A wave of enthusiastic energy is set to sweep across Dorset’s schools as they team up for ‘Miles for Mosaic’, a fundraising initiative to support Mosaic, a Dorset charity that helps young people through bereavement. The campaign, already embraced by more than 20 local schools, begins the week after the London Marathon, on April 22nd. It gets pupils and staff to log miles collectively in order to ‘complete’ as many marathons as possible. It’s not just about getting active; it’s a concerted effort to raise vital funds and awareness for Mosaic’s crucial services.
Puddletown middle marathon 2023
Many of the schools involved with ‘Miles for Mosaic’ have previously had first hand contact with the charity, either for bereavement support for students or for teacher training on handling grief.
Last year’s event saw St Mary’s CE Middle School students and staff running a total of 1,816 miles, raising more than £1,000. At Burton Bradstock First School, the headteacher Mr Gough ran the London Marathon in less than three hours and he raised more than £5,000 with the school’s running club.
Jo Revill, CEO of Mosaic, expressed gratitude for the widespread school participation: “We are thrilled so many schools are taking part in Miles for Mosaic this year. It is a joy to see children running with their friends and it is vital for us as a charity to increase awareness of the service Mosaic offers to families in our county.
“Every pound that is raised goes towards supporting a child or young person who is struggling to come to terms with the grief they have experienced when they lose someone they love. Our service is vital but it needs funds more than ever, so we are bowled over by the schools’ involvement with us.”
How can you get involved?
Nominate a day or two in the week commencing 22nd April to coincide with London Marathon week and get your pupils (and teachers!) to run run run! Mosaic ask schools to arrange a Just Giving page and collect donations as sponsorship for the children. If you are a school or group that would like to take part in Miles for Mosaic, they would love to hear from you: [email protected]
The days are getting longer, the daffodils are nodding confidently, and the brand new Dorset Spring Show is on its way! It’s the first ever spring show from the team who bring you the Dorset County Show – the county’s largest agricultural event – and they invite you to kickstart your year of great days out in the great outdoors with them. The Dorset Spring Show will be held at Kingston Maurward on the weekend of 27th and 28th April. Think spring, think lambs, flowers … and BMX’s and mountainboarders?!
Extreme BMX
Event organiser James Cox and his team have been working through the winter to put together a varied and exciting list of attractions that will have every member of the family happy. From floral demonstrations to swinging Axemen, pig agility to bees wax rolling, the event will celebrate the season that sees Dorset burst back into life.
Dorset Spring Show Map 2024
With an emphasis on everything food, farming and flowers, you can watch live demonstrations of beekeeping, falconry and baking. At The Hogg Show you can learn about some of the rarest pigs in the world – and see just how intelligent pigs are. While over at the Sheep Show you can meet nine different breeds (but we all know the audience is only there for the dance!).
The Hogg Show
James Cox says ‘We’re so excited to welcome in the new season with a vibrant spring get-together for Dorset. Whether you come for the delicious Dorset foods, the local crafts, to enjoy the extreme BMX bikes, to meet a lamb or watch some of the demonstrations, Dorset Spring Show has it all when it comes to celebrating spring in Dorset!’
Dorset Spring show What’s on 2024
Join in the fun In addition to two full days of entertainment, the show invites you to get in on the act with more than 90 competitions across cookery, photography, flowers, vegetables and crafts. There are also Associated Garden Classes alongside school, college, and club competitions. The Competitions Marquee will be based in the Gardeners Village, where you can stock up on plants, or nab yourself a new garden sculpture.
The farm gates swing open for the first time ever on 27th and 28th April 2024. Children go FREE and Adult Tickets are currently just £12 – but ewe don’t want to delay, the discount ends 20th April! dorsetspringshow.co.uk
Almost a quarter of a century on from the release of their debut album, Asleep In The Back, Manchester alternative rock quintet Elbow could be described as elder statesmen, with lead singer Guy Garvey quietly going about achieving national treasure status. Recent releases, however, have suffered from stubbornly mid-to-low tempo drudgery. While their song writing has occasionally still hit the mark (I’m thinking of Empires and Six Words), it feels like a very long time indeed since the band produced the kind of universally celebratory music which brought them to mass acclaim on 2008’s breakthrough album The Seldom Seen Kid, and the follow-up, 2011’s Build A Rocket Boys! But from the opening bars of the first track on Audio Vertigo, their 10th LP, it’s clear that the slump is over.
Screenshot
The album announces itself with an infectious groove before guitar stabs perforate a melody reminiscent of Alex Turner’s more recent work. On Lovers’ Leap, the melancholy lyric (“Take me up to lovers’ leap, throw my body off the side”) is instead imbued with menace, horns filling the space where strings may previously have been. But the centrepiece of the album, Balu, is where the band’s new-found energy is best showcased (video below). As Guy Garvey sings of trysts with rust belt girls and hollowing skulls for his wine, multiple synth lines shimmer and intertwine before releasing into a horn part which echoes the two-note motif of Radiohead’s The National Anthem. Many Elbow touchstones remain, including the crystal-clear production, impeccable arrangements and lyrics which manage to be both beautifully poetic and keenly descriptive. But this is a band with more to say, and who are clearly ready to flex their musical muscles once more. While they may conceivably have faded into obscurity with this release, they have instead cemented their place as the best British rock band of the last 25 years.
Matthew Ambrose presents Under The Radar on Tuesday evening at 7pm on Abbey104. Broadcasting on 104.7FM and online at abbey104.com.
Jules Bradburn’s market empire expands to Dorchester – the latest Dorset town to benefit from a new 200-stall Sunday artisan market
Jules Bradburn
Since the first monthly Sunday Sherborne artisan market opened back in 2019, it has become a regular go-to fixture for many. It has proved a great success, as, it seems, has the similar independent Sunday market launched in Shaftesbury last year. Both have lots of local traders selling a great range of quality food, crafts and clothing, They have quickly established a reputation as good places to treat yourself (or someone else), to grab a coffee and a bite to eat or to just enjoy whiling away an hour or two. At the end of April, Dorchester will see the opening of its own artisan market. All three Sunday markets are masterminded by enterprising Sherborne resident Jules Bradburn. Stallholders have been quick to book a pitch in Dorchester, where the new market will set out its wares on 28th April from 10am to 3pm. The market will spread from the Borough Gardens, where there will be music and entertainment, to West Walks, Bowling Alley Walk, South Walk, South Street and around Brewery Square. It will be big, with more than 200 stalls. ‘There’s a real appetite for a good market in Dorchester on a Sunday, and for keeping things local,’ says Jules.
Dorset’s market mogul As well as establishing high quality independent markets, Jules Bradburn also sits as a circuit judge for more than 30 days a year on benefit payment tribunals in the western circuit law courts. ‘It’s a really interesting job and the total opposite to the markets.’ She finds her two very different jobs complement each other and she loves dealing with the market traders. ’They’re a great bunch of people,’ she says., ‘I received an email from a visitor recently. It said: “your market is wonderful – like having Etsy in your back garden.” It was lovely. But it is also really reward to ensure that people are getting the benefits they’re entitled to. You can literally see the relief on their faces when they’ve battled the system for a long time.’ As if organising soon-to-be three artisan Sunday markets weren’t enough, Jules and her team have recently been asked to take over the regular Saturday market in Langport and the May Shaftesbury Food Festival, in addition to two Christmas fairs next December. ‘In the middle of January, I was discussing how many Christmas trees we would need … and it was only three weeks after last Christmas! Jules knows that people want variety at independent artisan markets. ’They want choice. They want to see new, interesting things, so we make sure we have lots of different traders, all mixed up in different places. Dorchester is big, so it’s going to be really exciting!’ Jules is now left with one market-free Sunday a month.
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This month Barry Cuff has chosen a couple of postcards of Thornford, near Sherborne:
Sent in 1911 to Mr Y Jackman of Smart’s Heath in Surrey, apparently extolling the health benefits of a Dorset holiday (except for the cows). Interesting that in 1911, steam engines were already seen as dated and amusing: ‘Dr Y. Just a card to let you see we go by steam down here. Nell looks just like an Old Booser with her red face, it’s doing her a lot of good but the cows frighten her. She ran through a field of corn yesterday away from them. From yours RL
Sent to Mr A Davenport in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire in 1905 (with handwritten explainer on the front!): ‘Dear Harry. We got your card and liked it very much. I am glad you went to see Amos he is not come home yet expect him Saturday. Mr Roseby said he saw you but he did not know you, you were so grown and altered. Reggie’s arm is a little better but I am not very well. So good-bye with love from your sister Maggie.
Daniel Matterface (far right) and Elijah Wood (adjacent) in the House of Lords Debate
Public Speaking is an important skill and staff at Gillingham school are very keen to give students the skills – and opportunity – to express their opinions and ideas. On Friday 15th March, eight members of the school public speaking team were invited to the House of Lords Debate, hosted by the charity Debating Matters. Schools were picked from across the country and Gillingham were one of only four schools invited to take part. The debates were on current and contentious issues: Does ‘cancel culture’ threaten freedom of speech? Do billionaires’ ownership of media organisations pose a threat to democracy? Should museums repatriate cultural artefacts? One of the sixth formers said that they enjoyed the ‘emphasis on interrogation by the judges and the interesting topics.’ The speakers from Gillingham – Elijah Wood and Daniel Matterface – made a brave argument in the semi-final on cancel culture, and were praised for their quick thinking, bold lines of argument and nuanced answers to the judges’ questions. However they didn’t quite do enough to proceed to the next round. Elijah said that ‘the method of debate felt civil and information driven, like a disagreement being resolved.’ It was a wonderful experience for everyone to watch the teams debate and then to get involved in the floor debates, asking questions to the teams. Lucy Wrench was singled out as worthy of a Honourable Mention, as the judges enjoyed her contributions and questions. Besides the debating, the students made the most of their day out, and were given a fantastic tour of the House of Lords. Lucy described it as ‘interesting, engaging, informative and inspiring.’ No teacher could ask for more!
Tracie Beardsley discovers the timeless grind of Cann Mills, where the Stoates blend tradition and modernity in the craft of organic milling
Michael (right) and Ollie Stoate, fifth and sixth generation millers at Cann Mills near Shaftesbury All images: Courtenay Hitchcock
Cann Mills, near Shaftesbury, was recorded in the Domesday Book. Today, fifth and sixth generation millers Michael and Ollie Stoate produce a range of organic flours for both domestic bakers and fancy London bakeries. Wearing a light dusting of their trademark flour, Michael Stoate sits with his son Ollie, in their small office, with the walls decorated with hessian sacks proclaiming a five-shilling reimbursement on return. Modern-day computers sit alongside red and blue leather-bound ledgers. Inside these, beautiful handwriting holds the records of 180 years of the Stoate milling legacy.
Cann Mills was mentioned in the Domesday Book, but a major fire in the 1950s means that today’s mill building looks less medieval, and more ‘industrial mid-century modern’
This millers’ tale dates to brothers William and Thomas Stoate, who leased a mill at Watchet in Somerset in 1832. Four generations later, Michael’s father, Norman, came to Dorset in 1947, bought Cann Mills, and began supplying animal feed to local farmers. Disaster struck seven years later when the mill burnt down. Michael says: ‘Part of the mill was run by a diesel engine and its manifold overheated, setting hessian sacks on fire. Father was delivering animal feed and saw this plume of smoke billowing from the valley.’
Stoate & Sons produce a range of organic stoneground flours – spelt and rye, strong 100% wholemeal, strong white, brown and white self-raising and the popular Maltstar
Flour dust is more explosive than gunpowder and 35 times more combustible than coal dust: ‘It took all of the Tisbury, Gillingham and Shaftesbury fire brigades to put it out. Luckily no one was hurt, but it meant my father had to completely rebuild.’ Norman switched production to stoneground flour, using massive French Burr millstones driven by an iron waterwheel powered by the Sturkel, the tributary of the Stour that runs past the mill. That wheel is still a formidable force, providing a quarter of the mill’s power and helping produce 800 tonnes of flour a year. Michael recently unearthed the 1860 invoice for the waterwheel at the Dorset Archive. It was made by the Maggs and Hindley iron foundry at nearby Bourton, and cost a princely £36. Michael says: ‘I’m also looking through old cine films. It’s incredible to see how cold our winters used to be. We’ve got footage of villagers skating on the mill pond.’
Stoate & Sons produce a range of organic flours for both domestic bakers and fancy London bakeries
A family businessFor Michael, who is 62, the mill was his childhood playground, larking around in the grain stores and boating on the millpond. It became his first job as he began helping during school holidays. ‘I didn’t like school and I left early. I’ve always liked tinkering around with machinery, so I did an engineering course. My father was getting old – he had me quite late in life and the physicality of milling work was taking its toll, so I joined him full-time.’For Ollie, who is severely dyslexic, school was also a challenge. But he showed the Stoate entrepreneurial spirit at an early age. Aged ten, Ollie started making dog biscuits from spare flour, tagging along with his dad to sell them at trade shows. ‘There was zero pressure from dad to join the family business, and I didn’t plan on being a miller. I studied gamekeeping and worked in Australia. But just like dad, I started working part-time here and loved it,’ says Ollie. Now 28, he is taking Stoates into the modern era – while respecting its heritage. ‘My dad and grandfather always taught me that if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well and worth doing as soon as you can. Evolution is essential, and my aim is to introduce one major upgrade every year.’ This includes a green energy solar power grant from Low Carbon Dorset. ‘If we generate our energy ourselves, we can remove all the drive belts which are a huge health and safety risk. It will also allow us to produce flour 24/7.
The 1860 waterwheel still provides a quarter of the mill’s energy. It was made by the Maggs and Hindley iron foundry at Bourton, and cost a princely £36.
’Cann Mills is now a leading voice in the South West Grain Network (SWGN), which brings farmers, millers and bakers together to discuss better ways to support each other. Michael says: ‘These relationships support regenerative farming to look after the soil.’Forerunners in organic products, Stoates flour is certified by the Soil Association and a lot of their grain is sourced within a 30-mile radius. ‘We were milling organic flour before organic was really invented!’ says Michael. ‘In the late sixties, just as health food stores became popular, we milled ‘compost grown’ grain from a local farmer. The flavour was great and the provenance unquestionable.’
The flour is ground from natural grains in all their distinctive colours and shapes
Michael and Ollie agree: ‘One of the best parts of this job is being in the middle of such a strong, local supply chain. We love chatting to farmers beside crops that we will transform into flour, and then deliver to artisan bakers to produce amazing bread.’
Eleanor Gallia has a pragmatic approach to herbal medicine, and merges tradition and science in her effective, earth-sourced medical practice
images by Jenny Devitt
‘It’s always been very much part of how I’ve been,’ says medical herbalist Eleanor Gallia, whose practice draws on tradition and science. Her house is full of dark-coloured glass bottles, book cases stacked with them, containing her myriad remedies – the dark colour necessary to preserve the integrity of the remedies. We sat in the cosy study, as she explained what had led to her becoming a medical herbalist. ‘It’s the second oldest trade on Earth,’ she says. Medical herbalism is ancient, dating back some 60,000 years to the Palaeolithic. Around 5,000 years ago the Sumerians listed hundreds of medicinal herbs on clay tablets – the first ever written records. Eleanor grew up on a farm and plants have fascinated her since she was little. She was always bringing them into the house, until her mother told her she couldn’t, unless she was able to name them. ‘Many of the old names tell you a lot about the plants,’ she says. ‘How they work, what part of the body they might work on – liverwort for example, or pulmonaria (lungwort). When I was on the farm I was fascinated by how the sheep would self-medicate, going to ivy to cleanse their afterbirth, for instance, and the dogs would eat couch grass to rid themselves of something in their stomachs.’
Eleanor Gallia at work in her study in Nether Cerne, near Dorchester
Eleanor was studying mediaeval literature when she switched to the study of herbs as medicine, training as an apprentice in a firm established in Edinburgh in 1860. But she’d already begun to have some understanding of herbal medicine from reading Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales at school in Sherborne: ‘Something bigger opened up, the concept of “humours” – black and yellow bile, phlegm and blood, related to the four elements and the four seasons – and how human health depended on a balance between them Her studies included standard medical subjects – anatomy, physiology, pathology, sharing the mortuary with Edinburgh University medical students – in addition to botany. It was a rigorous training, designed to be able to ‘match the plants to the people’. Part of a medical herbalist’s skill is to find a remedy tailored to the individual. ‘The key word is holistic,’ says Eleanor. ‘It’s seeing the whole person, seeing the big picture and understanding how to rebalance the body.’
Eleanor’s workbench in her Dorset practice
Disease (literally ‘dis-ease’), says Eleanor, is when we humans become divorced from the natural world where we belong, separated from the rhythm of the seasons and the cycle of the land. ‘We become unravelled. We become dis-eased. We rush off and look for instant panaceas in nature, looking to buy an instant cure. We think we can fix it through, for instance, a weekend workshop. But that won’t work. Just buying a herb pill on the internet might help your symptoms, but it’s not going to treat you holistically, it’s not going to reduce the gap in the way that we live and the way we interact with the world.’ She is also increasingly concerned that many of the herbs available as remedies in one form or another are not native to this country, and she argues that we need to be looking around at what common herbs and plants grow right here on our doorstep, and to use those: ‘A plant that’s grown sustainably has got much more depth to it, more resilience, it’s got what we’re looking for, rather than artificially cultivated rows.’ Many of the plants we call weeds – dandelion, elder, cleavers and nettles – have medicinal benefits that have been known for centuries. Even the sting of the nettle does us good, stimulating the blood, bringing it to the surface, helping with rheumatism and arthritis. Her advice: pick the new shoots. She gave me a mug of fresh-picked nettle tea – and it was delicious!
Eleanor is well-known locally for creating the Beltane Brew, made in conjunction with the Cerne Abbas Brewery, to be drunk as part of the Cerne Giant Festival’s celebration of spring. It’s a brew made of beer and locally picked wild herbs that cleanse and stimulate the body and rid it of its winter sluggishness. Eleanor has a farm in Nether Cerne. Before I left, she took me up into one of the fields above her house to pick fresh hawthorn berries that are, she says, excellent heart medicine. Her main focus now is the farm and managing the land biodynamically – “healing it” as she puts it. It’s a more than full-time job, since she does it single-handedly! Eventually, she’d like to be able to source all the herbs she needs for her practice from her own land.
