Healthy eating on a tight budget

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24 October 2023

Another season feeling the pinch at the check-out?Expert Karen Geary shares some smart strategies for eating well and wasting less

Maintaining a nutritious diet often conjures images of expensive organic produce and speciality health foods. Many believe that eating healthily on a tight budget is simply not possible.
However, with a little planning and creativity, it is entirely possible to eat well without breaking the bank!
Make use of tech
Check out apps such as Too Good to Go and Olio. Too Good to Go is where supermarkets sell off their unwanted items close to their sell by dates. I live near Blandford, and noted both Spar and Morrisons participate with their ‘surprise bags’, at around a third of the full shelf price. And yes, Greggs are there too, but that defeats the healthy-eating point! Olio is a community exchange app – you can donate overstocks or produce of your own as well as seeing what others locally may have to share.

Plan your meals
I have managed to cut my budget right back by spending half an hour a week planning meals in advance. Your plan should include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Always check what you already have in the cupboard to avoid buying duplicate items (guilty as charged) (and me – Ed). Planning meals not only helps you stay within budget, but it also eases the ‘what’s for dinner’ daily stress, while reducing the chances of impulsive and unhealthy food choices.
Buy in bulk
Buying staple items in bulk can significantly reduce the cost of your groceries, if you can manage the single up-front cost (which I appreciate not everyone can).Look for items like rice, pasta, beans, lentils, oats and canned vegetables in larger quantities.

Shop around
One item I find annoyingly expensive in supermarkets is nuts – yet go onto Amazon – or check local supplier Wilton Wholefoods – and they are much more affordable if you buy a large bag. The same applies to many dried goods such as beans, lentils and spices.

Embrace frozen and tins
Fresh fruits and vegetables are fantastic, but they can be expensive, especially when not in season. Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are often far more affordable and have a longer shelf life. They are just as nutritious as their fresh counterparts and can be used in a variety of dishes, from smoothies to soups and stir-fries.

Use leftovers
Got some droopy stuff hanging about in the bottom of the veg drawer? Freeze it. Perfect for adding to soups, stews or smoothies.
If your menu plan uses half a packet, tin or fresh item, be sure your plan uses the other half, rather than leaving it to go sad and then throwing it away.

Cook at home
Takeaways, while convenient, will quickly deplete your budget. Instead, make cooking at home a priority. Home-cooked meals are not only more budget-friendly but also allow you to control the ingredients, making it easier to choose healthier options. Experiment with simple recipes and gradually expand your culinary skills. Don’t dismiss making your own bread. It’s easy, cheap and if you make sourdough, you don’t even need to knead it! I wish someone had told me that years ago.

‘Frozen and canned fruit and veg are just as nutritious – but are often far more affordable and have a longer shelf life’

Batch cooking
Cooking once and reheating in a microwave can save ££s on energy bills – as well as having things ready to go when you get home from work. My favourites are stews and soups in the winter, but it can also be done with salads and lunchbox items too. Invest in some good containers, ideally glass with plastic lids, to make them last longer and for ease of storage.

Buy generic and store brands
Don’t shy away from these. They are often as high in quality as name brands but come with a lower price tag.

Less but better
Meat can be one of the most expensive items and often the cheapest way to buy it is your local farm shop or butcher, not the supermarket. The quality is likely to be far superior too. Consider reducing your meat consumption and incorporating more plant-based proteins like beans, lentils, tofu, and eggs into your diet instead.

Use coupons and discounts
Keep an eye out for coupons, discounts and sales in your local grocery store’s flyers or online. There are also various apps and websites that offer digital coupons and cashback rewards.

Limit processed and junk foods
Ultra-processed foods are in the news at the moment. They taste great and they are cheap (let’s face it, that’s why we buy so much of them).
However. .. they often offer little nutritional value and can be detrimental to your health in the long run.
Instead, focus on buying unprocessed whole foods that provide essential nutrients without the unnecessary added sugars, unhealthy fats and artificial additives.

Grow your own produce
If you have access to outdoor space, or even a windowsill, have a go at this.
The cost of herbs is one of my pet peeves, they can be grown so easily in pots from seed.

Practice portion control
Wasting food is both costly and environmentally unfriendly. Be mindful of portion sizes to avoid overeating and to make your groceries last longer. Leftovers can also be repurposed into new meals, reducing food waste.

FULL TIME CLASSROOM TEACHERS MPS/UPS + 1 SEN | Fairmead School Yeovil

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Editorial team

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23 October 2023

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STARTING JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Fairmead School transforms the lives of young people aged between 4 and 19 years with additional learning needs (MLD and ASD).

We are seeking to appoint enthusiastic and dynamic Classroom Teachers who have the flexibility to teach a range of curriculum subjects across the school. Successful candidates will be self-motivated, creative, fun and inspirational teachers who have a desire to build meaningful and positive relationships with all the young people they encounter. They will need to approach curriculum subjects in a purposeful, age appropriate and exciting way, engaging young people through first hand experiences. They will have high aspirations for our students and will be committed to, and passionate about, preparing them for successful, independent and happy futures in adulthood.

The successful candidates will join our committed, passionate and dedicated staff team and play an integral role in building an exhilarating future for our school community.

We welcome applications from teachers with all levels of experience and from a range of education backgrounds in both mainstream and special sectors. We would also welcome a teacher with a specialism in ICT.

Successful candidates will benefit from:
Joining a strong and committed staff team with a bright future.
Excellent CPD opportunities.
Outstanding opportunities for pedagogical development, working with specialist practitioners and experienced leaders.
The opportunity to make life-defining differences for an amazing group of young people.

Full details (Job Description, Person Specification and application form) can be obtained from https://dasjobs.co.uk/job/classroom-teacher-s/ or the school website www.fairmeadschool.com

or by email to [email protected]

Closing Date: Tuesday 7th November 2023

Interview Date: Thursday 9^th November 2023

Fairmead School is committed to safeguarding the school community. All job applications must contain the disclosure of any spent convictions and cautions. The school will carry out pre-employment vetting procedures, which include an online search for shortlisted candidates and the successful outcome of an enhanced DBS

In the studio with Gillian McCormick

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Editorial team

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23 October 2023

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Ancient craftsmanship: Edwina Baines discovers that the modern world of stained glass art is much the same as it was

Coloured glass was used for art and decoration in the ancient world by both Egyptians and Romans – and the techniques and materials used in making stained glass windows have changed little since the Middle Ages. Dorset artist Gillian McCormick’s love of the craft was born out of an interest in medieval art. The atmosphere, mystery and otherworldliness of the stained glass she saw in the cathedrals of St Mary’s and St Giles while studying painting at Edinburgh’s College of Art encouraged her to learn more. The essential tools – a glass cutter, grozing pliers for breaking and shaping the glass and a soldering iron – weren’t hard to collect, and Gillian started her stained glass journey by following her initial art degree with decorative glass courses in Bath and Glasgow, learning the skills of painting, staining, acid etching and fusing.

Fox In The Ferns
Image ©
Gillian McCormick

An ancient process
From her home in Edmondsham, Gillian walks the mile through the woods every day to her farmyard studio. The first step in making a stained glass panel is the design or ‘cartoon’. After selecting the glass, this cartoon becomes the guide for cutting the individual pieces, which are eventually assembled using specially-made lead came (or calm) which, when soldered at the joints, holds the piece together. The gaps between the lead and the glass are then filled with a black lead cement.

Gillian McCormick at her lightbox in the studio
Image: Edwina Baines

It’s a messy process, but once it hardens, the cement strengthens the finished panel.
The glass paints themselves consist of ground metal oxides in shades of brown and black, which are mixed with water and a small amount of Gum Arabic before being painted onto the glass and fired in the kiln to approximately 600ºC, fusing the paint to the glass. The paint modulates the light coming through the glass to create the desired effect. Matt shading can be scratched into with sticks and needles, or gently lifted with brushes till the image emerges. The process could be described as painting with light.

Gillian’s studio is filled with tools, materials and reference resources
Image: Edwina Baines

Several layers can be built up and fired, finishing with the addition of the silver stain, fired at a lower temperature to produce a range of yellows. This stain, made up of silver compounds that migrate into the glass and colour the glass itself, is where the term ‘stained glass’ is derived.
Gillian places each segment of glass onto a lightbox to see how the image is progressing. It is necessary to paint in reverse – and therefore to constantly turn the piece over to keep track of progress. Each piece can be fired up to four times.

Running dog stained glass panel
Image © Gillian McCormick

After acquiring a small pottery test kiln, Gillian continued to develop her knowledge and skill in glass painting, eventually buying a glass kiln which allowed her to experiment with glass fusing. This kiln can be controlled to go up to the higher temperatures needed to fuse glass – approximately 800ºC – and even more importantly to cool down in stages, allowing the glass to anneal (cool slowly), which prevents glass cracking in the finished piece.

Recently completed panel for a private commission

Glass fusion
As well as individual pieces and commissions for stained glass panels, Gillian also produces pieces of colourful and expressive fused glass. The glass used in fusing must all be compatible, heating and cooling at the same rate.
‘Glass fusing can be a freer, more flexible way of working,’ she says. ‘With the traditional leaded glass, precision is more important.’
The process starts with a base layer, which can have glass paint applied before layers of coloured glass are carefully arranged on top. Gillian sometimes uses several layers of colour, which can produce subtle colour changes, reminiscent of watercolour painting. The panel can be refired if adjustments are necessary. Glass powders or frits (ultra-small particles of ground-up glass) can also be added to create variation.
The countryside around Edmondsham and the encounters Gillian has with the local wildlife provide a constant source of inspiration.
‘A deer leaping through the woods, a badger emerging from the ferns or foxes skulking along the hedgerows, these are moments of enchantment among the seasonal changes in the landscape.’
Gillian has also enjoyed the opportunity to experiment with acid etching – using hydrofluoric acid to remove a layer of coloured glass from a piece of flashed glass (clear glass with a thin layer of coloured glass). This produces lots of creative possibilities when combined with paint but isn’t a technique she has been able to follow up due to the hazards involved in using the acid. She also works as part of a team carrying out repairs on stained glass windows in churches, painting replacement pieces for the broken windows.
Gillian participates in Dorset Art Weeks, the Wylye Valley art trail and more recently the Child Okeford art trail. She will be taking part in the Springhead Garden of Delights exhibition at the start of December and will have work in Chalks Gallery in Lymington in their Forest and Folklore winter exhibition. She also welcomes commissions.
Gillian McCormick_ Glass

Gillian’s fused glass birds
Image: Edwina Baines

Stained glass is on the endangered list of heritage crafts. The British Society of Master Glass Painters aims to encourage the continuity of the discipline and is open to anyone interested in stained glass

Bad boy Wilf

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Editorial team

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22 October 2023

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Andrew Livingston shares his brilliant story of the unintended consequences of unconditional love

Wilf – a good dog with one rather bad owner
All images Andrew Livingston

‘There’s no such thing as bad dogs, only bad owners’ has been the discourse running through the media over the last month as debate raged around the belief that certain breeds of dogs should be banned.
The phrase has stuck with me. And if I’m honest, it’s made me evaluate my relationships with my own two dogs. If there are no bad dogs, I have to ask myself, what kind of owner am I?
My partner Ellie and I got Winnie first. She’s a long-haired standard dachshund; if you have never seen one, imagine the cross between a Labrador and a miniature dachshund. I won’t lie, when it was just the three of us things were easy. I was probably a good owner.
But, like most families considering a second child, we were lulled into a false sense of security by the calm and tranquillity of our easy ‘first-born’. And then you bring your second-born into the world …
First thing I knew, Ellie simply came home from work with Wilf. In fact she had brought home the devil. We just didn’t know it yet.

Yet another community Facebook post featuring a ‘lost’ Wilf

The photo shoot
Before I dare to release some suppressed memories of Wilf from the last four years, I have to admit how great he was at first. He was, without doubt, the most gorgeous puppy you have ever seen. A golden cocker spaniel with gorgeous puppy eyes that could melt a stranger’s heart at a hundred paces. He was the type of puppy that turned heads as we walked down the street.
He was purchased with the full intention of being used as a working dog. The only issue was that he was never treated like a working dog. He was handled more like Paris Hilton’s handbag-accessory chihuahua and he was only ever referred to as ‘Little Prince’ around the house.
Shamefully (and it’s not easy to admit this), Ellie and I did a photo shoot with our two dogs – and ended up financing a collage picture frame of us and our dogs for our living room!
Since having two actual human children (not ‘fur-babies’) we realise just how ridiculous the £1,000 picture frame was. It is now slowly being moved from room to room – it’s currently on the downstairs bathroom floor, collecting splashes as it waits to be hung up.

The £1,000 portrait montage is currently propped in the downstairs loo

Of course, in hindsight we know that the over-loving and devotion we gave Wilf gave him a heightened sense of his own importance, to the point he simply stopped listening to us. Safe to say, when we are out and about, Wilf knows best.
When we moved from the Midlands to Dorset and I began working back at the farm I had worked at since the age of 15, my boss foolishly said that I could bring my dogs to work.
The problems quickly escalated.
For a start, the vet bills went through the roof. Plus the reasons for visiting the vets became increasingly outlandish. I actually had to ring Ellie and say, ‘I’m going to have to get him to the vet again, he’s just tried to eat a barbed fish hook and now it’s stuck in his mouth.’
It was at the farm where he also found his biggest passion in life: doing a runner. Being at the top of Whitesheet Hill you can see for miles down the valley – and I could quite often see Wilf, miles away, happily chasing birds from field to field.
The bottom of the valley rather annoyingly had a commercial shoot on its land, so on a work day Wilf would frequently enjoy popping down there to practise his skills for the weekend. On the first occasion, the gamekeeper threatened to do me a favour and shoot Wilf, but after the third or fourth visit I think the gamekeeper became quite fond of him – he even offered him a job! That, or he realised he was probably too quick to shoot …
It became quite the ritual in the end. I would finish work and promptly check the Beaminster Facebook page to see who had picked him up off the street today. Often I would turn up at someone’s house and he would be sitting cushty on their sofa, pretending not to know me in the hope I may just leave him there.
I was tempted on a few occasions.
I’ll admit things have become a lot harder for Wilf since we’ve had children – he’s no longer Little Prince in the house and I suspect he feels left out.
I’ll never forget the birth of my first child, Martha – we were at Dorchester Hospital and I was holding my daughter for the first time. Meanwhile my parents, who were looking after the dogs, were in the midst of a three hour search for Wilf, who had done another runner at Langdon Woods.
But it’s not Wilf’s fault. He really isn’t a bad dog … he just has one really bad owner!

Ten years of music in the Land of Bone and Stone

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Editorial team

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21 October 2023

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The Ridgeway Singers and Band celebrate their tenth anniversary with two concerts of music from Dorset villages and church archives

Bronze Age round barrows on Bronkham Hill © Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Ten years ago a project was launched to explore the heritage, archaeology and culture of the South Dorset Ridgeway – the ridge of land between Dorchester and Weymouth, from Eggardon Hill near Bridport in the west to Osmington in the east. Known by archaeologists as an internationally-important ‘prehistoric ceremonial landscape’ for its concentration of archaeology from the Neolithic and Bronze Age (6,000-2,300 years ago), the area is considered as important as Stonehenge and Avebury for the sheer number of monuments and what they tell us of life in the past.
One aspect of the project which has continued – and this year marks its tenth anniversary – is the Ridgeway Singers and Band, founded by Artsreach, Dorset’s rural touring arts charity in 2013. The birthday is being celebrated with two concerts, at the Old Brewery Hall in Ansty at 7.30pm on Saturday, 21st October, right in the heart of the Blackmore Vale and on Sunday 29th October at 4pm at St Mary’s Parish Church, Bridport.
The programmes will include seasonal songs, dance tunes from the collection of Benjamin Rose of Belchalwell near Ibberton, and readings from Dorset’s William Barnes and Thomas Hardy.

Tim Laycock with the Ridgeway Singers and Band

Dorset’s cultural fabric
From the start, the Ridgeway Singers and Band were led by musical director Tim Laycock, one of Dorset’s best-known musicians, actors and oral historians, and multi-instrumentalist Phil Humphries, famed for his prowess on the historic serpent. The new group was founded to explore the musical traditions of the South Dorset Ridgeway, part of the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and Dorset’s heritage of West Gallery songs and music (featured particularly in Thomas Hardy’s Under The Greenwood Tree). The group’s concerts of traditional – and new – Dorset songs feel like an intrinsic part of the cultural fabric of the county.
Initially, the Ridgeways rehearsed at Abbotsbury village hall, drawing their repertoire from the carols and Christmas music, stories and poetry of the Ridgeway area. The first concerts were very local, at Winterborne Abbas and Abbotsbury. The following year they widened their approach to look at folk songs collected by the Hammond brothers in Dorset in the early 20th century, and the dance tunes of the Hardy and Benjamin Rose collections.
The repertoire has expanded to include new songs and music on local themes composed by members of the group and their many musical friends in the county. Two of the most popular new works are Anna Eveleigh’s In Praise of Dorset Apples, and Tim Laycock’s Ridgeway Carol, One Bright Star.

Book tickets for the Ridgeway Singers and Band concerts via ridgewaysingersandband.org or telephone 01305 262159.

The charm of the port

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Editorial team

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20 October 2023

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Unveiling the Portuguese port: expert Hannah Wilkins takes us on a swift journey through the Ruby and Tawny fortified wines of the Douro Valley

When it comes to wine, there’s a jewel in the Douro Valley of Portugal that never fails to dazzle the palate: Port. While the big names like Graham’s, Taylor’s, Fonseca, and Warres may be synonymous with fortified wine, we have an array of hidden gems on our shelves.
As the leaves begin to turn, I thought I’d dedicate this column to the enchanting world of Ruby and Tawny ports, a world where dark grapes reign supreme.

Really ruby
Ruby port is a rich ruby elixir with an intoxicating bouquet of raspberries, blackberries, hints of cinnamon and luscious chocolate. Ruby Port comes in various delightful forms:
Ruby: a sweet and fruity blend, perfect for immediate indulgence.
Reserve Ruby: a premium choice which is meant to be savoured young.
LBV (Late Bottled Vintage): aged for over four years to deepen its character.
Vintage: a rare gem, crafted from a declared year, destined for graceful ageing.
Single Quinta: a distinguished offering from a carefully selected vineyard estate.

Totally tawny
As its name suggests, Tawny port has a captivating tawny or lush brown hue. This style teases the senses with aromas of dried fruits, nutty nuances, hints of caramel, and subtle whispers of coffee. Tawny ports come in a range of earthy expressions:
Tawny: aged for two years to maintain a delightful balance.
Tawny with an age indication 10 Year old: a blend of vintages with at least a decade of barrel ageing, graced with just a hint of cinnamon.
20 year old: a harmonious blend of vintages aged for at least two decades, where caramel meets cinnamon.
30 year old: a masterpiece of vintages aged for a minimum of three decades, yielding a symphony of nuttiness, butterscotch, and caramel.
Colheita: port born from a single harvest year, it is typically released after a decade of ageing.

If you have it, drink it
A burning question often arises: how long does port stay fresh once opened? Tawny port, a warm embrace for the occasional after-dinner sipper, can linger for one to two months. Ruby port maintains its vibrancy for a maximum of a month. But a Vintage port, the jewel of the collection, demands prompt attention – enjoy the bottle within a couple of days as exposure to oxygen swiftly alters its character.
As winter approaches, we invite you to explore the magic of port with us. Warm up a chilly day with a tasting session at Vineyards and let us regale you with tales of these enchanting wines. We always have a port or two open for you to try!

vineyardsofsherborne.co.uk
01935 815544
Tues to Thurs 12-5pm
Fri 11am-9pm
Sat 11am-6pm

Free school uniform exchange, new traders in 1855 and big winter plans!

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Editorial team

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20 October 2023

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Pauline Batstone shares her monthly round up of what’s happening among the town’s collection of community enterprises and events

Autumn is gently creeping up on us – pop into The Boutique and browse through our seasonal preloved offerings, find some new-to-you cosy goodies! There are new opening hours from Monday 2nd October – 10-4pm, Monday to Saturday.

The FREE school uniform exchange inside the old Barclays Bank

The Furniture Warehouse is now open every Monday from 10am to 4pm, and Fridays from 1pm to 5pm. At other times please do enquire in The Emporium.
And that means our Uniform Hub is also open; please come and see what we can help you with – for free! – plus bring along your outgrown items.
Meanwhile the Emporium and the Art Gallery continue to surprise and delight with a wide range of collectables, and all the things you never knew you wanted … till you wandered in. While you’re browsing, do your bit to help prevent food waste by checking out what is in our Community Fridge – the contents are free to all.

The eclectic shopping experience at 1855 continues to change and grow, with new traders joining. Recently we have welcomed Whimsical Creations who creates bespoke handmade baby clothes, and Cradle to Grave with an amazing collection of hand-woven wicker baskets, trugs and more. The Curtain Man has added trinket trays & bags to its range of cushions, runners, aprons & wall hangings, and Forager Spirit has restocked its range of amazing liqueurs. 1855 is open six days a week from 10am to 5pm
There is a food tasting pop up with our traders on the morning of Saturday 7th October – pop in and have a taste!

Preloved items for the new cooler season at The Boutique

Meanwhile …
SturAction is initiating and funding the revival of a Sturminster Newton Welcome Pack for those moving to our area
SturAction is introducing new Stur Ambassadors. It’s a project which has worked well in other local towns, ensuring that on days when events are taking place in town there will be highly-visible ambassadors available to welcome and help visitors. Volunteers welcome!
If you missed the opportunity to attend The Big Stur Welcome this week, why not take a stroll to the Stour Connect Community Celebration this month? It’s on Saturday 28th October (10am to 3pm) at Stour Connect on Bath Road.

Inside 1855 in Sturminster Newton, the town’s artisan bank with more than 70 traders

Halloween fun – there will be a window Halloween Quiz through the town this month – keep your eyes peeled!
Working with the Vale Pantry, The Exchange, Sturminster Newton Library and 1855, SturAction hopes to have a full Halloween programme of events to attract visitors and shoppers to town on Saturday 28th October.
The Car and Bike Enthusiasts plan to meet (weather dependent) tomorrow, 7th October.
Free town parking has been organised by SturAction for the following days and events: • Saturday 25th November (Christmas Tree Switch On)

Saturday 2nd December (Small Business Saturday)
Saturday 9th December
Saturday 16th December
Saturday 23rd December
A Make Stur Sparkle programme will list all events and activities taking place locally throughout the festive season. Printed copies (funded by SturAction) will be distributed around town for people to pick up. More information about this and other Christmas events planned will be shared nearer the time.
And finally, the Late Night Shopping event will take place on Friday 24th November (5pm to 8pm).

Volunteers wanted!
We can always use a new pair of hands to join our family of happy people. We can use your skills in different ways, it’s not just about serving in a shop. Just ask in The Emporium or the Boutique, or email Jacqui on
[email protected]

Local firm triumph at prestigious RIDBA awards

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Editorial team

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20 October 2023

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Tom Rose, MD, and Nick De Mello (Draughtsman) at the RIDBA awards

Local construction firm Rose Engineering achieved remarkable success at the Rural and Industrial Design and Building Association (RIDBA) Awards in September. Held in Cambridge, the event brought together construction firms from across the UK to celebrate excellence in the industry.
Despite facing fierce competition from much larger construction firms nationwide, Rose Engineering emerged victorious, clinching not only the Commercial Building category but also the prestigious Overall Winners title – an impressive achievement for any small rural business. The award-winning Commercial Building project – a new Workshop building for Chris Cox of CJ Cox Ltd, local agricultural engineers – garnered praise for its successful blend of traditional agricultural building elements and contemporary commercial design, showcasing excellent workmanship.
Tom Rose, Managing Director, says, ‘We are thrilled to have won the Commercial Award and to be named Overall Winners. Our collaboration with Chris Cox, who had a clear vision for the project, allowed us to fulfill our commitment to clients. We take immense pride in our small Dorset-based business.’
With over 37 years of experience in constructing agricultural and industrial buildings, Rose Engineering places a strong emphasis on quality and excellence. Operating throughout the Southwest, they handle a diverse range of projects, from cattle sheds to commercial units and offices. This year has been exceptionally busy for the company, marking a period of continued growth and recognition.
Anita Beaumont, Finance and Marketing, says, ‘This national recognition was a significant achievement for us – being Overall Winners was a delightful surprise. It reflects the hard work of our entire team.’

RIDBA is the leading trade association for the modern agriculture and industrial buildings industry in the UK.

Hedgerows – overlooked climate heroes

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Editorial team

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20 October 2023

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Celebrating a campaign win, Rupert Hardy, Chair of North Dorset CPRE, says the government are finally planting 45,000 miles of hedges by 2050

Dorset’s hedgerow-woven landscape from Bulbarrow Hill, looking across the Blackmore Vale
Image: Laura Hitchcock

In recent years we have written extensively about the importance of hedgerows in both offsetting climate change through carbon sequestration, and improving biodiversity. I can report back that CPRE’s campaigning has had considerable success. Our campaigning started way back in the 1970s with a call for legislation to support hedgerow retention, management and protection. More recently we welcomed the government’s Committee on Climate Change Report in 2019, which called for a 40 per cent extension of the UK’s hedgerows. Sadly the government did little to implement this in its 2021 action plan. CPRE therefore set out to promote this instead, proposing a target of 40 per cent by 2050, with the campaign called #40by50.

Volunteers planting a hedge in Dorset. Image: Ian Duckworth

How far we’ve come
We then worked with Farmers Weekly last year to engage with farmers who wanted to be involved in our hedgerow management survey, receiving more than 1,100 responses. The results of the survey are found in our report “Farming and hedgerows: stretching the boundaries” and were launched in the House of Lords last December.
Key findings were that 86 per cent of farmers say that hedgerows are important to them, while 70 per cent of respondents cited the lack of funding as the biggest obstacle to planting and maintaining hedgerows. There was overwhelming support for a new government target of 40 per cent more hedgerows by 2050.
We followed this up with a hedgerow petition, which called on the government to commit to planting thousands of miles of hedges across the country, and this reached over 49,000 signatures at the end of 2022. This January the government finally announced plans to create or restore 45,000 miles of hedgerow by 2050, and committed to almost doubling payment rates for new hedges – but these are still modest. In recognition, our hedgerow campaign was awarded first prize in the Animals and Environment category at the 2023 Charity Awards. Hurrah!

Waiting on ELMS
The Environmental Land Management Scheme – ELMS – sounds a mouthful and is also proving difficult to design and administer. It promises farmers public money for public goods, and is the post-Brexit farming payments programme. But since late 2022 they have been under review – in particular farmers are looking for better guidance, as well as more generous payments, on hedgerows, which DEFRA promises soon.

Great Big Dorset Hedge Project
Hedgerows have been a defining attribute of the pastoral landscape of the Blackmore Vale – remembered as the ‘Vale of the Little Dairies’ in Thomas Hardy’s books. With its irregular patchwork of small fields divided by ancient hedgerows, there is lots to do right here and elsewhere in Dorset.
More than two years ago CPRE initiated the Hedgerow Heroes Project with the aim of reinstating at least 15km of hedgerows. Dorset CPRE was also involved with CPRE Hampshire in the planting of 1.7 km of new hedgerow and 1.3 km of existing hedgerow on the Hinton Admiral estate. Our more recent focus has been on the Great Big Dorset Hedge (GBDH) project, conceived by Dorset Climate Action Network and involving CPRE volunteers, which has caught a lot of media attention.
The key driving force behind GBDH has been John Calder, a farmer near Charmouth who has designed hedgerow surveys on the major trails that traverse our county, especially the Jubilee and the Wessex Ridgeway Trails.
The mission has now become the restoration and extension of hedgerows the length and breadth of Dorset.
Volunteers are trained up on the public trails and are then invited to do ‘across farm’ surveys on individual private farms. Many farmers are unaware of the state of their hedgerows – or how best to restore them.
In the first year 150 volunteers have been involved, and of these 90 have done three or more surveys. So far 120km of public trail hedgerows have been surveyed and 80 km of ‘across farm’ ones, but mostly in West Dorset. Data collected is added to a geographic information system (GIS) to help identify hedges already surveyed and highlight opportunities for rejuvenation or planting. Impressive – but there is still a long way to go, especially elsewhere in Dorset.
The survey volunteers are there but John needs more help administering and mapping the scheme, and he is hopeful that Dorset Council will step in. Dorset CPRE has just received £5,000 from the Hedgerow Heroes Funder in recognition of the ambition and potential of the GBDH project.

The view of the iconic landscape from the Dorsetshire Gap
Image: Laura Hitchcock

What You Can Do to Help:
Join other GBDH volunteers on future surveys – visit www.dorsetcan.org/hedge/.
Plant a new hedgerow in your own garden if space allows. Plant trees too, of course, but hedgerows provide higher rates of carbon sequestration and are better for biodiversity.
Let existing hedges grow wider and taller, and restrain urges to trim them regularly! Hedges should not be cut every year, as flower buds often form on second-year growth. Think of all those small mammals and birds you will be helping.
For advice on hedgerow management for wildlife, see this guide from The Wildlife Trusts.
John likes George Eustace’s quote “Hedgerows are the most important ecological building block in the farmed landscape”. Perhaps above all, just remember that!