Health & Wellbeing

58 The West Dorset Magazine, July 29, 2022 Health & Wellbeing Walking West Dorset

with retired Dorset rights of way officer Chris Slade

FROME VALLEY TRAIL: 10th WALK

This walk is mostly on asphalt as there are so few footpaths crossing the water meadows in this part of the Frome Valley. It makes a circuit of about seven miles starting at West Woodsford. Park at the roadside near Woodsford Castle Farm where there’s space opposite the bus shelter. Walk past the farm buildings and turn left, heading north across several fields from which you get a good view of the ancient Woodsford Castle. After crossing the Frome, the path turns right and heads east for a mile, sometimes skirting the meandering Frome. Towards the end, your route is crossed by an invisible, unsigned, public footpath path that crosses the river without a bridge! When you reach the road, turn left and head north, crossing several bridges. After half a mile you reach a crossroads by a watercress farm at the start of the village of Tincleton. Turn right and follow the road through the village until, after turning left, you get to the ‘main’ road opposite the tiny village hall. Turn left and head west along the road for a couple of miles. It’s rather narrow and without verges so be careful of traffic. Eventually you reach Norris Mill Farm where you join a BOAT (Byway Open to All Traffic) that wends its way south. When you reach a ford, turn back 20 yards and join a footpath that loops over a bridge upstream and then rejoins the BOAT. You’ll soon find a stream across the way. This one has stepping slabs visible under the surface. If you have decent walking boots you won’t get soggy socks. At Lewell Mill Farm, join the road that takes you up to Tenantrees where you turn left and walk a mile back to your car.

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.

If you’ve read my earlier posts you might remember I wrote about Life Reviews and the clarity they can bring, and the usefulness of ‘Check-ins’ to explore past behaviour (youcantalk.net/alexandraon-life-reviews). I was thinking about the power of Life Reviews and Check-ins recently as something new came into my life: a family of moles. The moles are conducting a subterranean nocturnal assault across the middle of the lawn. There is obviously a mature mole leaving big widespread untidy mole hills in the heart of the lawn and tiny apologetic looking mole hills zig zagging alongside towards the fence, certainly nothing to make a mountain out of. A builder, working on the house, gazed at the lawn carnage and told me with a

Working together to make a

The West Dorset Magazine, July 29, 2022 59 Health & Wellbeing Watering key to establishing balance

Andy Cole is a reiki healer based in Middlemarsh. He specialises in planting for healing. The continuing hot weather is certainly very draining working out in the heat, the saying the heat sucks out your energy is certainly correct. We have been taking time out during the day and working on in the evenings, when the temperatures have been kinder. The garden plants, like us, are needing to be kept well-watered and some plants are showing signs of stress due to the excessive heat. The NHS recommended that we drink around 6-8 glasses of water, with more required in hot weather or if exercising. With most types of energy healing, after treatment practitioners always recommend drinking plenty of water. This is to keep your energy level up so you can maximise the healing you have received. Water is a main source of life energy and when our levels drop so does our energy, hence the saying that the heat sucks out our energy. This also holds true for plants, the energy they have will also drop, thus reducing the healing received, you would need to be by the plant for a longer period of time to receive the same benefit, this makes perfect sense, as during hot weather you would probably sit for longer period of time by the plants as it would be too hot to do much else, and the healing you received would be the same as in more favorable conditions, but will just take a little longer. Nature’s balance at work again, it never ceases to amaze me how the balance of nature always provides the solution to the problem. Berberis are doing particularly well at the moment. These plants provide an excellent deterrent against unwanted visitors in the garden at night as they are prickly and will stop most people from going any further. The energies from this plant help to reduce hypertension, they steady the mind and reduce stress that an overactive mind can create dwelling on your problems. The sharp thorns are a reminder of the pain stress can give us when we become to focused on the problem, rather than looking for the solution. The red leaves help to balance the base chakra, this will assist in slowing your mind down, binging a calmer and more balanced approach to your general wellbeing. Red Chief is a compact form of the berberis shrub with red-tinted foliage carried on arching stems. The deep red-purple leaves turn a vibrant scarlet in the Autumn, adding a real splash of colour to the garden when there are less flowers around. In the spring it has pale yellow flowers, and these are followed by small red berries in Autumn. Berberis are easy to grow and ideal for encouraging wildlife into the garden. They provide shelter to both birds and insects. A perfect deciduous shrub that will make an attractive bush for a sunny or partially shady garden bed or border. There are many different varieties of berberis and their healing properties will vary slightly due to the different colour of the foliage and also if they are evergreen, however the general energy healing of reducing stress and hypertension will be the same for all varieties.

DOING WELL: Berberis

molehill out of a mountain

grim smile he could put me in touch with a mole catcher. I felt very protective of the family of tunnellers who morphed into cartoonesque moles wearing immaculate white shirts with neat tweed waistcoats and tamped down Balkan Sobranie into their clay pipes. Admittedly, it’s a strange and uninvited change to my new garden but I was told in the past that the earth moles shovel to the surface is aerated and rich. I decided to fill all my spare garden pots with the freshly excavated soil and take advantage of their helpfulness, work with them instead of against them. Some things are not easy to change without radical upheaval and sometimes the results of those changes can be difficult to live with. There are times when a ‘Check-in’ is helpful. I know from experience of tough choices; I will not be comfortable signing Mr Mole and his family’s death warrant so let’s hope this collaboration between woman and mole has a true Hollywood ending.

JANE PURNELL THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE

35 years’ experience Relaxation Deep tissue Trigger point & fascia release Appointments (Poundbury) and home visits For information call 01305 602 406

By Miranda Robertson

miranda@westdorsetmag.co.uk

Two best friends from Essex who decided to dip a toe in the water of running their own business say they are loving life in the south west after moving lock, stock and barrel to Dorchester within a month. James Lawdrum, 34, was working for Lloyds of London and Gillian May was a podiatrist for another firm when they decided they wanted to run their own clinic. The pair visited the Royal College of Podiatry website and Dorchester’s The Chiropody Clinic, located opposite the old Argos building on Princes Street, had been listed only the day before A day after they made their plans, they headed down to see it and a month later, it was theirs. They moved in on June 1 – a whirlwind move, but one which they haven’t regretted. Now they are offering foot treatments in their newly-acquired clinic, which has been a chiropodist’s for years. So… feet. Some people are squeamish about them, some people have odd fetishes. One thing’s for sure, we all get some use out of them. And for many, painful feet are just unbearable. A national shortage of podiatrists is matching shortages among other vital medical services. It’s hard to find clinics that have capacity for new patients. But Gillian and James want to offer the opportunity for a foot health practitioner (FHP) to join them while they study for a degree in podiatry. With a national shortage of podiatrists this could be the key to a solid career. Gillian, 44, got into podiatry after experiencing foot problems herself, intermittently throughout childhood and adulthood. It made her determined to make a difference. Gillian has been a podiatrist for nine years, since gaining her degree. She was running a clinic for someone else, but had long wanted to run her own when she got chatting to James about it. “I inherited my foot problems and it made me want to help others,” she said. “People leave here able to walk again, with no pain. “It can be life-changing, our treatments. Our equipment can pick up atrial fibrillation, an erratic heartbeat, for instance, before surgery. I diagnosed it in a 16-yearold boy recently – he had no idea he had it.” She added: “I always wanted my own practice and when we saw this one it was perfect. We wanted a change of lifestyle too –it’s lovely here.” James said: “We live ten minutes away from the clinic so if there’s ever and emergency we can be here quickly. It’s a fantastic location.” Currently they offer a range of treatments including surgery, and they are keen to extend the surgical side. Routine appointments are £37, with an express nail cut and file £20, while diabetic assessments are £40. Corn removal (2 corns) is £25, ingrowing toenail treatment £25 and verruca treatment (acid) is £25. There’s verruca needling surgery under local anaesthetic for £180, LCN toenail reconstruction from £50 and ingrowing toenail surgery from £270. Nail cutting is a vital service for older people, as their nails are thicker and their joints are stiffer so it can often be impossible for them to do themselves. Diabetics should always have a professional cut their nails. Toenail reconstruction is less well known, but offers people who have lost partial or full nails the opportunity to get a full set again. And there’s treatments for chilblains and Reynaud’s, dry feet and calluses too. n Call 01305 259909 or go to dorchesterchiropody.co.uk

WELCOME: Gillian May and James Lawdrum at The Chiropody Clinic in Dorchester