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Optimism delayed: not extinguished

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Gary Jackson North Dorset Liberal Democrats

Pondering on the theme for this first column of 2025, I looked forward to spreading some optimism and positivity on my first day back at work … and found myself groaning instead at the news of Baroness Casey’s social care review. Labour’s social care review sounded good, until we heard the timetable.
Some near-term gestures aside, there will be no recommendations for a long-term solution until 2028.
This is a blow. Dorset’s population is older than average across the UK’s counties, and a sustainable solution to social care is essential to help the NHS. Despite many previous excellent reviews and commissions, it seems that we must once again repeat the exercise to buy time for this government.
In China it’s still the year of the Dragon until the Lunar New Year arrives on 29 January and we turn to the year of the Snake.
Nothing so exciting sounding here in the UK, where our government has made it feel like 2024 was the year of the stubbed toe – too painful to laugh off, but we’re just too hardened to cry about it either.
We could see it coming during the general election. Almost everyone I spoke to said they expected to pay more tax – they’d almost be glad to do so, to be rid of the Conservatives and get public services working again. The only people who seemingly didn’t know it were Keir, Angela, Rachel, Wes and co…
Boxed into a corner by undeliverable promises not to raise tax, they decided to escape by shooting a foot with the half-cocked pistol of winter fuel allowance. Then came a budget that hobbled the nation’s spirits, applying extra national insurance contributions that will just slow hiring and investment.
Let’s not even mention the farming inheritance tax bullet into the other foot. It’s been hard to maintain enthusiasm for this government – but we can’t afford for them to fail.
My optimism from this time last year has only been delayed, not extinguished. Our Dorset community resilience and local business innovation offer hope. Nationally, there are clear positives. Our national strengths – that Brexit and numerous Prime Ministerial failures called into doubt – are returning: we have political and legal stability, financial credibility and talented people. Our universities are stressed, but they and their research remain world class. Trumpian tariffs on goods may be threatened but our large and competitive services sector will help us.
Dorset needs sustainable social care, flood and climate resilience, intelligent devolution and planning reform in a thriving economy. All need to be fought for, and Liberal Democrats will continue to campaign through 2025 nationally to influence, and locally through Dorset Council, to implement and improve. I hope you will share my optimism and I wish you a Happy New Year.
Gary Jackson
North Dorset Liberal Democrats

Cinema at The Exchange, Sturminster Newton

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NOT TO MISS!!

The Critic (15) Thursday 27th February, 7pm

Academy Award Nominee Sir Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings, The Good Liar) stars as a powerful London theater critic who lures a struggling actress into a blackmail scheme with deadly consequences. A suspenseful thriller co-starring Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace), Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Lesley Manville (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris)

WICKED (PG) Thursday 27th March, 7pm

Elphaba, a young woman with green skin, navigates life at Shiz University and forms an unlikely friendship with the popular Galinda. Their bond deepens as they encounter the Wizard of Oz, leading to a series of events that ultimately shape their destinies and transform them into the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. Starring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Arivo & Jeff Goldblum

Feel the Heat: Great Dorset Chilli Festival Returns This August!

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Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd August 2025

Mark your calendars and spice up your summer! The Great Dorset Chilli Festival returns for its 14th year on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd August 2025, bringing fiery fun, fantastic flavours, and fierce competition to the Stock Gaylard Estate, near Sturminster Newton (DT10 2BG). Whether you’re a chilli aficionado or just fancy a day out with incredible food, live music and entertainment, this is a date you won’t want to miss. Don’t worry if heat isn’t your thing — there’s a feast of non-chilli delights to savour too!

Chilli_Bolivian Rainbow variety

Calling All Chilli Growers! Enter the Chilli Plant Competition

Think you’ve got what it takes to grow the best-looking chilli plant? Start sowing your seeds now and enter the popular Chilli Plant Growing Competition, judged on Saturday 2nd August. With classes for seasoned growers and total novices alike, it’s anyone’s game to win a coveted rosette!

Competition Categories:

  • Class 1: Grow the strikingly beautiful (and very hot) ‘Bolivian Rainbow’ variety — perfect for pots and guaranteed to impress.
  • Class 2: An open class for any chilli plant — bring your best!

Plants will be judged on their appearance, development, condition, and fruiting, with prizes generously sponsored by local retailer Harts of Stur. Winners in each class will receive a £50 gift voucher.

Get Growing with Free Chilli Seeds

The festival is giving away free ‘Bolivian Rainbow’ chilli seeds (courtesy of Sea Spring Seeds) to help you get started. Quantities are limited, so don’t wait — email info@greatdorsetchillifestival.co.uk for your seeds and a copy of the competition rules.

Why You’ll Love the Great Dorset Chilli Festival

• Meet the UK’s largest gathering of chilli sauce producers
• Indulge in mouth-watering food and unique flavours
• Enjoy live music and entertainment for the whole family
• Cheer on competitors in fiery chilli challenges

Don’t miss out on Dorset’s hottest weekend of the year! For full details and updates, visit www.greatdorsetchillifestival.co.uk.

Save the dates, start sowing, and prepare for a weekend of sizzling excitement!

Back to work

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From winter woes to wobbly lines, Jess Rimmer takes us through the slow work (and horses who think they’re funny) to polished event horses

Jess Rimmer with Max (Mr Mister)
All images: Courtenay Hitchcock

I would start off by saying the traditional and polite ‘December has flown by’ … but in reality, it feels like it’s been one of the longest months of the year, and I’m very glad to be seeing the back of it!
The horses had been out enjoying their winter holiday, and excitingly, they all came back into work at the start of December to begin building their fitness for the 2025 competition season.
This isn’t all as “sunshine and rainbows” as it might at first glance appear! With competition horses, it’s super important that we build their fitness back up slowly, to set a solid foundation of strength and protect against potential future injuries.
Which sounds great … until you realise it means spending the entirety of a cold, grey December not breaking out of a walk on some rather fresh horses!
Mattie and Elsa haven’t let their halos slip so far. Max can have the odd spooky moment, but has overall been pretty good, too.

Max looking wild and woolly in his ‘bog pony’ winter coat

Jimmy, on the other hand, thought he was absolutely hilarious … he made a total fool of me on his very first ride back, bucking me clean off within about 30 seconds of my foot going into the stirrup! Luckily no harm done (other than a rather bruised ego) – the joys of excitable young horses and winter. As I said, goodbye December!
Having done nearly a month of walking, just after Christmas we started some trot work. We build this up gradually as their fitness increases – to start with, just a few laps of the arena, and after a couple of weeks they’ve built up to being able to trot twice up the gallops.
That’s about where we’re at as I write this: from here it starts to get a bit more interesting. We
re-introduce some basic dressage moves, some pole work, and maybe we’ll even have a canter next week (yikes – I’ll be holding my neck strap!).

Max enjoying the glamour of having an ear hair trim

Just a short back and sides
Following their winter holidays in the field, the horses are all looking rather fluffy and unkempt. It’s actually nice for them to grow out their natural coats – but they definitely need a tidy up before the 2025 season!
We will spend the next few weeks trimming their manes, tails and bridle paths until they start to resemble the sleek, shiny competition horses you are all accustomed to seeing!
It’s not only about appearance, but also practicality and comfort. As they build up their work rate, the horses will find their fluffy winter coats a little too toasty, at which point we will give them a clip to help them keep cool during exercise.
Clipping is a skill … one which I am yet to master. The first time I attempted to clip, it took me double the time it should have, and resulted in some very dodgy lines and an embarrassed looking horse (I’m so sorry, Bobby!).
One slightly tearful phone call later, and Stacey the magic head groom came to the rescue. I have had marginally more success recently, thank goodness, but it definitely isn’t something I’ve mastered yet!

Gently, gently
Although it’s no speedy process bringing the horses back into work, it’s so important for their long-term soundness, and it’s something which really can’t be hurried. In many ways, it’s very satisfying seeing their transformations from floofy, unfit bog ponies to fit, polished event horses. The work it takes to get there often goes unappreciated – despite the fact it’s happening in every event yard all over the country at the moment!


Hopefully things will start to speed up a bit in January – until then, it’s a case of numerous extra layers, plenty of hot cups of tea … and remembering to hold on tight!

Daring to dream big?

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Ken Huggins North Dorset Green Party

The New Year brings an opportunity to take stock of where we are, and to decide how we might change the way we do things, for the better, so that 2025 becomes a year we can look back on with satisfaction, instead of regret.
Regardless of our many differences, we all share one thing that is absolutely essential for life – the planet we inhabit. In many ways it’s in a mess right now, and we face huge challenges … but humans can be incredibly resourceful and it is certainly within our power to change things for the better.
We are great survivors, largely thanks to our ingenuity. And ingenuity relies on what is perhaps our greatest strength: our imagination. It not only enables us to find solutions, it also inspires and motivates us to take action. Focussing solely on what we don’t want can leave us feeling disempowered: challenges can seem insurmountable.
Instead, if we use our creative imagination to focus on what we actually do want, we can be uplifted and inspired to make it happen.
Rob Hopkins from Totnes is the author of ‘From What Is to What If – Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want’. His book is full of real-world examples of the positive difference made by creative thinking. He makes a compelling case for the use of more imagination in school, at work, in our personal lives and in politics.
My own political imagining is of our elected representatives choosing to act collectively, and for the common good. MPs rejecting the pressures of political dogma and of wealthy vested interests splashing cash and favours to influence political decisions. Imagine that!
Around the world ever-more positive actions are being taken to address our many challenges. However, they are still nowhere near enough, as the decline in wildlife and the changing climate clearly show. Although many of us struggle with demands on our time and energy at the moment, we can still find actions to take, no matter how small. So let’s imagine the glorious world we want, and find ways we can help to help make it happen. Together. Onwards and up!
Ken Huggins
North Dorset Green Party

School Caretaker, with accommodation | Milton Abbey School

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We are seeking to appoint a School Caretaker to assist in the day-to-day maintenance and operation of the school site, ensuring its safe and efficient use at all times by pupils, staff, visitors and hirers. The job will involve lifting and carrying, working at height or in enclosed areas.

In addition, you will provide efficient and effective caretaking support to the school.   Duties will include locking and unlocking buildings and security, monitoring fuel tanks and boilers, dealing with out of hours breakdowns or emergencies and providing 24-hour cover for the school. You will work a shift system of days/nights on alternate weeks to enable emergency and out of hours cover and you will be provided with suitable free on-site accommodation.

You will need a maintenance background and be able to work without direct supervision but also as part of a team, with a good understanding of commonly used IT systems (e.g. Microsoft Word). Basic DIY skills are essential and knowledge and practical understanding of Health and Safety procedures would be an advantage, as would experience of working in a school environment with children and young adults. Due to the layout of the site, some driving will be necessary, therefore a full UK driving licence is required for this role.

Further details may be obtained from our website or from HR on 01258 882306 or email hr@miltonabbey.co.uk. Applications must be submitted on the school’sapplication form.  The closing date for applications is Friday 31st January 2025.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Please note that we are not accepting applications for this position through any employment agency and all applications should be made direct to the school.

Milton Abbey School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.  The appointment will be the subject of an enhanced disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service.  Additionally, please be aware that Milton Abbey School will conduct online searches of shortlisted candidates. This check will be part of a safeguarding check, and the search will purely be based on whether an individual is suitable to work with children. To avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination a person who will not be on the appointment panel will conduct the search and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.

Please note that our school is a no smoking site.

www.miltonabbey.co.uk                                               Registered Charity No 306318

The 47 cow heartbreak

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From devastating tests to tax protests, James Cossins sees resilience and unity as the driving forces behind such challenging times in farming

The Rawston herd enjoying some winter sun

Since my last column two months ago, a lot has happened, both in the wider farming world and also here at Rawston, where we have had the challenge of Bovine TB to deal with yet again.
With a recent test giving many inconclusive results we were encouraged by the Government’s animal health vets to carry out a Gamma Test – a blood test which is more sensitive than the skin test we normally carry out.
We have been under restrictions for nearly two years now, with the odd reactor but never any visible lesions when the cattle are sent to the abattoir. The hope was that it would find the one animal which does have TB but for some reason is not being picked up by the skin test.
So we duly had the milking cows and two stock bulls tested … and the results came as a bit of a shock. We had 47 animals testing positive, including one bull: that represents about 15 per cent of our entire adult cattle herd.
On probably the saddest and most emotional day in my entire lifetime of farming, we duly loaded up the animals onto two enormous lorries to go to the abattoir. On top of the sadness, the amount of milk sold the next day was considerably down, of course – most of those cows were in full milk production.
Results from the abattoir have shown that none of the cattle had visible lesions.
The sooner we can get a vaccine the better place we will all be in. I would like to thank both my family and my fellow farmers who have all supported me through what has been a really tough time.

That Tax
Nationally, the announcement in the Government’s budget regarding changes to inheritance tax has certainly got the farming family fraternity up in arms about what the changes will mean to family farms up and down the country. I think essentially we believe the Chancellor Rachel Reeves has got her sums wrong, and hasn’t understood that it is not just land values at stake here, it is the value of the businesses themselves – including properties, buildings and machinery – which all make up the running of a viable business.
I went on the protest march in London on November 19th with family members of all ages attending to show the strength of feeling there is within the agricultural industry.
Farmers for Action organised various speeches in front of a huge crowd near the Parliament building, and there were also a large number of food donations given from attendees to the food banks within London: these donations were gratefully received by all those involved. There was also an impactful march by young children on their pedal tractors, demonstrating the effect the tax changes may have on their future livelihoods.
The NFU organised a rallying call from their president, Tom Bradshaw, followed by smaller personal meetings with constituency MPs.
A group of local farmers met with Simon Hoare, MP for North Dorset, who is very sympathetic to our cause, and fully understands the implications to his rural constituency.
He reassured us that he would continue to lobby – especially the rural Labour MPs – around the significance of the proposed changes. Thank you Simon for taking the time and for listening to our concerns.
I believe there will be further actions taking place in the new year. The NFU, I am sure, will continue to put pressure on MPs for a change.
But I believe farmers may feel that is not enough, and that different actions may be needed. I just hope that we don’t lose the public’s support – we must remember they are our customers as well.
Looking ahead
As we look to 2025 the days are already slowly getting longer and spring will soon be here. Who knows what the weather will bring us, but I’m sure the British farmers’ resilience will pull us through whatever is thrown at us – and continue to keep feeding the nation.

Winterborne Stickland | Then and Now

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Step back in time with our ‘Then and Now’ feature, where vintage postcards from the Barry Cuff Collection meet modern-day reality. Explore the past and present on the same page, and see the evolution of familiar local places. ‘Now’ images by Courtenay Hitchcock

path” (from the old English sticol or stickel, meaning steep) likely refers to the Chalky Path, an ancient trackway leading up the hill from the village. Towards the end of the 19th century, the population of Winterborne Stickland was around 400, and like many Dorset villages it had two Methodist chapels. The Wesleyan chapel (built 1863), is just round the corner from this, the Primitive Methodist chapel (built 1877).

Barry belives that Corner Cottage, the unchanged flint and brick banded cottage on the left of both pictures, was once the village police constable’s house. Between the photographer and The Crown, on the right, is a small thatched outbuilding which clearly made way for the town war memorial after the First World War, just visible on the right of the ‘now’ image.

Sponsored by The Museum of East Dorset

New Year, new hopes, old fights

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Simon Hoare MP looks ahead – can Labour steady the ship, will devolution reshape Dorset, and how a misguided Reform Party threatens farming

Simon Hoare MP

Let me begin by wishing you, your families and loved ones a very happy New Year. I hope you had an enjoyable and peaceful Christmas. For those with family descending I trust it was not too overwhelming and for those on their own, I pray you were okay.
My sincere hope for 2025 is that we have a year of calm here in the UK, and one of positive moves to peace internationally. Turning to the latter first, can we dare hope that a new regime in the USA will provide a new impetus to end the loss of life in Ukraine and in the Middle East and to enduring peaceful settlements? Let us hope, too, that the new Syrian regime is not merely a leap from pan to fire but something different, which respects the dignity of human life and rights.
Here at home, even its most ardent supporters admit that the Government has got off to a rocky or patchy start. Bewilderment at Labour’s lack of preparedness to govern has quickly turned to exasperation that the Government has failed to road test policy ideas before launching them. Filling the gap of ignorance with bluster and bravado is no way to govern.
For the sake of all of us in North Dorset, we can only hope that Keir Starmer has made a New Year’s resolution to govern better. There is one sign of a shift in gear, in the realm of reform to Adult Social Care. This issue somewhat dominated PMQs last autumn, and indeed I called on the Prime Minister to find a lasting settlement through cross-party working. Recent briefings from No10 suggest that such an approach is currently being worked up. It will, undoubtedly, delay the vital reform by a year or so, but I think most people would prefer Westminster to get it right rather than meet an artificial deadline.
A mayor of Wessex?
Where Dorset led (in its delivery of a Unitary Council) others are now being propelled to follow, spurred on by the Government’s publication of its English Devolution White Paper. In the Commons I welcomed the Government statement of intent and the direction of travel. Larger councils have the potential to make significant savings while also improving service delivery and strategic outlook. Some form of combined Mayoral authority focussed on Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset is certainly on the horizon. While the devil remains in the detail, there is some considerable merit in the proposal, given the close synergies of the three counties. I shall work to ensure we achieve the very best deal for Dorset.

Dorset farms
Given the importance of farming to both the North Dorset economy and environment, I will continue to resist the imposition of the Family Farm Tax. On the topic of agriculture I want to debunk any idea (proposed solely by themselves, I might add) that Reform is “the party of UK farming and farmers”.
It simply is not.
In fact, it is the opposite. Reform and its Farage-vanity-trips leader have advocated for a no-deal Brexit with the EU (cutting off vital UK food export markets), argued for a race to the bottom in terms of environmental and animal welfare standards and continue to trumpet for a trade deal with the US that would open our markets to a flood of unfettered cheap imports of chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-injected beef – injurious to public health (look at the US salmonella etc rates) and a hammer blow of fatal proportions to our UK livestock sector.
For Reform to now describe itself as “The Farmer’s Friend” is akin to Herod applying to lead the NSPCC!