The Old School house in Sturminster Newton reflects fascinating local history, some of it personal, says Roger Guttridge.
Declaration of the poll at the Old School, Sturminster Newton, 1910
It’s a private house today, appropriately named The Old School, but the building in Penny Street, Sturminster Newton, has seen more than its share of uses across almost 200 years.
My ‘then’ picture above dates from 1910 and shows a crowd gathered outside for the declaration of the poll to elect the MP for Dorset North.
There were two general elections that year, both won in Dorset North by Conservative Sir Randolph Baker with a majority of 149 in January and 32 in December.
On both occasions his sole opponent was Arthur Wills, who had first won the seat for the Liberals in a by-election in 1905 and retained it in a general election the following year. Sir Randolph was the defeated candidate in those previous elections. The Old School, whose mighty buttresses tower imposingly above Penny Street, was built in, or a little before, 1835 by the Rev Thomas Lane Fox. He wanted to educate ‘the poor boys of this parish’, many of whom would have transferred in 1835 from the mixed Church School in what is now St Mary’s Church Hall.
It later became the Secondary Modern School and in my primary school years in the late 1950s it doubled as the canteen for pupils of the Junior School in Bridge Street (now the William Barnes School).
Every lunchtime we would file along Church Lane to claim our ‘school dinners’, cooked in, and served from, the later extension to the L-shaped Old School building. I remember that a large portrait hung on the wall of the larger hall section, where we ate.
I’ve always imagined that this was a picture of William Barnes, the poet, but this may be my memory playing tricks.
Old School, Sturminster Newton now
What is now the Old School’s garden was the school playground in the ’50s and I recall that there were classrooms and offices around the perimeter, now all gone. My mother, Connie Guttridge, worked in the canteen until recruited as secretary to headmaster, Stanley Tozer, in preparation for the move to the new Secondary Modern School in Bath Road, which opened in 1960 and became the High School in 1968. For a few years after 1960 the Old School hall hosted social events such as meetings of the Silver Thread Club.
We’re excited to say it’s now totally FREE (and super-easy) for charity and not-for-profit events (and just a £10 flat fee for business and ‘for-profit’ events) to list on our new BV ‘What’s On’ calendar, making it easy for evryone to find Whats On Blackmore Vale events!
One of the things we’re asked most to publicise are local fundraiser events – and it’s always difficult to say ‘sorry, we don’t have room’. But of course we’re limited on space for free listings, and small charity events and fundraisers simply shouldn’t have to use their budget to pay for advertising. To solve this, we’ve made it so that EVERYONE can advertise their events on our website – and most of them for FREE!
Have an event you’d like to share with our thousands of readers?
If you’re a charity, or are running a free, not-for-profit or fundraiser event, then advertise your event for the Blackmore Vale on the BV’s What’s On page. Just add all the details here https://www.theblackmorevale.co.uk/add-your-whats-on-event/ , along with a picture. We’ll automagically add it to the calendar – and even add directions from Google maps for you.
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Whether you’re a local or simply visiting, you still want to know the upcoming Whats On Blackmore Vale events – if there’s a car boot sale on this weekend, a church jumble sale or a 5k fun run. Maybe you’re looking for a local comedy night, an amateur dramatics production, and let’s not forget carol singing or village fetes. What, when and where, how much it is, where to get tickets and even how long it’ll take you to get there too.Upload your event now – it couldn’t be easier!
“It’s all linked and never finished”. And Carl Mintern wouldn’t have it any other way now he’s discovered the joys of self-sufficiency, Tracie Beardsley reports in this month’s A Country Living.
Carl Mintern with a haul of wild oyster mushrooms from near his home
After restoring an old farmhouse in Lovington, local builder Carl found himself moving into it. His client had decided to rent the property rather than live there, and gave Carl first refusal and a significantly reduced rent. The house came with eight acres of land.
Four years on, Carl and his wife Jackie, along with their three teenage children, have created a self- sufficient lifestyle, living off the land as much as possible.
Carl explains: “Until that point, we had no intention of growing our own food. I’d grown a few carrots, and we’d kept a few hens for eggs but the idea of self-sufficiency and doing things to the level I do now just wasn’t in my zeitgeist.” That level includes producing as much of their own food as possible. Their smallholding is home to a menagerie of hens, ducks, pigs, goats and sheep. Feeding stock with the by-products of bakeries and fruit and veg shops that would otherwise go to landfill reduces waste and their own carbon footprint. “Every animal pays for itself,” Carl explains. He makes his own cheese and ice-cream – enjoying 20 pints of milk a day from two goats. He even slaughters and butchers his pigs himself, having learnt how to do this from books and YouTube. His first pig took him three days to slaughter and butcher. Three years on, it’s gun- to-freezer in three hours. “What became clear to me from the moment we moved in was that we shouldn’t waste this opportunity. I’d never had land before. I didn’t want our time here just being the same as what we usually did – working, watching Netflix, going to bed. This desire was coupled with an immense sense of custodianship of the land.”
A proud Carl showing off a success from his first time growing a vegetable garden
Hitting the ground running
The boxes were barely unpacked when Carl set to work. Within the first year, he’d created a vegetable garden, erected a polytunnel, bought in pigs and goats to rear, started digging a pond and learnt about bee- keeping. He’d already taught himself how to forage and is now an expert, leading foraging courses across Dorset and Somerset and most recently writing a regular column on the topic here in the BV (see this month’s on page 56). “I’d had a rural childhood – poaching trout and dabbling in foraging,” he explains “but I really got into it when I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. I couldn’t work for six weeks while I underwent chemotherapy so I immersed myself in mushroom foraging and went from becoming an enthusiast to an expert.
“Wild, edible plants are a ridiculously neglected amazing source of free food – absolute gems,” he explains as he shows me a kitchen shelf groaning under pots of dried foraged mushrooms and walnuts. “We’re not talking food miles, we’re talking food metres when you walk and forage.” Carl shares his passion for self-sufficiency in a series of brilliantly informative podcasts – just look for the ‘self sufficient hub’ podcast to listen in. “Wherever you live, whatever your lifestyle, you can grow some of your own food and be more self-sufficient than you are. I want to share my ideas and passion with anyone prepared to listen. Growing your own food is the Swiss army knife of sustainability. It improves soil health, it sequesters CO2 from the atmosphere and it tastes incredible! And when you sit down to a meal and literally everything on the plate is something you have helped produce – that’s a phenomenal feeling.”
Carl spending a moment with a one-day-old baby goat, born in his garden from his milking herd
Big plans and new adventures
Sadly, the ‘Good Life’ is drawing to an end in Lovington as the owner of the farmhouse is reclaiming her property. But Carl is determined to continue his self-sufficiency adventure. “I’m planning to buy a field where I can create a learning centre and set up the smallholding again.
‘’My vision is that I can teach people the skills I’ve gained – the principles of permaculture, how to grow your own food, to preserve, to forage, to compost, to make cheese, bake sourdough, master the art of fermenting. I want to pass on to others all the things I’ve spent the last four years immersing myself in – things I didn’t realise I loved until we lived off the land.”
Find out more about Carl at Self Sufficient Hub. Carl’s Foraging Courses in Dorset and Somerset are now available – full details are on Carl’s website here.
Carl harvesting wild oyster mushrooms which will feed his family (excess will be dried and preserved for use later in the year).
Quick-fire questions with Carl:
Favourite book?
The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery; self- sufficiency learnt on the great plains of America, covering everything from milking a goat to midwifery.
Dinner party guest?
Sam Harris – neuroscientist and moral philosopher, master meditator – I’m a big fan of his.
The equinox on March 20th is a sad day for star gazers as that’s when days become longer than the nights, says expert Rob Nolan. But there’s still lots of astral excitement to observe.
NGC2244
Well, we’ve certainly had some changeable weather this past month, ending with storm Eunice tearing through the south west on Friday the 18th Feb. Certainly not conducive weather for star gazing by any means! High winds have been a theme recently. Given that we’ve just celebrated Valentine’s Day, it seemed only fitting to give you all the gift of a Rose this month! Like many, though, mine is a bit late for the 14th February… The Rosette (or Rosetta) Nebula’s appearance in optical light resembles a rose flower, or the rosette, the stylized flower design used in sculptural objects since ancient times, and the nebula was named after the design.
The nebula has earned the nickname the Skull because it also closely resembles the human skull. I much prefer to see it as a rose though.
A beautiful nebula
The Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237) is one of my favourite objects in the winter sky to photograph. It’s an unbelievably beautiful nebula in constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. It has an apparent magnitude of 9.0 and is approximately 5,200 light years away from Earth. The nebula is a large cloud of gas and dust that lies near a large molecular cloud and is closely associated with the open cluster NGC 2244, whose stars were formed from the nebula’s matter in the last five million years.
The surrounding gas that forms a ring around the dark centre is glowing because it is being blasted by radiation from nearby stars (I know, I’m destroying the rose romanticism now), making the Rosette Nebula an emission nebula made up of hydrogen gas, giving it a red colour when imaged.
This image is also my first mosaic composition, which was created by stitching four separate images together to make the overall image, providing higher overall detail. Each Panel of the mosaic contains two and a half hours of data. This was shot in January this year using a Skywatcher 200 PDS Newtonian Reflector Telescope and Cooled Astro Camera.
The Night Sky, March 2022 – Rob’s tips for your stargazing this month:
Winter officially ends in less than a month on the 20th March. At which point we will pass equinox, and the days become longer than the night. The most exciting changes may happen in the southern skies at the moment, but now is a great time to have a look at some of the northern constellations that are visible every night of the year. Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco and Ursa Major and Minor are all visible and should be explored. Gemini in the Southern Skies plays host to the bright stars Castor and Pollox.
Castor is actually a family made up of six stars, with three pairs of stars all gravitationally bound to each other, which can be seen when observing them through a small telescope.
Pollux is cooler, and appears more orange, but it’s also not alone. A planet larger than Jupiter orbits Pollux, called Thestias. Gemini is also home to a beautiful star cluster, M35, which can be seen with the unaided eye despite being nearly 2,800 light years away from Earth.
Praesepe – also known as The Beehive – is a swarm of more than 1,000 stars, visible as a faint misty patch in Cancer to the unaided eye, between Gemini and Leo. It was first distinguished as a group of stars by Galileo – grab a pair of binoculars or a small telescope to take a closer look.
Other events to enjoy this month start on the 8th of March, when the Moon is near the Pleiades. As mentioned, on the 20th March, the Spring Equinox occurs, a saddening time for astronomers as it marks the beginning of the end of the few long nights we’ve enjoyed during the autumn and winter months.
On the 28th March, just before dawn, look low towards the south-east to observer Venus with the narrow crescent Moon below. If you have a pair of binoculars to hand, you can also see Saturn and Mars in the vicinity.
Most of the planets in our Solar System are only visible just before dawn during March, with the exception of Uranus, which is observable by binoculars or a telescope all night long.
by Rob Nolan – Find RPN Photography on Facebook here
From garden design, journalism and fashion and textiles, to a new career as an artist, Dianne Mary Alice explains to Edwina Baines how she goes about her unique creative life.
Dianne in the Rotunda Gallery, at the Philpot Museum, Lyme Regis with some of her paintings and sketch books image: Edwina Baines
The artist’s journey is a process of self-discovery, filled with doubts, dreams and challenges. From the issues of making a living and dealing with rejection to finding and expressing themselves in their true voice, the creative artist lives in a world of profound questions and subtle choices.
Charting her progress over recent years, Dianne’s first solo exhibition, entitled An Artist’s Journey, runs until March 6th in the Rotunda Gallery, at the Philpot Museum, Lyme Regis. In one of the older parts of Lyme Regis, this museum stands on the site of famous fossil collector
Mary Anning’s home; and the Rotunda Gallery is situated at the top of its quirky tower – the glass dome providing a wonderfully lit space for display purposes.
A winding path
Every journey has a starting point: for Dianne it was a Fashion and Textiles course, followed by theatre costume design and training for a knitting-machine designer and inventor. For several years she worked in publishing, on Prima, the woman’s journal – before deciding on a change of course. After retraining, for the remainder of her career she worked as a garden designer: and as a lover of flowers, plants, landscapes, the sea and dogs, these motifs are now reflected in her artwork. Locations have changed from Newcastle upon Tyne, Leicester and London but with a new home in Dorset came the move to full- time painting. During our drive from her home in Weymouth via Symondsbury to Lyme Regis, Dianne chatted to me: “I like to try new things and find out about different artists. I’m always yearning to learn more and experiment with different media. Colour and texture are important to me and perhaps that is why I like to use thick paint and a palette knife.”
A Dianne Mary Alice watercolour titled ‘Little Black Dog’, featuring her ‘chien de lapin’ Oliver, who she rescued whilst on holiday in France image: Edwina Baines
A Show Of Love
Lyme Bay Arts runs Sou’-Sou’- West Contemporary Art Gallery on the Symondsbury estate, where local artists exhibit throughout the year. The current one, ‘A Show of Love’, features one of Dianne’s mixed media collages entitled ‘Lovely Things’ and includes a picture of her dear little dog, Oliver (see above).
She explained, “When boating on the Canal du Midi in France we found him on the tow path in a very poor state (or perhaps he found us!); he couldn’t even stand.
A marvellous French vet said he might have a chance and a few days later he began to perk up, so we decided to keep him. The vet called him ‘un chien de lapin’ as similar looking dogs were used for rabbit hunting. He remains a bit of a hunter!”
From her home in Weymouth, Dianne can walk out with Oliver across the fields to Bowleaze Cove for local inspiration.
Here on the often-isolated sand and pebble beach, the big skies, reflective light and ever changing sea provides inspiration – and explains the colourful, exuberant vigour in Dianne’s work.
“Initial sketches and line drawings are done ‘plein air’ whenever possible, often moving on to underpainting in acrylic and ending with oil,” she explained. There are several more Exhibitions in the offing. A new group show is being run by Casterbridge Arts Society in Poundbury, Dorchester, over the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend in June. Focusing on conservation and preservation, it will be entitled “It’s Up to Us.” Dianne is hoping to work on a large canvas which will feature the theme of fish – a North Devon fisherman friend has provided lovely images for inspiration.
The wave – Oil : pictture by Edwina Baines
Take Three Artists
Over Mothering Sunday weekend, March 25th/26th, the ‘Take Three Artists’ exhibition will include Elaine Harris, Debbie Leech and Dianne Mary Alice showing their work in Upwey Village Hall. All three artists are members and volunteers of Artwey, a Community Interest Company of around 60 artists based in Weymouth, Portland and Dorchester. Their mission is to promote the visual arts through their website, exhibitions, open studios, art trails and workshops. Members work in a variety of media from paint to print, sculpture to textiles, ceramics to photography and much more.
Elaine Harris is fascinated by the ebb and flow of a wave, a big sky, a foggy day, a wild bouquet, sunlight through leaves, the quietness of a still moment. She says of her work: “I photograph, I draw, I paint. I try out different and new techniques. I am on a constant quest to learn, to improve, to refine and to visually describe the image which I have in my head.”
Debbie Leech is keen to indulge her love of all things creative. She enjoys painting and printmaking and attends regular life classes and workshops. What she says could apply to all three of these artists: “My journey is on-going and I am still learning every time I pull a print, experiencing equal amounts of excitement and frustration. Seeking creativity in the many avenues of art helps to keep me sane and happy. It is such an uplifting feeling bringing something to life that is personal and original.”
Dianne and Oliver in Lyme Regis’ Philpot Museum. On the right is the oil – The Wave
Looking forward to Dorset Art Weeks on 14 – 29 May, Artwey members will be exhibiting at the historic Nothe Fort at the entrance to Weymouth harbour for Dorset Art Weeks. Some dates to get in our diaries!
Expert help on common domestic legal issues from the team at Porter Dodson LLP.
There’s no legal requirement to do so, but using a solicitor for your house move reduces your risk, says Jenny Cottrell from Porter Dodson.
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There is no requirement that you use a solicitor, or licensed conveyancer, when buying a house; you could choose to represent yourself. However, when making this decision, ask yourself: why should I consider using a solicitor when buying a house?
Protecting your investment
Using a solicitor will give you peace of mind that you have been advised of any hidden legal issues you might otherwise be unaware of. You will be reassured that you will be able to sell your property when the time comes without issue.
Less hassle
Buying a house involves dealing with lots of different people; estate agents, mortgage companies, the land registry, search providers, HMRC and the seller. Your solicitor will communicate with all these people for you, taking the strain of coordinating the process off you and making sure that all payments are made on your behalf.
Mortgage lenders may require that you do
If you need to take out a mortgage to finance your purchase, your mortgage lender may insist that you use a solicitor to ensure that their interest in the property is properly protected.
Your solicitor’s role
• Guide you through the process • Carry out property searches to reveal any issues • Report to you on the legal aspects of the property and raise any questions with the seller that need to be answered • Complete a stamp duty land tax return and pay any stamp duty land tax triggered by your purchase • Report to your lender and deal with the transfer of mortgage funds • Coordinate the exchange and completion of the purchase • Register you as the new legal owner with the Land Registry.
So, whilst you do not need a solicitor to sell your house in England and Wales, the risks of doing your own conveyancing if you don’t have any experience are very high. Buying or selling a house can be a complex process. Using a legal professional gives you peace of mind that the process will be completed correctly. It also allows you more time to focus on the other, more exciting, aspects of your house move.
We’re here for you
If you’re buying or selling a house, we can help you. To find out more, contact Jenny Cottrell:
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