The Thorngrove team are feeling the rush of spring, says Kelsi-Dean Buck, caused by a bit of sunshine and a rush of colour in the courtyard
Thorngrove is positively brimming with … well, positivity! We love this time of year – the weather starts to get a little warmer, and we see lots of people getting enthusiastic about their gardens again after the winter break. It’s been a long cold season, and like many of you, we’re just starting to plan ahead for those spring and summer garden gatherings, the barbecues, and the weekend and evening chill outs. The late winter flowers such as hyacinth, hellebores and all the winter bedding have been bringing vibrancy to the courtyard at Thorngrove – I even snapped up a few of our hyacinth and primroses myself for my fence containers at home. It felt like an official breaking of the seal; I’m now officially getting into Garden Mode, and I cannot wait to make the most of my space this year.
Windflowers for the win One of the most important jobs here at Thorngrove is picking our plant of the month. After much back and forth and internal discussion, we’ve decided for March it’s going to be the beautiful Anenome. No, not the underwater kind! These ‘land’ anemone plants are free-flowering perennials, producing masses of saucer-shaped, bright or pastel flowers. They are starting to bloom now, though some kinds bloom later in the year too. They belong to the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, and are commonly called windflowers. They’re already looking beautiful and will make a perfect addition to your home or garden this month, so stop by and pick up yours today!
It’s all going on We have a special offer in the Secret Garden Café for Mother’s Day weekend (Mum’s eat free! See our website and social media for more details). As I write this, space is very limited. We’re also soon to reveal our Easter Crafts events and activities for children, and we want to thank everyone who attended our February half-term ones. We love seeing all the creativity and smiles from those who attend! We also have a range of special discount vouchers for returning customers – be sure to ask for a voucher sheet on your next visit! One last thing … our competition for March will be launching soon. Don’t miss out on your chance to win a very special prize provided by a brilliant local business! What are your plans for your garden this year? Drop in and let us know (we’re always up for a natter about a garden), or come and share photos on our facebook. We look forward to see you this spring!
Edwina Baines had an exclusive tour of the art inside the UK’s best new architect-designed house, The Red House.
Bere Knap (The Red House) Image Courtenay Hitchcock
The winner of the Royal Institute of Architects (RIBA) prize for the UK’s best new architect-designed house is nestled in rolling hills south of Shaftesbury with stunning panoramic views across the Blackmore Vale. The Red House, with its intricately patterned red brickwork and contrasting bold green overhanging eaves and windows, takes clear inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement. The interior is cleverly laid out in open-plan style but without empty open spaces. Each room has a slightly different alignment, with no corridors evident. This allows the large house to retain a cosy cottage-like core. The owners, an accountant and a London gallerist, have used simple white-painted masonry walls throughout, in order to showcase their art collection.
Edward (below) and his partner Stephen purchased the original concrete rendered cottage and its narrow site in the summ
All images: Courtenay Hitchcock
A series of quick-witted drawings by Devon artist David Shrigley lines one side of the circular dining area in the kitchen. Shrigley is best known for distinctive works with black capital letters making satirical comments on everyday situations and human interactions. Their deadpan humour repeats phrases like snippets of overheard conversations.
A series of quick-witted drawings by Devon artist David Shrigley line one side of a kitchen alcove
His work has become popular online – he has more than a million followers on Instagram. In 2016 his Really Good sculpture, a monumental bronze hand making a thumbs-up gesture, was the tallest-ever piece to be erected onto the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. Shrigley told those gathered for the occasion that the sculpture was “about making the world a better place … which obviously is a ridiculous proposition, but I think it’s a good proposition.”
A series of pots and jugs tells the story of Dorset pottery
Dorset’s potters On the other side of the dining alcove, a high shelf displays a series of pots and jugs telling the story of Dorset pottery. There are several old pieces from the Verwood pottery, makers of earthenware from the early 1600s until 1952. They include an example of the most famous Verwood product – the Dorset Owl or Costrel, a flask with lugs, used by farm labourers to take cider or cold tea into the fields. A tall red and green jug by renowned Stour Row potter Jonathan Garratt echoed the property’s palette alongside another by Richard Batterham, famous studio potter from Durweston who died in 2021. Shelves in the downstairs cloakroom are used to display a growing collection of Poole Pottery, including a prized piece by Guy Sydenham, who joined Poole Pottery in 1931 and continued his career there after the Second World War. He lived on a boat moored in Poole Harbour in the 1950s before negotiating a lease on Long Island, which contained a seam of Dorset blue clay. Using driftwood and discarded materials, Guy built a studio and produced pottery on the harbour island until 1987.
A large Phyllis Wolff map painting was commissioned, and shows The Red House at the centre of ancient routes
Off-set living areas are filled with art that The Red House’s owners have collected and commissioned
Phyllis Wolff A large map painting commissioned from artist Phyllis Wolff, who lives nearby, hangs on the wall leading to the music room. The Red House is at its centre. Tiny images of the owners’ daughter in her yellow raincoat are hidden in a couple of places and a sparkling copper button marks the house’s location. Unlike most maps, there is no differentiation between footpaths, bridleways and roads, revealing the house to be at the heart of historic routes between the two neighbouring villages. The map makes a political point: nowadays we use our cars too much and our legs not enough.
A piece by Yonka Shonibare CBE RA hangs above the library fireplace
Yinka Shonibare Above the library fireplace hangs a piece by Yinka Shonibare. Yinka is a British-Nigerian artist who now lives and works in London, creating work that explores issues of race and class through a mix of media. He strives to challenge the assumptions we make about other cultures through his signature material – the brightly coloured ‘African’ batik fabric he buys at Brixton market in London. Batik is often presumed to be African, but was originally inspired by Indonesian design, mass-produced by the Dutch and eventually sold to the colonies in West Africa. In the 1960s the material became a signifier of African identity and independence. You may remember Yinka’s Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, which was the 2010 Fourth Plinth Commission in Trafalgar Square and which is now installed outside the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. In 2021 the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition was coordinated by Yinka and championed artists from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, exploring the theme of Reclaiming Magic to celebrate the joy of creating art. Yinka has been commissioned to create a mosaic of Green Woman, reinterpreting the Green Man myth. It will be installed in an outside niche of the house later this year.
A distinctive figurative oil painting by Caroline Coon in the Red House’s Gallery
Caroline Coon The gallery holds exhibitions of works by artists solely on merit and is happy to “show the unrepresented and the overlooked.” On the wall opposite the fireplace hangs a distinctive figurative oil painting by Caroline Coon. Now in her seventies, Caroline is a political activist and has campaigned for women’s rights since the 1960s. Her controversial works explore the politics of sexual liberation and her hermaphroditic figures confront sexual stereotypes.
The Red House’s spectacular staircase is a sculpture in itself
Art in architecture The Red House architect David Kohn was given complete artistic freedom to respond to the owners’ brief. Good art should elicit an emotional response in the viewer and be memorable; it can be contentious and may or may not be beautiful, but it can never be bland. Art exerts a profound influence over our wellbeing but the majority of architecture is designed for the eye of the beholder and tends to neglect the non-visual senses that promote our health and wellbeing. The RIBA said of their 2022 winner: ’This is a project full of delight and invention, pragmatism and eccentricity, along with knowing references, formal and informal gestures.’ Creating and living in a beautiful structure is a rare privilege and The Red House is a perfect example of William Morris’s famous words: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be beautiful or believe to be useful”.
Foaling, backing, pretraining, first race under rules … owner Lucy Procter covers the full journey this month at The Glanvilles Stud
The single February foal at TGS – stable name Sambac – a Nathaniel filly out of Seemarye. Image Courtenay Hitchcock
Our only February foal was a lovely Nathaniel filly out of Seemarye. This family line started with successful Yetminster-based owner-breeder John Meaden’s purchase of See-O-Duf, from the Dufosees, as a point-to-pointer for his daughter. Once retired, See-O-Duf only produced one winner under rules, but that was a good one – See Enough, winner of the G2 Rendelsham Hurdle. See-O-Duf’s point-to-point winning daughter Shepani produced three winners under rules, including the good See You Sometime, a multiple G2 winner. And Shepani is the dam of Seemarye, from whom we have bred several foals and two winners, most notably her black-type Kayf Tara gelding Thibault. We are looking forward to seeing how this year’s foal develops over the next few years. Each year we encourage the staff to give the foals ‘stable’ names. These are unofficial nicknames and usually bear no relation to what their registered names will be. Young Thoroughbreds in the UK are sold unnamed, with owners choosing and registering a racing name when they go into training. Each year on the stud we choose a naming theme – this year it is flowers – and the name has to start with the first letter of the dam’s name.
All images: Courtenay Hitchcock
Seemarye has been leased to an owner in Bali, who has bred the Nathaniel filly with the intention of racing her, and the family are enjoying the whole breeding journey; we send them regular updates, photos and videos. So we asked them to come up with their foal’s stable name and they chose Sambac – a type of jasmine and one of the national flowers of Indonesia. Sometimes stable names do turn into racing names, so look out for a filly called Sambac on the track in a few years’ time!
The first hack for the three year-old Kayf Tara filly, out of Tsarinova, stable name Twix – the naming theme was ‘chocolate’ in 2020! Image: Lucy Procter
Long-rein and lunging This month we restarted the backing process of a three-year old Kayf Tara filly, out of our own much-loved mare, Tsarinova. After her retirement from racing, I rode Tsarinova myself and our daughter Alice evented her before we started breeding from her following her half-brother Sam Spinner’s win of the G1 Long Walk Hurdle in 2017. The filly’s sire, Kayf Tara, was a three-time Champion stayer on the racecourse, and he retired from stud in 2020 at the grand age of 26 years, having notched up 11 UK Championships as a National Hunt stallion during his 20 seasons at stud. Due to declining fertility, our filly is one of only a handful of foals sired in his final season, and we hope to retain ownership of her so that we can eventually breed from her once she has retired from racing. Having spent six weeks last summer starting the filly – long-reining, lunging and leaning over her in the stable – backing her this month has been relatively quick and easy as she has a gentle temperament and has remembered much of what she learnt previously. We began by long-reining her in the confines of the all-weather turnout and then round the stud to remind her how to stop, start and turn from pressure on the bit in her mouth. Then we progressed through leaning over her in the stable to sitting astride and, after a few days of getting used to the idea of someone on her back we took her round the stud with someone walking at her head. She is now happily hacking out with a quiet horse by her side and will stay in pre-training for a couple of months before having a break, with a view to running next autumn.
image Courtenay Hitchcock
Comings and goings Of the older horses, Inspector Maigret, the Monmartre four-year-old gelding that we have been pre-training, is almost ready for a run and has now gone to Harriet Brown, with a view to him having a first run over hurdles later in March. Rinjani Bay, the three-year-old Motivator filly that we have also been pre-training for our Bali owners, is off into training at Anthony Honeyball’s this week for a couple of months work before returning here for a break. Like our Kayf Tara filly, we will aim for her to get to a racecourse next autumn. Cosmore had her first two runs in February but has come home for a few weeks rest as she frustratingly had a minor muscle pull in her last race. Pre-training Inspector Maigret and Rinjani Bay has been great fun over the past few months, and I will miss riding them out every day. But we do still have the Kayf Tara three-year-old, a point-to-pointer and Cosmore to keep us busy. Foaling is obviously front and centre for us during March – we have four mares who are well bagged up and due to foal soon. Doug and I are hoping that the mares are considerate when they think about foaling, however – we have tickets to go and see Honeysuckle’s ‘last hurrah’ on the Tuesday of the Cheltenham Festival. Fingers crossed!
Over the past couple of months both the Tories and the Labour Party have started to set out their stalls for the next general election, which is likely to be some time in 2024. There are three key things that should be shouting out to voters about ‘Labour’s Five Missions’ versus ‘Sunak’s Five Pledges’. First, ‘Sunak’s Pledges’ are characteristically focused on the short term between now and the next election. ‘Labour’s Missions’ unapologetically recognise that the chaotic mess the Tories have created over three electoral terms will take more than one term to fix. Second, Labour is ambitious in its missions to become a ‘clean energy superpower’ by 2030 and secure the ‘highest sustained growth’ of any G7 country. In comparison, Sunak’s pledges lack any kind of ambition for the UK. His economic focus is narrowly configured around marginal gains in growth, maintaining rather than reducing the cost of living, and making small inroads into reducing the national debt. None of which helps ordinary people in North Dorset who are struggling on a daily basis with the cost of living, and leaves the UK on course to fall behind Poland in terms of growth per capita within the next ten years. Third, while both the Tories and Labour appear to acknowledge the need to improve the NHS, the remainder of their pledges and missions take on a distinctly different feel. While Labour’s missions to reform the justice system and raise education standards point to long-term aspirations for a fairer and more equal society, Sunak’s focus is on continuing to ‘other’ people who arrive on our shores in boats seeking a better life for themselves and their families. While it is clear that Labour will also need to get to grips with the asylum crisis that endangers people seeking a better life, bedevils seaside economies dependent on tourism, and has been proven negligent in its care of unaccompanied children, Sunak’s focus on immigration is nothing less than a cynical appeal to the right of his crumbling and ill-disciplined party that reeks of desperation. Pat Osborne North Dorset Labour Party
Attempting to tidy my overburdened desk recently, I discovered a copy of Ethical Consumer magazine. The cover picture showed a Lego family, standing on top of our planet, which was shaped like a piggy bank and stained with oil. The child was asking ‘Mum and Dad, are your savings messing up my future?’ Above, the headline was ‘Can your pension and investments help to fight climate change?’ The magazine was dated spring 2014, and the article on ethical banks scored Barclays the worst of all. In 2023, they are still bumping along the bottom, with an ethical score of TWO out of 20 points. I have now finally closed my long-held Barclays account. Better late than never. (I chose Triodos instead – other ethical banks are available!) My pension fund is ranked second best for ethics, but it still only scores 10 out of 20 points, so the pension industry clearly has a long way to go. An October 2021 report found that the UK pensions industry enables more CO2 emissions worldwide than all the UK’s carbon emissions put together. It’s why the Dorset Action group has been urging Dorset Council to divest the millions their pension fund has invested in fossil fuels. Yes, pension funds must seek the best possible returns for their members, but as renewable sources of energy now make more economic sense than fossil fuels, it is obvious where the long-term smart money should go. And of course profit is not the only criteria. To quote Sir David Attenborough: ‘It is crazy that our banks and our pensions are investing in fossil fuels, when these are the very things that are jeopardising the future we are saving for’. If you are a member of Dorset Council’s pension scheme, you can go to dtaction.co.uk to see how you can help persuade the council to change its investment strategy. Change has to come – and come soon. We consumers really do have the power to drive that change! From changing our lightbulbs to our bank accounts – whatever else we can change – we can help to create a future everyone can all enjoy.
The big issues of the week leading up to this month’s BV publication have been the Windsor Framework and the Cost of Living (neatly expressed in the price of gas and electricity).
Mike Chapman Lib Dems
As a Lib Dem, my instincts are to head for the common ground, find the right balance, seek fairness and a basis for sustainable future growth. Why? Well, mostly because I have seen and felt the effects of a lack of compromise and misplaced ideology. July 1972 saw me volunteering at a camp for “troubled kids” from Belfast. On our last evening, around a campfire we heard of the deaths and injuries of some of their friends from a wave of attacks on the streets of their city. Five years later found me in a flat in Madrid, 15 yards from where terrorists chose to put a bomb in the gateway to a government building. I remember thinking as I briefly sailed through the air towards the wall on the far side of my bedroom, “It’s the weekend, for crissake!” Neither event was justifiable, not remotely justifiable. Both, though, were born of age-old repression and a lack of hope coupled with excess zeal and misplaced ideology. Woe betide the DUP if they prolong the current stand-off.
A pyrrhic victory Sir Ed Davey’s call for further strong support for families and businesses in the face of continuing high gas and electricity prices is spot on. There will be those abstract-minded mandarins in the Treasury who believe that the nation will soon adjust to a new normal – just as it has done with £10 for a pack of cigarettes, £5 for a pint and around £1.50/litre for petrol. We will all be praised for the environmentally sound principle of giving up non-essential energy use, when the truth is that using less is becoming the only way of affording what we need. The proliferation of pre-payment meters further drives a hand-to-mouth existence for too many, especially those on low and/or fixed incomes. The original price hike was the driver of inflation; time alone solves the inflation percentage even if prices stay high – a pyrrhic victory for Rishi if ever there was one. No, the government can and must act to resolve the way in which energy from fixed cost sources such as hydro, nuclear, wind and solar is only buyable at the same rate as that produced by fossil fuels, themselves price-hiked by Putin’s grotesque war of conquest. Remember, the typical US electricity price is about half what it is in the UK. The price in France is only a little more than the US price. So, less wringing of hands and bleating that you ‘can’t beat the market’, please. Let’s see some action, some fairness and less of a blight on opportunity.
The Windsor Framework isn’t just good news for businesses, says MP Simon Hoare. It shows a return to adult politics and better relationships
Simon Hoare MP
I am sure many of you are slightly weary of news, comment and discussion of the Northern Ireland Protocol. You will, I hope, forgive me for taking a keen interest in this matter. As chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee, it slightly goes with the territory. We have just had the announcement of the Windsor Framework – the updated and revised operational requirements of the Protocol. The changes which have been agreed are excellent news for the people and economy of Northern Ireland. They are also good news for those businesses across the UK, including here in North Dorset, who sell to Northern Ireland.
The side effects However, there are some other benefits to this week’s announcements which I believe are worth highlighting. The first is that it begins a new volume in the relationship of the UK and the EU. We have left the EU but too many people were picking at the scab that wanted to heal. Windsor cauterises the wound. The UK remains an European country. Our nearest and largest trading market is Europe. The horrors of Ukraine have broadly united European countries not just in collective condemnation but collegiate actions. This, of itself, has served as a reminder of our shared principles and values. With this improved relationship, I think we can have legitimate expectations that we are in a better place with the French government and that a more collaborative approach to breaking the Channel people traffickers is in prospect. Membership of Horizon is also there for the taking – of strategic benefit to our strong and growing pharmaceutical, technological and scientific communities. This will help ‘Europe plc’ face into the powerful competition of Asia and the US. With that newly-forged relationship also lies the hope that it will be easier for musicians and artists to be able to perform across the EU without recourse to the current visa bureaucracy.
Grown up politics All of the above are placed within touching distance simply by resolving the Protocol issues. Now, we must not fall into the trap of believing that was inevitable. It wasn’t. It took the new type of politics of the government and the Prime Minister. Gone is the bellicose, flippant, impatient cakeism, to be replaced by the calm and the respectful. The magic ingredient in politics – as in so much else in life – is trust. No trust; no progress. Recent events have only been able to come about because mutual respect, politeness, seriousness of purpose, attention to detail and calm advocacy have been restored. Improved Anglo-Irish and Anglo-French relations were prerequisites for progress and Rishi Sunak and his ministers quickly saw these as pivotal actions upon which they have delivered. The dropping of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which rode a coach and horses through our international legal obligations, is another important step in restoring the UK’s reputation as being a country that keeps its words. That longstanding and hard-earned reputation is a vital foundation stone of the City of London and our place as a leading global financial centre which, of itself, contributes such a lot to the Treasury and the funding of our public services.
Manners maketh Now, I supported Rishi Sunak from the get-go, so of course I could be accused of some bias. However I think even the most sceptical observer would have to admit that his seriousness of purpose, his politeness and his attention to detail can and will pay dividends for our country. As one of my American political friends said to me recently: ‘it’s so good to have the UK we all know, love and respect back in the room.’
The 2023 Eventing season looks a little different this year, but with her first competition in March, Toots Bartlett has been enjoying the work
Toots and Cor Y Taran working in some rare spring sunshine. Images: Courtenay Hitchcock
The final countdown is on. Eventing season is about to begin – the first event is at Cirencester Park at the end of March! All my horses are back into full fitness work now – galloping, trotting up the hills and, most excitingly, we’re back jumping! As I write, we are working towards getting them out on the grass for their first cross-country school of the year. We have often had to start the season having only prepared in the school, so it is a real bonus this year to be able to prepare properly. I’m aware we (my horses and me!) always get over-excited for our first cross-country so I’m hoping that our disciplined schooling over the winter has prepared us. I’ve worked hard on my partnership with each horse to fine-tune any issues we noted last year. The weather’s been kind and the ground is in great shape, highly unusually for February we have even been able to do some canter work on the grass. I am definitely not being complacent, however. The Great British Weather can be relied on to throw us a curve ball!
Toots saddling up in the barn
Events lost, found and changed There has been a huge change in the British Eventing calendar this year, and we wave goodbye to many great events, including Houghton Hall International near Kings Lynn and Barbury Castle International, both of which ran classes up to CCI4S. Osberton International (in Lincolnshire) has given its Young Horse Championship to Cornbury in Oxfordshire. This does mean, however, that these events have been replaced by other venues – I’m not sorry to be heading to Bicton Arena in Devon instead of making the six hour trip to Houghton Hall, as I have done for the past five years. Bicton also offers the horses an all-weather surface for the show-jumping phase which in these changing summers and harder ground is a welcome addition. The King’s coronation will also alter the running order of the UK’s biggest CCI5 event of the year, traditionally held at Badminton House on the first weekend of May. Due to the large number of Eventing supporters who wish to watch the coronation, in addition to the battling media coverage, Badminton has made the smart decision to run the cross-country on the Sunday instead of the Saturday, and have therefore moved the show-jumping to the Monday. It will be an interesting experiment to see if an extra day between the dressage and the cross-country is beneficial, and what effect it has on the overall cross-country statistics. Either way, it is always a truly amazing weekend of top quality sport and one not to be missed!
Hopefully it won’t be long before I’m a Badminton competitor myself – but horses who have the skill, athleticism, trainable brain, stamina, brave heart and sheer ability required to take on one of the toughest and most demanding tracks in the world are very few and far between. If you happen to have one please do get in touch!
Roger Guttridge has personal memories of the fire which destroyed Harding’s newsagent’s shop at Sturminster Newton in 1956
Harding’s in Bridge Street before the fire. Historic images from Sturminster from Sturminster Newton Through Time, by Roger Guttridge and Steve Case
One of my most vivid childhood memories is of the day that Harding’s newsagent’s shop at Sturminster Newton went up in smoke and flames. The year was 1956 and I was a six-year-old pupil at Sturminster County Primary School (now the William Barnes School) in Bridge Street. Harding’s was a little further up Bridge Street, where Retsel House is now, so my mother and I had to walk right past the shop on our way to the school. I remember picking my way through the mounds of charred beams, thatch and other debris – and the fire brigade hoses strung out across the road.
Harding’s on the morning of the 1956 fire.
The combined stench of fire, smoke and water damage stayed with me into adulthood, and those memories flooded back whenever I attended a fire as a reporter for the Western Gazette or the Bournemouth Evening Echo. I also remember learning how John Harding heroically carried his sons Christopher, a fellow pupil at my school, and his younger brother Richard, to safety at the height of the fire. Sadly, Chris and Richard are no longer with us. The picturesque thatched building was replaced by the grey and rather utilitarian Retsel House, which houses businesses to this day, including a pet shop and a barber’s shop. In my later childhood there was a barber’s on the first floor. While waiting for a haircut, I would advance my education by exploring the revelations of an early girlie magazine called Parade. I don’t think it did me any harm, but others may potentially disagree.
Replacement building Retsel House today
The Hardings were rather unlucky with fires. The family’s previous business, the Bristol Bazaar, was in another thatched building at the corner of Ricketts Lane at the top of Bridge Street and was burned down in 1926, along with the adjoining shop occupied by Mr Pope the shoemaker. Historically, Sturminster has had several major fires – a notable one 340 years ago in 1681 and another less than 50 years later in 1729 which destroyed 67 houses, ten barns and the Market House. One of the replacement buildings after 1729 became Barnett’s hardware shop at Market Cross, but this too was completely destroyed in a blaze complicated by exploding paint cans, paraffin and gas cylinders.
