This month Barry Cuff has chosen a pair of suitably holiday-themed postcards of the coast – both having been sent by children in the 1960s:
Weymouth’s Jubilee Clock Tower is instantly recognisable on the Esplanade in 1966 – many readers will no doubt remember day trips to the beach looking just like this. It would appear Richard was possibly ‘encouraged’ into writing his postcard to Jane – he doesn’t seem to have much to say! ‘Dear Jane. This is a lovely place for a holiday. I wish you were here. Love from Richard
Screenshot
Sent by Rita to her school friend Jane Hancox in Smethwick, near Birmingham from her 1963 summer holiday to the Dorset coast. We can see the rowing boats were for hire at Lulworth Cove at 2/6’ for half an hour, four shillings for an hour, and the sign warns ‘NO responsibility taken whatsoever’! Weymouth pier, known as the Commercial Pier and the Pile Pier, was built in 1812 and demolished in 1986. ‘Dear Jane, I am having a lovely time here at Weymouth and the weather is wonderful. Our caravan is a short way from the sea but is a very pleasant drive. Weymouth has a wide stretch of golden sand and the sea is blue. Over at the pier a number of liners going to France and places like that come to load up. Well see you soon at school. Rita
It’s the second Wednesday in August, so everyone in the rural half of Dorset knows it must be time for the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show. The day dawned drizzly – with more drizzle interspersed with light rain forecast for the next few hours – so it was a damp grey start at Turnpike Showground. But the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show was back and reuniting the rural community – it may have been a slower start than a sunny show day would be, but by lunchtime the raincoats were being folded over arms, the wellies were feeling uncomfortably warm, and the crowd around the Main Ring to cheer on the camel racing was standing five people deep.
And what a joy the camel racing was – the first warm up practice go had us wondering what the ‘racing’ part was all about. But then the camels got competitive. Suddenly thousands of people watched in absolute joy as four GIANT camels hilariously galumphed their way down the ring to get to the bucket of oats first, egged on by their (I suspect irrelevant) jockeys. Totally brilliant!
But there was so much else to see and do! The cattle, sheep and equestrian classes all needed watching – never miss the opportunity to admire and learn about the different breeds. At the FARRRRR end of the showground was the Turnpike Ring, where the countryside acts such as the gun dog display, the falconry, and of course the terrier and ferret racing all happened.
I spent rather too long in the poultry tent – so many different breeds of chicken. And shouty ducks. Lots of fun.
There was dog agility. A funfair. Hundreds of trade stands to meander round (garden furniture to clothing, high street brands to local producers …), plus of course the honey marquee, the horticulture and homecraft classes marquee … There’s just SO MUCH to do and see, the day vanishes before you know it.
And when you’re ready for a sit down (and you’ll need it) there was plenty of choice – the live music stage had performances all day with plenty of seating, the food and drink areas were populated with lots of picnic benches which everyone was sociably sharing, and there’s lots of seating around the rings too. And of course there’s a massive choice on offer for food and drink – plentiful and varied, and though we opted to eat right at lunchtime none of the queues were terribly long.
The G&S is always a special show: it’s deeply local, and never forgets that for more than 160 years it has been an agricultural show. With farming firmly at its heart, it’s a brilliant rural day out for everyone (farmer or not!).
A few images from the 2024 Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show:
I was at the North Dorset election count in Blandford. As I finally left the sports hall around 5:30am, I congratulated the re-elected Conservative MP Simon Hoare, for whom I have a lot of respect. I said to his colleague, “make sure you keep your party from steering into the vile embrace of the far right,” to which he jokingly replied “and you keep Labour sensible!”. The joke was on him – I have as much influence on the Labour Party as my cat does. However, if you are worried or sceptical about this new Labour Government, might I just focus your attention to the very simple, yet very deliberate act of the cabinet appointments. Over the weekend that followed the landslide victory, I felt absolute relief. We have returned to a Government with a leader making ministerial appointments that make sense, with expertise in each position and relevant life experience. British politics has been crying out for this. Our new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is a former director of public prosecutions: someone with experience of management and leading, someone capable of making hard decisions for the greater good. The chancellor of the exchequer is Rachel Reeves – someone whose entire political ambition has been to become chancellor. She worked for the Bank of England, she understands the economy. Then there’s deputy prime minister Angela Rayner – someone who didn’t attend private school or university, who left school at 16 while expecting a baby, has risen through adversity and now holds one of the highest offices in the land. Home secretary Yvette Cooper – former chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, worked for Bill Clinton before his election victory in 1992, served past cabinet positions in the Brown government. She has broad and long term political experience. Minister for Women and Equalities, Bridget Phillipson managed a refuge for women and children fleeing domestic violence. Similarly, Foreign Secretary David Lammy led the campaign for the Windrush generation to be granted full British citizenship, and has been at the forefront of the fight for justice for the families affected by the Grenfell Fire. Minister for Prisons James Timpson – awarded an OBE for services to training and employment for disadvantaged people, is known for advocating for former prisoners. The new Science Minister is Dr Patrick Vallance – clinician, scientist and pharmacologist, past president of R&D at GSK and a former government chief scientific advisor. Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband oversaw the introduction of the Climate Change Act 2008 and is co-chair of the Institute For Public Policy Research Environmental Justice Commission. The attorney general Richard Hermer is a serious international lawyer whose work has included the Afghan unlawful killings inquiry and the task force on accountability for crimes committed in Ukraine. I hope, reading these appointments, I have moved your needle slightly, to feel relief and confidence in this new Labour government. Although this is just the start, I think the foundations have been laid for a successful and meaningful government, to address the issues that we face and enact the positive change that the country needs. Guy Perkins North Dorset Labour Party
One of the things that really energised me as a candidate during the general election campaign was education – yet it received scant wider debate. VAT on private education grabbed some headlines, along with financial stresses in higher education and teachers’ pay. But there was little discussion of education in general. Exam results will be out this month and we will celebrate. No doubt we will also have the ritual fuss about exam regimes, and Labour will talk about its planned review of the curriculum and assessment. The real scandal, though, is in how we fail 16 to 21-year-olds in further education (FE) and training. This issue has great relevance to us here in North Dorset. Kingston Maurward College is merging with Weymouth College from the beginning of August. Kingston Maurward faced acute financial pressures, and might have been forced to close without drastic action. The college is important for our rural economy here in North Dorset as both a centre of excellence and also the closest provider of agricultural and horticultural courses. A merger of two universities in the troubled higher education sector might command national media attention, but not this merger of colleges – because it is in the equally-troubled FE sector. Yes, there is a difference in scale, but I am drawing attention to an ingrained and unjust indifference to further education. The FE sector has been underfunded and undervalued for years, and recently it has been under acute financial pressure. A drive to give parity between vocational and academic qualifications led to the introduction of T-levels by the Conservative government. These T-levels were dumped in the dying days of that administration, for lack of money and direction. Successive governments have talked the talk on apprenticeships and further education, but they have not then walked the walk. We have a desperate need in the UK for a more skilled and motivated workforce – and the most obvious route to it is to provide attractive, well-funded training to young people. We are simply not doing enough. Department for Education statistics show a 40 per cent reduction in under 19-year-olds registered in apprenticeships since 2010. That’s at least 50,000 fewer apprentices, with the greatest reduction since 2016. Labour says it will set up Skills England, make some changes to the Apprenticeship Levy, and will turn FE Colleges into specialist Technical Excellence Colleges. What progress will we actually see on this in five years’ time? The path to growth in our economy is through investment in people and capital. The new government needs to stop paying them lip service and instead demonstrate that it really values further education and training for young people. Businesses invest where there are skilled people, and people are in turn attracted to where there are good jobs. We need a virtuous circle like this in North Dorset if we are to thrive, and it all starts with strong FE and HE colleges nearby. I send best wishes for the future to the staff and students at Kingston Maurward College and our FE colleges across Dorset. We need and value what they do.
From top left to bottom right: Calum Chance, Jean Langedyk, James McLean, Tommy Grimshaw, Becky Bowyer, Justin Langham
Dorset-based Langham Wine Estate celebrated a remarkable achievement at the WineGB Awards 2024. Its Corallian Classic Cuvée NV was named Best NV/MV Classic Cuvée, while the Pinot Noir 2019 won Best Blanc de Noirs and the Wessex Trophy. Additionally, Langham Wine Estate was awarded Best Estate Winery. The WineGB Awards, recognising the excellence of Great Britain’s wine and producers, featured a prestigious judging panel led by co-chairs Susie Barrie MW, Oz Clarke OBE and Peter Richards MW. Head Winemaker Tommy Grimshaw expressed his gratitude for the accolades and credited the hard work of the whole team: ‘We are dedicated to producing exceptional sparkling wines that truly represent our little patch of Dorset, only using grapes grown on our 85-acre vineyard. We believe this commitment is crucial as the English wine scene rapidly expands. We will continue our minimal intervention, traditional method approach, with the aim to produce the best English sparkling wines.’
Wilfrid Shon is making some of the best gin in the world in a Dorset farmyard – and its Asian kick has its roots in a notable 1767 local fair
Wilfrid Shon, Master of Gin and owner of nano-distillery Shroton Fair Gin
One of the most famous scenes in all Thomas Hardy’s novels is the hiring fair in The Mayor of Casterbridge, at which farm labourer Michael Trenchard, in a drunken fury, sells his wife. Two villages in this area lay claim to be the home of that notorious fair – Yarlington near Wincanton, which still has an annual fair, and Shroton near Blandford. Geographically, Shroton might seem to have the more plausible claim, as Thomas Hardy would more likely have known it. Shroton Fair, founded in 1261 in the village under the lea of Hambledon Hill, was probably originally a horse fair, but later became a hiring fair, where tradesmen and craftsmen would hire themselves out for contract work. The fair continued, inevitably changing over time, but finally closing in the 1960s – there must be many in the area who still remember it. Famously, in 1767, a tiger came to Shroton Fair – and that extraordinary exotic visitor has given its image to Wilfrid Shon’s gin, which he produces in a container unit in the courtyard of a farm on the western slopes of Cranborne Chase, just a few miles from Shroton, where he and his family have lived for more than 20 years. Founded just three years ago, Shroton Fair Gin has this summer scored two major successes. It won gold and was judged in the top five per cent of gins in the International Wine and Spirit competition, for which around 1,000 gins were entered. At the Global Spirits Masters awards, more than 400 gins were blind tasted – Master’s medals were awarded to entries scoring higher than gold, meaning Shroton Fair Gin is one of just 36 in the world with a Masters (making 27-year-old Wilfrid a Master of Gin). It is quite an achievement for the young distiller who only began making gin in the wake of Covid, and describes his one-man business as a ‘nano-distillery’. Educated at Sandroyd School near Tisbury, Clayesmore at Iwerne Minster and Canford School, where he did his A levels, Wilfrid read politics at the University of York and gained his masters in warfare and strategy at Leeds. He was working in the events industry in York when the pandemic closed down hospitality. Sensibly, he opted to come home – and began experimenting with the idea of making his own gin.
Grains of Paradise ‘I love cooking, hospitality and booze,’ he says. ‘You could call it my holy trinity! When I came back home I had to do something, so I started experimenting with botanicals to make a gin.’ He spent many months exploring the possibilities but finally found the right combination: ‘I stopped tweaking when I liked it,’ he says. Apart from the essential juniper, Wilfrid began with spices including cardamom, cinnamon and coriander – and later cumin – and some herbs. The mystery ingredient, which gives this gin its very distinctive taste, is a West African pepper called Grains of Paradise (Aframomum melegueta) which comes from the ginger family and has a slightly citrussy flavour. The process begins with these botanicals being soaked in muslin bags for about 18 hours and then drained through a lively mix of grapefruit, lemon, ginger and cranberry. The finished product has ‘a bright mouthfeel,’ says Wilfrid, who recommends drinking Shroton Fair Gin with Fevertree’s Mediterranean tonic and a slice of frozen grapefruit. After he had settled on the recipe, Wilfrid needed somewhere that he could officially distill his new gin. He asked local farming friends, and a few months later was able to move into a little container in the courtyard at Ash Farm, where he is open to customers (including people looking for refills) on Friday and Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. It is a constant learning process – ‘Every day is school day,’ he says, as he discovers more about distilling, the industry and the business of marketing his product. He loves events and meeting new customers – look out for the Shroton Fair Gin stand at this year’s Great Dorset Chilli Festival on the weekend of 3rd-4th August, Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show on 14th and 15th August, Dunster Show on 16th August, Mid Somerset Show on 18th August, Melplash Show on 22nd August and Stock Gaylard Oak Fair on the weekend of 24th and 25th August.
For more information on Shroton Fair Gin and where to buy it, visit shrotonfairgin.co.uk
Shroton Fair Gin’s signature cocktail – a Spiced French 75
The Spiced French 75 Every gin should have a signature cocktail, and this is Shroton Fair Gin’s. It’s an elegant serve which complements the botanicals, and is the perfect aperitif on a warm summer’s evening.
For the spiced syrup:
100g caster sugar
100ml water
1tsp Grains of Paradise
2 dried juniper berries
5 coriander seeds
3cm fresh ginger root, chopped
1 strip lemon zest
1 Strip grapefruit zest
For the cocktail:
10ml lemon juice
10ml grapefruit juice
10ml spiced syrup
Champagne to top up
Ice to shake
Lemon twist to garnish
Method:
Add the water, sugar and spices to a small pan and set over a low heat to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved, increase the heat and boil for three to five minutes until syrupy.
Remove from the heat and add the citrus peel. Leave to cool.
Once at room temperature, strain through a muslin cloth into a sterile bottle and store in the fridge. Pop a champagne flute in the freezer to chill.
When ready, add the gin, citrus juices and syrup to a Boston shaker and shake for 15 to 20 seconds, or until the sides of the shaker feel cool. Strain from a height into the chilled champagne flute to aerate the mixture.
Top up with champagne, and give a gentle stir with a bar spoon, garnish with a lemon twist and serve immediately.
When it was finally over, the media smoke billowing off the election battlefield somewhat obscured the fact that as well as winning all four of its target seats, the Green Party came second in another 39 constituencies. Growing numbers of us are obviously grasping the severity of the unfolding environmental situation. Around two million people voted for the Green Party and its vision for a better future, and more than 3,000 new members have joined since the election ended. No doubt many more would have voted Green had it not been for widespread tactical voting. On which point, as well as being grateful for those people who contacted me before the election to express their support, I appreciated the messages of those who apologetically let me know that they were reluctantly going to vote tactically this time round. Shame it didn’t pay off in North Dorset – close, but no coconut. If we are to enjoy a true democracy, then we need to change the way we elect our politicians. Yet again the first-past-the-post electoral system has given us a government that only received a minority of the vote. This time it was Labour who benefitted, their 34 per cent vote share gaining them 63 per cent of the seats in Parliament. The Conservative’s 24 per cent vote share gave them 19 per cent of the seats, while the other parties’ 42 per cent share of the vote gave them just 18 per cent of the seats. Little wonder the Electoral Reform Society has called the result the most disproportional on record. At the hustings events leading up to the election, there was a noticeable lack of questions about the environment. For far too long now, many politicians – and most of the media – have either denied or down-played the severity of the ever-worsening environmental situation. The unexpectedly rapid onset of the changing climate that we’re now experiencing is a massive wake-up call. We have to halt both the destruction of the natural world and global warming. Not next year. Not next decade. NOW. Time is no longer on our side. The future can still be bright, but only if we work to make it so. Ken Huggins North Dorset Green Party
Responsible for animal welfare, maintenance and health & safety on a 30-acre care farm
Are you an experienced farmer with a passion for cows and all animals?
We are looking for an experienced farmer to join our team as the Live Stock and Site Co-ordinator for our Care Farm near Sherborne.
This is a permanent full-time role
52 weeks of the year, 28 days leave inclusive of Bank Holiday
40 hours a week average over a two-week rotation with alternative weekends
A good degree of flexibility may be possible for the right candidate
Proposed range of hours across a fortnight rotation:
Week 1 8am-4:30/5pm Tuesday-Friday, plus 7 hours each day Saturday Sunday,
Week 2 8am-5pm Tuesday-Friday
Leave can be taken as required within the hours given
Please get in touch if you are interested. We would love to meet you, show you our farm and talk to you about the role and we can send you an application pack.
Please contact Julie Plumley on 01963 210703
Email: [email protected] to arrange a visit and to get an application pack.
Applications closing date: 9am on Monday 2nd September
A local expert from Citizen’s Advice provides timely tips on consumer issues.
Q: ‘My mum is over 80. She has breathing problems and arthritis in her joints. She can’t walk up even the slightest slope and when she goes upstairs she has to go on her bottom. She can’t stand for very long, she can’t manage the vacuum cleaner any more and she gets exhausted just having a shower. My friend said she should claim PIP but I’m not sure that’s right, especially since my mum has savings.’
A: As your mum is over State Pension Age, she cannot make a fresh claim for Personal Independence Payment – but she can make a claim for Attendance Allowance. Attendance Allowance isn’t means tested, so it doesn’t matter what other money you get, and it doesn’t matter how much you have in savings either. Nor will it affect your State Pension, and you can claim it even if you’re still working and earning money. You can claim Attendance Allowance if you:
have reached State Pension age
need extra care or supervision because you have an illness or disability
have needed care or supervision for at least six months because of illness or disability
If you’re terminally ill, you can claim Attendance Allowance straight away – you don’t need to wait six months. You can spend your Attendance Allowance however you like. Lots of people spend it on something that makes life a little bit easier, including things like paying for taxis, helping towards bills or paying for a cleaner or gardener. To apply you can either phone the Attendance Allowance helpline on 0800 731 0122 or download a form on GOV.UK.
It’s always best to telephone, because your payments will be backdated to the date you phoned, as long as you return the form within six weeks. If you simply download the application form, you’ll only be paid from the date that the DWP receives the form. The claim form is quite long and it might seem daunting at first but you can get help either from Citizens Advice or from AgeUK, so don’t let that put you off applying.
