I’m sure we’re all watching the news with all fingers and toes crossed that we’re not looking down the barrel of another major lockdown at some point in the coming months.
But no matter what happens nationally, I think we can all acknowledge that it’s not going to be a sociable winter, by any means.
We may not be banned from leaving our homes, but we are all clearly facing severe restrictions upon our social lives – and we’re all figuring out how to make that work for us.

But this time, we’re forewarned, aren’t we? We’ve already been round this merry-go-round once – so if we’re going to do it again (and this time in rubbish British winter weather too!), let’s go into it with our eyes open, and with a pack of yeast at the ready…

So we want your wisdom.

Last month we collected your COVID thank yous – and it was the most read part of the magazine, with thousands of people reading every single one, sharing individual messages across social media and spreading the simple heartwarming kindness of people.

So we thought why not do it again – only this time we don’t want your nominations, we want your 2020 learned wisdom.
We want to know what has really helped you this year.
Did you take up a new hobby – or actually was it dropping one that eased your mind? Did you find joy in Zooming with your friends? Or did you find a walk every day soothed your soul? Did you take on a new course, start a new exercise class, or were you one of the thousands who finally got a dog?

So – use the form below to share your tips. We’ll print as many as we possibly can, and of course there’s an option to remain anonymous if you wish. The point is we’re a community; so let’s share our collective learning this year – if something you have done or learned or shared could help just one other person in a lonely hour, then it’s worth it, isn’t it?
(and make sure you’re subscribed so that you get a copy of the magazine next Friday!)

Really excited to announce our partnership with the Sherborne Business Awards for local independent traders and businesses.

We’re massive supporters of Nigel Reeve of Marketing West, who fiercely believes it’s time to get business moving again and to start focusing on the positives – of which there are many in our local area. Did you hear Sturminster Newton on Radio 4 last week? Such a brilliant tone of optimism right here in our local Dorset towns.

Local independent businesses were consulted for the Sherborne Busienss Awards before a range of categories drawn up – and the awards ceremony will be a celebration of local business, not an excuse for a party!

The awards will be free to enter; and simple to enter. The entry form will be available on-line, and will take no more than ten minutes to complete.

AWARD CATEGORIES

• Best Community Support (seen to be supporting other businesses or people during the recent issues)
• Best Customer Service
• New Business of the Year
• Independent Business of the Year
• Retail Business of the Year
• Service Provider of the Year
• Cafe /Pub of the year
• Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year
• Rising Star of the Year (16-25 year old either starting out in business or working within a business)
• Business Leader of the Year
• Overall Winner

Entry forms and entry conditions will be available from 1st November 2020.

If you’ve driven through Stalbridge recently, you’ve probably seen the ‘mess’ of the roadside verge. Local Caressence Roden explains what’s going on: 

We are a group of local residents who just love wildflowers and all they bring with them. That includes helping pollinators survive, encouraging birds and wildlife and easing our carbon footprint.

It’s surely a win win situation as we are sowing in public spaces so that everyone can enjoy them. We have a couple of road verges in the town, a central green area and under two of the Stalbridge signs as you drive out of the town. We hope that as our beds become even more successful, we will extend into other verges but for now, we have enough on our plates!

The idea came to us about a year ago and our Town Council decided they liked the idea and gave us some funding to start out. Having never done anything like it before, we knew we would have to learn as we went along….and we have! 

We had some real success with the seeds planted under the road signs and one of the verges and that was because they went into bare soil. The seeds that we sowed onto grass areas, even though we had mowed, scarified and raked, didn’t fair so well. 

So as autumn is the perfect sowing season for wildflower seeds, we hired a turf cutter, got some strong Wild Helpers onboard and got to work. 

We had 9 volunteers turn up on a sunny Saturday morning as once the turf had been cut, it had to be turned over and raked to get rid of the odd large stone and grass tuft. We sowed the seeds and now we hope for a damp autumn with an occasional frost to help them germinate.

The seeds we are using are UK seeds, authentically sourced, so that we can encourage and support the local wildlife. Seeds from abroad are often very pretty and cheaper but we are really trying to care for our own local environment, so UK seeds felt the right way to go.

We love to have other Stalbridge groups onboard with us and have Stalbridge Creative making knitted bees on stilts to hover amongst the wildflowers, The Gugg continues to help us in many ways and before lockdown we had planned to include our primary school in many of the activities. Even so, the children were able to pick up the ingredients needed to make seed bombs, so all wasn’t lost.

Please wish us well for next year….and look out for wildflowers as you drive around Stalbridge next year.