A local expert from Citizen’s Advice provides timely tips on consumer issues.
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Q: “I currently pay for my electricity via direct debit but recent fuel price increases mean that some months I am struggling to afford to pay my bill. I read in the newspaper that my energy supplier might try to force me onto a prepayment meter. Can they do this?”
A: “Yes they can in some circumstances, and this can have devastating consequences for people who then cannot afford to top-up their meters. Citizens Advice knows that some people prefer to be on prepayment meters for budgeting reasons or because it stops debt collection, including threats of bailiff visits and unexpected bills but last year, 3.2 million people across Great Britain ran out of credit because they couldn’t afford to top up their meter. When a prepayment meter isn’t topped up the household electricity or gas supply is completely disconnected. From its latest work, Citizens Advice knows that more than two million people are being effectively disconnected at least once a month and that almost one in five prepayment meter customers who were cut off in the past year then spent at least 24 hours without gas or electricity. This is particularly dangerous for disabled and otherwise vulnerable customers. Your supplier can’t make you move to prepayment if it wouldn’t be safe or practical. This means you can refuse to move to prepayment if an illness or disability means you’d be harmed if your gas or electricity was cut off. However, research shows that the rules are not always being followed. As a result, Citizens Advice asked the government to put in place new protections to stop people being fully cut off from gas and electricity and the Business Secretary is now calling on suppliers to do more to protect vulnerable energy users. If you are struggling to top up a prepayment meter, please talk to your energy provider as soon as possible. You might be able to get temporary credit or your supplier might add this to your meter automatically. If you run out of temporary credit you should explain your situation to your supplier. They might give you extra temporary credit under certain circumstances, including if you’re disabled, have a long-term health condition or if you are above the state pension age. For more help with this, please check the information on the Citizens Advice website on the prepayment rules your supplier has to follow or contact your local Citizens Advice office. Information is correct at time of writing.
Farmer James Cossins looks back at the strain of the last month – caused almost entirely by a complaint about his animal care
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As I write this in the middle of January, once again the weather has been the main topic of conversation on the farm. In the last four weeks we have received nearly a third of this year’s annual rainfall, with rain nearly every day. The Tarrant is now flowing strongly, with parts of the meadows flooded – it’s difficult to believe that, right up to the beginning of October, parts of the Tarrant were barely flowing at all on the farm. With the recent record of extreme weather, it will be interesting to see what weather patterns 2023 decides to throw at us. Apart from the heavy rain over the Christmas period, the plan for everyone on the farm having some time off worked well, with a timetable in place to ensure everyone took their turn for the cows to be milked and the feeding and bedding up duties to be carried out. We had no major breakdowns, but it was interesting to see over the festive period which carried on in a small way and which shutdown completely; most of our agricultural suppliers continued in some form or another.
Animal welfare at Rawston The farm did have some disturbing news – which we only discovered via social media – of perceived animal welfare issues on the farm. The first call we received was from the NFU, reporting that they thought our cattle had been videoed apparently showing them in a poor state (although the NFU agreed this appeared not to be the case). Then our local vets called to warn me the farm had been targeted with complaints to them – but again they could see no issue with the cattle. Next our milk buyer called and advised me that their farm liaison officer would come and visit us; he arrived the next day and again could see no problems, but suggested that we should have a full Arla farm audit within the next seven days to give us a clean bill of health. Ordinarily this would have been fine, but during that seven day period I was due to have a hip operation (just to add to all the stress…). The audit was scheduled for the day after I returned from hospital. Still hobbling on crutches, I delegated to my son and the whole farm team got involved in showing the auditor around the cattle and the buildings. The cattle were given a clean bill of health with no issues. The final visit I had was from an officer of the government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency; we were once again inspected, and once again no issues found. This particular visit did save us from a subsequent visit from the RSPCA as there was nothing to report. Whoever put up the original social media post could perhaps have saved a considerable amount of anxiety by just calling into the local vets for a chat rather than putting an ill-informed opinion out into the world and hiding behind its potentially damaging effects.
James Cossins assessing the harvest at Rawston
The strain This single social media post has obviously caused me, my family and the entire farm team a considerable amount of mental stress. With a hip operation in the middle of it, I had the added pleasure of a large amount of physical stress too, and I was beginning to feel I was heading for a dark place – who was going to contact me next? Thankfully I have my family, close farming colleagues and the whole farm team, who have all been incredibly supportive. But the experience has made me look at what mental health support there is for others in such circumstances, feeling as though there is unbearable pressure from external sources. I know that agriculture as an industry is not alone in having mental health pressures as an industry, but it is a growing concern in the community. Farmers are working alone, dealing with huge outside-their-control issues such as the weather, animal diseases like Bovine TB and bird flu, the constant financial pressures and often even the stress of working as a family – and those are just off the top of my head! The NFU provides good support for members through the group secretary network and also The Farming Community Network, the RABI (the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution is a national charity providing local support to the farming community) and YANA (You are not alone, a rural mental health charity) to name but a few other sources of help. Sadly, agriculture has one of the highest suicide rates of most industries and at long last it is now being recognised as a problem, so help is out there. Please use it. As I look out of the window the sun is shining, which makes us all feel better. Before long it will be spring again – all us farmers and growers will be out in the fields and smiling once more!
Roger Guttridge recalls a Victorian snowstorm that cut the town off – and the local newspaper publisher who abhorred the evils of drink
The Blandford Express office in 1891 (or possibly 1881). Image from the Barry Cuff Collection
A light dusting of snow on my lawn today prompted me to dig out this Victorian picture as a reminder of what a serious dose of the white stuff can look like. The eminently recognisable location, of course, is the point in Blandford where Salisbury Street divides and Whitecliff Mill Street peels off to the left. The horse-drawn cart appears to be loaded up not with the latest issue of the Blandford Express that was printed in the building behind it but with snow, shovelled from the streets outside. Whether the boys lined up outside the office window were waiting for copies to deliver or just posing for the camera, we will probably never know. Printer J. A. Bartlett launched the Blandford Express in 1869 (some sources say 1859) and it continued to roll off the press until its closure in 1894. Bartlett was a devout Christian, and he used his professional situation to further the campaign against alcohol abuse that was ruining so many lives in Victorian Britain. His newspapers also included the Dorset Abstainer and the enticingly-entitled Dorset County Temperance Advocate. Bartlett lived at The Plocks and died in 1900 aged 73. At some point the Blandford Express building’s original attic area was extended with the addition of three gable windows and, in keeping with Bartlett’s views on the evils of drink, became a coffee house and temperance hotel. The date of the photograph is disputed. Most sources date it to 9 March, 1891, when a blizzard produced 10ft snow drifts and cut off the town from the outside world. The Blandford Express’s competitor the Dorset County Chronicle reported: ‘The snow storm made its appearance on Monday afternoon and continued with increased severity until just after 11pm Tuesday.’ The railways and the postal service ground to a halt – so no change there then. Dissenters from the 1891 date are Mark Ching and Ian Currie, authors of The Dorset Weather Book, published in 1997. They claim – unconvincingly in my view – that the picture dates from 18-19 January, 1881, when a ‘furious blizzard’ swept Dorset, claiming three lives. Henry Hawker was fatally entombed in a snowdrift within sight of his home at Thorncombe and two children suffered a similar fate while trying to walk from Hamworthy to Morden.
A similar view today minus the snow. Note the addition of the second-floor gable windows. Image: Roger Guttridge
The perennial struggle of local media The Blandford Express did well to survive as long as it did. Its other rivals included the Blandford Weekly News, which published from 1885 to 1892; the Blandford, Wimborne and Poole Telegram, which appeared from 1874 to 1886; and the Blandford Gazette and Three Shires Advertiser, which survived barely five months from August to December 1903. Throughout this period the Blandford papers also had to compete with the Dorset County Chronicle and two big regionals, the Western Gazette and the Salisbury and Winchester Journal, both of which survive to this day. More than 130 years later, the former Blandford Express building is now a hairdresser’s.
Exhibit for free at the North Dorset Schools Career Day. Showcase your key roles, apprenticeships, and career progression. Meet and engage with young people from years 8 to 11 from five Dorset Council area schools – your potential future employees. The twilight session is open to other schools, year groups and parents.
The village of Shillingstone is rolling up its sleeves – a huge community effort is required to save the village church
The roof of Shillingstone’s church has a 20ft hole
Worshippers in Shillingstone could soon be looking for umbrellas and buckets; the roof of their parish church of the Holy Rood is in a worrying condition. Where tiles have slipped there is already a 20ft hole in part of it which has had to be covered with tarpaulin to protect the church’s north aisle. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) has called in architects and other experts to assess the damage and risks. Their verdict is the need for a complete re-roofing of this ancient grade 1 listed building dating back to the 12th century. The estimated bill the village faces? In the region of £340,000. Major fundraising efforts are now under way to enable the first phase of works, which is estimated to cost some £140,000 and must go ahead as a matter of urgency. Phase two, the main part of the roof, is expected to require the additional £200,000.
The parish church of The Holy Rood, Shillingstone
A place for a thousand years An appeal has been launched, grants are being sought, and fundraising events are being planned. Appeal leaflets have gone to every household in Shillingstone and to as many people as can be found who have had connections with the parish in the past; perhaps through the former girls school, Croft House, the village school, those with family links, and former villagers who have moved away. PCC treasurer Anne Powell says: ‘It’s a daunting prospect, but I am optimistic that the money can be raised to hold the weather at bay for another 100 years or more.’ PCC member Ray Suter said in a message appealing for villager’s help – in cash or kind: ‘Our Parish Church has served as a vital meeting place for a thousand years. Not just for worship but for a millennia of Shillingstone’s weddings, baptisms and funerals as well as national celebrations. ‘During war and peace it has served as a place for private prayer and thanksgiving. The church bells have rung out across the village to celebrate notable events down the ages. Our ancestors are buried around our church and their graves are a precious reminder of how much they contributed to the village we now call home. It must be unthinkable that we could lose this precious, historic building which has been loved and preserved by so many.’ Before any work can begin on the church roof, however, the small matter of the bats has to be resolved! Experts have said there are, quite rarely, at least four different varieties of these protected mammals present, all of which have called Shillingstone church their home for years.
As the Love Local Trust Local Awards night approaches, founder Barbara Cossins looks back at where it all began – and why
When the Love Local Trust Local (LLTL) journey began in 2018, it was because I was so fed up with hearing visitors at our Open Farm Sunday say they wanted to support the British farmer – but didn’t know who to trust any more. This was the time of some food mislabelling scandals, alongside the story that fake farms were appearing on ‘own brand’ products on supermarkets shelves. Some supermarkets have faced legal challenges over the practice. Cheap imported meats were – and still are – coming into our country labelled with the Union flag because the item has been re-packaged or processed in the UK, not grown or reared here. It’s all so misleading. We British farmers need to stand up, get ourselves heard and explain the important facts about farming and food production to the general public and the people eating these foods.
Hairy Bikers The new series of The Hairy Bikers Go Local has become an unexpected ambassador for everything our LLTL food label and movement stands for. The series is all about what is grown and produced locally in each county around the UK, helping viewers understand what comes from which part of the UK and at what time of year. This is something LLTL have talked about before. The series is also highlighting the importance of trusting local businesses producing excellent food and drink close to where you live. Music to our ears! One of the key objectives of LLTL has always been to help tell the stories of local Dorset food and drink businesses, letting people know where they are and how to buy their products. Social media has been terrific for spreading the word of what our hardworking Dorset producers are doing.
Roll on awards night! During the 2022 judging, I’ve had the pleasure of hearing so many wonderful stories. I’m still meeting fantastic new producers and learning from them. We will be celebrating their achievements on Thursday 9th February with a gala dinner at Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester. I would like to thank all our sponsors – especially Laura and Courtenay at The BV, who have been supporting LLTL from the very beginning. Next month we will be showcasing the award winners and in the months to come we are delighted to be sharing their stories.
Three students at Clayesmore School are celebrating after they all received Oxbridge offers. Seth, who now has a place to read German at St Hilda’s College, was quick to say that none of the friends felt confident in their applications: ‘We were all expecting to be rejected. Reaching the Christmas holiday was a relief, but then it was a very long wait!’
From L-R: Tasmin J (Chemistry at Hertford, Evie A (English at Balliol) and Seth C (German at St Hilda’s)
‘It was a really long, hard process, and you have to do it on top of your already-packed A level studies’ says Tamsin, who was offered a place to read Chemistry at Hertford College. ‘By the time we had done everything we could and it was out of our hands, we were shattered!’ agrees Evie, who is thrilled with a place to read English at Balliol College. So what made them stand out from thousands of applicants? ‘It’s not as predictable as you’d think’ says Tamsin ‘another Chemistry student in my year got the same predicted grades as me, does as much extra-curricular activity as I do, and yet they weren’t offered a place.’ ‘I think it’s a lot to do with you as a person, how you come across in an interview’ agreed Evie ‘most students should have the same level of subject knowledge and the part of the personal statement that allows for describing your extra-curricular activity is tiny. It never even came up in my interview.’ ‘Nor mine’ agrees Seth, ‘but I think that all my extra activities and my job in Tescos have built me as a person, and that’s what shines through. I was originally applying for a different college, and it was suggested I’d fit better at St Hildas – it was more of a personality fit, and it was absolutely the right decision.’ Tamsin added ‘I don’t think they’re looking for specifics so much as an inquisitive and can-do attitude. I actually said in my interview – which was filled with impossibly hard maths – that 2×1 equals two, so they’re obviously not looking too hard at the interview specifics!‘
Thank you Mr Carpenter Do the teenagers all have a firm career plan mapped out? ‘Journalism, or perhaps a documentary maker’ says Evie. Tamsin added, ‘You’ll end up in politics, you’ll be great!’ Seth is aiming for a probable career as an academic, following a traditional Masters-PhD-lecturer route, though he acknowledges he’s also drawn to education as a career. Tamsin cheerfully admits she’s open to what the future holds ‘Chemistry often leads to law or politics, as it aligns with the analytical thinking, but I’ve no fixed ideas yet.’ Were the Clayesmore staff keen to push the teenagers on to the Oxbridge route from the start? ‘Not in the least – we had to ask for it!’ says Evie ‘The school have been amazing.’ agrees Seth. ‘Absolutely no pressure, but once we decided it was the right plan they just scooped us up and supported us the whole way.’ ‘We couldn’t have managed without their amazing support’ says Tamsin. ‘I’m not even an English student, but Mr Carpenter (senior deputy head and English teacher) gave me so much time and help. He even let me take over his office to practice in the week running up to my interview.’ ‘Mr Carpenter was amazing!’ Seth and Evie exclaim simultaneously in agreement. Clayesmore are proud to be a school that doesn’t focus on a traditional academic route, but instead ‘celebrates future thinkers, makers and creators’. Other student’s have offers from Durham, Warwick, Exeter, Nottingham and the Royal Agricultural University, to name but a few, with an excitingly diverse range of courses including History, Nursing, Architecture, International Festival and Events Management, Journalism, Fashion Marketing and Management and Global Sustainable Development. Jo Thomson, head of Clayesmore, says, ‘As ever, I’m incredibly proud of all our pupils. Their success is a direct result of their hard work and commitment, and their teachers’ unwavering belief in every single student’s potential.’
Visit Springhead’s first open gardens of the year – as well as having the chance to wander around the lakeside gardens you will be able to see some of the many named varieties held at Springhead as you enjoy the beautiful drifts of snowdrops.
The gardens will be open from Monday 6th until Sunday 12th February from 11am to 3pm. In addition, the gardens will be open on Saturday 18th February from 1 pm until 4.30 pm as part of Shaftesbury’s annual snowdrop celebrations (times are of course weather dependent). Entry to the gardens will be free but donations would be appreciated. Light Refreshments will be available throughout the day on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th provided by, and in aid of, St Andrew’s Primary School, Fontmell Magna. Dogs on leads are welcome and there is assisted wheelchair access. 6th-12th February, 11am to 3pm and 18th February 1 to 4pm For more information email [email protected] or call 01747 811853.
With our national newly-sanitised view of ‘Countryfile-d’ farming, complaints about animal welfare are on the increase, reports Andrew Livingston
John Hoskins keeps sheep on Maiden Castle, and gets 50,000 visitors a year across his land (image shutterstcok)
British winter is synonymous with sideways rain, muddy fields and non-existent grass. We humans may hate it, but the livestock across Dorset doesn’t really notice the inclement weather. For millennia, animals have lived on the picturesque pastures of our county all year round. Unfortunately, for a lot of the public, winter farming in the UK doesn’t match the glossy Countryfile version of farming they like. Because of this, bodies such as the RSPCA, the APHA (Animal Plant Health Agency) and Trading Standards get a seasonal influx of complaints. ‘Things just don’t look very good when it’s constantly raining and the fields are muddy,’ says Neil, manager of the Animal Health and Welfare team for Dorset Council Trading Standards. ‘Most calls that we get from members of the public are well meaning, but entirely unfounded – the welfare of the animals is fine. It just doesn’t look particularly pretty.’ With the high volume of complaints Neil and his team can receive, they have to trust their judgement with a lot of the local farmers. ‘We do probably visit the vast majority of them, but it’s a kind of risk assessment basis. If we know the farmer and we’ve been going there for a long time, we can deal with it via a phone call initially, just to see if there is a problem? Are they aware of it? Quite often that can resolve it. ‘To give you one example, we had a complaint about sheep in a field where a number of them were lame. It was a good sheep farmer that we’ve known for many years and we don’t have any welfare concerns with the farm, so rather than waste limited resources going out for a visit, we phoned him and he freely admitted, “Yes, I know that they are lame. I’m desperate to do something about it but at the moment the ground is too wet to get the handling system out there to get them in the crush to sort the feet out.”
Well cared-for livestock is able to withstand an average British winter (image shutterstock)
Mistakes have been made Neil has been with Trading Standards for 30 years but isn’t from a farming background. He was moved ‘kicking and screaming’ into animal health because the previous manager wanted to go back to mainstream trading standards work. ‘While I haven’t got a farming background myself, the people who are in the team that actually go out and do the visits understand farming and farmers, who are very different from the usual business owners that I had was experienced in dealing with. ‘I freely admit I’ve made mistakes before – I’ve been out in the field with cows in the pouring rain. They looked bedraggled and miserable and thin. So I got a vet out to look at them with me the following day. Of course, by then it was bright and sunny, and the cows looked completely different!’ Neil has had to deal with a vast number of complaints about one farm in particular – Maiden Castle Farm. The farm includes the Maiden Castle hill fort, and although it is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, it is John Hoskins who is the tenant farmer with his wife and son. ‘We have Maiden Castle hill fort within the farm itself,’ John explains. ‘And with it we get some 50,000 visitors a year. As well as tourists, we get all the general public from Dorchester coming to walk their dogs. And we get all sorts of complaints at this time of the year. ‘We have cattle grazing behind an electric fence with stubble turnips and feeders with hay and straw in. But of course it’s wet and muddy, and all [the public] think is that the animals should all be living indoors.’ John is quick to make the point clear that even though their downland farm is open to the elements, their cattle are hardy and have managed to live outdoors for 5,000 years.
Aberdeen Angus and Devon Ruby Red Cattle Grazing in a Muddy Field in Rural Devon, England, UK
Oh no, it’s definitely dead With the constant footfall over his land, John and his family have had to deal with complaints either to Trading Standards or direct to their face. ‘A year or two back we had a cow calving. We keep an eye on them all the time when they are calving and this lady stormed up to my wife and said “you’ve got a cow with its body all coming out”. ‘‘I suspect it’s calving,” my wife said. “Oh no, it’s definitely dead. There’s steam coming out”. When my wife got there, a calf was born, struggling to get up but alive and well. And my wife said: “Look, what you saw was the pre birth coming out”. But the woman would not have it.’ John is grateful to Neil and the Trading Standards team who act as gatekeepers. He says: ‘They know where we are. And [Trading Standards] actually come out, not on a complaint, just to see what we have on stubble turnips, or what cattle we have grazing. ‘And if somebody rings them, say two days in a row, saying, ‘John has got a sheep with a bad foot’. If on the second day we haven’t done anything, Trading Standards will call me and say, “John can you go and see about that sheep? It’s on the Castle” and we respond.’ It’s a well-trodden path to talk about how farming is portrayed in the media. Unfortunately, what the general public sees is either unrealistic ‘Countryfile farming’ or alarmist hidden camera footage on the news or social media showing the one per cent of farmers who mistreat their animals.. Neil has for the last six years been on the board of management for the Dorset County Show. He is a believer that educating the next generation is key. ‘The show has got a separate charity called Fabulous Food and Farming and its purpose is to promote agriculture. One way we do that is to invite school groups out to farms. We provide them with visits and we also provide funding for the transport to get them out there. ‘Good farmers are very keen to show off farming and the importance of what they’re doing. It’s difficult to get the public out and interested, but we can do that through things like the agricultural shows.’
Dorset County Show’s Fabulous Food and Farming charity funds school trips to help educate children about farming. Image: George Hosford
The odd rogue Maiden Castle Farm hosts a local school throughout the year to try and help educate children. They have even converted a calf house into a classroom. John Hoskins says: ‘We have a local school here once or twice a year just to show them what’s happening on the farm. ‘Everybody’s looking over our shoulder to see that we do things correctly and 99 per cent of farmers do that or more. But there’s always the odd rogue farmer that lets us down.’ There was a recent case of one of these ‘rogue’ farmers in the county, who ended up being prosecuted (Dorset farm fined £52,000 for causing unnecessary suffering– The BV, Nov 22) – and this is why Neil doesn’t want to discourage the public from picking up the phone if they are worried about the welfare of any livestock they see. ‘It is incredibly rare that we have to go as far as court action. On a complaint visit, we always try and work with farmers to improve things. It’s a collaborative process that involves visiting, advising, giving an improvement notice if necessary and making sure that’s complied with.’ The local ‘rogue’ farmer in question had been having visits from Trading Standards for ten years and he was found to be doing the bare minimum. ‘We regard court action as the very last resort. We will always try to work with the farmer and their vets to make improvements. But ultimately, if things are ignored or things get to an unacceptable level, then we will be forced to take action.’ John Hoskins felt that the farmer in question was let off lightly. ‘It was disgusting. I can tell you, every farmer who knew about that wished he’d had a heavier sentence. Every single farmer you spoke to said he was a disgrace to our industry.’ But Neil has dealt with a lot of these cases of poor animal management and he understands that causing harm is rarely anyone’s intention. He says: ‘In most of these cases I would say there’s an element of the farmer having mental health issues that, in turn, result in their animals suffering. ‘We’re always mindful of that. And again, if we’re aware that the farmer’s struggling himself, we try and get him support through charities like the Farming Community Network.’
If you see an animal you believe to be in distress, please contact the correct authority. For agricultural animals such as pigs, cattle, sheep, goats and poultry contactDorset Trading Standards.
If you have concerns about the welfare of domestic animals such as cats and dogs please contact the RSPCA
