Sturminster Newton is always a great place to come and have a browse; potter round our niche shops, pubs and cafés. SturAction is the Community Benefit Society which runs a number of shops in town – the profits of which all gets funnelled straight back into supporting the town and its people.
If you haven’t visited yet, then start your visit with a wander round 1855, the new artisan’s market in the former NatWest Bank. There are over 40 local traders offering a range of wares – there’s a new treasure to find on every visit! From Sunday 16th April, 1855 will be opening on Sundays 11-3 too. On the opposite street to 1855, The Boutique is filled with pre-loved good quality ladies and children’s clothes and accessories. The stock is ever-changing – check back regularly, you might just pick up a pair of Prada shoes… (see image right). It’s always a first port of call when you want a fun upgrade of your wardrobe (or apparently a designer bargain!).
The 1855 guard dogs protecting the goods
The Emporium and Art Gallery, just along from 1855 are a deep treasure trove of interesting pre-loved item; all at very reasonable prices, as it’s all donated goods. A sorely-needed source of pre-loved men’s clothing in the town can be found inside he Emporium; known as the Dapper Chaps Gentleman’s Boutique. At the far end of the town, The Furniture Store is in the old Barclays Bank building – and it’s filled with pre-loved furniture at knock down prices, ready to furnish an empty corner or to take on for an upcycling project (donations are always welcome).
1855’s Garden Room is now ready for use for events. The archway (last seen at The Exchange’s Christmas Opera Event) hides a small stage area for musicians
Meet the traders There is a special late night opening at 1855 on the last Friday of every month, when the shop stays open until 8pm. There may be wine tasting, some of the artists, traders and makers will be present to talk to and it is rapidly building into a regular social evening in the town.
Though The Glanvilles Stud is teeming with foals, March could only belong to Doug and Lucy Procter’s most famous mare
Time to head inside for tea and bed … All images: Courtenay Hitchcock BV Magazine April 2023
Many column inches have already been written about Honeysuckle and her triumphant return to the Cheltenham Festival in mid-March; Doug and I bred her here at The Glanvilles Stud, so please forgive me an indulgent recap for readers. Having won an unprecedented 16 races in a row since her debut Irish point-to-point win in April 2018 – including 12 Grade One victories and more than £1m in prize money – Honeysuckle started this season owing nothing to anyone. As had been customary in previous years, Honeysuckle’s first run was to be in the Grade One Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse in Ireland, having a crack at her fourth win in this particular race. Sadly though, Honeysuckle’s crown slipped. She was beaten into a close third on the line; and followed it up in February coming second in the Grade One Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown. Age appeared to be finally catching up with the nine-year-old mare, and I for one was wishing that Honeysuckle’s connections had retired her at the end of the previous season. I feared that, having been lauded as the Queen of National Hunt racing with her unblemished record, she might now just quietly slip away into Kenneth Alexander’s broodmare band, having lost her crown.
Sambac, Seemarye’s gorgeous Nathaniel filly and Courtenay’s No.1 favourite foal
To Cheltenham March dawned and Honeysuckle was declared to run in the Grade One Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival – which she had previously won in 2020. Despite a stellar field of other mares, including the two-year younger Love Envoi, trained by Dorset’s own Harry Fry – who had last year won the Grade Two Cheltenham Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, it was anyone’s guess which mare might return victorious. The betting public held faith in Honeysuckle, however, as her starting price showed in a 9/4 joint favourite with the winner of the 2022 race, Marie’s Rock.
What a race it was! Honeysuckle rewarded her fans handsomely. She strode into Cheltenham like a champion. She settled in her stable, she ate up, she cantered in the morning, and before the big race she marched around the parade ring with the supreme confidence of a victor who had come home. From the off, Honeysuckle quickly settled into a customary second place, sitting behind Love Envoi whom she tracked throughout until she was asked to quicken going into the home straight. She responded to the urging of her jockey, Rachel Blackmore, and, in a battle royal up the run-in, she got her nose in front on the line. Racing commentators have dubbed this as the best mares’ race ever run. Coming back from two defeats, Honeysuckle crossed the line with every bit of her heart firmly intact, ears pricked and showing all her old grit and determination to win. She would not be denied victory, Rachel would not be denied victory, and they returned to a hero’s welcome. Standing in the parade ring, Doug and I could track her progress from the course by the cheering from the crowds even when she was still the other side of the grandstand. As she approached the winner’s enclosure the crowd let out a triumphant and deafening roar, in a reception that brought tears to our eyes. Honeysuckle’s story does not end here. As she retires from the racecourse, her breeding journey is just beginning. With connections suggesting a cover by the stallion Walk in The Park in the offing, all in racing are looking forward to seeing the arrival of the first Honeysuckle foal next spring.
Courtenay being ‘helped’ with his photo shoot. Image: Lucy Procter
Meanwhile, in Dorset … Back here at the stud, the three mares that were imminent in last month’s column duly foaled on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, just before Cheltenham Festival, enabling Doug and I to enjoy two days’ racing with both of us having had a full night’s sleep! With another two mares foaling at the end of the month, we now have lots of new foals on the ground – and it was with great delight that The BV’s own photographer supreme Courtenay bolted out to the stud a few days prior to publication, to indulge himself in a few foal cuddles. It’s an obvious hardship he endures in order to photograph the latest arrivals. Tough work if you can get it! For all who have followed her, Honeysuckle’s story ended in a fairy tale, but it was especially poignant for her connections for whom the 2022/23 season had started so tragically. Honeysuckle’s trainer, Henry de Bromhead, lost his beloved young son Jack in a pony racing accident in the summer. The racing world had rallied closely round the family and, in the end, buoyed up by the support, triumph won over adversity. From a breeder’s perspective, Honeysuckle’s story is as good as it gets. Although we are hoping more Grade One winners will follow in coming seasons, it is unlikely that there will ever be another Honeysuckle from this or any stud anytime soon.
Act Now’s cheeky colt by Logicia
Woolstone One’s handsome Bathyrhon colt (stable name Onion!)
t’s impossible not to have favourites, says flower farmer Charlotte Tombs as she shares her year-after-year reliable winners
As we hit the quietly productive lull where I’m just sowing seeds and watching them germinate, my thoughts turned to those I grow every year – and what it is that makes me come back and choose my favourites time and again. I even got as far as making a list, which I thought would be fun to share … Cosmos – simple to grow and will give you armfuls of flowers for weeks and weeks. Sow in late March. The seeds do look a bit like nail clippings (sorry – once seen, never unseen) but are easy to germinate, just plant them in a 15 cell seed tray.
Cosmos is a half-hardy annual, which means it can’t be planted out until all danger of frost has passed, so keep them in for now. My favourite varieties are Purity, Cupcakes, Double Click and Apricotta.
Sweet peas – I sow these from October to mid-March, three seeds to a 9cm pot, and I then plant all three together. There is no need to pinch autumn-sown sweet peas as they branch naturally. These are hardy annuals, and they can be planted out from the end of February (but they may need some protection if it’s very cold). Varieties I grow again and again are Charlie’s Angels, Earl Grey, Mollie Rilstone, Jilly and White Frills.
Scabious – such an ugly name for such a pretty flower. The Americans call it the pincushion flower which is much nicer! The seeds look like little shuttlecocks. They are hardy, and you should sow them in March and April. Varieties to try are Oxford Blue, Fata Morgana, Salmon Queen and Stellata for its amazing seed heads.
Ammi Majus – it looks like cow parsley, it’s a light airy flower and so pretty. It’s hardy, and if you are lucky it will self-seed everywhere which is always a bonus! Sow in the autumn (note this one down for your end-of-season plans!) and overwinter it in the greenhouse; it will grow to six feet tall.
Nigella or Love in a Mist – so easy to grow and it will self-seed everywhere, so be warned! I love it! Its seed pods are almost as pretty, and will dry really well for an indoor winter display. It’s very hardy. Look out for African Bride, Miss Jekyll and Delft Blue.
Orlaya – a flat white flower, not as airy as Ammi and with a shorter stem, but from the same family of umbellifers. It will self-seed but can be tricky to germinate – keep the seeds in the fridge, which will help. It can also be autumn sown and overwintered in a greenhouse if you have one. The variety I have is Orlaya grandiflora.
Calendula – such a cheery flower! Easy to grow and usually with a wonderful, almost neon orange. There are some less intense colour varieties – look for Sunset Buff and Snow Princess, Indian prince is a gorgeous orange variety. The seeds do once again look like toenail cuttings, but they are easy to germinate and are very hardy.
Zinnia – one of the last seeds I sow. They like it hot and dry and I don’t sow these half-hardy flowers until May. Such a pop of colour, a bunch of these on your kitchen table is guaranteed to make you smile! Varieties to try are the Benary’s Giants, cactus and the Queen series.
Panicum Frosted Explosion – not actually a flower at all, this one’s a bit of a cheat. It’s an annual grass and it looks like little fireworks. So so pretty. It’s easy to grow and brings movement to a bunch of flowers – it’s beautiful!
Limonium or statice – easy to grow and dries well (it’s one of those flowers that actually grows dried; its flowers feel dry as they grow). I grew one called limonium suworowii or rats tails which I’ll definitely grow again. My top tip – when you first grow them, look out for a seed pack with mixed colours. Then you can decide the colours you like, and grow them next year! It’s technically half-hardy but actually I find it quite hardy.
There you have it, my top ten flowers I grow from seed every year! I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about cut flowers so please do ask.
After a lifelong career presenting music to the nation, writer and radio presenter Natalie Wheen found it a challenge choosing just eight discs
For more than 30 years, Natalie Wheen was an ever-present voice on our radios, with weekly shows ranging from presenting classical music on BBC Radio 3 (Mainly for Pleasure, In Tune, introducing concerts, Proms, operas and documentaries), and a broad selection of Radio 4 shows from the arts review Kaleidoscope to The Food Programme, not to mention a wide range of subjects on the BBC World Service. She also did the occasional TV – the opening of the new opera house at Glyndebourne and Cardiff Singer of the World. Natalie was born in Shanghai, as were her father and grandfather, but in the turmoil of post-war revolutionary China they were evacuated in 1951 to Hong Kong, moving to England in 1957. Natalie, a student of violin and piano at the Royal College of Music, ‘hated practising.’ After her music degree at London University, she joined the BBC, working first as a radio studio manager, then producer and finally as a presenter. Moving from the BBC to Classic FM in 1999, she was engaged as the ’shock jock’, charged with ‘spicing up the repertoire’ – which she did for four hours a week for more than ten years. And then she disappeared from our radios. As BV readers know, she has been busy producing olive oil under her brand name Avlaki (The BV, Nov 22) – and, most recently, has moved to Dorset in order to get ‘far from the madding crowd’, as she says. She has said that her life now is a music-free zone, but when we heard that she is currently sorting out her vast CD collection we thought she might be tempted to share some of her favourites … ‘It is alarming to consider the amount of music I must have listened to in the course of building my radio programmes, which I always did for myself. ‘I mean, how can one properly engage a listener if one hasn’t really connected with the piece in question? And I knew that most of the producers that worked on Mainly for Pleasure, for example, had tastes and interests that were far, far removed from what engaged me! ‘In the sorting process, I have gradually built a large stack of composers and their music that will definitely be going; I might do something real harm if I have to hear another note … ‘But, the clear-out has also reminded me of such wonderful riches – actually, sorting out eight favourites has been very trying! ‘However, it became clear to me that my choices are of music, composers and performers who have broken through my natural resistance and will stay in the collection. Those who stopped me in my tracks, metaphorically grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and said ‘listen!’ – because they have something extraordinary to communicate.
A life in music And so to Natalie’s eight music choices, in no particular order, along with how and why they have stuck in her life:
Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610 John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists
I’ll start with the Proms in 1968, and a performance of Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610. The anticipation around this particular concert was palpable. John Eliot Gardiner had already electrified with it in his Cambridge student performance. As far as I was concerned, Monteverdi was a history book name – but John Eliot, we understood, had brought drama, virtuosity – even ecstasy – into a very religious work which was written for the extraordinarily varied spaces of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice, where groups of singers and musicians could be set up in balconies and spaces all over the church – literally throwing the music from one group to another. The shock at the Proms was that John Eliot and his Monteverdi forces were using the Albert Hall spaces as much as possible to convey this antiphonal working of the music – throwing blocks of sound, then coming together with great drama. The Proms had never been so dramatically different. It was changed by it. And the music itself … I had never heard anything so exciting. I’ve never forgotten it.
Michael Tippett: Concerto for Double String Orchestra. Daniel Harding and the LSO
I was never very interested in performers just talking about their next record/concert tour/festival dates. It was the complicated characters who fascinated me: particularly the composers. Nor was I much interested in the grand old names – I remember presenting a festival of Mozart. Was there anything interesting left to say about Mozart after all those concert programmes, PhD theses, record sleeves? At the time, there was a fascinating book trying to uncover the true revolutionary Mozart (of which you get hints in an opera like The Marriage of Figaro) but the organisers didn’t want to risk their image of the great genius being tainted. I thought it made him much more interesting – but there you go. The 28th and 29th May 1962 were two extraordinary days for British music, marking the consecration of the re-built Coventry Cathedral after the war. Britten’s War Requiem premiered in the cathedral itself, and the day before, Michael Tippett’s second opera King Priam was premiered. I heard the broadcast of both, but was utterly shocked by Priam. It was a brave, bleak, taut piece that makes one think of the futility and stupidity of war. I was knocked out – troubled even. Britten’s War Requiem was too sweet, too predictable after the stark directness of Tippett’s music and his subject matter. I was transfixed by this person and began drinking in the music he wrote, learning as much as I could about him. I had the great privilege of interviewing him so many times – not least for his 90th birthday celebrations. He was a complicated man and his music isn’t always easy. He had a questing, curious mind and a boisterous energy. In this piece we see the dancing, bouncing Tippett, where the music explodes over the bar line and the phrases grow exuberantly, breaking all the rules. Then it’s surprising Tippet, who suddenly bursts into a wonderful tune. And then in the slow movement he creates a hushed world of mystery.
Chopin: Nocturne No. 13 in C minor, op.48 no 1 Claudio Arrau: Philips
Until I was nine, we lived abroad; I had never heard a symphonic concert, or an opera, or any chamber music. The only music we got was from B or C grade pianists, on their world tour of your hundred best tunes. So when we got to London I was taken to endless Proms – all the Beethovens, Brahmses and Tchaikovskys you could shake a proverbial stick at. But solo pianists somehow got pushed to the back burner. Was their sound too small or same or – with all the note-shovellers who were around – just boring? And then I heard Claudio Arrau. From Chilé, a child prodigy who was sent to study in Berlin with a student of Liszt when he was nine, he had to fend for himself when his teacher died, had a breakdown, picked himself up … And understood, as a result, that he had to make music that had something to say. If the moment wasn’t right, if he didn’t feel right, if there was something wrong with the piano, he wouldn’t play. He wouldn’t dream of short-changing the audience. He was the most elegant gentleman: very self-effacing, exquisite manners, nothing flash. I’d long been devoted to his music when I was sent to do one of those quick superficial Radio 4 interviews. But we had rather a good time and he asked me to come back for a longer chat. He made one brilliant comment, which has always stuck with me. He said: ‘There are two essentials for any performer. The first is to have therapy – how can you perform another person’s music, if you have no idea who you are yourself as a person? And the second essential is to learn how to dance – to move to the rhythm in the music. If you can’t do that, you can’t make music.’ I have selected Claudio Arrau with a Chopin Nocturne. Listen to the bass – it’s the foundation to the whole structure. It’s absolutely rock solid and it propels the music, moving inexorably, it also allows a freedom to the embroidery of notes at the top, rather as a dancer can create all kinds of elaborations to the given tune, but remains grounded to the beat from the bass. And then the piece lets rip, and you can hear the elegant Chiléan gent has a fiery passion – and of course all the notes you need.
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for String Orchestra in C major op 48. Movt II – Waltz. Bavarian Radio SO, Sir Colin Davis.
More rhythm now – one man waltzing with an entire orchestra. Actually it’s a kind of Come Dancing, scooping and diving … you can see a pair of dancers leaning so far off the centre you think they’re going to fall … But this is the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra with Colin Davis conducting … I once asked Colin how he got the orchestra to waltz with him like that: ‘Oh’ he said, ‘A little jogging with Igor’ (Stravinsky that is). Colin Davis was a rather quiet, mumbling, enigmatic man – hugely attractive because he was so reticent. He never beat the drum for himself, and had a horrible time at the beginning of his career from sniping critics. He was music director of Sadlers Wells, then the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Opera House – and then left all that behind for Bavaria. Where, he said, they were actually interested in making music. Finally he became the grand old man of British music when he came back to London and took over the LSO. Colin Davis has been part of my musical life for 60 years. I remember a school trip to hear concert performances of Berlioz by the Chelsea Opera Group in Oxford Town Hall. The conductor was a young Colin Davis – I was seriously smitten …
Richard Strauss: Die Rosenkavalier Act III Trio. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, Teresa Stich-Randall. Philharmonia Orchestra with Herbert von Karajan
I arrived at the Royal College of Music, ostensibly as a violin student. I wasn’t any good, but I was very lucky in my professor who was the leader of the orchestra at the Royal Opera House. We did a deal: he ticked me off his register and instead of teaching me he gave me rehearsal passes and stayed in the pub for an extra pint. So I spent endless hours at Covent Garden watching some extraordinary singers and amazing productions – and got the opera bug very badly. There are three opera composers who I have been mulling over, trying to decide who should come to my island: Janacek, Puccini and Richard Strauss. And it’s Strauss who wins for now – not least because of the cast in this recording of Die Rosenkavalier, which was marshalled together by a legend of the gramophone industry, Walter Legge (his casting and recording legacy is said to keep EMI in business still!). I can’t do without the final trio from Rosenkavalier: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as the Marschallin – weary of her marriage and absent husband – with a young Christa Ludwig as Octavian, her ardent young lover. There is a bittersweet ensemble of goodbye, good luck and sadness. And a wonderful orchestral sound from the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan.
Francis Poulenc: Concerto for two pianos. Lucas and Arthur Jussen pianos, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Stéphane Denève
Time for a little dazzle! I love Francis Poulenc because he is so mercurial: light and shade, sun and shadow, laughter and tears all together. He has a kaleidoscope of colours and atmospheres. He will let rip – as at the start of his Concerto for two pianos – and then pull the carpet out from underneath you to tumble into another emotion. He’s also very naughty, hinting at a touch of Mozart, cutting it off with a bit of raucous music-hall … And (the essential element in any programme I built) he is naughty, jokey and irreverent – all aspects which were not terribly acceptable on BBC Radio 3 in my time! The dazzle here is in a pair of pianists who I’ve only just encountered as I looked online to find recording information. They are Dutch brothers, Lucas and Arthur Jussen, and they dazzle indeed. They’ve been playing the Poulenc concerto since their early teens.
Santa Baby Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt was really the only non-classical voice in my head for a very long time, and that’s because she was a favourite of my father. The last weekend I spent with him before he died, we watched Eartha’s show coming live – I think – from the London Hippodrome. She was brought on stage rolled up in a carpet which then unrolled, propelling her right to the front of the stage; and there she was, filling the TV in her close- up. I thought Father was going to have a heart attack he was so thrilled! He died just a few days later. Eartha Kitt was amazing to see live – I saw her at the Carlyle Hotel in New York, famous for its supper club. I think she was in her 70s, dressed in a figure-hugging silk number, and she spent the show seducing the chaps in the audience. She had amazing vitality and charm and of course fabulous songs. I was on air at Classic FM, live on Christmas Day in 2008, when we heard that Eartha had died. There was really only one tune I could play for her – and did.
Vaughan Wiliams: The Lark Ascending. Nigel Kennedy, CBSO, Simon Rattle
My father always said that when he retired he would leave London and go to the country, to a farm in Cornwall. But he never made it, dying in harness in his early fifties. I suppose Dorset is only half way to Cornwall – but I’m certain the country bug was a gift from my father. Landscape, green, trees, fresh air, big skies, winds and weather … they are all essential to my wellbeing. And so I must have the quintessential piece of music for the English landscape: and a performance which is more than simply getting the notes right – there must be a fiendish control of the bow. Nigel Kennedy has a rare instinct for understanding what those notes are about. He shares his singing of the bird’s song, but also the George Meredith poem which inspired Vaughn Williams. He breathes the music out of the big hush of the wider world.
A book for a castaway
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan. It takes the focus of history away from the western world, back to the centre somewhere in the Middle East. There is a map which puts Jerusalem in the centre of the world. It’s a book celebrating the great civilisations and legendary figures that a western view of history completely ignores. I loved travelling to such places before they became closed by war and religion. I never got to Samarkand, but Eastern Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Isfahan, Shiraz, Persepolis … I was haunted by Tamberlaine and Ghenghis Khan. Frankopan’s book is a huge read and will not only entrance and educate, but also take me back to places which were once so intriguing and essential to me.
A luxury item?
J&B Rare whisky. In my house, the ‘hour of charm’ at 6pm–ish is the moment to pour a good slug of whisky and review the day. I take it with a dash of soda, but since there won’t be any soda washed up with the bottles, J&B is such a smooth and elegant blend that it also slips down nicely neat. I say bottles, because I’m minded of Compton Mackenzie’s Whisky Galore when a shipwreck of scotch washed up on the shores of a remote island. I’m hoping that in my personal Dorset castaway situation, the wrecked ship will gently release case upon case of the nectar to float ashore … I wouldn’t expect to be rescued, and I’m too old to contemplate finding a way to escape, so the daily shot of J&B will be the perfect way to contemplate the sunset.
One to keep?
And if a giant wave was coming, and there was only time to snatch one record, which would Natalie save from the water? ‘The Lark Ascending. For all the resonances of England, as well as the bittersweet knowledge that skylarks are a dwindling presence thanks to industrial farming practices. Also that Vaughan Williams composed another elegy in it for the generation who were lost in the First World War. So as well as marvelling at the music of it – it’s also fabulous for a good old crying session.’
Spring sees many multi-cultural celebrations, including Easter, Passover, and Ramadan which ends with Eid al Fitr. These festivals feature a whole host of wonderful food dishes, many of which make symbolic use of seasonal lamb. In the UK, many families will celebrate Easter with a traditional lamb joint from the local butcher, roasting it to share with loved ones. These lamb tartlets are a delicious alternative. In a change from my usual rule for the recipes I write for The BV, this one isn’t the quickest or the cheapest. I’ll admit it does take a while to put together – but you can enjoy them either on their own or as part of a bigger feast and they really are worth the effort. For an extra bit of sparkle, they work beautifully with homemade puff pastry (which you can make while the lamb is cooking – the pastry takes a couple of hours of resting, folding and rolling the dough), but ready-made pastry is fine and available from most supermarkets! If you are looking for a vegetarian alternative to the lamb, feta cheese also works well.
Heather Brown is a food writer, photographer and stylist. A committee member of The Guild of Food Writers, Heather runs Dorset Foodie Feed, as well as working one-to-one with clients.
Spring lamb tartlets
Ingredients
1 small boneless lamb leg
(or lamb leg pieces)
1 x stock cube (lamb or vegetarian)
2 packages of ready-rolled puff pastry
2 large sweet potatoes
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
1 small box of pomegranate seeds
1 tube/small can tomato puree
2-3tbs of date syrup
1 egg (beaten, for egg washing)
a little extra virgin olive oil
Method
In a slow cooker (or casserole dish for the oven), add the lamb pieces. Stir the stock cube into about 200ml boiling water until dissolved and then pour over the lamb pieces. Put the slow cooker on the medium heat (if using an oven, gas 2/fan 140º with the lid on) and cook for 4-5 hours until the lamb is soft and easily breaks into pieces with a fork.
Remove the lamb from the pot and shred into pieces.
While the lamb is cooking (if using an oven for the lamb, you may need to make this in two stages), pre-heat the oven to Gas 6/180º fan, and grease and line two baking trays. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1cm cubes.
Spread out the pieces onto one of the baking trays and drizzle with oil, then, using your hands, mix around the pieces until they all have a thin coating of the oil.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place on to the second baking tray, cut side facing upwards. Again, drizzle with a little of the oil.
Place both trays into the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes until the sweet potato pieces are beginning to soften and the cherry tomatoes are just starting to colour. Remove both trays from the oven and leave to cool.
When all the elements are cooked and cool, the tartlets are ready to be assembled. Grease and line the two baking trays again and pre-heat the oven to Gas 6/fan 180º.
Remove the two sheets of puff pastry from the packaging and unroll. Cut each sheet into eight evenly-sized pieces (16 total) and place them onto the baking trays.
Smear a layer of the tomato puree over the pastry squares, leaving a 1cm gap around the edge of each piece.
Onto the tomato puree, add the sweet potato pieces, the cherry tomato halves and some lamb shreds, covering as much of the tomato puree as you can (the puree can burn if left uncovered).
Using a little of the beaten egg, brush the 1cm border that is without the puree to coat with the egg.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden brown. Leave to cool.
To finish, sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds and drizzle with the date syrup.
Rare breed pigs have been enlisted for conservation duties at Bere Marsh Farm as volunteers vie to be a part of Operation Pig Watch
Conservation efforts at Bere Marsh Farm have taken on an unusual twist with the arrival of three rare breed Oxford Sandy & Black pigs. The trio of female pigs will be allowed to freely roam a nine acre field for the next few months, and they will naturally root up the ground. The idea was suggested by ecologist Derek Gow and is part of the Countryside Regeneration Trust’s (CRT) plan to increase natural biodiversity. The pigs have come from nearby breeder Lillie Smith, one of only 136 registered breeders of Oxford Sandy and Blacks in the country. See our feature on Lillie and her OSB’s on page 25. The sows will be left to their natural foraging behaviour that will encourage a less uniform area filled with scrub and tussocks, and will create small patches of bare ground to allow grey willow and other wild plants to establish. The wild field landscape will provide a better habitat for insects and field voles – and consequently more food for the farm’s barn owls.
Operation Pig Watch Volunteers from the Bere Marsh Farm community will be on duty every day to feed and monitor the pigs as part of Operation Pig Watch. According to Elaine Spencer-White, the farm manager, the response to the call for volunteers was overwhelming; within 24 hours of the call being sent out, she had 14 pig-sitters volunteered to help, with two more on standby. The volunteers will monitor the pig’s daily welfare and scatter their food across the field to encourage their natural rootling activities. Feeding times will also be flexible to stop them relying on a regular meal. Pig-promoted conservation has not been used at Bere Marsh Farm before, and the innovative scheme is being closely monitored by the CRT, which hopes to see results quickly. They plan to take a photo from the same spot overlooking the field for a detailed record of the habitat’s development over future years. The hope is that the pigs’ assistance will result in the establishment of a variety of plants and create a sustainable ecosystem for future years. Across its 19 farms and properties the CRT works on the principal that nature is integral to good farming, and that philosophy is the practice on more than 2,000 acres of working farms, small-holdings and woodland across the country, where they are demonstrating how regenerative farming increases biodiversity and maintains sustainable food production for every one of us.
We are sad to announce the passing of Brian Hutcheson Dearly loved Husband, father, stepdad, uncle, Grandad and great Grandad. A true friend to many. Passed away on the 28th March 23 in Salisbury Hospital.
May he now rest in peace.
Funeral service is on Thursday 20th April at 3.30pm at The West wilts crematorium Semington. And afterwards at the Coronation club Gillingham Dorset.
Therese Coffey lost her audience at the NFU conference in February – but does her attitude raise a bigger red flag, asks Andrew Livingston
Dr Therese Coffey, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK government must not be allowed to blame its lack of action on the climate crisis on things like rotating cabinet members, Prime Ministers and every business’s favourite scapegoat – COVID. Back in 2019, with Theresa May at the helm – however many PMs ago that was – reaching carbon neutral by 2050 was made a legal requirement, with the passing of the Climate Change Act. By 2050, any carbon we release into the atmosphere from the UK must be balanced with carbon-capture, through things like tree planting and the use of new carbon-cutting technologies. This was a good plan. The UK was at the forefront of action on climate change and looked proactive. Well done government. Last July, however, the High Court ruled that the action the government had taken toward net zero was insufficient and that the government was in breach of its own law. Greg Hands, the then Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth, approved the government’s actions, despite them not actually meeting the legal requirement. For failing at the first hurdle, the High Court imposed harsher, wider and more frequent hurdles for the government to leap to ensure that efficient action is being taken and that the plans are more than simply rhetoric. Just over seven months later, The Observer acquired a leaked document showing that the government was falling far short of its target. Best (worst) of all for the constantly downtrodden farmers is that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is furthest from the hurdle, with its Secretary of State Therese Coffey looking likely to knock herself out on the approach. The leaked documents, which were sent from DEFRA officials to senior Whitehall staff, show that Coffey’s department is 24 per cent short of its official target. Therese Coffey has managed the unthinkable; to look more incompetent than her predecessors.
Grumpy and rude At the NFU Conference last month, Coffey was booed during her speech. She continued to project the air of someone who couldn’t care less. As George Hosford – who was at the conference – commented in his BV column last month (Red Twins, ELMS and beavers, BV Mar 23), Coffey spent the majority of her time during a Q&A with the NFU members yawning, looking at her watch and reminding them that she had a train to catch. Coffey spent the majority of her time during a Q&A with the NFU members yawning, looking at her watch and reminding them that she had a train to catch. In fact, George described her as grumpy and rude. Bridges are being burned. You can be sure that NFU members took careful note of her attitude. If by some miracle she does set a plan for net zero by the deadline, she would do well to remember who will be out in the fields, carrying out her plan. I can personally dislike Coffey, but I can’t blame her solely for her department’s inaction on climate change. Since May’s Climate Change Act in 2019, DEFRA has been playing pass-the-parcel from one minister to the next. Only there are no hidden presents in this game. The music has stopped and Coffey is left holding the box. This will blow up in her face, but unfortunately it’s the environment that will feel the lasting damage.
The weekend event is taking place at Turnpike Showground between Gillingham and Shaftesbury on the 22nd and 23rd April
The Spring Countryside Show is BACK! Get ready for an exciting and unforgettable experience – the first show of the year in Dorset’s rural events calendar is just around the corner! A line up of over 50 exhibits, demonstrations and attractions are set to deliver a weekend jam-packed with fun for the whole family. Taking place over two days, the Spring Countryside Show is the perfect way to spend a day with family and friends. Nick Hill, show secretary, says: ‘With just over two weeks to go until the Spring Countryside Show we are ready to welcome everyone, and what a treat is in store! We are very excited to start off the 2023 show season with an amazing weekend of entertainment for all.’
Rural Living Countryside pursuits and rural activities will of course be on display, including a dedicated ‘Rural’ ring sponsored by Gritchie Brewing Co. See heavy horse logging, terrier racing, gun dog demonstrations and the spectacular horseback falconry display by Jonathan Marshall. The famous Dorset Axemen will be battling it out against the clock, and back by popular demand is the hilarious ‘Sheep Show’ – yes, sheep really do love to dance. The rural skills of farrier, wood carving, blacksmith, stickmaker and coppicer will also be on show, and for those who love a bit of vintage there’s vehicles, farm machinery and steam engine demonstrations.
In other news … Food lovers can indulge their passion in a dedicated cookery area. The best local produce is on offer, as well as new recipe ideas in the Cookery Theatre. Green-fingered visitors will enjoy the stunning show gardens and floral displays. Perhaps try your hand at willow weaving, in one of the various have-a-go activities that are scheduled. For those who love animals, there will be a variety to meet and greet – whether you’re a fan of horses, sheep, goats or pigs, you’re sure to be happy. There will also be a range of talks and demonstrations throughout the event, providing an insight into the workings of the countryside and the people who make it so special.
Entertainment To increase the celebratory atmosphere there’s a festival area with live music, food and – of course – a bar with local ales, gin and cider. This will all be open until 10pm on the Saturday evening, so visitors can dance beneath the stars and enjoy a true festival vibe.
You can join in If all that’s not enough to ‘bring in the spring’, there’s a fun fair with bouncy castles, and tractor and trailer rides. Tickets are currently £14 for adults (gate price will be £16) – children go FREE! . And if you have a country craft or skill you can demonstrate, or want to try your luck at a Show Garden or floral display – there’s still time to get involved. For tickets and more information, visit springcountrysideshow or call 01747 823955
