17th September 1931 – 6th July 2023
Formerly of Peasmarsh, Gillingham
Funeral service to be announced
Historic 1834 Map of Sherborne Finds New Home
A sprawling map of Sherborne, meticulously illustrated and dating back to 1834, has found a new home at the Dorset History Centre, thanks to the generous donation by law firm Porter Dodson.
This parchment map, spanning 2m by 1.3m, has long been a centerpiece in the company’s boardroom. However, due to the difficulties of fitting such a large piece into their new office location, it became necessary to find the map a new home.
Thomas Percy, a well-respected cartographer of his time, was commissioned to create the map by the Sherborne Castle’s Wingfield-Digby family. Remarkably, only two copies of this detailed masterpiece were ever produced.
The map’s level of detail is extraordinary, featuring a colour-coded layout of Sherborne town and the surrounding rural areas. Residential houses are marked in pink, churches in black, industrial structures in grey, arable land in yellow-brown, and pastures in green. Nearly two centuries on, the quality of the workmanship is still prominently evident.
Every plot on the map has been numbered, and a corresponding ‘terrier’ or reference book contains information about the plot owners and land use. The map stands as an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in Sherborne’s history, exemplifying early 19th-century cartography at its finest.
Now safely ensconced at the Dorset History Centre in Dorchester, the county’s archival service, the map will undergo careful conservation and digitisation.
Cllr Laura Beddow, Portfolio Holder for culture and communities, expressed her gratitude for the donation, stating: “We are extremely grateful to Porter Dodson for this generous gift and are delighted to be adding such a fantastic item to the public collection.”
Echoing the sentiment, Scott Bowley, Partner at Porter Dodson Solicitors, said: “We are extremely happy to gift the map knowing it will be preserved and enjoyed by the public at large for generations to come. Porter Dodson solicitors can trace its roots in Melmoth House back to 1899 and so Sherborne and its history is so important.”
Okeford Benefice welcomes its new priest
A new priest-in-charge, the Rev Andrew Gubbins, has been installed to serve the Okeford Benefice in the Blackmore Vale – comprising Child Okeford with Manston, Shillingstone, Okeford Fitzpaine and Hammoon. Parishioners have waited nearly two years since the departure of the Rev Lydia Cook.
The Rev Gubbins is married to the Rev Mary Gubbins, the new vicar of Sturminster Newton. The licensing of the Okeford Benefice’s new part-time minister by the Bishop of Sherborne, the Rt Rev Karen Gorham, and installation by Sherborne Archdeacon the Ven Penny Sayer, took place at a special service with a packed congregation in Holy Rood Church, Shillingstone, on Thursday 29 June.
Andrew will be close to some of his childhood haunts of the 1970s, when he visited relatives near Shaftesbury and in Winterborne Zelston.
Andrew worked in Yorkshire as a civil servant dealing with benefits and employment issues. He says: ‘I am shaped by my parents who, with personal steps of faith, local action and global vision, have never rested on their laurels.’
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Slide into Walnut Road playground; it’s open again!
The much-loved children’s playground in Walnut Road Mere has now open, thanks to the improvements made by Mere Town Council. The council received a grant from The Hills Group Limited, made available through the Landfill Communities Fund.
All the old equipment has gone, and there’s a range of new and exciting apparatus. The reopening of the park was celebrated with a tea party on June 22nd. Libby Raynes, a year 5 pupil at Mere Primary School, won a competition to design a new sign for the park, and Katheryn Lamb, a children’s author and illustrator, chose the winning design. Mere Town Council has overseen the entire project, and co-ordinator Roger Pipe expressed gratitude to The Hills Group, Wiltshire Community First, the Duchy of Cornwall, and the Walnut Tree Hotel for their support and for the tea!
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More than a garden centre
The Shaftesbury in Bloom planters are just one demonstration of the special community that surrounds Thorngrove, says Kelsi-Dean Buck
Summer is well under way and we couldn’t be more in love with the beautiful array of plants making their presence known here at Thorngrove right now. We’ve had such a good ‘vibe’ (as the young folks say) in the air this past month – and it’s not just the new season with new flowers. It’s the community spirit felt, the result of the amazing work of our Employ My Ability students, who put their skills and confidence to work in producing this year’s planters for Shaftesbury in Bloom.
It’s a project we’ve been involved with for many years, but this year the students were more involved than ever and some of the feedback we had really was so kind, and humbling.
Our students have loved reading the comments on social media, and they spent the last Wednesday of June in Shaftesbury, meeting the judges who were visiting the town for the day. We’ve continuously put forward that our ethos is one of being ‘more than just a garden centre’, and those who are a part of Employ My Ability will know how essential the students and day service users are to our core principle. They help us develop our business and the services we provide to the community, both now, and in the future. And it’s all with the goal of supporting our young people to become independent young adults. And of course, all of this feeds back into the sustainability of our town, and surrounding areas. Projects like Shaftesbury in Bloom are just one of the many ways we see this vision realised.
Back in the cafe
As for what else is happening here at Thorngrove – the arrival of summer saw new additions to the menu in The Secret Garden Café, plus an improvement to our outdoor dining patio, which means if you’re looking for that perfect breakfast or lunch stop, then look no further!
With a broad menu and the comfort of indoor climate-controlled seating if you’d prefer, the café is becoming one of the county’s not-very-hidden gems. We’ve welcomed lots of new faces in the last couple of months and we thank you for all the kind words to Ben and his café team. The job they do in making it a unique place to eat, and meet friends, really is something to be celebrated. And it’s dog-friendly too!
Planning ahead
We’re now putting in the dates for some summer events for families, and are looking to offer a range of new workshops and demos which we hope will continue to make Thorngrove Garden Centre a destination for you, as we provide more than just your garden essentials.
Keep your eyes on our website and social media for regular updates – we’ll see you soon!
Should I pay to receive a parcel?
A local expert from Citizen’s Advice provides timely tips on consumer issues.
Q: ‘I received an email telling me I needed to pay money in order to get a parcel delivered. I didn’t think I ordered anything and, when I checked the email address, it didn’t look legitimate.
Was it a scam?’
A: Probably.
New research from Citizens Advice reveals that 40 million people have been targeted by scams already in 2023, with parcel delivery scams being by far the most common. Citizens Advice Consumer Service received over 9,000 reports of scams between January to April 2023. Anyone can be targeted by a scam and sadly anyone can fall for one but there are steps you can take to better protect yourself and your loved ones.
Here are some top tips to spot scams:
It seems too good to be true – for example, a holiday that’s much cheaper than you’d expect.
You’ve been pressured to transfer money quickly.
You’ve been asked to pay in an unusual way – like by an iTunes voucher or a transfer service.
You’ve been asked to give away personal information such as passwords, PINs or verification codes.
You spot signs that the organisation or person you are dealing with isn’t genuine – for example, if the email address doesn’t seem quite right.
Always take a step back and double check if you have any doubts at all.
If you’ve been scammed:
Don’t ever be embarrassed. It can – and does – happen to absolutely anyone.
Talk to your bank or credit card company immediately if you’ve handed over any financial and sensitive information, or you have made a payment
Report the scam to Action Fraud on 0300 123 204
You can also contact the Citizens Advice consumer service 0808 2233 1133 for help with what to do next.
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Carer Needed Lytchett Matravers
We are recruiting carers to work as part of a team helping to look after a 93 year old man in his own home.
Experience or age is of no consequence, but kindness, patience and an understanding of old age is a must!
Duties include some housework, a small amount of personal care, practical help with day to day matters and companionship.
We are looking for cover for a four hour shift every second Saturday afternoon.
(12-4) with an immediate start. Further shifts may be available on a voluntary basis. £50 per shift immediate payment is made at the end of each shift.
For more details please phone/text Bridget on: 07503 953848 or email: [email protected]
Religious rollercoaster | Then & Now
Gillingham Methodist Church is the High Street’s most striking building, but behind its facade is a tale of intolerance and persecution, says Roger Guttridge
Behind the most imposing building in Gillingham High Street is the story of a religious rollercoaster.
The town’s Methodist Church has hardly changed since it was built in 1876-77, with its spire pointing heavenwards.
But the story of Methodism in Gillingham goes back another century or so – and the movement had a rocky ride in its early years.
It was a very different tale from that which unfolded a few miles up the road at Shaftesbury, which was visited no less than 16 times by the movement’s founder, John Wesley, who is believed to have opened the town’s first chapel in 1766.
While button-mould maker and preacher John Haime was the early driving force of Methodism in Shaftesbury, at Gillingham it was glover and excise officer John Cave who tried to fulfil the same role.
Born in Gillingham, Cave had been living and working in Talgarth, Wales, but returned to his native town to spread the Wesleyan word.
Preaching at outdoor meetings, he sought to stimulate religious discussion and certainly appears to have done that – one of his meetings caused so much dissension that the Riot Act had to be read.
This was the start of what amounted to a campaign of persecution against Cave and other Methodists, who were ’railed against’ every Sunday.
Cave was eventually driven out of town, returning to Wales, where he pondered on ‘why the Lord suffered me to go to Gillingham to experience so much trouble’.
A dissenters licence
A breakthrough came, ironically, after Gillingham’s Church of England vicar fell out with local farmer Henry Broadway about a pew in the parish church.
Broadway, who had previously been a trustee of Motcombe’s Methodist chapel (opened in 1774), decided to open his own church at Gillingham.
In 1792, Broadway applied for a licence to allow dissenters to take part in meetings at his house in St Martin’s Street.
‘Broadway himself became a local preacher for 30 years and is remembered as a man with strong passions and feelings, but also as someone with a great regard for the poor,’ says John Porter in his book Gillingham: The Making of a Dorset Town (2011).
‘He had married Mary Carpenter, reputed to be a religious woman, who frequently held public prayer meetings at 5 o’clock in the morning.’
Broadway’s money financed the construction of Gillingham’s first Wesleyan chapel but he died a few years before it opened in 1836.
Construction of its successor 40 years later owed much to the town’s growing prosperity following the arrival of the railway in the 1870s. It was designed by architect Thomas Hudson, whose artist’s sketch features a spire that is slightly shorter than the one which eventually appeared.
The Lloyds’ Bank building next door pre-dates the church by two years and is one of the few in Gillingham which has not changed its use in 150 years.
It was originally the Wilts and Dorset Bank, replacing a building in the Square, which in turn had replaced a banking service conducted from someone’s house.
Present banking trends suggest we might eventually go full circle on that.
Opposite the bank is a shop with the word ‘Fish’ above the door, but it wasn’t selling sea creatures. This and adjoining Cheapside House – now the Post Office – were run by George and Elizabeth Fish, draper’s and outfitters.
The Fishes were major Gillingham traders who also had shops on the north side of the High Street selling groceries, provisions, furniture and ironmongery. By 1931, Sidney Fish had a boot store in the High Street.
The future of Gillingham Methodist Church is currently under discussion.
My favourite Dorset beach days out
This month Maddie is looking at her favourite places on the Dorset coast to visit during the summer months.
In this month’s article I will be covering some favourite tourist places to visit this summer in the Blackmore Vale. Whether you’re disabled or not, these places will be worth checking out.
Durdle Door
Durdle Door is a fantastic place to visit – it’s the ‘poster child’ of Dorset for good reason. As part of the Jurassic Coast it has some stunning views so be sure to have your camera ready! It has a beautiful beach so a perfect place to go on a nice sunny day.
Cost for parking is £12 all day for a car, and be aware that there is a 900m steep walk down to the cove from the car park.
lulworth.com
Highcliffe Castle
Highcliffe Castle is a beautiful and romantic place to go. The grounds (and car park) are free to visit and it is fully accessible so it’s a perfect place for disabled people. In addition to the lovely grounds, Highcliffe Beach is accessed by a sloping zig zag path, simple for wheelchairs or pushchairs. If you fancy a fitness challenge you can take the steps adjacent to the Castle car park; there are 118 of them! The tea rooms are closed this summer, but refreshments are still available via a takeaway van!
highcliffecastle.co.uk
Weymouth Beach
This is one of the most perfect places to visit in the summer!
The multi-award-winning wide sandy beach has a gentle slope making it perfect for families. There are fun activities like kayaking and diving as well as swimming, and in the summer the sand sculpture park is always worth seeing.
There are also disabled facilities and many accessible attractions, beaches and gardens nearby, and Weymouth’s historic harbour town is a short walk away from the beach.
Weymouthtowncouncil.gov.uk
SEA LIFE Adventure Park
If you are looking for something a little more exciting, Weymouth’s Sea Life Adventure Park might be just the thing. It is full accessible and has lots to do for kids and adults, like a coral reef, an ocean tunnel and a splash zone – the perfect place to cool off!
Cost is £19 per adult (there’s currently 40% off on midweek prices) and you must book tickets in advance via the website
visitsealife.com
Do check out the Visit Dorset accessibility page for lots more place to visit visit-dorset.com/visitor-information/accessibility/
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
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