From 1st January 2024, the price of energy for a typical household using gas and electricity and who pay by Direct Debit went up by another £94, rubbing more salt into the wound of the current cost-of-living crisis. On an entirely unrelated note, the world’s five largest energy providers are expected this year to reward their investors with record payouts of more than $100 billion, following another year of record profits that continue to be triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on global energy markets and gas prices across Europe. With a dysfunctional fossil fuel market driving energy prices sky high, 2023 was still the second hottest year on record in the UK (the top spot goes to 2022) seeing a wet summer bookended by heat waves of 33º in both June and September, alongside stories of ever more extreme weather events around the globe. It is clear that the case for owning our own, clean energy has never been more overwhelming. Fortunately, there is a choice. With a General Election on the cards in 2024, voters will get the opportunity to choose between Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives (who have, in 12 years, failed to get to grips with the energy crisis and continue to renege on their environmental commitments), and Keir Starmer’s Labour Party with their vision of a transformative plan to create Great British Energy: a new, publicly-owned clean energy company that will harness Britain’s sun, wind and rain to create jobs, cut energy bills, accelerate net zero – and make the UK energy independent.
A portrait of Georgia O’Keeffe at Ghost Ranch, 1975, by American photographer Dan Budnik, (1933-2020), best-known for his work covering the Civil Rights movement, Native American life and portraits of artists.
Georgia O’Keeffe has been a feminist icon for many years. Her voluptuous flower paintings have become a visual cliche – but there is so much more to this major artist, who was a leading figure in the American Modernists. A new touring exhibition, from the Hayward Gallery on London’s South Bank, brings a collection of photogravures of her drawings to Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre gallery, from Thursday 25th January to Tuesday 27th February. The drawings were produced by the artist between 1915 and 1963, reflecting the development of her art and her position as an important innovator, finding a balance between figurative and abstract, and capturing unique and challenging insights into both the cityscapes of New York and the vast mountainous deserts of the American South West, particularly New Mexico where she lived for much of her long life.
Abstracts and etchings Born in Wisconsin in 1887, O’Keeffe died in New Mexico in 1986. Much of her work is on view at the O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, although visitors can also go to her home, Ghost Ranch, at Abiquiu, some miles from the city. She was best known as a painter, but drawing was central to her practice. It was her charcoal abstracts which secured her inaugural exhibitions in 1916-17, organised by the prominent photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz. They later married, but had a famously stormy relationship – he had affairs with other women and she increasingly spent her time in New Mexico. She used drawing as a language to evoke important moments and emotions – the curve of a flower petal, a desert horizon, the wave of one’s hair or the flow of a winding road. The works in the exhibition at Poole show her distinctive style and chart themes and motifs, from early charcoal abstracts through pencil drawings and watercolours, to the powerful semi-abstract images of animal skulls and horns which she found on the desert near Abiquiu. Photogravure is a printmaking process that produces etchings with the tone and detail of a photograph through exposure onto a copper plate. The exhibition includes nine prints of her earliest charcoal abstracts alongside photogravures of works originally rendered in pencil and watercolour. Displayed alongside the drawings there are texts about why she made them. They are sourced from a fragmentary but often poetic text that she published alongside the collection in 1974.
Home-Start Blackmore Vale are looking for a friendly volunteer to help at the Mother’s in Mind group, held near Sturminster Newton on a Monday morning from 10am to 11:30am. Mothers in Mind is a referral-only, supportive group for mums experiencing anxiety, loneliness, antenatal or post natal depression. If you have some free time, could be a general welcoming presence and would be happy entertaining toddlers and babies while mums take some time to chat and to engage in some craft activities, then Home-Start would love to hear from you. You might also be on tea and coffee duty, would be helping to set up and pack away from the session. For more information or to get involved please email [email protected] or call 01258 473038
anuary is for looking forward at the year ahead – and as a good Liberal Democrat, I look forward with hope and optimism. As someone once said: a sunny and optimistic disposition won’t solve your problems, but it will annoy enough curmudgeons and doom-mongers to make it well worth the effort! We all know there are serious challenges that demand serious attention and serious answers – but we should attempt to meet those challenges in a spirit of optimism, with conviction that they will be overcome. The key thing is to mix the spirit with the seriousness, and not equate optimism with frivolity. We cannot simply wish away our difficulties, and there has been too much of the latter over the last few years. Regrettably, the work will also take time and it will cost money that’s in very short supply right now. But with optimism there is also purpose, and that is what we really need and must sustain if we are to thrive in this turbulent world. One reason for hope and optimism is the knowledge that a General Election will be called this year. At last – we will have the chance, and duty, to give our verdict on this (desperate, wheezing and useless) government. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We will also have Dorset Council elections on 2nd May. We could even have a buy-one-get-one-free opportunity to get it all out of the way and done on the one day. Alas, only if Rishi Sunak has the courage to accept that the game is up, and that we must all have our say.
A different way A better way ahead is clear. One that is more fair, more open and more free. I took some time this Christmas – between classic TV and the offspring’s latest Tik Tok memes – to read a great report by the Resolution Foundation, which I recommend to anyone interested in serious ideas for the UK economy and The Social Contract. There’s a small health warning, however – the report is weighty. But at least it is coherent and clear. It would also make heavy demands on a government that adopted it. More importantly, it would demand of us that we be serious too, and understand that the benefits will have costs. The bit that really stuck in my mind was at the end of a section criticising a Cameron-Osborne era notion about turning Britain’s economy into ‘one like Germany’s’, with a broad-based, China-focused, manufacturing/export economy. The UK today is the second greatest exporter of services in the world after the USA, with smaller – but important – leading edge manufacturing capabilities in specific, niche high-tech areas. Yet we have stagnated. I love Germany but as the report says, Britain has strengths and we need to play to them. We need to invest more, both reliably and regularly, and we need to value people much more. The report is spot on. We need to be a better version of Britain: not a British version of Germany – or anywhere else for that matter. So, I finished reading my Christmas homework seeing a reflection of our values and some great ideas. I have a strong sense that Liberal Democratic policies are right for our times – and that we should all have grounds for hope and optimism in implementing them or at least in influencing a different government to do so, with rigour and energy. Liberal Democrats will field a strong team of candidates in the coming year of elections – for Dorset Council, as Police and Crime Commissioner and in the General Election. I am standing as the Liberal Democrat candidate in North Dorset for the coming General Election and look forward to bringing seriousness and optimism to ballot boxes across our beautiful slice of Britain.
Alistair Chisholm crying in front of Dorchester’s Corn Exchange
Dorchester is searching for a new voice to fill the role of its award-winning town crier. Alistair Chisholm, the voice of Dorchester for 27 years, retired on New Year’s Eve, marking the end of the year with his final cry. The town crier, an ancient role dating back to medieval times, was crucial when most of the population couldn’t read, making public announcements and proclamations. The tradition continues across the country, and the Dorchester crier remains a celebrated figure at civic events. Alistair Chisholm is leaving behind a legacy that includes multiple wins at the National Town Crier Championships and a record-equalling 11th national title in 2021. His tenure saw him herald significant moments such as the Coronation of Charles III and the 2012 Olympic torch relay. Reflecting on his career, he remarked it was a ‘fun thing to do,’ highlighting the importance of ‘wind’ to deliver a good cry! Dorchester Town Council is now on the hunt for Alistair’s successor. Interested candidates are invited to apply by 12th February by letter, explaining why they are suitable for the prestigious role. The town crier is required to write and perform their own cries and to attend major town events. A spokesperson for the council emphasised the role’s significance in promoting Dorchester’s rich heritage. ‘It is a nationally renowned position that serves an important function,’ they said, underscoring the desire to preserve this unique tradition. Shortlisted applicants will showcase their skills in a public performance, and the council stresses the importance of local history knowledge or the willingness to learn. Stepping into Alistair Chisholm’s shoes will be no small feat, but the opportunity presents a chance to become a part of Dorchester’s living history.
I trust many BV readers enjoyed to the full their Christmas festivities with family and friends. Of course not everyone will have been able to enjoy it – some through misfortune, and others through essential work commitments. My partner Pam and I were among the unfortunate ones ourselves, but our experience gave us a valuable insight into one of the most essential pillars of UK society – our NHS. On Christmas Eve, Pam tripped, fell – and seemingly broke her arm. Arriving in A&E at 7pm we found the waiting room almost full. Nevertheless Pam was examined within 15mins, given painkillers, and booked for an X-ray – with a warning that due to a staff shortage there would be a long wait… When we were finally ushered into the X-ray area at 1am the extent of the problem became apparent. The ward was full of sick and injured people, and the medics were extremely busy caring for them. The staff were deeply apologetic for the delays, and in return all we could do was thank them for working so hard through Christmas. The need to invest in the NHS is clear to everyone who unfortunately has to call upon its services. The same goes for our social care system, where poor pay and conditions contribute to record low staffing levels with a current 150,000 vacancies. NHS England data shows that 10,000 healthy patients were forced to stay in hospital on Christmas Day, because of a lack of the social care facilities needed for them to be discharged. That’s 10,000 beds which are then not available for sick and injured people. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement prioritised tax cuts over spending on health, and there’s no secret in the government’s creeping ‘backdoor privatisation’ of the NHS. This year brings local council elections, and possibly a General Election. This will be your chance to let local politicians know that health care is a major priority for all of us. Cuts to preventive and community care urgently need to be reversed. As Joni Mitchell once sang “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”. Let’s make sure we don’t lose more of our amazing NHS. Happy New year everyone.
They’re a rare wildlife success story: Jane Adams shares a brief, heart-racing encounter with one of our most elegant aerial acrobats
The red kite, milvus milvus.
Maybe it’s because red kites aren’t a common sight in Dorset that spotting one is still a spine-tingling experience. That they’re an elegant bird goes without saying, but, for me, it’s their other-worldliness and their knack of appearing from nowhere that stands them apart from other birds of prey. One bitterly cold day, a friend and I climbed to the top of Melbury Hill near Shaftesbury. Mist frothed into the dips in the valley, and, as we fumbled with icy hands to take photos, a red kite appeared. We were above it, looking down onto its slender, outstretched russet wings, watching its distinctive forked tail twist this way and that. We saw the flight feathers, like fingers, reaching for invisible air currents.
Close encounter Red kites are a rare success story in a landscape of nature declines. Susceptible to illegal poisoning and egg collection, only a handful of birds survived in the British Isles by the 1930s, all of them in Wales. But, with an increase in protections and reintroductions, their numbers have literally soared. So much so that they are now moving from their strongholds in Wales, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire to new counties, such as Dorset. I once came face to face with a red kite. I was on a lone bike ride down quiet country lanes, and as I approached a steep hill, something in the road caused me to stop. It was a red kite, just a few feet above the tarmac, flying straight at me. I froze, but before it reached me, it banked hard to the left and swept effortlessly up the hill like a Red Arrow jet. My heart has never beaten so hard or so fast. We know instinctively that nature can enhance our lives, but do we know how to let it? As Sir David Attenborough once said: ‘… no one will care about what they have never experienced.’ So, this January, go in search of a red kite – if you see one, make sure you top up your awe and excitement levels.
The most common way to see a red kite is soaring noiselessly far above, with the forked tail twisting in the air currents
Interesting red kite facts:
Though their wingspan can reach nearly two metres, red kites can weigh as little as 800g, less than a mallard duck.
Red kites live mainly on roadkill, but will also eat small mammals, birds, and, rather surprisingly, earthworms.
When Shakespeare warned, “when the kite builds, look to lesser linen” in The Winter’s Tale, he was referring to the red kites’ tendency to ‘collect’. Nests have been found with all sorts of colourful decorations, from handbags to knickers from washing lines!
The oldest wild red kite known in the UK was 25 years and 8 months when it died in 2018.
The name ‘kite’ was first used for a flying toy in the 17th century.
The word ‘glide’ is thought to come from the Anglo-Saxon for red kite – ‘glee’.
In Tudor times, vermin laws saw a bounty paid for each red kite carcass – no wonder there were so few by the 1930s!
Celebrating the quality and diversity of food and drink in Dorset (with a pinch of Wiltshire and Somerset) with Fanny Charles
Crowds pour on to Great Field at Poundbury for the August one-day Dorset Food & Arts Festival, founded in the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Year, 2012, which was also the year of the London Olympics, with the sailing events at Weymouth. The festival continues to celebrate Dorset’s food and drink and creativity.
When I created the Local Flavours column in the old BVM, 20 years ago, the name wasn’t original. It was actually the title of a wonderful book by the great American food writer and cook Deborah Madison. Her Local Flavours was a celebration not of one county (or state) but of the food local to farmers markets across the USA and around the year. Quoting the then president of her local Santa Fe Farmers Market, Don Bustos, Madison defined the role of a farmers market as ‘much more than farmers selling produce … they’re about protecting our farmland and water … keeping the farming traditions and cultures alive … about providing communities with good food.’ The food campaigner Michael Pollan, whose most famous advice is: ‘Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognise as food’ (In Defence of Food, 2008), described the book as ‘indispensable’. That was what we rather ambitiously aimed to be with our own Blackmore Vale version. It must have worked because, all these years on, as I started to talk to people about revive the Local Flavours name for The BV Magazine, I was surprised by how widely it was remembered by food producers, chefs, organisers of food festivals and markets and people generally involved in the local food scene.
Food, film and festivals Although there were a few farmers markets around – Bath had the first, starting in 1997 – the idea of a county-wide farmers market group was still new when Dorset Farmers Markets came into existence in 2004. It was followed in 2011 by the setting up of a producers group, Dorset Food & Drink, and then a growing calendar of events celebrating the wonderful produce that was being made across Dorset from Cranborne to Wootton Fitzpaine. There were great DF&D events, including the Dorset Food & Arts Festival at Poundbury and the Athelhampton Christmas Fair, spread through the beautiful Tudor house and a marquee in the gardens. Two related events were the autumn Screen Bites Food Film Festival, and the bank holiday Spring Tide, at The Hive Beach at Burton Bradstock, created by Caroline (Caz) Richards in her role as visitor experience manager for the National Trust. She collaborated with Dorset Food & Drink in 2012 when it had just been ‘born’, but even after Caz left the National Trust she continued to organise the event as an NT volunteer.
Dorset’s own ’trumpet-blower’, Caroline (Caz) Richards, a Londoner who fell in love with Dorset and dreamed she was Tess of the D’Urbrvilles, is the coordinator of Dorset Food and Drink.
Food stories past and present Twenty years of financial highs and lows, and massive changes in food production, hosp[itality and farming, as well as the growing threat of extreme events and the pandemic, have all affected the food and drink scene. But Dorset Food & Drink is still going, some of the farmers markets and events continue to bring the finest tastes of Dorset and the surrounding area to the food-loving public … and there has been an explosion of diversity on the local food and drink landscape. It used to be that our “ethnic restaurants” were Chinese, Indian or Italian – and the food was not always authentic! Nowadays, you can make an A to Z of food and drink that runs from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, embracing kombucha, kimchi and fermentations from Japan and Korea, bread and baked goods from Ukraine, spicy stews from West Africa, charcuterie made with locally farmed meat and wild venison, craft gin, and tastes of Poland, Syria and many more countries and cultures. So this is what we aim to celebrate in the new Local Flavours. We want to introduce readers to this delicious and colourful diversity. We want to tell you where you can find this vast range of food and drink. We will bring you stories of food from the farm down the road and the ancient traditions of refugees from war-torn countries in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. We will dig into Dorset’s kitchens and family archives to find historic recipes that link us to our past … and we will tempt you to try new tastes and products with exciting recipes, whether they come from centuries-old farmhouses or the makeshift cooking facilities of people who came here with nothing but memories.
Key dates for your calendar Dorset Food & Drink has four major events planned for 2024: Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens food festival, 30th March Abbotsbury Swannery Food and Craft Fair, a new festival coinciding with the cygnets hatching, with food and drink, music and crafts, 26th-27th May Dorset Food and Arts Festival, Poundbury Great Field, on the Saturday in August closest to the birthday of the late Queen Mother (4th August) Athelhampton Christmas Fair, Athelhampton House, Puddletown, last weekend in November. (Dates may be subject to change – we will be updating the calendar as we go along).
Lizzie, Dorset’s much-loved Baking Bird, queen of the brownies, crab tarts, sausage rolls and more, was wrapped up warmly for the Athelhampton Christmas Fair. “I’ve had a lovely day. The sun shone, I made a lot of people happy selling my buns and made a few bob too!”. A stalwart of Dorset Farmers Markets, she attends all the special Dorset Food & Drink events.
The face of DF&D Dorset Food & Drink, which operates under the umbrella of the Dorset National Landscape (formerly the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, aka AONB), represents food and drink businesses based in Dorset which produce, serve and sell great local products. It celebrates the producers’ connection to this beautiful county and helps to put residents in touch with them, as well as showcasing the best of local food and drink for people holidaying or visiting the county. Did you know, for example, that the historic Dorset Blue Vinny, exclusively made by the Davies family at Woodbridge Farm near Stock Gaylard in the heart of the Blackmore Vale, was the first British food product to be awarded PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status? The first co-ordinator of Dorset Food & Drink was Katharine Wright (now Parsons), whose indefatigable efforts put the organisation firmly on the West Country map, with support – as sponsors and founding members – from some of the biggest names in Dorset food and drink and farming, including NFU Mutual, Blanchards Bailey, Dorset Cereals, the Hive Beach Cafe, Purbeck Ice Cream, Moores Biscuits, Hall & Woodhouse, Ford Farm Cheesemakers, BV Dairy and Olives Et Al. The organisation has been a Community Interest Company since 2017.
Celestria Duerdoth runs Derwen Farm and farm shop, near West Stafford, with her husband Chas.
Since 2019, the co-ordinator has been Caz Richards, another power-house of energy and creative imagination, who describes her role as ‘trumpet blower, critical friend, knowledge bank, mentor and event, festival and market organiser … I also enjoy helping members, analysing and understanding trends, developing best practice and promoting DF&D to ensure we are the heartbeat of food and drink in Dorset.’
Healthy and delicious, some of the colourful Curious Kombucha fermented teas made in West Dorset
Born in Stoke Newington, Caz started coming to Dorset as a child: ‘My grandmother and aunt moved to Weymouth in 1973, so I spent most of my school holidays in Dorset – working on the beach in the summer with the famous donkeys, or wandering in Thorncombe woods, my head full of Hardy, imagining I was Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Little did I know back then that in 2008 I would be working for the National Trust in West Dorset and managing Hardy Country!’
Shanty botanical gin and vodka are made with Dorset-foraged seaweed – founded by former TV cameraman Hugh Lambert, combining his passion for craft distilling and the “magnetic pull of the shoreline”
Flavours Project The role of Dorset Food & Drink is multi-faceted, Caz explains, including improving sustainability, supporting local producers to strengthen the local economy and local food resilience, preserving local culture and enhancing a sense of community. A new Heritage Lottery-funded partnership with Dorset Race Equality Council has led to the development of the Flavours Project – offering opportunities to people from diverse backgrounds to come together to share experiences, reduce isolation, celebrate our global heritage and connect to nature, using food as a unifier. Activities range from picnics, shared lunches and recipe swaps to baking and cooking together, sharing food stories and traditions. Meet Ups are held in Sturminster Newton, Weymouth, Bridport, Swanage and Sherborne.
Wimborne, Market Square, third Saturday The nearest Wiltshire Farmers Market is at Salisbury at the Poultry Cross on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. The nearest Somerset Farmers Market is at Frome, at Boyles Cross on the second Saturdat of the month, and – as part of the Frome Independent – on the first Sunday.
Dorset Reading Partners (DRP) is looking for more volunteers interested in helping to inspire young children to read. If you love books, enjoy spending time with children and have two hours a week to spare (term time only), this could be the ideal role for you! Volunteers are placed in local schools and provided with comprehensive training, resources and full support from our team. Whether you are retired and looking for rewarding voluntary work, new to the area and keen to get involved in your local community, or perhaps thinking of a change in career and keen to gain some experience in school – this could be the perfect role for you. Volunteers go into school for two hours a week during term time. They work 1:1 with the same four children over the school year, seeing each child for half an hour outside the classroom. Using resources supplied by DRP, they talk, share books and play games in order to build up children’s confidence and motivation, as well as their communication and literacy skills. DRP are looking for confident, personable people from all backgrounds, with excellent literacy skills and an enthusiastic manner. Please do get in touch if you are interested, as DRP are currently recruiting for their next training course. dorsetreadingpartners.org.uk
