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Driving from Mappowder … | Tales from the Vale

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Editorial team
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Driving from Mappowder up to Hazlebury Bryan, you enter Wonston and, thanks to the imagination of one household (and I’m presuming it was the male), you’ll note an enormous rock of mellow Sherborne stone with the house name, Hawkwell, beautifully carved and emphasised in black.

Despite only being there for a month, the stone has started to weather attractively. Stopping to admire it, I chatted to the affable owner just after it was installed.

I told him how I liked it and, going off on a flight of fancy, asked if the conversation with his wife to have a bold house name plaque went like this.

Husband (hesitantly). ‘I’ve um …ordered a sort of …err plaque so people can find us’.

Wife: ‘Oh, lovely, is it nice and discrete?’

Husband: ‘Err…..sort of.’

Wife (immediately wary): ‘What exactly have you ordered? Not too big is it?’

Husband: ‘No, no, no.  It’s …well … it’s certainly noticeable’.

The house owner laughed when I suggested this and said, ‘not far off it’ or words to that effect.

I should mention that the stone weighs 1.5 tons.  I think it’s great. And no Amazon delivery van will miss it, therefore avoiding diesel fumes as they drive up and down to locate the right house, therefore helping to save the planet. Which is just as well as the house sign consists of a fair part of the planet.

The rock is similar to that which marks the Bere Regis community of Shitterton, near, I believe, where Queen’s guitarist Brian May has a badger sanctuary  – when buying it I wonder if the land agent asked which plot the famous guitarist wanted, and Brian replied, ‘I want it all, and I want it now’, obviously playing air guitar after that last bit.

The reason for this three ton sign is simple: the old sign kept being nicked.  I’m guessing the Hawkwell sign will be there for a while, too.

And on the subject of racy signs, I bring you an anecdote from my dentist, ex-Army colonel Ian Mercier – the only dentist I’ve known who makes me laugh non-stop during an examination and treatment.

When stationed in Germany, he says all new squaddies were entranced by a nearby town which gloried in the name of Wanker (obviously pronounced Vanker, locally). Such was the draw for the soldiers to have their photos and selfies taken next to it, the town had to invest in a car park to accommodate the admiring crowds.

Which brings me to the slightly puzzling sign just on the Sherborne side of Milborne Port which carries the intriguing slogan, ‘The Spirit of Milborne Port’.

Although I do wonder what this spirit is (gin, perhaps, a poltergeist) I do admire the town elders for putting it there.  Actually, it is of course, Community Spirit they’re celebrating, and it’s worth a drive through the town to enjoy the enormous poppies on the side of the through road.

And, I think that Sturminster Newton should do the same. There’s a real community spirit emerging in what was a declining market town. From the scarecrows to the current rash of pumpkins, to the enlivened markets – including the one next Friday, November 6th.

If I could find my hat, I’d put in on in order to then take it off to those responsible for this rejuvenation.  But I can’t find it.

There’s a great local band that usually plays for free on such occasions. I know this because I am guitar tutor for their guitarist, Wild Johnny Dare.

John first came to me when the band was forming. Their raison d’etre is to play 60s music, but they didn’t have a name.  I did suggest that as they were doing old pop songs, and they’ve all matured, more or less gracefully, that the band name should be The Hip Replacements.  Surprisingly this was rejected, after, I should imagine, 1.5 seconds’ consideration, and they’re named The Sturminstrels.

It’s a pleasure working with John on such songs as I was unaware of most of them.  My other students want to learn Led Zeppelin or, in the case of a 12 year-old, stuff by Green Day or Lil Nas X, so I’ve had to quickly learn about 30 ditties by the likes of The Searchers, The Shadows, Roy Orbison, Billy J Kramer and The Beatles. Want to learn Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay or Mustang Sally? I’m yer man.

At first I was a bit sniffy about playing such old stuff, but I quickly learnt that they are invariably fine examples of song writing. Catchy tunes, engaging lyrics, strong start, a good middle eight (or bridge) and a good close.

We’re currently doing Have I The Right, by The Honeycombes. It’s a bit disconcerting if you Google it as the old show is introduced by the ghastly Jimmy Savile (I knew he was a wrong ‘un when I was ten years-old), but the song at the time must have been as shocking as the punk explosion in 1976 (when I bunked off school to see The Clash at the Bournemouth Winter Gardens).

It’s generally Yasser from the Corner Café in the pedestrian bit in Stur that organizes The Sturminstrels to play, possibly with the inducement of his famous Moussaka.  So, pop in and buy a coffee off this genial fella to thank him, if you can.

Andy Palmer

KING, Brian Stanley

By
Editorial team
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Brian Stanley King passed away peacefully at Salisbury District Hospital on 2nd January 2021.

A funeral service to be held at Yeovil Crematorium on Tuesday 2nd February 2021

If you would like to pay your respects to Brian the funeral cortege will be driving through Mere Town Centre around 9.30am

The Blackmore Vale and future farm support

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Editorial team
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For many months we have all been hearing from government that post-Brexit farm support systems under the Common Agricultural Policy will be replaced by “public funds for public goods”.  That might seem reasonable enough, but how exactly will it happen . . . and how will it impact on our local farmers in Dorset ?

Initially it seemed that an Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme would be devised to achieve this.  That is now “work in progress” so more recently the government has announced plans for a transition scheme prior to rolling out the ELM.  Called the Sustainable Farming Incentive it seems mainly geared to farmers not already involved in any current agri-environment scheme. Farmers will probably be required to work towards the government’s environmental and net zero goals to qualify for funding.  The aims of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme indicate that a reasonably large number of farmers should be able to qualify.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

However on Dorset’s low-lying, well hedged, grassland farms – such as exist all across the Blackmore Vale – it is difficult to envisage exactly how such farms will be able to suddenly start delivering public goods over and above what they offer now.  They form a key part of the Dorset landscape, but the government  needs to remember that the rationale for such farms is their capacity to produce food – primarily from livestock and dairy production.  Often the field size – as well as the farm size – is not large. In many cases they are family farms without the resource to deploy staff on to any work that is peripheral to the daily slog of getting cows milked, calves reared, slurry stored and spread, and grassland managed for grazing and silage.

I suspect that encouragement of “farm diversification” will soon resurface as a device for government ducking its responsibility to achieve optimum self-sufficiency in domestic food production.  Some Dorset farmers have been very successful at diversification – farmhouse accommodation, farm shops, and even racehorse training all spring to mind !  But these are not options available to everyone, and without the right expertise can lead to financial disaster.

Climate change and Brexit probably makes it inevitable that farming will have to change. Covid is a further complication – not least as the funds promised for the farming industry will have to come from greatly depleted government resources.  For those of us who value both our rural landscapes and local farm products the years ahead could well be very challenging. 

If we want to keep our farmed landscape we have to think hard how we best support local farmers.  However controversial it might seem paying more for our home-produced food may have to be one future option.

Shaun Leavey OBE FRAgS

Farming Adviser Dorset CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England)

Flea the Pandemic at the Exchange is postponed to January

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Editorial team
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Sturminster Newton’s Taboo Theatre Company, working with playwright Sue Ashby, will still bring the story of this plague that killed untold millions across Europe to the stage of the town’s Exchange.

Flea the Pandemic

The premiere of Flea the Pandemic, Dorset 1348, directed by Craig White, has been pushed back from November to the end of January 2021 by the latest lockdown.

The new dates are Friday 29th and Saturday 30th January 2021 (same timesas before), and the Exchange will be re-allocating all tickets booked for November.

See more details on theFTR here

Subscribe to the blackmore Vale Free here

KEINDLE, Harry

By
Editorial team
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Harry Keindle

In loving memory of our father who passed away peacefully on the 28th october 2020.

Forever in ou thoughts. Gone but not forgotten.

With all our love forever.

Barry, Sally, Margaret, Peter and Lucy.

The Art Stable, Gold Hill, Child Okeford

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Editorial team
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Kelly Ross – Fine Art “Art is too important not to share” (Romero Britto)

Located in the cobbled courtyard of Gold Hill Organic Farm, next to the Café and farm shop, few art galleries can boast such an iconic location. On the sunny Saturday morning I visited, there were clusters of lycra-clad bikers and visitors enjoying the Café’s Cappuccinos and Mango Almond and Polenta Cake, whilst others chatted in the queue at the Farm Shop, all creating a friendly buzz. From the gallery’s doorway is a spectacular view of Hambledon Hill, an Iron Age hill fort: once the site of a Civil War battle, summer walkers can hope to see orchids and glow-worms on its ramparts.

Just a short walk from The Art Stable is Kelly’s home, with its backdrop of the Hill rising steeply to 190 metres above the Blackmore Vale and the River Stour. Indeed, the first revelation of our conversation was not only that she is an oboe player – but she is also an advocate of weekly wild swimming in this same River. An invitation was issued to join her. I’ll let you know if I take up the offer!

Kelly grew up in the Lake District before spending time in Paris. She studied for a History of Art degree which enabled her to begin her art career in several prestigious London Fine Art galleries. In 1999 she moved to Dorset to run the Summerleaze Gallery in Wiltshire; then in 2006, when the barn complex became available, Kelly founded The Art Stable here in Child Okeford. The downstairs gallery is mainly used for solo exhibitions; whilst another more relaxed upstairs space (complete with rustic beams) shows an ever-changing selection of 20th century modern British paintings, prints, and ceramics.

With an eye for talent as well as a caring insight into the Dorset community, Kelly brings national and international artists to her gallery. Up to eight exhibitions are shown each year: whereas some London galleries (due to Covid restrictions) are not scheduling programmes for next year, her diary for 2021 and into 2022 was already pencilled in. Sales have been extremely encouraging during lockdown: because people are spending more time at home, she feels they are more at leisure to consider their interior spaces – and treat themselves. It was important to buy what one liked rather than for investment. “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful,” said Kelly, quoting William Morris.

Over the years Kelly has built up a close relationship with her own stable of artists, many of whom have become her friends. Some are local such as Charlie Baird, Liz Somerville, Ursula Leach, Amanda Vesey, Christopher Riisager, Henrietta Young, Gary Cook, Sally McLaren and Howard Phipps; whilst others are artists with whom Kelly has previously worked. These include such artists as Tobit Roche, who composes beautifully simple and symbolic paintings of trees and clouds; and Thomas Denny, a stained-glass artist and painter who has made some fifty stunning windows for churches and cathedrals all over the UK. These include the Dorset millennium windows at Hinton St Mary and Tarrant Hinton – well worth a visit. Currently on show in The Art Stable was Felice Hodges, a Dorset artist who creates paintings that at first appear wholly abstract – but on continued reflection, seem rooted in a specific place or moment.

One might wonder how this little gem of a gallery can survive in the rural peace and quiet of a village farmyard? But Kelly’s reputation spreads worldwide, with recent online sales to America and Australia from her daily Instagram posts. “There’s a big wide world outside of Child Okeford including weekenders and Londoners,” commented Kelly. “Clients who like my ‘eye’ and what I show. When I’m selecting work for my exhibitions, what I look for are artists who have found their own significant art-language, artists whose particular style you can recognise.

In London I had to have a specific focus for an exhibition – but here I can show a wider variety of work, including things that are not necessarily going to be commercial. If you’re at all interested in art it is good to see different art styles and mediums: that way you discover what you prefer. I like people to come and look and appreciate the artwork – and if they discover something new that they love, then that’s even better.” 

The next Art Stable show is the Christmas exhibition (with a still life theme) which will run from 28th November to 19th December and will include Paintings, Prints and Ceramics by Gallery Artists. This will coincide with Child Okeford’s first Christmas Art Trail organised by village artist Sarah Jack: “to bring some Christmas cheer to our village,” and will take place over the weekend of 27th, 28th and 29th November. Sixteen artists, painters, potters, glass blowers and scarf makers are offering Open Studios to see and buy their work – in a socially distanced way. So, I encourage readers to put these dates into your empty diaries: follow the Art Trail and visit the mellow Gold Hill complex – you can be assured of a warm welcome from Kelly at The Art Stable. (https://www.theartstable.co.uk)

The importance of being untidy gardeners

By
Editorial team
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A ‘charm’ of goldfinches has just landed on the lavender bush at the bottom of our garden. I can count eleven in all; two more than yesterday, and five more than the day before. Word must be getting around…

Our lavender finished flowering months ago, as did many of the other flowering plants in our garden, but though these plants are no longer producing nectar and pollen for insect visitors, this does not diminish their value to other garden wildlife. On the contrary, by resisting the temptation to cut back and ‘tidy up’ at this time of year, we gardeners and allotment holders are providing a life-line for all manner of wild creatures as they prepare to face the challenging winter months ahead. As well as the goldfinches (and other birds) who feast on their nutritious seeds, dead standing plants provide much needed shelter and protection for numerous invertebrates, including many who nest or hibernate over winter inside their hollow stems. To top if off, seed heads are stunning, diverse, and even more beautiful in shape and form, in some cases, than the plants were whilst in bloom.

Equally important for wildlife, if not more so, are fallen leaves. In fact it is impossible to overstate the value of ‘leaf litter’ which, as well as providing a rich layer of humus for the soil, is ‘home’ to spiders, worms, beetles, globular spring tails (new to me and adorably cute!) and many more mini-beasts besides. And of course these invertebrates provide an invaluable protein-rich source of food for birds, amphibians, and small mammals.

So, on behalf of all the invertebrates, birds, small mammals, amphibians and other wild creatures who helped make ‘lockdown’ more bearable for you earlier this year, please… try to resist the temptation to strip your borders bare, and leave at least some of the leaves in your garden for wildlife. If you do need your lawn to be free of leaves, then consider gathering them up whole and, where space allows, create a leaf pile habitat. If you are short on space, place them around shrubs, ornamental trees and perennials, so they can break down naturally whilst still providing a resource for your wild visitors.

by Brigit Strawbridge
http://beestrawbridge.blogspot.com
Twitter: @B_Strawbridge

Bulbarrow Peaks Circular with magnificent Vale Views | 14.4 miles | Dorset Walks

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Editorial team
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This is one of our favourite long walking routes in Dorset. At 14.4 miles you’ll need a full day for this one: it takes us six hours including a stop for lunch. But it’s worth it – this is such a beautiful route across the local big ridges, starting at Rawlsbury Camp. 

The paths are clearly signed, the views are hige and endless … but expect tired legs by the end. You have to earn those views, there is a LOT of Dorset hill to climb! 

Ancient forests, drovers tracks, the Dorsetshire Gap, minimal roads … it’s just a Dorset dream of a walk. One word of warning – a couple of spots will be very muddy after bad weather, so really good boots a must.

Bulbarrow Peaks Circular Walk

Setting off around the side of Rawlsbury Camp, we were set for a pretty wet day.

Bulbarrow Peaks Circular Walk

Following one of the main ancient holloways through the Dorsetshire Gap forest. Spot Courtenay and you will gain the perspective of the trees.

A rare spot of sunshine as we look out across Lyscombe Bottom.

The ancient Green lane to Gallows Corner.

Bulbarrow Peaks Circular Walk

A favourite pause where the bridleways cross on the ridge of Lyscombe Hill.

Wet (very) again on the aproach to Milton Abbey school.

Local Equestrian Community mourns the passing of Pat Burgess MBE

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Editorial team
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Warmth and love radiates from the countless messages and memories being shared for renowned Wilton RDA teacher Pat Burgess, who sadly passed away peacefully on 4th November at home with her family by her side.

Born and raised in South Africa, she emigrated to England in 1964, and when injury forced a stop to her own show jumping career, Pat turned to teaching.

Her teaching reputation grew and during the 1980’s she coached the British Olympic Eventing team, training such legendary names such as Lucinda Green, Richard Meade and Ginny Leng.

Her greatest passion in life was the Wilton RDA. Since 1975 she
was its driving force. She always said she ran the RDA on “love, joy and
enthusiasm”.
Most importantly for Pat the RDA was never simply about how to hold the reins – it was not a ‘lesson’, it was about fun, freedom, confidence, self belief, generosity and love. With these in place the lesson could begin.

In December 2008 Pat was awarded an MBE in recognition of her work with the RDA. Her family and all her friends were extremely proud of her.

Pat was also given the honour of carrying the Olympic torch in 2012. On a very wet day, Pat was cheered on by her family and friends as she charged up one of the steepest hills in Dorset!

Throughout everything Pat never lost her tremendous sense of humour. Her five children, Pete, Jim, Tracey, Tom and Sally, nine grandchildren, nine great grandchildren and many, many friends will miss her enormously and strive to continue her legacy of love, joy and enthusiasm.

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