The Purbeck Gazette - Issue 207

March 2017 Issue no. 206

Magazine archive at:

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Meet Bonnemine. Pg 46

Put A Spring In Your Step! Pg 32-40

Best In Purbeck Awards. Pg 15

'ĂnjĞƩĞ 'ĂƌĚĞŶŝŶŐ WŐ ϱϮ Ͳ ϱϲ

SWANAGE & PURBECK

TAXI

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07969 927424

The Purbeck Gazette

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Editor’s note...

W

elcome to the March edition of your Gazette!

We’re heading towards SUMMER at last! The chill is leaving the air, the nights are brighter and things are looking up.

March kicks off with the Swanage Blues Festival, still a resounding success with a huge following.

Thousands make their way to Swanage - the jewel in the ‘Jurassic crown’, to enjoy a weekend of jamming and tunes.

For the amazingly affordable cost of a £10 weekend wristband, you too should join in and support this fabulous, nationally-recognised music festival!

We’ve two features for you this month - one encouraging you to get that ‘spring in your step!’, and one delighting in all that the garden has to offer at this time of year.

Our pages are, as usual, bursting with your letters, group updates, event notices and local advertising. The British Geological Society has written a great piece for us about DORIS - who or what is Doris?! Check out page 25 for more! Fascinating stuff!

We also have more information on local seal releases, the results of the ‘Best in Purbeck’ Awards, the kids of St Mark’s enjoying their new play trail and another delicious recipe from our resident foodie expert, direct from Godlingston Manor Kitchen Garden....

Have a great month everyone!

dŚĞ WƵƌďĞĐŬ 'ĂnjĞƩĞ ŝƐ ĚĞůŝǀĞƌĞĚ ďLJ͗ We distribute 20,000 copies of the Purbeck 'ĂnjĞƩĞ ĞǀĞƌLJ ŵŽŶƚŚ ƚŽ ŚŽƵƐĞŚŽůĚƐ ŝŶ WƵƌďĞĐŬ ƵƟůŝƐŝŶŐ >ŽŐŝĨŽƌĐĞ 'W^ͲƚƌĂĐŬĞĚ ĚĞůŝǀĞƌLJ ƚĞĂŵƐ͘ (ZĞƐŝĚĞŶƚƐ ŝŶ ďůŽĐŬƐ ŽĨ ŇĂƚƐ͕ Žƌ ǁŚŽ ůŝǀĞ ƵƉ ůŽŶŐ ĚƌŝǀĞǁĂLJƐ Žƌ ŝŶ ůĞƐƐĞƌ ƉŽƉƵůĂƚĞĚ ĂƌĞĂƐ ǁŝůů ŶŽƚ ŐĞƚ Ă ĚŽŽƌͲƚŽͲĚŽŽƌ ĚĞůŝǀĞƌLJ͘ zŽƵ ǁŝůů ŶŽƚ ƌĞĐĞŝǀĞ Ă ĐŽƉLJ ŝĨ LJŽƵ ĚŝƐƉůĂLJ Ă ͚ŶŽ ũƵŶŬ ŵĂŝů͛ ƐƟĐŬĞƌ ŽŶ LJŽƵƌ ůĞƩĞƌďŽdž) WƵƌďĞĐŬ ŚĂƐ Ă ƉŽƉƵůĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ ĂƉƉƌŽdž͘ ϰϱ͕ϯϬϬ͕ ǁĞ ƉƌŝŶƚ Θ ĚŝƐƚƌŝďƵƚĞ ϮϬ͕ϬϬϬ ĐŽƉŝĞƐ ĨŽƌ WƵƌďĞĐŬ ĂŶĚ ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ĂĮĞůĚ ; ƌŽƐƐǁĂLJƐ͕ ƌŽĂĚŵĂLJŶĞ͕ ůŽdžǁŽƌƚŚ ĞƚĐͿ. zŽƵ ǁŝůů ŶŽƚ ƚŚĞƌĞĨŽƌĞ >> ŐĞƚ Ă ƉĂƉĞƌ ĐŽƉLJ͊ ϭ ŝŶ ϯ ƉƌŽƉĞƌƟĞƐ ŐĞƚ Ă ĐŽƉLJ͘ tĞ ĞŶƐƵƌĞ Ă ŐŽŽĚ ƐƉƌĞĂĚ ŽĨ ĚŝƐƚƌŝďƵƟŽŶ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚŽƵƚ ƚŚĞ ǁŚŽůĞ ĂƌĞĂ ƚŽ ŐĞƚ ƚŚĞ ďĞƐƚ ƌĞƐƉŽŶƐĞ ĨŽƌ ŽƵƌ ĂĚǀĞƌƟƐĞƌƐ͕ ǁŚŽ ĂƌĞ ŽƵƌ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ĐƵƐƚŽŵĞƌƐ͘

We publish in-full online for those households who do ŶŽƚ ƌĞĐĞŝǀĞ Ă ƉĂƉĞƌ ĐŽƉLJ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ƚŚĞ ĚŽŽƌ͘

See: ǁǁǁ͘ƉƵƌďĞĐŬŐĂnjĞƩĞ͘ĐŽŵ The April 2017 ĞĚŝƟŽŶ ŚĂƐ Ă deadline of 9th Mar and will be distributed from 27th Mar - 31st Mar 2017.

The DĂLJ ϮϬϭϳ ĞĚŝƟŽŶ ŚĂƐ Ă deadline of 7th April. and will be distributed from 24th Apr - 28th Apr 2017.

WƵďůŝĐ EŽƟĐĞƐ Θ /ŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ ^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ dŽǁŶ ŽƵŶĐŝů DĞĞƟŶŐƐ Ͳ DĂƌĐŚ ϮϬϭϳ Planning & Consultation Tourism Committee Council

Mon 6th Wed 8th Mon 27th

6.30pm 10am 7pm

Please check the Town Council’s website www.swanage.gov.uk or call the Town Hall on 01929 423636 for the latest information.

tĂƌĞŚĂŵ dŽǁŶ ŽƵŶĐŝů DĞĞƟŶŐƐ Ͳ DĂƌĐŚ ϮϬϭϳ Council Amenities Planning & Transport Policy, Finance & Resources

Tue 7th Wed 8th Mon 13th Mon 20th

7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm

WƵƌďĞĐŬ DĞĞƟŶŐƐ Ͳ KƉĞŶ ƚŽ ƉƵďůŝĐ Ͳ DĂƌĐŚ ϮϬϭϳ Licensing Committee Standards Committee Policy Group Council Planning Committee

Wed 1st Tue 7th Tue 14th Mon 20th Tue 28th

9.15am 2pm 7pm 7pm 9.15am

Meetings are subject to change. To double check, see: http://www.dorsetforyou. com/meetings/purbeck and see ‘dates of council and other meetings’

ďŽƵƚ WƵƌďĞĐŬ DĞĚŝĂ >ƚĚ dŚĞ WƵƌďĞĐŬ 'ĂnjĞƩĞ ƉƌŝŶƚƐ ϮϬ͕ϬϬϬ ĐŽƉŝĞƐ ĞǀĞƌLJ ŵŽŶƚŚ ĂŶĚ ĚĞůŝǀĞƌƐ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚŽƵƚ ƚŚĞ ƌĞŐŝŽŶ ĨƌŽŵ ^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ ƚŽ ŽƌĐŚĞƐƚĞƌ͕ >ƵůǁŽƌƚŚ ƚŽ ĞƌĞ ZĞŐŝƐ͘ dŚĞ WƵƌďĞĐŬ 'ĂnjĞƩĞ ŝƐ ƉƵďůŝƐŚĞĚ ďLJ WƵƌďĞĐŬ DĞĚŝĂ >ƚĚ͘ ůů ĞĚŝƟŶŐ͕ ŐƌĂƉŚŝĐ ĚĞƐŝŐŶ ĂŶĚ ůĂLJͲ ƵƉ ŝƐ ĐŽŵƉůĞƚĞĚ ŝŶͲŚŽƵƐĞ ďLJ WƵƌďĞĐŬ DĞĚŝĂ >ƚĚ͘ dŚĞ WƵƌďĞĐŬ 'ĂnjĞƩĞ ŝƐ ƉƌŝŶƚĞĚ ďLJ ůĂĐŬŵŽƌĞ >ƚĚ ŽĨ ^ŚĂŌĞƐďƵƌLJ ĂŶĚ ĚĞůŝǀĞƌĞĚ ďLJ >ŽŐŝĨŽƌĐĞ 'W^ͲƚƌĂĐŬĞĚ ĚŝƐƚƌŝďƵƟŽŶ͘ dŚĞ WƵƌďĞĐŬ 'ĂnjĞƩĞ ǁĞďƐŝƚĞ ŝƐ ŵĂŶĂŐĞĚ ĂŶĚ ĞĚŝƚĞĚ ŽŶͲƐŝƚĞ ďLJ WƵƌďĞĐŬ DĞĚŝĂ >ƚĚ͘ WƵƌďĞĐŬ DĞĚŝĂ >ƚĚ ĂůƐŽ ƉƵďůŝƐŚĞƐ dŚĞ WƵƌďĞĐŬ 'ƵŝĚĞƩĞ͕ ƚŚĞ WƵƌďĞĐŬ sŝƐŝƚŽƌ 'ƵŝĚĞ͘ ůů ƌŝŐŚƚƐ ƌĞƐĞƌǀĞĚ͘ KhZ d D͗ dŚĞ 'ĂnjĞƩĞ ƚĞĂŵ ĐŽŶƐŝƐƚƐ ŽĨ͗ EŝĐŽ :ŽŚŶƐŽŶ͕ ĚŝƚŽƌ͕ :ŽLJ >Ăŵď͕ ^ĂůĞƐ Θ ĐĐŽƵŶƚƐ džĞĐƵƟǀĞ͕ ĂǀŝĚ ,ŽůůŝƐƚĞƌ͕ ŽůƵŵŶŝƐƚ͕ :ŽŚŶ 'ĂƌŶĞƌ͕ ŽůƵŵŶŝƐƚ͕ ZĞŐƵůĂ tƌŝŐŚƚ͕ ŽůƵŵŶŝƐƚ͘ WĂƵů EŽƚůĞLJ͕ 'ƌĂƉŚŝĐƐ͕ <ŝŵ ^ƚĞĞĚĞŶ͕ ^ƉŽƚůŝŐŚƚ ŝĂƌLJ ĚŝƚŽƌ͘ sK>hEd Z^͗ ŵĂƐƐŝǀĞ ƚŚĂŶŬƐ ƚŽ ŽƵƌ ǀŽůƵŶƚĞĞƌƐ͕ ǁŚŽƐĞ ŚĞůƉ ŝƐ ŝŶǀĂůƵĂďůĞ ĞĂĐŚ ŵŽŶƚŚ͘ KƵƌ ƉƌŽŽĨ ƌĞĂĚĞƌƐ ĂƌĞ ƚŚĞ ǀĞƌLJ ƉƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂů͗ 'ĞƌƌLJ EŽƌƌŝƐ ĂŶĚ ĂǀŝĚ ,ŽůŵĂŶ͕ ǁŝƚŚ ǀŽůƵŶƚĞĞƌ WŚŽƚŽŐƌĂƉŚĞƌ͕ dŝŵ ƌĂďď͕ ĂůƐŽ ŽŶͲŚĂŶĚ͘

Telephone Sales tĞ ƌĞƐĞƌǀĞ ƚŚĞ ƌŝŐŚƚ ƚŽ ŵĂŝŶƚĂŝŶ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚ ǁŝƚŚ ŽƵƌ ĂĚǀĞƌƟƐŝŶŐ ĐůŝĞŶƚƐ͕ ƉĂƐƚ ĂŶĚ ƉƌĞƐĞŶƚ͕ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ƚŚĞ ƵƐĞ ŽĨ ƚĞůĞƉŚŽŶĞ ĐĂůůƐ͘ /Ĩ LJŽƵ ĚŽ ŶŽƚ ǁŝƐŚ ƚŽ ŚĞĂƌ ĨƌŽŵ ƵƐ ƚŽ ďĞ ƌĞŵŝŶĚĞĚ ŽĨ ƵƉĐŽŵŝŶŐ ĚĞĂĚůŝŶĞƐ͕ ƉůĞĂƐĞ ĚŽ ůĞƚ ƵƐ ŬŶŽǁ͊

The Purbeck Gazette

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Buzzards after a kill, taken in December 2016, by Annie Whitehouse

KEd d h^ Zd^ Θ Ed Zd /ED Ed ϱϳ h^/E ^^ D dd Z^ Ϯϵ KDDhE/dz D dd Z^ ϴ KhE /> D d/E'^ Ϯ / Zz ^WKd>/',d ϲϵ FEATURES Best In Purbeck Awards 15 Blast From The Past 18 ŽƌƐĞƚ ŽƵŶƚLJ ŽƵŶĐŝů ŚĂŶŐĞƐ ϭϰ &ĂƌĞǁĞůů dŽ ĂǀŝĚ ZŽƐĞ ϭϬ FEATURE: Put A Spring In Your Step!

32-40 'ĂnjĞƩ Ğ 'ĂƌĚĞŶŝŶŐ &ĞĂƚƵƌĞ ϱϮͲϱϲ /ŶƚƌŽĚƵĐŝŶŐ KZ/^ Ͳ ƌŝƟ ƐŚ 'ĞŽůŽŐŝĐĂů ^ŽĐŝĞƚLJ Ϯϱ John Garner writes - Postcards From The Edge 49 Meet Bonnemine 50 ^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ ůƵĞƐ &ĞƐƟ ǀĂů ϲϬͲϲϭ dĞůůŝŶŐ /ƚ >ŝŬĞ /ƚ /Ɛ Ͳ ĂǀŝĚ ,ŽůůŝƐƚĞƌ ǁƌŝƚĞƐ 8 &KK Ͳ 'ŽĚůŝŶŐƐƚŽŶ DĂŶŽƌ <ŝƚĐŚĞŶ 'ĂƌĚĞŶƐ ϰϲ , >d, Θ hdz ϲϯ > dd Z^ ϰ DKdKZ/E' Ͳ ĂǀŝĚ ,ŽůůŝƐƚĞƌ ǁƌŝƚĞƐ ϰϭ E dhZ > D dd Z^ ϰϵ ^WKZd ϲϳ dZ s Zd^ ƐƉŽŶƐŽƌĞĚ ďLJ ^LJĚĞŶŚĂŵƐ ϳϮ

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See our website shop at: www.purbeckgazette.co.uk for rate card, booking & payment Prices from £25.80 (inc VAT) Discounts available dŚĞ ůĞŐĂů ƐƚƵī ͘​͘​͘ ǀĞƌLJ Ğī Žƌƚ ŝƐ ŵĂĚĞ ƚŽ ĞŶƐƵƌĞ ƚŚĞ ĂĐĐƵƌĂĐLJ ŽĨ ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟ ŽŶ ĐŽŶƚĂŝŶĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚŝƐ ŵĂŐĂnjŝŶĞ͕ ďƵƚ ƚŚĞ ĚŝƚŽƌ ŝƐ ƵŶĂďůĞ ƚŽ ĂĐĐĞƉƚ ƌĞƐƉŽŶƐŝďŝůŝƚLJ ĨŽƌ ĂŶLJ ŽŵŝƐƐŝŽŶƐ Žƌ ĞƌƌŽƌƐ ƚŚĂƚ ŵĂLJ ŽĐĐƵƌ͘ dŚĞ ŝŶĐůƵƐŝŽŶ ŽĨ ĂŶLJ ĂƌƟ ĐůĞ Žƌ ĂĚǀĞƌƟ ƐĞŵĞŶƚ ĚŽĞƐ ŶŽƚ ĐŽŶƐƟ ƚƵƚĞ ĂŶLJ ĨŽƌŵ ŽĨ ĂĐĐƌĞĚŝƚĂƟ ŽŶ Žƌ ĂƉƉƌŽǀĂů ďLJ ƚŚĞ ĚŝƚŽƌ͘ EŽ ƉĂƌƚ͕ ǁƌŝƩ ĞŶ Žƌ ǀŝƐƵĂů͕ ŽĨ ƚŚŝƐ ƉƵďůŝĐĂƟ ŽŶ ŵĂLJ ďĞ ƌĞƉƌŽĚƵĐĞĚ ǁŝƚŚŽƵƚ ǁƌŝƩ ĞŶ ƉĞƌŵŝƐƐŝŽŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ĚŝƚŽƌ͘

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The clue is in the heading above - these are our readers’ letters. They are NOT articles, they are letters. By you. Our readers. They are not our letters, they are yours - your letters. Simple!

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 PUBLICATIONS WE DO NOT PRINT MULTI-PUBLICATION LETTERS.

APR edition deadline: noon, 9th MAR

EĞǁ ^ŽĐŝĂů &ƌŝĞŶĚƐŚŝƉ 'ƌŽƵƉ Dear Editor, Are any lesbians and gay men living in Purbeck interested in setting up a social/friendship group?

We could perhaps have a social once a month such as; a meal, cinema, theatre, barbeque on the beach (not yet!) and so on.

Also there is the potential to share similar interests such as walking, golf, music, books and so on.

If you are interested, please contact outinpurbeck@gmail.com Depending on the response, I will organise an initial get together.

Many thanks, Karen, by email.

Beer, Ale & Cider Specialists High Street, Swanage 01929 423533

The Purbeck Gazette

DMB Cars Dave Ball 07968 142134 Private Hire Airports Docks Local & Long Distance Competitive Rates

have no real interest in “fixing” the NHS, they just want to create an endless gravy train to pay their own inflated salaries.

Another example of privatisation by the back door.

Kind regards, Mike Pollard, Wareham, by email.

&ĞƐƟǀĂů͛Ɛ ŚĂƌŝƚLJ ŽŶĂƟŽŶƐ

DŽƌĞ ĞƐƚƌƵĐƟŽŶ LJ td Dear Editor, Oh how I agree with David Hollister when he talks about Dorset Wildlife destroying the habitat on Townsend!!

They are at it AGAIN on Winfrith Heath ‘actively managing to conserve’ or so they say!! I too wonder what happens to all the animals and birds that use this thick cover to hide/sleep and feed in?

There is sooooo much open heather covered space for the so called ground nesting birds (I have yet to see any) to use, but all DWT keep doing is cutting down trees and thick bramble/gorse/hawthorn etc., which is just a perfect wind break or shade in summer for the other animals and birds to use.

I have to say as an active walker, the only time I see or hear birds is in dense cover with trees. Surely it doesn’t take a so-called “expert” to realise that’s because they feel safe with natural cover!

Where all these creatures find to go after their homes have been destroyed, by DWT, I cannot imagine.

I always thought we needed more trees to help with global warming, etc.

Please DWT look at the awful mess humans are making over the rest of the world by destroying animals’ habitats, many of which are on the verge of becoming extinct.

Let’s not do it here in our beautiful green and pleasant land.

Regards, Julie Groome, by email.

άϲ ŝůůŝŽŶ 'ƌĂǀLJ dƌĂŝŶ͊ Dear Readers, The Swanage Forum held a meeting on 11th January to discuss the Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) proposals for re-organising NHS services in Dorset.

Around 200 people attended and many concerns were expressed about the severe under-funding in the NHS and whether the Clinical Services Review (CSR) is merely a cost-cutting exercise that will lead to worse healthcare services in Dorset.

Attendees warned that GP surgeries would be closed, A&E departments would be downgraded, and hospital beds would be lost. Despite the dire lack of funding from central government, the CCG could still find £3 million to pay the American management consultancy firm McKinsey for their “work” on the CSR. The UK pays £6 billion a year of taxpayers’ money to such firms, mostly for projects in the NHS, civil service and local government. These firms

Dear Readers, Please see our picture above of the recent presentation of two charity cheques from donations received at the Purbeck Christmas Tree Festival.

Thanks to the generosity of local people, we were able to give the Swanage Pier Trust and the Swanage Area Dementia Friendly Charity a cheque for £400 each.

Pictured above are Ben from the Pier, and Jean from the Swanage Area Dementia Friendly group accepting their cheques.

This year’s festival dates are 7-10 December, if you want to make a note in your diary .....!

Best wishes, Marjorie Edwards, by email.

Turn Your World Purple Dear Editor, I am writing to ask your readers to turn their world purple for epilepsy this Purple Day. Purple Day, the international day of epilepsy awareness, falls on Sunday 26 March. It is the one day of the year where people across the globe work together to dispel the myths that surround epilepsy, by raising awareness in a positive way. Epilepsy Action would love for your readers to get involved. There are around 51,000 people in the South West living with epilepsy.

Every year, the money raised for Epilepsy Action on Purple Day helps us to continue our life-changing work. Whether it’s dying your hair purple, munching on purple cakes, or throwing a purple ball, there are so many ways to get in the purple spirit and celebrate epilepsy awareness.

Getting involved couldn’t be simpler. By visiting epilepsy.org.uk/purple , or calling 0113 210 8851, you can request your free purple fundraising pack. The pack contains everything you need to make your fundraising a success, from hints and tips to purple balloons. You can also buy Purple Day wristbands to show your support.

Epilepsy Action directly supports over two million people every year, with a network of local support groups and a helpline staffed by epilepsy experts. The money we raise on Purple Day will mean we can help even

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Square & Compass Worth Matravers. 01929 439229

LIVE ACTS FOR MARCH Fri Sat Fri Sat Sun Sat Fri Sat Sun Thur Fri

3 4 10 11 12 18 24 25 26 30 31

8pm Sean Taylor 8pm Flakey Jake S 8pm Mikey Kenny Mon INGLE 20th S NI 8pm Jenny Wren Mar GHT! ch 7 2pm Dirty Bourbon River Show .30p m 8pm & Sun 19 at 2pm Rag Mama Rag 8pm Worry Dolls 8pm Chris Jagger 2pm Phil King www.squareandcompasspub.co.uk 8pm Poetry Night - Elvis McGonicle & Salena Godden 8pm String Symphony

more. You can find out more and get support on our website, epilepsy. org.uk, or by calling our helpline on 0800 800 5050.

Yours faithfully, Amy Hesselden, Fundraising events officer, Epilepsy Action, by email.

WƌŽďƵƐ Ϯ Ͳ ,ĞůƉŝŶŐ ,ŽƐƉŝĐĞ Dear Editor, The Committee of Probus 2 of Swanage wishes to say thank you to all who contributed to the Club chosen charity, Julia’s House Children’s Hospice.

Amy Tatum of Julia’s House gave a presentation of the work of the charity at our 26th January meeting held at the Purbeck House Hotel.

After her excellent talk we presented her with a cheque for £680.15 for Julia’s House Hospice. We welcome new members and further details about our Club can be found on our website: probus2purbeck.org.uk Frank Nicoll, Publicity, Probus2 of Purbeck

Stop Feeding Seagulls Dear Sirs, Could I via your letters pages, appeal to those people living in the Wessex Way, D’Urberville Drive and Anglebury Avenue areas of Swanage to refrain, repeat refrain - from feeding the seagulls.

There are any number of reasons for this; principally that this is the wrong food for them, coupled with which, there is plenty of the correct food in the bay or beyond.

Other reasons include the necessity for your neighbours to rewash laundry at the drying stage, to clean cars, painted walls, windows and doors – all due to the seagulls’ copious defecation.

The goodwill of those people in your neighbourhood being put at risk.

You, by feeding the gulls, are contributing to the present consideration of introducing birds of prey to deter the seagulls in various towns whilst the council runs a service to deal with your food waste.

As Del Boy would say ‘You know it makes sense!’

Yours sincerely, R Barrett, Swanage.

ZE ^ŚŝƉŵĂƚĞƐ ZĞƵŶŝŽŶ Dear Editor, Forthcoming Royal Navy Reunion Thank you again local newspapers, like this one, for printing my letters about reuniting those who have served together in the Royal Navy. My letters are often cut out and sent to someone who has served, ‘My niece saw your letter and sent it to me…..’

Many are missing the camaraderie of those who served in the Royal Navy, such as the eight already found from H.M.S. Raleigh; 23 Entry Benbow Division, 2nd June 1980.

If you think: ‘I wish I could re-live some of it’, well this can be done in the form of an ‘RN Shipmates Reunion’, to be held over the weekend of Friday April 21st to Monday 24th in the Midlands.

This includes a Coach Tour over the weekend and of course, a Tot Issue. Wives and partners are welcomed too. No association or annual subscription, just come and ‘Swing the Lamp’ and find old shipmates.

Contact me for Reunion details: Mike Crowe on mike.crowe1@btinternet. com or at 7 Heath Road, Lake, Sandown, Isle of Wight. PO36 8PG (A stamp will help the pension if writing to me for Reunion details!)

The next move towards finding your old shipmate is yours. Do it now!

Kind regards, Mike Crowe, by email

ZĂŝƐŝŶŐ &ƵŶĚƐ &Žƌ ZŽĐŬĞƌLJ Dear Editor Ref: Saving Stone Marker for site of Wareham Middle/Modern School The Wareham Secondary Modern School opened in the 1930s and was attended by thousands of locals, including me, and is remembered with some nostalgia; from “Standing Under the Clock” to proudly playing in the Hockey Team – (mostly unbeaten in the late 1950s).

More recently in 1974 it became the Wareham Middle School when the three tier Purbeck pyramid was formed until 2013, when sadly it closed, as the two tier school system was re-instated. Unfortunately, the school became redundant, and has been recently demolished.

It is hoped that the site will be developed as the “Living and Learning” hub for Wareham; with the Medical Centre, therapy and consultation rooms, ambulance station, day care centre, and other allied services. Not to lose what was an excellent learning experience for at least three generations we have the chance of putting a lasting memorial to the school on site in the future. Help is needed to enable this to happen.

Please consider contributing, by making a donation. At the last school reunion in the summer of 2013 we collected some funds that will help towards the cost. The iconic original Rockery Stone which was the Wareham Middle School’s welcome at the entrance to the School is to be refurbished by a local quarry and will have new lettering too, with the badge of the Secondary Modern era with our memorable “Neglect not the Gift” motto.

The Rockery Stone, originally from a Purbeck Quarry, which weighs about a ton, will be placed back on the site; an inaugural commemorative event will be arranged for it in the future – watch this space...

Yours sincerely, Beryl Ezzard (nee Ford) Please contact: berylrezz@outlook.com tel. 01929 550138/07860 503944 for more info.

EĞǁ WůĂŶƐ &Žƌ WŝĞƌŚĞĂĚ Dear Editor, On Monday evening my husband and I attended a meeting of Swanage Town Council Planning Committee. We went because we had read on Facebook that they had received a revised planning application for the Pierhead site in Swanage. After years of to-ing and fro-ing between the Storer family and Purbeck District Council, planning permission had eventually been granted for a mixed use development, comprising two blocks, each with a restaurant at the base and four flats over. This design, although not ideal for such an important seafront site, was accepted by the local community as a reasonable way forward from the impasse which had left the site derelict and an eyesore for many years.

The much-loved Seagull Cafe, which had occupied the eastern end of the site, was removed and demolition of the old buildings appeared to begin.

Now a revised planning application has been submitted which states that “The principle of ‘mixed use’ for the western most accommodation has

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THE SEWING BOX Garment Alterations and Repairs Daisy May’s Arcade 2 Kings Road East Swanage

Tel: Sarah 01929 421057 emerged as commercially unrealisable.” The reasons for this are given as; that there is a sewer under the site and it is too expensive to build over, that mortgage lenders don’t like residential accommodation over commercial properties and that the cost of building the commercial unit would outweigh the rent return.

The new proposal has two additional flats at ground floor level. Because the site is on a slope the ground floor will actually be elevated several feet above the pavement level, but in the plans which have been approved, this created a raised terrace which was accessible from pavement level and would provide outside seating for the restaurant, a very attractive prospect.

In the new plans the raised terrace becomes private terraces for the flats, with no public access. The revised plan rather confusingly relates only to the western half of the site, but nevertheless shows changes to the plan for the eastern part of the site, altering the cafe at the base of the western block into two small retail units. No doubt a further revised plan relating to this part of the site will be along later.

I used the public consultation period at the start of the meeting to protest these proposed changes, as did David Hollister, who pointed out that the reasons given for the changes had existed for many years before the planning application had been approved. When the matter came up for discussion the councillors admitted to being confused by the application and suggested that members of the public were too, although we seemed to know a great deal more about it than they did.

Admittedly the fact that it only referred to half of the site, including, rather weirdly, only demolishing part of the old Pierhead building, while illustrating changes to the whole site, did seem to be designed to confuse.

The matter was deferred to a later meeting in order for more information to be made available.

Worryingly, later in the meeting, while discussing another proposal, it emerged that Purbeck’s planning department is in disarray, having lost two of its planning officers and having a big backlog of cases. I am concerned that, because of pressure of time, this application will be nodded through without proper consideration of the issues.

During the interval I was surprised to be approached by the Mayor, who showed me the full-size plan and asked me to clarify my objection.

I got the impression that he had not seen the plans before and wanted the changes pointed out to him. When I did so, he told me that there was nothing he or we could do, as it was private land and the owners could do what they liked on it. When we asked what planning was for in that case, he said that there was ‘a presumption in favour of consent’ (thanks, George Osborne!) and that objections could only be made on ‘material planning considerations’ and that public amenity was not a material consideration.

I simply don’t accept this interpretation of the rules. Planners can, and do, object to a change of use, over-development and inappropriate development, all of which apply to this new application. Obviously people are not given unlimited rights to do what they like on their land - that’s the whole purpose of Planning.

This town is heavily dependent on tourism, and this site is critical in that respect. It can either be a major asset to the town, or an ugly blight on our beautiful seafront. If you care about this, look up the plans on PDC’s website.

ŽŽŬ ĂĚǀĞƌƟƐŝŶŐ Ăƚ͗ www. ƉƵƌďĞĐŬŐĂnjĞƩĞ͘ĐŽŵ or call ϬϭϵϮϵ ϰϮϰϮϯϵ Ğdžƚ ϭ

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01929 422453 07884 452284 The approved plans are 06/2015/0328 and the new plans are 06/2016/0486.

An extract is shown here. If you object, you have until the end of March to do so.

Regards, Janice Thomson, by email

,ŽƵƐŝŶŐ EĞĞĚ͕ EŽƚ 'ƌĞĞĚ Dear Editor, In David Hollister’s February Article he says “Laura Miller, PDC’s Housing Portfolio Manager, intimated ‘that in many places local residents appear not to want affordable homes in ‘their back yard’ and this in turn suggests to me that they’d prefer empty second homes to first homes occupied by local families who actually need a home to live in.’”

This is completely untrue, most of the people are objecting to the unreasonable number of market houses being imposed on Purbeck by Government Inspectors using biased formula to dictate numbers.

Pan Purbeck Action Committee is a Purbeck wide association of people and groups who do not wish to see Purbeck turned into a suburb of Poole and Bournemouth which is what will happen if this goes through. We should all be fighting to protect Purbeck not exploiting it.

PPAC says NEED NOT GREED - we should not need to build 1,000s to get the 100s needed and the buildings should be of better quality if the estates recently and currently being built are anything to go by.

The homes should be small estates suited to each individual village and town and built by small local firms employing local people.

These 5098 houses will mean in excess of 10,000 extra vehicles, what will this do to traffic volumes which are almost unmanageable now? There are NO provisions in this plan for improvements in road, Policing, NHS provisions, etc.

If the NHS A&E is moved from Poole to Bournemouth, what will happen to the golden hour if the nearest ambulance is at Owermoigne or Bere Regis, for example?

How long will it take to get to Swanage with only one road and increased traffic? At the moment Sandford to the Bakers Arms is almost gridlocked and public transport almost impossible for visits once someone is in hospital.

Yours, Diana Parry, by email

DŝůĞĂŐĞ EŽƚ ŐĞ &Žƌ DKdƐ͍ Dear Editor, It’s been commonly mooted in the national press that the government wants to increase the age of new cars having their first MOT from the current three years to an illogical four years.

I feel that all cars and vans should have an MOT each year or every 12,000 miles depending on what comes first. And the reason for that is that an MOT picks up some of the most severe conditions that could be

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Deco Jewellery (vintage) Advice in shop Georgian Gems

High St, Swanage 01929 424697 downright dangerous if we continue to ignore safety by using the concept of a vehicles roadworthiness based on age.

The most common MOT failures are due to faulty tyres that are damaged or have illegal tread depth. Another is brakes that have brake related problems such as excessive wear or unusual wear patterns. This is followed up by electrical faults or exhaust systems with corrosion, loose or missing mountings from the exhaust. The list is endless.

It’s incredulous that the proposals for lengthening the time for the first MOT only applies to cars and not vans. Surely fleet vehicles irrespective of being cars or vans have an average age of 40 months or 85,000 miles before being replaced from new. The main reason is they have become so dangerous and expensive to maintain. A mandatory inspection on all vehicles is the only effective way of ensuring that all vehicles are being properly maintained.

I remain Editor, yours faithfully, Mike Fry, by email.

dŚĞ ǀŝĚĞŶĐĞ /Ɛ tĞĂŬ Dear Editor, In my opinion the evidence for a Swanage tidal inlet as suggested by 16th Century maps, and various archaeological finds is weak.

What is certain is that the sea level has risen since the last ice age; that is 12,000 years or so. Archaeologists investigating Iron Age sites on the shore of Poole harbour conclude that the water has risen at least a metre over the last 2,500 years. There is evidence for the same rise in Swanage bay in the form of Evaporite rocks that only form in the open air. They are now under water.

On this sea level change point W.M. Hardy is certainly wrong. He says it has risen since Tudor times (that is Leland’s visit). I seek not to criticise WMH, but the grand old man did make mistakes. His claim that cottages near the church dates from 1018 is wildly wrong.

If one metre in 2,500 years is about the right rate of change and that rate was more or less the same since the height of the glaciation, with the ice front only a 200 miles away, the sea would have been about five metres or so lower and quite a lot further out. The stream draining the Wealden valley would have been cutting its bed rather than dumping sediment in the area in question.

On this question of wider Purbeck drainage it is striking that the Corfe river rises in the Wealden valley and then flows northward through a narrow gap in the chalk ridge and on to Poole harbour.

Like the rivers that drain the Weald of Kent and Sussex by going through gaps in the North and South Downs it indicates that the source region was once much, much higher than now. A lot has happened during the quarternary! Some of its students suggest that the south Purbeck ridge, roughly the 400ft contour extending from Worth to Swanage is in fact a wave cut platform.

Returning to the more recent and hence more knowable past; following the retreat of the ice the sea rose and advanced. Shoreline sand and shingle would have clogged the stream outlet. The water would have found its way through as the Worbarrow stream does now, but slowing down the

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rate of flow would cause carried sediments to drop. Surely the alluvial area was slowly built up in this way? A process which continues whenever there is flooding, which was until recently. My Great Grandfather shot Snipe in Whistles every winter; they like it wet.

The Worbarrow stream mirrors Swanage at exactly the same geological level. The difference is it has no flood plain due to the relief being higher and no engineering. What of the photograph showing boats in the stream as far west as the Methodist church? It is easy to forget in these days of Tupperware boats that clinker dinghys leak. One way to keep them plimmed up tight is to leave them in water. It would have been easy to drag a small boat across the beach obstacle, float in the stream and possibly row, certainly easily tow it, past the Conservative Club. This hardly adds up to a navigable waterway.

One problem is the name. The lake near East Lulworth constructed by Mr Weld the sailor, to trial his model boats, gets called Luckford Lake. It is not! The lake is the stream that flows from close-by northwards to the Frome. All the other lakes in South East Dorset are also streams rather than large bodies of water. The word was also applied to low tide channels in Poole harbour, such as Blood Alley Lake, west of Brownsea Island.

Billy Winspit called the stream by his cottage ‘The Lake’; it can dry up. It is interesting that the word has come down to us with this local meaning different to the main stream sense of the word.

Somewhere along the line the Swanage stream/lake started to be called the Brook; John Mowlem did so. Perhaps it indicates a certain metropolitan sophistication on his part. Can any reader push the usage of ‘Brook’ back earlier? As it is, long live the lake.

Treleven Haysom, by email.

/Ŷ WƌĂŝƐĞ KĨ 'ĂnjĞƩĞ͘​͘​͘ Dear Editor, I was positively overwhelmed by the wedding feature in your February issue, bringing back pleasant memories and prompting me to reconsider my (divorced) marital status.

Mercifully, I regained my senses upon reading your excellent article on Swanage and climate change, entitled ‘Just A Little Bit Of History Repeating Itself’.

Steve Darrington, by email.

The Purbeck Gazette

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Of Bikes, Books, Boxes, Birds and B.....

by David Hollister

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expect that quite a number of readers will remember the fancy dress summer bike ride in aid of a children’s Cancer charity, from the Blue Boar in Poole to Swanage, via twenty-five pubs. Seeming to cause mayhem along the way – especially in Corfe Castle. Well, charity bike rides don’t have to be alcohol-fuelled, threatening or disruptive. As witnessed by the recent Rotary Bike Ride in aid of Cancer Research which raised a staggering £54,000, apparently upsetting nobody. Well done you Rotarians, a credit to the Isle of Purbeck. The next one is on Sunday 17th September 2017, so if you’d like to take part or to help with the marshalling, go to http://www.warehamrotary.co.uk/bikeride/ On the subject of ‘well done’, I see that Corfe Castle Parish Council advertised for a Parish Clerk, to start in March 2017 to replace Jeff Dunn, who’s been a brilliant Parish Clerk for over ten years and whose shoes will be very hard to fill. Well done Jeff, enjoy your retirement! And a big ‘well done’ to the organisers of the Purbeck Rally, who presented a defibrillator to Church Knowle Parish Council. What a great gesture!

What a shame that the latest round of DCC’s cuts has included the withdrawal of the popular Mobile Library service. It used to come to us in Harmans Cross once a fortnight, bringing books to the many elderly residents for whom a trip to Swanage library is more than they can manage.

I’m sure it came to your village, too.

We at Harmans Cross Village Hall always have a huge surfeit of books for the bookstall at our annual fete. So we’ve put up a bookshelf in the Committee room on the basis that you want one, take it, you want to bring us some more, then please bring them. No names, no subscription, no charges, if the Hall’s open then come along and help yourself. Hope that idea spreads to as many village halls and church halls as possible so that people now deprived of the mobile library can at least find something to read!

I see that BT are ‘hawking around’ their redundant red phone boxes and offering people the chance to ‘adopt’ one for £1 - less, of course, any phone equipment! What a brilliant idea! They get £1 and save the costs of removal and demolition. We get ……an empty phone box. Oh, and we can’t take it home!

‘Have your say on homes plan’ read the headlines in Another Publication recently. They stated that ‘hundreds of residents are expected to pack out a special public meeting’ to discuss the Purbeck Local plan for an additional 3080 homes. So maybe this meeting – on Thursday March 16th - is another chance for you to have your say. Cllr Gary Suttle said: “We are consulting on what we mostly consider to be an unacceptable proposal. It is your job to respond. The more people who respond the better.” So PLEASE go and give Gary your support. That’s if you aren’t at work, or picking up the kids, or making dinner …. 5pm till 6.30pm is a damned silly time to have a public meeting of this importance. Hope you can get there. Me? I’m working.

Everyone so chuffed that ‘Winterwatch’ was filmed - live - in Arne. Sorry, I’m a total philistine. And no ornithologist either. Because one bit of blasted heath, at night, in the fog, looks very much to me like any other……..

Watched half an episode and woke up when it was over. The Editor, on the

other hand, was out there night after night, getting all ‘mumurationfied’….!!

Dorset County Council’s “Historic Environment team” seeks to promote interest, understanding and enjoyment of Dorset’s historic environment and careful and sensitive development within it. They provide information and advice on historic environment matters to a wide range of people and organisations, and across a wide range of issues and activities. They seriously suggest that the site of the old Cottees Auction House should be archaeologically examined before it’s developed. Sorry. Me – philistine again – just asks “how the hell much is this going to cost?” and indeed “why do we have a Historical Environment team at all when our social services are so overstressed that their workers are having nervous breakdowns and going into total meltdown?”

The plans are in for the former Grammar School in Swanage to be demolished and thirty-nine dwellings erected. The school closed in 1974; I was amongst its pupils and I’d like to say that these were the best years of my life. I’d like to say so. But I can’t. This building site, along with the adjacent fifty-two new dwellings, is situated right next to the superb new St. Mary’s School. Well, when I say ‘superb’, I’m referring to the education….. certainly not the location, on a narrowing road with regular deep puddles, without (until recently) a speed limit, and apparently with no facility for parents to deliver their children in safety off-road. The school car park isn’t fit for this purpose.

STC kindly offered a fee-free part of the North Beach Car Park, so that parents could walk their little darlings through leafy Days Park and thence to school. Good in theory. Not so good in the cold or the rain at silly-oclock in the morning. Apparently, little darlings have to be deposited at the school gates regardless of the traffic congestion it causes or indeed the potential danger. Parents ….. walk….. children……to school…… you are joking, aren’t you?

So here’s where the planners can help. Insist that the developer allocates a piece of land, perhaps 20m x 20m, on the site and adjacent to the school, as a proper safe ‘drop-off’ point – not a parking place. If the planners fail to do this and houses are built right up to the road – the chance is lost for ever.

Fascinated to hear that PDC planners, replying to a letter objecting to a development at Priests Road, sent a letter referring to a totally different development at Worth Matravers! Makes one wonder – have the planners “lost the plot”….. !

Three out of nine councils voted against the proposals to take part in a ‘Unitary Authority’, of which Purbeck DC was one, on the Chairman’s casting vote. But it seems to me that with six councils anxious to amalgamate, we’ll just get steamrollered as we do on so many occasions.

This will mean the loss of local councillors and also many jobs at PDC, in the name of ‘economies’ (i.e. “cuts”). I’m told that morale is low amongst staff at PDC at the moment; no wonder, as nobody knows whether their job is safe or not. Invidious position.

Now I’ve often reviled PDC – especially the planners – as being “idiots”.

But they’re very much our idiots and no, we don’t want to be ruled by possible idiots from much, much further afield (where’s Purbeck?) instead.

The Purbeck Gazette

Wareham Town Council Updates ǰȱ ȱ £ Ĵ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ goings on in recent council meetings.....

News from Wareham Town Council January he Council agreed to request a precept of £166,456 which translates to a charge of £77.90 for the Wareham Town part of the Council Tax on a Band D property. The budget does not include a donation to Wareham Youth Club.

Councillors were reminded of the benefits of a Neighbourhood Plan by Dr David Evans, Vice Chair of the Steering Group.

The Neighbourhood Plan gives people the chance to shape and direct the growth of their locality. Consultations had shown that most local people were opposed to the housing proposed for west and north of Wareham.

The alternative proposal from the Steering Group is one hundred and fifty houses to the west of Westminster Road and along Carey Road but with vehicular access from Bere Road.

Sites suggested for employment opportunities are at Westminster Road and at the far end of Sandford Lane. The Middle School site could accommodate a Community Hub with space for later expansion and a road to alleviate Monmouth Road traffic. The Steering Group was aware that development at Wool would increase traffic on the A351.

County Councillor Ezzard reported that: 17,000 people responded to the consultation on local government reorganisation and two thirds favoured the solution of one authority for Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch and another for the rest of Dorset; Dorset County Council (DCC) will request more funding from central government to cover the cost of additional child asylum seekers; Resurfacing of the A351 in Sandford from Pottery Roundabout to the Primary School will take place in March; DCC officers are drawing up plans for a 1:12 ramped bridge across the railway.

The results of the Partial Review of the Local Plan consultation and details of the work to be done in response are published in the Partial Review Options Consultation Report. District Councillor Goodinge particularly mentioned the independent review of housing numbers and investigation into Community Land Trusts as a means of delivering affordable housing for local people.

Purbeck District Council had debated whether to change the local connection qualification in the Dorset Home Choice Allocations Policy from five years to two.

The public is invited to the next meetings of the Town Council on Tuesdays 7th March and 18th April in the Town Hall at 7pm.

For further information about these meetings and the Annual Town Meeting, call 01929 553006 or visit the website at www.wareham-tc.gov.uk.

T

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^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ ŝĚƐ &ĂƌĞǁĞůů dŽ ĂǀŝĚ ZŽƐĞ David. E. Rose (22 November 1924 – 26 January 2017) wanage has recently said farewell to a well-known and highly respected member of the community, British television producer and commissioner, David Rose.

I first met David several years ago when he was on one of his regular trips back home to Swanage. He popped into Gazette Towers to introduce himself and have a chat, and swiftly became a regular visitor to the office.

Below is a short recap of a selection of David’s many achievements, followed by a short editorial written by David for the Gazette, which we have decided to republish in his memory.

David Rose, born in 1924, flew thirty-four missions (Lancaster Bombers) during WWII before training as an actor at the Guildhall School of Drama. He became an Assistant Floor Manager for the BBC in 1954 and by the late ‘50s, David was a Director of Dramatised Documentaries for the BBC, including working on ‘Black Furrow’ (1958 - open cast mining in South Wales).

David then became a Producer and Production Executive, and was the original producer of the hugely popular ‘Z-Cars’ (1962-65). David was appointed Head of English Regional Drama at BBC Pebble Mill

by David Attenborough in 1971, later leaving the BBC in 1981 to become Commissioning Editor for Fiction at Channel Four, becoming heavily involved with ‘Film on Four’. He stayed in his post at Channel Four until 1990.

David is credited for being a significant figure in the regeneration of British cinema, and was awarded a special prize for services to cinema at Cannes in 1987, as well as being awarded the BFI Fellowship in April 2010.

David hails from Swanage (he was born in the family’s flat in Mermond Place), and maintained his strong connection with the town throughout the years.

In October 2015, David kindly shared images of Swanage from the Rose family archive, writing a short accompanying article detailing his family’s contribution to the town. He is pictured above settled on our sofa whilst editing his article during one of his visits to Gazette Towers.

Nico Johnson

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The Roses of Swanage, by David Rose, written August 2015.

One of my first memories was accompanying my grandfather, Lambert Horfield Rose, when he made his annual Christmas Day visit with his wife to the Swanage Children’s Hospital to give each young patient a tangerine orange.

I was born in Swanage on Saint Cecilia’s Day, the Patron Saint of music, in 1924. I like to think that after my demob from service in the Royal Air Force, she helped me to win my place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in the City of London. After completing war service as a RAF pilot of Lancaster Bombers (34 missions flown), I went on to train as an actor.

As for Swanage - John Mowlem and George Burt had brought many unwanted London features to adorn the town and in his own small way, my grandfather also made a contribution.

On a site in Station Road, Lambert built shops, including Rose Bros. the Jewellers, run by my father, Alvan, with our family living in flats above. Next door, the Central Garage – now Nixons hardware – was run by Uncle Neville, over which the Central Hall provided boxing, roller skating and the first films to be shown in Swanage . The whole site Lambert named Mermond Place.

>ŝƩĞƌ &ƌĞĞ WƵƌďĞĐŬ

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wo of Litter-free Purbeck teams of volunteers - Clean Up Corfe and Worth Picking Up- did their bit for the Great British Spring Clean early at the end of February.

Now it’s Love Langton’s and Swanage Litter Picks’ turns over the weekend of 3rd-6th March to spruce up where they love before spring gets fully under way.

The details are listed in the Spotlight Event Diary, but please do spare a couple of hours if you can to join one of our teams to make where we live even better!

If you can let us know that you are coming via:

During the First World War two of my uncles were killed, Merton and Osmond – whose names appear on the War Memorial overlooking Swanage Bay. Hence Mermond Place was named thus.

In 1914 my father, not wishing to kill anyone, enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Four years in the trenches serving the injured and dying took its toll and in 1919, he was discharged. He was married to Gladys that year.

While never strong, my father lived an active life, a member of the Chamber of Trade and the Swanage Music Society, he also held various offices in the Methodist Church and enjoyed playing bowls on the recreation ground just a step away from our back door. He never spoke of his war years, but I believe that his relatively early death at fifty-two was partially due to his experience. You will find no formal recognition of his war service.

Following service in the Royal Flying Corps, my Uncle Drumond distinguished himself by leaving a suitcase at Victoria Station, after which he was never heard of again.

Pictured: top - David in the Gazette office, August 2015. Below - David during WWII - RAF Flight Engineer.

litterfreepurbeck@gmail.com or via our Facebook page: Litter-free Purbeck, that would be very helpful but it’s not essential.

Everyone who’s moderately physically fit is welcome, but please don’t bring dogs or children under 11 as they’re unlikely to enjoy it. Supervised children over 11 are very welcome.

Please dress for whatever the weather and wear sturdy footwear and bring your own gardening gloves.

We hope to welcome new volunteers. Our events are fun and friendly, and Purbeck is cleaner and nicer as a result of what we do!

With best wishes, Litter-free Purbeck Core Team

The Purbeck Gazette

'ŽŽĚ >ƵĐŬ dŽ KƵƌ ͚DŝƐƐ /ŶƐƉŝƌĂƟŽŶ͊͛ Dear Readers, Miss Inspiration is a beauty pageant and I am very proud to be representing Dorset as ‘Miss inspiration Dorset’ at the UK Grand finals in April this year!

I have lived in Harmans Cross all of my life, and I am a local youth worker at Corfe youth club, having been with the club around three years now. I love inspiring the children to get fit and healthy through sports and fitness.

A few months ago at the Miss Dorset finals, I won miss Dorset Sportswoman 2016 after undertaking an extreme fitness challenge against twelve others!

I am a keen runner and boxer and I really enjoy living a healthy active lifestyle, especially out running in the beautiful hills of Corfe and the surrounding areas.

I also love doing charity work, so please keep a eye out locally at any one of my five jobs for any charity events. I am currently raising money for a little girl with Cerebal Palsy through cake sales and bungee jumps!

I aim to promote a healthy, strong body image for women as I enter the ‘Miss Inspiration’ finals in April.

Please wish me luck!

Kind regards, Gabriella Prior, Harmans Cross (pictured - top, above right, and at a cake sale at Corfe Village Hall, centre right) The competition: The UK Grand final will take place over two days, 7th April - 8th April 2017. It’s held at the Congress Theatre, Cwmbran Wales.

Day 1 - All contestants will take part in pageant bootcamp, followed by our famous PJ Party. This is the perfect opportunity for all our contestants

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to meet in a relaxed atmosphere before the big day.

Day 2 - Contestants will take part in a interview with a panel of judges, this is the perfect opportunity for the judges to get to know the contestants.

They will then spend the day rehearsing a choreographed dance routine for the opening round and rehearse each round afterwards.

These will consist of Fashion wear and Evening Gown.

We also have a optional swimwear round, this is totally the contestants’ choice and the title of Miss Beach Body will be awarded.

Prior to the final all contestants will be promoting their local region through appearances, as well as fundraising for our chosen charity: ‘Aim high 4 Aiyla’ http://aimhigh4aiyla.webs.com/contact-us .

Carpets Select is a local company which employs skilled, local labour, and is a member of the Guild of Master Craftsmen.

The Purbeck Gazette

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Out Of The Blue

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ince the last article the temperatures have fallen dramatically, resulting in freezing fog and icy roads; this has caught a number of drivers out and kept us busy dealing with Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs). Remember; in these conditions it is vital to ensure your windows are clear before starting your journey, no matter how short, and remember to adjust your speed accordingly, allowing extra stopping distance between cars. Don’t forget to use your lights, and fog lights, if you have them fitted. If you are unclear of the requirements of driving in these conditions, advice can be found in the Highway Code (Icy and Snowy Weather rules 228 – 231 and Fog rules 234-236).

The other consequence of the cold weather is the effect it is having on the road surfaces. There have been a number of very large pot holes appearing not only in the towns but also on the rural roads. We have been called to a number of incidents where drivers have unfortunately been caught out.

They are not always easy to see especially in the dark or when they are filled with water and they can cause considerable damage if hit at speed, so please be vigilant. If you do see a pot hole don’t take it for granted that someone else will have reported it, please report it to the local authorities as soon as you can. Your action could prevent a RTC or serious damage occurring to someone’s vehicle.

Whilst on the subject of vehicles, it’s not only the roads that have been keeping us busy, we are seeing a rise in thefts from unattended motor vehicles in rural areas, predominantly from the rural carparks. In response to this we have increased our patrols around these areas, but remember you can also help. Don’t give the thieves an excuse to break into your vehicle! Remove everything of value from the vehicle prior to arriving at your destination. Thieves will see you hiding things in the boot, glovebox or foot well. Take items with you if possible, including your Sat Nav and wipe off any windscreen marks left by your Sat Nav. Most of all ensure your windows and doors are secured and locked before you walk away and if you see anything suspicious report it.

A little reminder, don’t forget the penalty for using mobile phones when driving increases from the 1 March 2017 to £200 and 6 points.

On a lighter note, you may remember that we had three new PCSOs (police community support officers) start in December last year and I am happy to report none of them have left yet! They are all doing well, still getting lost at times but engaging well with their respective communities.

Finally, if you need to contact Dorset Police, please call our Police Enquiry Centre by calling 101. Always call 999 in an emergency when there is a risk of harm or a crime in progress. Alternatively, call the free CRIMESTOPPERS line on 0800 555 111.

Don’t forget to visit us on our Facebook page Facebook.com/Purbeckpolice and Twitter - @PurbeckPolice – we really value your support and comments. You can also see our latest priorities and up and coming events at https://www.dorset.police.uk/neighbourhood-policing/purbeck/ Why not register on Dorset Alert? By registering for the free Dorset Police community messaging alerts you will receive information on, local crime and incidents where we believe that sharing information with you will help to prevent further offences occurring and crimes and incidents where you may be able to help by providing vital information.

Plus current crime trends, crime prevention advice and Safer Neighbourhood activity and opportunities to meet the team. You can also receive news from our partner agencies such as Dorset Fire and Rescue Service or Trading Standards and community safety messages.

Please come along to our doorstep crime events at Swanage, Wareham and Upton. Dates can be found on the website, we’d love to see you there.

Purbeck Neighbourhood Policing Team

The Purbeck Gazette

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14

Change To Council Structure

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ll nine councils in Dorset have now considered a report and accompanying detailed package of evidence setting out a proposal to replace the county’s nine councils with two new unitary authorities.

Six councils (Bournemouth, Dorset County, North Dorset, Poole, West Dorset, and Weymouth & Portland) have supported the public mood and backed a change to local government structures in Dorset. The proposal is to create two new unitary councils based on the following existing local authority areas: Unitary A: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (including delivering the services currently provided by Dorset County Council in Christchurch).

Unitary B: East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland (including the services currently provided by Dorset County Council in this area).

Dorset’s Council Leaders met on 8th February. At this meeting, those councils supporting change agreed the formal proposal to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid, asking him to use the powers available and replace Dorset’s nine councils with two new unitary councils.

If the Secretary of State agrees and the change is approved by Parliament during 2017/18, decision-making bodies would be appointed to determine the structure, budget and service delivery models of each new Council.

These would be made up of councillors from all existing local authorities.

The new councils would ‘go live’ in April 2019, with full elections in May 2019.

A detailed study undertaken by PriceWaterhouseCoopers cites a compelling case for local government reorganisation in Dorset. It found evidence that replacing nine councils with two would benefit the economy, improve services, be good for people’s health and wellbeing, help education and skills in Dorset and improve the county’s infrastructure, housing and environment.

The decisions of each Council were as follows: Borough of Poole – approved, Dorset County Council – approved, West Dorset District Council – approved, Weymouth and Portland – approved, North Dorset District Council – approved, East Dorset District Council – refused, Christchurch Borough Council – refused, Bournemouth Borough Council – approved, Purbeck District Council – refused.

The Purbeck Gazette

The Purbeck Gazette

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Best In Purbeck Awards - The Winners!

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ach year, Dorset Cottage Holidays hold the Best in Purbeck Awards – celebrating all things local. This allows members of the public and our holiday guests to say exactly what they love, rewarding the hard work of our local friends.

Through social media, locals and visitors alike have been busy liking and loving the nominated companies and local organisations that consistently deliver high standards.

This year we have been even more overwhelmed by your response, with hundreds of votes cast in five categories. Our awards celebrate good local food, excellent service, places to eat and visit and finally, those who are best at writing all about it in our new Best Local Blogger category.

The counters have now been reset for 2017 on the Best in Purbeck Facebook Page, please join and cast your vote.

We are delighted to announce the 2016 winners….

Best Local Producer - Lily’s Produce of Swanage. You really can’t get more local than these lovely preserves and jams made in Lily’s kitchen, Swanage.

Best Local Blogger - Purbeck Footprints. Purbeck Footprints is a blog set up by local talented photographer, Julian Sawyer, to celebrate the natural beauty, captured in this stunning part of the world. Asked how he felt about winning Julian said: “I was extremely pleased to be voted ‘Best Purbeck Blogger’, it makes writing my blog more worthwhile knowing that so many people enjoy reading it. To have a local company care enough about the Isle of Purbeck to arrange the award makes it even better.”

Best Eatery - Worth Matravers Tea Rooms. The tea rooms in Worth have again won the popular vote, confirming it’s THE local place to eat. We have sampled some of their delicious fayre and it’s certainly well worth a visit!

Best Purbeck Event - for the second year running, the winner is Swanage Carnival.

This hugely popular event is fantastic. Although we are not allowed to vote, the organisers did spend two glorious hours in the lovely sunshine, on Swanage sea front enjoying this not-to-be-missed extravaganza.

Best Local Attraction - National Trust, Corfe Castle. The ruins of Corfe Castle are seen as the emblem of Purbeck. The famous royal ruins stand watch over the Isle and the most pretty historic village.

Proprietor, Leanne Hemingway, commented: “We are extremely lucky to have our office located at the foot of Corfe Castle, it really is a special place to work. We love meeting so many visitors to the area, offering our local knowledge and advice. Dorset is a glorious county, which is why guests keep coming back year after year to explore and enjoy, come rain or shine.”

Above: Julian Sawyer with DCH Assistant Manager, Caroline Mandeville. DZȱ ȱ ȱǻ ¢ Ǽȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ¢

Huge congratulations to everyone who was nominated, we really do appreciate all you do for our local community. As a family run and owned business, Dorset Cottage Holidays would like to thank you for your support and wish all entries the best of luck for 2017.

For more info please see: www.dhcottages.co.uk 01929 481547. Email: manager@dhcottages.co.uk Charlie Mahoney, Dorset Cottage Holidays.

The Purbeck Gazette

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orset’s Douch Family Funeral Directors have been shortlisted for a prestigious business award. The group, with eight branches, is in line for the ‘Family Business of the Year Award’, 2017, in the South West region.

Run by Family Business United, the awards recognise the diversity, strength and depth of family firms.

In the South West region there are thirteen businesses shortlisted, including well-known brands such as Thatchers Cider and St Austell Brewery.

Nick Douch (pictured), Managing Director of Douch Family Funeral Directors, which also runs the award-winning Dorset Funeral Plan, said: “Being a family business is important in our sector. When a family loses someone they may prefer to deal with a family business and often our branches have been dealing with the same family for generations. All our branches retain their original and historic family names, which are wellknown in the towns where they are based.”

“Being the fourth generation to run this company, I understand the benefits of what a family business brings. We are thrilled to have been shortlisted for this award, which is a reflection of all the hard work and professionalism shown by all our staff.”

Paul Andrews is founder and managing director of Family Business United, the leading online magazine and resource centre for family firms in the UK. Paul said: “We are delighted to be able to pull together such a vibrant

bunch of family businesses - some that have succeeded for numerous generations and continue to thrive, and others that are relatively young but have great values at the heart of what they do.”

The awards process concludes at a gala reception and awards ceremony that takes place in London at the prestigious Mayfair Hotel in June.

Douch Family Funeral Directors’ branches are Douch & Small in Wimborne, AE Jolliffe & Son in Ferndown, Lesley Shand in Corfe Mullen and Blandford, Ives and Shand in Parkstone, James Smith in Swanage, and Albert Marsh in Wareham and Upton. www.funeraldirector.co.uk

The Purbeck Gazette

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The Purbeck Gazette

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T

Blast From The Past! dŚŝƐ ŵŽŶƚŚ͕ ĞĐĂĚĞ ŐŽ͘​͘​͘

he March 2007 edition saw us continue our investigations into the Purbeck housing crisis, with a striking front cover declaring the isle as up for sale - just not to locals. The March edition article pulled together facts published over the previous few months and the opinions of our readers in response to the facts published.

Despite the general feeling being that the housing crisis was serious and needed addressing urgently, a mere handful of homes have been brought to the local affordable market since 2007. Little change, despite the passing of the years.

Readers Jo and Nigel Edmonds of Harmans Cross wrote in response to David Hollister’s comments in February 2007 regarding their campaign proposing a speed limit reduction from 40mph to 30mph in the village.

Jo and Nigel pointed out that there had indeed been serious accidents (including deaths) in Harmans Cross. They drew attention to the five (known of) accidents which had occurred within 100 metres of the crossroads in the previous two years.

Reader, Robin Brasher, wrote in to share his ideas of what could be done with Durlston Castle. He described the park as ‘an area to to observe wildlife, with a run-down castle’ in 2007, and suggested incorporating interactive displays on the walls, TV screens showing relevant features, an exhibition room for talented local groups to display their work and a display of paintings of the area. Ten years later, job done. Sounds like DCC could have simply followed Robin’s suggestions and saved a bucket load on consultations and professionals!

Questions were asked at a DCC Cabinet meeting in response to the beaching of the HMS Napoli near Branscombe, off the Devon/Dorset Jurassic Coast on 18th January 2007. The Napoli was grounded nearly a mile out to sea, and lost well over 100 containers, much of the contents of which were scavenged from the shore by quick-off-the-mark locals. Over 200 tonnes of light oil were also lost overboard, threatening 28 SSI sites throughout the region. Councillors wanted to know how on earth such an accident could have been allowed to occur in such close proximity to the Jurassic Coast. High levels of debris and the deaths of so many seabirds as a result of the beaching led then-leader of the Council, Angus Campbell, to state ‘Quite simply, we cannot allow this to happen again.”

Quite how Angus was suggesting he would stop a container ship from becoming beached off the coast in future was anyone’s guess.....

Grant Evans gave a talk at Wareham Town Hall on the subject of the Wytch Farm Oilfield. Grant had, until 2006, been the Wytch Farm Oilfield Installation Manager, and therefore had much information to share with the attendees. His presentation focused on the exploration for oil in Dorset since the 1930s.

Corfe Castle Postman, Will Bligh (pictured above) undertook the challenge of circum-navigating the UK’s coastline, visiting RNLI Lifeboat Stations along the way, to raise money for the ‘Train one, save many’ campaign, which provided training for volunteer Lifeboat crew members.

Will clocked-up 5,610 miles over a period of six months, visiting 198 stations on his trusty Brompton bicycle. Upon his return, Will immediately went back to work, utilising his spare time to sort through the film footage and photographs from his trip. To conclude his efforts, Will held a formal presentation evening at the Greyhound Inn in Corfe, where he talked about his epic journey before handing a cheque totalling £10,316.27 to then-Swanage Lifeboat Chairman, Robin Tiller.

In March 2007, Dorset was gearing-up to take action following an outbreak of Avian Influenza in Suffolk. Gatherings of birds for showing or selling were banned and officers of DEFRA, the county council, local councils and the police were working on contingency plans, should the disease be found in Dorset.

Maeve Baker, then-Head of St Mary’s First School, Swanage, took all the children to Swanage Railway. Dressed as Victorians and accompanied by Year Four teacher, Linda Lake, the children joined classes from the other Swanage and Langton first schools to ride the trains and learn about the station.

‘George Burt’ gave a speech and welcomed them to the station, and the children were given tons of information, sheets and leaflets. These they took away with them, before making their own booklet, aimed at a nine-year-old, thus encouraging other children to learn about the railway.

The Purbeck Gazette

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FREE ĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ƌŝǀŝŶŐ >ĞĐƚƵƌĞƐ Wednesdays 1st, 8th and 15th March 2017

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rivers are invited to attend a series of 3 two-hour lectures. They are free to attend and are organised by Dorset (Dorchester) Group of Advanced Motorists and delivered by a Class One former police driving instructor and IAM Examiner with a sense of humour.

The set covers many aspects of advanced driving techniques any one of which could save your life. Although not imperative to attend all three, you will be welcome to attend as many as you can.

The venue is: Committee Room 1, County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester DT1 1XJ on Wednesdays 1st, 8th and 15th March 2017, commencing at 6.45pm sharp and finishing at 8.45pm.

Parking is free and entrance to Committee Room 1 is gained through glass doors at Colliton Corner. This is situated at the far right hand side of County Hall when facing it.

For further details, please contact Jane Percy, Group Secretary either via email at secretary@dorsetiam.org.uk or telephone 01305 820963.

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KƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƚLJ dŽ ƐŬ ďŽƵƚ >ŽĐĂů WůĂŶ ZĞǀŝĞǁ

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question and answer session is to take place on 16 March on the partial review of the Purbeck Local Plan. This will be held at the Purbeck School.

Purbeck District Council is currently undertaking further work on the partial review, following a consultation which took place in summer 2016.

The consultation sought views on options to deliver around 3,080 extra homes in the district over the next sixteen years to 2033, on top of 2,520 homes already identified in the Purbeck Local Plan Part 1.

3,300 responses to the consultation highlighted a number of concerns.

Issues raised included significant objection to the overall number of new homes proposed; the location of new housing sites; the need for more affordable homes for local people; and concerns about flooding and loss of Green Belt and AONB land.

The Council has recently published a full consultation report which includes a summary of the responses and explains how the Council will be seeking to address the concerns.

As a result of the responses, the Council has made a commitment to undertake a series of additional studies, including relooking at housing numbers; environmental constraints; flooding; AONB; Green Belt; and impacts on the transport network; as well as the effect of second homes.

The Council is also relooking at boundaries and smaller developments and will update information in light of new economic data, including the implications of leaving the European Union.

The Council is offering an opportunity for interested parties to ask questions about the Local Plan review at a special session to take place at the Purbeck School, Wareham from 5pm until 6.30pm on Thursday 16 March.

Councillor Peter Wharf, Chairman of the Purbeck Partial Review Advisory Group, is encouraging anyone interested in the Local Plan review to attend the question and answer session.

The Council would be grateful to receive written questions in advance so that responses can be prepared. Questions can be submitted by e-mail to localplan@purbeck-dc.gov.uk. However this does not prevent anyone else from asking questions on the night.

Also at the meeting on the 16th, there will be an opportunity for attendees to receive an update report on the Local Plan review. This will be presented to the Council’s Partial Review Advisory Group, which is meeting at 7pm, following the question and answer session.

There will then be further opportunities for comments on the plan throughout the year.

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AREA Swanage Area Forum SWANAGE FORUM

WĂƐƐŝŽŶĂƚĞ ĂďŽƵƚ ŽƵƌ ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ

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wanage Area Forum invite you to a ‘Community News’ Fair’ on Wednesday 15th March at Emmanuel Church Centre at 7pm.

We have speakers from important organisations in our area, who will address us for no more than ten minutes each, leaving time for your questions and contributions.

Mark Woolley from the Swanage Railway Trust. Mark will provide an update on what is happening on the Swanage Railway including a planned start of some Wareham services during 2017.

Jean Gibbs, Chair of Swanage Area Dementia Friendly Community (SADFC) is a tireless campaigner, and is also a retired Head Teacher. She will talk about dementia care and what SADFC are achieving in Purbeck, with the imminent employment of a specialist Admiral Nurse.

Durlston Country Park. Ali Tucker, Ranger and Project Leader of the Durlston Pleasure Grounds’ Project. He will enlighten us on the £1m Lottery Project which he says, “is set to bring George Burt’s Victorian landscape to life and improve the lives of people in Swanage.”

Alan Dominy, Coordinator of the LINK Visiting Scheme. Alan will tell us what LINK is doing to reduce social isolation in East Purbeck for older people. LINK aim to match volunteers with older people who would love to see a friendly face on a regular basis.

The Purbeck Gazette

‘Community News Fair’.

Come and hear the latest updates and news from important community organisations. The speakers will each have 10 minutes, so there will be time for questions and contributions (see our editorial, left) Groups invited include: The Swanage Railway Trust, Link Visiting Scheme, Swanage Area Dementia Friendly Community, Durlston Country Park, Swanage & Purbeck Development Trust

7pm, WEDNESDAY 15th MARCH EMMANUEL CHURCH CENTRE, VICTORIA AVE, SWANAGE. PARKING - REFRESHMENTS - FROM 6.30pm Bob Foster, Chair, Swanage & Purbeck Development Trust. Bob says the Trust: “Fills the gaps. We assist in the community where gaps appear in local authority funding if management skills are needed.”

REMINDER: Forum “FUNDAY SUNDAYS’ Filmshow Club. On Sun 26th Feb, SHIRLEY VALENTINE, 1.30pm-4.30pm, Swanage Day Centre. £3.50 inc. refreshments.

>ŝŵĞ &ƌŽŐ ŽĨ WƵƌďĞĐŬ

<ŝƚĐŚĞŶƐ͕ ĂƚŚƌŽŽŵƐ͕ ĞĚƌŽŽŵƐ

W

elcome to Lime Frog! We have been trading locally for over ten years now and are really excited to be opening a brand new showroom in Swanage High Street.

Don’t be fooled by advertisements by some retailers offering big discounts on inflated prices, or by the illusion of grabbing a ‘one off’ bargain on poor quality goods.

Very often, you get exactly what you pay for!

Here at Lime Frog, we offer an extensive range of kitchens, bathrooms,

flooring and tiles, all at very competitive prices, all year round.

We are able to supply a wide variety of products ranging from contract sanitary ware to the very latest high tech designs in kitchens.

We have appliances on display in our showroom, alongside examples of kitchens.

In our lower ground floor display room, we have a tile display and a range of great value, quality discounted goods.

Over the last ten years we have been able to secure a number of reliable suppliers, many of whom deliver goods to us several times each week.

Why would you want to travel further afield when you can get a personal, reliable, friendly service, right here in Purbeck?

We pride ourselves in offering our customers a service suited to their individual needs. We will listen to your specific requirements, and will work with you to find the best products and solutions for your home.

Please do feel welcome to call in to see us to discuss your plans for your home - even if at this point you only have some rough ideas! We can help turn those ideas into beautiful, functional reality.

We are open from 0am to 3pm, Monday to Friday and from 10am to 2pm on Saturday.

For those who would prefer an appointment outside of our opening hours, or for those who struggle to get out and about, that’s not a problem at all. We are happy to arrange a time to suit you, and can come to your home if required.

We also offer a free design, plan and estimate service, if needed.

Limefrog, 60 High Street, Swanage, BH19 2NX. Telephone 01929 427982 We look forward to seeing you soon!

Swanage Town Twinning Murder at Burt’s Bits Clinic!

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he recent fund-raising Murder Mystery and Supper production from The Swanage Town Twinning Players was another great success.

Over seventy people enjoyed an evening of fun, food and faux pas, especially with our topical Donald Trump lookalike – or should we say tropical?!

The Swanage Town Twinning Association has been running for over thirty years but some people have still not heard of us!

We have regular meetings and events throughout the year but our focus is on the visits to our twin town of Rüdesheim am Rhein and the return

of hospitality to our German friends.

This year they are visiting Swanage in June, when they will stay with members and enjoy a range of events, both privately with their hosts and as a larger group.

It is only £10 per adult or £20 a family to join, when you will be given a membership card with our programme of events for the year and receive regular newsletters via e mail or post.

Please visit our website www.swanagetowntwinning.co.uk or contact our Membership Secretary, Jean, on 423657 for more details.

Ruth, Publicity and Fund-raising

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The Purbeck Gazette

ĂƩĞŶƐ KƉĞŶ /Ŷ tĂƌĞŚĂŵ

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attens Solicitors - a top 500 legal firm and one of the largest in the South West - opened a new office in Wareham on 13th February in response to the success of its once-weekly legal clinic at Wareham Library.

“We have been running clinics in Wareham for just over a year, and every week we see more and more people coming to us for advice on a wide range of issues including residential property, wills and lasting powers of attorney, debt recovery, matrimonial, employment and dispute resolution,” explains Natalie Mason, Associate solicitor at Battens. “It’s now reached the point where we simply can’t meet the demand in the clinic alone; opening an office is the natural next step.”

The launch of a dedicated office in Wareham means that Battens will be able to provide a full range of legal services to the people and businesses of Wareham, and the wider Purbeck area, five days a week instead of just one. The new office, which is centrally located on Wareham’s West Street, aims to be as convenient and welcoming as its clinics.

“As someone from Wareham, I feel fortunate that alongside my colleagues we are able to offer our services in my locality. Our Wareham team know the area, its people and the problems they face,” says Angela Loveless, Debt Recovery Manager. “We’ve designed our office to be as welcoming and accessible as possible, so if you’re passing, drop in and make an appointment. We’d love to see you and will do our best to help you straight away.”

In addition to Natalie and Angela, the Wareham team include Associate Solicitor, Sarah Ford.

“An office in Wareham will complement our existing South Dorset offices in Dorchester and Weymouth” explains Sarah. “We are all really looking forward to opening the doors to the office and the new opportunities it will bring” In celebration of the new office, residents and businesses in the BH19 and BH20 areas can receive 10% off all legal support on residential sales and purchases, and on wills and lasting powers of attorney.

This exclusive offer runs until 1st May 2017 on new instructions. For more details, please call Natalie, Angela or Sarah on 01929 768720 or email enquiries@ battens.co.uk

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The Purbeck Gazette

^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ &ŝƌĞ Θ ZĞƐĐƵĞ ^ƚĂƟŽŶ hƉĚĂƚĞ

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i and welcome to my monthly report from Swanage Fire station!

Operationally in the last month we answered thirty-four emergency calls, none of which were too serious. These incidents included: ŕ Fire involving a washing machine in someone’s home ŕ Chimney Fires ŕ Fire alarms sounding in retail and domestic properties ŕ Fires in the open ŕ Medical Calls supporting our South West Ambulance Trust colleagues I would like to say well done to Firefighter Andy Mutter, who has now passed his emergency blue light driving course and is now qualified to drive our fire appliance to operational incidents. Well done also to Firefighter Chris Burridge who attended our training centre, and passed his Road Traffic Collision familiarisation course. Chris can now use all of our hydraulic cutting tools at operational incidents.

Cooking safety At this time of the year more than half of accidental fires at home are started by cooking - often when cookers and grills are left unattended. A few simple measures will keep you and your loved ones safe.

How to cook safely Make sure saucepan handles don’t stick out - so they don’t get knocked off the stove. Take care if you’re wearing loose clothing - it can easily

catch fire. Keep tea towels and cloths away from the cooker and hob.

Double check the cooker is off when you’ve finished cooking. Avoid leaving children in the kitchen alone when cooking on the hob. Take care if you need to leave the kitchen whilst cooking, take pans off the heat or turn them down to avoid risk. Keep the oven, hob and grill clean and in good working order. A build-up of fat and grease can easily ignite a fire.

Deep fat frying Take care when cooking with hot oil - it sets alight easily. Make sure food is dry before putting it in hot oil so it doesn’t splash. If the oil starts to smoke - it’s too hot. Turn off the heat and leave it to cool. Use a thermostat controlled electric deep fat fryer. They can’t overheat.

What to do if a pan catches fire Don’t take any risks. Turn off the heat if it is safe to do so. Never throw water over it. Don’t tackle the fire yourself - Get Out, Stay Out, Call 999.

Lastly, we are now getting closer to the London Marathon. Fire fighter Liam Blake is well into his training to take part in the London Marathon wearing full firefighter kit. It is still not too late to sponsor Liam, all you need to do is visit his Just Giving page at: www.justgiving.com/liam-blake1 or you can use his text code which will donate £5 directly to his Just Giving page by texting: FFBA99 £5 to 70070. if you would like to contact the station with any good will messages or ideas on how we can support Liam with donations for the Firefighters Charity, you can contact me at sm16@dwfire.org.uk or on 01722 691016.

Keep safe and don’t forget to test your smoke alarms!

Phil Burridge, Station Commander.

&ƵŶĚŝŶŐ dŽ ĞĂů tŝƚŚ ^ĞĐŽŶĚ ,ŽŵĞ /ŵƉĂĐƚ

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urbeck District Council has been awarded £900,000 to help address the effects of second homes in the district. The financial support from the Government’s Community Housing Fund will be used to kick-start affordable housing projects through Community Land Trusts and other interested community groups in the district.

Councillor Laura Miller, Housing Portfolio Holder at Purbeck District Council (pictured), said: “This funding is very welcome. It gives communities the opportunity to decide what type of housing is most needed in their towns and villages, enabling local people to play a leading and lasting role in solving local housing problems, creating genuinely affordable homes and strong communities in ways that are difficult to achieve through mainstream housing.

“This funding is only a small step towards meeting the overall housing need in Purbeck. The number of second homes in the district is having a significant effect on the price of property here; with the average house price in Purbeck £50,000 higher than the South West average, and the average private monthly rent £60 per month higher than the rest of England.

Finding affordable housing is a real problem for the people of Purbeck.”

2015 Purbeck District Council Tax data indicates there are a total of

N

22,192 properties in Purbeck, of which 1,620 (7.3%) are second homes and 111 (0.5%) are long-term empty homes.

Councillor Miller continued: “Many of the affected villages have also seen their local services, such as village shops, disappear as there is no longer a permanent local community to support them.”

Through its recently-formed Purbeck Housing Forum, the Council is working with local communities to see how funding can be best used. This forum comprises representatives from town and parish councils as well as local landowners and those with an interest in developing affordable housing in the district. At its most recent meeting, the forum heard from the Wessex Community Land Trust project which provides support to local communities interested in setting up their own community land trust.

Councillor Miller concluded: “I am excited to be working with the Purbeck Housing Forum to develop practical solutions to the housing crisis in Purbeck, so this funding could not have come at a better time.”

A total of £5million has been provided to Dorset councils, based on the number of second homes in their area.

Gazette suggestion - WHY NOT SPEND THE MYSTERIOUSLY AVAILABLE £900,000 ON BUILDING ACTUAL HOMES RATHER THAN TALKING SOME MORE AND CREATING YET MORE QUANGOS/GROUPS/COMMITTEES/CONSULTATIONS?!

WƵƌďĞĐŬ WƌŽũĞĐƚƐ ,ŝƚ dŚĞ :ĂĐŬƉŽƚ͊

ew figures show that more than £3.4 million of National Lottery funding was awarded across Purbeck last year alone.

Thirteen National Lottery grants were given out in Purbeck during 2016; providing a vital boost to arts, sports and heritage projects alongside community groups helping those most in need.

A wide variety of local projects received National Lottery grants last year, including: ŕ £983,000 to recreate the Victorian Pleasure Grounds at Durston Country Park. ŕ £4,000 to install a viewing mound for local bird watchers at the Lytchett Bay View area. ŕ £4,000 to put on Swanage Jazz Festival.

From today, these examples, or any organisation that has ever received National Lottery funding, has the possibility of gaining nationwide acclaim by entering The National Lottery Awards 2017 – the annual search for the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects.

National Lottery Awards winners will receive a £3,000 cash prize and

national recognition at a glittering ceremony broadcast on BBC One later in the year.

John Barrowman MBE, presenter of the National Lottery Awards show, said: “The National Lottery Awards are a fabulous celebration of the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects as voted for by the public. The Awards rightly put the focus on ordinary people doing extraordinary things with National Lottery funding, whose efforts go such a long way and are indeed changing lives. National Lottery players can be very proud to have contributed towards their fine work.”

National Lottery Awards cover seven categories; Sport, Heritage, Arts, Environment, Health, Education and Voluntary/Charity, to reflect the range of funding that the Lottery gives out. There is also a Special Achievement Award to recognise the outstanding contribution made by an individual to improving the lives of others.

If you wish to nominate your favourite project in this year’s National Lottery Awards, tweet @LottoGoodCauses with your suggestions or call 0207 293 3329 to find out more and to enter.

Entries must be received by midnight on 7 April 2017.

The Purbeck Gazette

ŝůů WĞŶůĞLJ Ͳ EŽƚ YƵŝƚĞ ϭϬϬ zĞĂƌƐ KůĚ͘​͘​͘

Bill Penley (1917 – 2017) ill Penley, a very prominent member of the Swanage community, passed away peacefully in Poole Hospital on 27th January 2017 – only weeks before his 100th birthday.

Bill first came to Swanage in 1940 as one of the wartime radar researchers. He met Raye Gough, a local girl, who he married at St Mary’s Church in 1943 – shortly after the radar team had moved to Malvern.

After the war he continued his career in defence research, becoming head of the Scientific Civil Service. Raye died in 1975, and in 1977 Bill married Marion Claytor, whose father had been one of the radar team.

He moved back to Swanage in 1981 – soon becoming an active member of the community: He sang in the operatic society - acting as secretary for several years, and was a founder member of the Belvedere Singers.

Bill was in the choir at St Mark’s Church and was a warden there for several years. He also helped in the early days of Communicare. To maintain a record of the wartime radar work in the area, Bill established the Purbeck Radar Museum Trust with Tony Viney.

Marion passed away in 2004. Bill subsequently married Joanna AndersonDoig, organist at St Mark’s Church.

There will be a celebration of Bill’s life on his 100th birthday (Wed. 22nd March 2017) at 12 noon in St Mark’s Church, Herston, followed by a reception.

A remarkable life indeed!

More information: www.penley.org

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&ƌŝĞŶĚƐ KĨ tĂƌĞŚĂŵ ZĂŝůǁĂLJ ^ƚĂƟŽŶ 'D

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ur group, The Friends of Wareham Railway Station, have established themselves as a regular team looking after the Station and Car Park since December 2012.

Our fourth Annual General Meeting will be held on 11 March 10am -12 noon in Carey Hall, Wareham.

We were included in the Wareham in Bloom Awards in November receiving the “Green & Clean for the Queen” Award in the South East England Competition. A surprise and delight for us. Efforts by the fifteen members are being noticed and appreciated. We welcome anyone interested in joining, our membership fee is £10 per year.

SWT have given us funding to help our efforts with planting evergreen shrubs and to progress with a much needed Public Notice/Information Board in the Car Park. We are an enthusiastic group, growing in expertise.

We meet twice monthly (during the summer months) and in the winter on the second Sunday 10am –12 noon, each month, to help improve the station surrounds for the local community and passengers using the Station.

The next meeting is on Sunday morning, 12th March.

We are committed to help in any way we can to support the reconnection of the Swanage Trial DMU Diesel Service, due to re-join the branch line with Wareham to the SW Trains mainline commencing in June for the summer months.

The Waiting Room is still awaiting our heritage photographs of the Wareham to Swanage line throughout its 130 year history. The new Wareham Visitor Guide, available at Easter, with FoWRS featured, has been funded by the Dorset County Council and Purbeck District Council.

As an affiliated group to ACoRP we have attended various Stakeholder Meetings held by SW Trains and TravelWatch SouthWest Seminars.

Contact the Chair: Beryl Ezzard 01929 550138 beryl.ez@btinternet.com

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^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ ŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ ĞĮďƌŝůůĂƚŽƌ WĂƌƚŶĞƌƐŚŝƉ

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e are well into the New Year now and there is still no lessening in the work being performed by the Swanage Community Defibrillator Partnership. The donations continue to be warmly received and are quickly turned into life saving equipment.

Back in December, the Partnership’s work was recognised by South Western Ambulance Service who presented us the prestigious Defibrillator Accreditation Award. This certificate was warmly received by Ian Brown and Maggie Hardy (pictured) on behalf of the partnership for the positive work in purchasing and installing life-saving equipment for the community.

While we are proud to have been recipients of the award, we wish to thank all those that have generously supported the project with donations of time and money to make it all possible.

A special thanks is to be extended to Tim and Deirdre Mersey, who have offered their time to perform future maintenance checks on the installed cabinets and devices.

The coming months will see the final installation of defibrillators in our community, with locations proposed in Durlston, The Royal British Legion, Swanage Hospital, Peveril Point, Swanage Bowls/Tennis Club and The United Reformed Church. We are also in talks with Corfe Castle Parish Council who are keen to have several devices installed across their parish.

Siting the equipment however, is only half the work, with public awareness sessions in their use continuing in 2017. A very successful drop-in session at Chococo was held back in January with nineteen people attending to be shown how the devices work.

It is reassuring to see so many people wanting familiarisation and it is encouraging to hear how beneficial the sessions have been. For future dates of awareness sessions, please check our Facebook page.

WƵƌďĞĐŬ zŽƵƚŚ Θ ŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ WĂƌƚŶĞƌƐŚŝƉ

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he Purbeck Youth and Community Foundation is registered with the charity commission and has enabled Wareham Youth Club and some surrounding youth clubs to keep running. Its latest fund raising is on Crowd Funder and we were delighted last month that pledges from the community had enabled us to reach the amount to receive a pledge from Dorset County Council and Just Act. We still need to raise more to reach our stretch target or above it!

Having trained youth workers in a friendly young people’s environment enables us to support young people and provide opportunities, advice and guidance when they need it. Every positive choice they make enables young people to become productive valued members of their community.

We run some lunchtime and evening sessions at Wareham and weekly sessions at Corfe and Wool and offer some support to Bovington youth club. A Duke of Edinburgh group meets in the club.

We are planning some intergenerational sessions, support to young carers and more, but need the funds. Thank you to all the partner organisations and volunteers and young people supporting us. We are keen to work with others so Purbeck young people have choices on places to go and things to do.

We need your help now. Thank you for every penny!

Chair of Trustees, Terry Lewis, Part time Youth and Community Development Worker Kev Vasey, Wareham Youth Centre, Worgret Road, Wareham. BH20 4PH. Tel 01929 552934. Email: office@pycf.org.uk Our Crowdfunder is open for a short while, find us at www. crowdfunder.co.uk/purbeck-youth-communityfoundation ]Charity reg no is 1168537

ĞǀĞůŽƉŵĞŶƚ dƌƵƐƚ ŽŶƟŶƵĞƐ dŽ WƌŽŐƌĞƐƐ The Centre he Swanage and Purbeck Development Trust is delighted to announce that it has agreed terms with Explorers Childcare Group to open “Explorers @ The Centre”.

This will provide high quality, wraparound childcare and education, five days per week. Together with the two evening Youth Club sessions, opening shortly, Purbeck Runners on Wednesday nights and SINC (Swanage Individual Needs Club) on Thursday evenings, the Centre is rapidly filling up.

Swanage and Wareham Dementia Friendly Groups These two organisations have been working together to raise funding for the appointment of an Admiral Nurse in Purbeck. This will be a milestone achievement in that the lives of those living with dementia and their carers will be improved and it will be the first in Dorset.

They wish to give a big “thank you” to all the local individuals and organisations for the support given, so far, in getting very close to turning the dream into a reality.

Link Visiting This local befriending service, is focused, mainly, on those over sixty who find themselves requiring extra friendship and support. If you wish to volunteer contact the new Visitor and Clients Co-ordinator.

Art Workshop Encourages beginners to try new art and craft skills, all are welcome, but they specialise in catering for people with mobility or health issues.

Current courses include: New Beginners Art and Craft Group (Wednesday mornings at The Centre); Beginners Dressmaking (sold out); Friday mornings at All Saints Hall provides an introduction to art and craft skills.

For further information on these and our other projects visit: http:// www.sandpdt.org.uk/

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KZƐĞƚ /ŶƚĞŐƌĂƚĞĚ ^ĞĂďĞĚ ƐƵƌǀĞLJ ǁǁǁ͘ďŐƐ͘ĂĐ͘ƵŬͬƌĞƐĞĂƌĐŚͬŵĂƌŝŶĞͬ KZ/^͘Śƚŵů

Following on from last month’s article ‘Just a little bit of history repeating...’, the British Geological Survey and the University of Southampton recently sent us the article below and a link to an exciting, brand new geological map of the Jurassic Coast.

This map is fully interactive, and is now available online for anyone to view. The map shows the geological features of the area, as well as detailing the settlement above. It’s a really fascinating glimpse into the geology of the area and also allows us to view what’s hiding beneath the waves along our coastline.

We’d like to offer a big thank you to Clive Mitchell (BGS) and Keith Westhead, Geologist, for their time, assistance and for kindly giving permission to reproduce part of the new map, below.

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:ƵƌĂƐƐŝĐ ŽĂƐƚ DĂƉ ƌĂŝŶƐ dŚĞ ^ĞĂ dŽ ZĞǀĞĂů 'ĞŽůŽŐLJ cientists from the British Geological Survey (BGS) and University of Southampton have published a seamless onshore-offshore bedrock geology map of the eastern half of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage

Site.

This is the first time a map of this resolution has been published for the seabed in this area, and it will undoubtedly play an important role in effectively managing this sensitive coastline.

The freely available online map is not only of research and public interest, but is also of value for coastal planners and engineers concerned with protecting coastlines. This kind of information will be vital to better understand and identify the most sensitive stretches of coastline including those that are prone to landslides or beach erosion.

The map was made with partners, including the University of Southampton (Ocean and Earth Science), under the Maritime Environmental Mapping Programme (MAREMAP). This wider programme of coastal research aims to integrate research from a variety of partners to inform practical applications such as marine planning, conservation and industry.

It was made possible through the use of the new generation of highresolution, shallow water bathymetric mapping and aerial Lidar information.

DZȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Limestone Bedrock, which controls the trend of the river valley through ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ £ Ĵ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ǯȱ ȱ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ě ȱ sandstone and conglomerate bands in the Wealden Formation bedrock ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ě ȱ ǯȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ǰȱ Westhead, Sanderson and Dix, 2017.

This has been collected, for example, as part of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) UK Civil Hydrography Programme and the National Network of Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes (coordinated by the Channel Coastal Observatory). This information then provides the backdrop for detailed geological surveying.

Professor Dave Sanderson, from the University of Southampton, commented: “This new approach to detailed, bedrock mapping clearly demonstrates that geology does not end at the coastline. Indeed, the extent of seabed exposure, along with the quality and resolution of the data has allowed us to fully re-interpret the geological history of this globally important site.”

Dr Travis Mason, Director of the Channel Coastal Observatory also commented: “This release of a seamless coastal map by the BGS, which uses data provided by the Channel Coastal Observatory, is hugely valuable for the coastal monitoring community, exposing as it does the key crossover region between land and sea which is the unseen buffer zone for our coastline.”

The new research highlights how little is known about the narrow strip of coastline just below the low-water mark, despite its proximity to the shore.

The ultimate aim is to address this lack of knowledge around the UK coast with up-to-date geological mapping, not just of the bedrock, but also coastal landslides and mobile sediments.

To achieve this, areas such as the Jurassic Coast are being used as a test bed for new digital mapping techniques which can then be rolled out in the future to support UK and International coastal and continental shelf research.

DZȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ¢ȱ ȱ £ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱǻ ȱ Ĵ ȱ Ǽǯȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ǰȱ Westhead, Sanderson and Dix, 2017.

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^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ ĂƌŶŝǀĂů KƉĞŶƐ EĞǁ WůĂLJ dƌĂŝů͊

epresentatives from Swanage Carnival were delighted to be invited to open the new play trail at St. Mark’s primary school in Swanage.

Each year Swanage Carnival raises money for many local charities and good causes. Often organisations detail what they are fundraising for in their nomination letter so that the Carnival Committee can understand their need for funds.

This year we were able to see the results of one of the donations we made when we were invited to open a new play trail which has been built at St. Mark’s. The new play trail was part funded thanks to the donation made from Swanage Carnival in 2016.

Secretary Andy Wright said “it is not often that we get to see how the funds that Carnival donates are used first hand. It was an honour to be invited to open the play trail for the children at St Marks. I have no doubt that it will be enjoyed for many years to come!”

In 2016 Swanage Carnival gave away £23,000 to 25 chosen charities and good causes. If you would like to nominate an organisation for 2017 please send your nomination to secretary@swanagecarnival.com.

ŝƐĐŽŶŶĞĐƚĞĚ ŽŵŵƵŶŝƟĞƐ ŽƐƚ άϱ͘ϳϵ />>/KE WĞƌ zĞĂƌ

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new study has found that the South West’s disconnected communities could be costing the local economy £5.79 billion every year. For the UK economy as a whole, this figure reaches £32 billion.

The research, commissioned by Eden Project initiative The Big Lunch and funded by the Big Lottery, reveals the annual cost to South West’s public services of social isolation and disconnected communities, including: Demand on health services: £960 million (equal to the cost of building 13 new Specialist Emergency Care hospitals) Demand on policing: £15 million (equal to the UK median yearly salary of 483 police officers) Disconnected communities are also linked to a loss of productivity, with a net cost to the South West’s economy of nearly £2.27 billion every year.

According to the research, which was carried out by leading economics consultancy the Centre of Economics and Business Research (Cebr), neighbourliness already delivers substantial economic benefits to the people of the South West, representing an annual saving of £4.02 billion in total.

This saving comes from sharing between neighbours, an increase in social connection and reductions in the demands on public services such as healthcare, social care, welfare and the environment.

It also includes the productivity benefits associated with a happier and healthier workforce: a net gain to the South West’s economy of £1.07 billion. UK-wide, the figure stands at £6.4 billion which is equivalent to 0.34% of UK GDP in 2015.

The Eden Project is an educational charity working to connect people with each other and the living world, with a view to exploring how we can work together towards a better future. The Big Lunch is one of Eden’s most significant and best known initiatives, made possible

by the Big Lottery Fund. The idea is for as many people as possible across the UK to have lunch with their neighbours annually on a Sunday in June, in a simple act of community, friendship and fun.

The Big Lunch commissioned Cebr to produce a study examining the impact of community-led initiatives on societal welfare and on the economy.

The study reveals that neighbourliness helps ease demand on public services by providing locally run alternatives, such as neighbourhood watch schemes and local litter picks.

The saving to the South West’s public services equates to £465.8 million. UK-wide, this figure stands at £2.9 billion today and could rise to £8.1 billion if all the people not currently involved in community activities like The Big Lunch switch to being involved. It also reveals that neighbourliness has a huge welfare value to people living in the South West, with £2.49 billion saved each year because of resources shared and help provided by neighbours who know each other.

This comes in the form of helping elderly neighbours, childcare and babysitting, pet-sitting, doing DIY for each other, and sharing resources such as tools.

Oliver Hogan, Director Cebr said “With our report we have established the cost to society of disconnected communities. Our starting point is that community involvement can act to reduce loneliness and isolation and encourage positive change within communities. There is a lot of existing research on loneliness, so this study was shaped to provide a perspective on the costs imposed on society by disconnected communities.”

“However, an element of the overall improvement in societal welfare also translates into productivity gains to the UK economy through a happier and healthier workforce.”

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SAIL WITH THE SHTANDART! LEAVING LIVERPOOL 25 JUNE 2017 ARRIVING SWANAGE 30 JUNE 2017

(arrival in Swanage for the Purbeck Pirate Festival on 1st & 2nd July 2017) Purbeck Pirates, in conjunction with Captain Martus of the Frigate Shtandart, are delighted to be able to offer the good folk of Purbeck the opportunity of a lifetime - the chance to crew the Shtandart and sail her from Liverpool to Swanage on an epic 450 mile journey!

ONLY 12 berths DUH DYDLODEOH RQ D ¿UVW FRPH ¿UVW VHUYHG EDVLs. Those booking a space will be trained on day one, and then will crew the boat, working shifts allocated by the Captain. There are NO cabins available - crew hammocks only.

3OHDVH QRWH WKH 6KWDQGDUW LV D '5< 6+,3 VR QR DOFRKRO LV SHUPLWWHG DERDUG. The minimum donation to book a berth is £495 per person. This has to be paid up-front to secure your place. Minimum age of 11, as long as a parent or guardian is accompanying.

Please call Nico on 01929 424239 ext 2, or email ed@purbeckgazette.co.uk to book.

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Black Tot Day he 31st July 1970. Not a well-known date I’m afraid, although it was for many, a terrible day and it marked the end of a very old tradition. It was the day on which the last issue of rum was freely served on Her Majesty’s Naval Ships.

Originally, it was beer that was served up to the crew, usually to compensate for the stale if not rancid condition of the water. This was rationed to 1 gallon (8 pints)/man/day which makes you wonder how much would have been drunk with no rationing.

If the beer ran out, then it was substituted by 1 pint of wine or ½ pint of spirits. The political lobby of the West Indian Rum Plantation Owners resulted in the alcohol issue being universalised to rum and it stayed until its abolition in 1970. A “Tot” was 2.5 fluid ounces (8 per pint) of 95.5 proof (56% ABV) and was served neat to the senior crewmembers, Petty Officers and above.

The rest of the ratings received grog, which was diluted 2:1 with water.

Royal Navy Officers were never regularly entitled to this. If a member of the Temperance Society, then a “T” was put against his name and he was paid 3d/day (1.25 new pence) in lieu.

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Purbeck’s TIC Scoops Bronze Award!

he Discover Purbeck Information Centre, run by Purbeck District Council, has won Bronze for the second year in a row in the Tourist Information Service of the Year category at the recent South West Tourism Excellence Awards.

Councillor Cherry Brooks, Economy and Infrastructure Portfolio Holder for Purbeck District Council, said: “Achieving the South West Tourism Excellence Award for the second year running is fantastic news! Tourism plays a huge part in Purbeck’s economy, so I am delighted that the first class service provided by our team to visitors, residents and local businesses continues to be recognised.”

The South West Tourism Excellence Awards ceremony took place on 2 February at the new Lansdown Suite of Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol.

The bronze award was collected on behalf of the Discover Purbeck team

by Holly Lagden, Tourism Manager, and Lida Mutton, Centre Manager.

Holly Lagden, Tourism Manager, said “It’s a great achievement for this small, dedicated team to continue to punch above their weight competing with much bigger centres across the whole of the South West. I’m so proud of them.”

In October 2016, Discover Purbeck, which is based in Wareham Library, won the Gold Award in the Dorset Tourism Awards Tourist Information Service of The Year category.

This was rarely taken as it was a very saleable commodity and could be bartered for many times this value. Ratings under 20 years of age had UA against their name and were not issued with the rum.

It was always issued from the “Rum Tub”, a brass bound oak barrel with the words “The Queen – God Bless Her” embellished in brass letters on it.

Around 1756, lime or lemon juice was added to the rum as a measure against scurvy, in 1850 and 1881 attempts were made to abolish it, but it hung on until Admiral Peter Hill-Norton finally stopped it on “Black Tot Day”, in the fear that unsteadiness of hand could lead to accident when operating machinery. The US Navy abolished it in 1862, the Canadians in 1972 and the rum finally disappeared from all Her Majesty’s New Zealand Ships on 28th Feb 1990. The practice of “Splicing the Mainbrace” signalling the issue of a tot to all hands can only nowadays be initiated by the Monarch and was last used to toast Her Majesty on her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Strangely similar traditions were never taken up by the Merchant Navy, although in the 1960s it was still common to give crewmembers on tankers a tot of rum if they had been working in oil cargo tanks – supposedly to get the petroleum gas out of their systems! As nearly all oil tankers in the Merchant Navy are now dry, this is another practice which has gone to the wall.

Please stay safe on whichever side of the tide line your life or leisure takes you. As always, you are always welcome to visit us when you are passing.

The Swanage NCI can be contacted at the Lookout on 01929 422596, at nci.org.uk on VHF 65 or the email address below. We look forward to hearing your comments and questions.

Bob Clark email: swanagenci@btinternet.com NCI Swanage.

Swanage Regatta & Carnival

CHARITY NOMINATIONS If you would like to nominate a Charity or Good Cause to be a beneficiary from the proceeds of this year’s Carnival Week, please apply in writing to the Carnival Secretary before 1st April 2017 with a brief description of your charity/good cause and a summary of how any donation would be used.

In return we ask that representatives and/or supporters from the selected organisations help during Carnival Week with voluntary roles such as bucket collections at events.

Applications to: Andy Wright - Swanage Regatta & Carnival, 25 Durberville Drive, Swanage. BH19 1QN Email: secretary@swanagecarnival.com

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The Purbeck Gazette

29

Measuring Portfolio Performance

I

f you have a portfolio of shares and investments, it is likely that you would like to calculate how it has performed and also compare it to a benchmark(s). If your portfolio is professionally managed by an investment manager, these figures should be part of any regular review of your portfolio that you receive.

Measuring your portfolio in absolute terms is straightforward and if you have made no changes to your portfolio, it is easy to compare the capital value between two points in time.

However, this approach will not take into account the impact of cash dividends, cash withdrawals from or cash injections into the portfolio or such things as rights issues and scrip dividends (where extra shares are received instead of cash). Even if you allow for these ‘ins’ and ‘outs’, the calculations are still not entirely accurate as they take no account of the timings of the changes.

A total return figure is, therefore, a useful tool as it gives you a measure of how a portfolio has risen or fallen in percentage terms and takes into account all the above factors.

Unless you are a statistician, I would suggest that this is something best left to an expert – the computer. We, for instance, have a computer programme which is able to produce time weighted total return figures for our clients when their portfolios are held in nominees with us, as we have a record of all the capital and income inflows and outflows.

Once a total return figure is known, this can then be compared to an index. The FTSE 100 Index is commonly quoted, but this only reflects changes in capital values and only covers the performance of the UK’s largest companies by size and completely ignores shares outside the FTSE 100 Index, gilts, collective investments and cash.

Some of the most useful indices produced for private clients are the WMA (Wealth Management Association) indices which include absolute return indices and have separate total return indices for categories including growth, income or balanced.

Each of these total return indices relate to model portfolios containing different proportions of UK shares, international shares, bonds, commercial property, alternatives and cash to reflect the different investment aims. Your own portfolio is unlikely to exactly match these proportions, but the indices do provide a useful guide as to how your portfolio should have performed over a set timescale.

Kate Spurling lives in Swanage and is an investment manager with Charles Stanley, Dorchester office – (01305) 217404 – kate.spurling@charlesstanley.co.uk Charles Stanley & Co Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. FCA register ID 1903304.

This information does not constitute advice or a personal recommendation or take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations or needs of individuals.

The value of investments may fall as well as rise and you may not receive back the amount you originally invested.

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Tax Free Childcare Plans for the introduction of a new scheme called 'tax-free childcare' were initially announced way back in the 2013 Budget.

The original proposals have since been amended and the scheme is now set to be implemented during 2017.

Broadly, the new scheme, which aims to help working parents with the cost of childcare, will replace the current system of employersupported childcare (ESC) which is offered by less than 5% of employers and used by around 450,000 families.

Parents will be able to open an online voucher account with a voucher provider and have their payments topped up by the government. For every 80 pence that families pay in, the government will put in 20 pence, up to the annual limit on costs for each child of £2,000 (£4,000 for disabled children).

Parents will then be able to use the vouchers for any Ofstedregulated childcare in England and the equivalent bodies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

HMRC will consider the employment status of each member of a couple who live together as a household, including where one of the couple does not have responsibility for the child.

Both parents must be in employment. Those families where only one parent in a couple is in employment, or where a lone parent is not in employment, will not be eligible for support.

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ŽƌƐĞƚ džƉŽƌƚƐ

N

ew figures show Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry helped the county’s firms export £163.5m worth of goods in 2016. DCCI’s International Trade Department processed some 11,133 transaction documents during the calendar year 2016 for firms selling abroad.

Exports included: Ő Racing pigeons to UAE Ő Bath bombs to Ukraine, Mexico and South Africa Ő Throat lozenges to Azerbaijan Ő Caravan equipment and spare parts to Egypt Ő Custom wheelchairs for the Invictus Games in America The chamber, the county’s leading business support organisation, continues to expand its International Trade Department with two new members of staff in 2016. Two more – an administrator and a co-ordinator – are being recruited. The top destination for exports from Dorset in 2016 was Saudi Arabia with 2,082 documents processed; followed by UAE with 1,551; Qatar with 869; Turkey with 762 and Kuwait with 615.

In terms of shipment values the highest destination totals were UAE with £38.6m, Turkey with £20.9m, South Korea with £16.4m, Egypt with £11.5m and Saudi Arabia with £8.5m. Non-EU trade accounts for some 95% of DCCI’s International Trade Department work. This is due to the nature of the European customs union which allows goods to move freely across the 28 member states with minimal paperwork.

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Inheritance and Inequality

Trading Standards Alternative Dispute Resolution can help you f you have a complaint about something you’ve bought, whether service or goods, and dealing directly with the trader hasn’t worked, you could ask an independent person to look at your consumer problem and try and find a solution. This is known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The benefits for consumers are that ADR schemes are usually low cost or free and simple to use.

Ombudsman services are a type of ADR scheme which are impartial and free for consumers to use. They cover: retailers, including online retailers, energy companies, financial companies, such as banks, building societies and insurance companies, telephone and internet companies, furniture removers. There is also a Motor Ombudsman which covers the automotive industry. It can deal with complaints regarding vehicle sales – new and used, service, repair and vehicle warranties, provided the trader is a member.

Most main dealers are members. Consumers can also ‘rate’ garages too.

Many trade associations also offer alternative dispute resolution as part of their services for their members. For instance, The Institute of Professional Willwriters offers a complaints service for complaints against willwriters and ABTA (The Travel Association) covers complaints involving leisure services such as package travel and travel agency services. The Federation of Master Builders covers complaints about the construction of new houses and house maintenance and improvement services, provided the trader is a member.

The Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations 2015 require almost all businesses which sell directly to consumers to point the consumer to a certified ADR scheme – where they cannot resolve a dispute in-house, and declare whether or not they intend to use that scheme.

So if you have a complaint you can’t resolve, always check to see whether your complaint is covered by an ombudsman scheme or other ADR scheme, before considering court action. Indeed, the courts will have expected you to have explored those routes first before bringing the matter to them.

If you would like advice about your consumer rights then please contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 040506.

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‘Today’s elderly have much more wealth than their predecessors’.

This is the unsurprising opening sentence to the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ new year report on inheritance and inequality across and within generations.

This is primarily due to the increase in home ownership and house prices.

However, the report goes on to state that today’s young DGXOWV ZLOO ¿QG LW KDUGHU WR DFFXPXODWH ZHDOWK RI WKHLU RZQ than previous generations did. Young people today are IDFHG ZLWK GHFOLQLQJ SHQVLRQ EHQH¿WV WKH LQDELOLW\ WR DIIRUG high house prices and the stagnation of household incomes. ,QWHUHVWLQJO\ WKH UHSRUW DOVR VWDWHV WKH ¿QGLQJ WKDW WKRVH with the highest lifetime incomes are also those who have inherited the most across the course of their lives.

So what you decide to do with your wealth will be key in providing for the younger generation. Making sure your Will is up to date is obviously important, but it is also worth taking professional advice on inheritance tax planning.

If you are in the lucky position of being retired, but having spare income, there is a little used inheritance tax exemption for ‘regular gifts out of excess income’. This is in addition to any annual exemption and the seven year rule.

Regular gifts outright or into trust, if well planned, can VLJQL¿FDQWO\ UHGXFH WKH LQKHULWDQFH WD[ SD\DEOH RQ \RXU estate and maximise what your children are going to inherit.

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EĂƟŽŶĂů dƌƵƐƚ

Storytelling for families: The Normans Medieval merriment with Rose and Longshanks’ keepers of the Garderobe as they regale you with tales of marauding cousins Matilda and Stephen in the reign of Henry I. Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 Mar 2017 Storytelling for families: Edward I Edward ‘Longshanks’ is on the throne and Willamina’s in the Garderobe.

Hear the stories of Edward I, who was reputedly the best castle builder ever.

Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 Mar 2017 Storytelling for families: King John A story of royal imprisonment, hear screams from the Oubliette, songs from the Garderobe, meet Agnes Matilda for stories from the court of King John.

Saturday 01 and Sunday 02 April 2017 For details see nationaltrust.org.uk/corfecastle Picture - Copyright Neil Davidson/NT Purbeck

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rom Saturday 4th March to Sunday 19th March, a steam service will be operating at Weekends between Swanage and Norden via Herston Halt, Harmans Cross and Corfe Castle. Daily steam operation for the Summer season will commence on Saturday 25th March and run until Sunday 29th October (except 5th – 7th May 2017 Diesel Gala and Beer Festival) Our major event of the year is the Spring Steam Gala “Strictly Bulleid” Friday 31st March – Sunday 2nd April celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the final operation of steam hauled services on British Railways Southern Region. “Strictly Bulleid” will be a bonanza of Bulleids with four guest Bulleid locomotives joining forces with home fleet 34070 “Manston” to provide an extravaganza of steam power. See website for full details of this exciting event.

Our Dining Train season is now on sale with Saturday Night Wessex Belle, Friday Night Bistros and Sunday Dorsetman Luncheons on selected weekends throughout the year.

The 2017 January – May Timetable has now been published together with the 2017 programme of events, including our steam and diesel galas, dining trains and other special events.

Purbeck Railway Circle On Friday 10th March, Gordon Rushton will present “The Brighton Belle”. Gordon is the Marketing Director of the project to restore a fivecoach set of the Brighton Belle for running on the mainline. The Brighton Belle, the most famous electric train in the world, was renowned for the quality of the accommodation with each car individually designed by a different leading British design house. It was an icon of the Art Deco period. The Circle meets in Harmans Cross Village Hall, Haycrafts Lane, Harmans Cross at 7pm for 7.30pm. Tea/coffee/biscuits as usual.

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^ƚŽŶĞ ĂƌǀŝŶŐ Sessions At Burngate

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good way to ‘put a spring in your step’ this month is to learn something new! So, why not try your hand at stone carving?

Situated in the heart of Purbeck quarry land, Burngate Stone Centre has stunning views across to Swanage Bay and beyond. With two fully equipped workshops, a gallery of stone carvings/sculpture and a craft tearoom, Burngate is the perfect place to learn this ancient skill. All ages

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are catered for, from six upwards, and families and groups are welcome.

Knowledgeable tutors, stone provided; weekends can also be booked.

Tel: 01929 439405; check the website www.burngatestonecentre.co.uk for all courses; follow us on Facebook.

Introduction to stone carving: Free form carving: Letter cutting: Family have-a-go and more!

Follow The Swanage and Purbeck Sculpture Trail and discover stone sculpture in the landscape: www.purbecksculpture.com

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Zero Emissions In A Green Leaf!

by David Hollister

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f you’ve been reading my recent Motoring columns, you can’t have missed my strong penchant towards hybrid and zero-emission cars.

So at last I’ve had the chance to test-drive the new generation of the Nissan Leaf, the 30kw ‘Tekna’ – the very latest top of the range all-singing all-dancing all-electric car of the future. Thank you to Westover Nissan for allowing me to use the Leaf, and sorry if it was a bit dirty when I brought it back!

OK, first and foremost, the car itself. It’s a spacious 5-door family hatchback, which feels bigger inside than it looks from the outside. Masses of storage space, cupholders and door bins, points to charge your phones and iPods, and plenty of headroom for even the tallest drivers. 60/40 folding split rear seats which fold down easily but don’t actually fold down totally flat, which is a shame. Plenty of room for your Waitrose bags as well as the car’s own charging cables.

The seating is comfortable and adjusts to a really good height for us vertically challenged drivers. All the clearly-marked controls are sensibly placed, with steering-wheel operation for Bluetooth phone, music, onboard computer and cruise control.

The BOSE sound system is excellent; the sat-nav one of the best I have used. The heating system is also innovative inasmuch as you don’t have to wait till the car warms up; it’s instant heat wherever you want it at the touch of a button, including seats and steering wheel! Six airbags, a 5-star Euro-NCAP safety rating.

There’s a really good reversing camera system, with a 360-degree splitscreen facility to aid parking close to the kerb without damaging the alloys.

This car really does have all the bells and whistles that you’d come to expect on a £28,000 car. So, how does it go?

All the engine’s power is available from a standstill. Start the car with the button; then engage ‘drive’ and put your foot down and wow! Claimed 0-60 is 11.5 seconds but it feels like a good deal quicker than that. Maximum speed – no idea, never had a chance to try it out, apart from which all you need to know is that it will maintain the ‘national speed limits’ all day long, giving you a virtually silent and amazingly comfortable ride. The transmission has an ‘ECO’ setting which you’d probably leave engaged for day-to-day round-town driving. But when you release the ECO button, it’s as if it had been towing a caravan which suddenly became unhitched….. off like a scalded cat!

Being a Nissan, with legendary reliability, you should never need to access the 60,000-mile warranty; the motor, battery and drive train are covered for an amazing eight years or 100,000 miles on this 30kw model. To top it all, a twelve-year anti-corrosion warranty.

Yes, it’s not cheap. But budget in no road tax, no fuel, a charge cost of around 2p per mile, amazing reliability, and suddenly it’s actually not much more expensive than an Astra or a Golf. To sum up – I really liked it, I could easily get used to it.

But – and there has to be a ‘but’.

My last column highlighted the woeful inadequacy of fast charging points here in Purbeck, and I hope to bring you more news on that later this year.

The car comes with a 3-pin plug and cabling, so you can trickle-charge it at home overnight. There is also a super new scheme under which Nissan will supply you with a Fast Charge unit for your home – for nothing! So a full charge could take as little as four hours. This is fine if you have a garage or even off-road parking, but not a lot of good if you have to drape your charge cables over the pavement (you guessed it – you can’t!).

Before we set out for our ‘test drive’ for lunch in that nice little pub, the New Inn at Shipton Gorge (DT6 4LT if you’d like to give it a try!!), the meter showed we had 104 miles of charge left. The pub is 39.6 miles from home. The sun was shining, we could see clearly now the rain had gone, and the drive down was brilliant. We even left it in ECO-mode.

And drove sensibly (yes, I’ve had my lessons – see next month’s issue!).

I’m sure that the sat-nav can be programmed to show distances in miles though even with the handbook, it had me beaten. So as the power went down on the way home, there we were doing mental arithmetic wondering whether the remaining mileage (miles) would take us the remaining distance (kilometres).

By the time we got to Wareham the ‘ere you’ light was on, reminding me that I needed to find a charging station. Ha ha! The nearest one is in Poole. Would I get home?

The nearest I’ve been to this feeling was a thirty-mile drive on single-track roads round the mountains of northern Cyprus in a rented Mondeo when the fuel light came on and I hadn’t a clue what to do except coast down all the hills and hope there was a petrol station at the bottom; there was!

But we couldn’t have coasted the Leaf home and there was no handy fastcharge point. By the time we’d reached home, the ‘mileage left’ indicator had flat-lined, leaving me wondering exactly how much power was left.

And leaving me realising that actually I hadn’t particularly enjoyed the last part of the homeward journey.

So here we have a superb, comfortable, economical and environmentallyfriendly car totally let down by the non-existent supporting infrastructure.

And regrettably, years ahead of its time. Would I buy one? If I lived in Poole or even Dorchester, and if most of my mileage was done around the towns, the answer is – yes, in a heartbeat.

But I live in the ‘sticks’, I need to be able to drive long distances with short notice, without the nagging worry of running out of juice. Add an hour for mid-journey refuelling to my 110-mile journey to Bourne End to see my son James, and the journey becomes unacceptably long. Cheap, yes.

Environmentally friendly, yes. But too long; patience never has been my strong suit. So right now it’s a ‘no’.

Try one for yourself. Well worth a test drive. If you have off-road parking and your journeys are generally from here to Poole and back or shorter, then this is the car for you. Ring Sally Ann Tanner at Westover Nissan on 01202 532100 for a test-drive.

Next month – did I know what I didn’t know? – no, but I know it now! Local Instructor, Andy Temple, was brave enough to give me several driving lessons recently. Stay tuned!

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16(16)FORD Focus 1.0 Ecoboost Titanium 5dr Auto Our Demonstrator Good Fuel Economy Sat Nav Door Guards......................................... £18995 16(16)FORD Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost Zetec 5dr Our Own Vehicle Zero Road Tax Fantastic Economy Ford Warranty until Jul 18............................ £12995 15(65)FORD Fiesta 1.6 ST2 16000 Miles. Sold New & Maintained by Us One Owner Excellent Condition Spirit Blue..........................................£13495 13(13)FORD Fiesta 1.0 Zetec 5dr One Local Owner Excellent Condition 13000 Guaranteed Miles Air Conditioning Alloy Wheels......................£8795 10(10)BMW 320iSE 4dr Automatic Saloon One Local Owner from New SatNav Full Leather Trim Full History Long MOT.................................£9995 09(09)FORD Kuga 2.0TDCi Zetec AWD 47000 Miles Cruise Control Airbags Alloy Wheels.............................................................................................£8995 09(59)FORD Focus 1.6TDCi Titanium 5dr One Local Owner 45000 Guaranteed Miles Rear Park Assist Excellent Economy......................£5995 08(09)FORD Kuga 2.0TDCi Titanium AWD Locally Owned 81000 Miles Full Service History Part Leather Trim Park Assist.....................................£7995 15(15) FORD Ecosport 1.0 Ecoboost Zetec. 6,600 miles. Sold new & maintained by us. Bluetooth parking sensors.....................................£11995 13(13) FORD Focus 2.0 TDCi Titanium Auto Powershift. 37,000 miles, locally-owned, full history, leather interior, alloy wheels....................£8995 13(63) FORD B-Max 1.0 Ecoboost Zetec. Supplied & maintained by us.

23,000 miles, brilliant fuel economy, very roomy..................................£8595

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Food

From The Kitchen Garden...

Goose Eggs / Lemon Drizzle Cake

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he air is slowly warming up when the pale spring sun shines, however the soil is still cold and the crops that are in the ground are moving on rather cautiously. Still, spring is definitely on its way as my geese started laying in February and will carry on well into July.

Goose eggs are a truly seasonal treat as unlike chickens and ducks; geese don’t lay their eggs all year round or every day. But the eggs they lay are just BEAUTIFUL in every way! It’s such a thrill to find the first egg of the year, tucked away gently in its straw nest, pure white, smooth, perfect ….and very tasty! Oh yes, and VERY versatile, too!

One goose egg is equal to about 2 and1/2 hen’s eggs and the flavour is true, fresh egginess and ever so creamy…and the colour is awesome! The yolk is so yellow it’s nearly orange. The reason for this intense colour is all the juicy grass they eat all day long. There’s no need to be frightened of cooking a goose egg in any hen’s egg recipe as they can be boiled, baked, fried, scrambled, poached and of course make the most amazing cakes!

Getting into a goose egg can be a bit tricky, as the shells are thick and need a good thwack to crack. Some of my lovely customers actually want the shell kept whole to use for their Easter craft creations. I’ve used goose eggs in this Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe; no food dye is being used here, just the very freshest goose eggs giving a feast to the eyes and the taste buds.

Let’s face it; we can all use a bit of ‘zing’ at this time of year!

Lemon soaked sponge ingredients: 225 gr/8 oz soft butter 225 gr/8 oz caster sugar 275/ 10 oz self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 4 hen’s eggs or 2 goose eggs Grated rind of 1 lemon (unwaxed is best) For the topping: Juice of 1 lemon, 2 tbsp granulated sugar Method: Put all the sponge ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth. Spoon the the mixture into a greased, lined 1,5kg/3 lb cake tin. Bake in a preheated oven 190C/Gas 5for 45-55 minutes until lightly browned.

Mix the lemon juice and sugar for the topping and pour over the cake while it is still hot. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 30 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

By Regula Wright, Godlingston Manor Kitchen Garden

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&ĂŝƌƚƌĂĚĞ &ŽƌƚŶŝŐŚƚ /Ɛ ,ĞƌĞ͊

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airtrade Fortnight will be held between 27th February – 12th March 2017. This is a time to focus on poor farmers who provide much of the food we eat. Fairtrade means they receive a fair wage for their hard work.

We will have Fairtrade tastings in Swanage Co-op on Saturday 11th March. Come and try some delicious Fairtrade chocolate!

There will also be a Fairtrade stall in Wareham

Co-op for the fortnight.

There will be displays about Fairtrade in Swanage and Wareham libraries, as well as in the window of Humphries Kirk solicitors in Wareham.

There will be Traidcraft stalls at the following: ŕ Sunday February 26th after the 10.30am service at St Mary`s Church, Swanage, ŕ Wednesday March 1st 3pm – 4.30pm `Not just tea`, at Emmanuel Baptist Church Swanage. Fairtrade talk and afternoon tea, £2.50, book a place on: 427706. ŕ Thursdays March 2nd and 9th Wareham URC. 10.30am – 11.45am. ŕ Friday March 3rd after the Women`s Day of Prayer service, Salvation Army, Swanage 12 noon approx. ŕ Saturdays March 4th and 11th 10am – 12 noon at Wareham Parish Hall. ŕ Tuesday March 7th 10am – 12 noon at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Swanage. ŕ Thursday March 9th 9am – 1pm at Wareham`s Farmers Market, Town Hall.

For more information on Fairtrade www.fairtrade.org.uk Pick up a FREE Purbeck fairtrade directory in the libraries.

Wareham Fairtrade Town group: Brian, tel 01929 550138 Swanage Fairtrade Town group: Frances, tel 01929 421968

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Purbeck Products

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s I write this, we are in the middle of a cold frosty snap and spring feels a long way off. Winter started off fairly well, especially for our out wintered cows. The dry, mild conditions set them up in good stead for when the bad weather eventually set in.

We have just sorted out the early calvers and brought them into the barns ready to calve in the warm and dry.

The pigs aren’t affected much by the cold weather as they

The Purbeck Gazette

are comfy in their deep straw yards, we just tend to use more straw as a good bed raises the temperature for them by up to five degrees centigrade, which the pigs need as they don’t have a hairy coat like a cow.

We would like to congratulate two of our longstanding customers, Clive and Lisa Orchard at Bindon Bottom B&B, West Lulworth, on winning the Tripadvisor’s ‘Traveller’s Choice Award’ for the best B&B in the world for the second time, a worthy winner.

By the time you read this we will have held our first Purbeck Products market of 2017 and welcomed back all our regular customers and hopefully some new ones too. So do come along on the 2nd Saturday of the month and meet the producers in Commercial Road, Swanage.

Phil and Pauline Samways

&ŽŽĚ ,LJŐŝĞŶĞ ZĂƟŶŐƐ &Žƌ WƵƌďĞĐŬ ŵŽŶŐ ĞƐƚ /Ŷ ŽƵŶƚƌLJ͊

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new study has revealed that food hygiene standards at takeaways and sandwich shops in Purbeck are amongst the highest in the country. Out of 355 council areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland has a different rating system), Purbeck had the 7th highest percentage of businesses rated either good (4) or very good (5).

The council area with the highest percentage of 4 and 5 ratings was North Devon, where a staggering 100% were rated good or very good; although Purbeck was not far behind on 96.7%.

The Food Standards Agency website holds the data from inspections carried out by each local authority under the Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme.

Every business that serves food is awarded with a hygiene rating between 0 and 5 under the scheme.

Of the thirty applicable takeaways and sandwich shops in Purbeck, twentythree had the top rating of 5, with the remainder scoring either 3 or 4.

There were no premises with a zero, and only one with a 1 rating (major improvement necessary); Dorothy Cafe (Williams of Wool) in Swanage.

Linda Firth, a Director at LoveMyVouchers.co.uk said, “We conducted this study to help raise awareness about food hygiene ratings, as they can be a useful measure for customers deciding which takeaways to spend their hard earned money on.”

Food establishments in Wales and Northern Ireland are obliged to clearly display the rating that they receive under the Scheme, with England to follow suit from 2019.

Study Details: https://www.lovemyvouchers.co.uk/lifestyle/takeawayfood-hygiene-study/ Data taken from the Food Standards Agency

Government Website at: http://ratings.food.gov.uk/ Data and ratings correct at the time of writing, 17 February 2017.

Pictured: Top left, Ethan Ferrari of Haymans Bakery, Swanage (rated ‘5’). Top right: Chef, Oli Thake of Brooke Tea Rooms, Swanage (rated ‘5’). Below: Some of the award-winning Chococo team, Swanage (rated ‘5’).

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Postcards From The Edge.... ďLJ :ŽŚŶ 'ĂƌŶĞƌ

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ostcards seem to be going the way of so much paper based communication. Overhauled by the instant gratification of digital social media some of which I embrace as whole-heartedly as I mourn the demise of fixable things with moving parts. Not that I was ever a great fixer, but at least you had an idea of where to start.

Fairly recently a sound system has appeared in my living room. This is, I’m assured, activated from a cloud within which is contained all the music ever recorded in the world…ever. You are the first people to know about this, frightened as I am to be branded a modern day wicker man and be burned alongside my demonic machine. You can’t be too careful.

Back to postcards. Postcards are rapidly being consigned to the sort of thing your parents occasionally send, but only if they’re over the age of seventy. This is a shame, although I can’t actually remember ever sending a postcard, as Dorset lends itself to postcards like almost no other place.

Leaving to one side the opportunity to display postcards of chalk men with giant todgers, it is the Dorset postcard which lends itself most readily.

The Dorset coastline is an especially fertile area for postcards and whilst I have absolutely no statistical basis for this next comment, Durdle Door would seem to be the number one choice when it comes to choosing a postcard that is instantly identifiable. Well certainly in the top four on the south coast alongside the Needles, Old Harry Rocks and the White Cliffs of Dover.

It must be all the chalk. Not only does it appear to make the rocks more photogenic it also allows for rapid (in geological terms) disintegration of the cliffs often resulting in iconic structures such as the archway at Durdle Door. Wild winter scenes, shimmering summer, morning or evening. It’s always on form. A poor photograph or postcard of Durdle Door is as likely as a Mexican woman running the Trump ‘Empire’.

Having been seduced by the pictorial scenes, the only reason to not visit are the crowds often attracted by the images. Even at this time of year you will find the environs festooned with day trippers, dog walkers and hikers taking in the delights of Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. And possibly not just for the geological attractions.

I have walked, cycled and swum all around the area and in any format it’s great. You can still have the place to yourself, but you’ll have to pick your times, usually early in the morning. It can be as empty as a talent show

panellist offering sincere advice.

Winter late afternoons can also be a good time, but it’s fairly exposed on the cliffs and when the sun disappears it can be colder than a politician’s smile. The longish walk to Ringstead, when available, is surprisingly vigorous and the chances of seeing too many other people is pretty low even on the sunniest of days.

Friends of mine have swum from Lulworth to Ringstead which will give you views of the coastline you wouldn’t normally experience. Swimming under the arch, rolling over onto your back and gazing at the underside of the arch when there is a decent swell running is an exhilarating way to pass the time, but for a safer, more relaxed swim stick to Lulworth Cove which is naturally protected.

Sir Cecil Rhodes had a house there and whilst the merits of such a fellow are open to debate it’s encouraging to note that he chose to set up a home with a view over Lulworth rather than with a view of the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe as it is now.

There’s even a fossilised forest! Now this may well sound like book twenty six in the Harry Potter series, but it is in fact exactly what it sounds like.

It’s very, very old. Not quite as old as some of the geology, but older than a Jimmy Tarbuck joke book for instance. Given that the contents of this book date back to the beginnings of communication. (It actually dates back to 145 million years ago, but I’m setting up a gag here.)

So, right back to the beginnings of communication, or ‘mother-in-law’ jokes if you’re Jimmy. ‘My mother-in-law’s so frightening she petrified a forest.’ That sort of thing. (At this point you are probably asking yourself if the preamble was worth it.)

So. To tie some very loose ends together I shall conclude. Like many 1970’s comedians, the postcard seems to be on its last legs. You will soon be left with no alternative than to go and experience it at first hand or more likely revisit an old friend.

That is, don’t go and see jaded pensioners trotting out weary punchlines from the past, but do go and spend some time at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. Just pick your moments.

Oh and if you want to watch some 1970s TV before you go watch ‘The Darling Buds Of May’.

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Meet Bonnemine D

orset Wildlife Trust’s (DWT’s) Seal project has enabled conservationists to discover that a resident seal, originally named ‘Domino’ has set up home in Poole Harbour for nine years, after a journey from France in 2007 when she was just a pup.

Using photographs submitted to the DWT seal project, the serial number of a tag on her flippers could be read and was traced back to the Association CHENE in France which recorded rescuing and subsequently releasing her in Baie du Mont Saint-Michael in 2007. She was fitted with a satellite transmitter and was recorded arriving in Poole Harbour in January 2008.

She was named ‘Domino’ in the Dorset seal ID catalogue, but it’s now been revealed that her original name is ‘Bonnemine’. Her rescuers in France were delighted to hear that she is alive and well across the Channel, proving all their efforts have been worthwhile.

DWT Marine Awareness Officer, Julie Hatcher said, “After Bonnemine’s arrival in Dorset, the track was lost but the seal obviously liked her new surroundings as she decided to stay, and is still one of the handful of resident common seals regularly spotted in Poole Harbour. We are able to tell Bonnemine’s story thanks to receiving photos of her as part of the Dorset Seal Project. We’re so grateful to those taking part as it’s helping us build up a picture of our Dorset seal population, their behaviour, habits and progress.”

Other seal sightings include the two rescued common seal pups released in Poole Harbour back in December 2016 the RSPCA after their rehabilitation. They’ve been seen interacting with the established resident group and photographs taken by members of the public and sent to DWT are helping us establish the health and development of the pair.

In 2016 the Dorset Seal Project received 150 sightings, an increase of 82% on the previous year as more people have reported their seal encounters, enabling us to link seals in Dorset with Hampshire, Cornwall and France.

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Please be aware that people should avoid getting too close and disturbing seals.

To report your seal sighting, please email kimmeridge@dorsetwildlifetrust. org.uk or via DWT facebook/DorsetWildlife or Twitter @DorsetWildlife Photos: Top: Bonnemine © Janet France-Sargeant Above: Seal pup being released in December © Julie Hatcher

FREE Beginners’ Birdwatching Course

he RSPB invite the public to sign-up for their free Beginners Birdwatching Course in March at RSPB Radipole. Each course runs over three consecutive Tuesdays, dates as below.

Lindsey Death RSPB Visitor Experience Officer in Weymouth, said: “This is the perfect opportunity to start a new hobby – if you’re feeling a pull to develop a new skill, our three week Beginners’ Birdwatching course could be for you. Learning the basics of how to enjoy birdwatching is incredibly rewarding, plus it’s a hobby you can do anywhere - even from your kitchen window, on holiday or whilst enjoying a daily walk around your local green space.

“This three-week course is best suited to absolute birdwatching beginners.

In our informal and friendly group setting, we’ll take you through how to handle binoculars, use a bird book and spot and listen out for birds. As

the classes progress, we’ll also take you out onto our Weymouth nature reserves to spot some of the less common birds on our reserves too.”

Course Details: March three week Course dates: Tues 7, 14, 21. ** Participants must be available to attend the full three weeks ** This is a FREE course, but places are limited, so please book early on: 01305 778313 or email, weymouth.reserves@rspb.org.uk Lindsey continued: “Becoming aware of and understanding the birds on your own Dorset doorstep will bring you a deeper connection with and appreciation of your local nature.

“Plus this course is a great way to socialise, make new friends, try something new and discover more about the feathered friends that call our RSPB Weymouth Wetlands home.”

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Margaret Green Animal Rescue Centre ĂŶ LJŽƵ ŐŝǀĞ ƉŽůůŽ Ă ĨŽƌĞǀĞƌ ŚŽŵĞ͍

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t Margaret Green Animal Rescue we care for over 1,200 animals a year at our rescue and rehoming centres in Dorset and Devon. Our pet of the month is Apollo the rescue dog and we would like to share his story: “Hello my name is Apollo, and I am a 2 year old German Shepherd.

I am a beautiful boy with lots of love to give but I can be very shy and timid at first. I am looking for a family who have the time and patience to help me build my confidence, ideally with experience of owning nervous dogs in the past.

“As I can be a little worried and shy in new situations and around new people, I am looking for an adult only home where I am not going to be left on my own as this is when I'm most anxious. Once I get to know you I am a very loving and loyal dog, who wants nothing more than cuddles, play time and long walks. I would love to live with another dog but I'd rather not live with cats or small furries.

“Can you give me my forever home? Please contact Lincoln Farm on 01929 471340 or email lincolnfarm@mgar.org.uk for more information.”

We also hold events throughout the year to raise money for our rescue animals.

Please see below for a list of events in Dorset and Devon: Sponsored Walk – 9th April (Devon) Margaret Green Week – 15th -20th May (Dorset) Companion Dog Show – 11th June (Devon)

Companion Dog Show – 6th August (Dorset) Tri-4-Rescue – 3rd September (Devon) Country Fayre – 24th September (Dorset) We are currently looking for volunteers to help at these events with manning stalls, selling raffle tickets, tombola, information stands, refreshments and more!

We are also currently taking bookings from traders for the Companion Dog Show (Dorset) and the Country Fayre (Dorset).

Please contact Jazmin on 01929 477074 / jazmin.house@mgar.org. uk for information on both.

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'ĂnjĞƩĞ 'ĂƌĚĞŶŝŶŐ ǁŝƚŚ ^ŝŵŽŶ 'ŽůĚƐĂĐŬ

Getting your Garden to Perform

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any of the customer gardens I visit look great in spring but then often lacklustre at other times in the year. This is because the owners have made several trips to the garden centre in spring when they felt inspired and bought plants that are showing off at that time.

This is called impulse buying and we all do it!

The trick is finding the right plants to really add interest to your garden not just the fact they catch your attention in the garden centre display.

This is particularly important if you have a small garden as every plant really needs to earn its keep. So here are five tips to create a border that has year round interest.....

When you are buying plants try to Find out how long the plant will be in flower. Rhododendrons (pictured, top left) look amazing for four weeks in the spring but then are pretty dull for the other eleven months.

Remember when your garden could have looked better and buy plants that are displaying at that time to fill the gap. This hardy Plumbago (pictured, blue flowers, middle left) flowers for three months in late summer and has good autumn leaf colour to follow.

Consider using different textures of foliage to create contrast. The bold leaves of these Phormium (pictured, bottom left) contrast well with the soft green surrounding plants.

Complimentary foliage colour is also important. As well as green there are many plants with purple, red, silver, yellow, pink and variegated leaves.

The purple foliage of this Pittosporum Tom Thumb (pictured, above) provides all year round interest by contrasting with most other plants.

Plants like Salvia, Coronilla and Erysimum flower for several months which are great for small gardens. For instance Salvia Hot Lips (pictured, below) flowers for six months from May to November.

Trees, shrubs and hardy perennials can all be planted now and you will find a very good choice at most garden centres and an amazing selection at Holme. Also with seven plant and gardening experts at Holme there is always someone available to help you make informed choices.

We’re here to help you get the most from your garden!

The Purbeck Gazette

The Seeds of Success!

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arch is a great month to get growing. Last year we sowed about £20 worth of annual seed varieties for planting out in the gardens and the results were fantastic with people commenting throughout the summer about the unusual plants and beautiful flowers. The best part is that seed sowing and growing your own plants is so easy.

Some seeds that can withstand frost can be sown direct into their flowering position.

These seeds are known as hardy annuals. One of the great successes we had was the ‘Wildlife Friendly Wildflower Mix’ which started flowering in June and was still going into December.

Simply cultivate the ground in March as if you are preparing to sow grass seed and sprinkle the seed mix on instead.

We weeded once in late May but apart from that we did nothing, no watering, no dead heading, no staking!

Wildlife seed mix There are of course risks from direct sowing such as competition from other

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plants, mice, slugs, frost and disease so sometimes it is better to start the seeds off indoors and grow them on until they are strong enough to ‘bed’ them out in late May after the fear of frost has passed.

Starting in March sow the seeds into seed trays using John Innes seed compost and place them in a frost free area such as a sun room, conservatory, greenhouse or cold frame.

When the seedlings are large enough to handle without damaging them, pot them into individual 9cm pots.

Before planting harden the plants off by gradually exposing them to life outdoors. Initially shelter them from strong sun, wind and cold temperatures.

Once ‘hardened off’ transplant them to their flowering position.

Water in well and enjoy the results.

Come in and see the great range of seeds on offer at Holme, along with the amazing range of ready grown plants and whilst here why not enjoy a relaxing cup of tea by the famous pond?

Simon Goldsack Pictured: Bottom left: Malope trifida ‘Vulcan’ Top right: Calendula ‘Prince of Orange’ Middle right: Cosmos ‘Picotee’ Bottom right: Eschscholzia ‘Orange King’

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ƌŽĐƵƐ WůĂŶƟŶŐ /Ŷ tĂƌĞŚĂŵ

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his winter, members of the Rotary club of Wareham, along with members of Wareham in Bloom and schoolchildren, have been busy around town planting 5,000 purple crocus bulbs.

Rotary in Britain and Ireland launched “Purple4Polio” and set up a new partnership between Rotary and the Royal Horticultural Society for the latest crocus planting campaign, with the target of planting five million crocus bulbs for spring 2017.

The purple crocus is a symbol of Rotary’s worldwide campaign to eradicate polio, with its colour representing the purple dye used to mark the finger of a child who has been immunised.

Polio cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases then, to 74 reported cases in 2015. The reduction is the result of the global effort to eradicate the disease. Today, only two countries (Afghanistan and Pakistan) remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988.

Until polio is eradicated, all countries remain at risk of outbreaks. Every dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication will be matched two-to-one by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation up to $35 million a year through 2018.

These funds help to provide much-needed operational support, medical personnel, laboratory equipment, and educational materials for health workers and parents. Governments, corporations and private individuals all play a crucial role in funding. More than one million Rotary members have donated their time and personal resources to end polio.

Every year, hundreds of Rotary members work side-by-side with health workers to vaccinate children in polio-affected countries.

The Rotary year 2016/17 marks the 100th birthday of our Rotary Foundation. As part of the celebrations of this anniversary, a major initiative is being launched to publicise our flagship programme “End Polio Now”, to ensure that we maximise publicity for Rotary and raise the money to get us over the line and finally eradicate this disease.

Kingston Maurward gardens, nr Dorchester

Planting at junction of North Street and A351, Wareham

Planting at Church Green, Wareham

Planting at junction of North Street and A351, Wareham

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Wareham In Bloom Goes For Gold Again In 2017!

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aving been awarded a ‘GOLD’ and ‘ O V E R A L L WINNER’ in our Small Town Category last year, Wareham in Bloom members are looking forward to again beautifying Wareham with a floral display in preparation for the South/South East regional competition.

An order has already been placed with our regular supplier, who has given us excellent service by collecting our display equipment and returning it at the end of May, ready for us to put in place.

David Watkins Jones, proprietor of Anvil Grounds Maintenance, sponsors us with a suitable vehicle and four wheeled trailer so that we can place tour display equipment around the town. The flower towers arrive the day before in order that two of our Town Hall staff can place and secure them in North Street.

This is just one small part of our activities; Anvil grounds maintenance also sponsor the maintenance of the Saxon roundabout, along with the weeding and clearance of the area of manorial waste behind St Martin’s Church.

The land behind St Martin’s church has been planted with snowdrops and will also be planted with wild flower seed in the spring to encourage insects, birds and butterflies.

This is very important and is part of the criteria that we will be judged on.

However much we encourage wildlife, it can be difficult to provide an interesting and colourful area when a dozen or more deer make daily visits to the Saxon corner to graze on the new growth of the trees, shrubs and flowers!

We have three large flower beds which are already planted with pansies and tulips, and these will be replanted in June together with eighteen tubs and the raised beds in Rempstone Precinct.

Shortly, all the spring bulbs that we started planting over twenty years ago in the grass verges, along with the 5,000 purple crocus bulbs which were planted in partnership with the Rotary club of Wareham, will, we hope, give everyone a lot of pleasure.

Please support us in raising the necessary funds to make Wareham in Bloom a huge success. If you wish to make a contribution, a cheque can be made payable to ‘Wareham Town Council’ and dropped into the Town Hall. All finance and auditing is handled by the Wareham Town Council.

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Purbeck Arts Choir - ZĞƋƵŝĞŵ &Žƌ ,ƵŵĂŶŝƚLJ Choral Double Bill for the Purbeck Arts Choir Spring Concert. n 1st April 2017 the Purbeck Arts Choir will be singing two very contrasting Requiems in their Spring Concert. The UK premiere performance of Helen Ostafew’s “Requiem for Humanity” and the ever popular Fauré Requiem.

Excerpts from “Requiem for Humanity” were performed at last year’s PAW Festival, but this will be the first opportunity to hear the complete work and Helen herself will be the soprano soloist.

Many people will know Helen from her involvement in the Swanage music scene a few years ago having been the MD for Studland Youth Music Theatre and the Purbeck Players and also conducting the vocal group Five High.

The Stanford String Quartet will accompany the choir with Simon Lole (organ), Daan Temmink (piano) and Ashley John Long (double bass) and soloists Miro Vosper, Grace Lovelass and David Fawcett complete the line-up.

The concert is in support of Marie Curie and will take place at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Church, Swanage on 1st April. Tickets are only £10 in advance from choir members, Corbens Estate Agents of Swanage, or from Liz Roberts on 01929 481419. Children and students are free.

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Purbeck Strings - ĂĐŬ dŽ ĂĐŚ

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t this year’s Festival the emphasis in the Festival Strings concert, on Sunday 14th of March 3.30pm in St. Mary’s Church Swanage, will be on two great works by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The first great work by Bach is his Concerto for two violins, with ‘sister act’ Laura and Ellie Stanford as the two soloists. This music has beautiful melodies introduced by one soloist and then copied by the other and woven into a sublime pattern of sounds. Adding their emerging talents to

the Festival Strings will be a group of young players, some playing in an orchestra for the first time and together with their teacher Jay Buckle, will be playing a special part written for them by the orchestra’s conductor Ian Pillow.

The second of Bach’s masterpieces is his Brandenburg Concerto number 3. In this Concerto Bach divides each section of the orchestra into groups of three to provide a rich tapestry of intermingling themes. Away from Bach, one of Purbeck Strings young Fine Instrument Award players, Lauren Hardyman, who has achieved a grade 8 Associated Board with distinction, will be the cello soloist for a performance of the dramatic ‘Elegy’ by Anton Arensky, a Russian composer and friend of Tchaikovsky.

The Stanford Quartet’s concert performance by candle light at St. Mary’s Church at 7.30 on Saturday 13th of March will be strongly focussed on the music of three major English composers. They will be playing Edward Elgar’s Quartet in E minor composed in 1918 and Ralph Vaughan Williams Quartet in G minor composed in 1909. William Walton wrote the music for the film, made in 1944, of Shakespeare’s Henry V, and the quartet will complete their English selection by playing ‘Touch her soft lips and part’, from that film.

Always ready to perform contemporary music the quartet will complete their programme with a hauntingly evocative composition by Japanese composer Somei Satoh called, ‘White Heron’.

Tickets for these concerts are available from St. Mary’s Church office: Stanford Quartet: £12. Festival Strings: £10. Accompanied children – free.

Purbeck Strings receives support from Arts Council England through Dorset Music Service.

WƵƌďĞĐŬ >ŝƚĞƌĂƌLJ &ĞƐƟǀĂů ͚ ĞƐƚ ǀĞŶƚ͛͊

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urbeck Literary Festival named in leading travel site’s best events to attend in February!

Purbeck Literary Festival was chosen by the UK’s rental giants HolidayLettings.co.uk (owned

by TripAdvisor) as one of the top fifteen February events in a recent article: “Where To Go & What To Do in February”.

The list was compiled to celebrate only the best of UK events which took place in February 2017.

The final fifteen were selected from hundreds of

the biggest and most exciting events across the UK. Saskia Welman, spokesperson for HolidayLettings.co.uk, said: “This Literary Festival takes place on the picturesque Isle of Purbeck and makes it onto our list as it offers a fantastic array of literary events lined-up for both adults and children.

“The attendees can meet their favourite book authors, attend talks and workshops, book signings and much more during this ten day event in February.”

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dŚĞ ŽLJ tŚŽ ,ĞĂƌƐ dŚŝŶŐƐ

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ďLJ ĂƚŚLJ >ĞǁŝƐ

ublishing is suddenly back in fashion, with more people than you can shake a stick at having a go at getting their work published, either traditionally, or as an e-book.

Many modern-day authors now go down the self-publishing route, saving money by not bothering with editors or agents. Some do well and find relative success, whilst others realise that much like a chef who has good ideas but who cannot actually cook, successful writing takes a lot more time and effort than bashing a few paragraphs out ‘writing about what you know’ and hoping no one notices the glaring grammatical errors contained within.

Having an idea for a story and putting a bunch of words on paper does not make one a writer.

Enter local author, Cathy Lewis, who recently dropped a copy of her children’s book ‘The Boy Who Hears Things’ into Gazette Towers for review. We warned Cathy we’re not in the business of offering free advertising, we only offer honest reviews. If it stinks, we’ll say so.

Well, Cathy, it doesn’t stink. Far from it, in fact. ‘The Boy Who Hears Things’ is an excellent example of talented, thoughtful writing. Professional writing. Writing that has been worked on, torn apart, started again, reworked, reworked again, and ‘finalised’ several times before the story got anywhere near an editor, agent or publisher. Cathy, in other words, is a writer.

What a delight to read! I settled down one Friday evening to start with the first few chapters (we always read the entire book when reviewing), and literally didn’t lift my head until I had turned the last page. Aimed at 9-12 year olds, ‘The Boy Who Hears Things’ follows the central character, Jamie, and his friends as they research the history of the abandoned ‘Queen’s House’ - an old hospital for injured soldiers in their village. As the friends slowly uncover the hidden dark past of Queen’s House, Jamie is shadowed by the mysterious, hunched, figure of Eddie, seemingly urging him intently onwards with his investigation.

The story flows with ease, expertly crafted, with well-rounded, relatable characters. A very subtle nod here and there to the Purbeck environment adds an additional layer for local readers to enjoy. Jamie and his friends utilise the resources available to them in their small community as they research Queen’s House and the terrible events that occurred there in the distant past, overcoming their fears and making friends with some of the village’s older inhabitants in their search for the truth before it’s too late for Eddie......

This is a great story, superbly written, by an accomplished, talented writer. Cathy competently weaves together a gripping story with empathic characters, which is sure to be a hit, and not just with the specified 9-12 year olds. Word has it this is just the beginning, with more adventures to come in the series...... watch this space! Cover image created by renowned local artist, Tony Kerins. ISBN: 9780995612006. Nico Johnson

The Purbeck Gazette

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Wareham Choral ^ŽĐŝĞƚLJ ^ƉƌŝŶŐ ŽŶĐĞƌƚ

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areham Choral Society will be giving their Spring Concert at The Lady St Mary’s Church in Wareham, at 7pm on Saturday, March 25th, under the direction of Nigel Groome.

This is the Choral Society’s Seventieth Anniversary. The Concert will combine Choral works with instrumental pieces.

The Choir will sing Malcolm Archer’s “Requiem” and Handel’s Chandos Anthem number Six - “O Praise the Lord with One Consent”.

John Radford will accompany these works and also play Malcolm Archer’s “Elegy” on the recently refurbished Church organ.

The Hammig Quartet will provide string accompaniment for the Handel and also play two pieces on their own: Mozart’s String Quartet in C major (K157) and Massenet’s “Meditation from Thais”.

Tickets will be £12.50 each, available from Joy’s Outfitters in Wareham, from Choir members, by ringing 01929-459319 or at the door.

Refreshments will be available during the interval.

The Wareham Choral Society is a non-auditioning Choir, welcoming singers of all abilities. They are always keen to welcome new members.

They rehearse in the United Reformed Church in Wareham at 7.15pm on Monday evenings.

They plan three concerts each year and the Choral Society’s reputation for their performances of a varied repertoire is steadily rising.

KůŝǀĞƌ͊

S

WƌĞƐĞŶƚĞĚ ďLJ ^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ DƵƐŝĐĂů dŚĞĂƚƌĞ ŽŵƉĂŶLJ

wanage Musical Theatre Company present ‘Oliver!’. Oliver! is the musical adaptation of the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart.

The musical starts in the workhouse where the orphan boys are eating their gruel. One brave boy asks for more. His name is Oliver and he is told to leave by the greedy caretakers, Mr Bumble and the widow Corney.

Mr Bumble actually sells Oliver to the undertakers, Mr and Mrs Sowerberry. Oliver manages to escape and goes on the run and so begins his new life in the city of London. There he meets the Artful Dodger, friends and Fagin, a criminal who teaches the boys to pick pockets. Oliver is befriended by Nancy, an older member of the gang and the live-in wife of Bill Sykes, a brutal house-burglar.

Come and see what happens to Oliver and the interesting twist to the story! Enjoy the memorable songs such as ‘Food Glorious Food’, “Consider Yourself”, “You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket or Two”, “Oom-Pah-Pah” and the well-known “As long As He Needs Me”.

Showing at the Mowlem Theatre in Swanage Thursday 6 - 8 April.

Book on 01929 422239 for tickets.

^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ :Ănjnj &ĞƐƟǀĂů 14th-16th July 2017

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ifty-plus bands plus our beautiful town and scenery attract a national audience and have made Swanage Jazz Festival one of the leading events in the jazz calendar for the past twenty-seven years. The twenty-eighth this year will, sadly, be our last. Age and ill health has finally caught up with the committee.

The Festival gives music lovers in Purbeck and south Dorset the chance to hear the quality of jazz that they could hear in the best clubs throughout the country. We mix established stars and many of the most exciting young bands on the jazz scene.

We present a selection of the whole range of jazz played today: from New Orleans revivalism to swing and contemporary jazz-rock, it’s all there!

There are lots of free events in pubs - the Red Lion, the White Swan, the Crows Nest and the Black Swan - and open-air concerts by youth bands and busking bands throughout the weekend. Saturday morning sees a brass band parade on the sea front, featuring Dave Brennan’s Jubilee Jazz Band, and there’s a jazz service of gospel music on Sunday morning at the Methodist Church.

The Festival begins on Friday afternoon at Swanage station, with a steam train trip to Harman’s Cross, followed by a jazz dance with a leading traditional jazz band, at the Village Hall.

Full information and tickets for the Festival and the steam train/jazz dance, are available from the ticket office (01929 422215) and the web site www.swanage.org

The Purbeck Gazette

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The 27th ^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ ůƵĞƐ &ĞƐƟǀĂů

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hen Paul Dubbleman, music biz photographer, was asked what was the secret of the festival’s success, he said: “The Swanage Blues Festival brings together an amazing collection of Blues musicians, fans and friends for a weekend of jams, open mics and headline performances that will have you coming back time after time.”

Wow! The town will come alive again when fans arrive for the 27th Swanage Blues Festival from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th March. It’s still only £10 for a Support Wristband to help towards the festival’s expenses.

Sole organiser Steve Darrington says that although he regards Swanage itself as the star of the show, there are always some surprises on the artists’ roster. “Last year Mungo Jerry himself did a show at The Legion and went down a storm.” said Steve. “This time we have Northern Ireland blues legend BillyBoy Miskimmin of The Yardbirds, who has played with Nine Below Zero, Stiff Little Fingers, Marc Almond, BB King and The Doors, to name but a few.”

Members of BillyBoy’s band include musicians that also play with local legends Hugh Budden and Martin Johnson.

Another new artist is singer Amy Mayes from Weymouth, who recently recorded with Jools Holland’s band.

“A wonderful woman, A wonderful voice” said Jools Holland.

Returning artists include recent British Blues Award winners Catfish featuring twenty two year old Matthew Long, a phenomenal singer/ guitarist tipped for stardom and Robert Hokum, singer/guitarist, band leader and founder and artistic director of Ealing Blues Festival, now in its thirtieth year.

There are over forty bands and sixty five performances in sixteen indoor venues at this year’s Swanage Blues Festival.

You can buy support wristbands and programmes through the website at www.swanage-blues.org or in person at most venues, the Tourist Information Centre (temporarily at the rear of the Town Hall), Replayed Records, Jenkins, Pursenalities, Rainbow’s End and other retailers.

If you can’t make it this March, don’t miss the autumn blues festival on 5th to 8th October, or enjoy the bands that Steve puts on ‘Live at the Legion’, at the Royal British Legion, High Street, Swanage, all year round.

SWANAGE BLUES

ǰȱ DZȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Paul Dubbelman via Swanage Blues Festival

The Purbeck Gazette

KhZ ^ > d/KE K& d, >h ^͘​͘​͘​͘ 6FKHGXOH OLVWHG E\ 9HQXH Black Swan 5 Sunday 15.00 Steamer Grand Hotel 3 Friday 20.30 Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion Grand Hotel 4 Saturday 14.00 Pete Robson Grand Hotel 4 Saturday 15.00 Mike Ross Grand Hotel 4 Saturday 16.00 Dan Sowerby Grand Hotel 4 Saturday 20.30 Dan Sowerby Band Grand Hotel 5 Sunday 14.00 The Great West Groove with Steve Darrington Grand Hotel 5 Sunday 20.30 Hugh Budden & the Blue Chords +HUVWRQ &DPSLQJ )ULGD\ &DWÀVK Herston Camping 4 Saturday 14.00 Fabulous Fezheads Herston Camping 4 Saturday 21.00 The RedCrow IoP Golf Club 4 Saturday 14.00 Hugh Budden & the Blue Chords Red Lion 3 Friday 14.00 Open Mic with Anita Jardine Red Lion 3 Friday 21.00 Tommy Allen and Chris Saunders Red Lion 4 Saturday 14.00 Open Mic with Anita Jardine Red Lion 4 Saturday 21.00 Fabulous Fezheads Red Lion 5 Sunday 13.00 Open Mic with Anita Jardine Red Lion 5 Sunday 20.00 Pete Harris & Jon Vaughan Sea Breeze 3 Friday 18.00 Lewis Cohen Sea Breeze 3 Friday 20.15 Lewis Cohen Sea Breeze 4 Saturday 18.00 Tommy Allen and Ray Drury Sea Breeze 4 Saturday 20.15 Tommy Allen and Ray Drury Ship 3 Friday 22.00 Blues Issue 6KLS 6DWXUGD\ &DWÀVK Ship 4 Saturday 22.30 Backwater Roll Blues Band Ship 5 Sunday 16.00 The Jawbreakers Ship 5 Sunday 22.00 LedFree Swanage Bay View 3 Friday 20.00 Blue Touch Swanage Bay View 4 Saturday 12.30 Robin Bibi Jam Session Swanage Bay View 4 Saturday 17.00 The Great West Groove Swanage Bay View 4 Saturday 21.00 Back Porch Tawny’s 3 Friday 18.00 Pete Harris & Jon Vaughan Tawny’s 3 Friday 20.15 Pete Harris & Jon Vaughan Tawny’s 4 Saturday 18.00 Lewis Cohen Tawny’s 4 Saturday 20.15 Lewis Cohen The Legion 2 Thursday 20.30 The Great West Groove with Steve Darrington The Legion 3 Friday 14.00 Back Porch The Legion 3 Friday 21.00 BillyBoy Miskimmin’s Mercy Lounge The Legion 4 Saturday 13.00 Stan’s Blues Jamboree The Legion 4 Saturday 21.00 Robin Bibi Band The Legion 5 Sunday 12.30 Robin Bibi Jam Session The Legion 5 Sunday 17.30 Amy Mayes Band The Legion 5 Sunday 21.00 The Great West Groove White Horse 3 Friday 21.45 The Milk Men White Horse 4 Saturday 21.45 The Mustangs White Horse 5 Sunday 18.00 Northsyde YHA 4 Saturday 12.00 Garry “The Slideguy” Smith YHA 4 Saturday 13.00 The Baroness & The Bear YHA 4 Saturday 14.00 The Great West Groove

For the full gig list, please purchase a programme!

HIGH STREET CAFÉ

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3 High Street, Swanage. BH19 2LN

Tel: 01929 427542

Join us for a superb full breakfast, or lunch during Swanage Blues Festival!

Opening hours: from 7.00am

Great Local Food, Just How You Like It!

J.J.Moore

Family & Catering Butcher

Proud to support Swanage Blues 2017!

34 High Street, Swanage. Tel: 01929 424891

The Purbeck Gazette

62

WƵƌďĞĐŬ sĂůůĞLJ &ŽůŬ &ĞƐƟǀĂů Badly Drawn Boy at this year’s Purbeck Valley Folk Festival nstantly recognisable with his trademark beard and bobble hat, it’s been announced that award-winning musician Badly Drawn Boy will headline the Sunday night of this year’s Purbeck Valley Folk Festival.

The family-friendly festival takes place on 24-27 August at Purbeck Valley Farm. Badly Drawn Boy, aka singer-songwriter Damon Gough shot to fame in 2000 with his Mercury Music Award winning debut, The Hour Of Bewilderbeast. His heartfelt lyrics also caught the attention of author Nick Hornby who commissioned Damon to write the soundtrack to the movie adaptation of his book, About a Boy, which starred Hugh Grant.

The 2002 film gave Badly Drawn Boy worldwide exposure and his songs continue to grace movie soundtracks. His second album from the same year, Have You Fed The Fish?, contained Badly Drawn Boy’s top ten single You Were Right, which received heavy radio airplay.

The intervening years saw a handful of well-received studio albums and soundtracks, with 2015 seeing a special UK tour to celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Hour of Bewilderbeast and the album played in its entirety.

A shining light for British indie and folk music, festival organiser Catherine Burke is over the moon that Badly Drawn Boy is making his Purbeck Valley Folk Festival debut: “It’s a real coup for us to get Damon on the bill. We always thought he’d be perfect for the Sunday solo slot.”

Catherine added: “He brings his raw lyrical power to Purbeck Valley, coupled with his Mancunian humour and charm. It also doubles the amount of Mercury Music Award Winners performing this year, as Ben Ottewell from Gomez won in 1998. It should be something special.”

With more major acts to be revealed over the coming months. Artists confirmed so far include singer-songwriter Ben Ottewell from Mercury Music Award winners Gomez, energetic Cornish band 3 Daft Monkeys and Dorset favourites The Ben Waters Band.

The festival champions local music, traditional song-writing and originality and is a big draw for music lovers of all ages. There’s highly-rated new talent from Blue Rose Code, a top bill of sizzling American music (including Flats & Sharps), inspired folk music from Gadarene, Emily Barker, Jess Morgan Trio and the triumphant return to the festival for Moscow Drug Club.

The organisers strive to carefully choose artists for an exciting festival that reflects the diversity of the current folk scene, with plenty to keep music lovers and families entertained.

Surrounded by spectacular views of Corfe Castle, accessible camping and some truly delicious food, Purbeck Valley Folk Festival is just as much

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a feast for the eyes as it is for the ears. Running over the August Bank Holiday weekend, revellers will be treated to a host of other favourite attractions including kids entertainers, storytellers, craft workshops, music workshops, song sessions, cinema, poetry, Purbeck Rising and open mics.

Weekend tickets (Thurs-Sun) include free camping and are on sale now at just £110 (youth £50, children over three £30).

For more information please visit www.purbeckvalleyfolkfestival. co.uk

ĞƐƟǀĂů ϮϬϭϳ WƵƌďĞĐŬ >ŝĐĞŶĐĞ 'ƌĂŶƚĞĚ͊

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urbeck District Council’s licensing sub-committee has granted Loud Sound Events Limited a variation to their existing premises licence at Lulworth Castle and Grounds.

This means that the go-ahead has been given for Bestival to take place in the district this September. Loud Sound Events will, however, have to meet a number of conditions which the sub-committee agreed were appropriate for an event of this type and size.

Councillor Peter Wharf, Chairman of the sub-committee, said: “The subcommittee granted the application after listening to the views of members of the public and taking into account statutory guidance and policies. We have worked with the organisers for the past ten years on Camp Bestival and will continue to work with them to ensure they minimise the impact of the festival and keep local residents informed.”

The existing premises licence permits the supply of alcohol and the provision of regulated activities in connection with an annual festival, Camp Bestival. Loud Sound Events’ application proposed to retain the same timings and conditions for Camp Bestival, but sought a variation to the conditions to allow for a second festival, to be known as Bestival, to be held annually and with extended hours.

The sub-committee set out a number of conditions, including a minimum period of five weeks between the close of Camp Bestival and the start

of Bestival; that the organisers submit an event management plan to the Council for its approval.

The plan must include a traffic management plan setting out measures to minimise the impact of traffic restrictions on local residents going about their daily business; to limit the number and timing of HGV and effluent vehicle movements; and to avoid the bunching of traffic leaving the event.

The Applicant is also required to hold consultation meetings with local residents. Dorset Police also agreed further conditions with the Applicant.

Pictured below: Camp Bestival at Lulworth Castle, summer 2012.

The Purbeck Gazette

ĞĂƵƚLJ dŚĞƌĂƉLJ ŶĚ dƌĂĚŝƟŽŶĂů dŚĂŝ DĂƐƐĂŐĞ

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Swanage Therapy Centre

Beauty Therapy & Thai Massage with Mimi Wiggins We look forward to seeing you

T: 01929 426506

www.swanagetherapycentre.co.uk

Now available at Swanage Therapy Centre! rained in Chiang Mai Thailand, Mimi Wiggins brings the ancient art of Thai massage to Purbeck. She is a qualified masseuse and beauty therapist, offering a wide range of holistic treatments and techniques for enhancing health and beauty.

Mimi seeks to heal and improve health with a traditional therapy that has been proven to relieve many common conditions.

Thai Massage is a therapeutic massage and an ancient Eastern treatment for relieving stress and tension. It is effective in the treatment of back pain, stiff neck, shoulder pain, and sports injuries involving muscle and tendon strains. Thai Massage affects the body either superficially or deep in to the muscles and connective tissues, relieving tension and restoring flexibility and mobility.

It uses yoga-like stretching techniques, in conjunction with pressure point therapy, using the hands, arms, feet and knees to access different parts of the body. If left untreated, tension can shorten the muscle leading to bad posture, aches and pain.

Thai Massage stretches muscles further than would be possible unaided, with the aim of restoring their natural length and flexibility. It may also create a feeling of inner balance and peace because it affects the body’s energy pathways.

Mimi’s approach to beauty therapy is more than skin deep. Her treatments help to restore not just the skin’s radiance but the spirit too. Mimi thrives on giving a luxurious and a memorable experience. She uses Arbonne products, a Swiss-formulated range containing the best herbal and botanical extracts for perfect, exclusive skin care treatments.

They contain no harmful chemicals or pore clogging mineral oils. A wide range of treatments are available, including manicure, pedicure, facials, waxing, and eye treatments.

Mimi enjoys making people feel and look great and it’s her passion to achieve 100% customer satisfaction.

If you require more information on any of the treatments offered by Mimi or would like to book an appointment, please call us at 01929 426506.

We are open Monday to Saturday and you can visit our website www.swanagetherapycentre.co.uk and follow us on Facebook to keep updated on our latest offers.

T

ŽŽŬ ĂĚǀĞƌƟƐŝŶŐ Ăƚ͗ ǁǁǁ͘ƉƵƌďĞĐŬŐĂnjĞƩĞ͘ĐŽŵ or call 01929 424293

CHIROPODY Rachel Ciantar

Home Visits & Clinic Appointments Comprehensive foot care - Diabetic Patient’s Care Biomechanics & Orthotics Registered with Society of Podiatrist & Chiropodists, HPC Registered

Contact 07979 840542

NEW PATIENTS £5 OFF FIRST TREATMENT

The Purbeck Gazette

64

ĚǀĞƌƟƐĞ LJŽƵƌ ,ĞĂůƚŚ Žƌ ĞĂƵƚLJ ^ĞƌǀŝĐĞ , Z ͊ ^ĞĞ ǁǁǁ͘ƉƵƌďĞĐŬŐĂnjĞƩĞ͘ĐŽ͘ƵŬ ĨŽƌ ƌĂƚĞƐ

,ĞůůŽ &ƌŽŵ ^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ DĞĚŝĐĂů WƌĂĐƟĐĞ

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ith increasing demand on the Practice and over-stretched resources meaning timely access is a challenge, our strategy for this year is to keep you, our patients, informed and to reinforce the need for you to respond in kind by managing your health responsibly.

Taking control of your health Why not ‘spring’ into action and take control of your health by signing up for online access to the surgery’s services? With online access you can organise appointments, access your online record, make repeat prescription requests, update your contact details and submit questionnaires or surveys; all from the comfort of home or while on the go via your smart phone. It couldn’t be more convenient! Pop into the surgery today, with some ID, and the receptionist will sign you up.

Cancel unwanted appointments With the introduction of our text cancellation service we are pleased to report incidents of DNA (Did Not Attend) appointments have reduced by 26% since this time last year, but more still needs to be done to reduce the large number of missed appointments with clinicians. If you haven’t got your mobile phone registered with us yet, please do so and don’t forget to update us when your number changes.

Cancelling your unwanted appointment, so that someone else can have it, is the single most important contribution you can make to the practice.

Stay informed Keeping up strong lines of communication with patients is a core strategy for us. Making sure you are up to date with the latest goings on at the practice is vital – whether that’s sharing changes to services, introducing new staff or circulating all kinds of timely information. Copies of our quarterly newsletter are always available in the foyer, waiting room and on our website.

The website has everything you need to know about our practice and gives access to information about common health conditions, health

forums and more. It should be regarded as your first point of reference when looking for health information.

Get involved with the Patient Participation Group (Friends of the Practice) The PPG is an independent group of patients that meet regularly and are kept informed about the practice. The aim of the group, amongst other things, is to identify patient’s needs and hear their views.

To act as a liaison group between the practice and patients when considering the impact of changes in health care policy proposals and constraints. They also fundraise regularly for much needed monies to purchase equipment for the practice. Do consider getting involved in their valuable work; for more information contact the surgery for an application form.

Finally, we want to hear from you, your opinions are important and can lead to change at the practice. Please use our ‘Friends and Family’ touch screen to tell us what you think, or consider joining the PPG. For more information about view our website: www.swanagemedical. org.uk

dŚĞ &ŝŐŚƚ dŽ <ĞĞƉ EĞĞĚĞĚ ^ĞƌǀŝĐĞƐ ƚ tĂƌĞŚĂŵ

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hy are the Friends of Wareham Hospital fighting to keep services in Wareham -including the inpatient beds?

Because Wareham Hospital provides services to the whole of Purbeck which includes care for the residents of Wareham, Swanage, Upton and the villages in Purbeck. Within the Dorset CCG CSR proposals, some of those services are threatened.

The Friends have found that many know little of the services provided at Wareham Hospital, in fact many don’t realise that there is a hospital in Wareham!

The hospital provides 16 in- patient beds for rehabilitation and end of life care in a refurbished ward area and staff have worked very hard to deliver high standards of care recently being awarded National accreditation.

Over 30 out-patient clinics are held including those for Mental Health and clinics supporting cancer patients. The new Chemotherapy clinic held every Friday has been very well received saving Purbeck patients the need to travel to Poole Hospital for treatment.

With 1 in 4 of us likely to suffer mental health problems and 1 in 2 of us likely to get cancer, local services are imperative and we don’t want to lose them.

The Friends have done much to raise the profile of the hospital and are delighted to have increased their membership by 500% whilst also organising some successful fundraising. The Friends Constitution has also been modernised to allow support for the hospital and services within the Purbeck community.

The main thrust of our support for Wareham Hospital is preserving

services. Consequently, we are in favour of a Purbeck Hub with increased services.

This is one of the proposals the Dorset CCG CSR have offered but as an addition, and due to the lack of local Care Home beds the Friends are suggesting that the Hub should have in -patient beds.

The drive to keep people in their own homes is not always possible nor is it proving to be cheaper if patients are to receive the care they need.

The Friends do not believe that there is a credible substitute locally for NHS hospital beds with qualified nursing staff and regular medical cover.

A new NHS HUB, (which has been considered for the site of the old Middle School) would provide an ideal opportunity to bring health and social care services together, help with coordination of care for patients within their own homes whilst also integrating with modern Primary care /GP facilities.

Including a state of the art in-patient area consisting of single rooms designed to accommodate the latest equipment and technology would enable staff to deliver local,safe integrated care into the future, meeting patients’ needs with privacy and dignity.

An exciting new initiative in Purbeck would also be helpful in attracting staff to the area which is essential as recruitment of health and social care personnel and carers is proving increasingly difficult across the whole of Purbeck.

If you wish to join the Friends and become a supporter, please contact Wareham Hospital for more information.

Tel 01929 552433

The Purbeck Gazette

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Matron’s Round - Our Local Hospitals’ Monthly Column

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ur outpatient department at Swanage is very busy, with more than twenty visiting consultants and thousands of patient appointments each year. Under the leadership of Sister Denise Exon and Supervisor Lynne Harris, nurses, healthcare assistants, secretarial and clerical staff work closely together to ensure your visit runs as smoothly as possible.

Five clerical officers deal with referrals which are created when a patient has been to their GP. They prepare each clinic making sure that all information needed is ready for the consultation, deal with patient enquiries, answer the phone and file all patient records in our onsite medical records department.

The secretarial team deals with paperwork following an appointment; typing letters, collating results from investigations and liaising with the consultants regarding future management of patients’ conditions – if

patients have any queries regarding their care they are always available to help. They also organise the Open Access Echocardiogram and 24 hour tape service Our healthcare assistants set up the clinic rooms and assist with various treatments and investigations. They also support the trained nursing staff and work closely with the clerical team when preparing clinics. Their main role is to be there for the needs of our patients, to offer care, guidance, advice and a warm welcome.

Staff nurses have a varied role, assisting in a range of clinics from orthopaedics to urology, paediatrics to eyes. Working with consultants and doctors, they set up and use many different specialist pieces of equipment for tests including spirometry, visual fields, flowrates and bladder scanning.

And of course, the outpatients team is closely interlinked with the rest of the hospital team – from the first welcome at reception to the cleaning team’s efforts at the end of each day, we’re all here to make each visit as efficient, helpful and stress free as possible.

Until next time take care, Matron Donna Photograph, top left – Some of the OPD team

^ǁĂŶĂŐĞ ,ŽƐƉŝƚĂů DŝŶŽƌ /ŶũƵƌŝĞƐ hŶŝƚ KƉĞŶ ϳ ĚĂLJƐ Ă ǁĞĞŬ ĨƌŽŵ ϴĂŵ Ͳ ϴƉŵ /Ĩ LJŽƵ ŚĂǀĞ ĂŶ ŝŶũƵƌLJ͕ ǁĞ͛ƌĞ ŚĞƌĞ ƚŽ ƚƌĞĂƚ ŝƚ͊ Call us on 01929 421329. tĞ͛ƌĞ ŚĞƌĞ ĨŽƌ zKh͕ ƐŽ ƵƐĞ ŽƵƌ ƐĞƌǀŝĐĞƐ͊

The Purbeck Gazette

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KǀĂƌŝĂŶ ĂŶĐĞƌ Awareness Month

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very March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and this year research charity Ovarian Cancer Action has chosen the theme Listen In! Ovarian cancer isn’t as well-known as some other female cancers, yet it is the sixth most common - with more than 7,000 diagnoses in the UK each year. The UK has one of the lowest survival rates in Western Europe, with a woman dying from ovarian cancer every two hours, resulting in 4,300 deaths annually.

Ovarian Cancer Action says one of the reasons for the poor survival rate in the UK is that the disease is often spotted too late. The charity’s Chief Executive, Katherine Taylor, says: “Ovarian cancer is particularly difficult to diagnose yet early diagnosis is crucial. When women are diagnosed in the early stages of ovarian cancer they have a 90% chance of surviving for more than five years but this reduces to 22% when diagnosed in the later stages.”

One obstacle to making the all-important early diagnosis is a lack of symptoms awareness. Ovarian cancer is often referred to as the silent killer due to a belief that it’s symptomless. This, however, is not true. The four main signs of ovarian cancer are persistent stomach pain, persistent bloating or increased stomach size, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly, and needing to pee more frequently.

Detecting ovarian cancer can be difficult since these symptoms are vague and easily confused with other ailments. Stomach pain and bloating, for example, can affect us all. However, the key is persistence. If the symptoms are unusual for you, they don’t go away, and have started in the last 12 months, speak to your doctor. It is particularly important to know these symptoms as there is no routine test for the disease; ovarian cancer will not be detected by a cervical smear.

Women should feel confident about trusting their bodies and take action

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if they feel something is wrong. So, if you are experiencing symptoms and are worried it could be ovarian cancer, listen to your body and speak up.

Book an appointment with your GP and ask for a CA125 test to rule it out.

Ovarian Cancer Action recognises that speaking up about your health can be difficult. The charity has developed a symptoms diary to help women record their symptoms, which they can then take to their GP. Search for ‘Ovarian Cancer Action’ in your phone’s app store, or download a paper version at www.ovarian.org.uk.

How to get involved in Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month #WalkInHerName Ovarian Cancer Action wants supporters to get involved by organising a local #WalkInHerName. The money raised will fund medical research and awareness work. For more information, or to get involved, visit www. ovarian.org.uk/walkinhername or email Beatrix@ovarian.org.uk

Quizzers Answer Plea For Funds

al Wilson, a volunteer Ambassador for Dementia UK and a member of the Wareham and District Dementia Friendly Community Working Group went along in her ‘official’ capacity to accept two very welcome cheques at the Corfe Castle Royal British Legion Quiz Night.

Dementia UK trains and provides Admiral Nurses, specialists in Dementia care – and as yet, Purbeck doesn’t have one! But thanks to the hard work and generosity of people in the area, that’s hopefully going to change once the funding is all in place.

Barry Stocks, the resident Quiz master at Corfe Castle RBL, explained that £250 had been raised from winners at the regular Sunday night quiz sessions donating their winnings, along with the proceeds of a raffle and a donation from the RBL Club to top it up.

Barry said: “Dementia Nurses are very much needed in Dorset.

We heard about this project in October last year, and decided to raise some money to help the project along.”

David Atkin was also there to present a further cheque for £55 from the Swanage Bridge Club, who had decided that helping to fund an Admiral Nurse in Purbeck was a great way to use the proceeds from the Christmas Party raffle.

David added: “I think it’s outrageous that Purbeck doesn’t already have an Admiral Nurse and having one in the future will be incredibly valuable.”

Tim Lench, the Chairman of the Wareham and District Dementia Friendly Community Working Group joined Val Wilson to accept the cheques and to thank the fundraisers. He said: “It’s fantastic that a small village group has heard about us and has raised these funds for the project.”

In accepting the cheques, Dementia UK ambassador Val Wilson thanked both the Corfe RBL quizzers and the Swanage Bridge Club, and went on to say a little bit about how and why she had become a volunteer ambassador for Dementia UK, and also explained why it was so important that funds were in place so that Purbeck could have its own Admiral Nurse.

She said: “Anyone who is having to cope as a carer for someone with dementia will know how difficult and lonely this can be, and being able to call on the help, advice and expertise of an Admiral Nurse in the future will be such a blessing here in Purbeck.”

Picture: L to R: David Atkins, Swanage Bridge Club; Val Wilson, volunteer Ambassador for Dementia UK; Barry Stocks, RBL Corfe Castle; Tim Lench, Chairman of the Wareham and District Dementia Friendly Community Working Group.

Cheques being presented to help fund the appointment of Dementia UK Admiral Nurses for Purbeck

The Purbeck Gazette

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Sport tŚŝůĞ dŚĞ <ŝĚƐ ƌĞ ǁĂLJ͕ dŚĞ 'ƌŽǁŶͲhƉƐ tŝůů WůĂLJ͊

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eekday leisure rowing is becoming increasingly popular at Swanage Sea Rowing Club – especially with people who have other commitments at weekends.

Some of these are parents of junior rowers, who’ve decided while the kids are at school, it’s their turn to join the fun!

The rows take place in Swanage Bay and Poole Harbour, and as well as good exercise, involve much chat, laughter and coffee stops. They are aimed at people of all ages and abilities, even those who’ve never rowed before.

And back to the juniors…

The annual four-week junior indoor rowing course begins on Saturday 11 March, 10am-11am.

Aimed at 10-16 year olds, it’s an induction to gig rowing, including technique, an introduction to the gigs and equipment, keep fit and core strength, and water safety. The aim is to prepare junior rowers for open water rowing in April.

The cost for the whole course is £10, but if a junior joins the club after the course, the cost is deducted from the £20 annual membership fee.

Have a go Why not give rowing a try at the £2 open sessions on Saturday mornings – weather permitting, from 9am? There’s no need to book – just come down to the boathouse near the pier.

You can do three trial sessions before joining the club. Find out more details on the website www.ssrc.org.uk or follow us on Facebook.

Cathy Lewis, Swanage Sea Rowing Club Pictures: An afternoon row. Top - Brownsea Island.

Swanage Sea Rowing Club Rowing Times 3OHDVH QRWH WKDW GXULQJ ZLQWHU HYHQLQJV ¿WQHVV training is arranged at our Boathouse.

Juniors (aged 11 to 16): Monday 18.00-19.00 Open Rowing: Tuesday evenings from 18.00 (spring – summer).This session is ideal for anyone ZLVKLQJ WR WU\ VHD URZLQJ IRU WKH ¿UVW WLPH Women’s Training: Wednesday evenings from 17.00 Sunday mornings from 08.00.

Men’s Training: Thursday evenings from 17.00 Sunday mornings from 08.00.

Mixed Training: Saturday morning 09.00 - 12.00.

On-the-water sessions are subject to weather conditions.

Please check our Facebook page Swanage Sea Rowing Club for updates

The Purbeck Gazette

68

W

Swanage Football Club

e are into very exciting times at the Football Club! As you'll be aware we have recently obtained a 100 year lease from Swanage Town Council. The purpose of us wanting this lease is so that we can now approach the many different funding avenues out there. We will be needing the finances to build the new changing facilities on the west side and in a few years we will be building a brand new Multi-Functional Centre, which will benefit the whole town.

Another reason we are so keen to obtain the lease is that to progress up to the next level, you must have a lease of at least 25 years. As previously stated in earlier articles, we have applied to join the Wessex League.

We would go in at Division 1. Chairman, Mark Watson, and myself in my role as Vice Chairman, met the ground grading officer from the Wessex League recently and he has informed us of the necessary work we would need to do to Day's Park for us to enter their league. This doesn't amount to too much. We need to repair the exterior fence, make the perimeter barrier complete around the whole pitch, as well as a few other minor improvements.

All the work will need to be done by the end of March. The other stipulation for us to enter the Wessex League is for us to finish 3rd place in the Dorset Premier league. We are currently sitting in third place but are in no way being complacent thinking we've achieved it already. There are a number of games still to be played , everyone knows the importance of the remaining games and will be totally focused on our ultimate goal.

Last week our Dorset Premier League Cup Semi-Final against Holt Utd was called off and is now rescheduled for Saturday 11 March, kick off at 3pm. It would be great to get a big crowd up at Day's Park to enhance our home advantage! Also not to forget we are in another semi, the Dorset Senior Cup, where we've been drawn away to Gillingham Town from the Western League Premier division.

This game will be played on Tuesday 28th February. We will be running a coach/ minibus to this game, so if you're interested on attending please contact Club Secretary Mari Watson on 07794 116375.

The Reserve Side (see photo above) with Dawson Russell organising everything on the management side and Paul Yerby on the playing side, are now looking quite a force in Dorset League 1. From starting the season losing their first three games and conceding twenty-five goals, things have really been turned around - losing just two of their last eight games! None of their rivals in league 1 are looking forward to playing us, thinking they are in for an easy win! The side has a good mixture of young and old players.

To keep up to date with all the goings on at Day’s Park, keep an eye on our award-winning website: www.swanagefc.com or on Twitter: @swanagefc COME ON YOU SWANS! John Peacock.

The Purbeck Gazette - Proudly Supporting The Swans

Swanage Indoor Bowls Update

S

wanage Bowlers are saddened by the closure in February of the Indoor Bowling Club at the Bay View Holiday Complex. This facility will be greatly missed by the membership of around fifty members and which ran successfully for thirty years.

Our competitions have now finished with winners and runners up as follows: Ladies Pairs: Margery Bayley and Dov Seacombe Mens Pairs: Mike Keats and Terry Buck Ladies Singles: Uta Keats Mens Singles: Terry Buck Mixed Pairs: Dov Seacombe and Terry Buck Australian Pairs: Uta Keats and Jean Broadbent Drawn Pairs: John Smith and Mike Barron Champion of Champions: Terry Buck. Runner up: Uta Keats The Dorset Ladies League finished with the Isle of Purbeck in a respectable middle position and the men really distinguished themselves by already qualifying for the semi-finals of their Over 60s League. To mark the end of an era, the demise of the indoor club, everyone enjoyed a somewhat nostalgic game and lunch at the Dorset Resort on 20th February.

On a positive note we are hoping for an extended season in 2018 after our all-weather green has been installed in the winter of 2017.

Meanwhile the last Outdoor season on grass starts early April and there will be the usual have-a-go mornings on the Saturdays 6th and 13th May where bowlers of all abilities as well as prospective new bowlers are welcomed.

The usual monthly social evenings continued and were well supported at the Pavilion, Northbrook Road - the Newspaper Game with Fish and Chips in January, a Musical Quiz (Guess the Intro) with sausage and mash in February and the planned final for the Winter Season, a Race Night on 18th March.

So in a matter of weeks we will be starting our summer season which looks great with many visiting teams, internal and inter-club leagues, competitions, barbecues and events. Here’s hoping for lots of sunshine, camaraderie and fun. Come and join us!

Bowls enquiries to Clive on 422337 or Jean on 426795.

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S

wanage & Wareham were back in league action following their exploits in the Southwest cup recently, as they welcomed Blandford to Bestwall. Swans were soon on the offensive early in the first half, and from a penalty to the corner, a catch/drive move enabled scrum half Chris Tomes to score after only three minutes. Teenager Steve Woolley, playing at his preferred position of fly half added the extras to put Swans 7pts up. Blandford had a chance to reduce the arrears but after eleven minutes they missed with a penalty shot. Three minutes later a break by Steve Woolley split the Blandford defence, he off loaded to Ilaita Ratuqalovi who was playing at centre, who went in for his first try for Swans.

Woolley converted to give Swans a 14 point advantage. Just after the twenty minute mark, a run down the right wing had Blandford scoring out wide to reduce the score to 14pt – 5pts. Blandford were putting up a good show, and it was tight up front. However once again Blandford split the Swans defence and after twenty-eight minutes they went in for their second try, which was not converted, making the score 14pts – 10pts.

With five minutes to go to the break, a penalty took Swans to within five metres, and from a line out, Swans flank forward Henry Oliver powered over the line to put Swans 19pts – 10pts, which was Oliver’s first try for Swans. Half Time 19pts – 10pts. Swans started the second half on the attack and after forty-eight minutes, a move down the left side of the field set winger Alex Parry free to score in the corner, taking Swans score to 24pts. The game became scrappy with several penalties being traded by both sides, but Swans went further ahead after seventy minutes, when a kick through had Swans replacement winger, Pat Adkins, winning the race for the ball to score a try in the corner.(29pts – 10pts).

Almost from the restart Blandford attacked down the left and after a few phases the visitors scored their third try, which was not converted (29pts – 15 pts). In the last minute, as Swans powered forward a move along the three-quarters had Pat Adkins scoring his second try of the match in the corner. Final score Swanage & Wareham 34pts, Blandford 15pts.

Swans team:- A. Smith, C.Young(P.Adkins 60), I Ratuqalovi, D.Elford, A.Parry, S.Woolley, C.Tomes, J.Sheldrake, R.Elford, Z.Wyburgh(N.Audley 47), D. Penney, D.Collins, H.Oliver, F. Watkins(D. Wright 40), K.Jones.

Ron Butler, Publicity Secretary.

The Purbeck Gazette

69

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D Z , Wed 1st * Crowd Funder PYCF Support Young People Every £1 pledged helps young people. Please can you support us and keep youthclubs running www. crowdfunder.co.uk/purbeck-youth-community-foundation * Fairtrade Fortnight 10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at Ballard Stores, North Swanage for circular ZDON YLD 5RXQG 'RZQ .QLWVRQ )DUP *RGOLQJVWRQ 0DQRU DQG 'D\V 3DUN )¿ 01929 424462.

15:00 Tradecraft Stall At Emmanuel Baptist Church, Swanage. £2.50, book a place on 427706.

18:45 FREE Advanced Driving Lectures Three two hour lectures at Committee room 1, County Hall,Colliton Park, Dochester. Wednesdays 1st, 8th and 15th March.

Thu 2nd * Swanage Blues Festival www.swanage-blues.org.

10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at car park west of Badbury rings on north side RI % IRU FLUFXODU ZDON YLD 7DUJHW :RRG DQG /LWWOH &RSSLFH )¿ 10:30 Tradecraft Stall At Wareham URC. Fri 3rd * Swanage Blues Festival www.swanage-blues.org.

10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

10:45 Love Langton Litter Pick (Session 1) Meets at Burngate Stonecarving Centre, Langton Matravers BH19 3BE, to litter pick for approx. 2 hrs. To register (helpful but not essential) or for more info: litterfreepurbeck@gmail.com 12:00 Tradecraft Stall At Salvation Army, Swanage. After the Women’s Day of Prayer Service.

19:30 ‘Rock of Ages’ At The Mowlem Theatre, presented by The Swanage School.

Tickets £6 adults, £4 children/concessions.

19:30 Swanage Photographic Society Meets in the Rectory ClassroomChurch Hill IRU D SUHVHQWDWLRQ µ'URQLQJ RQ¶ ZLWK 5RE %DUURQ 9LVLWRUV ZHOFRPH I¿ 423841 20:00 Sean Taylor $W 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ Sat 4th * Swanage Blues Festival www.swanage-blues.org.

10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

10:00 Time For A Cuppa At The Town Hall, Wareham. Fundraising event for Dementia UK. 10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at Upton House top car park in Poole for circular ZDON DURXQG +ROHV %D\ )¿ 10:00 Tradecraft Stall At Wareham Parish Hall.

10:00 Love Langton Litter Pick (Session 2) Meets at the National Trust’s Spyway Car Park, Durnford Drove, Langton Matravers, BH19 3HG, to litter pick for approx.

2 hrs. To register (helpful but not essential) or for more info:litterfreepurbeck@ gmail.com 10:00 Swanage Litter Picks (Session 1) Meets at Victoria Avenue Car Park, Swanage, to litter-pick for approx. 2 hrs. To register (helpful but not essential) or for more info: litterfreepurbeck@gmail.com 10:00 Swanage Litter Picks (Session 3) Meets at Victoria Avenue Car Park, Swanage, to litter-pick for approx. 2 hrs. To register (helpful but not essential) or for more info: litterfreepurbeck@gmail.com 10:00 Arts and Crafts Fair at St Edwards Hall, Rempstone Rd, Sw. 10am to 4pm. Hot GULQNV DQG KRPH PDGH FDNH DYDLODEOH )¿ 14:00 Swanage Litter Picks (Session 2) Meets at Victoria Avenue Car Park, Swanage, to litter-pick for approx. 2 hrs.To register (helpful but not essential) or for more info: litterfreepurbeck@gmail.com 19:30 ‘Rock of Ages’ At The Mowlem Theatre, presented by The Swanage School.

Tickets £6 adults, £4 children/concessions.

20:00 Flakey Jake $W 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ Sun 5th * Swanage Blues Festival www.swanage-blues.org.

09:30 Brownsea Island Work Party Join the regular volunteering group on Brownsea island on alternate Sundays throughout the year. Tasks include pine thinning, opening out the alder carr & rhododendron cutting. For details of boat timings etc contact Richard Proctor on 01202 693039 or 07718 511432.

10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

14:00 Swanage Litter Picks (Session 4) Meets at Victoria Avenue Car Park, Swanage, to litter-pick for approx. 2 hrs. To register (helpful but not essential) or for more info: litterfreepurbeck@gmail.com 15:00 St Mary’s Church History Talk Including tea and cake at St Mary’s Church, Lytchett Matravers, BH16 6BS Tickets £5 to include tea and cake from

Lytchett Matravers Library, Hannam’s Butchers or phone 01202 625635 Email: newssheet@smlm.co.uk Mon 6th 10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

10:00 Love Langton Litter Pick (Session 3) Meets by village sign, High Street by St. George’s Church, to litter-pick for approx. 2 hrs. To register (helpful but not essential) or for more info: litterfreepurbeck@gmail.com 10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at car park west of Badbury rings on north side RI % IRU FLUFXODU ZDON YLD 7DUJHW :RRG DQG /LWWOH &RSSLFH )¿ Tue 7th * Beginner’s Birdwatching Course At RSPB Radipole, Weymouth. Three week course dates 7, 14, 21. Free course so book early on 01305 778313 or email weymouth.reserves@rspb.org.uk * Swanage Badminton Juniors Club Launch At The Swanage School, High 6WUHHW :HHNO\ FRDFKHG VHVVLRQV GXULQJ WHUP WLPH SP )¿ 0DUWLQ %URZQ martinbrownjvt@mac.com or 07966 136641 10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

10:00 Tradecraft Stall At Emmanuel Baptist Church, Swanage.

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

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

Wed 8th 10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

10:30 Swanage Walking Group Meet at Houns Tout car park, Kingston for a circular ZDON DURXQG WKH HGJH RI WKH (QFRPEH +RXVH (VWDWH *ROGHQ 9DOOH\ )¿ 422795.

12:30 Christian Aid Lunch Come and have lunch at a church during Lent and help raise funds for Christian Aid. suggested minimum donation £5. Traidcraft Fairtrade Stall will also be available Wednesday 12.30 - 1.30 pm 8th March United Reformed Church, Church St Wareham Email: asalter83@live.co.uk Thu 9th 09:00 Tradecraft Stall At Wareham Farmers Market, Town Hall.

10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

10:00 West Dorset Work Party Meet at Kingcombe Meadows Farm, Clift Lane, Toller Porcorum, Dorchester DT2 0EJ. Please bring warm clothes, wet weather gear, waterproof footwear, lunch & drinks. For further information please contact Maurits Fontein on 07825 311686.

10:30 Tradecraft Stall At Wareham URC. Fri 10th * Blood donation at Wareham Rugby Club We need more people to book onto our blood donor session on 10 March 2017 at Wareham Rugby Club, Bestwall Road, Wareham. BH20 4HY. Sessions times 12:25 to 15:30 and 16:30 to 19:30 Ring 0300 123 23 23 or visit our website for more information or to book an appointment. Most people in good health aged 17 to 65 and weighing at least 7st 12lbs (50kg) can give blood. Email: patricia.harrison@nhsbt.nhs.uk 10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

19:30 Purbeck Railway Circle Meets at Harman’s Cross Village Hall for a presentation entitled “The Brighton Belle” by Gordon Rushton who is the 0DUNHWLQJ 'LUHFWRU RI WKH SURMHFW WR UHVWRUH D ¿YH FRDFK VHW RI WKH %ULJKWRQ %HOOH IRU UXQQLQJ RQ WKH %ULWLVK PDLQOLQH 5HIUHVKPHQWV DQG UDLOZD\ UDIÀH 'RRUV RSHQ SP )¿ (YHU\RQH ZHOFRPH 20:00 Mikey Kenny $W 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ Sat 11th 10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at Sandford CE Primary School for circular walk via Gore Hill , Sherford, Organford, St Martin’s Hill & Holton Heath Nature 5HVHUYH )¿ 10:00 Friends of Wareham Railway Station AGM At Carey Hall, Wareham.

10:00 Tradecraft Stall At Wareham Parish Hall.

19:30 Barn Dance with Maiden Oak At Durlston Castle. Tickets £8.

20:00 Jenny Wren $W 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ Sun 12th 10:00 Victorian Durlston Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

14:00 Dirty Bourbon River Show $W 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ 01929 439229 Mon 13th 14:30 Brownsea Island an illustrated talk by Chris Thain, DWT Manager. At Langton Matravers Village Hall. Visitors welcome. Isle of Purbeck Group.

The Purbeck Gazette

70

Tue 14th 14:00 Purbeck Parkinson’s Group $W WKH $OO 6DLQWV &KXUFK +DOO 6ZDQDJH )¿ 7 Lander 01929 425970 or D Peters 01929 551962 19:30 Wareham Camera Club Meets at Parish Hall, Wareham. “League Competition No 5”. Visitors welcome. Contact Roger Starling on 01929 553822.

Wed 15th 10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at Worth Matravers car park for circular walk via +LOOERWWRP &KDSPDQV 3RRO :HVW +LOO )¿ 14:30 Studland History Group meets in the Village Hall for a short AGM to be IROORZHG E\ ³([WUDFWV IURP 6WXGODQG 6FKRRO /RJ %RRNV´ $OO ZHOFRPH )¿ WKH Secretary 01929 439245 19:00 Swanage Area Forum Community News Fair at Emmanuel Church Centre, Swanage.

Fri 17th 07:00 The Purbeck Odyssey 2017 Leukaemia Busters’ annual fundraising series of walks in and around the beautiful countryside and coastline of Purbeck. There DUH ¿YH ZDONV IURP WR PLOHV ZLWK WKH VKRUWHU URXWHV LQFOXGLQJ D ULGH RQ the Swanage Steam Railway. Come along and join us and raise funds to Save Young Lives through Research. Email: Susanr@leukaemiabusters.org.uk 10:00 Miracle of Migration Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

19:30 Swanage Photographic Society Meets in the Rectory Classroom Church Hill For the: Jubilee Cup (prints) – ‘Open’ and Ward & Purbeck Trophy – ‘Transport’ FRPSHWLWLRQV -XGJH 0DUWLQ (GJH 9LVLWRUV ZHOFRPH I¿ Sat 18th * Storytelling for families: The Normans At Corfe Castle. * Dorset Countryside Volunteers At East Gore, Wareham Forest controlling invasive scrub on heathland. We welcome people interested in helping care for our countryside. For details see www.dcv.org.uk, emailDCVpublicity@gmail.com, or text or message 07923-498760 for us to contact you.

10:00 Miracle of Migration Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at Tyneham Village for circular walk up to Gad &OLII WKHQ WKH FRDVW SDWK WR :RUEDUURZ %D\ DQG 3RYLQJWRQ +LOO )¿ 12:30 Christian Aid Lunch At LSM Parish hall the Quay Wareham. Come and have lunch at a church during Lent and help raise funds for Christian Aid. suggested minimum donation £5. Traidcraft Fairtrade Stall will also be available Saturday 12.30 – 1.30pm 18th March Email: asalter83@live.co.uk 19:30 Stanford Quartet Candlelight Concert At St Mary’s Church, Swanage.

20:00 Rag Mama Rag $W 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ 439229 Sun 19th * Storytelling for families: The Normans At Corfe Castle. * Dorset Countryside Volunteers At East Gore, Wareham Forest controlling invasive scrub on heathland. We welcome people interested in helping care for our countryside. For details see www.dcv.org.uk, emailDCVpublicity@gmail.com, or text or message 07923-498760 for us to contact you.

09:30 Brownsea Island Work Party Join the regular volunteering group on Brownsea island on alternate Sundays throughout the year. Tasks include pine thinning, opening out the alder carr & rhododendron cutting. For details of boat timings etc contact Richard Proctor on 01202 693039 or 07718 511432.

10:00 Miracle of Migration Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

14:00 Rag Mama Rag $W 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ 439229 15:30 Festival Strings Orchestra At St Mary’s Church, Swanage. Conductor Ian Pillow, £10.

Mon 20th 19:00 RSPB Winter Talk & Slideshow Evening At RSPB Visitor Centre, Weymouth.

RSPB members £2.50, non members £4, under 16’s £2. Booking essential on weymouth.reserves@rspb.org.uk or 01305 778313.

Tue 21st 14:00 New Christian Spiritualist Church Meet at 2pm at the community room in Queensmead. Guest Medium will be Jean.

14:30 Purbeck Assoc. of the National Trust Illustrated talk ‘Quarrying Purbeck Stone - From the Normans to Now’- Treleven Haysom from the well-known quarrying family talks about local quarrying from Norman times onward, with a few diversions; At All Saints Church, Ulwell Rd, Sw. Till 4.00pm. All welcome.

LQFO UHIUHVKPHQWV )¿ 19:30 Wareham Camera Club Meets at Parish Hall, Wareham. Brad Matthews LRPS - “60 Prints in 60 Minutes” and Alison Cawley ARPS – “Does this mean you are not taking proper photos any more?”. Visitors welcome. Contact Roger Starling on 01929 553822.

Wed 22nd 10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at car park west of Badbury rings on north side RI % IRU FLUFXODU ZDON YLD 7DUJHW :RRG DQG /LWWOH &RSSLFH )¿ 18:00 Have a go at Stonecarving Taste Session At Burngate Stone Carving Centre.

Booking Essential.

Thu 23rd 19:30 Cinderella The Vienna Festival Ballet at The Mowlem Theatre, Swanage.

19:30 Langton Matravers History & Preservation Society Meets in the Village Hall when David Haysom will talk on ‘Extremes of Swanage Weather’ . All welcome Members £2.50 non members £3.50.

Fri 24th

13:00

Lunchtime Concert At Emmanuel Baptist Church, Victoria Avenue, Swanage, with Karen Grant and backing singers, Now and Then. Free concert.

Worry Dolls $W 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿

20:00 Sat 25th * Storytelling for families: Edward 1 At Corfe Castle.

10:00 Swanage Walking Group Meet at East Chaldon CP for circular walk via &KLGHRFN )DUP :HVW %RWWRP WKH 6: &RDVW 3DWK DQG 0LGGOH %RWWRP )¿ 424462.

19:00 Music Concert with Karen G and Guests Now & Then and Swanage Jazz Machine. In aid of the Purbeck Admiral Nurse Appeal. In the Churchill Room, Swanage Conservative Club. Tickets £5 from Karen on 07802466689 or Cheryl on 01929 426837.

19:00 Spring Concert ‘O Praise the Lord’ At Lady St Mary Church, Wareham.

20:00 Chris Jagger $W 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ Sun 26th * Storytelling for families: Edward 1 At Corfe Castle. * Dorset Countryside Volunteers at Higher Hyde, near Wool constructing a fence at this nature reserve. We welcome people interested in helping care for our countryside. For details see www.dcv.org.uk, emailDCVpublicity@gmail.com, or text or message 07923-498760 for us to contact you.

14:00 Phil King $W 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ Tue 28th * South Dorset Med-week Volunteers Habitat Management on a DWT nature reserve near you. Booking essential. Please contact warden James Hitchen on 07436 157328 for further details or to book your place.

19:30 Wareham Camera Club Meets at Parish Hall, Wareham. “Inspirational Images from the FIAP World Cup”. Visitors welcome. Contact Roger Starling on 01929 553822.

Wed 29th 10:00 Swanage Walking Group meet at Ballard Stores (North Swanage) for a circular ZDON YLD :KLWHFOLII )DUP %DOODUG 'RZQ *RGOLQJVWRQ +LOO DQG .QLWVRQ )DUP )¿ 01929 422795.

Thu 30th 10:30 Probus 2 of Purbeck At The Pines Hotel Swanage. Talk by David Williams “On the Fiddle” Non members welcome but please contact Laurence on 425982 a few days before the meeting.

19:30 Native British Reptiles DQ LOOXVWUDWHG WDON E\ 'DUUHQ &RRN ,GHQWL¿FDWLRQ ecology with special reference to the Studland Peninsula preceded by a short Annual Report. At the Methodist Church, North Street, Wareham.

20:00 Poetry Night DW 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ Fri 31st 10:00 Miracle of Migration Exhibition At The Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston.

20:00 String Symphony DW 7KH 6TXDUH &RPSDVV :RUWK 0DWUDYHUV )¿ 439229

t <>z s Ed^ EVERY MONDAY 09.00 U3A Table Tennis Group meet at Harmans Cross VH. 09.30 Under 2.5 years old group. Till 11am. at Parish Hall, Wm. 09.45 Toddler Club URC, Sw. Till 11.15 10.00 Table Tennis Club Sw FC All ages/abilities £2.50 Till noon. 480093 10.30 Flowers with Liz at the Purbeck Workshop in Wool. The Workshop provides craft activities free of charge to those touched by cancer - friends and family are welcome too. Unit 6, Woolbridge Business Centre, East Burton Rd, Wool.

BH20 6HG. www.purbeckworkshop.org 07757 776907. Email: richris95@ gmail.com 13.00 Play and Learn at Wareham’s Children’s Centre, Streche Rd, Wm. Till 2.45pm 13.00 Under 1s and Tums at Chapel Lane, Swanage. Till 3pm 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 6DYLOOH RQ I¿ 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 :KLVW &RPH MRLQ XV DW WKH 5HDGLQJ 5RRP &KXUFK +LOO 6ZDQDJH )¿ FDOO 07984 968733 19.00 Purbeck Chess Club 0RUWRQV +RXVH +RWHO &RUIH &DVWOH )¿ FDOO %ULDQ Beard 425988 19.30 Purbeck Quire rehearse at Wm Methodist Church. New/visiting singers QR DXGLWLRQ QHFHVVDU\ 6WULQJ ZLQG SOD\HUV DOVR ZHOFRPH )¿ RU 480737.

19.30 Wareham Art Club Workshop DW :DUHKDP 3DULVK +DOO )¿ 19.30 Wm Folk Dance Club Stoboro’ VH. All welcome. 552763/551029 19.30 Swanage Badminton Club DW WKH 6ZDQDJH 6FKRRO WLOO SP )¿ 136641.

19.30 Swanage Air Cadets meet at Air Training Corps HQ, Court Road, Sw. Cadets

The Purbeck Gazette

DJH )¿ HPDLO RF #DLUFDGHWV PRG 20.00 DARTS at the RBL Club, Sw. 20.00 Herston Hall Management C’ttee Bingo EVERY TUESDAY 09.00 First Steps Toddler’s Group 6ZDQDJH 0HWKRGLVW &KXUFK WLOO DP )¿ 6\OYLD *DUUHWW RI¿FH KRXUV RU V\OYLDJ#VZDQDJHPHWKRGLVW RUJ XN 09.30 Isle of Purbeck Arts Club. Painting and sketching. At the Catholic Church +DOO 5HPSVWRQH 5G 6Z 7LOO SP 2XWGRRUV LQ VXPPHU )¿ *LQD RQ 09.30 Well Baby Clinic at Chapel Lane, Swanage. Till 11.30am.

09.30 Kiddies Corner Mother & Toddler Group (term time only) No fee - donations welcome. Purbeck Gateway Church. 551415 09.30 Wareham Art Club Workshop DW :DUHKDP 3DULVK +DOO )¿ 10.00 Wareham Croquet Club meet at the Recreation Ground until 5pm. New members and visitors welcome. Call Tony on 01929 550190 or Lesley on 01929 553927 or email warehamgolfcroquetclub@hotmail.com 10.00 Sw Tennis Club Club Session. Till 11. 426312 10.00 Sandford Toddlers at Sandford Community Hall, till 11.30am.

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 JHQWO\ )¿ 10.30 First Steps Toddler’s Group 6ZDQDJH 0HWKRGLVW &KXUFK WLOO DP )¿ 6\OYLD *DUUHWW RI¿FH KRXUV RU V\OYLDJ#VZDQDJHPHWKRGLVW RUJ XN 12.00 Nature Tots (0-4yrs) at Bovington Memorial Hall Garden. Until 2pm 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 6WXGODQG &RUIH $UQH 'XUOVWRQ /DQJWRQ $FWRQ :RUWK DQG .LQJVWRQ )¿ 481000.

14.00 Harman’s Cross Village Hall Art Group Till 5 14.00 Wareham Short Mat Bowls. Furzebrook VH. Roll-up session, all standards ZHOFRPH )¿ 17.00 Sw Tennis Club Junior Session till 6pm. 426312 18.00 Sw Youth Centre Girls’ Night (Yr 8+) Till 10 18.15 Sw Cricket Club Practice till 8.30pm 18.30 Sw Bridge Club Mowlem Community Room. 421840 19.00 Wareham Air Cadets meet at Air Training Corps HQ, St Martin’s Lane, Wm. &DGHWV DJH )¿ HPDLO RF #DLUFDGHWV PRG 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 /DQJWRQ 9+ )¿ 19.30 Belvedere Singers rehearsal at their NEW venue, St Mark’s CE VA Primary School, High St, Sw. Parking on-site. All singers welcome! 423729 20.00 Sw Regatta & Carnival Assoc Bingo Herston Leisure, Herston Yards Farm, Sw. 20.00 Carey Hall, Wm Bingo 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 Breast Feeding Group at Wareham’s Children Centre, Streche Rd, Wm. 2IIHULQJ SHHU VXSSRUW DQG EUHDVWIHHGLQJ FRXQVHOORU DGYLFH 7LOO QRRQ )¿ 552864 10.30 Play and Learn at Kids of Wool (BH20 6DY) until 12 noon.

11.00 Volunteer Centre Drop-In at Swanage Library till 1pm. Find our about volunteering to support community groups & charities 13.00 Studland Toddler Group at Studland Village Hall until 2.30pm.

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 &RPPXQLW\ 5RRP 6Z )¿ 15.00 Extend Exercise Class, now at Morton Village Hall. To improve strength, EDODQFH DQG ÀH[LELOLW\ $OO ZHOFRPH 'RQDWLRQV ZHOFRPH )¿ 16.15 Swanage Football Club U-7s 7UDLQLQJ WLO SP )¿ 17.15 Swanage Football Club U-9s 7UDLQLQJ WLO SP )¿ 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 Wm Bridge Club at the Library, South St. 552257 19.00 Wareham Short Mat Bowls Club Roll-up evening Furzebrook VH. 401799 19.15 Purbeck Runners meet at the Crows Nest, Sw. 4/5 mile run.

19.30 Swanage Musical Theatre meet Swanage Bay View Complex Rehearsal 5RRP $OO ZHOFRPH )¿ 20.00 Sw Youth Centre Club Night (Yr 9+) Till 10 20.15 Dorset Buttons Morris Practice. URC Hall, Wm. 423234/421130 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 9HJ FDNHV SODQWV ÀRZHUV KDQGLFUDIWV 85& 1HZ producers/helpers welcome. Till 11. 553798 09.00 Swanage Painting Club. Catholic Church Hall, Rempstone Rd, Sw. Friendly JURXS 1HZ PHPEHUV LQFOXGLQJ EHJLQQHUV ZHOFRPH 7LOO SP )¿ -DQH RQ 01929 427078 09.30 Play and Learn at Chapel Lane, Swanage, till 11am.

09.30 Well Baby Clinic at Streche Road, Wareham, until 12 noon.

71

09.30 Sensory Play for under ones, at Bovington Centre until 10.30am 10.00 Wm Parent & Toddler Group During term Parish Hall, Quay Till 11.45.

556806 10.00 Wool Country Market D’Urbeville Hall. Cakes, preserves, plants, crafts, vegetables. Coffee & biscuits available.

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.

10.00 Wareham Croquet Club meet at the Recreation Ground until 5pm. New members and visitors welcome. Call Tony on 01929 550190 or Lesley on 01929 553927 or email warehamgolfcroquetclub@hotmail.com 10.30 Mid-Week Market Morning Service URC, Church St, Wm. Prayer requests to Revd. Simon Franklin 556976 10.30 Woodworking with Bernard and Terry at the Purbeck Workshop in Wool. The Workshop provides craft activities free of charge to those touched by cancer - friends and family are welcome too. Unit 6, Woolbridge Business Centre, East Burton Rd, Wool. BH20 6HG. www.purbeckworkshop.org 07757 776907.

Email: richris95@gmail.com 11.00 Sensory Play for 1-4yrs old at Bovington Centre, until 12 noon.

13.30 Under 1 year olds at Wareham’s Children’s Centre, Streche Rd, Wm. AntiQDWDO PXPV ZHOFRPH 7LOO SP )¿ 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 Rectory Classroom, Swanage, Sw. All Welcome.

17.45 Swanage Youth Club /HDUQLQJ 'LI¿FXOWLHV DQG GLVDELOLW\ DJH QLJKW Till 7.30pm 18.00 Five High Singers, United Reformed Church Hall, Swanage. 11 - 18 years.

Till 7pm 18.00 Isle of Purbeck Arts Club. Weekly evening Art Group. Aimed at beginners, at the Youth Hostel classroom, Cluny Cresent, Swanage, till 9pm.

18.15 Sw Cricket Club Practice till 9pm 18.30 Swanage Sea Rowing Club Circuit Training at Swanage Middle School. )¿ 19.00 Health Qigong: Fitness and relaxation. Till 8pm. With Penny at Furzebrook 9+ :P )¿ 19.00 Purbeck Gateway Club meets at Wareham Youth Centre until 9pm.

3XUEHFN *DWHZD\ LV D FOXE IRU DGXOWV ZLWK OHDUQLQJ GLI¿FXOWLHV :H PHHW GXULQJ WHUP WLPH DQG KDYH IXQ $OO ZHOFRPH )¿ /HZ RQ (PDLO 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 SP )¿ 19.30 Purbeck Arts Choir meet for rehersals, with conductor Jay Buckle, at St Mary’s School, Northbrook Road, Swanage. Sept-May. All welcome. For more information please phone Liz Roberts 01929 481419 19.30 Swanage Youth Club Youth Action (year 7 - sixth form). Till 9.30pm 20.00 Herston Hall OAP Committee Bingo Sw EVERY FRIDAY 09.30 Health Qigong: Fitness and relaxation. Till 10.30am. With Penny at )XU]HEURRN 9+ :P )¿ 09.30 Little Fishes Baby and Toddler Group. Catholic Church Hall, Rempstone 5RDG 6ZDQDJH 7HUP WLPH RQO\ 8QWLO DP )¿ $OH[ RQ 10.00 Swanage Library Rhyme Time, until 11.30am.

10.00 Table Tennis Club Sw FC All ages/abilities £2.50 Till noon. 480093 11.00 Toddler Time For Under 5s And Carers. Wareham Library. Stories, songs DQG FUDIWV (YHU\ )ULGD\ LQFOXGLQJ VFKRRO KROLGD\V )¿ 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 ZHOFRPH )¿ 18.00 Purbeck War-Game & Model Club. Royal British Legion, Sw. 426096.

18.00 Sw Youth Centre Club 12-13 (Yr 7-9) Till 8 18.00 Sw Tennis Club Senior Club Session. 426312 18.30 Sw Bridge Club Mowlem Community Room. 421840 19.00 Sw Youth Centre Seniors Club Night (Yr 9+) Till 9.30pm.

19.30 Short tennis for adults at Swanage Football Club. All welcome. Equipment supplied. Till 9.30pm. £3.

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 08.00 Purbeck Runners meet at the Mowlem, Sw. 4/5 mile run.

09.00 Sw CC U11 - U15 Practice till 10.30 09.30 Sw CC U9 & U10 Practice & Kwik Cricket till 10.30 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 09.00 Purbeck Runners meet at the Mowlem, Sw. 8+ mile run.

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.

The Purbeck Gazette

72

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The Purbeck Gazette

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The Purbeck Gazette

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