In this episode, we hear from the New Zealander in Dorchester who has top chefs clamouring for his Cambodian spice import, possibly the most experienced panto dame-in-waiting (is there an award for ‘services to panto’?), and how a lifelong kennelman started hunting humans. Just click play below to listen!
From Phnom Penh to Poundbury: in a fascinating interview, New Zealander George Norbert-Munns tells Terry how he came to bring the delicate gourmet flair of Kampot pepper to the UK’s foodie scene, taking a ‘risk’ on one small shipment – which he sold in his very first weekend!
Gay Pirrie-Weir has been reviewing pantomime for longer than she cares to remember; she’s seen more than 500 productions, she thinks. She chats to Jenny about the history, the tradition, the very best dames – and her first love.
Hunting humans for fun – having become disillusioned with fox hunting, Lifelong hunt kennelman Jeremy Whaley started the South Downs Bloodhounds in 2004: ‘The point is, the hunting of most wild animals with hounds is illegal. It doesn’t matter if it was bad law – it is what it is, it is not going to change and, if we want hound sports to survive, we need to not only move on and hunt within the law, but do so in a way that seeks to impress and educate the average, tolerant, man, woman or any other of the myriad genders that currently exist on the Clapham omnibus.’ Terry reads Jeremy’s interview with The BV – if you missed it, we strongly suggest you click through to see the wonderful photography of the hunt and hounds by Sharon T Photography here: https://bvmag.co.uk/huntinghumans
The North Dorset MP gets an upgrade to the front benches – Simon Hoare is the new Minister for Local Government: officially the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Terry reads his exclusive interview with the BV, in which he told editor Laura Hitchcock just what happens when you unexpectedly get that phone call.
You can read the full December 23 issue of the BV magazine here – jam-packed with incredible Dorset folks doing magnificent things. There’s also farming, equestrian, wildlife, food & drink… and if you like glorious photography you’ll be a fan. Did we mention it’s FREE?
A forestry plan on farmland near Stourhead is proving contentious with the local community – Fanny Charles heard from both sides
A view across part of the site, with a “forest” of tubes showing where Whitesheet Primary School children have planted hundreds of trees. The majority of conifer saplings are not sheathed – the protection is primarily for broadleaf trees. All images Fanny Charles
It sounds like a riddle or an eco-puzzle – and in some ways that’s what it is. But the right tree/wrong tree question is proving very contentious at Stourton, where Nick Hoare, owner of the Stourhead (Western) Estate, is planting new woodland on Bonham Plain. The proposal is to plant 190,000 trees – both conifer and broadleaf, but the majority will be conifer, as softwood timber is what the country needs, says Nick Hoare. ‘We will start to thin in 15 to 20 years time. The woodland will be managed by Continuous Cover Forestry. It will never be clear-felled, but continually thinned and allowed to regenerate naturally. Once in full production (in 60 years), Bonham Plain Wood will grow up to 1,000 tonnes of timber a year.’ The project has been strongly criticised by the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape (formerly the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, aka AONB) as well as local residents, including Francesca Kippen and her husband Erik Ruane, who live in the historic Bonham Manor, adjoining the site. But it is supported and funded by the Forestry Commission, and conservation organisations such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the National Trust, which owns the Stourhead Estate, with its Palladian mansion and world-famous gardens, have not objected. Wiltshire Climate Alliance is among organisations actively supporting the scheme. The petition The Bonham Action Group has drawn up a Save Bonham Farmland petition, which to date has more than 530 signatures. Chaired by Councillor Bridget Wayman of West Knoyle, Wiltshire Council’s representative on the Cranborne Chase NL’s board. The petition, addressed to Steve Barclay, the current Secretary of State for the Environment, reads (in part): ‘Halt plans to smother 200 acres of thriving productive farm land with imported conifer trees for private lumbering, on the edge of Stourhead. The Forestry Commission has ignored objections, not complied with its own consent rules, and ridden roughshod over any opposition from statutory bodies such as the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Forestry Commission needs to be accountable for:
Destroying prime food producing land
Scarring the AONB landscape
Breaking their own rules
Failing to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment
Failing to conduct a Landscape Visual Impact Assessment
Falsely claiming the land to be “unfavourable”
Awarding nearly £1m in taxpayer funded grant-aid on false premise
A map showing the Bonham Plan planting scheme. This is one of the posters on view beside the old runway
‘Instead of benefitting the environment, this forest will benefit a timber company. There is a place and a way to grow trees that do benefit the environment. For example, The Great Wood, Wiltshire, is replacing monoculture, coniferous trees with mixed, native, broadleaves for a biodiverse woodland that optimises carbon capture. ‘We must protect our prime farmland for continued food growth. Bonham farmland is classified as grade 2, Best and Most Versatile land, where the tenant farmer was producing 10t of grain per hectare. ‘We must protect the distinct feature of the open, greensand terrace, sweeping westward from White Sheet Hill, to be conserved for its unique landscape across plains of rich, food producing fields as far as the eye can see. ‘We need to protect against the Forestry Commission marking their own homework, as judge and jury, to meet political tree targets at any cost. The consent process needs to be policed to ensure the Forestry Commission adhere to their own slogan to plant “The Right tree, Right Place, Right Reason.” ‘We call on the government to:
Prioritise prime farmland for food production – no exceptions
Conserve the South West’s Cranborne Chase AONB
Make the Forestry Commission accountable for their dereliction of statutory duties.’
One of the disused runways on the old Zeals airfield, with the line of posters explaining the forestry scheme to the right of the track.
Cllr Wayman says the whole process was conducted with disregard for local opinions and the impact on the community. The Bonham Action Group wants the Forestry Commission to review its approval and to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment, analysing the implications for the environment to provide the basis for an acceptable scheme to be put forward. In direct contrast to their slogan of Right Tree, Right Place, Cllr Wayman says, ‘the Forestry Commission’s behaviour brings us the opposite. This is the wrong tree, wrong place and there has been a failure of process throughout. The Forestry Commission must press the pause button, conduct a proper environmental assessment and consult with the local community so that a suitably considered scheme, which benefits both the environment (in an area which is deemed ‘sensitive’ under EIA regulations) and the community, can be put forward.’ Group members have also questioned a Forestry Commission (government) grant which they claim is around £900,000 for the scheme. Nick Hoare says this figure is wrong. The grant, he says, is £600,000 ‘and it’s for the whole thing, over 15 years, including maintenance.’
Nick Hoare in an old area of the Stourhead (Western) Estate woods
Why no EIA? The lack of an Environmental Impact Assessment, the loss of productive farmland and the damage to an area defined as Greensand Terrace are the key concerns of Cranborne Chase NL, voiced by both the National Landscape’s principal landscape and planning officer Richard Burden and Wiltshire Council representative Bridget Wayman. Richard Burden says: ‘Back in 2019, I advised the Forestry Commission that at least a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment would be needed, and the (then) AONB sustained an objection right through to the Forestry Commissioners considering the proposal (and grant aid).’ The NL’s statement warns: ‘The planting will permanently change its character and views to and from the area for decades to come. Neither an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) nor a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) were carried out, as both were deemed unnecessary by the Forestry Commission; contrary to the Forestry Commission’s own UK Forestry Standard.’ The NL says that this is also in direct breach of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. It points out that Bonham Plain is Grade 2 agricultural land (described as the best and most versatile land) – not Grade 3 as was originally suggested and subsequently corrected. The National Landscape statement continues: ‘Trees are a vital part of some of the Cranborne Chase landscape, contributing to its character and an essential part of its biodiversity. However, the wrong trees in the wrong place can have a lasting and damaging impact on the character of this nationally significant landscape and the public’s appreciation and enjoyment of it.’
One of the posters placed on the old Zeals airfield
The Forestry Commission view A spokesperson for the Forestry Commission sent the BV Magazine the following statement: ‘Wiltshire is benefiting from a significant increase in new woodland and trees, which will help bring the local community together and increase access to nature to improve wellbeing, increase local biodiversity and help meet “national net zero by 2050” ambitions.’ As background information, the spokesman continued: ‘The Forestry Commission does not comment on individual applications for woodland creation. When assessing a woodland creation project, the Forestry Commission is committed to following forestry Environmental Impact Assessment regulations to determine whether a proposal would have a significant effect on the environment.’ In a 2020 blog on the gov.uk website, Mark Broadmeadow, climate change adviser at the Forestry Commission, sets out the framework of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS), which the Commission is responsible for implementing in England. The government has made a commitment to plant up to 30,000 hectares of trees per year, across the UK, by 2025. Under the heading, ‘Right tree, right place, right reason’, the blog gives what is described as a ‘brief insight’ into sustainable forestry, concluding that the UKFS ‘will ensure that the standards for the planning, design and sustainable management of forests and woodlands in the UK use an approach based on internationally recognised science and best practice, with the right tree, planted in the right place and for the right reasons.’
The view towards Whitesheet Hill – objectors are concerned about the loss of this greensand terrace area and the impact the tree-planting will have on views towards the downs
An estate commitment When Nick Hoare, who is also a member of Stourton with Gasper Parish Council, took over the running of the Stourhead (Western) Estate in 2001, he says that maintaining and strengthening biodiversity was a key objective. Creating woodlands and growing timber had been an important feature of the Hoare family’s running of the Stourhead estate since the family bought it in 1717: ‘I am carrying on that process,’ he says. A former jet engine designer for Rolls Royce, Nick is related to the family which originally created the Stourhead landscape gardens in the 18th century. He is also distantly related to the part of the family which runs the private bank C Hoare & Co, founded in 1672 by Sir Richard Hoare. Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare and his wife Alda, whose only son died in the First World War, gave 3,000 acres of Stourhead Estate – comprising Stourhead House and Garden and four working farms – to the National Trust in 1946. Nick’s side of the family retained what is known as the Stourhead (Western) Estate. With his wife, Sara, Nick opened Stourhead Farm Shop in 2005, in partnership with Steve and Louise Harris. In 2015-16 they built four affordable homes for rent in Gasper. Cottages on the estate are only let to full-time local residents (no weekenders). Nick and Sara encourage walkers to enjoy the woods, and clubs and schools use the woods for activities including cycling, running and orienteering. Children from Whitesheet Primary School, along with many local volunteers, have been planting tiny saplings as part of the Bonham Plain project.
A “baby” coastal redwood – one day this tiny sapling could be anything up to 130 metres (nearly 430 feet) high
The plans for the new forest were set out in posters with photographs and statistics beside one of the runways on the wartime Zeals airfield, where they would be seen by the many walkers. (See photographs of some of the posters). The claimed environmental benefits include the woodland absorbing at least 28,000 tonnes of CO2 over the next 30 years. However, says Nick, ‘this may sound a lot, but at our current rate this is the amount of CO2 that just 200 people will emit over that 30 years.’ While tree planting does help, it is only a small part of solving the climate crisis then: ‘Elsewhere on the estate we have improved house insulation, installed air and ground source heating, increased biomass heating and added solar PV panels to houses and farm buildings.’ The forestry scheme is also described on the estate’s website, stourhead.com
The ‘contraption’ – this curious-looking machine plants the tiny saplings. In an earlier life it planted strawberries on the fens in Cambridgeshire.
Biodiversity answers While I was investigating the plans for Bonham Plain forest and sounding out local opinion, one word kept coming up – biodiversity. People who regularly walk in the woods at Gasper, Penselwood, around Alfred’s Tower and along Pen Ridge overlooking Somerset towards Glastonbury Tor, value the wide range of wildlife, plants and trees, and the sounds of a peaceful woodland that is only occasionally interrupted by the roaring buzz of a chainsaw. One ecology-minded local asked specifically about boxes for owls, bats and dormice, whether there would be public footpaths through the new woodland, and whether the existing wildlife-rich scrub (for example, along the old runways) would be retained. The answers were that the scrubby, straggling, overgrown hedges will remain, and that there are already wildlife boxes as well as raptor posts (where the presence of goshawks has been identified). Existing paths will remain, there will be new paths in the new woods, and a circular route will be created, connecting the Temple of Apollo in Stourhead gardens to the bluebell woods. The diversity of wildlife in the forests may come as a surprise, even to those who regularly walk on the many paths: it includes 13 of the resident UK bat species, goshawks and other raptors, 128 plant species, 248 moths and 26 birds. The rare birds recorded include the Marsh Tit, as well as the goshawks (Some of these figures come from a 2022 survey by Butterfly Conservation). Countering objectors’ claims that the new woodland will be a monoculture, Nick explains that there will be 13 species of broadleaf – beech, sycamore, birch and alder (‘this is not oak country,’ he says), as well as shrubs and bushy trees such as crab apple. There will be 14 species of conifer, including Douglas fir, spruce, Western cedar – and some coastal redwoods, famous as the giants of the American Pacific forests. (See photo of a recently planted ‘baby redwood’.) It will take many years for Bonham Plain to reach the level of diversity of the older woodlands, but in the early years it will be a good habitat for voles, hence a great hunting ground for hawks and owls, says Nick. Meanwhile, on a wetland area of the estate, there are signs of beavers at work, evidence of the way these beneficial mammals are gradually colonising rural waterways.
What is continuous cover? The Stourhead (Western) Estate woodland is managed by David Pengelly of Canopy Land Use, experts in continuous cover management. As described by the Continuous Cover Forestry Group, this system ‘is an approach to forest management which aims to develop structurally, visually and biologically diverse forests, in which sustainable production of good quality timber is achieved along with the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services.’ There is no large-scale felling – the kind of clear-felling that scars some hillsides in the Scottish Highlands. Instead, trees are replaced in small groups as needed, with the aim over the years that natural regeneration fills in the gaps and boosts the biodiversity of the forest, while continuing to provide good-sized commercial timber. The UK currently imports 70 per cent of the timber the country needs. Continuous cover woodland helps to address this imbalance, as well as providing environmental benefits. ‘It provides larger logs, which are needed for furniture and building, with knock-on benefits for carbon capture,’ says Nick. ‘It creates a much more complicated habitat which benefits wildlife, and the further you go with continuous cover the better it is for wildlife.’ Walkers in the Stourhead/Gasper woods may spot the occasional larger area of felling – these are usually where larch trees, infected by the Ramorum disease (which also affects sweet chestnuts), have been cut down.
As we age, staying physically active becomes increasingly important for maintaining overall health, mobility, and independence. Engaging in regular physical activity can improve strength, flexibility, and balance, reducing the risk of falls and injuries while enhancing overall well-being. In this article, we’ll explore various strategies and resources to help you stay active as you get older, promoting a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle well into your golden years.
One of the keys to staying active as you age is to embrace a variety of physical activities that cater to your interests, preferences, and abilities. Rather than sticking to a single exercise routine, explore different activities that challenge your body in various ways. Consider activities such as walking, swimming, cycling, dancing, yoga, tai chi, or gardening, each offering unique benefits for physical and mental health. Mixing up your activities not only keeps things interesting but also ensures that you’re engaging different muscle groups and promoting overall fitness.
Incorporate Strength Training
Strength training is essential for maintaining muscle mass, bone density, and overall strength as you age. Incorporating regular strength training exercises into your routine can help prevent age-related muscle loss and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Focus on exercises that target major muscle groups, such as squats, lunges, push-ups, and weightlifting with light dumbbells or resistance bands. Start with light weights and gradually increase resistance as you build strength and confidence. Consult with a fitness professional or personal trainer to develop a safe and effective strength training program tailored to your needs.
Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Hire Can Make A Massive Difference
For individuals with mobility challenges or disabilities, accessing transportation can be a barrier to staying active and engaged in the community. However, wheelchair-accessible vehicle (WAV) hire can make a massive difference by providing accessible and convenient transportation options. Hiring a WAV allows individuals with mobility needs to travel comfortably and independently, whether for medical appointments, social outings, or recreational activities. With features such as wheelchair ramps, lowered floors, and spacious interiors, WAVs provide a safe and comfortable means of transportation, enabling individuals to stay active and maintain their independence.
Prioritise Balance And Flexibility
Maintaining balance and flexibility is crucial for preventing falls and maintaining mobility as you age. Incorporate exercises that focus on improving balance, such as standing on one leg, heel-to-toe walking, or practising yoga poses that challenge your balance. Additionally, include stretching exercises to improve flexibility and range of motion, targeting major muscle groups and joints. Regular stretching can help reduce stiffness, improve posture, and alleviate aches and pains associated with ageing. Consider attending a yoga or Pilates class specifically designed for older adults to improve balance and flexibility in a supportive environment.
Stay Active In Daily Life
Staying active doesn’t necessarily mean dedicating hours to structured exercise routines. Look for opportunities to incorporate physical activity into your daily life, whether it’s taking the stairs instead of the lift, walking or cycling for errands instead of driving, or doing household chores that involve movement and exertion. Even small bursts of activity throughout the day can add up and contribute to your overall fitness and well-being. Find ways to make physical activity a natural and enjoyable part of your daily routine, incorporating movement into your lifestyle wherever possible.
The land area of Dorset is roughly equivalent to its adjoining sea area, which stretches 12 nautical miles from the coast – an area you could call Dorset’s territorial sea. But look at any map and you will see far fewer features (if any) marked in the sea than on land. The mappable features on the seabed are all physical – depth contours, reefs, sandbanks, even tidal currents are reliably predictable. Some of these features are named on Admiralty charts – such as the Shambles Bank, Adamant Shoal, Whitehouse Grounds. Others have local names – Lobster Rock, Blackers Bump. There is also a scattering of shipwrecks – many dating back to the two world wars – and a few man-made features such as maintained channels into Poole and Portland harbours, and pipelines such as the disused radio-active waste pipeline running out from Arish Mell.
Who sees the seashore? The ecological features are harder to map. While land is conveniently divided into tidy packages by walls, fences or uses, the seabed is mostly in the hands of one owner – the Crown – and there are no fences and very few seabed-uses that make an obvious mark. Gathering ecological information in the marine environment, therefore, poses challenges. Dorset Wildlife Trust makes use of a mixture of digital technology and old-fashioned volunteering. The latter ranges from shoreline strollers reporting anything from jellyfish to stranded whales (this year’s signings have included several seahorses, one caught by a child ‘crabbing’ in Poole Harbour)to Seasearch divers trained in the identification of marine species and habitats and Shoresearch volunteers grabbing that short opportunity when the tide is out to search for intertidal species. Other volunteers use snorkels and kayaks to map out shallow water features, such as beds of snakelocks anemones in Kimmeridge Bay. Repeat surveys of the same site can detect long-term changes – in Kimmeridge Bay, volunteers have noticed an increase in the number of furrowed crab among the ledges, compared with juvenile edible crabs, a trend which appears to hold across the south west. Another Kimmeridge Bay group is monitoring the population of peacock’s tail alga – a species which is one of the features of the Purbeck Coast Marine Conservation Zone The use of photogrammetry underwater in Dorset has provided detailed, scaled views of garden-sized patches of seabed – views that are impossible in the real world, where underwater visibility is just a few metres. We have now established three monitoring sites, one of which has been surveyed three times over three years. The same technique has been applied to monitor one of the scars left on the seabed in Poole Bay by cruise ships during the lockdown – still very visible three years later. Photogrammetry has proved to be an invaluable way of documenting habitat change, be that recovery or damage, natural or anthropogenic. It has enabled a much better appreciation and understanding of seabed biotopes and repeat surveys provide an opportunity to monitor change in a way that has not been possible before.
1 – Is Dorset Blue Vinny a) Sparkling wine made with the water of the Blue Pool b) Traditional Dorset recipe for blueberry compote c) Veined cheese made from an ancient and secret recipe
2 – What is Wasabi? a) William Barnes’ question about the provenance of a dumbledore b) Japanese horseradish, exclusively grown in the UK in Dorset c) The ancient Japanese art of folding the roots of plants
3 – What is a Poll Dorset? a) The county’s traditional version of a Maypole, originally made from wooden spars from the wrecked boats of the Spanish Armada (1588) b) A native breed sheep c) The confusion that locally surrounds a General Election, where Dorset residents question why we vote for people whose bosses don’t care about the area outside the M25
4 – Who coined the phrase ‘The Vale of the Little Dairies’? a) Recent environment minister George Eustice b) Thomas Hardy c) The manufacturers of face coverings made from milk and calf hide
5 – Where is the Guild of Fine Food based? a) Gillingham in Dorset b) Jamie Oliver’s HQ c) Lyon in France
6 – What was the Roman name for Dorchester? a) Drome b) Wessixii c) Durnovaria
7 – What is a farmer’s market? a) A place where farmers go to find new staff b) A place to buy livestock c) A chance for local producers to meet potential customers and sell their wares
8 – Where are Dorset Cereals made? a) At Poundbury b) In Poole c) In Poland
9 – What is a Dorset Naga? a) Dorset farmer’s wife when he comes in without taking his boots off. Again. b) Once the world’s hottest chilli pepper, developed in Dorset at 1.5 million Scovilles c) Famous racehorse bred in the Piddle Valley
10 – What are Dorset Knobs? a) The famously tough local rugby team b) Sari Smith on a day trip south c) Small round high-baked biscuits for eating with cheese
11 – Who were the Dorset Clubmen? a) The county’s first Mini appreciation society b) The original name for Dorset County Cricket Club c) Local civil war militia protecting the rural communities from both Cavaliers and Roundheads
12 – How is Black Cow Vodka sourced? a) By painstakingly following every black Dorset cow as it goes about its business b) From the left ears of Russian cattle of a dusky disposition c) From pure Dorset milk
13 – Where was that Hovis advert actually filmed? a) Haworth, Yorkshire b) Gold Hill, Shaftesbury c) Pinewood Studios, London
14 – What is Slack Ma Gurdle? a) An instruction from a wealthy Alabama heiress to her servant. b) A Dorset apple c) A dance step discovered by Tim Laycock in a sheaf of musical memorabilia, hidden under the stag on the roadside arch at the Charborough home of MP Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.
15 – What is Ironed Maiden? a) The best domestic services company in Sherborne b) The best Iron Maiden tribute band in Europe, with lead guitar from Luke Rake, the principal of Kingston Maurward College. c) A Dorset witch, having undergone the local medieval method of hot torture.
16 – What is a baking bird? a) Upwey baker Lizzie Crow b) A ceramic blackbird used to stop soggy pastry descending into the depths of a pie. c) The Dorset version of a Stargazy Pie, in which murmurations of starlings are netted and baked to prevent further disturbances in the pristine skies over Portland (in other areas, their place in the pie is taken by rabbits, often accompanied by a popular song from Flanagan and Allen).
17 – What is Hod Hill? a) Where Dorset bricklayers are said to go when they retire b) The largest hillfort in Dorset c) Victorian slang for the pile of coal when the coal man’s been.
18 – What was Durdle Door originally called? a) Duddledoor b) Durdle-rock Door c) Dirdale Door
ANSWERS
1C | 2B | 3B | 4B | 5A | 6C | 7C | 8C | 9B | 10 C | 11C | 12C | 13B | 14B | 15B | 16A | 17B | 18 all of the above!
Jane Adams delves into the peculiar world of lichen, revealing a vibrant, year-round splash of colour in the UK’s landscapes, even on the darkest days
Sprouting from the rotten wood of the gatepost were tiny cups on stalks, like miniature golf tees All images: Jane Adams
This week, nature reminded me that even its tiniest wonders still have the capacity to surprise and amaze. I had been leaning on an old gate, watching a mother roe deer and her two youngsters. Since June, her fawn’s coats have morphed from camouflaged caramel swirls to the soft beige that now matches her own. Turning to leave, something caught my eye. Sprouting from the rotten wood of the gatepost were tiny cups on stalks, like miniature golf tees. For a while, I lost myself in this Lilliputian ecosystem raised four-feet above the ground, a place so intricate and delicate, yet completely beyond my comprehension – like peering into an alien world. Back home, and having taken lots of photographs, I identified the stalks as apothecia, the reproductive hubs of lichens, ready to release their spores.
Some are like green coral growing on bark
Lichens are weird These strange organisms aren’t plants. Instead they’re a mashup of fungus and alga and/or cyanobacterium. And with more than 1,800 recorded species in the UK – 710 of which grow in Dorset – it’s surprising we don’t notice lichens more. Not only do they grow on pretty much any undisturbed natural substance including stone, wood and bark, but they’ll also happily wander across metal, glass and even plastics. The fungus bit makes up roughly 95 per cent of the lichen and provides the structure, and the alga and/or cyanobacterium provide the nourishment, through photosynthesis. Since then, of course, I’ve been noticing lichens everywhere. White blotchy ones, like paint splatters on walls. Bright orange ones creeping over gravestones. Some like green and yellow coral growing on bark, while other species hang like verdant tinsel from twigs. Our trees may have lost their autumn leaves, but lichens keep their glowing colours year round. So if you’re looking for something a little bit different, something that glows on the bleakest of winter days, keep an eye out for lichens – and lose yourself in their other-worldly magic.
Even nature’s tiniest wonders still have the capacity to surprise
Lichen information The British Lichen Society britishlichensociety.org.uk Some fantastic photographs of Dorset lichens (and other local wildlife) on Jenny Seawright’s website dorsetnature.co.uk Mike Sutcliffe’s photos and help with identification of British Lichens: britishlichens.co.uk
It’s a lovely cross-country drive from north Dorset to Moonfleet Manor, on the Fleet lagoon between Abbotsbury and Weymouth – but is the hour-long journey worth it for dinner?
Moonfleet manor All images: Courtenay Hitchcock
Fleet House was built more than 400 years ago, and the current Georgian structure was immortalised in J Meade Falkner’s classic smugglers tale Moonfleet. It became a hotel after the Second World War, and in 1987 Luxury Family Hotels took over, restoring it, and renaming it in honour of the famous book. A multi-million transformation was completed last year. The drive was glorious but we arrived at the last minute – to a warm, unhurried welcome and we were invited to relax by the fire with a cocktail before dinner. It would have been nice if my Moonfleet French on the ‘local cocktails’ menu had contained Dorset gin and wine, but it was delicious anyway. The mocktail menu was excellent too – Courtenay’s non-alcoholic Moonfleet Sunset was as tasty as it was pretty! Eventually we dragged ourselves away from the comfy sofas and moved into the restaurant – I’m sure there is a spectacular sea view during the day, but in winter it’s too dark to see. The long narrow restaurant with its big windows feels rather like being on a cruise ship.
The restaurant felt rather like being on a cruise ship
Schneaky schnitzel The evening menu was reassuringly small, with just five or six seasonal choices for each course. I opted to start with the pan-seared prawns in garlic and herb butter on sourdough from the specials menu , while C picked cured chalk stream trout on sourdough with capers and lemon. The prawns were perfect – tender, flavourful and not drowned by the garlic. C’s trout was beautifully smooth and similarly delicately balanced. We both had a glass of Argentinian malbec (Don David El Esteco), which was excellent.
For the main course, I chose the Creedy Carver chicken schnitzel, served with a Burford Brown fried egg, capers, anchovies and fries. This is not for the faint-hearted – the schnitzel was ENORMOUS. The chicken was beautifully cooked and incredibly tasty, and the combination with the capers and anchovies was heavenly. The crumb was a little hefty for me, and sadly, as it cooled it inevitably became a little greasy. For presentation the schnitzel was served on a square of paper, which looked pretty but started to disintegrate under the chicken halfway through. However, I was eating slowly because the very good schnitzel was so big – who’s complaining?! C chose the Huntsham Court Farm 8oz Longhorn sirloin with chips and a peppercorn sauce.
Cured chalk stream trout
The steak was very thick – but skilfully cooked to perfection, meltingly tender and so full of flavour he closed his eyes for the first mouthful. Our brilliant waiter James, funny., attentive, but not too present, full of knowledge about the food on the menu and clearly a very bad influence, talked us into dessert. C opted for the sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and ice cream, while I made the only error of the night. I ordered the Paris-Brest. It arrived … and I heaved a sigh of despair. The luscious concoction of pastry and cream and almonds was gigantic. On the other hand – it turned out to be giddy-makingly delicious. The ring of choux pastry was filled to bursting with the lightest, most delicate praline crème mousseline. I couldn’t finish, and in the end had to bribe C into ‘sharing’ some of it – once he had slowly devoured ‘possibly the best sticky toffee pudding I’ve ever had.’
That Paris-Brest, with the perfect sticky toffee pudding in the background
After we managed to find our feet and actually walk again, we wound our way back to the roaring fire in the lounge to enjoy coffee on the deep sofas. The benefit of being a hotel restaurant is that there was no sense that staff were itching for us to finish up so that they could go home – there was no rush at all, and we relaxed gently and chatted until very late, genuinely reluctant to leave. And as much as the delicious food, that’s the joy of Moonfleet. The welcome was warm, the mood was relaxed and easy – we can’t wait to return.
Dinner for two including cocktails and wine came to £149
