The West Dorset Magazine, Edition 12, July 15, 2022

Edition 12

Friday, July 15, 2022

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The West Dorset Magazine Unions due!

Tolpuddle gets ready for an influx of visitors P20-21 Meet the family behind amazing Dorset falconry park P34-35 Plus SIX pages of Whasson?, FIVE pages of Sport FIVE pages of arts plus puzzles, recipes and farming news

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Karen Bate News Editor

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Emma Mitchell Advertising sales manager

Lyndon Wall Cartoonist

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News, letters to the editor and general feedback: newsdesk@westdorsetmag.co.uk

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Stuart Wickham Sports editor

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Dan Goater Reporter dan@westdorsetmag.co.uk

( 01305 566336 Contents: News & features

4-37 Constituency issues

Display advertising: advertising@westdorsetmag.co.uk

Whasson? (events)

6-11 Politics 38 Puzzles

Classified advertising (text ads): classifieds@westdorsetmag.co.uk

Vittles (food & drink)

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Sport: sport@westdorsetmag.co.uk

Down to earth

42-45

Culture

46-50

Post: 15 Stanstead Rd, Maiden Newton, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 0BL

Letters

Home & Garden

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54-55 56-57 & 71

Health & Wellbeing 58-59 Business

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Recruitment

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Church

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Sport 51-53 Agriculture

63-67 68-71

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

RS! PAGE 3 STUNNE

This is one of the magnificent eagle owls who live at Xtreme Falconry at Dorset Falconry Park in Lewell near Dorchester.

This superb photo was captured by Annie Collins while it was flying in the meadows in the park.

Read more: P30

Submit your Page 3 stunnas to newsdesk@westdorsetmag.co.uk

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Elizabethan kitchen unveiled The original Elizabethan kitchen has been restored at Athelhampton House near Puddletown.

It is believed to be one of the oldest kitchens in the country in continuous use – though it had been concealed behind a more modern kitchen with an AGA in recent years.

Now those more modern facilities have been moved to an adjacent room and all the post-1560 alterations have been removed to reveal a massive Elizabethan brick arch over a fireplace, Tudor bread

ovens and hatchways for serving food.

All the work has been done by local craftspeople, from blacksmithing to joinery; Dorset stone flooring hides modern zero-carbon heating, in line with the estate’s ambition to rid itself of all fossil fuels (the only use is the petrol in the lawnmowers!)

The kitchen will now be open to the general public for the first time, with the Athelhampton team cooking Tudorstyle food in it on some days.

West Dorset MP Chris Loder cut the

ribbon on the fireplace, and paid tribute to the sterling work of the team who helped restore it.

Athelhampton is a Tudor house, built in 1485 with the kitchen added in 1560.

It is open most days of the year, and is one of Dorset’s prime tourist attractions with some 25,000 visitors a year. athelhampton.com

Leadership race considered Chris Loder MP says he is ‘taking time to discern the strengths of each candidate to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and subsequently Prime

Minister.’ He added: “I will be considering in great depth the qualities of each candidate for us at home in West Dorset and the whole of the United Kingdom.”

Free activities for SEND children Fun days, workshops, sports and youth club hang-outs are among free activities being offered to Dorset’s young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

All activities are free and need to be booked directly with the provider.

Sailing at the Weymouth and Portland World-class National Sailing Academy. Contact portland@andrewsimpsoncent res.org for further information Outdoor adventure and fun at Carey Camp. Try your hand at archery on one of the woodland ranges, test your survival skills and challenge yourself on the exciting low

ropes and tunnelling courses. For more information and to book, email careyoec@ dorsetcouncil.gov.uk or call 01929 552265.

Art activities in a safe and creative environment in Weymouth. Learn painting, collage making and creating photo postcards. For more information, email jodie_waller@yahoo.co.uk Dance, drama and prop making arts at Weymouth College. See more at The Remix (activateperformingart s.org.uk/events/activatesummer-school-lifes-a-beach) or contact remix@activate performingarts.org.uk

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

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FREE painting & creative workshops for all From Monday, 25th July at the old M&S building, South Street, Dorchester, DT1 1DQ Mondays: Engraving (suitable 8 yrs +.

There is a £6 charge for this and book­ ing must be done by email) Tuesdays: lino prin琀ng/ dry point etching (suitable 8yrs+) Thursdays: Pain琀ng Fridays: Collage All children must be supervised by a parent/guardian To enquire about activities and perks for carers email dorsetcarershub@gmail.com or pop in to see us at the old M&S store in South Street, Dorchester

Discount card for carers Our discount card offers carers more than 1,000 na琀onal and local discounts – including Alton Towers, Legoland, Hamleys, Plaza and Coffee One. It also acts as photo ID and an emergency (ICE) card The card costs from £9.99 for 2 years.

The perks pla琀orm also includes a wellness hub, including yoga, exercise and help with sleep.

Pop in, or visit our website below.

All welcome – we support lots of carers, aged eight to 90!

dorsetcarershub.com | 07415 410536 Open Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm

Sherborne Art Club & are pleased to announce the return of the

Sherborne Open Art Exhibition 2022 At the Digby Hall, Hound St, Sherborne, DT9 3AA

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Whasson? (and where’s it to?)

Friday, July 15 Cattistock Village Fete – a whole week of events – draws to a fantastic finale this weekend. Following last weekend’s car treasure hunt and children’s tea party there’s a boules competition from 5.30pm on Thursday, July 14, then a quiz night at the Savill Hall tonight (15th) from 7.30pm. Raffle, bar etc.

Bring your family, bring a picnic, and enjoy a concert of light entertainment music from Sherborne Town Band at Pageant Gardens in Sherborne between 2.30pm and 4.30pm.

The three-day Weymouth National Scooter Rally 2022 (SWSC Official) starts today.

The South West Scooter Clubs event will be at Weymouth Pavilion – the first national rally held in the town since 1983.

Music will be performed at the Pavilion on Friday and Saturday from 8.30pm.

Seafront pub, The Gloucester is opening as the soul room both nights from 8pm.

The campsite is at Weymouth and Portland Rugby Club (Monmouth Ave, DT3 5HZ) and is open from noon.

No need to book spaces, just turn up on the day.

The Trade and Custom Show will be over the weekend.

Entertainment Pass, for entry to all events in the Pavilion, Gloucester Pub, and Campsite for Trade and Custom show on Saturday is £15.

Swingtime in the gardens The Fortuneswell Cancer Trust’s Swingtime fundraising event starts at noon in Dorchester Borough Gardens on Sunday, July 17.

There will be entertainment by the Purbeck Big Band, the Bridport Big Band, the Saxtet Jazz Band and Dorset for Singing Choir plus a display of classic cars, refreshments, ice creams and a Grand Raffle – 1st prize £100, 2nd prize £50 and other prizes.

The Fortuneswell Cancer Trust is a registered charity run by volunteers to raise No need to book, just turn up on the day.

Please note this is an adult event.

Find out more about Dorchester’s ancient tunnels at a talk by history enthusiast David Taylor at the next meeting of the South Dorset group of the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society.

Underground Dorchester will take place at St Aldhelm's Church Centre in Spa Road, Weymouth, at 3pm.

A network of tunnels has been discovered in Antelope Walk and are believed to connect the town’s famous Old Crown Court and cells.

The passageway used by the notorious Judge Jeffreys, who instilled widespread fear during the

money for cancer patients in Dorset. Funds are allocated to major projects at Dorset County Hospital and to provide chemotherapy treatment in the community.

Specialist courses, equipment for nursing staff and a Reflexology service for cancer patients are also funded.

Bloody Assizes of 1685, was rediscovered underneath Antelope Walk in 2014. The walk dates to Roman times and the Old Roman Mint located in the courtyard.

Coffee is at 3pm and is followed by the talk.

There will no meeting of the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society in August.

The Grand Opening of Pope Street Cycles will feature special guests, great offers and lots more from 9am. The rider-owned bicycle shop in Brewery Square, Dorchester, offers sales, service and repairs, Stockist of Ridley, Scott, Hiko Bikes, Basso and Wilier.

Also main stockist of Shimano, Campag and SRAM.

Saturday, July 16 Cattistock’s Got Talent will be held at 7.30pm in the Savill Hall. Come and discover the many talents of people around this area, as part of the Cattistock Fete week.

There’s a Patronal Festival at St Swithun’s Church, Allington, Bridport, 2.30pm4.30pm. There will be cream teas, music from the St Swithun's Band, bring & buy and a raffle. Free entry and parking. All welcome.

The Yetminster Fair will be taking place from noon in the village sports ground.

Some 50 stalls, a dog show, family fun including a bouncy castle, live music and classic cars will make this event one to remember!

Halstock Village Cinema is showing The Duke, the true story of a man who stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington, at 7.30pm in the hall (doors open 7pm).

Tickets £6.50 from the shop or on the door.

Licenced bar.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme & the Treasure Act is the subject of a talk at Dorchester’s Shire Hall.

Every year thousands of archaeological objects are discovered, mainly by metal detector users, but also by people gardening, out walking or going about their daily work. The Finds Liaison officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Dorset aims to encourage the recording of these finds and the reporting of treasure. This

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Whasson? (and where’s it to?) talk will cover the background of the PAS, the definition of treasure, illustrate the range of material recorded, and introduce the PAS database. shirehalldorset.org/whats-on/ A jumble sale will be held at Maiden Newton Village Hall from 2pm. Bring items to donate from 1pm – no furniture, large items or electrical items though.

Sunday, July 17 The finale of Cattistock Fete Week, the fete itself, will be opened by West Dorset MP Chris Loder at 1pm in the playpark.

There will be lots of attractions until 4pm – including a bungee run, bouncy castle, Scalextric races, crockery smash and more, plus a silent auction.

The AFWM Sherborne Classic and Supercar Show will be taking place at Sherborne Castle between 10am and 4pm.

Children under 16 go free!

After a two year break the organisers will be bringing a refreshed show based on previous formats so you can expect to see classic cars, supercars, American, custom and rally cars, vintage motorcycles and much more. classicsupercars.co.uk/online-shop/ entrance-ticket-adult You are warmly invited to the final coffee concert of the summer at 11.45am in St Peter’s Church, Dorchester.

Coffee, cake and a short vocal recital given by soprano choral scholar, Flora Davies. Flora began her musical career as head chorister at Salisbury

Cathedral. Flora’s programme includes songs and arias by Bach, Britten, Quilter, Mozart and others and it promises to be a fantastically entertaining and varied programme.

Admission, coffee and cake are all free.

Monday, July 18 The Wessex Morris Men – Steve’s Tour between 7pm and 11pm this evening at The Bird in Hand in Henstridge at 7.30pm and the Blackmore Vale Inn at Marnhull at 8.30pm.

Tuesday, July 19 Stalbridge Youth Football Club is holding a quiz night at 7pm at the Stalbridge Legion.

It is £5 per person with teams of four taking part to win fantastic prizes.

A beginner's needle felting course will be held at Rosefinch in Sherborne 1pm3pm.

Learn the basics including equipment, materials and techniques. All equipment and materials provided, together with two hours tutoring in a small group and a hot drink. £20 per session. Email craftingbysteph@gmail.com or call into Rosefinch, Sherborne.

Thursday, July 21 The Design Yard, the Chamber of Commerce and Bridport Mate will be hosting a networking event, Connect Bridport, at 6.30pm in Aleksandra’s Chocolate Café. eventbrite.co.uk/e/connectbridport-tickets-344637729 727

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Vinyl records bought and sold

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CERNE ABBAS MUSIC FESTIVAL

Join us for our 30th annual festival in Cerne Abbas Classical masterpieces presented in beautiful, informal surroundings by musicians who are principal players in some of Europe’s greatest orchestras and ensembles.

July 7 at 7pm: July 8 at 7pm:

Dvorak, Sarah Jenkins and Berwald Mozart Piano concerto, Dvorak American Quartet July 8 at 10pm: Messiaen ‘Quartet for the End of Time’ July 9 at 7pm: Music by Howells, Kreuz and Brahms July 10 at 6pm: Schubert, Vivaldi and Brahms

For full programme information and tickets visit the festival website at: cerneabbasmusicfestival.org.uk

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Whasson? (and where’s it to?)

Thurs, July 21 Bridport & District Gardening Club’s monthly meeting starts at 7.30pm at the WI Hall, North Street in Bridport.

Are you planning to enter the Summer show on Saturday, September 3?

This meeting is your chance to hear stories, hints and tips from a panel of show judges, Monique Pasche, the club president, a cookery and handicraft judge, Peter Yates, a horticulture judge of flowers, plants and vegetables and Sue Baker, chairman of the West Dorset flower club and a flower arranging judge.

Non-members are £2. bridportgardeningclub.co.uk Museum after hours is being held at Dorset Museum between 5pm and 7pm.

Join us for an opportunity to explore the museum at this free late opening. Find out more at dorsetmuseum.org/event/m useum-after-hours Roman Road Summer Walk Join Dorset Council’s Senior Archaeologist and a Thorncombe Wood Ranger for a fascinating walk along the scheduled ancient monument which traverses the reserve. This informative guided walk will also take you to the Bronze Age tumuli, rainbarrows, on neighbouring Duddle Heath as featured in Hardy’s work. £5 donation towards the ongoing management of Thorncombe Wood suggested for attending.

Booking essential: 01305 251228 or

hardysbirthplace@ dorsetcouncil.gov.uk The Ridgeway Vikings: New research and findings will be the subject of a talk

by Dr Heather Tamminen at Dorset Museum from 7pm8pm.

In 2009, a mass burial of archaeological human remains was discovered on the South Dorset Ridgeway, during the construction of the Weymouth Relief Road.

Through a study by Oxford Archaeology, these individuals were found to have lived and died around the year 1,000 and originated from Scandinavia and northern Europe, leading to the conclusion they were Vikings. They had been decapitated in what appeared to be a systematic mass execution, Heather M. Tamminen BHK, MSc is a human osteologist currently specialising in conflict trauma.

Home of Hillforts & Henges is an exciting new event from 21st to 31st July that will celebrate Dorchester’s neolithic and iron age landscape, rich in earthworks and the people that have lived here for over 6,000 years.

The event is part of the National CBA Festival of Archaeology 2022 and activities will take place at multiple locations across the town. dorsetmuseum.org

Friday, July 22 Shaftesbury Fringe starts today until July 24 at 8pm at Ye Olde Two Brewers.

Shaftesbury Fringe is an open access performing arts festival celebrating all

things creative, which means anyone with a story can put on an event.

New and established artists will perform and exhibit in one of over 30 unique venues.

Forming part of the country’s unofficial ‘Fringe circuit’, performers booked into the Edinburgh Fringe can try out their acts before heading north of the border.

Watch some up-andcoming stars before they become famous!

A Murder Mystery Evening will be held at Dorchester’s Shire Hall, including a twocourse dinner, cocktail on arrival.

Doors open at 6pm.

For age 14 upwards.

If you have any dietary requirements please email us info@shirehalldorset.org Dorset Museum: 7pm The Extraordinary Prehistoric Landscape Under Your Feet And Up The Hills is a talk by Steve Wallis exploring the prehistoric landscape of the Dorchester area, covering the changes over time and the different types of monuments and remains.

Not many towns in this country have superb prehistoric sites like Maiden Castle and Maumbury Rings close by, and there is so much else to discover within a few miles of Dorchester, such as the burial mounds and stone circles of the South Dorset Ridgeway. Equally important is what we can’t see, the below-ground remains that have been discovered by archaeological excavation, and which we are learning more about all the time.

Steve Wallis is Senior

Archaeologist for the Dorset Council’s Environmental Advice Team.

Saturday, July 23 The Maiden Newton Children’s Football Club Open Day is being held in Kennel Lane.

The event kicks off at 10am with a MNCFC Vs MNCFC VETS game.

Live music, performances from local people and a big band to finish. Food served all day, a bar, stalls and activities.

The Old Shire Hall Dorchester Ghost Hunt, 9pm-2am.

The hall is said to be haunted by Judge Jeffreys’ ghost, Over the years, there have been hundreds of cases where prisoners have sat below the streets in cells, awaiting their judgement and fate, with stories of many taking their own lives in their cells to escape an even crueller end.

Ghost hunts here are said to be a genuinely terrifying experience. Poltergeist activity is a common occurrence. The sound of fingernails scraping down the walls is heard; ghostly figures have been reported. paranormaleyeuk.co.uk/shi re-hall-dorchester-ghosthunt The Silent Woman Family Fun Festival will be held in Wareham noon-10pm.

Lots of live music, a bouncy castle, face painting, balloon art and plenty more!

The Charminster Follies will be performing Gilbert & Sullivan’s London in St Mary’s Church at 6pm with excerpts from three

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

favourite operas.

Tickets £10 including wine and nibbles: 01305 213403.

The monthly cathedralstyle service of Choral Evensong starts at 4.30pm in St Peter’s Church, Dorchester.

Music includes Philip Stopford 'God be in my Head', Rose Preces & Responses and Howell’s Magnificat & Nunc dimittis Collegium Regale plus Bainton And I saw a new Heaven. Peter Nardone is at the organ and Ian Davis directing. Please join us for a glass of wine after the service.

An art lecture to raise money for Ukraine will be held between 2pm and 3.30pm in the United Hall in Bridport.

Art with a political dimension or responding to war starting from the mid19th century.

The lecture will include paintings, sculpture, performance installation, and mural and graffiti art.

Lecturer is Pam Simpson MA, associate lecturer at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts. The lecture is £10.

The same lecture will also take place online on Saturday, July 30 at 2pm.

Email Pam on chris.pamsimpson@btinter net.com or 01300 321715.

Toller Porcorum Pub Night is being held at the village hall between 6pm and 11pm.

Live music, draft ale and cider, Thai food and a raffle.

Weymouth & Portland RFC is hosting a family fun day

between 11am and 6pm in aid of Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance & the Wooden Spoon Charity to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Food, a bar, cake sales, outdoor garden games, tug-o-war, a cider tent with local ciders plus a walking and touch rugby.

Experience a living history weekend like no other within the walls of the Victorian Nothe Fort today and tomorrow (24th) 10.30am-4pm. Explore life in the 19th century through a variety of re-enactments, craft demos, activities, and displays.

Learn how to make Viking inspired prints at Dorset Museum, using lino cutting to create your name and initials in runic writing, all materials and tools provided. Participants will leave with a Runic initial keyring and a print of their name. Tickets £15 inc admission to the museum.

Accompanying adults must purchase their own ticket.

Suitable for ages 12+.

Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult. dorsetmuseum.org The History & Mystery of Maiden Castle is a guided tour of Maiden Castle to explore its origins, myths and legends with Gary Biltcliffe, author of The Spirit of Portland.

Tour the neolithic enclosure and the remains of a Roman temple. Learn about the mysterious Iron Age tribe called the Durotriges who allegedly re-fortified the monument, moving thousands of tons of earth.

The event is part of the National CBA Festival of Archaeology 2022 and

activities will take place at multiple locations across the town.

A cyanotype printing workshop will be held at Dorchester’s Shire Hall.

The technique was used in the 1850s by the botanist and photographer, Anna Atkins to record all the algae specimens of the British Isles. The original ‘blueprint’ process, it was also an easy way for architects and engineers to copy technical drawings, patents and plans.

You will be producing botanical Cyanotype prints.

You will learn how to lightsensitise paper with the cyanotype solution, place a mixture of plant materials on top and then expose it to

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the sun. Experiment with a variety of leaves, petals, seed heads, etc to produce a series of unique A4 prints that you will want to take home and frame.

Continued on P10

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Whasson? (and where’s it to?)

From P9 All materials are included, although it would be nice for you to bring a selection of plant material from your garden, pressed flat between some sheets of newspaper.

Wear an apron or dark top in case of splashes. £48pp (includes a hot drink and biscuits).

Shirehalldorset.org

Beaminster School kids launch a book

Sunday, July 24 Weymouth Lifeboat Week 2022 starts at 7pm this evening and runs until July 30.

This will be our first Lifeboat Week since the pandemic and we are so looking forward to seeing you.

Cattistock Countryside Show opens at 8.30am – a raucous, rambunctious, rural celebration with hawks, hounds, ponies and massive marrows. Book at cattistockshow.co.uk for a tenner, or pay £15 on the gate.

Monday, July 25 Wessex Morris Men – Jeremy’s Tour, at The Black Dog Inn, Broadmayne, 7pm, then New Inn, West Knighton, 8.15pm and finally Wise Man Inn, West Stafford, 9pm.

Summer Fun @ Dorchester Arts in The Corn Exchange runs from today for a week.

A fun action-filled week packed full of music, drama, dance and creative workshops for eight- to 18year-olds take place each day between 9am and 3pm.

An optional hot meal provided by Joey’s

Budding young writers from Beaminster School are celebrating the launch of their creative writing anthology.

The ‘I Have a Dream’ anthology launch event will be held at Little Toller Books in Beaminster at 6pm on Thursday, July 14.

The anthology is the culmination of a series of

creative writing workshops for pupils in Years 7, 8, and 9 (aged 11 to 14) by children’s charity The Bank of Dreams & Nightmares, which offers creative writing enrichment in and out of schools.

The anthology is published by the charity’s own imprint, with a foreword by award winning author Max Porter.

The Bank of Dreams &

(joeysfamilyfood.com) is available to order.

Sibling tickets are available for all workshops at a discounted price.

Please use this option when booking for more than one child.

Children and young people with a Summer in Dorset code can book the workshops for free and this includes a hot meal.

Monday, July 25 – Music Workshop Tuesday, July 26 – Dance Workshop Wednesday, July 27 – Drama Workshop Thursday, July 28 – Arts and Craft Workshop Friday, July 29 – Writing for Performance Workshop dorchesterarts.org.uk/2022 /06/17/25-july-29-julysummer-fundorchester-arts

Tuesday, July 26 Forest school holiday clubs for primary school children are available from 8.30am until 5.30pm at Radipole Primary School.

A huge variety of bushcraft, survival, arts and crafts plus mindfulness activities.

Book onto the extended day and your child will take part in advanced fire lighting with s'mores!

For details go to primaryforest-school.co.uk/booking s/2022/07/26/radipolesummer-holiday-clubs The Magic & Myth of Water Meadows: Dorset Museum.

The origins of water meadows are lost in medieval times. Surface water irrigation expanded

Nightmares’ creative learning manager Janis Lane said: “We are immensely proud of the Beaminster writers, and I Have a Dream is testament to their engagement and the creative spark that is unique to young minds.

“It’s a credit to Beaminster School to recognise the power and impact this kind of enrichment can have.” in Wessex and throughout England from the 16th century and was a sustainable intensive integrated agricultural system until the twentieth century. This talk looks at the origins of water meadows in England, their management and importance to agriculture through the centuries, and why they are still important in terms of landscape history and ecology today.

Dr Kathy Stearne has conducted 30 years of water meadows research.

Growing up in the Yorkshire Dales, Kathy has a love for the countryside and history. She has worked in agriculture and conservation since 1980.

Kathy gained a Doctorate in Agricultural History and Ecological Management

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

from Imperial College London in 2004. She presently runs a consultancy for landowners and farmers, advising on conservation, ecology and hydrology. She has many years of experience as a successful lecturer and mentor and is currently working with Reading University mentoring undergraduate Students.

Kathy has a passion for travel and is a resident historian on Viking Ocean Cruises, recently cruising around Norway and the Mediterranean.

Thursday, July 28

ago, a boy pulled a sword from a stone and became King. A story of the old world, with knights, wizards, mist and magic.

This fun and farcical adventure is an anarchic and anachronistic re-telling of the Arthurian Legend with live music, physical comedy and lo-fi acrobatics. marinetheatre.com/kingarthur Bar opens 6pm, play starts 7pm. Adults £12, children £7, family (2 adults and 2 children) £29 ticketsource.co.uk/booking/ t-avqyvvg

Outdoor theatre: As You Like It at Kingston Lacy between 6pm and 9pm.

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men invite you to join them this summer for the sparkling comedy. Pack a picnic and a chair or blanket, and come along to a magical evening of entertainment.

For details go to nationaltrust.org.uk/events/ 4f5da1da-8cf4-49f9-a412051a6005ec2d/pages/ details

What Lies Beneath Max Gate?

Online event, streamed from Max Gate with National Trust archaeologist Martin Papworth; Hardy’s Wessex curator Harriet Still and Wiltshire Museum director David Dawson In 1884, the writer Thomas Hardy unwittingly built his house Max Gate (near Dorchester) in the centre of a late Neolithic enclosure, now known as Flagstones.

During the foundation excavations, he revealed a sarsen stone and various Romano-British clasps and bowls, as well as human remains.

Now, 138 years later, Martin Papworth returns to the same site to see what else this fascinating and ancient site can reveal to us. wessexmuseums.org.uk

King Arthur at the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis at 7pm.

Somewhere in Britain, a very, very, very long time

Email your events to newsdesk@ westdorsetmag.co.uk

On the last Thursday of every month, the old boys from Hardye's School and their wives, meet up for a chinwag over lunch at the Poet Laureate at Poundbury.

If you're an old Hardyean, do come and join us. You might meet old friends you haven't seen for years.

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THE DORSET OPERA

MMXXII

The home of Country House opera in South West England featuring renowned soloists and full orchestra

Marquee Bar | Picnics | Formal Dining

Giacomo Puccini

MANON LESCAUT

25, 28, 30 July at 19:00 | Matinée 27 July at 14:00 Sung in Italian with English surtitles

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

THE MAGIC FLUTE 26, 27, 29 July at 19:00 | Matinée 30 July at 14:00 Sung in English with surtitles

Coade Theatre, Bryanston, Blandford Forum

Box Office: dorsetopera.com 07570 366 186

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Probe into impact of holiday lets is welcomed by MP The government has local communities. This launched a probe into the also has potential to open impact of short-term the door for measures to holiday lets on rural help local families better communities. afford to live in their own West Dorset MP Chris areas.”

Loder, who is calling for a The government has crackdown on ‘tax indicated that it is loopholes’ associated with considering setting up a second homes and holiday registration scheme for properties, has welcomed holiday homes, similar to the government’s the kitemark accreditation, announcement. which would include spot A government checks to ensure spokesperson said the aim homeowners’ compliance of the investigation is to with rules on issues such ‘improve the holiday as gas safety. letting market for those The government may also living in popular tourism set up a self-certification destinations’. scheme for The hosts to Government’s register with call for before they evidence has can operate, been as well as launched in a IMPACT: Chris Loder and providing bid to support Nigel Huddlestone better communities affected by information on the legal high numbers of holiday requirements for holiday accommodation, especially homeowners. in Lyme Regis and villages Tourism Minister Nigel throughout West Dorset.

Huddleston said: “We’ve Chris Loder said: “The seen huge growth in the launch of this campaign range of holiday follows on from my accommodation available campaign to lobby the over the last few years. We Chancellor to clamp down want to reap the benefits of on tax loopholes for the boom in short-term second homes and holiday holiday lets while lets, after which the protecting community Government announced interests and making sure that from April next year, England has high-quality second home owners will tourist accommodation. have to pay council tax if “While no decisions have they are not genuine been taken, this review holiday lets. will help us work out the “This is an opportunity for options to look at so we a cost/benefit analysis of can protect our muchthe effect that full-time loved communities and Airbnbs are having on thriving holiday industry.”

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

You’re invited to get involved with village’s annual show Maiden Newton is to hold its annual village show on Sunday, August 14 and organisers are inviting bakers, growers, photographers and crafters

to take part.

Staging will take place from 9.30am12pm and viewing from 2pm to 4pm at the village hall.

Admission is free. Class entries are 30p – pick up an entry form from Amber Hardware on Dorchester Road.

We’re in the honey! Pupils’ beekeeping lessons Children in Ravens’ Class at Stickland’s School in Evershot have been learning about bees and becoming beekeepers at Summer Lodge.

Once a week, the chair of governors, Suzie Mutch, has been teaching the

children the vital role of bees in pollination, enabling children to gain a thorough understanding of why bees are so important and what they do for nature and for us.

Pupils have been creating their own frames coated with beeswax to place

in a beehive at Summer Lodge and wearing beekeeper suits, boots and hat, have been observing what the bees have done each week.

One pupil said: “I have learnt a lot of new things about bees that I didn’t know before.”

Work starts to ease traffic bottleneck A bottleneck in Sherborne is to be eased with improvements to traffic flow – with 16 weeks of works starting this month.

The busy Marston Road junction is being improved as part of Dorset Council’s ongoing programme of traffic signal upgrades.

With temporary traffic signals currently in place due to the collapsed private wall on Kitt Hill, the junction improvements have been brought forward in the highway works programme to make use of the traffic management measures already in place.

Traffic signal equipment at

the junction of Kitt Hill, Newell and Marston Road will be renewed – with poles and signal heads replaced – a new right-turn lane will be provided for westbound traffic on the A30 turning into Marston Road and the overall signal-controlled area is being reduced in size.

These alterations will improve the efficiency of the junction and mean fewer delays for drivers.

To provide space for the additional right-turn lane, the pavement next to the A30 between Back Lane and Cornhill is being moved to the back of the

verge and upgraded to a shared walkway/cycleway to improve off-road cycle links around the junction.

Existing pedestrian crossings at the junction will be upgraded to the latest toucan equipment to further improve cycle facilities in the area.

Cllr Ray Bryan, portfolio holder for highways, travel and environment, said: “It makes sense for us to bring forward the renewal of this signal equipment to coincide with temporary traffic control already in the area and save drivers from further disruption at a later date.

“I’m also pleased that we’ve been able to upgrade the cycle facilities to support sustainable travel and make cycling an easier choice for short journeys around the town – a key action identified in the council’s Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy.”

Work will start on July 25 and last until midNovember.

To help the flow of traffic during the works, drivers are being asked to help by planning ahead and thinking more carefully about their route around the town centre.

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

15

Melplash magic ready for comeback Excitement is palpable as the Melplash Agricultural Show will be returning to West Bay after a two-year break on August 25.

The show is a true celebration of farming and rural life by the sea, bringing together the very best of West Dorset with animals, food, fun and entertainment and with agriculture at the top of the billing, it is the time for farmers to show off their best livestock and compete for the top spot, securing a trophy or two.

Show secretary Lucy Hart said: “Having had a twoyear break due to the pandemic we are determined to make this year’s show one of the best. As always it will feature many of the

HERD THE NEWS? Melplash Show returns on August 25

traditional aspects of an agricultural country show along with plenty of new and exciting visitor attractions. There really will be something for everyone, with lots to see

and do for all the family to enjoy. It is going to be another amazing show day.”

There are 160 different classes for cattle, sheep, goats and farm produce

and 90 classes for horses and ponies and, new this year, a fancy dress for horse, pony and dog will captivate the crowds.

The show will boast 300 horticultural, floral arts, home produce and handicraft classes for the whole family to enter including lots of children competitions.

Entries for livestock close July 27, horse and ponies August 1, Show Jumping August 5 and Horticulture, Handicraft and Home Produce before August 15.

All entries can be made online.

Adult tickets are £17 in advance or on the gate at £19. Free admission for under 16s. n For more details visit melplashshow.co.uk

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Nightmare on Dr Roberts Close: A Dorset charity HUGS has revealed the sorry saga of how it helped protect a vulnerable Bridport woman being terrorised by her neighbour.

For victim Linda (her name has been changed) living in Dr Roberts Close was daily torment – with queues of people outside her neighbour Linda’s unsettling story began when she got a flat in the close through Stonewater Housing Association.

Linda, who was already suffering from PTSD, lived in her flat happily until her new neighbour Michelle (not her real name) moved in upstairs in March 2020.

Michelle had visitors who would queue up outside Linda’s ground level front door from 10pm until 3am.

Linda witnessed one woman stabbing at Michelle’s front door with a kitchen knife while others shouted obscenities and threats.

By February 2021, Linda’s housing association had installed a video doorbell which would later capture footage of the knifewielding woman and other threatening behaviour.

Some 11 months after Linda’s first complaints to

Michelle’s house, spilling past Linda’s front door, until the early hours of the morning, as well as people stabbing knives at her neighbour’s door and shouting obscenities.

Linda approached the Bridport Neighbourhood Policing Team, but

her complaints were treated as ‘lowlevel’ anti-social behaviour by the force.

It wasn’t until Cllr Dave Bolwell, MP Chris Loder and HUGS – the Hughes Unit Group Supporters – stepped in and made a formal complaint that the police took any real action.

HOUSING ISSUE: Dr Roberts Close in Bridport

Bridport Neighbourhood Policing Team, the police began patrolling the area and sent a community support officer to check on Linda once a week – but only during daylight hours.

By April 2021, HUGS had learned of Linda’s story and formally complained to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) about how Inspector Darren Stanton and the rest of the Bridport

policing team handled the case.

A spokesperson for HUGS said they were ‘astonished’ to later learn these IOPC investigations are often conducted by officers just one rank above the officers

Independent review finds police handling of A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “The chief inspector acknowledged communication with the woman could have been better and there could have been better consistency with contact from the Neighbourhood Police Team, however, he concluded that the woman’s safeguarding was being effectively managed in partnership with the relevant housing association and the level of service

was found to be acceptable. It was noted that the woman was now receiving weekly calls from the NPT and the vicinity of her address was also the subject of targeted foot patrols.

“All reports made to police by the woman involved were evidentially reviewed and further action was taken where appropriate. Local officers worked with the woman’s housing

provider to secure a civil injunction, put forward the installation of a doorbell camera and serve a Community Protection Notice on an individual linked to one of the reported incidents. Ensuring sufficient safeguarding for the woman was made a priority for the local NPT. “The complaint was the subject of an independent review by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

17

sorry story of one woman’s ordeal

EVIDENCE: Recording from Linda’s video doorbell showed a woman’s threatening behaviour

being investigated. ‘ridiculous’, the then They added: “Straight Bridport Chief Inspector away we felt this Ged Want told the charity investigation wasn’t the force was no longer independent or seen to be investigating Michelle independent.” because she was classed as By late April 2021, an vulnerable. injunction had been taken A HUGS spokesperson out against Michelle to said: “Just because prevent her and her Michelle is associates from using or threatening violence to others or committing further acts of antisocial behaviour.

After the injunction INQUIRY: Inspector was secured, Linda’s Darren doorbell camera Stanton recorded people threatening to put a brick through Linda’s window.

But the police made no arrests following this incident and the anti-social vulnerable it doesn’t exempt her from breaking behaviour continued. the law.

Then, in a decision “Bridport Neighbourhood branded by HUGS as

Policing Team failed to investigate Michelle properly, left Linda disadvantaged and left Dr Roberts Close near to boiling point.”

After two months of formal inquiries, Chief Inspector Want closed the investigation into the antisocial behaviour, saying the neighbourhood policing team had done all it could.

HUGS responded by pointing out that the police had failed to contact Stonewater Housing Association or HUGS for their input and that: “The only evidential action they did take was to phone Linda a couple of times a week and send her a couple of window locks.”

A HUGS spokesperson added: “Sending a PCSO round…during the daytime is not an effective deterrent when all of the activity takes place between 10pm and 3am.”

In June 2021, Dorset

Police’s head of complaints and misconduct, Tim Whittle, sent a letter stating that the ‘service provided to you

by Dorset Police on this occasion was acceptable’.

But on June 27, 2021 – Linda’s doorbell camera captured images of the knife-wielding woman stabbing at Michelle’s front door.

A HUGS spokesperson said: “When Linda made her pleas for help the Dorset Police dismissed her calls for help; even when Cllr Dave Bolwell and MP Chris Loder urged the Dorset Police to do more, and even when video footage showing anti-social behaviour emerged, they (the police) didn’t create an effective deterrent by sending round night-time patrols.”

Thanks to the intervention of HUGS and other agencies, Linda is now living happily in a peaceful neighbourhood.

complaint ‘was reasonable and proportionate’ (OPCC), which found the handling of the complaint was reasonable and proportionate.

“A further complaint was received in February 2021 relating to an inspector failing to respond to an email in July 2020.

“This matter was also the subject of a full review by a chief inspector, and it was acknowledged by the officer involved that there had been a case of

human error, they had not seen the email and a full apology was offered.

“The review found that the level of service provided had not been acceptable in this instance and a further apology was offered on behalf of the Force.

“Dorset Police takes all reports of anti-social behaviour seriously and our local neighbourhood policing teams work with partners to address

issues that are of a concern to residents. We would urge anyone with concerns about ASB to report these matters to us.

“We will also carefully consider any complaints or issues raised around our level of service provided and will consider whether any learning can be taken from these matters as well as whether any further action is required.”

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Secretarial college students meet up Alumni of an eyewateringly expensive secretarial college in 1980 gathered in Bridport for a reunion after 42 years.

St James’s Secretarial College was a boarding college, with girls sent from all over the world to study there to be secretaries. Many of the girls went on to work abroad for embassies, banks and in industry after qualifying with a St James’s Diploma in shorthand typing.

One of the 1980 cohort, who sent her best wishes as she was filming and couldn’t make the reunion was Four Weddings and a Funeral star Kristen Scott Thomas.

Organiser Dawn Adwick said: “Girls came together

REUNITED: Secretarial students at St John’s College in 1980 and, right, the reunion

after 42 years to meet up and share life stories.

“We had a walk back to the college and followed this by a superb buffet in The Ostler Room of the The Bull Hotel Bridport.

Thanks to Emma and her amazing staff.

“Girls came from all over the country with one girl coming from the USA.” The college in Bradpole was the country home of a

London secretarial college established in 1912. Term fees were a whopping £3,405 in 1980 – over £12,000 in today’s money.

A diploma typically took three or four terms to

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

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after 42-year gap

achieve. But the students were assured of a bright future with a diploma from St James under their belt. The college, which is

now St James’ Park Care Home. has now merged with a charm school established in 1928 and another secretarial college.

Celebrating life of Hardy with festival in home town A celebration of Thomas Hardy’s life and works will be held in his hometown.

The Thomas Hardy Society’s 25th conference and festival will take place in Dorchester from Monday, July 25 to Sunday 31.

The conference will begin with a keynote lecture by the eminent Hardy scholar Professor Richard Nemesvari. This will be followed by the opening dinner with a speech by another distinguished Hardyan, Professor Tim Armstrong.

The other keynote speakers will be Professor Mike Irwin, Professor Paul Niemeyer, Dr Gregory Tate and Dr Tracy Hayes.

Richard Franklin, chairman of The Thomas Hardy Society, said: “A theme running throughout the week will be the opportunity to visit museums in the region which are participating in the ‘Wessex Museums: Hardy’s Wessex Exhibition’.

“Poets have once again been invited to the conference and we will be welcoming Alison Brackenbury and Penelope Shuttle. Music always plays a part and this year Florence and Virginia Astley and Philip Lange will be giving concerts while on the Friday evening there will be a barn dance.”

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Martyrs Festival returns to show its The spirit of union activism will return to Dorset this weekend as the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival makes its triumphant comeback.

Running from Friday, July 15 to Sunday, July 17, festival organisers promise an eclectic mix of live music by local and international artists as well as spirited political discourse.

The festival will build up to the traditional Sunday afternoon march to the grave of James Hammett, the only one of the Tolpuddle Martyrs to return to Dorset.

The festival begins on Friday with live music by Portland-based musicians El Borez, followed by a performance from West Dorset born folk singersongwriter Jonah Corren.

Dorset-born, Bristol-based pop folk singer songwriter Danielle Sharp will also take to the stage as will folk punk singer Shannon White from Poole.

Besides live music, on Friday there will be speaking sessions in the Fringe Tent between the chairman of the South West Trades Union Congress, Hannah David, as well as other union leaders and US protest singer songwriter Crys Matthews. There will also be a DJ tent.

On Friday evening, there will be live music from political musicians Dorset Red, Sao Paulo-based street band Theo Mizu and Banda, US singer songwriter Crys Matthews, plus Jez Hellard and The

SEAT OF LEARNING: Having a sit-down at Tolpuddle rally

Pictures: STEVE PALLANT

ON SONG: Billy Bragg, Maxine Peake and Jeremy Corbyn at a previous Tolpuddle rally

Djukella Orchestra and Cable Street Collective.

Saturday will begin with guided trail walks through Tolpuddle, followed by a bus ride to Dorchester and a walk back to Tolpuddle as part of the Prison Officers’ Association hike.

In the Martyrs’ marquee, there will be talks on winning solidarity at work, challenges for women leaders and discussions on how to cut carbon, not

public transport.

In the Rear Garden Organise Tent, there will be talks on remote working, protest and the state, education for action and ‘organising precarious creative workers’.

In the Tolpuddle fringe tent, there will be a series of discussions on the battle for employment rights, the cost of living crisis, the future of union education and learning, breaking

down race barriers and how Ukraine is fighting on the military and trade union front.

You can also try your hand at sign language at a taster session and join in a ‘misconceptions quiz’.

The Unite marquee will host a menu of discussions on migrant workers’ stories, climate change and food production among other topics.

The Unite marquee will

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

worker solidarity

SPEAKING: Angela Rayner at an earlier rally n There has been an annual gathering to mark the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs since 1930s.

It began as a Sunday afternoon event with wreaths laid on the grave of James Hammett, followed by a procession of banners and speeches.

Today, the annual event sees thousands of trade unionists from around the UK and the world descend on the small village of Tolpuddle to celebrate the memory of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the legacy they left behind.

also host live musical performances by the Birmingham Clarion Singers with their rendition of Rob Harper’s Asbestos Song as well as Dorset’s own Skimmity Hitchers.

Radical Cinema will also be screening films throughout Saturday.

On Saturday evening there will be music in the Martyrs’ marquee from former RPMs frontman

Jack Valero, as well as anti-establishment fourpiece Cosmic Ninja, American singer songwriter David Rovics, and Rhoda Dakar, lead singer of The Bodysnatchers.

On Sunday, authors will speak about their new books and host signing sessions in the Fringe Tent in the morning.

At around 1.10pm on Sunday, ministers will lay wreaths at the grave of James Hammett.

Performing on the main stage throughout the day will be singer songwriter Rob Johnson, West Country based group The Leylines, US artist Carsie Blanton, and Ngaio and the Ngostics. There will also be speeches from the South West TUC president Sue Ferns among others.

At around 2pm, festival attendees are invited to join the grand procession through the village and back, accompanied by marching bands.

There will be more speeches in the afternoon from senior TUC members followed by music from Peat and Diesel as well as festival alumnus Billy Bragg.

Radical Cinema will screen submissions from its short film competition all day and there will be an end of festival service at the village’s Methodist chapel at 5pm.

The NASUWT Kids Area, hosted by The Teachers’ Union, will be available for children on all three days.

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Mayor lends support to tackle poverty

Dorchester Mayor Cllr Janet Hewitt joined Dorchester Poverty Action at its July coffee morning to launch their updated debt leaflet following an increase in grant applications.

Wendy Hilton, chairman of the charity, said: “Over the last few months the number of grant requests have trebled with the current financial situation.

“Many people who would not normally be short of money are finding it much more difficult to make ends meet.

“To prevent local people getting into debt this leaflet contains information about local organisations that can offer help and advice.” The charity says one of the questions you need to be asking are – do you only

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make the minimum payment on your credit card, do you regularly receive a high number of bank charges, do you rely on payday loans to get by each month, or are you kept awake worrying about your debts?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions you could be heading for a debt crisis in the near future.

Leaflets are available at Dorchester Library and most of the local churches.

The coffee morning raised over £1,000 to provide grants to local people in DT1 and DT2 by referral from local caring agencies. n If you are an agency who would like to know more about referring clients for a grant or you would like to make a donation go to dorchesterpovertyaction.org.uk

SUPPORT: Mayor Janet Hewitt at the DPA coffee morning

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Spirits are strong on the other side

By Miranda Robertson miranda@westdorsetmag.co.uk

I guess you might expect a medium from Beaminster to be down to earth.

Even surrounded by spirits of those long passed – people and animals – grandmother of five Cheyenne Webb exudes comforting vibes. She is the archetypal glam-gran – loving and humorous, but with an extra dimension.

For her, seeing spirits is normal. We humdrum types might have the odd shudder, feeling someone has ‘walked over our grave’, we might experience déjà vu once in a while.

But for Cheyenne, who has honed her craft over decades, she sees spirits everywhere. They all have a message from the other side and interpreting them is down to the person they have left the spirit world briefly to visit.

A distant descendant of the original Gypsy Rose Lee, Cheyenne, pronounced ‘Shy-Ann’, hated her unusual name, taken from North American Indians, as a child. “But I learned to love it,” she said.

Mum Julia Eastment, now 89, came to Dorset from London during the war and worked at Abbot Brown & Sons sign makers in Beaminster.

Dad Gilbert, also 89, was a plumber.

“This gift comes from my mum’s side,” she said.

“My great-great grandmother was Romany Gypsy.

“She taught my mum’s mother how to read cards.

GLAM GRAN: Medium Cheyenne Webb of Beaminster

“When I was young I used to have lots of dreams. I used to see spirit people and not think anything of it, it was part of who I was. We had chickens at

the bottom of the garden.

“We would eat one for Sunday lunch and I’d see it walking about on the Monday.

“All children see spirit.

“You lose that a bit as a teenager as you’re busy, but the gift started to come back quite strong when I was 16 and I started to know things before it happened.

“I got married and had children and we moved into Victoria Grove in Bridport. When we moved in the next door neighbour Helen Brooks leaned over the fence and said, ‘I’ve been waiting for you’.

“She used to be Dick Emery’s medium. She taught me the discipline I needed to use my gift. You need huge discipline. I can’t describe what discipline you need.”

Cheyenne started a circle and eight to ten people came every week to summon the spirits. She would also give readings as a not very well paid side hustle to her job at Bridport Hospital.

“I went to see this man on a farm in West Coker,” she said. “I was there for about two hours. When I got home my husband said, ‘Did you get paid?’ I said well, I got six eggs…”

Just before Cheyenne turned 40 tragedy struck.

Her sister had a terrible car accident and was left brain damaged.

The family rallied round, but it was a long slog and after ten years of this Cheyenne saw her late father-in-law in a dream, telling her to quit her job as a matron’s PA at Bridport Hospital and buy a motorhome. Husband Buster accepted this and the pair sold their home in Bothenhampton and set off around Europe. For the

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

25

with very happy medium Cheyenne

FACES: Some of Cheyenne’s family, crystals and photos on her desk and, St Ignatius

next nine years they travelled, returning home often to check on her sister and taking time in between to run a campsite.

Her best friend at home, Alison, was having cancer treatment and a man in a dream told Cheyenne to ask for a lock of her hair.

She hadn’t much left after the treatment, but sent some hair to Cheyenne, who was then in Spain.

Another dream persuaded her to draw a picture of a palace with sweeping steps. Some time later they were in Salamanca when she saw this same man walk by her. “Even my husband felt him, and he’s very down to earth,” she

said. “He told us to go east, but we had a route planned north and west.

“The sat nav kept changing its course to head north until we arrived at this palace I had drawn three months previously, the one from my dream.”

It was the Palace of Ignatia of Liola, and as Cheyenne looked around she saw a picture of Saint Ignatious – it was the man she had seen in her dream – the same man who had passed them in spirit form. She placed Alison’s hair at the palace. “Alison was my best friend for 25 years,” she said. “Our children are best friends. She is there with me whenever I do a

reading, as is Ignatius.”

Once home, Cheyenne and Buster moved into their current home in North Perrott. But she is back in Beaminster daily, looking after her parents.

She said: “I have the most amazing parents. I can’t even explain what they’ve done for us without crying, “I love them desperately.

“Our family lived in Gerrards Green from the 50s. My nan lived there and died when I was about seven.”

In between looking after them she runs weekly sessions – open development circles – and demonstrations of mediumship.

“All of a sudden I’m very busy,” she said. “It’s all about people believing and I have had a few memorable occasions when what I’ve seen has been very clear to people.

“One time I was holding a session and I was told by a spirit to tell someone in the audience that ‘the old dragon’ was there. I said I couldn’t say that! But they insisted and a man told me that was his mother-in-law.

“I told them about their jack russell that had gone missing for eight days. It’s about evidence – then they know their loved one has come in.”

Aside from the circles and demos, Cheyenne leads an entirely normal life. “I have two children and five grandchildren – I’m very blessed. I’ve been married 42 years. But the spirit side of me runs very strong. My great-greatgreat grandmother Kasiah Lee was related to the original Gypsy Rose Lee. “People don’t expect me to be down to earth, but I am. If you believe in it, trust in it then that’s all that matters.”

Cheyenne is holding an evening of mediumship at Crewkerne’s The Speedwell Hall (TA18 7HY) from 7pm on Friday, July 22. Tickets are £10 on the door. She is also at North Perrott Cricket Club (TA18 7SN) on Friday, October 7 – tickets £7.50.

Her open development evenings (Mondays) cost £5. n Cheyennewebbmedium. co.uk n Cheyenne.webb @hotmail.com

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

plea Young traders enter the Dragons’ Den Firefighter Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and

KS2 children at Thornford Primary School took part in a Dragons’ Den challenge as part of their Maths and Science Week, to promote the understanding of the value of money.

They pitched their business ideas to a panel after an initial workshop led by Katie McManus.

The groups pitched to headteacher Neela Brooking, ex-governor and secondary maths teacher Jean Conley and Head of Entrepreneurship and Sherborne Girls’ School IT’S A DEAL: Mrs Brooking and Mrs Lewis with eight-yearbusiness teacher Emma old entrepreneurs Lucas Fountain and Harry Mitchell Wimhurst in exchange for a and how much they would ingenuity of the children theoretical – not a real £5. sell it for. and their ways of The children prepared Then the youngsters sold promoting and advertising presentations explaining their products at a their business products. We their business idea and Dragons’ Den fair, raising feel that actually pricing some brought a sample of £459 for the RSPCA and their products and handling their product. They needed Wish upon a star charities. real money has helped the to know which materials Mrs Brooking said: “We children understand the were required to make it were so impressed with the value of money.”

Rescue Service is looking for new on-call firefighters in Charmouth. The fire station on Bridge Road has opportunities for anyone who could provide availability during the week and/or at weekends, with flexible contracts on offer for those who work shifts or have childcare responsibilities.

On-call firefighters live or work in the local community, and are paid to respond to emergencies during the periods of cover agreed. When the pager goes off, a firefighter can be called to a wide range of incidents, such as commercial and domestic fires, road traffic collisions, rescues from height or water, animal rescue or flooding.

Call in at the fire station between 3pm and 5pm, Monday to Friday, to have a chat, or there’s a ‘drop in’ evening at the fire station on Monday, July 18, 7pm-9pm.

Go to dwfire.org.uk/on-callfirefighters, email oncallsupportofficers@dwfire.o rg.uk or call 01722 691444.

A celebration of hillforts and henges A new family event celebrating Dorchester’s Neolithic, bronze and Iron Age landscape is being launched this month (see also Whasson).

Home of Hillforts & Henges, which runs from July 21 to 31, also looks at the people who have lived in the land rich in earthworks for 6,000 years.

Blanchards Bailey law firm, which has an office in Poundbury, is a headline sponsor of the event, which begins at Dorset Museum with a free open evening and talk on the famous Ridgeway Viking skeletons, discovered in 2009.

The 11-day event is part of the National Council For British

Archaeology (CBA) Festival of Archaeology 2022 and activities will take place at multiple locations across the town.

The full programme includes a series of lectures at the museum and a new archaeological dig at Thomas Hardy’s former home Max

Gate which he built in 1884 unwittingly in the centre of a late Neolithic enclosure, now known as Flagstones.

Other highlights co-ordinated

by Discover Dorchester feature guided nature walks (including Maiden Castle and Outer Casterbridge), archaeological dowsing and Viking print making.

Home of Hillforts & Henges concludes on Sunday July 31 with the free festival Hengefest at ancient Maumbury Rings, a venue used by locals to celebrate special occasions for millennia.

Activities on the day include a pebble labyrinth, Viking axe throwing, Roman displays,

Dorset hillforts & habitats, medieval grass billiards, bushcraft, animal handling, wild foraging and live music.

Legal Secretary Rosie Nye, pictured, has a first class honours degree in archaeology and a masters by research in heritage practice.

She said: “It is quite incredible to think that the sites we have walked, such as Maiden Castle, would have been walked by Iron Age people, Romans, Elizabethans and more and have been marvelled at for centuries.

“We have iconic views in Dorset, iconic historical attributes that make us very unique. This festival gives us a chance to reflect on our past.”

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

27

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Country garden venue for annual village fete Piddlehinton Church Fete will be held on Saturday, July 16 at 1pm.

The lovely English country garden of West Lodge, Piddlehinton will be the setting of this year’s fete.

A wonderful afternoon out for the whole family is promised, with children’s races, coconut shy,

bowling alley, welly whanging, pony rides and duck races on the River Piddle. There’s even a dog show with classes for everyone.

The many well stocked stalls will include plants, cakes, preserves, books and white elephant. And of course, the silent auction and raffle

with wonderful prizes on offer.

Relax and enjoy a wide range of refreshments – hog roast, afternoon teas, ice creams and Pimm’s stall with live entertainment from Dorchester Ballet and Dance Club.

Navigate to DT2 7TD, where a warm welcome and free parking awaits.

By Karen Bate karen@westdorsetmag.co.uk

Alton Pancras Church was the setting for the rebel spirit of the Wessex Morris Men to shine as a part of their summer Monday Tour of villages and venues in West Dorset.

Villagers were treated to a series of traditional and new dances while tucking into barbecue food and MORRIS MAJORS: Wessex Morris Men at Alton Pancras and, below, youngsters with plenty of drinks courtesy their jubilee mugs and, right, the morris men in action of the Parochial Church Council with all the profits donated to the Dorchester Foodbank.

In addition, the trustees of the Alton Pancras Trust, the village charity which raises funds for the benefit of all those who live in Alton Pancras, presented a commemorative mug celebrating the Queen’s platinum jubilee to all children aged under 18 years of age who live in the village.

Some 21 mugs were presented by John Squibb, who has lived in the vicinity as the trustees trustees and PCC would individuals, can be made village the longest, who shall from time to time like to thank everyone in confidence to any of the was also given a think fit’. who came to support the trustees, and all proposals commemorative mug.

These can be small event. Great fun was had and applications will be The Alton Pancras Trust projects for the general by all.” considered by the board of has been operational in its benefit of the village of Any resident of Alton trustees at its next full current format since 1989 Alton Pancras, personal Pancras may propose a use meeting. and its aim is ‘to promote grants or loans for for trust funds in keeping For more details go to such charitable purposes educational or social with the Alton Pancras altonpancrastrust.org or for the benefit of the purposes and the Trust’s defined objectives. email the chairman Tim inhabitants of Alton alleviation of hardship Any such proposals, and Carron Brown, at Pancras in the county of following illness or injury. any applications for TimCarronBrown@ Dorset and the immediate A spokesman said: “The assistance from altonpancrastrust.org

Another manic Monday for morris men on village tour

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

29

£30k Devils Brook work completed A two-year, £30,000 project to clean up a chalk stream that feeds into West Dorset’s waterways has been completed.

The Environment Agency funded what it described as a ‘successful project to improve water quality and fish habitat’ in the Devils Brook, an ‘important’ chalk stream.

The project, led by the Farming Wildlife Advisory Group Southwest (FWAG), involved partners from Dorset Wildlife Trust, the Wild Trout Trust, Wessex Water, Dorset County Council, and local landowners.

Environment Agency staff and their partners worked together to identify and improve areas where sediment and nutrients are having a negative impact on the watercourse.

Agency staff employed what they call ‘slow the flow’ techniques, including planting trees and hedges, placing

GO WITH THE FLOW: The improved stream at Devils Brook near Dewlish

sediment traps and ‘buffer strips’ as well as creating new wetland areas in order to reduce losses to the river and improve water quality.

An agency spokesperson said that where sections of the watercourse have been fenced off, and a buffer strip stops animals from entering, there has been a marked increase in Ranunculus growth.

Ranunculus is described as a ‘healthy vegetation that holds up water levels,

creating important cover for fish and aquatic invertebrates’.

Environment Agency project manager Luke Kozak added: “By working with natural processes, the project has already improved riparian and in-stream habitat and water quality. Our funding has been crucial in enabling FWAG to engage with partners and landowners.

“We now hope to use our experiences gained from

the Devils Brook project to improve chalk streams across Dorset.”

The Devils Brook rises in the chalk hills above the villages of Dewlish and Cheselbourne and flows south to join the Piddle. It is an important wild trout and sea trout spawning and nursery stream.

The project to clean up the brook was awarded £30,000 from the Environment Agency’s Water Environment Investment Fund.

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Sea life as it really is as a rockpool detective Become a rockpool detective this summer and learn about the extraordinary sea creatures living on the county’s coastline.

Dorset Wildlife Trust is inviting youngsters to join the ‘Strandline Detectives’ at Chesil Beach to mark National Marine Weeks, running from Sunday, July 24 to Monday, August 8.

You can also take rides out on the Fleet in the glassbottomed Fleet Explorer boat to learn more about sea creatures.

A wildlife trust spokesperson said: “This year, wildlife trusts across the UK are celebrating seaside superheroes to shine a light on the extraordinary sea creatures and plants which are helping to fight climate change and water pollution or have amazing powers to help them

WHAT’S THAT? Find out about life in rock pools during National Marine Weeks Picture: EMMA GODDEN

survive. In Dorset we are very lucky to have the most astonishing marine wildlife, from secretive seahorses and delightful dolphins to colourchanging cuttlefish and rock-licking limpets.

“To celebrate Marine Weeks, Dorset Wildlife Trust has planned a series of special events to get families and individuals involved in exploring the seashore and wider marine environment to discover

some of the bounty that these habitats have to offer.”

For dates, details and costs for all the events happening for Marine Weeks, go to dorset wildlifetrust.org.uk/events

New triage system for housing services People most urgently in need of housing help from Dorset Council are being better prioritised with new single points of contact and a triage system for housing services.

The council is moving away from different phone numbers and email addresses based on where people live, to just one number and two email addresses.

01305 221000 is the new single number for housing support. From here people can choose housing register (social housing), homelessness support or general housing advice.

Two email addresses, one

n People wanting to contact the Housing Register team (social housing): 01305 221000 dorsetcouncilhomechoice@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk n People worried about homelessness or wanting housing advice: 01305 221000 housinghelp@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk n Advice and support on housing, including homelessness, advice for tenants and the housing register can also be found online at dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/housing for the housing register and one for housing advice and homelessness, are also now available. Existing email addresses and phone numbers will be phased out gradually to give people time to get used to the new ones and all communication to these will still be received and

responded to. The new triage team will assess all enquiries for their urgency and allocate them to the right team in order of priority as part of the council’s drive to prevent people becoming homeless.

Cllr Graham Carr-Jones, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community

Safety said: “Ensuring those people most urgently in need, get timely advice and support is vital to reducing homelessness and preventing it happening in the first place. This work to prioritise our support comes at a particularly crucial time, as the cost of living creates real concern for people about keeping a roof over their head. I urge anyone worried about losing their home to get advice as soon as you think there may be a problem.”

People who already have a housing officer should continue to contact them directly, as their number and email will not change.

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

31

Dementia roadshow’s support for sufferers and carers Dementia care specialists will deliver a series of information roadshows throughout Dorset this month.

People living with dementia, their carers, family members or anyone worried about their memory are invited to attend the first event at Dorchester Community Church in Liscombe Street, Poundbury from

2pm to 4pm on Wednesday, July 20.

The free drop-in event will provide information on services available locally, with representatives on hand from charity Help & Care, Dorset HealthCare’s Memory Assessment Service, NHS Dorset and AgeUK. Smaller, community-based support groups will also be in attendance.

The next roadshow will be held at Immanual URC Church in Southbourne, Bournemouth on Tuesday, July 26.

Find out more at helpandcare. org.uk/services/dementiacoordinator-service or email a.sedmanhobson@helpandcare.org. uk or stacey.hill@helpandcare.org.uk

New order to curb countryside fires

By Karen Bate

TAKE CARE OUT THERE: A new PSPO has come into force to protect many ares across Dorset from fire

karen@westdorsetmag.co.uk

A Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPOs) to prevent people lighting fires, including barbecues, fireworks, lanterns, and campfires, in many areas across Dorset has come into force.

Dorset Council is working with Forestry England and Dorset and Wiltshire Fire service to protect countryside area including heathlands, forests, and coastlines from the devastation that unattended naked flames can cause.

Over the last two years there have been a series of injuries and safety concerns caused by barbecues used along the coastline and public spaces. Anyone found to be breaking the new restrictions could be fined up to £100 fine with banned items confiscated.

Areas around Burton Mere Pond, Doghouse Hill, St Mary’s Playing Field and Buckham Down are among the many places which fall under the PSPO. Cllr Laura Beddow, Dorset Council’s

Portfolio Holder for Culture, Communities and Customer Services, said: “There is no reason to start a fire on a heathland or in a forest.

They can get out of control very quickly, destroy important habitats and kill many species of animals and plants. If you must eat, take a sandwich, and take the packaging home with you.”

Mark Warn, Wildlife Ranger for

Forestry England in Dorset, said: “Dorset is a special place, its heathlands and forests are a real haven for wildlife. They are home to some of the UK’s rarest wildlife and are outstanding places to visit.”

Further information on the PSPO for fires on open land can be found at dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/anti-socialbehaviour/public-space-protection-or ders-for-anti-social-behaviour

Your prize-winning artwork can help save lives on road Young people in Dorset have the chance to design some new artwork to help keep pedestrians safer on the county’s roads.

The competition, being run by Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service on behalf of the Dorset Road Safe partnership, is open until July 31.

Entries can be posters, social media

images or animations, and can be hand drawn or made using digital graphics. The finalists’ designs will be shared on social media by @dwfrsroadsafety throughout August, and two winners will be selected in September.

Thanks to the competition’s sponsors, there are prizes on offer for each age group – the winner in the 9-12 years

category will receive a Monkey World adoption pack, which includes a 12 month membership/free entry to the attraction, and there is a £50 Amazon voucher for the winner of the 13-16 years category, donated by Merck (Gillingham).

Full details can be found at dwfire.org.uk/dorset-road-safetycompetition

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

County’s covid cases on the increase Covid detection rates and related hospital admissions in the Dorset Council area are on the rise again.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows that in the week ending June 24, the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus in the Dorset Council area has increased.

In the Dorset Council area covid detection rates are at 3.8 per cent, compared to 2.9 per cent at the end of June.

Currently there are 81 covid-19 patients in hospital beds in Dorset, compared to 79 at the end of June.

According to Public Health Dorset, this increase in covid-19 cases follows a similar trend to the rest of, where national data shows that around 1 in 30 people would have covid-19.

A spokesperson for Public Health Dorset said: “The number of people in hospital in Dorset with covid-19 has risen slightly since the last update on

CONCERNS: Detection rates and hospital admissions have increased in Dorset. Below: Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester

June 27.

“Small fluctuations in numbers day-to-day are expected as we see case numbers rising.

“This is a reminder that covid hasn’t gone away,

and we are very much living with it as a part of our everyday lives.

“We should continue to take simple steps to reduce the spread of respiratory infections,

being particularly mindful of those who are more vulnerable to these viruses.

“By wearing a face covering, washing your hands regularly and taking good respiratory hygiene measures, you can reduce the risk of catching and spreading illnesses. If you feel unwell, you should stay at home and avoid contact with other people until you feel better. We ask people to please see the latest government guidance on care home visiting and families are advised to check details with the home before visiting.

“We also have wellestablished processes in place to work closely with affected schools to respond to risks due to covid-19 outbreaks and incidents.”

You can find more information about the vaccination programme in Dorset on NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group’s website, including how to book and where to find walk-in clinics.

Americans coming over here to find relatives An American family have traced their family tree back to Bere Regis in the 19th century – and they are hoping lots of relatives will join them for a drink when they pop over the pond this week.

Steve, Angie and Ella Dorst are flying in from Washington and will be at the Royal Oak pub on Monday, July 18 between 6pm and 9pm.

Angie says: “Do you or your relatives have the surname Cobb, Toms, Brown, Lambert, Garrett, Grant,

Palmer, Gallop, Homer, Rason, Chick or Cheek, Slade, Thurberville, Chinchen, Barnes or Collins?

“We’re your cousins—visiting from America—and we would LOVE to meet you.

“Come join us for a pint at the Royal Oak in Bere Regis on Monday, July 18, from 6-9 pm. This will be an epic reunion!”

She added: “Our second great grandmother Jeanette “Jennie” Cobb, daughter of Seth Cobb and Ann

Maria Toms, left Bere Regis and settled in New York in 1871.

“Our fourth great-grandmother, Sarah Ann Barnes, daughter of John Barnes and Elizabeth Chinchen of Swanage, Dorset, emigrated to America in 1832 with her family at the age of 10.

“It’s time to reconnect with our English family. Hope to see you at the Royal Oak.” To find out more, email agentile01@comcast.net, or just turn up at the Royal Oak.

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Quilters raise sew much money for charity St Peter’s Church looked spectacular as The Schoolroom Quilters held the first exhibition in three years with money raised going to West Dorset Motor Neurone Association and the church.

Bridport Round Table offered to donate pound for pound up to £1,000 and the group raised £1,005.71 from the raffle. A whopping £924.96 was collected from donations, the sale of handmade goods, a percentage of sales from Dorset Patchworks plus money from refreshments.

Co-chair Diana Harvey said: “We were particularly thrilled by the amount raised as in this difficult time. We all have demands on our money but the generosity was heart-warming.”

Census reveals slight population rise Dorset has seen a small population growth in the last ten years, according to the latest national census.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows Dorset’s population grew from around 365,200 people in 2011 to 379,600 in 2021, a rise of almost four per cent.

The census also shows the number of people aged 65 or over living in the county has grown by almost 25 per cent. Dorset’s population growth of 3.8 per cent is lower than the overall increase for England of 6.6 per cent. It is also slower than the South West’s population growth rate of 7.8 per cent between 2011 and 2021. As of 2021, Dorset was the ninth least populated local authority area in the South West. A spokesperson for the Office for National Statistics said this means there is approximately one football pitch sized area of land per person in the county.

In terms of population

change, Dorset has seen a 24.8 per cent increase in residents aged 65 and over.

There was a decrease of 2.8 per cent of people aged 15 to 64 and a decrease of 3.2 per cent of children aged under 15 years.

A spokesperson for the Office for National Statistics said: “Population change in certain areas may reflect how the coronavirus pandemic affected people’s choice of usual residence on Census Day, for example, students and in some urban areas.

“These changes might have been temporary for some and more long-lasting for others.”

The census shows the population of England and Wales has increased by more than 3.5 million in the ten years leading up to the latest census.

There were 59,597,300 people living in England and Wales as of March 21, 2021, the day of the latest census. This is over 3.5 million more (6.3 per cent)

than in 2011 and is the largest census population ever recorded.

The national census is

compiled using information from local and central government and businesses.

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Dorset’s got talons: Let us prey for

By Miranda Robertson miranda@westdorsetmag.co.uk

It started as a flight of fancy in 2008.

But Dorset Falconry Park near Dorchester is now a reality – and the family behind it all need your help to continue protecting endangered birds of prey.

Martin Ballam, 50, is a wildlife enthusiast. He has worked with animals and birds all his life, and takes his passion for birds into schools and groups, infecting youngsters with his excitement for FEATHERED FRIENDS: Tara, Elsie and Connie with Bob Dalton, chairman of the charity Project Lugger, and Naomi Johns who runs West of England Falconry and is also part of conservation.

He and wife Tara, 43, who Project Lugger. Below, Elsie with Solo the Milky Eagle Owl Pictures: ANNIE COLLINS is a teacher at The Woodroffe School in Lyme Terry the Peregrine falcon Regis, have long wanted to open their own centre, to welcome people to see their extraordinary group of birds, from owls and hawks to falcons, vultures and eagles.

But it was only in 2019 they finally saw their dreams realised, after a long battle to get planning… just before covid hit. The couple have been hard hit by the timing of the pandemic, as Dorset Falconry Park has only in winter because they are discover how high and reopened in March birds from the southern how fast the birds fly – the The centre is open following two hemisphere.

Peregrine falcon’s fastest 10am-5pm Wednesday to difficult years. to ch But Martin and Tara won’t speed is 150mph.

Mar from Sunday However, give up and their first full Falconer Kyle Smaldon October during term time, open re every day in school holidays. The their season is in full swing.

It’s arrived here as an pm are flying displays at 11am and 3.30 supporters all hands to the pump with apprentice aged 16. He is at ion and an informal training sess and le, ssib helped by acce air their two daughters Elsie, now 22 and a safe pair of elch whe 1.30pm. It’s oom ‘adopting’ eight, and Connie, 12, hands. The park supports offers toilets, a gift shop and a tear and picnic area. Annual membership birds and taking part in the daily young people interested in starts from £25, and there are trying to get demonstrations alongside animal careers by offering you re experience packages whe You f. rsel bolster funds you s Martin’s mum Maureen, student placements from bird the fly to can adopt a bird from when they 77, and dad John, 80 Kingston Maurward. It’s £25 to £30 a year. couldn’t running the tearoom. all about encouraging the the welcome visitors.

Their eldest, son Philip, next generation of wildlife incubators Electricity is also likely 14, does the techie stuff conservationists. have to be kept to be a big problem this such as the GPS tracker, Dorset Falconry Park is an warm themselves and year, the buildings housing many of their species lay which has allowed them to amazing place, developed

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

35

new falconry park’s future success

SAFE LANDING: Martin Ballam with Winnie the bald eagle and, below left, Pip the Kestrel and right, Elsa the European Eagle Owl

to encourage all sorts of wildlife, including wild birds, butterflies, dragonflies and more.

Several times during our chat Martin bounced up to get a better view of a creature making use of the facilities – a baby robin, a crow and a hawk having a dance off. He said: “We’ve planted purple verbenas and other species to encourage wildlife – I saw a hummingbird hawkmoth the other day, which is very unusual. We’ve counted 69 species of wild

birds, which is an extraordinary amount and have encouraged wildlife on site, species have increased dramatically.”

His enthusiasm will surely make this venture fly. But he says Elsie and Connie are the better demonstrators: “They have that all-important empathy with the birds and the people,” he said. “They definitely get more ‘ooohs and ahhhs’ and feedback because of their passion for the birds. They’ve done this off their own bat

– I haven’t persuaded them at all. They do the best guided tour anyone can give.”

The fully accessible site is home to more than 120 birds, with many critically endangered vultures – including hooded vultures, white-backed vultures and the Ruppell’s griffon. “The birds love it here,” says Martin. “That’s why they return – this is their home, where they are fed. I have a bateleur eagle who is 53 years old, when they only tend to survive to 20 years

in the wild. She’s called Talisman and she’s my special baby.”

There’s a breeding programme here to help save these dramaticlooking birds. The site is home to The Lugger Project, a charity dedicated to saving Lugger falcons as well as raising awareness, of which Martin is a trustee.

Some 55 different species are kept here, with the ever-popular owl in 20 different guises, from small to huge, some with big dinner plate-sized, surprised faces, others that puff themselves up to show off as you watch them. “We have the finest collection of owls in the south west,” said Martin.

“People love owls and can get quite tearful when they hold them.”

The birds are mesmerising and have gained a loyal following. But new visitors are needed more than ever this year with prices for everything rising so sharply.

Tara said: “It’s quiet – I think people are holidaying abroad and they are worried about fuel costs, so they are doing things at home. But the other thing is we haven’t been open that long and some people just don’t know we are here.”

Meanwhile Martin is keeping up the school visits. “Somewhere out there is the next Attenborough,” he said.

“If I can create the spark that breeds the next generation of conservationists, then that’s job done.”

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Antiques

When valuables from the past make

By Karen Bate karen@westdorsetmag.co.uk

While Brexit, covid, rising rents and rates have all taken their toll on the antiques trade over the last few years, dealers have embraced innovative ways to make a living and,

once again, the antiques trade is experiencing yet another resurgence.

Many of us oldies have always known there is no better way of preserving our rich heritage than to own a little slice of history.

But did you know proper old

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antiques are becoming the new cool?

It’s true. Younger generations are finding a new love for the old, and for very different reasons.

For one thing, attitudes towards disposable possessions are changing. The environmental impact on replacing flat pack or modern, mass-produced furniture every few years is one reason why many people are looking for fewer, classic pieces which will last the test of time.

Little surprise then that investment grade antiques, with individuality and scarcity, fit these requirements.

The way we live is changing too – over the last decade we have embraced Scandinavian style, cool colours and open plan living, little surprise that investment grade antiques, art, lamps and antique furniture along with gold, silver, watches and gemstone pieces are all rising in price, reflecting the minimalist aesthetic.

And of course, as the economic climate heads southwards, antiques containing significant amounts of precious metals have risen in value too.

And these items are perfect for younger people who may not yet have their own home in which to nest.

Items which are portable, beautiful with scarcity value reflecting the zeitgeist of their era are also a hit with younger people, who time poor, seek them out online.

I particularly love an auction house, it is a place out of time with retro magazines and records piled high on mahogany chest of drawers

and side tables. I love marvelling at art deco lamps, computers which would not look at of place in a museum or high-end art. For me, antiques are a vintage pleasure and while tastes may change, the thrill of a treasure hunt will always remain.

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

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Antiques

an ideal present to keep for the future

More than 700 lots in auction At Acreman St. Antiques Auction Sherborne we have over 700 lots on offer in our 29th July auction. Included are ceramics including Oriental, paintings, books, furniture, collectables and nearly 300 lots of jewellery with 60 lots raising money for the Yeovil Hospital New Breast Cancer Unit Appeal. We are very pleased to be able to offer for sale a Rolex Gentleman’s watch -GMT-Master II “Sea King” Limited Edition, No. 029 of 123, In mint unworn condition with box and papers.

Estimate £25,000-30,000.

This watch was commissioned by a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy stationed at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. It was to commemorate over 47 years of multi role service by the Sea King helicopter in both the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and the Search and

Rescue Wing of the Royal Air Force. Only 123 watches were made, one for every Sea King procured by the MoD. In order to qualify for this limited edition timepiece one had to prove a professional association with the Sea King Helicopter at some time.

The owner of this particular watch has had 18 years’ association with Sea King helicopters in maintenance and later a managerial role.

These rarely come up for sale especially in mint condition.

With the luxury watch market out-performing many other investment markets this is a great opportunity for someone.

The catalogue is available to view from 19th July through Easyliveauction.com & Saleroom.com. You can also come and view on Thursday, 28th July 10am-5pm, we also have live bidding in the room on the day.

ACREMAN STREET ANTIQUES SHERBORNE GENERAL ANTIQUES & COLLECTORS’ AUCTION Friday, 29th July, 10am-5pm VIEWING: Thursday, 28th July 10am-5pm

Est. £25,000 to £30,000

Catalogue available to view through saleroom.com & easyliveauction.com We are now accepting entries for our July auction For all enquiries please contact Gill Norman on 07908 333577 or 01935 508764 auction@acremanstreetantiques.co.uk

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Letters

newsdesk@westdorsetmag.co.uk

Keep up the good work on magazine

I was amused by your cover cartoon the other week depicting our Prime Minister being spit-roasted.

At the time I must admit I thought it was daring but not being a snowflake accepted it as a bit of political symbolism. It was therefore no surprise to see Jane Pickles’ letter. This sort of cartoon fills our press on a daily basis. I assume she shuns all national papers too.

Congratulations on a great little magazine.

Dave Edwards Bridport

As a Fleet Street veteran in semi-retirement, I must commend your excellent magazine. It is rare indeed to find a local publication with such robust editorial values and a willingness to report without undue inhibition.

Your information service is of course vital but I particularly enjoy your quirky but spirited columns and features. The piece on the Black Death (Edition 11) was superb, and superbly presented.

Naturally, you will offend some, such as Jane Pickles (Letters), but I urge you not to be cowed into settling for yet another insipid magazine that seeks to upset no one.

Nick Pitt Bridport Jane Pickles’ letter in which she described how announcements of further issues of your magazine have been banned from the Bridport Banter Facebook group was disappointing:

Cartoons by Lyndon Wall

‘cancelling’ due to political disagreements is not something we like to see.

Please continue the 2 page features from local politicians – and poke fun as you see fit.

Brian Kelly We want to say a huge thank you for writing such a wonderful article and super-size show promotion in the latest West Dorset Magazine.

We had so many people attending the show and when we asked how they knew about the show, so many said because of the West Dorset Magazine article and the event advertisement for such a worthwhile cause.

Thank you again for all

justsocaricatures.co.uk

your help. You were instrumental in us making a success of the exhibition and the raffle a success.

The Schoolroom Quilters Eype Whilst having lunch in the Dorchester Shire Hall, I was delighted to pick up a copy of your magazine.

However, I was dismayed to read the article on page 55 by Claudia Sorin. The Tolpuddle Martyrs were not convicted of trade union membership; rather the swearing of a secret oath, which was considered mutiny against the Crown.

Kind regards, Paul Martin Both Sudan and South Sudan are suffering

appalling conflict and food shortages, according to Robert Hayward of Christian Aid who spoke to the Beaminster Sudans group on June 24th.

In Sudan hundreds had died in Darfur and in demonstrations in Khartoum following the coup last October and breakdown of the transitional government.

In the south peace deals were signed but intercommunal violence and flooding had left two million displaced on top of the refugees already in neighbouring countries.

Robert, who is a regular visitor to both Sudans, also gave a PowerPoint presentation.

He reported on progress in the Episcopal Church of Sudan with projects supported by Salisbury Diocese and Sherborne Girls School.

In South Sudan Salisbury Diocese and Holy Trinity Cathedral Gibraltar had supported education and a new science laboratory at the Juba Diocesan Model Secondary School.

About £75 was raised for the Salisbury Medical Link, a diocesan programme which helps both countries.

For any further donations cheques are payable to ‘Salisbury DBF’ and sent to the Sudan Link Treasurer, Church House, Crane Street, Salisbury, SP1 2QB, marked ‘For Sudans Medical Link’.

John Montagu Mapperton

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

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Vittles (food & drink) The UK’s first Vegan Kids Festival is being held from July 22-24 at Moonacre Partyfield, Dorchester Road, Sturminster Marshall, BH21 4EU – with two TV star guests.

Vegan children and their families will be joined by vegan curious kids and their vegan curious parents too, with visitors travelling from as far as Germany and Switzerland for the three-day, two-night camping event.

BBC star Omari McQueen, the teenage presenter of What’s Cooking Omari? will be making a special appearance – as well as vegan chef Freya Cox from the Great British Bake Off. Founder and organiser Dana Burton said: “We are delighted that Omari and Freya wanted be part of our festival, both young vegans who will inspire many of our young festival goers.

Young TV chefs to star at first vegan festival for kids

SOMETHING’S COOKING: Omari McQueen and Freya Cox

“We have three packed days. Our main stage will be the central hub with lots of live entertainment. In our beautiful woodland area, you can enjoy the outdoor cinema or silent disco.

“We want to inspire all ages,” said Dana.

“So there will be activities

suitable from tots to teens, including our creative zone, sensory play for the tots and graffiti workshop and activism song writing workshop for teens.”

Dana created the event because she wants to empower vegan children to feel part of something and not feel isolated as many

do. I just wanted my kids to know they were not the only vegan children on the planet.

“So I created the Vegan Kids Festival. Often vegan children are the only vegans in their class – and sometimes even the whole school.

That can be hard for them to understand. This can make them feel different and isolated – or even worse picked on or singled out.

For more info and to book tickets visit vegankidsfestival.co.uk An adult weekend ticket is from £95.

Travel to the festival The festival is located off the A31 with easy access by car, and free parking available on site.

Raising a glass to the best of English wines Meet Jack Priestley, the manager of wine merchants Morrish and Banham’s Dorchester shop.

It’s a truly exciting time for the English wine industry and for that matter, for any wine lover in the country. The English wine scene continues to gain momentum.

The geologically diverse soils and a cool, marginal climate make our island ideally suited to the production of traditional method fizz and crisp, aromatic whites. But it’s our talented and hardy grape-growers and wine producers that have taken production to a world-class level.

Our local producers are regularly receiving trophies and winning

international competitions, a testament to the quality of their wines.

Sparklers certainly dominate production, our finest wines are made in this way. When seeking out a bottle, a ‘Classic Cuvée,’ is usually the signature wine of a producer and represents a classic blend of the trio of Champagne grapes; Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. You can blend these three grapes in almost any which way with exciting results, but each producer will develop their own house style.

English still wines also provide much to discover and enjoy. Bacchus and Ortega produce enticingly aromatic and crisp whites. These two varieties are very much at home here. Still

Chardonnay is very exciting too, comparisons are often made to Burgundy but producers are carving their own way in the numerous styles that are produced. We are even seeing some promise with English reds with light, perfumed and fragrant Pinot Noir.

English vines are beginning to mature, producing higher quality, more concentrated fruit. Potentially some of the best sites are yet to be planted.

Three wines to taste: n Bride Valley, Dorset Chardonnay, 2019 n Furleigh Estate, Blanc de Noir, 2015 n Langham Estate, Culver Classic Cuvée, NV

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Vittles (food & drink) Karen Broad lives in Burton Bradstock, with her husband and two mad dogs. She ran The Mousetrap in Dorchester, has lived in France and loves discovering new food producers.

Eating al fresco is one of the delights of summer, evoking strong childhood memories of picnics.

A makeshift tent or a simple blanket, the smell of fresh cut grass, doorstep sandwiches, apples picked from the tree and lashings of lemonade.

Life seemed simple then.

When we were slightly older, we were allowed to make campfires and cook jacket potatoes wrapped in foil, sadly due to their misuse, campfires and disposable barbecues are banned from many areas.

When did people become so careless?

Barbecues have evolved from the simplest of dustbin lids with a grill to smart gas grills with rotisseries and planchas, regardless of the ‘apparatus’, cooking and eating outside is a convivial and social way of entertaining.

Last year we invested in a pizza oven, expanding our al fresco collection. We discovered that

JUST A MOMENT: Melting Moments add a sweet touch to your barbecue evening

Make the most of summer’s magic not only did it cook amazing pizzas but cooked steaks to perfection.

The intense heat sears the meat quickly, allowing it to remain moist and succulent.

I cheat and buy some frozen ready-made rounds of dough, available in most supermarkets, perfect for when friends arrive unexpectedly. Just lashings of grated cheese and olives on a rich tomato sauce base. Simplicity.

There is not much we haven’t tried cooking on our barbecue, from joints of meat to squid,

vegetables, and kebabs.

And for dessert, caramelised pineapple rings with rum or lush warm bananas cooked in their skins laced with brandy.

People shy away from barbecues from a food safety point of view, but the rule of any kitchen extends outside, along with an element of common sense.

Undercooked sausages, chicken and burgers are the cause of many cases of food poisoning. The answer to a successful and safe barbecue is cook

Mum’s Kitchen...

Beetroot, Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to serve 1 large onion, peeled and chopped 2 sticks celery, chopped Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and

chopped 4 medium beetroot, peeled and chopped 1 litre vegetable stock 2 teaspoons coriander seeds Salt and freshly ground black pepper A squeeze of lemon To serve: a handful of chopped chives Method: In a large lidded saucepan, heat the

slowly and keep turning the food for an ‘even’ cook, keeping the heat low, steaks of course being the exception.

Don’t be hurried, begin cooking before people arrive.

Firelight and woodsmoke, fairy lights and candles and the gentle murmur of chatting and laughter with family and friends.

Summer’s here!

And a little bite of something sweet to complete your evening Melting Moments 250g butter Vanilla paste 80g icing sugar 225g plain flour 75g cornflour Beat together the butter, icing sugar and paste until light and fluffy, then add sifted flours.

Take a teaspoon and form into balls and place on baking tray. Flatten slightly with a fork.

Bake for 15 mins, Cool.

Fill with cream or buttercream.

with Diana Holman olive oil and then add the chopped onion and celery.

Cook on a low heat until the celery has softened and the onions are translucent.

Add the ginger and garlic and cook for a minute more, then add the sweet potato and beetroot.

Pour the stock over and bring to the boil, then cover and reduce to a low simmer for around 10 minutes or until the vegetables are all tender.

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41

Vittles (food & drink) Lizzie Crow – AKA Lizzie Baking Bird – is a self taught baker, who has a stall outside her home in Upwey each Saturday. See her scrumptious eats at lizziebakingbird.co.uk or find lizzibakingbird on Instagram.

Water great way to make tasty soufflés Twice-Baked Watercress Soufflés We’re lucky enough to have The Watercress Company (thewatercress company.com/@thewater cressco) right here in Dorset.

I use their leaves for these light, fluffy soufflés which can be made with with any well-flavoured cheese.

They’re great for guests as you can make the soufflés the day before serving, then simply whip them out of the fridge, turf each one from the ramekins and pop them in the oven for the second baking.

6 x 150ml ramekins 425ml milk 1 medium onion, sliced 1 bay leaf 2 black peppercorns 125g watercress 100g butter, plus extra for greasing 100g plain flour

1 teaspoon English mustard powder 4 eggs, separated 30g cheddar, grated 150ml double cream Serves 6 Put the milk, onion, bay and peppercorns in a small pan and place over a low heat. Bring gently to the

Meanwhile, dry fry the coriander seed over a medium heat for a few moments, stirring constantly, until the aroma is released.

Leave to cool slightly, then crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar.

Stir the crushed seeds into the pan of vegetables, cooking everything for a further 15 minutes.

Whizz the soup in a processor, add a pinch of salt and black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste.

Serve in bowls. Drizzle a little olive oil over each and sprinkle with chives.

boil then take the pan off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile chop the watercress until very fine – ideally, in a blender. Grease the ramekins.

Melt the butter in another small pan and add the flour.

Mix well and cook for a minute or two.

Strain the infused milk through a sieve into the pan. Cook the mixture, stirring, for a couple of minutes or until the sauce has thickened – if you end up with lumps, don’t panic: just pass it back through the sieve.

Off the heat, mix in the mustard, egg yolks and watercress and check the seasoning.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff then gently fold into the

watercress mixture. Divide the soufflé mixture evenly between the ramekins.

Pop the ramekins in a strong roasting tray and add boiling water from the kettle to approximately halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 15-20 minutes at Gas 4/180C or until the soufflés are set but still have a little wobble. Leave to cool, then put the dishes in the fridge for up to two days.

To reheat, turn the soufflés out onto an oven-proof tray. Sprinkle with the cheese and spoon the cream over. Bake at Gas 7/ 220C for 10 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. Serve immediately with a crisp green salad. n Lizzie can be found outside her home in Upwey, selling her wares, every Saturday morning.

Check the website www.lizziebakingbird.co.uk or instagram for more

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Down to earth

BEACHCOMBING with JO BELASCO BA Hons History of Architecture and Design

Arriving at Charmouth with Zelda our dog, I remembered why I only come here in the winter: No dogs allowed on one side and only dogs on leads on the other in the summer!

Nevertheless, it was exciting as I spotted a focused-looking man with a serious-looking hammer and a Panama hat.

He looked like he knew exactly where the best fossils were lurking and so we gave chase.

When the crowds thinned I began feeling rather conspicuous in my pursuit.

What was I doing chasing a strange man? We would be in Seatown soon and he kept looking round, his face more of a grimace than a smile. I had to admit defeat and we turned tail, slowly retracing our steps, this time at such a pace that I managed to get a bit of socialising in.

As I suspected, beachcombers were mainly looking for sea-glass, fossils, and driftwood at Charmouth.

One couple with some drooling dogs said they were searching for cuttlefish bone for the hounds’ snacks but I would only put that on the compost heap.

I decided to swing round to Lyme to see the new statue of the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. Driving –

HISTORIC: The statue of Mary Anning at Lyme Regis and, right, a fossil I discovered, fool’s gold and, bottom, a dragon’s egg (slag glass)

Take your pick of the fossils dotted along the exotic East not walking along the beach as the tide was too high.

The statue is just in front of the Marine Theatre on the seafront. Created by Denise Dutton, it is a joy to see.

Anning carries the tell-tale geological hammer or ‘rock pick’, her pockets brim with tiny fossils and her faithful dog runs at her heels.

As the famous East Beach

is very near the statue I couldn’t resist!

In less than half an hour I had found a nice piece of fool’s gold (pyrite), a dragon’s egg or bonfire glass (slag glass) and an ammonite fossil.

The fool’s gold looks like a rock which someone has liberally sprinkled golden glitter on.

One friendly lady showed me the many fossils she

had found and pointed back down the beach to Charmouth, saying there was a tour guide there who had showed her what to look for.

I considered going to try to track him down but on second thoughts following one man with a ‘gurt’ hammer down a lonely beach was a bit odd but two in one day was maybe a bit much even for me!

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Down to earth Neil Matthews, BSc, FLS, MCollP is the Secretary of STAND – Save The Area North of Dorchester. He is a retired environmental science teacher, a keen amateur naturalist and is a recorder & regular contributor to the Dorset Environmental Record Centre.

With declared climate and biodiversity emergencies it may seem that all is doom and gloom in the realm of our native wildlife. But there are rays of light and our native animals can surprise us with their resiliency.

Some of you will be familiar with the peregrine falcon. When it dives in order to catch its prey it can reach speeds approaching 200mph – the fastest animal on the planet. In the dark days of the 1960s, this magnificent hunter was almost extinct: an unwitting victim of DDT and unjustified persecution. However, now with the use of poisons much more heavily restricted, this iconic species is undergoing something of a recovery.

If you look up to the towers of St Peter’s or St George’s churches in Dorchester in spring or summer you may be lucky enough to see a Peregrine perched high among the gargoyles.

Normally, a cliff dweller, it is equally at home on our artificial

Returning wildlife placed at risk with development clifftops feeding on pigeons that flock around town centres. As well as hunting among the rooftops they also range over the fields around Frome Whitfield and the County Show Ground.

Another icon returning from the brink of extinction, the otter, pictured below, is also making a celebrated comeback. For many years missing from our rivers, this aquatic relative of badger and weasel is back.

Although nocturnal and notoriously elusive, it is leaving its calling cards (spraint) at latrines along the River Frome. And with the return of the native otter, the alien mink is being pushed out. A winwin for our native biodiversity.

Of course, some animals need a bit more help to recover their former territory. The beaver was hunted to extinction in the 16th century. However, it is a so-called keystone species – a habitat engineer extraordinaire.

By damming streams, it slows the flow of water, reducing the risk of flooding down-stream and creating pools that support many more species than a fast-flowing river ever could.

Because

they were completely exterminated, they would not be able to re-enter the ecosystem on their own.

They need help. Luckily, in these more enlightened times various colonies are being established by the wildlife trusts. Their effect on the environment is being closely monitored in enclosures across England and Scotland. The longterm aim is that this once common and widespread mammal can be returned to its natural habitat. There is a small colony in West Dorset, and permission is being sought for another colony in the east, in Purbeck. The health of the River Frome, rising in Evershot, crossing the breadth of Dorset before emptying into Poole Harbour is key to the success of this and many other species.

So everything in the garden is rosy... and yet…

In the midst of all this positivity, Dorset Council has proposed in its Local Plan to build an unsustainable 39,000 houses across Dorset – 4,000 of them in the fields north of Dorchester. The irony is that at the very time that the world needs to engage with the natural world to help combat climate change, Dorset Council is planning to concrete over great swathes of our county.

Any pollution produced

here ultimately flows into Poole Harbour. Not only that, the land that is due to be built on is productive agricultural land – some of it leased to Kingston Maurward, the agricultural college.

There is so many positive stories I could have mentioned: the success of the osprey reintroduction scheme in the harbour; the colony of grey seals; the pine martens slowly spreading from the New Forest. There are so many birds, mammals and invertebrates that either live in the river, hunt along its banks or use it as a navigational aid. Not much hope for any of these creatures once the Frome starts carrying the excess nitrates, effluent and run-off into the Harbour. That is, of course, if the river will still be flowing once the extra water is extracted from the water table to supply the new development. Current estimates for the proposed development north of Dorchester put this at around 1.3 million litres per day.

The only way to safeguard the recovery of our ecosystem is to kill the Local Plan in its current Form.

Join us. Join STAND. STAND for Dorchester – Campaigning to save the area north of Dorchester. (stand-dorchester.net)

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Down to earth

Sailing on the good ship Forgiveness PAGAN VIEWS

by JO BELASCO

I have struggled with forgiving people.

Friends advise me to move on.

But in the past I could not heed their advice.

That is until a close friend made it very plain to me.

She said: “Remember – you have done the work, now get rid of the residue left inside you.”

It’s true I had done everything in my power to expose various misdemeanours.

Suddenly, I could see the difference between the work I had done and the poison that was left in me – previously they were one and the same.

One and the same which became woven into the very fabric of my personality.

The anger gave me a certain energy and motivation and that too I hugged close.

I made a list of people. It reminded me of the famous hit list in Game of Thrones which Arya Stark makes. However, my list was people I needed to forgive.

My friend had told me about a powerful Druidic ritual. The rite involved going to a beach and making a wee leaf boat.

My friend said, “One by one forgive everyone and yourself too…. forgive them for hurting you.

Place these thoughts in the little boat and imagine it bobbing over nine waves

MOVING ON: My feather and leaf boat, feeling joyous after launching the good ship Forgiveness with my side-kick Zelda. Below: Mullien, purple sage and lemon balm from the garden and, right, working on my boat

and then turn your back and walk away.”

This appealed to me on so many levels however it was midnight and I didn’t want to wait until morning.

I went through the people on my list, forgiving them and myself. In my heart I was ready to forgive and that’s what counts.

As I went through each name I symbolically flung the residue energy out of

my window. I drifted off to sleep but had restless bad dreams.

In the morning I was worried that not all of the residue energy had escaped out of my window and was lurking in my room.

You may think I was overreacting but truly hell hath no fury like a woman whose child is scorned.

I had read about smudging and decided to try it.

Having sage in our garden, I dried the leaves and bound them into a bundle then wafted the smoke around my room.

I hope intention is more important than execution as the smudging just seemed to make my room smell like a bonfire!

It did feel magical and transformative but certainly this practising Pagan needs more practice!

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45

Down to earth

Enjoying sparrows’ trip to a beauty salon Sally Cooke lives in Tolpuddle with her husband, two grown up sons and her spotty rescue dog. You can follow Sally on Instagram at Sparrows in a Puddle On a hot July day I find myself thinking that the sparrows in the garden have the right idea.

I see them splashing about in a big sociable group on the shallow edges of our pond and it looks like great fun. I expect they get some satisfaction from cooling off and getting clean but bathing is vital for keeping their feathers in good condition and I’m just as likely to see them bathing in the winter when it’s less appealing!

When the sparrows have finished in the pond they line up on the fence nearby, where they shake off the excess water, fluff out their feathers and undertake a thorough feather maintenance routine.

Dampening the feathers loosens any dirt and makes them easier to preen.

The sparrows use their beaks to make sure their feathers are in good order, while also spreading preen oil over them from a special gland on their back.

This oil helps to keep their feathers flexible and strong and provide waterproofing and insulation.

Sparrows don’t only use water to bathe though, if the weather’s dry I also see them ‘dust bathing’. Another very sociable activity, their favourite place for this is my vegetable patch and I learned the hard way to protect any newly planted seeds.

The birds make themselves a depression or ‘wallow’ in the dirt and vigorously shake their wings to cover their feathers in dust. It’s thought this might help remove lice or other parasites.

Other garden birds are also keen to look after their feathers. After heavy rain, a large shallow puddle is left on our garage roof. Starlings and wagtails use it for a quick wash but the woodpigeons seem to actively enjoy washing while it’s raining.

They sit exposed to the heaviest rain and lift each wing up in turn to let water onto the feathers underneath.

The puddle soon dries out but we always keep our birdbath topped up with fresh water. Several different birds regularly pop down for a drink, including the occasional herring gull!

Perhaps you could find room in your garden for some water for the wildlife this summer, the RSPB has plenty of advice on what to buy or make. It’s not only for the birds though, but the animals too, a shallow dish of water left overnight might just help out a thirsty hedgehog!

Heed the warning signs when picking mushrooms JOHN WRIGHT is a naturalist and forager who lives in rural West Dorset. He has written eight books, four of which were for River Cottage. He wrote the award-winning Forager’s Calendar and in 2021 his Spotter’s Guide to Countryside Mysteries was published.

It is only recently that the Brits took any interest in wild mushrooms beyond Field and Horse Mushrooms, and in the Midlands at least, Field Blewits. Everything else was a toadstool. Stick to what you know, and you will be fine. I certainly do not wish to put you off eating any edible wild mushroom, but Field and Horse Mushrooms are not as easy to identify as is generally thought.

They are in the genus

Agaricus – A. campestris and A. arvensis respectively – a genus containing over 50 British species and notorious among mycologists for being difficult. My two headline species are easy to identify, but only if you check carefully. The first is white everywhere except the pinkthen-brown gills, medium-sized and with a fragile ring on the stem. The skin projects a little from the cap. The Horse Mushroom is larger, similarly coloured and in possession of a large pendulous ring with little cog-wheel markings on the underside. It smells of almonds. So far, so good, but there are three or four large Agaricus species that are often mistaken for Horse Mushrooms, the largest and commonest of which is the

Macro Mushroom, A. urinascens. This, indeed all the large look-alikes, are edible, but some are rare, and the Macro Mushroom produces the smell indicated in its Latin name if it is not eaten when very fresh!

Much worse is that both Field and Horse Mushrooms can be, and frequently are, mistaken for the Yellow Staining Mushroom, A. xanthodermus. It is most similar to the Field Mushroom, but often taller and with a much larger ring on the stem. Sometimes it is pure white on top, sometimes grey scaled. Its giveaway characteristic, and the one you must check if you do not wish to spend two unpleasant days in the smallest room in the house, is that the edge of the cap, the ring and the very

base of the stem all bruise bright chromium yellow within three seconds of being bruised.

This works best on fresh specimens. Do make this check as this mushroom is by far the commonest cause of mushroom poisoning in Britain.

I have known people who have been merely intrigued by this strange discoloration and the subsequent yellow liquid that flows from the cooking mushrooms, and have noted with interest what was their final warning, the characteristic smell of Elastoplasts (phenol) that wafts from the frying pan. Regret invariably ensued.

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Culture

n Kim Pragnell’s Bend in the River

Arts club show makes a very welcome return Join in a celebration of the ‘wealth and variety’ of art in the Sherborne area at an exhibition later this month.

Sherborne Art Club will host the exhibit at Digby Hall in Hound Street, from 10am to 5pm, from Saturday, July 23 until Sunday, July 31 (closes 2pm).

Sherborne Art Club chairman Mark Pender said: “We’re delighted to be helping bring back our open exhibition, which has been on hiatus since 2018.

“Founded in 1931, the exhibition has flourished

and grown to become one of the West Country’s largest and most popular open art exhibitions.

“The show is open to all.

The juried art exhibition celebrates the wealth and variety of visual arts in the region. as well as showcasing some of the outstanding accomplishments of artists on our doorstep. More than 400 exhibits are for sale and the entrance is free.”

This year’s event is being sponsored by Mogers Drewett.

n Ecosystem Engineer at Wild Ken Hill

n English Longhorn self-grooming

Born to Rewild:

n Patricia Burns’ Cascade

An exhibition by local photographer Sam Rose is coming to the Bridport Arts Centre’s Allsop Gallery for a month from July 20, and it’s all about rewilding.

The concept of rewilding has really taken off recently – it has been a storyline on the Archers, Sir David Attenborough is a supporter of rewilding and even Ed Sheeran says that he plans to rewild as

much of the UK as he can.

Still, many people are not sure about what rewilding really means, so Sam, who is a nature conservationist, aims to help people to find out more and maybe encourage them to get involved themselves.

The gallery will host a range of more than 40 images, including the animals that are the ‘ecosystem engineers’ and

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47

Culture

SPECIAL BRANCH: Dorset Dead tree, a source of life.

Above: Photographer Sam Rose

n Waterhole at Knepp

n Rewilding pioneers Hannah and Jan from Heal

Exhibition leaving it all to nature make rewilding happen, the people who choose to rewild, and the landscapes that result from rewilding.

It also includes some drone photography of some areas being rewilded, and a range of fine-art black and white images that explore the ‘messiness’ and uncertainty that surrounds rewilding.

Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project, said: “This

exhibition is quite simply marvellous. Sam Rose has a highly unusual gift... his camera becomes an extension of himself revealing landscapes, wildlife and people as if you are inside his head and, that his head is playing host to a wormhole of thousands of years of experiences, rather than simply a question of framing, light and mathematics. He has

a painterly eye and you are left with a sense that he is revealing something more than what is immediately visible.”

Dr Sam Rose was formerly head of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and has made a career change to do the MA. He said: “I hope that this exhibition will inspire people to find out a bit more about rewilding, what it means and why it

is so important for us all.

“It is all about letting go and allowing nature to take the lead in restoring damaged ecosystems, and about the people who have the courage to do that.” n Go to whatifyoujust leaveit.info and listen to the podcast “What if you just leave it?”.

The exhibition is sponsored by Heal Rewilding and the Fine Family Foundation.

48

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Culture

Keeping it real: Billy the forger spills the beans He put millions of pounds’ worth of paintings through some of the world’s biggest and best-known auction houses, exposing their frailties and leaving the art world shaken to its core.

Ten years ago his luck ran out and at the age of 63 Billy Mumford, aka Billy the Brush, was handed a two-year prison stretch after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud.

During a five-year scam he passed off hundreds of fake paintings by artists as diverse as Maqbool Fida Husain ‘the Picasso of India’, surrealist John Tunnard and noted Welsh landscape painter Kyffin Williams.

Born into a poor Jewish family in London’s East End, he began painting as a young teenager and was largely self-taught by copying the works of grand masters. As his repertoire as a copyist grew he developed his own style, but found it impossible to break into the notoriously closed art world.

In his own words: “For 40 years, I had painted the same picture, then I put a different name on it and they queued up.”

And so began his career as a counterfeiter, making paintings in the style of highly collectible artists and passing them off as originals. It meant he had to master any number of widely diverse painting styles and techniques, not to mention the gallery stamps, inks and vintage paper needed to create the false

INFORMAL TALK: Billy Mumford is at the Electric Palace

provenance for his work.

“I know it sounds a bit stupid,” he explains, “but maybe it was my revenge on the art world. But I would have rather remained a failed artist than a successful forger.”

Although some of his fakes continue to circulate, Billy’s days as an outlaw are now long behind him. Now completely legit he enjoys an ever-growing reputation for producing astonishingly authentic tributes to the great artists, some of which sell for thousands of pounds.

The art houses he humiliated so royally a decade ago might not agree, but to his fans Billy is a folk hero, a true original who exposed the art world’s greed and lack of integrity in not exercising due diligence on artworks being sold quickly for sizable sums of money.

“He’s too humble and unassuming to admit it, but Billy can paint as well as any of the greats, yet none of them could paint like the others,” says James Hartey, the Bridport-based businessman and art dealer who now promotes Billy’s work and has just published a second volume of Billy exploits entitled Billy Mumford, Painter of Hallways, Doorways and... Monets.

“He has not only mastered each of their individual techniques, but also their materials and their finishes, but today they come with a certificate of authenticity as a genuine fake. As soon as he got out of prison, he went straight back to painting as that’s all he can do – he just has to paint – only these days he doesn’t copy actual paintings, he produces

versions of modern masters from Picasso, Van Gogh and Lowry to Basquiat, Banksy and ‘Shadowman’ artist Richard Hambleton.”

Collectors of Billy’s works include TV and sports celebrities and media interest has resulted in four book projects, three documentaries for Vice TV, an appearance on Now TV’s Portrait Artist of the Year, the offer of a six-part series on the dark side of the art world, and a film script.

Now, Billy is stepping out of the studio shadows and into the spotlight of the stage to present his first ever talk about his ‘David and Goliath’ story in An Evening with Billy

Mumford at the Electric Palace, Bridport on Thursday 14 July, from 7pm. And, in an affectionate nod to the bad old days, the proceeds from an auction of Billy’s work on the night will be donated to the Dorset Police Welfare Fund.

Tickets available at electricpalace.org.uk.

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

49

Culture

Dance club in step for its centenary Bridport Folk Dance Club will be celebrating its centenary at this year’s folk festival with sponsorship for the evening dance at St Mary’s Church House, South Street on Saturday, July 23 at 7.30pm with music from the Casterbridge Band.

Since its formation in 1919, Bridport Folk Dance Club has been a long-established part of Bridport’s folk arts scene with weekly folk dance meetings, attracting members from all ages who like to jig to the inhouse musicians and callers along with visiting professionals.

The meetings boast folk music spanning from the 17th century to today, from Jane Austin style to barn dance and ceilidh.

All dances are walked through and led by a caller to remind people what to do.

This year activities have also included Morris and Maypole dancing.

Dr Michael Mosley recently reported that dancing has been proven to enhance mental and physical well-being but this is a secret club members have known for

years.

Club chairman Tim Randall said: “The Bridport Folk Dance Club Centenary Celebrations were curtailed by the pandemic lockdown.

“We are pleased to be back and celebrating 100 years plus at this year’s festival by sponsoring the evening dance at St Mary’s Church House.

“Tickets are available

from Bridport TIC. “The club are also running a drop-in open house event on Saturday, July 23 from 10am to 4pm, at the Bridport WI Hall in North Street as part of the Bridport Folk Festival.

Visitors will be able to join in the informal dance and music workshops lead by experienced club members and guests taking place during the

day (donations to the festival).

“Learn some local dances or play with the band, a chance to brush up on your moves ready for the exciting evening dance.”

The club welcomes new members and visitors at The WI hall from 7.15pm to 9.30pm most Mondays.

For details ring 01308 459001 and follow on Facebook.

Wondering about Wuthering in the open air?

Open air performances of Wuthering Heights will be staged throughout Dorset this month.

SISATA Open Air Theatre Company will perform the Bronte classic on Saturday, July 16 at 6.30pm at the Museum of East Dorset in High Street, Wimborne.

The next performance is on Friday, July 22 at 6.30pm at Sandsfoot Castle Gardens in Old Castle Rd, Weymouth.

A free show (with donations welcomed) will run from Saturday, July 23 until Monday 25 at 2.30pm at Swanage Amphitheatre in Prince

Albert Gardens, Swanage.

The next performance will be on Friday, July 29 at 7pm at Mambury Rings in Dorchester.

Tickets for all the performances (except Swanage Amphitheatre) are priced between £12 and £15 and are available at sisata.co.uk

50

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Culture

So good to be Bach for Alice concert After a two-year break, the annual Alice Dilke Memorial Concert returns to the Church of St Candida and Holy Cross, Whitchurch Canonicorum, on Sunday, July 31, at 3pm.

The performers are the Abraxas Trio: Christian Halstead (violin), Jordi Morell (viola) and Heidi Parsons (cello).

Their programme opens with Cellist Heidi Parsons the well-known Canon & Fugue in D majorw by local corruption and injustice, Pachelbel, followed by the and made many friends of all Aria and a selection of the ages. She was a founder variations from JS Bach’s member of the ‘Friends’.

Goldberg Variations.

Trio leader Christian Halstead After the interval the started learning the violin musicians will play the Trio aged five and continued his Divertimento by Mozart. studies at the Royal College The event, which is organised of Music, graduating in 1999. by the Friends of St Candida, He has enjoyed a varied was introduced in 2017 in freelance career, working memory of Alice Dilke with many ensembles (1919–2016), who lived in including the Royal Northern Whitchurch Canonicorum Sinfonia, London Mozart with her husband Christopher Players and Ex Cathedra. He for nearly 50 years. was a founder member of the She was noted in the area for Southbank Sinfonia in 2002. her fearless opposition to Christian is also leader of

Jordi Morell on viola

Kent Sinfonia, the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra, Westminster Philharmonic Orchestra and Surrey Opera’s orchestra.

Born in Vila-seca, Spain, Jordi Morell studied the viola at the Conservatori de Música de Vila-seca and then Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London.

He has performed in England, Spain, Hungary and France, including a performance of the Sinfonia Concertante by Mozart with the London Euphonia Orchestra.

Cellist Heidi Parsons studied

Violinist Christian Halstead

at The Royal Academy of Music in London where she was awarded the Suggia Scholarship and a Leverhulme Orchestral Fellowship. Since completing her studies, Heidi has been performing across the UK and internationally, playing with orchestras and chamber ensembles as well as jazz and pop artists, and has recorded solo cello tracks for the BBC, Channel 4 and Netflix. n Tickets are £10 on the door and include light refreshments. Children aged 16 and under go in free.

Taking it outdoors for summer season This summer, a rich mixture of classic outdoor theatre will be performed at Maumbury Rings, Nothe Fort, Athelhampton House and Whicombe Manor.

Dorchester Arts is bringing a summer of fun, drama, opera, and the classics, ranging from Shakespeare on bicycles to Dickensian drama, by way of the Trojan war, an Awful Auntie, a Mikado, and murder to ten outdoor venues.

Audiences of all ages will have the chance to grab a picnic and enjoy an evening of drama, singing and comedy.

Family fun at Maumbury

Rings plays host to a vibrant new production of Wuthering Heights and accompanied by original live music and songs along with the Three Musketeers, David Walliams’ Awful Auntie, and evergreen children’s classic The Wind in the Willows.

The fun continues at the award-winning Nothe Fort with Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic The Mikado; and The Shodyssey – a romp through the Trojan war as you have never seen it before.

Finally, lovers of musical comedy and beautiful venues will enjoy both Much Ado

about Murder set against picturesque Athelhampton House; and Dorchester Arts’ annual Summer Sunday, this year with hilarious multitalented musician Rainer Hersch at beautiful Whitcombe Manor, by kind permission of Minette and Alec Walters. You may never look at piano lessons the same way again…

Dorchester Arts Summer Season n Saturday, July 16 The Shodyssey (Assembleth Theatre) 6pm at Nothe Fort n Thursday, July 21 Much Ado About Murder (Heartbreak Productions), 7pm

at Athelhampton House n Friday, July 29 Wuthering Heights (Sisata), 7pm at Maumbury Rings n Sunday, July 31 A Summer Sunday, 12 noon at Whitcombe Manor n Sunday, August 7 The Three Musketeers (Boxtree Productions), 5pm at Maumbury Rings n Saturday, August 13 Awful Auntie (Heartbreak Productions), 6pm at Maumbury Rings n Friday, August 26 The Wind in The Willows (Calf2Cow Theatre), 5pm at Maumbury Rings

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

51

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Homes & Gardens x

Horticulture...

...with Diana Holman

The floral show that almost never was

By Diana Holman

When Bere Regis club chairman Bob Holman won 2nd prize in the Area Show in 2019 he was offered the opportunity to get a team together to represent the area at the Malvern Spring Festival – a huge exhibit 3.6m wide, 1.5m deep and 2.3m high.

Sheila Bendall and her good friend Sylvia Cook joined us to stage the exhibit.

Bob cleared a space in our garage and masking tape marked out the dimensions.

Every week we got together, fortifying ourselves with coffee and cake before braving the icy chill of the garage in midwinter to work on the ideas we had amassed. Sheila came up with the quotation: Leave only footprints Take only memories We made one side of the exhibit into an area of jungle with a pool.

Footprints in the sand led across to the heat and vibrant colours of India.

We began to build up the mock-up gradually using potted dragon trees, palms,

ferns and air plants, with arrangements in the pinks and apricots so often seen in saris.

I painted the quotation on a wood slice, and constructed a pool, using a heavy glass coffee table top brought back from the tip.

A thin plywood base went underneath painted dark green, slightly streaked with silver. Lines of water weed were fashioned from delicate trails of sisal in lime green and dark green.

I made a snake for our jungle, covering a realistic rubber toy with scales made from Puy lentils.

(Hour upon hour of doing this half cured me of my ophidiophobia). I also

Plant of the week: Carrots may be a firm favourite in the vegetable garden, but to find them growing wild in west Dorset, visit the coast or downlands with thin chalky or limestone soils.

Carrots go largely unnoticed among the other grassland plants during their first year, but during their second, their flowers are spectacular comprising dome-shaped

covered a large pot with overlapping leaves of the wild petasites (Butterbur) for the floor-standing arrangement in India, and constructed a sun from betula pendula (silver birch) twigs, wired and coiled.

All the while, anxiety was growing about covid, and Malvern’s Spring Festival was cancelled. With sadness, we dismantled our mock-up.

The festival was cancelled for the second time in 2021, everything up to Worcestershire? Not many firms were willing to hire a van to over 75-year-olds.

Somehow it all went in our cars, but I had to carry my

petite and miniature entries in a box on my lap when I was not driving.

Sylvia was in really bad pain with sciatica, but bravely carried on. When it came to her task of making the footprints in the sand leading from the jungle to India, she almost fell into the flowers.

By early evening, the exhibit was almost complete. Everyone was totally exhausted. Sheila had done all the flower arrangements, whilst the team together had worked on the plants, rocks and driftwood which made up a large part of the exhibit.

The following day the show opened and we had won a Silver-gilt!

It is always thrilling to get an award, particularly at a prestigious show like Malvern or Chelsea.

Judges said it was a really impressive exhibit and had only just missed that coveted Gold.

It was a great experience and we were very proud to have represented Dorset and Guernsey Area in 2022.

Diana Holman, Bere Regis Floral Group

Carrots (Daucus carota)

umbels made up of hundreds of small white flowers. There are many similar looking blooms but a characteristic of carrot is a set of darker flowers at the centre of the umbel.

In case you were wondering, the roots of wild carrots are white, the orange pigment of those from the vegetable patch was bred into them in the 1700s.

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

53

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Constituency issues

with West Dorset MP Chris Loder

Tell me your views on our new leader Since being elected in December 2019, I don’t think there has been a single period of political calm and definitely not during July! But the reason for that turbulence changed in November last year from being about policy and government matters to being about Boris Johnson.

And that was continuous until he declared his intention to resign on July 7.

Slowly but surely, over this period the relationship between back bencher and prime minster has eroded through the political turmoil about personal issues concerning Boris Johnson’s integrity over months, condensed into a repeat cycle of just a few days, concerning the former deputy chief whip.

For me, it was just not acceptable for a retired civil servant to have to correct the record from the Prime Minister’s office.

I first went to see the Prime Minster on December 15 last year to share my observations about things that needed to get better. And I have had numerous meetings subsequently in the hope that a turnaround might be possible. But it became clear, when I wrote in the Sunday Telegraph in January, that change was needed, preferably organically, but in the end it was the by the wider party and when I opposed Boris in the vote at the beginning of

June. I know some people thought that I should have been totally unforgiving and submitted a letter calling for the Prime Minister to go much earlier, but to be totally unforgiving is not an attribute I find readily.

It is true to say that Boris’ greatest strengths have allowed Brexit to happen and vaccines to be delivered. But his strengths at the beginning became his greatest weaknesses at the end.

Now, we are in the middle of a contest to choose the next Prime Minister. But amidst all the turbulence, I’d like to assure you that ensuring West Dorset’s voice is being heard is of primary importance and

that we continue the work I have already been doing to see more of the same. £62.5m of investment into Dorset County Hospital, £4.8m investment in West Dorset schools and colleges alone, as well as major boosts to our AONB funding, apprenticeship schemes and so much more.

When I was first elected as Member of Parliament, I said that serving my constituents will always be my priority purpose. And it is with these thoughts in mind that I continue to represent you in parliament. If you have a view on a preferred leadership candidate, I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Visit my website chrisloder.co.uk/nextpm

Politics

More measures needed to help with cost of living Dorset has many positive qualities and features, one of which is being amongst the warmest counties in the UK. At this time of year, most households will use the least energy for heating yet will be acutely aware that what energy they do use, for most is costing significantly more than this time last year.

I was on a fixed tariff for gas which expired at the end of March and renewed for another year at significantly higher rates. As an exercise in what is to come, I took my gas usage for the first three months of 2022 (central heating, hot water, and cooking hob) and worked out what it would have cost at the new tariff. The increase was staggering: £338 more,

By NICK IRELAND West Dorset LibDems

equating to a 250% increase in gas alone with the electricity bill seeing around a 100% increase.

The recent rises in domestic fuel costs combined with record high prices for petrol and diesel, freezes to income tax thresholds, increased NI contributions and inflation at levels not seen for a generation mean that most of us are significantly worse off than we have been for a very long time.

Dorset is a predominately rural county and many households don’t have the benefit of mains gas, relying

on fuel oil or LPG, neither of which are subject to Ofgem caps and have therefore seen astronomical price increases.

Yet the government will be paying the £400 energy bill support grant to second homes and holiday rentals when there are families having to make the choice between heating their homes or eating.

And with next to no rural bus services, rural communities use more fuel to drive.

Who’d have thought last year that filling up your car would now cost over £100?

With Dorset having a predominantly low-wage economy, the reality for many is that they must work a couple of hours to pay back the cost of their commute.

The Lib Dems are calling for more measures to help local people during this difficult time.

These include; n Cutting the rate of VAT from 20% to 17.5% - which would save people an average of £600 a year. n Scrapping the Conservatives National Insurance Tax Hike which will cost people hundreds of pounds this year. n Increase the Income Tax threshold in line with inflation meaning millions of people will pay less tax. n Re-instate the Pension Triple Lock immediately, rather than wait until next April, to save pensioners an average of £299 over the next year.

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

55

Politics

Differing views enhance creative thinking One of my main interests is philosophy, and in particular community philosophy.

Community philosophy is ordinary members of the community, with no particular training in academic philosophy, coming together to discuss, challenge and ask questions of ideas and concepts that we often take for granted. To this end I organise the Bridport Philosophy in Pubs group which meets monthly. At our last meeting we discussed ‘nostalgia’. For me, nostalgia is the invocation of some idealised past that provides comfort at times of disruption and uncertainty. I say all this because, from my perspective, Chris Loder’s reaction to the removal of

By KELVIN CLAYTON West Dorset Green Party

Thomas Hardy’s poetry from a GCSE syllabus was overly nostalgic, particularly his concern that this one change in one syllabus is akin to throwing away our West Dorset heritage for future generations. As quaint as this nostalgic association of Hardy to West Dorset may be, there remain many opportunities for our young people to explore his work and a restricted syllabus will not help future generations come to terms with the issues they will face.

Although I studied English Literature as a mature student

I am no literary critic, and make no comment regarding the quality of Hardy’s poetry.

However, it seems obvious to me that there can be no definitive list of poets that young people should study for an exam. Each syllabus should change to reflect changing attitudes and issues, and there is a need to broaden the poetic sources they are exposed to. Differing perspectives enhance creative thinking and the ability to find solutions. Whilst we obviously need to remember and be familiar with our traditional literary canon, our young people also need to be exposed to writers with different perspectives – sometimes radically different perspectives. At the risk of

stating the obvious, the past is in the past and the future is in front of us. In the future many of the issues that the young people of West Dorset will be trying to make sense of and communicate will be radically different from the issues experienced by Hardy.

Whilst themes reoccur, I doubt very much that Hardy could have imagined weapons of mass destruction, let alone the chaos that climate breakdown will bring.

His commentary on change is arguably largely of its time.

Our future leaders and citizens will require a different mindset and different language skills. To acquire these skills these leaders and citizens need a modern curriculum.

Reparing the huge damage done by Brexit Boris Johnson has at last been forced to resign after two-and-a-half years of disregarding rules, fraud, scandals and lies. So now that everyone knows what kind of man Johnson is, how are those promised “sunlit uplands” of post Brexit freedom and prosperity working out for us here in the South West?

Business West the region’s largest business group, shows a sharp fall in confidence for the UK economy, in its latest survey.

It found that “shipping costs and administrative burdens of international trade continue to weigh heavily on exporters’ margins with 30% of exporters have experienced a decrease in their international sales over the

By CLAUDIA SORIN West Dorset Labour Party

last three months.”

Half of the firms in the survey had tried to recruit staff in the last quarter and of those “79% had difficulties finding suitable staff”.

A similar grim picture was revealed by the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce survey of members: It concluded that Plymouth is facing an economic nightmare with mounting inflation deepening the cost-of-living crisis, declining investment from companies and workers being poached by employers in other parts of the country.

A report from the Centre

for European Reform found that, by the end of last year, the UK economy was 5% – or £31bn – smaller than it would have been if the UK had stayed in the EU. Add to that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s conclusion that the UK is set for the worst growth of any G20 economy apart from Russia this year, and the grim outlook is clear.

In terms of public opinion, Ipsos MORI revealed last week that nearly half of people say Brexit has made their life worse.

Less than one fifth say it’s made their life better.

Among 2016 Leave voters, more and more are saying Brexit has negatively impacted their lives.

The public still believe

Europe and the EU is the most important partner for the UK, ahead of the Commonwealth and the United States.

Sir Keir Starmer has put forward plans to fix the damage that has been done by this Tory Brexit which includes a deal on sanitary and phytosanitary measures to resolve the Northern Ireland protocol, new visa arrangements to enable British musicians to tour the European Union more easily, mutual recognition of professional qualifications and making it easier to do business with and in the EU. This is just a start and there is a huge amount of work to do.

We need a competent, trust-worthy government in place as soon as possible.

56

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Brain ticklers Arrow words Moans

Battle shout (3,3)

Buddies

Parasol

Cove

Old

Crossword

*

Christian service prayer

1

Principal actress (7,4)

7

10

11

14

13

15

Free

16

Tap dancer, Christina, to Astaire friends

Phobias

Shareholder meeting (inits)

On

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Expert

1 5 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 18 20 22 23 24

Writable compact disc (2-1)

Toy on a string (2-2)

Wordsearch Fast-moving Animals

L F R L N T M N A Y I T U O Y

U E H I R N R R O B B L R M L

E H G S B A I I F B B H W S F

BLACK MARLIN BLUE WILDEBEEST BROWN HARE CHEETAH EURASIAN HOBBY FRIGATE BIRD GOLDEN EAGLE HORSEFLY

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Long, thin stick

18

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Approaches

B D I I S I T N O O A B P H E

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I N A O K O B G N I R P S T I

5

4

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Spoken speech defect

3

8

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US campaign funding group (inits)

2

24

Across Ways to employ a word (6) Allot (6) Small rounded glass for threading (4) Voluntary (8) Result (6) Add to the start (6) Queries (4) ‘A long time ___’ (3) Semi-precious agate (4) Went bad (6) Notify (6) Speared vegetable (8) Helps (4) Relating to the stars (6) Small useful tool (6)

2 3 4 5 6 7 11 13 15 17 19 21

Down Ledge (5) Female deity (7) Compact writing method (9) Works of creative imagination (3) Orbit (5) Dignity (7) Supplying (9) Four-sided, open areas in a town (7) Casual (7) More friendly (5) Roof apex line (5) One who goes to bed late (3)

Sudoku

9 2 1 3

5

6

6 8 7 1 8 1 7 6 3 7 4 5 1 2 5 9 4

8

3 For the solutions turn to page 70

4 8

3

Brain chain 8

RESULT

×1/2

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+50%

57

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

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Super tricky puzzles

Jumbo 3D Sudoku

Cryptic Crossword

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8 3

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10

12

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Killer Sudoku Pro:

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Can you solve these brain chains entirely in your head? Start with the bold value on the left of a chain, then follow the arrows and apply each operation in turn. Write the result in the box.

15

18

17

19

RESULT

+183

6

9

14

13

Place 1 to 9 once each into every row, column and bold-lined 3×3 box. No digit may be repeated in any dashed-line cage, and each dashed-line cage must result in the given value when the stated operation is applied between all of the digits in that cage.

For subtraction and division operations, start with the highest number in the cage and then subtract or divide by the other numbers in that cage.

10+

5

11

22

Place 1 to 9 once each into every black-bordered 3×3 area as well as each of the 54 rows indicated by the coloured lines. Rows don’t cross the thick black lines.

1

4

7

1

5 1 7 4 3 2 2 5 4 9 6 8 9 8 7 5 5 4 9 8 4 4 1 3 2 4 2 9 6 6 5 8 8 4 4 4 2 7 6 2 8 8 7 5 5 9 4 3 2 1 9 6 4 5 5 3 1 8 2 8 3 4

2

7 9 10 11 12 14 16 18 19 20 21 22

Across Secure hotel taken by father in ME capital (7) Select group illuminated in middle of week (5) Academic fellow retracted sign of approval (3) A rule most violated as rivals (9) Newspaper beginning to grow in Algerian city (5) Wild cat dislodged pole on a road (7) Irish impressionist’s first in varied cast characterized by biting humour (7) Measures of drink in enclosed spaces (5) Choices first off in voting events (9) Upper-class young woman is set (3) Show contempt on reflection about three bridge players (5) Harps played by lady pouring out heart in a keen way (7)

Down 1 Leaves a musical group working in outskirts of Athens (8) 2 Ancient article found by good journalist (4) 3 Island with a Dane excitedly regarding Cretan mountain (6) 4 Ice cream say brought up a lot possibly (6) 5 Young person stopped by Greek character, fearsome cieature (8) 6 First person on ship in disorder (4) 8 Betray understudy getting angry (6-5) 13 Gate herd demolished, one’s learnt (8) 15 Exhibits behaviours of birds when courting? (8) 17 Go back to make income (6) 18 Subservient type, unknown character, with dubious means (3-3) 19 Comfort ceased partly (4) 20 Clothes store close to huge chasm (4)

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Health & Wellbeing

Walking West Dorset

with retired Dorset rights of way officer Chris Slade

FROME VALLEY TRAIL: 9th WALK This walk is just over four miles around the water meadows near West Stafford. There’s usually parking space in the street by the Wise Man. From there head up the road and eastwards passing the gateway to the Manor House. A furlong beyond that, on the left hand side of the road, is the start of a track to the Dairy House.

Here begins a path heading ENE across a field or three.

It’s well trodden so you won’t get lost.

When you get to Lewell Mill Farm, join a byway that takes you northwards crossing many bridges, footbridges, a ford with stepping stones and one large deep ford where the path makes a small diversion upstream over a bridge to rejoin the byway.

Eventually the byway curves round to the northwest and wriggles its way up towards Norris Mill Farm. In one place youcantalk.net is a new wellness and mental health resource launched by Bridport-based duo Kerry Miller, pictured, and Alex Fender. It features lots of free resources to help people relax and take stock.

“I just wish I knew why I’m like this?”

I hear variations on this theme a lot, and in private practice we have the luxury of time, so we can take as long as it takes to work this out.

From the outset I ask a lot of

there’s a really massive fallen willow blocking the route but it’s easy to walk round it. At the farm there are helpful signs on a barn pointing you in the right direction, towards Bockhampton.

The path now curves southwest round the side of a hill, then heads west through Duddle Farm until it meet a steep slope alongside which you walk

southwest to Bhompston Farm, then west again to Knighton Dairy where you join the road at Lower Bockhampton. Turn left and head south over the bridge (and many more) ignoring the turn to West Stafford and continuing southwards as far as Frome Farm where there’s a footpath that takes you eastward across a couple of fields and alongside a

stream until you reach the road by a stone bridge.

Turn right and head back towards the village, visiting the ancient Church if it is open, then back to your car.

Take care of the basics and questions; we talk about thoughts, feelings and physical sensations, current concerns, recent events, past events, diet and exercise, drugs, alcohol, day to day life, future hopes and dreams, and so on. Many people have complex and messy lives, or very demanding jobs, difficult relationships, and/or issues from the distant past that will have shaped them for better or worse.

A thought that often strikes me

is: “What would it take for me to feel just as bad as this person sitting in front of me now?’

One day of not drinking enough water? Followed by maybe two days of not eating, or only eating rubbish? Three nights without any quality sleep, followed by a day or two indoors without any exercise?

Then add a hit of caffeine in the search for energy, or a drop of alcohol to relax, ease a craving, and/or some sort of

illicit substance in the hope of a bit of an escape, or maybe just out of habit. Already the old biochemistry is really struggling, and the results can be quite confusing … a list of ‘symptoms’ that look and sound very much like anxiety and depression in fact. Or exhaustion, or burn-out, or an anger problem. So, without any external or historical source of stress (as if!) there’s already enough there to explain and understand a

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

59

Health & Wellbeing

Meditation aids worth thinking about Andy Cole is a reiki healer based in Middlemarsh.

He specialises in planting for healing.

As the summer creeps by the gardens are in full bloom and the bees and butterflies are a joy to watch, the old favorites of lavender and rosemary are buzzing with nectar-hungry bees.

Agapanthus are starting to bloom, which is early this year. The height of them makes them a good addition to the middle of a border – they can grow to 1.3m, The deciduous varieties are hardier than the evergreen. The evergreen are better grown in a south facing border or against a wall providing additional protection from the weather, as with most plants a good mulch in the winter helps to protect them.

The energies from this plant encourage you to

COMING OUT: Agapanthus

meditate or to prepare for healing. The structures of these energies lift your awareness to a higher level.

Other plants that will help in a garden for meditation are: Box: The energies aid in clearing the mind. This plant can be grown well in containers and it is very good for topiary, Broom: Provides clarity and concentration. Anyone who tries meditation knows how difficult it is to concentrate on this, as your mind wanders in and out of the day-to-day tasks going on in your life.

Lobelia: Increases spiritual awareness and helps in the meditation.

You would also require plants to aid relaxation, release tension and of course to ground you, which is a must with all spiritual activities.

Some plants to help you relax are lavender, hypericum and asters. For tension release you could use potentilla, lemon balm, or ox eye daisy and to help with grounding yourself you can use Ivy, Comfrey or Curled sorrel.

In today’s modern gardens there is very little space, but it is truly amazing what can be done in a confined area. An area for meditation, if possible, should be secluded and quiet except for perhaps the sound of running water or the movement of grasses or gently moving foliage.

then work on the big issues whole heap of distress.

Of course, that is all sitting within a tangle of evolved predispositions (absolutely not your fault), and then your own personal history (most often and mostly not your fault either), your social context (maybe some changes could be made here?), and maybe there are some beliefs about yourself, others or the world that don’t help. And the head might be getting very fast or very slow now, and the output

of the brain may not be altogether reasonable?

Then there might be a mildly challenging situation: car trouble, a crying baby, running late, harsh words with a friend or a colleague, looming exams, pressure to achieve a certain outcome in the workplace or someone you care about is ill.

And there’s the evident truth that life can be unfair, bad things happen to good people and it can feel like very hard going at times. And then there

are all of the habits you picked up along the way which, by the way, always make sense when understood in their original context, eg: over thinking, over exercising, over working, people pleasing, perfectionism to name but a few.

Add it all together and now it’s very confusing. And you might have been prescribed something by your GP which is again, another thing for your body to contend with.

We can untangle all of this

These subtle sounds help to concentrate the mind on your inner thoughts and block out the background noise of your surroundings.

The garden provides an excellent place to undertake and receive healing, meditation, and is a must for mental wellbeing. We take the outside space we have for granted and never really consider how much good it does.

How often after a bad day at work do we get home grab a drink and go and sit in the garden?

We do it without thinking and whilst sitting there chewing over the stresses of that day, they begin to melt away. We have received the healing from the plants and the outdoor space it has helped our mental state of mind reduced the stress levels within our bodies and our spirits have been lifted.

None of this we consciously did, but it happened anyway. You must ask yourself how and why these things happen.

together over time. What I would like to emphasise though, is that you can save yourself and your therapist a huge amount of time, maybe even years, if you just attend to the basics first: drink water, eat decent food, exercise a bit and chill. Honestly, look for the easiest problems to solve first and we can build from there. If these basics are not attended to, the ‘distress signals’ sent out by the body and brain in the form of thoughts, feelings and sensations could keep the best of therapists in work for years.

60

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Business

with dorsetbiznews.co.uk

By Andrew Diprose editor@dorsetbiznews.co.uk

UK property developer Godwin Developments has submitted a planning application for a new commercial development at a key transport intersection creating up to 250 jobs.

Proposals for Woodbury Park on a prominent 4.85acre site in Bere Regis include four purpose-built drive-thru and drive-to roadside retail units.

Restaurant brands Popeyes, Starbucks, and McDonald’s are already lined up to take space, which has been designed to their specifications.

The scheme will also feature a 12,000 sq ft block of up to eight industrial units, with associated parking and turning facilities.

The units will be two storeys high, with the flexibility to combine into larger floorplates, if required by potential tenants.

The site is off the Townsend Roundabout, at the northern entry point of Bere Regis, and has a high passing traffic flow of more than 27,000 daily vehicles.

It occupies a key location

McDonald’s set for Bere junction SITE PLAN: Woodbury Park at Bere Regis and Stuart Pratt and Claudine Tracey of Godwin Developments

at the intersection of the A31 and A35 alongside the main arterial route connecting Poole and Bournemouth to Dorchester.

The anticipated 250 employment opportunities will primarily be in retail, distribution and logistics, as well as services, manufacturing, technology and the creative industries.

Several EV charging points will also be installed, the first in the area.

Claudine Tracey, development manager at Godwin Developments, said: “The site’s high traffic flow, lack of similar offering close by, and proximity to existing Shell garage and trade park make Woodbury Park a sought-after

location for a range of occupiers – including coffee and quick service restaurant brands.

“We are also delighted to be delivering the UK’s first Popeyes drive thru as the company expands its footprint in this country.

Stuart Pratt, director at Godwin Developments, said: “The recent boom in takeaway food consumption and hyperlocal convenience shopping is bringing ever more exciting brands to the roadside retail sector.

“At the same time, demand for industrial and logistics space is continuing to grow with units of varied sizes – including trade parks – experiencing a substantial lack of supply.

“For these reasons interest from investors into both sectors has been very strong in the past year.”

The planning application has been prepared in partnership with planning consultants Pearce Planning, architects Ophir and engineers HSP as the agent.

Further details on the Woodbury Park development can be found at woodburyparkbereregis.co.uk.

Firm’s biofuel switch reducing vehicle emissions A Sherborne based food supplier claims to have reduced its vehicle emissions by 76 per cent.

Since March, Hunt’s Food Group, based in Ludbourne Road, has invested in converting its delivery truck fleet to run on biofuel made from vegetable waste and used cooking oil.

Hunt’s claims that converting the

vehicles has reduced the firm’s carbon footprint by more than three quarters.

Phil Hopkins, Hunt’s transport director said: “We are excited to be one of the first in our industry to be efficiently using a clean, renewable fuel to power our fleet. Not only does it help make our daily operations as a business cleaner, but in turn with the

soaring cost of fossil fuels like diesel it will help to keep prices down for our customers. We are looking forward to trialling fully electric delivery trucks in the future and implementing new technology to reduce our emissions and achieve our environmental commitments.”

Hunt’s Food Group has said it wants to be carbon neutral by 2025.

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

61

Recruitment

Struggling to find staff?

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Book lineage ads online quickly and easily at westdorsetmag.co.uk/ advertise or call 01305 566336 for display ads.

VOLUNTARY, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISE (VCSE) MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT AVAILABLE I am a management consultant skilled in facilitating organisational development and growth, with a proven track record in project management and business change.

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I am also an experienced fundraiser who has developed and delivered training packages (from bid writing to EDI training) for grassroots and national organisations.

Email jademleahy@gmail.com or call 07729 499238 cattistockconsulting.co.uk

62

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Church

Don’t be afraid to reach out and touch

By Canon Deb Smith, Team Rector of Bridport In my first parish I often would meet a homeless man when I went to lock the church at the end of the day. He was quite scary looking at first, although he was not aggressive and was in fact a very vulnerable person.

But he was the sort of person we might all shy away from – because he was often in dirty clothes, he could be worse for wear after a drink in the middle of the day and because he was unpredictable.

Sometimes I helped him with bus fares or something to eat and he became more familiar to me, and I began to forget how I once found him intimidating.

Then one day I found him on the church porch in a terrible state. He couldn’t even walk very well because he’d been drinking, and it was hard to

Services Friday, July 15 Sherborne Abbey 11am Remembering the Fallen Sunday, July 17 Sherborne Abbey: 8am Holy Communion, 9.30am Parish Eucharist. 6pm Evensong. St Martin of Tours, 10am Family Service.

Longburton 10am Village Communion. The Gryphon 10.30am Morning Worship. Castleton 11am Mattins Beaminster, St Mary: 8am Eucharist, 9.30am Eucharist B’dwindsor: 9.30am Eucharist Drimpton St Mary 11am Eucharist Melplash 9.30am Eucharist

understand what he was saying. He wanted a cup of tea. I knew there wasn’t much I could do for him.

All I could do was make him a cup of tea and buy him a bag of chips and sit with him for a while.

As we sat on the church steps, I imagined what it would be like to be in his shoes. As people walked past and looked at us and hurried on it gave me just a tiny glimpse of what it is to really be on the outside, someone nobody wants to touch. Somebody on the edge. He was shut out. He was almost unseen.

I often walk past people in the street who are in that man’s shoes. We all do.

Many of us are afraid to touch other people, even by meeting their eyes. This is especially so if they look strange or if they are dirty, if their bodies are twisted, if they are very old and gnarled, or if they are young and frightening,

because of the image they want to project, if they are smelly, or if they are different from us.Perhaps sometimes we are faced with someone begging on the street, and find that we want to make sure there is no contact between us, not even eye contact.

At times strained relationships can mean to touch somebody in our own family can be difficult. At times we are afraid to touch others through fear of rejection, in dread of being misunderstood, because of the vast distances between us. And yet we all long to be touched, accepted and seen.

Studies have shown that if children are not touched – with hugs and kisses, or with the attention of their parents and carers – they grow up damaged, unable to relate to others and the world.

Being seen, being touched, is precisely what gives

people, especially sick and wounded people, a sense of warmth and joy, of life and love.

By the very act of touching another person, we accept that person exactly as they are. Just as we also are accepted.

Jesus didn’t stand off, he didn’t keep his distance. He wasn’t afraid to touch others and he didn’t disdain their touch.

He touched lepers, sinners, sick people, those who were never touched by others, the powerful too, the unclean, even the dead.

In being so willing and ready to reach out and touch others – even the untouchables – Christ shows us the power of his love which encompasses and includes all, even those on the outside.

Mosterton: 11am Eucharist Netherbury: 6pm Evening Prayer Toller Porcorum: 11am Eucharist Bridport Catholic Church 10am Mass Swyre 6pm Evening Prayer Burton Bradstock 9.30am Family Worship Chilcombe 6.30pm Evening Prayer Dorchester United Church 10.30am Morning Worship and Junior Church Corscombe: 10am, Morning Worship West Chelborough: 9am Holy Communion Evershot: 10am Holy Communion

Maiden Newton: 9am Holy Communion Chilfrome: 11am Morning Prayer Sunday, July 24 Halstock: 9.30am Breakfast Church Melbury Osmund: 9.30am Holy Communion Cattistock: 10am Holy Communion Frome Vauchurch: 11am Holy Communion Sherborne Abbey 8am Holy Communion 9.30am Parish Eucharist 6pm Evensong Lillington 10.30am All Age Worship Longburton 11am Village Communion

The Gryphon 10.30am Holy Communion Castleton 11am Mattins Toller Porcorum 11am Eucharist South Perrott 11am Eucharist 11am The churches of the Bride Valley Benefice will join with Langton, Portesham and Abbotsbury for a service at St Michael and All Angels in Littlebredy followed by a picnic next to the lake.

St Mary’s Church in Litton Cheney has wifi and every Sunday, organist and lay worship leader Paul Cheater, leads the Morning Prayer which is broadcast to St Gregory’s Church in Boca Raton, Florida.

You can join him: facebook.com/SaintGregorys

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

63

Sport

By Stuart Wickham stuart@westdorsetmag.co.uk

A Great Britain national squad are among the first teams announced to compete in cycling’s Tour of Britain, which comes to West Dorset for the penultimate leg of the competition on Saturday, September 10. The event will also welcome all four of Britain’s male UCI Continental Teams, with Wiv SunGod competing in the national tour for the fifth edition running, while Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling, Saint Piran and Trinity Racing return having all made their race debuts in 2021.

The involvement of a Great Britain national team allows future stars to gain invaluable experience in one of the world’s leading races. Among those who have lined up in the race in home colours are 2021 Giro d’Italia champion Tao Geoghegan Hart, 2018 Vuelta a Espana victor Simon Yates and Grand Tour stage winner Hugh Carthy.

Prepararations for the Dorset stage are well underway, with the region set to welcome over 100 of the world’s best cyclists for the first stage in the county in the Tour’s 18 year history. The key seventh stage of the prestigious race willl feature a gruelling 180km course across the county, starting in West Bay, before taking in the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site and passing through many West Dorset towns and villages en route to the

PEDAL POWER: The 2022 Tour promises to be well-supported in West Dorset Pictures: SW PIX

First Teams are announced for cycling’s Tour of Britain

finishing line in Ferndown.

Cycling fans are set to arrive in their droves to enjoy the spectacle and the beautiful Dorset countryside will be showcased to a massive global TV audience with live broadcasts via ITV4 in the UK and to over 170 countries worldwide.

Mick Bennett, Tour of Britain race director, said: “We’re delighted to unveil the first teams who will be competing in this year’s Tour of Britain. As we

look forward to one of the hardest editions of the modern Tour of Britain to date, we feel proud and honoured that the strength of cycling in Britain means that we can field four home UCI-registered teams in the race. We feel that giving them confirmation of their selection at this point in the season will allow them time to prepare fully for the event and therefore show off their prowess to a worldwide audience.

“The eyes of the cycling

world will be on Dorset come Saturday, September 10, and I know that both the world-class riders competing and the huge TV audience the Tour of Britain attracts will be blown away by the sheer beauty of the county.” n We would love to hear from any businesses or families who are planning a cycling-themed event or party to coincide with the Tour. Please get in touch via sport@ westdorsetmag.co.uk

64

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Sport

Four-midable! Dorchester aim for

By Stuart Wickham stuart@westdorsetmag.co.uk

The long-standing chairman of Dorchester Cricket Club has been talking to the West Dorset Magazine about the goal of winning the Dorset Cricket League for a fourth consecutive season and the constant drive for improvement on and off the field.

Mark Derrien, now in his seventh season as chairman, spoke of the players’ desire to ‘win it for Mark’ by claiming the title during new president, Mark Loder’s, tenure.

Mark said: “Mark (Loder) is the epitome of our club.

“He supports us home and away, every game without fail, and has for as long as any of us can remember. At the start of the year, I might have said that winning the league isn’t vital for us – it’s never easy and there are some very good teams like Poole and Wimborne and Colehill. But having Mark as president has changed our outlook somewhat and we’d really love to win one for him during his two years in the post.”

Mark Loder hosted the club’s President’s Day on Saturday, July 2, with Vice Presidents and supporters enjoying a five-wicket win over Bere Regis.

His predecessor, Dave Joslin, presided over three consecutive league titles during his time in the post and there is good reason for optimism about this season’s title ambitions, with the first

TEAM WORK: Dorchester Firsts 2022, and, left, some of the club's girl players who have the chance to progress into the senior teams and, right, chairman Mark Derrien holding the Premier Division trophy with 2021 captain James Dunham

team currently seven points behind Wimborne and Colehill Firsts. Mark said: “Poole could well be the team to beat, although Wimborne have started so well and beat us at their place. It promises to be a close race and Bere Regis aren’t too far away in fourth.

It could well go down to the wire this season which is great for the game.”

There is more optimism away from the glitz and glamour of the Premier Division.

The club’s second XI, led by Rob Joslin, are competing in Division 2, with many

DORCHESTER CRICKET CLUB FACT FILE Founded: 1862 Junior Chairperson: Ground: The Club House,The Simon Joslin Recreation Ground, Weymouth Honorary Secretary: Avenue, Dorchester Dorset DT1 Rohan Scott 2RY. Honorary Treasurer: Teams Gary Greenaway First XI: Dorset Cricket League Groundsman: Jim Ryall Premier Division Club Captain: Dan Belt Second XI: Dorset Cricket 2nd Team Captain: Rob Joslin League Division 2 3rd Team Captain: Third XI: Dorset Cricket League Brandon King Division 6 Club Coach / All Stars Lead Womens First XI, Friendly XI, Activator: Sean Fitzgerald Colts, U15s, U13s, U10s, U9s, Clubhouse Manager: Tim Hill All Stars, Dynamos.

Social Media Manager: CLUB OFFICIALS Stuart Voss President: Mark Loder All Stars Cricket Activators: Chairperson/Club Safeguarding Rohan Scott and Colin Gifford Officer: Mark Derrien dorchester.play-cricket.com

players coming through from the Under 15s to regularly feature. This year has seen the launch of a third X1 playing in Division 6 under the leadership of Brandon King, with almost all the players from the club’s youth ranks.

Mark said: “We take as much pleasure from what we’re doing in our second and third teams, as we do from the first team’s success. It’s absolutely fantastic to see over 70 young players training each week in our youth teams – from Dynamos and AllStars right up to U15 level – and it’s brilliant that they’re getting an exposure to league cricket. They’re all doing so well.

“We had a young lady

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

65

Sport

league title for new president Mark

GOOD WORK: The club has a thriving youth section with regular progression into the senior teams and, below, action from the recent Dorset CC fixture against Buckinghamshire CC and, right, the opening of the new bar at the Rec. Inset below: Club president Mark Loder Pictures: PHIL STANDFIELD

player, Rose, take a wicket the other week against Bournemouth and that’s a real cause for celebration for us. Girls can compete alongside the men and boys, and it tells us that we’re doing something right that we can help all players to improve and achieve their goals.”

Facilities have been vastly improved in recent years, and Mark was pleased to see the club host the Dorset County side’s recent victory against Buckinghamshire, although disappointed to see North Perrott used as

a venue for the later rounds of the competition.

Mark said: “We want to make our playing surface and facilities so good that it’s impossible for Dorset Cricket to contemplate other options. There are other clubs in Dorset who have excellent tracks who also feel a bit aggrieved that matches go outside of Dorset, and we hope we can help to make sure all games are played in the county in future.

“Minor Counties games at the Rec stopped around 15 years ago.

We’ve been at the Rec for 160 years or so, and for 155

of those years, Dorchester Town Council ran it and did a fine job. Unfortunately, towards the end of their stewardship, due to cutbacks in funding, it became no longer suitable to host Minor Counties matches, and these stopped around 15 years ago. Five years ago, we agreed to pay £1 a year to run the facility and have been steadily improving things ever since.”

The square is widely acknowledged as the best in Dorset, with much owing to the evergreen, Jim Ryall, the club’s head groundsman, opening batsman and, currently, the leading runscorer in the Premier League. Now in his fifties, Jim has continued to terrorise opposition bowlers

and Mark likens him to professional cricketer, Darren Stevens.

Mark quipped: “Actually, he’s probably more like Darren Stevens’ dad but he does a terrific job for us on and off the pitch.”

Away from the action, Jim has been instrumental in making the square at the Rec the envy of clubs across Dorset. The entire square will be levelled and relaid in September at a cost of £6,000, a move that Mark hopes will secure the lion’s share of future county games.

Other recent improvements have included the installation of a licenced bar, introduction of a function room which is available to hire and the advent of a new electronic scoreboard. Further improvements are planned and Mark is grateful to companies and private individuals who lend their financial support.

Mark said: “We are indebted to our commercial sponsors and to our 50 or so Vice Presidents. We have some long-standing relationships with businesses who help us with capital expenditure, some of whom have supported us in much leaner times. Our Vice Presidents each pay a financial contribution which helps with running costs and we love seeing them back at the club regularly. ” n To get involved with Dorchester Cricket Club on or off the field, please contact them via dorchester.playcricket.com To contact regarding room hire, please email the club via booktherec@gmail.com

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Sport

Puddletown edging closer to double Dorchester and District Evening Cricket League – Round-up

By Robin Potter As our T20 season enters its last month, Puddletown are making a serious bid for a cup and league double. They have already booked their place in the Doug Read cup final by comfortably beating Martinstown. Winning the toss, Puddletown chose to bowl first and it was successful as Martinstown struggled to just 81 all out.

Puddletown proceeded to overhaul the target without much alarm, winning by seven wickets with two overs to spare.

The other semi-final was a much closer affair.

Second division side Cattistock & Symene batted first and Luke King with 56* and wicket-keeper Steven Tucker’s 89* set a challenging target of 170 for Hazelbury Bryan to chase.

They lost both openers cheaply and when Paul Needham was run out for 45 (including six sixes) it looked like the shock was on.

Hazelbury’s batters kept up with the rate however, and got home with just one ball to spare, to set up Puddletown against Hazelbury Bryan in the final at Dorchester Rec on Friday, July 22.

Puddletown seem on course to retain their Division One title with a 100% record so far, though there are still plenty of games to come.

Cattistock look favourites to make up for their cup disappointment by clinching promotion from Division Two, while the third division title seems to be between Bere Regis and Frampton, with a crucial game between the clubs to be played at Charlton Down, on Wednesday, July 20.

dismissed both openers in quick succession to spark a batting collapse.

Batting first, the home side had posted 262-7, with the highlight being a 100-run partnership for the second wicket between Simon Mitchem, who top-scored with 61, and Seb Carty, who made a breezy 52. The Dorchester middle order kept the scoreboard ticking along well, with good BIG HITTER: William Maltby in action contributions from for Martinstown Michael Peak (33) and Legg (36).

Fittingly it was Legg The top individual who rounded things off inside performance this season has 30 overs, by having Caleb been an astonishing 178 not Rowe caught behind by Jim out by William Maltby for Ryall. Dorchester remain Martinstown, although seven points behind the Steven Tucker has scored league leaders with eight more runs overall with 381. games to go.

Ollie Legg from Hazelbury has most wickets so far with Sherborne CC 1st XI 18, while Cattistock’s Luke 269 (49.2 Overs) Holman has the best Cattistock & Symene CC individual return with 5 1st XI 171 (37.2 Overs) wickets for just 9 runs.

Sherborne CC 1st XI won by 98 runs – Sherborne CC 1st Dorset Cricket League XI 20 points; Cattistock & Premier Division Symene CC 1st XI 8 points Half centuries from Mike Dorchester CC 1st XI Kennedy, Tom Harris and Tim 262/7 (50 Overs) Durston, helped Sherborne Broadstone CC Saturday recover from the 17-2 to post 1st XI 133 (29.1 Overs) a match-winning total against Dorchester CC 1st XI won by 129 runs – Dorchester CC 1st winless Cattistock & Symene.

Kennedy (62) steadied the XI 20 points; Broadstone CC ship along with wicketSaturday 1st XI 5 points keeper, Marc Lock (37), the Jon Legg finished with 7-41 pair adding 96 for the third as Dorchester Firsts kept up wicket. Harris (63) and the pressure on the Premier Durston (60) added some real Division leaders, Wimborne momentum to the innings & Colehill, with a with some sweet striking comfortable win against down the order. For the away Broadstone at the Rec. The team, Joe Etherington finished visitors made a good start in with an impressive 5-64, with reply to Dorchester’s the wicket of Max Corbett imposing total, reaching 59 giving them full bowling without loss, but Legg

points with four balls of the 50 overs remaining.

Cattistock captain, Steven Tucker, did his best to lay the foundations for an unlikely run chase, his attractive innings of 63 coming off 93 balls. Although the visitors kept the run rate within reach, wickets fell regularly and nobody was able to offer Tucker sustained support. Tim Durston was the pick of the Sherborne bowlers with 3-24, with two wickets apiece for Emlyn Kuhn, Ni Denham and Shane Pulling, as the away side slipped to defeat in the 38th over.

Wimborne & Colehill CC 1st XI 220/9 (50 Overs) Bere Regis CC 1st XI 202/9 (50 Overs) Wimborne & Colehill CC 1st XI won by 18 runs – Wimborne & Colehill CC 1st XI 19 points; Bere Regis CC 1st XI 11 points Cameron Robertson’s impressive 77 from just 65 balls gave Bere Regis the chance to spring an upset against table-toppers, Wimborne, but they were unable to close out victory in a tight game at Kings Street.

Robertson’s dismissal at 1677 turned the tide in the host’s favour, and final pairing, Brian Keegan (11 not out) and Callum Crompton (19 not out) batted out the 50 overs to secure 11 points, but were unable to overhaul the home side’s total.

Earlier Wimborne had amassed a workable total in the face of some disciplined bowling from the Bere Regis attack. Pete Russell, Dean Rogerson and Sam Goodhew each finished with two wickets, with opener Colin Randall top-scoring for the home side with 42.

The result keeps Bere Regis in 4th place in the Premier Division on 144 points.

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

67

Sport

SNAPPY DRESSERS: Members don 60s and 70s fancy dress for their Captain’s Day Pictures: Jim Greenfield

Club’s Captain’s Day boosts Julia’s House Bridport Bowling Club enjoyed a successful Captain’s Charity Day, raising a fantastic £440 in support of Julia’s House.

Bowlers donned fancy-dress, embracing the theme of the 60s and

70s, and took part in a number of fun challenge using the club’s special activity equipment. The six winners on the day were Mike Craddock, Dave Aylott, Bob Willcox, Jean Seadon, Keith Brooks

and Dave Smith.The afternoon’s programme was rounded off with a cream tea, with scones provided by Dawn and Jim Greenfield, and with a special raffle with prizes donated by the club’s members.

Lyme through to Allcock Trophy final Lyme Bowls Club enjoyed mixed fortunes in the past week, with the highlight reaching the area final of the Tony Allcock Trophy for the second year running, after beating Greenhill convincingly in the semi-final.

It was also a good week for Ann Allman, who did well to reach the semi-final of the Dorset Ladies twowood competition, hosted by the club. Ann was also in action, paired with Pam Weech, in the Dorset ladies pairs, with the pair winning through to the semis which will be away to Swanage.

Men and ladies teams both enjoyed home success, with the Championship men beating Wimborne 8-2, and the ladies enjoying a much-needed 8-0 win against West Moors.

The men in Division 2 of the West Dorset League fared less well against Sherborne, losing 37-63 and picking up just 2 points.

Lyme continue to do badly in their friendly matches, going down heavily away to Axminster and winning only one rink from five at home to Teignmouth Den. The men failed to progress

in the County Cup, narrowly losing to Blandford by eight shots, which was a creditable result as Lyme were missing several key players.

Results Dorset Men Div 2: Lyme 37; Sherborne 63.

P Fortnam, A Hopkins, J Moseley, K Barnes 15-22 S White, B Parsons, R Legg, R Cridge 17-12 J Owen, P Stephens, J Sherring, J Morris 5-29.

Friendlies: Lyme 45; Axminster 101.

J Parsons,J Owen, J Morris 6-34 R Hunt, S White, A Nabarro 14-22 J Enticott, B Parsons, A Preece 17-20 K Berry, J Bishop, R Legg 8-25.

Lyme 86; Teignmouth Den 104.

J Berry, J Parsons, J Moseley, H Dowling 13-19 C Haseman, S White, B Parsons, S Rowe 17-18 K Berry, J Enticott, A Sherring, J Sherring 15-26 P Moseley, P Stephens, M Haseman, C Barber 12-22 A Hopkins, N Stephens, J Moffitt, P Moffitt 29-19.

68

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Agriculture

Mud-phobic Tria Stebbing lives on the outskirts of Sherborne. She keeps sheep, is working on her first book, and works in a village school.

We are still catching our tail with the sheep and this week can tick off of the list ear tagging.

Why do you tag sheep?

Lambs must be identified with an EID tag before the age of nine months, or six months if put indoors overnight, earlier if they are moved off of the holding.

The number on the tag is the number that is used on the paperwork, each time you move a sheep a copy of which is sent to Defra.

It is a bit like a register, we record the numbers on the sheep ear tags and can trace who they are and where they are.

From our point of view breeding pedigree sheep, it is also the number that will appear on the sheep pedigree certificate and will give a clear picture of blood lines and heritage.

We have the ear tags in a different colour each year so that we can identify a sheep from a distance, this year our tag is green.

It carries not only our flock number, but our Zwartbles association number as well as the number that the sheep is, and the letter for that year, so this year it is K. We rounded the lambs up

LOOK EAR: One of our sheep shows off this year’s must-have tagging accessories

Ear we go again: It’s sheep tagging and cross referenced against my list of parentage and began tagging.

The tag is inserted into a gun, a bit like an ear piercing gun and with a swift click the job is done.

It is good practice to allow some room for growth, so they are not put in too tightly, we let them hang over the edge of the ear and we aim for about two inches away from the skull, and near the centre of the ear, avoiding the cartilage along the top of the ear.

It is a job that I am not keen on but know that it is

part of sheep keeping and must be done. The lambs give a shake of the head when it is done, it must feel strange, we reward them with some treats. On the downside it does mean that if they stick their heads through the stock fence now, they are more likely to get their heads stuck, something which they always do, the grass always being greener on the other side. Having tagged them we are now able to move them back to the ewes as the milk has dried up. I always wonder if they will recognise their mums having been away

for a few weeks, some do and will follow the mother around, some become very independent and are not bothered.

Like most smallholders in the area, we are having trouble getting some of the immunisations done, due to a supply issue in Europe. We only run a small flock so some of the medicines come in bottles far to big for us, so to avoid waste we contact other smallholders to see if they would like to share a bottle.

Last week we shared with a lovely chap over the other side of the big hill who runs a beautiful flock of longhorn sheep. The medicine has a shelf life and must be kept cold and used within hours of opening, so it is good to find someone local to share with. As it turns out he is interested in our freshly cut small bales, so it was a good link to make as we are due to bale again this week. Some local vets run WhatsApp groups for sharing these things, something that our farmers from generations past would have shared over farm gates and by word of mouth, farming in modern times certainly needs technology to maintain those useful links. We are moving on fast into this year’s farming jobs and as I mentioned due to do our second batch of baling this week, before we know it we will be needing the winter feed.

Time stands still for no farmer whatever the size of his flock.

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

69

Agriculture

Farm’s charity sunflower trail to open soon Sunflowers will light up Dorchester this summer to raise money for hospitals in Dorset and Ukraine.

The Summer of Sunflowers spectacle will see sunflower sculptures suspended across South Street from mid-July and featured in shop window displays for a competition.

There will also be several varieties of sunflowers blooming in the Borough Gardens, plus the Dorset Sunflower Trail taking place at Maiden Castle Farm.

Dorchester Town Council is funding the town centre sunflower sculptures and organising a sunflower shop window display competition.

Money raised through the competition will go to Dorset County Hospital’s Kingfisher Children’s Unit and Cherkasy Hospital in Ukraine.

A spokesperson for Dorchester Town Council said: “The Summer of Sunflowers is about creating a buzz, both literally and figuratively, around Dorchester.

“Much like the rainbow campaign for the NHS during the pandemic, displays can bring people together and

show our support for important causes. Sunflowers carry lots of different messages.

“They are a powerful symbol of hope for Ukraine. They can also show our passion for wildlife and biodiversity.

Perhaps when you think of sunflowers you imagine the famous painting by Van

Gogh. “No matter what you associate with the flower they are bright and inviting, and always seem to put a smile on your face.”

Businesses that would like to join in the sunflower shop window competition/ fundraiser should email m.manley@dorchestertc.gov.uk

Barrister loses bid to quieten festivals

By Dan Goater dan@westdorsetmag.co.uk

A QC has lost a legal bid to silence a Dorset farm’s music festivals.

Sir Mark Havelock-Allan QC, the fifth Baronet of Lucknow, complained to Dorset Council about noise and light pollution coming from mini music festivals taking place at Bredy Farm in Burton Bradstock.

The aristocrat claimed that a relentless ‘dub-dub-dub’ bass noise crossed the Bride Valley, disturbing the peace and quiet at his second home in Devon.

Sir Mark, a retired crown court judge, was one of

several people who complained about Bredy Farm’s music festivals.

The other complainants in the legal case included a woman whose Airbnb guests complained to her about the noise from the festivals.

Dorset Council took Bredy Farm owner Charles Harris and his partner Dr Abigail Charlsworth, a vet, to court for breaching a noise abatement notice.

Sir Mark is the son of British film producer and screenwriter Anthony Havelock-Allan and film star Valerie Hobson, who later married disgraced

government minister John Profumo.

He told Weymouth magistrates the noise from Bredy Farm’s festivals was so loud and intrusive that he had to close all his doors and windows. Later on the court was told that the QC found the noise so intrusive he and his wife returned to their London home to get away from it.

But, in spite of the evidence given by local residents and the council in court, magistrates found the farm owners were not guilty of breaching their noise abatement order.

Bredy Farm owners

demonstrated to the court that the decibel level of their mini festivals did not exceed levels agreed by the council.

After the case ended, Charles Harris and Dr Charlsworth described the case against them as ‘pure nimbyism’ and called the three-day trial a waste of taxpayers’ money.

But the couple are now reportedly hoping to recoup at least a share of their £30,000 in legal fees from the council.

The council reportedly spent almost £9,000 in bringing the failed legal action to court.

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

Agriculture

How farmers are using tech to go green Until recently, poor network coverage and limited jobs in rural areas like Dorset made remote working from England’s most beautiful locations almost impossible.

But now, as covid has prompted businesses to open up flexible working options to their staff, more and more people are being tempted away from the cities and towards rural areas.

“In the space of 30 years, we’ve gone from people simply wanting to make calls on a mobile network to people wanting to run their businesses properly,” says David Savage, the CEO of Excelerate

Technology, which forms part of the consortium project that is delivering major advancements in coastal connectivity in Dorset.

Vodafone UK will soon be opening a 5G innovation hub in Winfrith to encourage local companies to develop and test digital products and services together. Inspired by the Salford hub, which is providing entrepreneurs with the connectivity they need to grow their businesses, the facility will give workers access to 5G connections, internet of things (IoT) technology, and satellite links.

And it’s not all about start-ups.

5G-connected sensors are allowing farmers to monitor their crops more closely, helping them use fertiliser and water more efficiently, while drones tend to the crops.

“It’s easier to make day-to-day decisions when you’ve got the data at your fingertips, rather than having to go field walking and trying to figure out where the problems are,” says Mike Donnachie, a farm manager at Ranston Farms.

“The information’s now transferred via 5G, and that’s going to be a big benefit for the future.”

As we get more conscious about the sustainability of the

From pages 56-57

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food they eat, 5G-powered agritech can help farmers be as environmentally friendly as possible.

David Cotterell, farm manager at Kingston Maurwaud College, teaches young farmers how technology can help them meet changing consumer expectations. “It’s really important to prepare students for the future of farming,” he explains. “Any technology we can use to make the industry more efficient will give consumers the confidence that we’re doing a really good job with the food we produce and looking after the countryside.”

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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022

71

Agriculture

By Tom Woolacott Veterinary Surgeon Synergy Farm Health What is Fog Fever?

Despite the name, Fog Fever has no association with atmospheric conditions!

Also known as Acute Bovine Pulmonary Emphysema and Edema (ABPEE), this is an acute (rapidly developing) respiratory disease of cattle (pneumonia). The condition is usually seen in the autumn in adult cattle at grass, most commonly within two weeks following a move from sparse to lush pasture. For this reason, Fog Fever is typically diagnosed in beef cattle, primarily due to the uniformity of dairy cattle grazing.

Prior to the move of cattle, the previous pasture may have been intensively grazed for a prolonged period, hence being poor. The new pasture may not have even been grazed during the summer season, but normally there is a regrowth of lush grass, legume or other highly palatable plants. Equally, the condition is often seen following a move to hay or silage aftermath, especially following pasture fertilisation.

The disease has not been linked with any specific species of grass or plants, but the condition may recur on the same pasture in successive years.

What causes Fog Fever?

The disease is a result of the biochemistry of the rumen being slow to adjust to a new diet. Prior to cattle being moved, they have likely been exposed to a low-protein plane of nutrition and the

Fog Fever risk of moving the herd to lush pasture rumen is not prepared for a sudden exposure to high protein grass. Lush grass contains high levels of tryptophan, an amino acid, which is converted by the rumen to metabolite at a very high rate. If the majority of this metabolite is absorbed through the rumen wall rather than the duodenum (small intestine) and circulated around the body, it is toxic to the primary cells that line the interior surface of the lungs, leading to emphysema and acute respiratory disease.

Clinical Signs n Difficulty breathing and attempts to ease this discomfort n Open-mouthed breathing and increased respiratory rate n Standing to straighten and extend their airway (raised heads and stretching their necks forward) n Grunting on breathing out n Frothing at the mouth

n Distressed but alert n Stop grazing n Isolate themselves Treatment Mortality in severely affected animals can be high, but typically only a small proportion of a group is affected at once. However, following examination of groups of cattle with severely affected individuals, up to 50% of all animals may show mild respiratory clinical signs, with most cases occurring five days after exposure to the new pasture. There is no specific treatment for this condition, but supportive treatment may be given. It may be appropriate to move affected cattle inside, however stress may predispose death.

Supplementary feeding to reduce the intake of grass may be more appropriate.

Prevention The prevention of this

condition is primarily through pasture management, by gradually increasing grazing time over a period of 10-12 days.

Youngstock are thought to be more tolerant to tryptophan so it may be advisable for them to graze lush pasture first.

Other techniques include strip grazing to reduce such rapid intakes or pre-feeding cattle so they are not moved into lush pasture when hungry.

It is important to distinguish between other causes of pneumonia at grass, particularly lungworm.

Unlike lungworm, cattle with Fog Fever tend not to cough and this disease is almost always seen only in cattle over two years of age.

Lungworm is the more likely diagnosis if calves at foot are also affected, but a confirmatory diagnosis by your vet is strongly advised.

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