The Repair Cafe from 10am to 12.30pm once a month at Cheap Street Church Hall, Sherborne. It is run by a team of volunteers, and visitors bring their broken items from home. Small, damaged objects, mechanical devices, jewellery repairs, clothing or children’s toys that need some TLC.
Building bridges in Gillingham: sixth formers engage in community service, enhancing life skills and enriching the town with their spirited volunteerism
Gillingham School Sixth Form have been working hard to build links with the local community, in a project led by assistant head of sixth form, El Little.
Over the course of the school year, all students will undertake a half term of volunteering. The purpose of the work is to help develop skills of confidence, communication and community awareness among the students, while also having a positive impact on local residents and beyond. It is part of the wider Personal Development programme within Gillingham Sixth Form, which includes a focus on building leadership skills and providing enrichment opportunities for students.
Old and young
Last term students took on a number of different activities – one of the most successful was visiting residents at Fern Brook Lodge Care Home and The Malthouse Care Home, spending time chatting with the residents. Two of the students are members of TLW Dance Company in Shaftesbury, and they put their skills to good use putting on musical and dance performances at Fern Brook Lodge. The Malthouse residents were treated to home baked cakes! The students involved have found it a very rewarding experience getting to know the residents. One of the 6th formers, Poppy Marshall, says, ‘It was so interesting finding out about the lives of the residents before they came to the care home. I found it really uplifting and it always really brightened my day’.
Care home staff reported that the residents really looked forward to the visits and loved the singing and dancing. Because the residents were not able to attend the school’s Christmas Carol Concert, on the last day of the school term members of the school orchestra, led by head of music Liam Carey, visited Fern Brook Lodge to put on a Christmas music performance.
Visibly helping
Another group oversaw the organisation of the Rotary Club Shoebox Appeal within school, with individuals and tutor groups putting together shoe boxes to be sent to children in eastern European countries for Christmas. This involved promoting the appeal within the school, raising funds for donations, and organising the delivery and collection of boxes to be sent off. Further charity events have taken place in school, led by students, to raise funds for local organisations.
There have also been students regularly litter picking on a Wednesday afternoon in Gillingham town centre – providing an opportunity not only to tidy the streets, but also to interact with local members of the community.
The school has been support through the project by Dextra Group, who supplied the school with hi-vis jackets and lanyards with the school logo and slogan ‘Gillingham School Serving the Community’. This has allowed the public to see the positive work the students are undertaken.
Over the coming months, the Sixth Form are planning to extend the community project further and to link with other local organisations to deepen the relationship between the school and town.
• The BV’s Community News pages are sponsored by Wessex Internet
Robbie Baird unveils North Dorset Beekeepers’ ambitious plan for an accessible apiary, highlighting their fundraising efforts
The North Dorset Beekeepers site in Shillingstone is remote – accessed by crossing a field and two wobbly stiles – and once you’re there, there’s no electricity, running water, or any other facilities you might expect. We do have a hut to store equipment in, and a corner of a field to keep the beehives (the apiary) … but that’s about it.
Not that we’re complaining – it’s better than nothing – but it does mean we can’t be as inclusive as we’d like. Hosting anyone but the fully able-bodied simply isn’t an option. Yet.
Spreading the word about the importance of the honey bee, and training enthusiasts to become good beekeepers, has always been core to the Association’s activities. To do all of that, we really needed a teaching facility …
Dorset Council provided a glimmer of hope in 2023. Part of a field was on offer and, as we’re a registered charity, it would be for a peppercorn rent. Planning permission for a building was sought – and approved – and we were on!
All we need now is £200,000 …
Working on it
We have more than 150 members and many of them have stepped up to the fundraising challenge. Of course, we sell our honey and other bee-related products at the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show, the Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival and at Dikes supermarket in Stalbridge. Donations have come in too – particularly from those repairing their roof, only to find they have a colony of honey bees living in it! Our members can help with that if the access route is safe, and we’ll save the bees! We’ll attend a swarm, too, if you have one in your garden.
We even filled the Portman Hall in Shillingstone for an absolutely brilliant Bees a-Swarmen evening of Dorset stories and music, performed by the renowned Tim Laycock and Colin Thompson.
Last summer we offered a series of Bees & Beekeeping experience days for the first time. They’re a fun afternoon, learning about the life of a honey bee and getting up close and personal with them as you open up a hive to see what goes on inside. Back at the hall, there are loads of other things to explore (check out how hairy a bee is under the microscope!) and there’s tea, coffee and cake. There’s always tea, coffee and cake when beekeepers are involved!
These were a huge success, and we’re already booking 2024 dates.
Why the bee?
Most folk understand the need to protect the natural world, and that increasing biodiversity is a good thing. But nothing’s sustainable without the insects making sure the next generation of our native flowers, shrubs and fruit trees are pollinated. Those same insects are also a major food source for our native birds.
Protecting insects and their habitat and fighting invasive species are important messages. Our experience is that, once introduced to the honey bee and its amazing life, and having watched the bees at work in the hive, non-beekeepers realise just how precious our insects are.
Can you help?
We’d love to be able to welcome all comers, young and old, able-bodied and the not-so-able-bodied, to a new Honey Bee Centre and to continue spreading the word … and yes, creating a buzz of excitement about these tiny, valuable creatures. That’s what keeps us going as we work to find the £200,000 we need.
If you’d like to help us on the journey, you’ll find out more on our website and if you’d like to become a patron of the new centre or a business sponsor, just leave us a message and we’ll be in touch.
This is the perfect comfort food for January – it’s so simple to make, really good for you and
deliciously thick and moreish for those cold January days. The amount this recipe makes depends on the size of your butternut squash, but will feed at least three hungry people.
Ingredients
Method
Spring 2024 is set to bloom with the inaugural Dorset Spring Show, promising a vibrant celebration of spring flowers, food, farming, and more. Scheduled for Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th April 2024, it’s a brand new event from the team behind the Dorset County Show.
The Dorset Spring Show is a celebration of the arrival of warmer days after the chill of winter. Jason Bowerman, Chairman of the Show, says the event may be new, but it has old bones; ‘The roots of this event trace back to the Society’s annual Spring Horticulture and Homecraft Competitions Show. In 2024, we are taking this to a whole new level with the introduction of the Dorset Spring Show, set against the stunning backdrop of Kingston Maurward.’
Visitors can expect a range of experiences, from savoring local delicacies and discovering the art of food production to enjoying live demonstrations and engaging talks by local speakers. Entertainment will be plentiful, with local acts, hands-on rural skills workshops, and of course there’ll be lots of shopping opportunities. The highlight for many will undoubtedly be the chance to meet newborn lambs – a true sign of spring.
A special focus of the Show will be the farm-to-fork journey, illustrating the agriculture sector’s vital role in feeding the nation. It will feature a variety of speakers and rural crafters, showcasing the essence of Dorset.
James Cox, the Show Organiser, shares his enthusiasm: ‘Speakers Corner, Floral Demonstrations, Agri Education Hub, Crafters Corner … there is so much happening in this new event, and you can be a part of it. For more than 170 years, the Dorset County Show has bid summer farewell in style. In 2024, we are also starting summer with a blooming bang through the Dorset Spring Show. We will have so much to announce over the coming months.’
Tickets are available now, with an Early Bird offer for adults at just £8, and free entry for children.
This month Barry Cuff has chosen a couple of postcards of the village in which he grew up.
This is the school that grandfather, father and I attended. The sender, Mary Jones, was the infant teacher and wife of Thomas Jones, headmaster. Note the separate playgrounds in their time – bottom for the boys and top for the girls!).
It was sent on 23rd December 1904 to the postmistress, Miss F Collis, at Iwerne Minster:
‘My dear Fan, A line to wish you a very jolly Christmas. I thought you would like a view of our house & school. It was taken from the church tower. Much love from Mary Jones’
A William Snook sent this card on 4th November 1904 to a relative, Miss E Snook, in Longfleet. The Snook family ran the Post Office, Telegraph Office, the bakery and Temperance Hotel in the village – and, as can be seen from the message, they produced postcards too!
The thatched cottages were pulled down in the late 1970s.
‘Do you remember this spot – we are doing this at one penny each. I will send Jon another soon. Kind love to all’
He’s ‘cried’ on Glastonbury’s pyramid stage … Robbie Wiliams is a fan … Tracie Beardsley talks to Chris Brown, the voice of Wimborne
When moving to a new area, advice tends to be “join a sports or social club” to make friends. Not for Chris Brown, a newcomer who soon made himself the most recognised person in town by becoming town crier the same year he moved to Wimborne Minster.
That was in 1998 – Now, 25 years later, Chris still opens businesses and attends civic engagements with flourish and flair. He’s been crowned The Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers Champion and is the current Dorset County Champion Crier – a title he has held five times. He’s appeared on postcards and even the back of buses promoting Wimborne Town.
Also hailed the ‘Rock and Roll Town Crier’ because of his love of music and DJ-ing (as DJ Dapper Dan), he hosts the Town Centre Stage at Boomtown Festival in Winchester, sitting on a throne to introduce acts, and he has even appeared on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
‘That was definitely the craziest thing I’ve done,’ says Chris. ‘In town, I’m lucky if there’s 50 people listening to me. There were about 70,000 that day – I’d been adopted as mascot for Texan indie-pop band The Polyphonic Spree. I’ve opened loads of their tours around the UK, but Glastonbury was definitely my biggest gig!’
He even impressed singing star Robbie Williams, who was captivated by his booming voice and flamboyant costume. ‘He told me he loved what I do as he shook me by the hand!’ recalls Chris.
Being Town Crier is voluntary and Chris gives it his all, writing amusing poems or personalising messages, whether it’s opening a telephone box converted into a library in Sturminster Marshall or surprising an elderly couple celebrating their 70th anniversary. The former social worker says: ‘It’s about engaging with people, making announcements, attention-grabbing.’
However, this can lead to the occasional faux pas. ‘A few years before the Queen died, I was showing Prince Edward around the Physic Garden in Wimborne. I announced the garden was dedicated to the memory of his mother. He looked at me in alarm. “She was alright this morning,” he said. “Is there something I should know?” ‘
Chris has spent time researching the origins of town criers. ‘They were the newsreaders of their time, communicating information and collecting taxes. Greek runners would run from town to town telling the news. Romans had town criers.
I visited a remote village in Africa and they had someone to tell the news. We exist all over the world in slightly different forms.’
As well as herding people, the town crier was paid to be keeper of cattle pens. He would impound strays and be paid a penny for each turn of the key that released them. In Wimborne, the crier also used to collect market pitch fees, deal with disputes, check quality and the price of goods. Beer adulterated by molasses? Veg too cheap? Even today all criers have royal protection and it’s illegal to lay hands on them or hinder their work.
The search for hose
Such bygone concepts of policing captivated Chris, who is keen on 17th century history.
‘I’ve been re-enacting civil wars longer than they actually took to fight! I investigated the role of the Town Mayor’s Serjant, whose job it was to raise the local militia, to keep order in the town – he was the forerunner of the modern police force.’
Chris took the idea of ‘men with muskets’ to Wimborne Town Council and, thanks to him, the famous Wimborne Militia now celebrates 25 years, with Chris as its Serjant figurehead. They recreate historical events such as the 1685 Monmouth Rebellion, and Chris’ resplendent red and gold uniform with jaunty tricorn hat reflects these military roots. It was designed by two Arts University Bournemouth students studying Costume for Stage and Screen. ‘My only problem in this day and age is finding woollen hose,’ laughs Chris ‘but I’ve got a costumier in Blandford on the case for me.’
His most important accessory is his bell. ‘It was my first ever purchase on eBay. By accident I forgot the decimal point and offered $5,000! Luckily, the American buyer checked the amount with me, and I got it for £50. It’s a British first world war trench gas attack warning bell – it had found its way back to the USA as a GI’s stolen souvenir!’
Chris’s greatest plaudit is being made honorary freeman of the town. ‘I can now drive my sheep through the town free of charge! To celebrate, I walked one sheep through the town – Wimborne Model Town!’
Chris is now 67, but do town criers ever retire? ‘Until I disgrace myself or fall over, no! I had polio when I was a baby which left me with deformed feet – hence my need to use crutches or a mobility scooter at times. The doctors told my mother I would never walk but she was a determined lady.
‘I love this role, though it takes me two hours popping to the shops. I know so many people.’
Quick fire questions:
Top dinner party guests?
Sven Berlin – an amazing artist and sculptor who lived in Wimborne
Frank Zappa.
Tony Benn – my dad worked with him and weirdly, both died on the same morning within minutes of each other.
Glenda Jackson.
My mum – it would be nice to see her again. She died in 1983.
Book by your bedside?
‘I am Lazarus’ by Sven Berlin. I met him a couple of times and bought his artwork in auctions. He’s painted beautiful pictures of Wimborne.
Sherborne’s housing dilemma: Ted Howells examines the proposed West Sherborne development and its implications for the town’s future
In recent months, there’s been a lot of debate about the issue of housing in Sherborne. During the last decade, the affordability, demographics and supply of housing in the town has evolved. Since 2010, property prices have increased by 46 per cent, with an average price tag today of more than £360,000. In this same period, the town’s population has risen to over 10,300 people, and in 2021 the proportion of socially rented households had increased, while home ownership through mortgages or shared ownership had decreased.
These societal shifts raise a fundamental question about Sherborne’s housing situation: but what’s the solution?
West Sherborne
For Sherborne Town Council, the proposed West Sherborne development provides the answer. In April 2021, the town council agreed a collective response to the Dorset Local Plan consultation and ‘supported’ the West Sherborne development. It was widely expected that the Local Plan – which outlines the need for 30,000 new homes in Dorset by 2038 – would be adopted by late 2023, but it has since been delayed until 2026.
The concept of West Sherborne was devised by Sherborne Castles Estate, which encompasses some 15,000 acres of land, in-hand and tenanted farms, and a range of agricultural, residential and commercial properties. It includes Sherborne Castle, the 1,200 acre ancestral home of the Wingfield Digby family, which has owned the property and gardens for over 400 years.
It also includes the land to the north-west and western edges of Sherborne, earmarked for the proposed Sherborne West development.
Working with Chesters Harcourt, NEW Masterplanning, and Andrew Cameron & Associates, the Estate has put forward a vision for the creation ‘of a new masterplanned neighbourhood in the west of Sherborne’ on this land. It’s envisaged that the development would extend from Marston Road, across the A30 and down to Lenthay Road. So what exactly is being proposed?
According to the town council’s response, any development – such as West Sherborne – should entail ‘new housing units comprising a mixture of small and larger homes rather than 1,200 homes of equal sizes’.
It is proposed that the construction of 1,200 homes would be delivered in instalments, similar to the process of the Barton Farm development. The town council’s members also expressed their desire for 500 affordable homes to be introduced, which they claim ‘would mean the overall introduction of at least 1,500 homes’. Any such development would need to be delivered in co-ordination with Dorset Council to ensure ‘adequate local provision’.
Location
The western side of Sherborne is an area which the town council acknowledges is situated away from the town centre and which lacks adequate infrastructure, as ‘the services are to the middle and to the East’. In addition, the location of the proposed development – especially extending south from Bradford Road to Lenthay Common – is known for its ‘high-water table and likelihood of flooding’.
Infrastructure
To accommodate such a proposal on this scale would need adequate infrastructure. It would require additional educational facilities, as the state-run Gryphon school and Sherborne Abbey Primary School ‘are nearing capacity and may need to be expanded’.
It would also require the sufficient provision of healthcare and retail facilities to accommodate the increase in homes, along with a drainage system and good broadband.
Transportation
In their response, town council members conceded that such a development would be ‘creating stress on the already busy [road] junctions within the town.’; this is particularly so when it is estimated that 1,200 homes would result in around 2,400 extra cars. To this extent, council members ‘support the proposals for the ‘civilising’ of the A30, with the potential to bring it down to a single carriageway as it approaches Sherborne to slow it down and reduce the potential for speeding.’ Members also endorsed proposals to electrify the local train network and consider new bus routes.
Sherborne Town Council has stated their support for ‘holistic development that ensures the future economic, social and environmental health of our community’.
‘I’m surprised I’m still here!’ The Dorset woman’s year-long journey walking Britain’s entire coastline is raising money for the homeless
On a bitterly cold winter day, Claire Allen is striding out across Studland Beach towards Old Harry Rocks. It is one small stage in a massive challenge – to walk the entire length of Britain’s coastline in a year. However, right now there’s only one thought on her mind, especially with the biting cold. Where is she going to sleep tonight?
A mighty undertaking
Claire lives in Bristol now, but her family are from Okeford Fitzpaine in Dorset. She set out from John o’ Groats in Northern Scotland on 8th August 2023 – she has completed about a third of her total distance so far. She’s walking for charity, aiming to raise £25,000 to split equally between two charities; Only A Pavement Away and Shelter.
When Claire started she was just planning a year out from her job, wanting to ‘do something different’. The presence of rough sleepers and having to find somewhere to sleep each night focused her attention on homelessness.
Claire says: ‘I’m lucky. I haven’t experienced anything like homelessness and I have a support network and a family. But after months on the road I can say the hardest part about it is finding somewhere to stay each night. In summer it’s easy because you can simply camp. At this time of year it’s dark at 4pm and right now it’s freezing. It really makes you think about those less fortunate.’
The kindness of strangers
Before 45-year-old Claire set out on her long walk around Britain she worked in the charity sector in Bristol as a communications and fundraising professional. That exposed her to homelessness – but this walk has shown her a different perspective to living without a safe, secure base.
‘Walking down the east coast of Scotland, it was easier to find somewhere to rest because you can camp out anywhere. But when I got to England it was more of a challenge. I’ve had huge support from B&Bs, and even complete strangers who have a room free.
‘I’m more attuned to homelessness now. But what I have really valued is when people say hello. That small social interaction means a lot. So now, as I go on my way and see someone who is alone and looks homeless, I ask if they are OK.
‘Homelessness is a crisis that none of us can ignore. It’s visible in every town and city. Along the way, I’ve met people who are homeless and sleeping rough – and not one of them has chosen that life. Losing your home can be down to something as commonplace as a marriage break up, becoming unemployed or even falling out with your family.’
Life on the road
Claire usually walks 15 miles a day. She didn’t have a formal training programme before she set off, but as someone who does trail running she wasn’t unfit before the challenge.
‘I have found that just through walking each day, I’m getting a lot fitter. Apart from finding somewhere to sleep, the only other challenge has been the weather. There are funny moments too. One memorable night a fox got into my tent! Somehow it managed to find my food and spread things everywhere. I was brushing my teeth at the time and came back to find a real mess.
‘When I’m walking, my rucksack becomes a talking point – sometimes I look like a bit of a freak show. People are taken aback that I’m doing this on my own and usually ask where I’m staying and what I’m doing. It’s lovely to talk to people. Some even give me £20 when they hear I’m raising money for charity.
‘I keep my energy levels up with food. I must be the only person who has walked the length of Britain and put ON weight! I’m always thinking about food and coffee. To maintain my energy levels, it’s important to get a good night’s sleep, to eat enough – and try not to be tempted by too many doughnuts’
Now she has walked down one side of Britain and two-thirds of the way across the ‘bottom’, what has surprised Claire the most?
‘That I’ve stuck at it! I didn’t know how I would manage or have any idea how it would go. I didn’t tell too many people before starting out because I didn’t know whether it would even work. I’m also surprised at how generous people have been with donations.’
Claire is currently on the 630 mile stretch of the South West Coastal Footpath. Her most recent Instagram post – from Weymouth – says:
‘I’m now five months into this great big walk and still want to run screaming to the nearest station and jump on the first train home when I think about how much further I’ve got to go. So for now, it’s just one day at a time.’
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