swanage Children’s Centres till noon. Bacon sandwiches available! Call 552864 to find out what’s happening where this week and to book a space.

10.00 Tea, coffee and home-made cakes in the Parish Hall on Wareham Quay during the Community Market. Til 2pm. Bric-a-Brac stall weekly. Christian bookstall .most weeks. All welcome for a warm-up and a friendly chat.

20.00 Herston OAP Committee Bingo at Herston Hall, Sw

EVERY SUNDAY

* Gay Women’s Walking Group meet most Sundays for a walk around Swanage and beyond. We’re a friendly, supportive group for gay or bisexual women. Ffi: 07964 659100 or email outandabout.purbeck@gmail.com

09.45 Skyscrapers Children’s Group at Swanage Methodist Church Hall. Including a cooked breakfast, games and fun bible stories, ages 0-11. Ffi: Tom Bullock on 421767, office hours, or tom@swanagemethodist.org.uk

10.00 Arts and Crafts Market at the Mowlem in Swanage. A wide range of local art for sale, including pottery, glass, cards, fabric and much more! To book your table, or for more information, call Tony on 01929 421321.

10.30 Stoborough Emmanuel Baptist Church meet at Stoborough First School, Stoborough. All very welcome.

13.00 Sw Royal British Legion BINGO. High St, Sw.

13.15 Sw Conservative Club Members Draw