Wildlife writer Jane Adams’ nocturnal visitors lead her on a quest to outsmart a quartet of attic mice in a whimsical tale of persistence
a wood mouse, apodemus sylvaticus , is sitting on the mouse hole under a tree trunk at a spring evening
As summer fades and an autumn chill sets in, I lie in bed, listening to the steady rain against the window as I fall asleep. But there is something else … I can hear a faint but unmistakable noise. Something is tap-dancing in the attic. The following morning I investigate, half expecting to find a troupe of tiny Fred Astaires. Instead, I find a mound of chewed-up paper and, to confirm the identity of my new visitors, a scattering of mouse droppings. In all the time we’ve lived here, we’ve never had mice in the attic. There’s no food stored up there, and it would be a significant climb for such small creatures. So, why are they there? I’ve frequently seen mouse burrows under the flowerbeds in the garden – I can only assume all the recent rain flooded their nests, pushing them to find refuge in our nice, dry attic. Sadly, they couldn’t stay. I set six Longworth small mammal traps. These lure mice with sunflower seeds, and once they trip a small door, it closes behind them, keeping them safe and unharmed with food and a safe place to spend the night. The next morning, the traps are full. Four small wood mice with large, doleful eyes stare up at me. I gently release them behind the garden shed, hoping that’s the end of the night-time dance routines. It isn’t. That night, the tap-tapping is even louder, and by morning, the traps are full again. Four days later, despite my persistence, I have now relocated thirteen mice. I wonder if our attic is overrun with rodents. (Yes, I know. It took me a while to catch on) Finally, I mark each captured mouse on the neck with a dab of animal-friendly marker. In the morning, each cheerful captive bears a purple mark – we’re not overrun, we’ve just been playing hide and seek with the same persistent quartet. This time I drive the four mice to a small, sheltered wood three miles away from my nice warm dry house, and carefully release them. At last, the final curtain has fallen on their nocturnal performances … until the next encore, anyway.
a wood mouse (long tailed field, Apodemus sylvaticus) feeding in a garden patio area
Wood mice facts
Defensive tails: wood mice can shed the end of their tail if threatened by predators. Unfortunately, the tail doesn’t grow back.
Super-sperm: Male wood mice produce sperm in chains, creating a “sperm train” that swims faster, improving their chances of successful reproduction.
Signposts: To help with navigation, wood mice place small objects like leaves and twigs around their environment. Humans are the only other animal that does this.
Varied diet: Wood mice eat a wide range of foods, from fungi and berries to seeds and insects.
Night life: Mainly nocturnal, wood mice may come out during the day in the summer months. They are skilled climbers, and
build complex burrows and nests either underground or in tree stumps.
Distribution: European wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) inhabit Britain, Ireland, Europe and northern Africa.
In southern England, we also have its close relative, the yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis), which is larger and has a yellow collar.
Home: The wood mouse is happy in a variety of habitats, from woodland and gardens and to fields and even sand dunes.
Short life: Typically, wood mice live for just three to four months. It’s quite rare for them to survive from one summer to the next.
Garden helpers: Wood mice can be beneficial to gardens by eating pests. Their forgotten food stores also help trees and shrubs spread naturally.
The challenges facing pollinators are very real – but Andrew Livingston, the son of beekeepers, has a jaundiced view of the little stingy guys
I appear to have a bit of a bee in my bonnet this month. Speaking with beekeeper Anne Ashford about the horrors of the Asian hornet inspired me – not only has it been a hard year for the little lads (and queens), but I was reminded of a bee-related incident from my childhood. Plus I’m never one to pass up the opportunity for squeezing in the odd un-bee-lievably bad pun … I cannot stress enough how important bees are for agriculture. We have around 270 species in the UK – and only one, the honeybee, is kept by those fanatics in the big white suits also known as beekeepers. I’ll come back to them. Studies have shown that crop yields for farmers are increased by the presence of bees – even the shelf life and nutritional values have been shown to improve. The Red Mason Bee is used by commercial apple growers to pollinate orchards: they are 120 times more efficient at pollinating than the honeybee. It’s not been an easy year for the bee. Many of the UK species are now endangered – and that’s before we consider the new threat of the Asian hornet flying over from France. The weather has been particularly poor: bees are not wet weather fans, and we had a mild, wet winter, followed by a wet spring and then a cold wet summer … Basically, it’s been wet all year! The British Beekeeper Association and the National Bee Unit (yes, that’s a real thing. I’m not pollen your leg) sent starvation alerts out to beekeepers, encouraging them to check and feed their bees with syrup if required. My parents have kept bees for years – they also told me it’s been hard year. They have four hives, but only one is active and they have been finding it hard to locate swarms to replace the colonies due to the low bee activity. I genuinely love pollinators – but as the son of beekeepers, I secretly found this good news. I don’t wish ill on the bees, but growing up with hobby beekeeper parents isn’t easy … especially when they rope you in to help.
Don’t anger the bees I clearly remember stepping off the school bus at our home in the village of Hooke when my stepmother, wearing her full bee regalia, stopped me in the garden with a firm ‘Andrew!’. She had another bee mask in her hand and it was clear she either wanted me to help her in the vegetable patch apiary or she was about to scream ‘EN GARDE!’ and have a quick fence on the front lawn. Unfortunately, it was the former. So, out we went – stepmother in full regalia, me in just a half-suit, the big bee hat and top thrown on over my school uniform. It was as if the beekeeping budget promptly ran out when it came to the second suit. We got to the hive and I was told the plan: ‘We give them a bit of smoke to keep them calm. You hold the lid and I’ll inspect the bees.’ Sounded easy enough. But you know when you get that feeling that something’s about to go very wrong? Yes. That. The plan raced through at a rate of knots: the lid was lifted and bees were suddenly flying everywhere through the smoke. They didn’t seem calm. In fact, they seemed pretty mad. I knew something was very wrong when I saw one inside my mask. And then, I felt it. At first, it was just one … then more and more sharp stabbing stings, all over my legs. My black school trousers were no defence from the bee attack. I started to hop and skip on the spot, still dutifully holding the lid, pleading with my stepmother for more smoke. It was futile. I was too late. The bees were angry. I screamed, ‘I’M DONE!’, dropped the lid and began running back to the house, stripping clothes as I went till I was naked doing a couple of laps of the front lawn as I desperately tried to outrun the bees that had chased me. My stepmother followed the trail of school clothes to eventually find me cowering in my bedroom, still thinking I could hear the buzzing of bees around me. ‘I’m never helping you again. I’ve been stung all over my legs!’ She looked a little guilty. ‘In hindsight, you should probably have changed out of your school uniform … bees don’t like the colour black.’ Me and beekeeping was never meant to bee.
Three small Somerset villages had a huge impact on global exploration and trade – Rachael Rowe talks to Professor Terry Stevens
Columbia and Shamrock compete in the 1899 America’s Cup – both were equipped with Coker canvas sails, at the insistence of Sir Thomas Lipton
“Nothing much ever happened at West Coker. No great man ever lived or died there. It was never the centre of great industry nor the source of widespreading trade.” When Professor Terry Stevens read a book called The Annals of West Coker during lockdown, he was struck by the above opening sentences, penned by Sir Matthew Nathan in the 1930s. It inspired him to research further, to tell the story of how, for more than 300 years, the villages of East and West Coker produced the finest sailcloth in the world, used by explorers, traders, pirates and the Royal Navy. ‘I was born in East Coker. As you become older, you become more quizzical, and I realised I had grown up accepting strange names of places like Rethy Ponds and Yarn Barton, and never really asked how they got their names. There were fields called Guinea and South Sea. I had wondered why the primary school in East Coker overlooked the Dawes Webbing factory – in fact it was the original sailcloth works. ‘I think familiarity breeds invisibility. When I read that book by Sir Matthew Nathan I thought “How wrong could he be!” TS Eliot lived in East Coker for a while – my dad buried him in 1965. And William Dampier, who set foot on Australian soil before Captain Cook, came from there. His mother was one of those who grew flax for the sail industry. ‘I have worked mainly in the tourism industry as a consultant, travelling to 55 countries. In contrast, my father and mother never had a holiday – Dad never left East Coker. This book is more of a desire to tell a story about an industry that few people realised was actually there.’
The SS Great Western with its four masts complete with Coker canvas – image: SS Great Britain Trust
Coker cloth was the best ‘The sailing industry in the Cokers came about because the soil in the area meant that it was particularly good for growing the two main components, flax and hemp. From the 13th and 14th centuries onwards, flax and hemp were grown here and the yarn-making industry was here in William Dampier’s time. ‘I grew up with the saying “Bucked in the yarn rather than the piece” and never knew what it meant. I know now that “bucked” means to strengthen. What the people in the Cokers realised was that if they strengthened individual pieces of yarn in the sailcloth, instead of the completed woven piece, it would be much stronger. So they used an alkali process on the yarn – and Coker canvas lasted twice as long as any of the other sails made in Europe. People tried to copy the process but Coker canvas was always the best. It was the canvas of choice of both Lord Nelson and Kaiser Wilhelm II. One of the best sailcloth producers in the area was John Giles, and he produced the sailcloth for the Sovereign of the Seas, King Charles I‘s flagship. The Royal Navy commissioned Coker canvas as their sailcloth of choice, as did the US Navy and the German Navy. At one time, people in the Cokers were trading with Russia, Lithuania and the Baltics, and it’s known that these traders all stayed in one of the local pubs. West Coker issued their own tokens as currency, so that they would be spent locally by the traders. Some of these tokens have since been found in people’s gardens.’
The America’s Cup One of the most exciting connections to the Coker canvas story is its link to the America’s Cup – the oldest international competition still operating in any sport, not just sailing. From 1899 to 1930, when Sir Thomas Lipton of the tea trade was involved, every boat had to sail with Coker canvas. Cowes-based Ratsey and Lapthorn, the world’s oldest sail-makers, insisted on using Coker cloth for the America’s Cup. Lipton famously said: “We will use Coker canvas.” ‘Without Coker canvas there would have been no America’s Cup,’ says Terry Stevens. ‘The company that makes the sailcloth still exists as Ratsey and Lapthorn, and they still make the sails for the America’s Cup today.’ Terry, who is a professor of international tourism, worked on the book for four years. ‘My job was a bit like a traditional weaver,’ he says. ‘I’m not a historian, but I wanted to tell the story. Richard Sims in Bridport has researched Coker canvas for years, and he focuses on the industrial process. But I wanted to weave in other angles. Did William Dampier use Coker canvas? What did TS Eliot have to say about the trade – and why did he want to be buried in East Coker? I went to all these other sources and wove them into the story. ‘There were a few surprises, such as uncovering stories of bribery and industrial espionage. One of the discoveries was that the Bullock family were known for making the best sailcloth and they lived at North Coker House. They sold their home to the Maudsley family from Coventry, who invented the marine steam engine. And it’s that very steam engine that led to the decline of sailboats. ‘A further twist in the tale is that The SS Great Western, Brunel’s wooden-hulled paddle-wheel steamship, was designed to have sails and engines. Launched in 1838, it was the first ever engine-powered ship built to cross the world’s oceans, and on its first voyage, it used Coker canvas sails and a Maudsley engine. ‘As a further heritage project the Coker Rope and Sail Trust is getting Coker canvas sails made by a craft sailcloth company in Bristol. We’re working with the Boatbuilding Academy in Lyme Regis and aim to have them sailing next year. “The story of Coker canvas is worthy of a Netflix film! However, what I’d really like is for every Somerset schoolchild to know this story, and how small rural communities genuinely influenced international trade and exploration.’
To mark the links between Coker canvas and the America’s Cup, Terry’s book, Bucked In The Yarn, was launched on 29th August at the Ratsey and Lapthorn Sail Loft in Barcelona, where the 2024 LV America’s Cup is running until late October. The book will be published on 17th September by Graffeg and all royalties will go to the Coker Rope and Sail Trust. All royalties are being donated to the Coker Rope and Sail Trust.
Kelsi-Dean Buck takes us through Thorngrove’s last summer hurrah: join them at the Dorset County Show for plants, bugs, and more!
Well, there we have it – the nights are rolling in and we are bidding farewell to summer … but not without one last hurrah before autumn! “Thorngrove on tour” continues – this weekend we are joining many other amazing Dorset businesses and entertainment at Dorset County Show. Do come and find us on Saturday 7th or Sunday 8th September, where we will be pitched up with Employ My Ability, and staff from our site in Moreton, The Walled Garden. Regular visitors to our sites – and readers of this column – will know we are more than just a garden centre and café. The work that takes place at Thorngrove, and The Walled Garden, is all in partnership with Employ My Ability as we look to continue developing our amazing environments for young people with special educational needs and disabilities. Our students learn and gain valuable work experience which allows them to find their future within the local communities and beyond. (find out more at employmyability.org.uk) Our stand at the county show will be stocked with beautiful plants and garden items, along with staff from Thorngrove and EMA to talk about what we do – and this time we’re even bringing some of our amazing exotic bugs with us. Yes, you read that right! Visitors to the Walled Garden may have already braved our ‘bug experiences’, but if not, now you can get a little peek yourself at the show. The bugs are part of our wider animal family at Moreton, along with goats, guinea pigs, rabbits and reptiles – all of which help our students develop new skills, and learn about animal care as they pursue careers in related industries. So please do stop by and see us – we’ll be giving out vouchers too! If you’re reading this after the show, don’t fret, I’m sure we’ll have a few left over … pop into Thorngrove in Gillingham during September and ask us.
In the garden With our new stock of spring bulbs at the ready, planting season will soon be underway and we’re on hand to offer inspiration and advice to those of you looking to plan ahead and grow your own. The cyclamen have also already arrived – they always signal the end of summer, and … yes … dare we say it … the looming whispers festive season! We are deep in the midst of our Christmas planning and will have lots of exciting news very soon on what you can expect from us here in Gillingham. Stay tuned to our social media for up to the minute details, plus all the latest insight from the garden centre, and the café. We look forward to seeing you this season!
Wimborne is set to celebrate ‘food, glorious food’ with a brand-new food festival on Saturday, 14th September: events, tastings, demos and talks will be taking place all around the town from 11am until 4pm. Meet Maggie Richardson, Great British Bake-Off contestant, discover the secrets of Indonesian cooking with Yayu Slocock – author, chef and owner of A Taste of Rasa Sayang – and hear from Kingston Lacy head gardener Andrew Hunt and café manager Phil Anderson. Get top tips from Michael Russell, head pastry chef of Le Petit Prince Patisserie and cake maker to royalty, and wash this down with a guided beer tasting by Laura Green, co-owner of independent craft beer bar The Butcher’s Dog. In addition to the festivities, there will be a self-guided food walk, organised by award-winning Salamander Cookshop, taking visitors around Wimborne to meet local food retailers and discover some of the town’s specialist offerings. You can join in too – put on your pinny and bake a Dorset Apple Cake for the Dacombes of Wimborne Cake Competition. Bakers of all ages are encouraged to create their most delicious and visually stunning Dorset Apple Cake and bring it to the marquee on Willow Walk at 2:30pm, where BBC Repair Shop star Sonnaz Nooranvary will be the celebrity judge! Keep an eye out for more details, including a Food Walk map, available at pick-up points around town.
We’re excited to bring you the very first official pre-show magazine for Frome Agricultural & Cheese Show! It’s been a special one for us to work on – not least because CHEESE! Inside you can obviously find a handy map and timetable for the day (be sure to download or screenshot them!). But that’s not all …
• Meet Jonathan Marshall, the horseback falconer, who will be headlining the Main Ring with his Free Spirits show.
• Discover what’s happening in the totally FREE Play Zone – there’s so much to keep everyone happy, and all at no extra cost!
• We round up What’s New for 2024… (hint: may contain Mangled Wurzels and people dressed in flowers!)
• We asked the show team and got the top insider’s guide on What Not To Miss…
• Ever wondered what the judge is judging? Don’t fret – we went and asked them so you don’t have to. Cows, Camembert or carrots, we’ve got all the answers.
• Paul Hooper OBE is this year’s Frome & District Agricultural Society’s Vice President. Such an important role comes with serious responsibility, of course – so we’ve asked him 19 quick-fire questions on such hefty issues as the best biscuit for dunking and the last song he sang out loud in the car…
From washing dishes in Newmarket to Royal commissions, leading equestrian artist Charles Church answers the 19 random questions
Interview by Sally Cooper
Charles Church in his studio with a current work in progress All images: Courtenay Hitchcock
Charles Church’s reputation as a quiet man was up for debate when he arrived for his interview in a throaty vintage Sunbeam Alpine with the top down, cheerfully calling out, ‘Morning! It looks like rain – can I use the garage?’ North Dorset resident Charles is an internationally-renowned painter of horses, landscapes and country life, particularly recognised for his portraits of racehorses. He describes his childhood as a rural happy life ‘in the middle of nowhere’ on a Northumberland farm. Even as a young child Charles knew he could paint: ‘Around the age of eight or nine I really started to enjoy painting, and found that I had some sort of knack for it. But I was about 15 when I really got the bug, the same time I got hooked on racing at school. I went to a boarding school in Northamptonshire, and the school had a betting office right next to the house. I used to scoot across in the afternoons and watch the racing between lessons! At the same time, I took up painting more seriously, and horses were the first thing I wanted to paint. I’ve literally just kept on painting them!’
However, instant artistic success wasn’t a given – Charles achieved an E in his Art A-level. ‘I will blame the history of art teacher for one part! However, there were three parts to the exam, and all three seemed to go wrong. Firstly, that art history, then they gave you a random title to paint, and I ended up painting a racing scene that had absolutely nothing to do with the title. So I probably got zero for that. The third and final task was a life drawing, during which the model got up and flounced out halfway through, so that didn’t really work out either! ‘From school, I did a standard one-year art school foundation course in Newcastle, with two weeks in each different area like photography, 3D design, print etc. before they decide what you should specialise in. Unfortunately, the art department didn’t think I was conceptual enough! So I was given no choice but to specialise in graphic design and illustration, which wasn’t what I wanted to do at all. I went on to Bournemouth to do wildlife illustration, which again was not what I wanted to do. I was trying to paint horses, and this was the closest thing I could get to it. But it seemed to serve no purpose, so I dropped out after the first term. My parents probably hit an all-time low with my career at that point!’
Florence via Newmarket Charles instead wrote to every stud and hotel in Newmarket to see if he could get a job “in horse land”. Finally, he landed washing up in a hotel for two weeks – he stayed for a year and a half. ‘I did the morning and evening shifts washing dishes, and painted in the daytime. It was brilliant. Then a local gallery started to exhibit my work.’ Charles heard of a new art school in Florence and wrote to the Charles H Cecil Studios immediately. Their response was instant – he was invited to just turn up, there were no requirements. Looking back, he realises that he was lucky: no portfolio or exam results were required as they are today. ‘Then the Newmarket art gallery did the kindest and most amazing thing. They bought my entire collection of paintings, giving me the money to go abroad. So the Florence adventure commenced!’ The training was in the atelier tradition – in which a master painter opens his studio to a select group of dedicated students – and the work returned students to the traditional portrait painting form of sight-size, painting something direct from life in the same scale as you see it, directly onto your easel. Charles jokes that it was a style developed by ‘quite a well-known artist called Leonardo da Vinci’. When Charles returned to England, he began painting equestrian portraits from life, which involved long stays in country houses – convenient for a poor young artist!
‘When I got a commission to paint a hunter, I’d go and stay with the people for a few weeks in their country home,’ he says. ‘I could write a book on some of the funny experiences I had. But it could be really difficult – after about four days, you’ve really outstayed your welcome. It doesn’t matter how good or how well-behaved you are, you are in someone’s private space. And then you’ve got them leaning over your shoulder the whole time, looking at what you’re doing and questioning you … But the biggest pain was the English weather! You could have five straight days of rain, and you are literally sitting around doing nothing all day. ‘After about three years, I decided I’d change things. I’d go and stay with people for a week tops, and paint a study from life of them and/or their horse or landscape, backed up with sketches and photographs for me to work on in my own studio.’
Her Majesty The Queen unveiled The Belvoir Huntsman, John Holliday, on ‘Edward’ in Belvoir Woods by Charles Church – it hangs in the Packard Galleries in Palace House within the National Horseracing Museum, Newmarket
Slapping it down King Charles has described Charles Church as “an artist who has a unique sensitivity and profound understanding of his subject.” ‘I was incredibly lucky to have him endorse me,’ says Charles. ‘He wrote the foreword to my first exhibition in London, which is quite something.’ Charles is no stranger to working with heads of state and famous people: ‘In some ways it’s daunting, but most of the time when you meet these people, they’re very easy and down to earth. Not what you expect. The first three years that I spent staying in country houses actually set me in good stead. It was difficult to begin with because I was pretty shy, but the more you relax, the more they relax, which helps everyone!’ Agreeing an initial brief with a client has caused some issues in the past. ‘I’ve learned that if you give people too much of what they want, you ‘ll get a bad result,’ he says. ‘A client will say, “I would really like my wife on a hunter in the field here with this hill behind and the Labrador to the left”… No! ‘My initial response is always to completely change every part! If someone’s got a clear idea in their head, you can never live up to their vision. ‘Luckily, most clients trust me now, and say, “I’ll leave it up to you”. They get the best result!’ Some of Charles’ more recent pieces have been enormous, and Charles explains that the size of a piece can depend on whether it might be intended to hang in a particular place. But he looks slightly confused. ‘I couldn’t even tell you why it is,’ he admits. ‘I just know that it’s going to work at a certain size. Certain things work better at certain sizes; that is the fact of the matter! ‘I take a lot of time to really study the horse. I have the horse brought out, walk it around a lot. I just really look and take it all into my mind, so that I have totally captured it in my head. And then I am a bit haphazard – I like to just put something down on the canvas, and then alter it. I have taught, and I see some students trying to draw an outline of the back of the horse very slowly … I just say, “Come on, just slap something down!” I’m not linear. I’m more of a tonal painter.’ Charles is also a proponent of turning paintings to the wall in his studio: ‘It’s an essential part of the process of painting,’ he says. ‘If you look at it too often, you can’t see all the mistakes and areas for development. You must have fresh eyes when you’re working. If I go away for two weeks, I come back to the studio and have a brilliant day. I’ll do it two or three times during the process of one painting.’
A neighbour of Stubbs First showing the finished work to the client was no doubt an intimidating experience, but now that he is so established, presumably it is no longer such an ordeal. ‘It’s still as nerve-wracking as ever!’ he says. ‘It doesn’t get easier. It wouldn’t matter how good I got at painting, and I’m still challenging myself all the time. But it’s always nerve-wracking because they’ve put an awful lot of trust in you, you’ve got to pull it out of the bag!’ Rumour has it that Charles is a very fussy framer? ‘Yes, that is true! The frame can ruin the piece. It all stems from a painting I did in Newmarket all those years ago. It was a painting of some mares and foals, one of my very first commissions. They framed it, and when I went round to varnish it I was absolutely horrified by the frame they’d put it in! You can paint a really wonderful painting, and then absolutely destroy it with the wrong frame. So, yes, I do select my own frames now!’ In 2023, Queen Camilla unveiled Charles’ largest piece to date (six foot by seven foot), The Belvoir Huntsman, John Holliday, on ‘Edward’ in Belvoir Woods (opposite), which hangs in the National Horseracing Museum at Newmarket beside a Stubbs. Even the laid-back Charles admits that this is something special: ‘All those years ago, washing dishes in Newmarket, I used to walk around the collection. To have a painting there is just surreal.’ Charles lives in a tiny North Dorset village with his studio in the garden. He and his wife Alice married during the pandemic, and they have two young sons. ‘I’m no longer just thinking about myself – I’ve got a family, and they’re wonderful.’ But have they picked up a paintbrush yet? Charles smiles and nods. ‘I haven’t pushed it on them at all, but Freddie likes a bit of painting. And I think Arthur’s going to be musical – if you put him at the piano, he plays boogie woogie, which is pretty good going for nine months old!’
And so to the 19 random questions …
What’s your relationship with Dorset? Blissful! I moved here in about 1996 and love it.
What was the last song you sang out loud in your car Money by Pink Floyd.
The last film you watched – and would you recommend it? Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark – and of course, I love it!
It’s Friday night, you have the house to yourself, no work is allowed. What will you do? That’s difficult because I probably would work, but I suppose I’d have to watch a film
The best biscuit for dunking Choco Leibniz.
What shop can you not pass without going in? Harts of Stur of course!
What’s a sound or smell that makes you happy? Easy – the smell of sawdust. It reminds me of my childhood, and the smell of my father’s organ-building workshop.
What’s your secret superpower? I would say thinking hard and long about paintings. The detail and memory. IF I have a superpower, and I’m not sure I do, but if I have one, it’s probably just putting the thought in.
What was the last gift you gave or received? I gave my godson a basketball for his birthday.
What’s your comfort meal? Shepherd’s pie.
What would you like to tell your 15-year-old self? Keep going. Never give up. Persevere … it worked for me!
Your favourite quote? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Tell us about a book you read and loved recently? Spitfire by John Nicol, about the history of the Spitfire, the pilots who flew them, and their families. It’s an amazing book.
Cats or dogs? Both, but dogs if I had to choose.
If I wasn’t an artist, I would have liked to have been a … … bloodstock agent. I just love looking at horses. So it would have been another good option.
What little luxury would you buy with £10? Chocolates for my wife.
What would Alice say was your most annoying trait? My snoring!
Chip shop chips or home baked cake? I’d go chips.
What in life is frankly a mystery to you? How some of the old Master painters did some of the things that they did. Some of those enormous canvases that you see – how on earth did they do it? It’s the complexity of it, how they worked it out and how they did things at such scale. Having worked on that large painting I did for Palace House, it made me understand how incredibly difficult it is working at scale
A window to 1983 – a time when the village suffered endless traffic jams, but there were two pubs and two shops … and the school burned down
School sports day 1983 Bourton village
Forty years ago, community activists Sue and John Holman and Trevor Bailey decided to make a video about the North Dorset village of Bourton and its people. In the intervening years the film has been largely forgotten – but now the original tapes have been digitised by Windrose Media Trust, which was founded by Trevor Bailey, and this piece of social history is once again available to watch. Trevor, John and Sue, who had worked together as the Trilith charity for many years on oral history, archive and film projects, were central to efforts to influence the local authority over Bourton’s traffic problems – including a march of protest down the main road which attracted national media attention – and to the successful campaign to get the local pub re-opened after its closure by an unsympathetic brewery. They wanted to make a record of the community as it was in 1983 and, in the process, help residents old and new to understand a little more about each other’s viewpoints.
Farmer Geoff Miller is interviewed mid-harvest in 1983
Rural life had changed massively since the 1960s and would continue to do so. There was much that needed to be expressed. The video was a rather amateur effort, filmed on semi professional borrowed equipment which, by modern standards, was primitive. Made in three parts, it totals about two hours 20 minutes. It took a vast amount of work, but was eventually completed and made available to the community on VHS tapes. Part of the aim was to involve the BBC, which made and broadcast a 26-minute documentary about the creation of the Bourton Village Video. Subsequently a small booklet was published, partly to encourage other villages to use the media in a similar way. The upshot was that Bourton had an unusual moment in the public consciousness. The old master tapes have lain unused for many years. Quite often people who remember the project have asked if the video could be restored and made available again, and now at last that has happened. The original tapes have been digitised by Windrose Rural Media Trust and, although they have developed a few faults over the years, have survived remarkably well. When the film was made, east and west-bound traffic on the A303 all went through the middle of Bourton and the adjoining village of Zeals. The milk factory was in full swing, employing around 70 people. The first new estates, Mill Rise and New Close, had been fairly recently built, and the contentious sale of council houses was advanced. In 1983 the village had two garages and two pubs, and June and Trevor Griffin had revived the fortunes of the old shop. Many local people feature in the film – some have died or moved away, others who were children at the time are now middle-aged. Memories captured on video stretch back to both world wars. Former soldier Ken Harcourt vividly remembers his first sight when he disembarked at Bombay Docks … a crane made by the iron foundry, Hindleys of Bourton. “Pop” Suter talks about the introduction of navy blue PE knickers at the school. The whole community’s dear friend, the late Fran Summerfield, is glimpsed in a most uncharacteristic curly hairdo – and which she got rid of the next week!
Local forester Roger Moores appears at the age of about 12, wise beyond his years. His grandfather, Jack, happily bursts into song, remembering an evening at the pub in his youth. Lifelong Bourton residents Gerald Moores and Danny Lawes have a strong grain of truth in their tersley phrased opinions. Farmer Geoff Miller is filmed in the harvest field beside his tractor, telling how he thought of leaving for another life at the age of 18 – but ‘that soon passed!’.
Hopes of the 80s teenagers Many newer residents were interviewed, too. Tom Mitchell, then clerk to the parish council, talks about how Bourton can get its needs recognised in the wider world. People who live on the new estates give their perspective. Passers-by, stopping for petrol, are asked to guess about the nature of the village and what goes on there. A teenaged Ruth Whitehand and a group of her contemporaries sit on the grass and contemplate the lives before them. The school features strongly, as do the children of the time. The roles of the church and the doctor’s surgery are covered and the then quite new village hall appears, as do many corners of the village as they were in 1983. And there are all the advertisements for Bourton businesses. In the middle of shooting one of the village’s great disasters happens: the school burns down. That provokes many reflections. But at the end of the video the hall is full of Bourton people. The village dances.
The final episode ends with seemingly the entire village enjoying a country dance
Many thanks are due to James Harrison of Windrose Rural Media Trust and James Harrison Productions who undertook all of the technical work necessary. All three parts of the Bourton Village Video are freely available to view on the Windrose Rural Media Trust website , or find them on YouTube by searching ‘The Bourton Village Video’
On Wednesday, 25th September, The Exchange in Sturminster Newton will host a special event featuring one of Britain’s most successful event riders, William Fox-Pitt, in conversation with his wife, BAFTA-winning racing presenter Alice Plunkett. William was the first British rider to become eventing’s World No 1 – a distinction he achieved four times. He has represented his country consistently over the last 24 years, including at five Olympic games, and is the only rider to have won five of the six CCI**** worldwide titles. The fortunate audience will hear him speaking about his stellar 40 year career in eventing and his experiences at the Olympics – the winner of three Olympic medals himself, William has been involved as both trainer and coach at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He will also talk about his recent decision to retire from 5 star events while continuing to train at his state of the art stables in North Dorset. Both William and Alice are kindly giving their time to help raise funds for The Exchange.
A new autumn diary The success of this year’s fundraising campaign has enabled The Exchange to broaden its event offerings throughout the autumn, complementing the impressive lineup of bands already featured in the regular programme. Additionally, collaborative partnerships with other organisations are helping to extend the centre’s reach within the community. In October, working with both Dorchester Arts and Artsreach, there is A Little Bit of The Script’s the Thing, showcasing original work by local writers as part of the build-up to next years scriptwriting festival in Dorchester. In November, Poppy Plowman, a contemporary circus artist, will be performing Turk(ish), an autobiographical show involving tightwire, live music, humour and intimate storytelling. This Artsreach event will also offer a tightwire workshop for brave participants! In December, in partnership with Artsreach, an ensemble from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra will be performing Curious Creatures, a Sunday afternoon family concert suitable for all ages. The BSO will be working with the Dorset Music Education Hub in local North Dorset schools in advance of this concert. Tickets are available now from The Exchange, at family-friendly prices made possible by the generous support of the Pitt-Rivers Charitable Trust. A new brochure covering The Exchange programme for the rest of the year will be available at the Cheese Festival – find The Exchange stand and find out more about what the community-run venue offers to North Dorset.
An Evening with William Fox-Pitt 25th Sep 2024, 7:30pm, £15 tickets from stur-exchange.co.uk
