Crystal Ship hoisting sails for evening of classic rock

keep going with two of the original members, frontman Alan Hodder and drummer Phil Biggs, still involved.

nd the Crystal Ship will be setting sail again on Saturday, February 11 with a gig at Wellworthy Sports and Social Club in Wyke Regis, Weymouth, with support from singer

Wellies on for a literary stream stroll

Weymouth-based writer Angus Waycott takes readers for a stroll along the South Winterborne chalk stream in his new book.

The Winterborne Journey explores the history of this ‘strange little river’ which rises near Winterbourne Abbas and flows through a valley just south of Dorchester before it ‘runs out of water and stops’. Angus told The West Dorset Magazine: “The book describes startling encounters with nature and history, sacred stones, vanished villages, water spirits, mansions and murals that take turns in the spotlight before, like the river, disappearing from sight.

“Highlights include the ancient Nine Stones circle, the Flying Angel of Steepleton, the lost village of Rew, the Martinstown sheep fair, the last international fight on Maiden Castle, the medical monks and wine makers of Monkton, music and dancing with William Barnes, the forgotten Farringdon windmill, homes more stately and less, the recentlyvandalised Whitcombe church, now repaired, and the long wild meadow leading east to West Stafford, where the river spills into the sea-headed Frome.”

Alexis and 11th Hour, another bunch of local rock’n’roll legends. Tickets are £10 and available from the venue or on the door.

The Winterborne Journey is available as an eBook on Amazon and Smashwords for £4 or as a paperback at Waterstones and elsewhere for £7.95.

Spice up your life with Balbir Singh’s dance show

Following sell-out performances across the UK, Leeds-based Balbir Singh Dance Company head to Dorset this spring with their exciting show Love & Spice, touring as part of the Artsreach spring programme.

An elderly couple, still very much in love, look back on their lives together, reliving key moments through memories of the meals they shared.

As the couple reminisce, their younger selves appear and enact the memories of times past. The atmosphere is infused with the aromas of a richly spiced life. With the couple’s advancing age, each has lost one of their senses: he the sense of smell and she the sense of taste. Can the king and queen of spices, Black Pepper and Cardamom, help them recapture what has been lost? The goddess of food and nourishment summons the butter-thief Krishna and the sweet-toothed elephantheaded god Ganesh to help her cook a special meal in the kitchen. Together they will try to revive the couple’s lost senses, but what else will be rekindled along the way?

Love and Spice combines different art forms and cultural traditions in surprisingly delicious ways. Blending Kathak dance and live music with a chef cooking live on stage, expect a truly magical, multicultural feast for all the senses. n See Love & Spice at Blandford Corn Exchange (01258 480698) at 7.30pm on Friday, February 24, and at Litton Cheney Village Hall (01308 482514) at 7.30pm on Saturday, February 25. Touring as part of the Artsreach spring season, further information and tickets are available online at artsreach.co.uk