Two brilliant interviews in this episode (I’m allowed to say that because Jenny and Terry do all the work!) – the first with Rachel from Citizen’s Advice, and the second with an archaeology expert discussing Dorset’s long-running archaelogical dig affectionately known as Duropolis. And we”re thrilled to have Dr Jane Goodall’s Random 19 answers, too.
In an engrossing interview, Paul Cheatham, the geophysical survey director responsible for the archaelogical digs at Dorset’s ‘Duropolis’, effectively gives us a personal guided tour of the site that was discovered in 2007, and what the team have found in the subsequent 12 years of digs as they explore the hillside. He admits that everywhere the team survey they find a new settlement to explore – whether Iron Age, Bronze Age or Roman, from the Mesolithic to the late Roman era, the Dorset hillsides are covered in remnants of early communities. During the medieval period people moved into the valleys and finally left the high grounds, but counter to perceived wisdom, Paul explains that early man did not in fact choose hilltops for defence purposes – and he also talks Jenny through Iron Age fridges.
Rachel Rogers provides some specific advice around what to do when a package holiday goes wrong! Talking to Terry, she provides an interesting look at the work of Dorset’s Citizen’s Advice – no longer the CAB, the organisation does a lot more than is widely understood.
Admittedly a chimpanzee-studying lady in Africa may not have been everyone’s childhood hero, but for editor Laura – an animal-obsessed girl growing up in a big Essex town – the life of her dreams was being lived by Jane Goodall, the renowned ethologist and inspiring conservationist. Even at 89 Dr Jane Goodall remains a powerhouse of action, and her answers to this month’s Random 19 questions are everything you could hope for – from Lord of the Rings to an evocative stream of memories of a life lived in the wild (there’s also a controversial opinion on biscuit dunking).
If you’re looking to find the true rural heart of North Dorset, the untouched landscape that feels unchanged for centuries, then this might be the walk you’re looking for.
Following paths tucked into the rolling countryside that sits below the more glamorous ridge walks, you’ll avoid any big climbs, and yet manage to enjoy almost constant stunning views.
Desite a lack of any hill climbing the far-reaching views on this walk are unbeatable
We took our time with this walk, and it felt like a mini holiday. We didn’t see another person (other than a couple enjoying their own back garden as we strolled past with a wave), and felt like we were lost in Enid Blyton’s Dorset.
The route follows old green lanes and winds through the thick centuries-old hedges that are bounding the small, oddly-shaped fields so typical of old Dorset.
The footpath through the wonderful wild meadow belonging to the Barkhill Shepherd’s Huts
A few paths were very overgrown – we walked in early July, and a sturdy stick was soon collected to beat back the nettle and bramble at regular intervals.
You can just see from the post marker on the left of the image that this is a bridleway…
Stiles through hedges were rarely sturdy and well kept (seemingly typical in North Dorset!), but mostly they did exist and were entirely usable. The ones crossing streams were the most solid, thankfully!
Ibberton church has a wonderful view of Bulbarrow
A couple of times we couldn’t see the exit to a field until we were literally right on top of it – trust the map, the stiles and bridges ARE there, they’re just buried in the hedgerows!
It’s easy to miss the footpath sign on this wall (it’s on the far right) in Okeford Fotzpaine right at the start of the walk!
Parking is easy in Okeford Fitzpaine village – and there’s a lovely village shop as well as a pub for a post-walk ice cream or a pint!
Merry Moos Farm Project is a social enterprise trading as a community interest company. Our aim is to establish a working farm and animal sanctuary in Dorset that serves the community by encouraging individuals to benefit mentally and physically from experiencing farm life, and to provide animals a haven of love and safety.
Farm Required
Merry Moos farm project CIC not for profit is looking for a fifty to seventy acre farm with livestock buildings site in Dorset.
f you think you can help, or know someone who can.
Fancy a night of festival style footstomping, dancing and singing?
It’s an evening with a difference when Old Time Sailors visit The Exchange in Sturminster Newton for the first time on Friday 8th September! You will be sailing back to the 19th century for an immersive experience – seafaring music performed in a way you have never seen before. The motley crew and their plethora of traditional and eclectic instruments will take you back to the time of clashing tankards, and drunken debauchery.
The Old Time Sailors have recently taken Glastonbury and Bestival by storm, as well as headlining at festivals throughout the South West.
Kicking off the Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival weekend, guest real ales will be on sale, as well as the full bar, and as dancing is very much encouraged, only the raked seating will be out! There’ll be plenty of space to sing and dance like a drunken sailor as the band perform centuries-old folk and shanty songs.
Fancy dress is encouraged – pull out your best seafaring garments, me hearties, and come join the festivities!
On the date of its ancient predecessor, the 50th anniversary street fair bears more than a passing resemblance to the first one in 1973
In the heart of the Delcombe Valley in 934AD, the town of Middleton was founded – gathered around the Benedictine Abbey, whose patron saint is St Sampson. King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, granted the town a market and a fair, which took place on St Sampson’s Day.
Soon after buying the Milton Abbas estate in 1752, Joseph Damer (later Lord Milton and later still the Earl of Dorchester) took the first steps in an ambitious scheme of demolition, development and landscaping to transform the medieval village and the valley. Sir Frederick Treves says in Highways and Byways of Dorset (1906). ‘He [Damer] found the ancient village squatted indecently near to the spot where he intended to build his mansion, … he ordered the offensive object to be removed. The old, untidy hamlet was entirely demolished as soon as the new Milton Abbas had been erected well out of sight of the great house.’
Milton Abbas Street Fair in 2023. Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
Two hundred years later, the villagers recreated their traditional fair to celebrate its 200th anniversary – on the last Saturday of July, the nearest to 28th July, the original St Sampson’s Day. Local man Chris Fookes says, ‘It all started as a way of fundraising for local causes. In the 60s and 70s, if you had a village fete, you were lucky to make 50 quid. You know, you make 50 quid and think “well, you’ve done all right!” But our idea was to do the village fete thing, but to get it bigger. And we certainly did that with the street fair. In the end, we made about three or four thousand quid!’
The 1973 committee
Chris was asked to open the special 250th anniversary fair this year. His family have lived in the valley for more than 250 years – ‘We were yeoman farmers – you call them tenant farmers now – on the big estate. We had Bagber Farm down at Milborne at one time, and the brewery here (Fookes Brothers the Milton Brewery was founded in 1775) … all sorts of things.’ – and he was on the committee which ran the very first street fair.
Original 1973 committee member Chris Fookes was asked to open 2023’s 50th anniversary fair. Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
He remembers it clearly:
‘In 1973 we had a meeting with the Milton Abbey School, and they came on side. They offered all the playing fields, any accommodation they could spare. They were really with us from day one. That first event was actually a ten day festival. First, we had a Civil War battle, which was a ‘King’s Army of the West against the Cavalry’. But the cavalry were children on ponies! We had it in the valley between the Abbey and the school; King Eddies Drive it’s called, though it’s actually King Edward’s Drive. They made a special route down over the hill for him back at the turn of the century. The cavalry came down over the hill, and the king’s army at the bottom there were all murdered! It went really well, the whole of the abbey drive was packed with people. It was as busy as the main street is now, maybe busier.
Traditional maypole dancing at Milton Abbas Street Fair. Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
‘That was the first Saturday. We had a barbecue and a dance in the evening, and on the Sunday morning there was a service in the Abbey. There were various events the following week, and then the Saturday after was the first Street Fair. And that went really, really well. After that first one, the Street Fair became the principal event.’
Half a century
So how does the street fair compare today, to the first one?
‘It’s almost exactly the same! The man who ran it originally, Lieutenant Commander Dickie Dyer, was a brilliant organiser. He lived just above the almshouses, and he ran the whole thing. It ran like clockwork and it’s almost exactly the same now – it’s still run just the way he set it out.’
It’s an eclectic mix in this issue – we have an exclusive interview with Fanny Charles, discussing the fascinating free-spirited artist Philip Sutton RA. Jenny talks to Julie from Dorset Wildife Trust in their important new marine pollution campaign, and we also have all the politics columns for a little serious thinking.
In the politics columns this month, Simon Hoare MP agrees that climate change is all around us – but he is confident that it is being acted on by the government. He also takes time to discuss vaping. Could it be our next public health crisis? In a mock exam for politicans, Mike Chapman of the North Dorset LibDems has a long list of questions he’d like to see someone in the government provide serious, grown up answers to. In a seemingly endless line of rage-inducing news items, Ken Huggins from the North Dorset Green Party has found a brighter story to cheer about. And Pat Osborne from North Dorset Labour is similarly positive about a local cricket club. In the light of national news around racism and classism in the sport, he’s proud to share the hard work that has gone into making grassroots local clubs thoroughly inclusive.
Jenny talks to Julie Hatcher, Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Marine Protection Officer, on their new campaign Save Our Wild Seas, raising both awareness and funds for practical steps to reduce the pollution on our beaches. Julie discusses the importance of our seagrass nurseries in Dorset in particular.
Artist Philip Sutton RA is now 95 and lives – and still paints – near Bridport. Author and journalist Fanny Charles talks to Jenny about the renowned colourist who has never followed fashion, and has led a fascinating life.
