A Winter Wonderland experience, seasonal workshops and children’s craft sessions … create some memories with Christmas at Thorngrove
A sneaky peek into the building of Thorngrove’s Winter Woodland experience
There’s no putting it off any longer – the festive season is here and we are fully in the mood here at Thorngrove in Gillingham! Our small but hard-working team have been tinkering away behind the scenes to prep for the most magical time of year and we have so much going on over the next few weeks. We’d love you to come and make some memories with us! It’s been a difficult year for many of us, and at Thorngrove we’re always doing everything we can to offer experiences that are accessible to all, to find ways in which we can give back to the community. This year we are raising money for Hipp!!Bones, a Gillingham-based youth club for young people with special needs, and we are once again converting one of our large polytunnels into a Winter Woodland experience! Decorated by staff, students, and day service users, taking influence from some of our favourite stories, this walk-through will absolutely help get you in the mood for Christmas, so please do come and take a look, snap some family photos, and tell your friends! It is FREE ENTRY , though we do kindly ask for donations of any size if you can make them – all going to this wonderful local project which is also used by some of our own Employ My Ability students.
What’s on at Thorngrove At the time of reading, our Wreath Making workshops will have already kicked off, but we are hosting more on 3rd, 7th and 9th of December. They are £30 per person, which includes all materials and your finished wreath (plus a hot drink and a mince pie!). If you’re looking to come on a different day, please do get in touch and we’ll gladly find a way to accommodate you – we have discounts for group bookings too! Last year’s workshops were so much fun and we made more wreaths than ever before. No experience is necessary, just come and enjoy yourself and take home the perfect festive wreath (for yourself or even as a gift for someone else). Christmas Crafts for Children returns for TWO DAYS ONLY on 18th Dec and 21st December. Tracey and Georgina will be hosting morning and afternoon sessions, so bring the little ones along to get creative and make some seasonally themed decorations to take home. These are always busy sessions so booking in advance is advised. Tickets are available online here, or just get in touch by phone or email. Our Breakfast with Santa event on Tuesday 19th December is almost sold out – just 10 tickets left at the time of writing! Last but not least, we are hosting our Christmas Market where we will be joined by a diverse range of local businesses, so stop by for the last minute unique gift! Plus of course we have real Christmas trees, decorations, wreaths and gardener’s gifts alongside all your garden essentials. And don’t forget it’s ‘buy one lunch get one lunch free’ in the Secret Garden Cafe every weekday. We can’t wait to see you all!
Full details of everything mentioned above are on our website thorngrovegardencentre.co.uk
Three artists are holding a joint exhibition at The Tithe Barn, Hinton St. Mary on 9th and 10th of December. Amelia Hemmings is a printmaker who makes subtly coloured interiors and landscapes which accent a places spirit. These are often isolated spaces where the viewer fills Amelia’s pictorial spaces with their own ideas and imagination. Sometimes haunting and sometimes upbeat … see where your mood takes you. George Irvine moves about the British Isles continuing to pursue the visceral moments which a shifting landscape can present. His work always starts on location where the contingency of the elements can be important in directing the painting’s outcome. In the studio George continues to work on the paintings where the emphasis is on formal questions. George’s paintings are figurative, yet he holds an attitude towards making which is excited by the abstract. Arabella Brooke is a figurative sculptor who – like some of the greats in modern sculpture such as Giacometti, Moore and Hepworth – uses drawing as a form of enquiry into the three dimensional form. There is a wonderful balance between intense observation and a highly personal imagination. Her arrangements of the figures that interact with one another surprise and delight the viewer, and her sensitive handling of the modelling material can be painterly and playful – but these works are serious, and will move their audience.
Viewings 11am to 4pm each day by appointment through info@foxpitteventing
From left: Tracey Inglis-McBeath, John Taylor, Susan Lilley and Papa
Ever since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of innocent people have fled their homes and country. Many have come to the UK – and one family in particular were kindly hosted by Sue and Nick Lilley of Lydlinch. Ukrainian mum Luda, son Mykyta and daughter Dasha became part of theirs and the villager’s lives for the next 9 months. It was very much a team effort, with many helping with transport to and from school, horse riding, chess, shopping trips, driving lessons and days on Weymouth beach to name but a few! Luda found regular employment and recently the family have managed to acquire their own accommodation in Marnhull. Unfortunately Luda’s husband, Sasha, was unwell; he had heart surgery in Ukraine and was unable to travel with them. But recently, along with grandfather Papa, they have been reunited!
Wanted: accordion Villager John Taylor heard that Papa had to leave his accordion behind, it being too large and heavy to transport, and thought it was a sad situation. He put out a ‘wanted’ request on Dorset Freecycle, on the off-chance that there might somewhere be an unwanted accordion gathering dust. He was immediately contacted by Tracey Inglis-McBeath from Kings Stag – her late father had a dance band, and his accordion featured in their repertoire. Since his passing the delightful Italian Mirandelli accordion has remained in its travelling case. Sue Lilley arranged an evening gathering for Tracey to present the accordion to the unsuspecting Papa, and the whole evenings proceedings were excellently translated by 13 year-old Mykyta! Papa was suitably surprised, but immediately strapped on the accordion and with very stiff fingers got to grips with its numerous keys and buttons.
With elections looming, North Dorset CPRE’s Rupert Hardy challenges unsustainable, unaffordable local housing strategies
An attractive vernacular estate at Old Dairy, Okeford Fitzpaine Images: Rupert Hardy
Sadly, we and others were unable to stop the North Dorset Area Planning Committee from approving a Wyatt Homes development to build 490 (perhaps unnecessary) homes between Blandford and Pimperne last month. Mindful that both local and general elections are expected next year, it is probably a good time to set out some of North Dorset CPRE’s thoughts on new housing in the region for the benefit of developers, councillors, wannabe candidates for Dorset Council (DC), planners and local residents.
How much new housing? News came through in September that North Dorset finally had more than a five-year housing supply, so planning decisions should now follow the development plan – which still means the old North Dorset Local Plan (NDLP). Previously, there was a tilted balance with a presumption in favour of sustainable development. Housing targets for Blandford and its surrounding villages have now been exceeded, thanks to a massive building programme in recent years, so it was a pity the planning committee did not consider this to be important. Curiously there is no planning committee member even representing Blandford. Do remember that Dorset’s demographic is changing, with an increasingly ageing population, so housing demand is driven purely by incomers to the county. Targets have now been exceeded in a lot of North Dorset, but not all, and we have to allow for some more developments going forward. But they should follow the NDLP until DC gets its act together with its new Local Plan – which has made little progress so far. Working with experienced contractors like Ability Bathe Bathrooms is essential for ensuring that any new housing developments meet modern standards and enhance residents’ quality of life.
What type of housing? It is right to criticise our national housebuilders, brands such as Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey, for creating estates with few redeeming features. Many of our historic North Dorset towns, such as Shaftesbury, are now surrounded by them. They are effectively deserts of poor quality anodyne “Noddy boxes”, created without an architect in sight. More importantly, they usually offer the wrong type of housing. Would-be Dorset homebuyers, already living in the county, are desperate for genuinely affordable housing of two to three bedrooms, not the four-bedroom executive homes mostly on offer. The local need is for starter homes and retirement flats – and of course social housing – but that is a scant commodity given the government’s refusal to fund them. Community Land Trusts should be encouraged, as they do provide genuinely affordable housing.
Vernacular or modern? The national housebuilders fail here too, as they produce neither. Polls suggest that housing with vernacular features are popular. At least our local housebuilders, such as CG Fry who created a lot of Poundbury, do try to incorporate traditional features such as thatched roofs and flint and brick banding. Vernacular housing will blend into existing villages far more easily, and may well become indistinguishable in a few decades time. There are also many supporters of modern homes, of course.
Sustainability We are committed to Net Zero and we have badgered DC to force developers to make their homes Net Zero compliant, but it has been slow progress. Rooftop solar is a no-brainer, as is better insulation, while heat pumps are obvious solutions in new housing, even if they are not a perfect answer for many older dwellings. The new Wyatt Homes’ development outside Blandford should be Net Zero compliant, but it did take three iterations to get there. Sustainability also covers transport – and this is difficult, given the inadequacy of good local public transport in rural Dorset, so proximity to transport hubs is crucial. We must try to stop building car-dependent estates. Do not be fooled by those developers’ glossy websites showing cyclists and walkers. Homeowners all too readily reach for their car keys to get anywhere! It would also help if Dorset Highways had a realistic approach to assessing planning applications. They appear too ready to rubber stamp them, even if they are likely to cause severe traffic congestion as Wyatt Homes’s development in Blandford will surely do.
The dull uniformity of many local developments
Density Not everyone will have heard of “gentle density” housing. Primarily it refers to three-to-seven storey housing, a common way to build to deliver housing in European towns. It is less normal here, although there are good examples in Dorset, such as Poundbury which was one of the first to pioneer mixed-use neighbourhoods, where the car is subservient to the pedestrian. The low density, two to three storey “Brookside” developments that are all too common here are bad news for housing supply, commuting distances and carbon emissions. Good agricultural land should be protected if possible. Elements of gentle density housing have found their way into the new Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, which requires local authorities to have design codes in place for developments. These codes don’t fix architectural styles, but set the parameters for the “building envelope” that will be acceptable.
Infrastructure In North Dorset, town infrastructure is creaking at the seams with long queues for doctors and dentists’ surgeries. Please, no more houses without putting in more infrastructure at the same time. It should not be an afterthought.
Protected landscapes We have some beautiful countryside in North Dorset, with a lot within AONBs (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) – which have recently been re-named as National Landscapes. These should be protected by planners and planning committees, not flouted.
Neighbourhood plans Volunteers in dozens of villages have put in hundreds of hours to create Neighbourhood Plans for their communities, suggesting preferred building sites to allow for organic growth. Their policies should not be ignored by DC. The approval of the Wyatt Homes development was a particularly sad day for Pimperne, which had created a very good plan, following government guidelines, and it felt a sad day too for local democracy. Have I said enough?
As the Red Tractor scheme stirs debate, Love Local Trust Local steps up to restore confidence in local, traceable British produce, says founder Barbara Cossins
I write to you today with a deep sense of concern. The Red Tractor food chain assurance scheme is the subject of much discussion at the moment. It recently faced major backlash from the farming community when it announced the Greener Farms Commitment, planned for launch in April 2024. Red Tractor has now said it will not proceed with the implementation of any new standards or additional modules until an independent NFU review, focusing on Red Tractor governance, is completed. The review was ordered after Red Tractor was accused of acting outside its remit when it announced its Greener Farms Commitment – which required farmers to demonstrate the environmental credentials of the food they produce in order to boost retailers’ environmental aims. It was developed with retailers, but with no proper consultation with farmers. The NFU is part of the ownership body of Red Tractor, and concerns were expressed about the independence of the governance review, after it was announced that Red Tractor’s board was intending to lead it. This week, The NFU has appointed consultants Campbell Tickell to undertake the independent review. Red Tractor chair, Christine Tacon, says: ‘The views of our members are very important, and we are sorry that we have been slow to understand them fully. The discussion that has been provoked is essential and offers a great opportunity for the farming sectors and supply chains to work together.’
There is an alternative In 2018, after Open Farm Sunday, I set up a not-for-profit self-funded food label, Love Local Trust Local, to stand up against the clear misuse of the Red Tractor labelling. Dorset’s very own produce label was created to help put consumer trust back into buying local, and to promote products with clear provenance and full traceability Over the last few years, I have been horrified at the misuse of food labelling by certain large supermarkets, with fake farm brands and the Red Tractor logo displayed on food imported from countries with very different farming standards from ours. As a farmer’s wife, I work relentlessly to support and showcase local farmers and producers with a label that the consumer can trust. By using the county flag, the label signifies where the produce is grown, reared, produced, brewed, or caught – thus putting the trust back into buying local while helping to educate consumers about where and how their food is grown. The logo has been designed to be easily recognisable and is adaptable to any county – or nationally.
The silent opinion British farmers have no direct voice to consumers. Our government seemingly isn’t doing anything to help. We must work together and get behind the Love Local Trust Local label. There is no better time to get involved. Our farming industry is fragile, and there is an ongoing concern about where our food will come from in the future. The time is right for shoppers to buy produce from our own land, farmers, and producers. Let’s celebrate everything Britain has to offer – before it is too late.
What CAN you buy for the gardener in your life? Don’t fret – local flower farmer Charlotte Tombs has the answer!
A Hori Hori knife is a Japanese digging, weeding, bulb planter and all round brilliant hand tool
It’s my best Christmas gift guide for the gardener in your life – or maybe just a list of things to add to your own wish list! These are all my personal, tried-and-trusted, most useful items, and I have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone. I’m often asked what my absolute favourite garden tool is and hands down, no hesitation or thought, it’s my Hori Hori knife! A Hori Hori knife is a Japanese digging, weeding, bulb planter and all round brilliant hand tool. I love mine and often give one as a present. I even use it to clean out the chickens. I bought mine from Niwaki, a Dorset-based company near Shaftesbury (they do have a great website for online ordering). My other favourite tool is my gold spade – a Valentine’s present from my husband (listen, it actually IS romantic. He knows me well). Never mind the fact that it’s gold, this brilliant little spade is small, super-sharp and incredibly lightweight. It makes digging tasks an absolute pleasure. Again it’s available from Niwaki and I can see they have added a shovel and a square spade to the gold range … those have promptly been added to my own Christmas list.
Burgon and Ball’s FloraBrite range may not be pretty, but losing your tools in the foliage will be a thing of the past
Don’t cut corners Essential garden snips are next on my list – and Burgon and Ball sell a FloraBrite range – terrific snips with fluorescent coloured handles. No, of course they’re not a thing of beauty, but when you put them down you can find them again! Why do they insist on making them with green handles that just camouflage in? Also by Burgon is a seedling widger – a long, scooped metal tool which is great for potting on seedlings. Yes, I know a butter knife does the same thing but the family is never terribly happy about the knives being used in the garden, for some reason. Another perennially perfect gardener’s gift is a good penknife. Opinel knives are my favourite brand, and you could always get the blade or handle engraved so that it becomes a really lovely personal gift.
Carhartt dungarees – ‘absolute game changers’
The other things Next on my list are my Carhartt overalls, or dungarees as we Brits call them. These are an absolute game changer; they keep the small of your back warm (apologies, I’m in danger of sounding like my grandmother), plus they have loads of pockets, so you get to do the great pat-yourself-down pocket dance! (ETA – top insider tip. If you have a handy friend or relative in the US, have them buy for you there and bring/ship them to you. Even with shipping, Carhartt are a LOT cheaper in America! – Ed) Garden twine is another must-have that is always gratefully received by any gardener. Nutscene make great quality, ethical twine and it’s pretty too; they have some lovely sets which make a basically dull object into a great gift.
A Bucket Barrow is on Charlotte’s wish list
If your gardener sows a lot of seeds and space is tight for germination then a Ladbrooke’s soil blocker is a really useful gadget – you can get 40 seeds to one takeaway plastic tub, plus the lid makes a mini greenhouse. A slightly less garden-y option, but wireless headphones have been an absolute lifesaver for me, enabling one to listen to audiobooks (cough or a favourite podcast such as The BV one) as I potter endlessly (*BV HQ can highly recommend these Sony ones).
Nutscene’s twine isn’t only the best or the most ethical, it might also be the prettiest as a gift
A decent pair of gardening gloves is essential, of course, and I swear by Showa Floreo 370; they are washable, you can still feel and pick things up with them and they are surprisingly hard wearing. Lastly, I don’t have one (yet!) but I do really want a bucket barrow (bucketbarrow.co.uk). It’s a frankly brilliant wheelbarrow with four integrated buckets – absolutely perfect for me on my rather awkward site. Now with that lot you should be able to tackle anything! Here’s to dreaming of next year’s triumphs – the rule is that we can forget about the disasters this year. I’ve learned over the years that its only ever you who actually remembers them.
Hazelbury Bryan primary school’s call to ‘make a noise’ against bullying was answered by a cathedral bellringer’s visit
Tim Joiner (left) setting the bells with Robert Newton and Jane Pridmore
Tim Joiner is a previous Lord Mayor of Westminster and a bell ringer at Brecon Cathedral. When Hazelbury Bryan primary school settled on ‘make a noise’ as the theme for the school’s anti-bullying week, parent-governor Romana Phillips knew just who to call – she couldn’t think of anything more appropriate for ‘making a noise’ than bellringing. Tim was happy to travel from Brecon, and he also contacted the Dorset County Association of Church Bellringers to see if they might put on something special just for the school. St Mary and St James church doesn’t have its own band (the collective noun for group of bellringers), so a group of Dorset bellringers from different churches volunteered to join Tim to perform a quarter peal. ‘That’s ringing 1,250 times around the bells,’ explains Tim. ‘It takes 45 minutes to ring a quarter peal – every time we go round, it has to be a different permutation or combination, a different order of the bells. And you have to memorise it.’
Robert Newton (far left) and Tim Joiner give some of the pupils a quick lesson in bell ringing All images: Laura Hitchcock
Tim holds up a small book with pages filled with rows of numbers – looking remarkably similar to the old logarithm books readers of a certain age will remember from school. ‘Methods for various numbers of bells are laid out across the columns of numbers. That’s bell ringing music. But you’re not allowed to use it, you have to learn it – you’re not allowed to use it during the ringing at all. ‘You end up with something called rope-sight, where you can see where all the bells are. And you instinctively know “I need to be second place …. third place … fourth …” and you don’t even worry about what the other bells are doing. You just need to know which one you’re going to follow. And you do that by listening, and by looking … and to an extent by how quickly your arms are going up and down!’
The quarter peal under way in St Mary and St James church
The band’s all here Tim was joined in Hazelbury by Robert Newton from Hilton, John Close from Winterborne Whitchurch, Angie Jasper from Hampreston, and Jane and Nigel Pridmore. Nigel rings at Puddletown and Jane is the Dorset County Association Training Officer: ‘So I ring everywhere!’ All of the ringers gave up their afternoon to ring the quarter peal – John and Robert came direct from a morning spent ringing near Bridport.
The children were excited to pull the Sally (the colourful padded rope end) and ring a bell
‘On the first day, I talked to the children on school about size and pitch of bells, and showed them how chord changes work, so they got a basic idea,’ explains Tim. ‘It’s actually quite difficult, but they did it! Then on the second day, we played some simple tunes with the handbells. It was a lot of fun, and they did so well.’ Lucy Odhams, Kestrels class teacher, was in charge of the anti-bullying work in school. ‘Making a noise doesn’t mean a physical noise,’ she explains. ‘The children know it means they shouldn’t ignore bullying, and we’ve represented that through the bell ringing. All the children have been ringing bells themselves, and then we were really lucky to have the opportunity to make a really BIG noise in the bell tower. ‘It’s been a great activity, and really kept them focused on making that noise, being able to tell someone if they ever saw bullying happen.’
Tim Joiner with some of the Hazelbury Bryan Primary School pupils in the bell tower
‘We talked a lot about how people might not always be poorly on the outside,‘ continues headteacher Mrs Waring. ‘We’ve got to consider people’s hearts and minds on the inside, too. ‘It’s also been lovely to see that some of our challenging children, those with special educational needs, have absolutely shone this week,. They’ve thoroughly enjoyed the bellringing. It’s been wonderful.’
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
‘I’d not long arrived at my flat in London, and was just warming up some soup when the phone rang,’ he says. ‘I saw it was the Chief Whip, and obviously my first thought was “what have I done now?” ‘But he simply said “The PM would like to know if you want to join the front benches.” Obviously the correct second thought is then “Doing what?!” ‘He then offered me the position of Minister for Local Government, and I had a quick yes-or-no decision to make. Obviously I said yes – but then had to ask “so what happens now?” It’s a massive honour – of course it is – but it’s also new to me. I had no clue what the protocol is. No one prepares you for it! ‘I had two calls in fairly rapid succession – the first was from the Propriety and Ethics team who asked all manner of interesting questions about whether I had been a terrorist, or had ever been convicted of money laundering and the like. Having passed that one with flying colours – I’ve had a rather dull existence, apparently – I was called by the Permanent Secretary to confirm the appointment, and to let me know my Private Secretary would be waiting for me at the Houses of Parliament at 9.15 the following morning. ‘And sure enough, there he was, waiting in the foyer with my badge. He took me to my office which already had my name on the door, the computer was already set up for me, as was a diary already full of appointments. People talk about hitting the ground running, but I’m not sure I’d really done it at such speed before! ‘In theory I know that as soon as the King approves the appointment, you’re it, effectively. But when it actually happens, the sheer speed of it is astonishing. It wasn’t until two hours after the first phone call that I realised I probably ought to call my wife! ‘The whole thing takes some getting used to. I was in a meeting this week and was presented with three possible options for a course of action. I suggested that one was the right way to go, and a few notes were taken. I then asked how we might progress that, who it needed to be passed through or get approval from, and I was met with a slightly surprised face. Turns out my decision had just allocated £190m. That’s how it works. ‘I do have to say a word about the efficiency of the civil servants, who have met me with overwhelming warmth, help and kindness at every step. And I have been touched by the number of colleagues from right across the House who have congratulated me – it’s such an encouragement when even the opposition say ‘it’s about time’ instead of ‘why on earth?’… I must be doing something right!’ Simon started his political career as a parish councillor, before becoming an elected local councillor for 12 years. He’s confident that with his experience of working in local government he has an excellent understanding of his brief. ‘It’s hugely, hugely exciting, and I’m keen for the challenge – I think we all as human beings enjoy being stretched. To be honest I still get a thrill just parking my buttocks on the back benches. Now I’ve a front row seat. And I have to admit, the House looks completely different from down there. Instead of looking down on it from up at the back, I’m inside it. It’s much smaller and far more intimate.’
North Dorset first ‘But I cannot forget that I am only here to do this job because I was first elected by the people of North Dorset and my first duty of care always has been and always will be to them. In France, a civil servant is placed into a constituency when an MP is promoted, to look after matters previously in his care. But we don’t do that in England, and rightly so. I think it is so important to stay anchored and connected with your base, it’s enormously important in everything we do.’ But what exactly is the Minister for Local Government actually responsible for? What will the new job entail? ‘It’s a vast remit – I’m now responsible to Parliament for local funding, special educational needs – in partnership with the DoE of course – adult social care, planning, alongside the planning minister, election law (ensuring systems are in place to guarantee public confidence in a democratic vote, preventing any “we was robbed/it was rigged” shenanigans in the UK!). I’m also the minister for the Covid inquiry and the Commons minister for faith, which means I’ll be taking through the Holocaust Memorial Bill. Today I’m in a Westminster Hall debate on heritage pubs, and later have a meeting about local government funding on the Isle of Wight. ‘But I like to be busy! The devil makes work for idle hands and all that. I think we all like to be busy, don’t we? Just as long as we get tangible results.’
