Saturday, 19th November 2022
10am – 4pm with free entry
Digby Memorial Church Hall, Digby Road, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 3NL
Our fair attracts sellers from the West Country, selling second hand to antiquarian books on many subjects, together with local maps and ephemera.
A warm welcome awaits and entry is free!
For more information email [email protected] or call Ed Bailey on 07967643579
For three consecutive years, the Supreme Champions at the Virtual Cheese Awards have come from within five miles of each other. Rachael Rowe reports
Cheese producers in a small corner of South Somerset are celebrating. The Supreme Champion of Cheeses at the Virtual Cheese Awards (VCA) has come from the Templecombe and Wincanton area for the last three years. In fact, all the winners are based within five miles of each other and, to celebrate, have just launched a Supreme Champion Hamper containing all those award-winning cheeses (perfect gift for a cheese fan?). The winning cheeses are Feltham’s Farm’s Renegade Monk (2020) and La Fresca Margarita (2021), and Keen’s Extra Mature Cheddar (2022).
So what is going on?
Penny Nagle, from Feltham’s Farm, which produces two of the supreme championship cheeses, explains the importance of the Virtual Cheese Awards and how they are transforming the artisanal cheese industry.
‘They were started during the lockdown by Sarah De Wit, who has worked in the cheese industry for years. During the lockdown, everything was shut down, so there were no competitions for artisanal cheeses. Contests are one of the ways we test cheeses, but there was nothing in the pandemic.’
Virtual tasting?
‘Small artisan cheesemakers typically don’t have huge marketing budgets, so awards are very important to us.’ Penny says. ‘There are now more than 400 British and Irish cheeses in the VCA Awards.
‘All the cheeses are judged online live so you can see what is happening, and it is totally transparent.’
How can a cheese be judged online? Once, the idea would have been laughed at, but it transpires it is absolutely possible and has transformed the world of the artisan cheesemaker.
If you want to see for yourself, the judging is available on the VCA website. Who needs Netflix when you can watch cheeses being judged?
However there’s a serious point to this way of promoting cheese. Says Sarah De Witt:
‘Normally, when judges are judging cheeses, they are in a room by themselves; you don’t get to see what goes on, what is said. But these awards have turned the whole thing around.
We work with cheese experts like Nigel Barden, and everything is recorded. People can see exactly what others are saying about the cheese, so you get this valuable feedback.
And, of course, if you are going to an awards ceremony, you can’t take everyone. By doing it online, the whole farm or dairy can see and learn and celebrate.
Penny also appreciates the learning from the VCA Awards. ‘You can hear what people are saying about our cheese and the feedback from professional experts. It’s an amazing system, and you learn so much.’
Is it Blackmore Vale grass?
The 2022 supreme champion Award went to the Extra Mature Cheddar from Keen’s Cheddar, a fifth-generation cheesemaking family farm. So what is it about this corner of Somerset that produces Supreme Champions? George Keen talks about the alchemy of the cheesemaker. ‘Cheese is fermented concentrated milk, and the alchemical skill of the cheesemaker is to capture all the quality of the milk in the cheese. Milk is so complex that a skilled cheesemaker can make any style of cheese just by managing the fermentation with temperature, drainage and time. However, no two cheesemakers will make the same cheese. It’s all very personal!’
There must be something else for the supreme champions to be located so close? George has some thoughts: ‘It might be the crops we can grow in the Blackmore Vale which in turn produces the quality of milk that makes the best cheese? Or the community of local artisan cheesemakers who inspire new styles of cheese? Or perhaps just happenstance!’
Penny gave her own thoughts on the unique local success. ‘We have this huge ecosystem here in Somerset where we can get the best milk right on our doorstep. There’s also a creative vein, with a lot of people interested in milk quality. Keen’s have a wonderful heritage, whereas we at Feltham’s are non-traditional cheesemakers. But we all need to be near the supply of milk – all our milk for Feltham’s cheese is from a single herd at Godminster. We do still get variations in the milk, such as when cows are fed silage instead of grass. The milk really tells you what to do.
‘We also have people around us who know about cheese. For example, Carolyn in the Truckle Truck is an evangelist for promoting cheese (see The BV, Oct 22). And then we have excellent farm shops and supermarkets such as the Udder Farm Shop, Kimber’s, Durslade (their honey is perfect with La Fresca Margarita), and Dikes. That local network keeps cheese going in the area. We also have brilliant cheesemakers. And finally, we have a good local council that knows how to fund and promote rural businesses and what they need. Somerset is the Silicon Valley of cheesemaking – it is an exceptional place for the industry. There’s a fantastic milk field and it’s high quality. So it’s not surprising that all the cheesemakers are here!’
To order a Supreme Champions Hamper, see Feltham’s Farm website.
On Ramblers
This weekend I passed a group of what I took to be a group of ramblers – 12 or so people of retirement age, all in stout boots, wearing sensible waterproofs and carrying backpacks.
However – I was driving, and I slowly passed them on a narrow single track lane. The issue was that most scattered before me to both sides of the lane.
Surely it is a hikers basic 101 knowledge that on a road you walk in single file, and keep to the right? By scattering on both sides they made it far harder for me to pass them all safely. Some had unnecessarily launched into the hedge, others stood to the side of the ride, others, busy chatting, edged over but stayed side-by-side.
Please walkers – by all means fill a quiet lane when there is no traffic, but do us careful drivers the courtesy of moving to just one side, in single file, when you allow us to pass!
Alan Moreton
Shaftesbury
On the politics
Great to have Simon Hoare back in your politics pages again – I, like Dr Mathews in your September issue, had noticed his absence.
His column (p.22 The BV, Oct 22) was apposite as the Westminster Circus continues to play out this month (as I write Liz Truss is still PM, but will she be tomorrow? By the time this is printed I suspect she will not be). I did feel that perhaps Ken Huggins column from the Green’s this month was unusually underwhelming – his is usually one of my favourite viewpoints to read, and I wonder if perhaps his actual views on the current Tory Mess may have been a little too strong for The BV’s pages?
Tony Barratt
Nr Verwood
(I couldn’t possibly comment either way on that – Ed)
Farm cruelty
I have been horrified to learn of the case of farm cruelty in West Dorset recently. The cruelty and suffering appear to have been bad enough, when it came to light in the court case. But what is worse is that this was a Red Tractor certified farm – which had been visited repeatedly by Trading Standards due to concerns over the animal welfare for six years!
Quite why it took so long for the situation to be resolved and the animals properly cared for is beyond me. How can a farm with such ongoing and long-standing animal welfare issues still retain its red tractor status? And more importantly, how are we supposed to now trust this alleged beacon of shopper security? Once earned, do red tractor not return and check up on its certified badge wearers?
Once again we are fooled by the marketing. How lucky we are in Dorset to have such a wealth of local options to buy direct form producers, and not have to trust that the blurb we read is actually true.
Alan Pinman
Dorchester
(Andrew Livingston’s Farm Tales column this month discusses this very case – Ed)
Are Warm Hubs being set up in Dorset for the vulnerable th is winter? I can thus far find no mention of an organised, unified project to do so, though I am aware of certain individual businesses and community organisations who are offering a warm space to those who find themselves alone and cold and probably hungry through the coldest months.
Obviously a collective effort is most effective, but if there are numerous disparate groups setting up individual hubs, then a central resource to know where, when and what is available would be incredibly useful to share among those who may well need it. I fear the coming winter will prove difficult and long for many many of us.
A Harding
Shaftesbury
Thank you for your feature on Mike Howe the thatcher. I always enjoy the craftsmen and women featured in Tracie Beardsley’s excellent articles, but this one particularly struck a chord as my grandfather was a thatcher. I remember being in his dusty shed, playing with the very ladders and tools you showed! It’s also very encouraging to see such an emphasis on apprenticeships and true training – the old skills aren’t just a nice bit of history, they’re essential for so many things and I fear that every year we lose so much knowledge before it has been passed on to future generations as the young people are driven to university, bypassing fulfilling crafts and trades.
Anne Ryman
Chalke Valley
Villagers are raising funds so that their 300 year old faceless clock can ring out again to welcome the new King. Roger Guttridge reports.
Silence may be golden but not at Yetminster, where the historic faceless clock on St Andrew’s Church tower no longer chimes.
The clock dates from the mid-17th century but is particularly prized for its late Victorian addition – a carillon that plays the National Anthem every three hours. This rare and possibly unique feature was added by benefactors in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.
In about 1670, Thomas Bartholomew set up in business in Sherborne as a clockmaker, whitesmith* and blacksmith. The first records of the family appear in the Sherborne church records in 1674 with the baptism of Thomas, son of Thomas and Anne. The couple had a large family of 19 children. The Bartholomews continued as clockmakers in Sherborne for three or four generations; the last, Josiah, dying in 1792.
One of the first turret clocks that Thomas Bartholomew made was for Yetminster church. His name is on a small brass plate attached to the clock with the names of the churchwardens who commissioned it. Thomas Bartholomew used the frame of a much earlier clock, from around 1600.
A silenced chime
It worked well until last year, when wear and time forced its silence.
Now the village has launched a crowd-funding appeal to raise enough money to restore the clock and carillon to full working in order in time for the coronation of King Charles III next spring.
The work, to be carried out by clockmakers Smith of Derby, will include replacement of worn parts and an improved winding system.
The total cost is expected to exceed £25,400 plus VAT.
Churchwarden Clare Lindsay says: ‘The tower clock is a much-loved and familiar part of our lives and the sound of the bells ringing out over our houses and the fields beyond has been greatly missed over the last year.
‘We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the whole village, with their families and friends, to get the clock striking again and chiming out for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.’
The clock enjoyed a brief break from its silence earlier this year when the National Anthem was played manually for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
More than 80 per cent of the restoration cost has already been promised by various charitable trusts and other organisations but that still leaves £5,000 for the village to raise.
By mid-October they had already raised more than £3,000 of this and are hoping to collect the rest in time for repairs to start at the end of November.
To donate, visit the project’s Just Giving page here or you can email either treasurer@yetminsterpcc@gmail.com
or contact churchwardens Clare Lindsay and Geoff Goater on [email protected].
*A whitesmith is a metalworker who does finishing work on iron and steel such as filing, lathing, burnishing or polishing; it may also refer to a person who works with “white” or light-coloured metal or it can be a synonym for tinsmith.
With Halloween over, Thorngrove are keen to work their magic with a little distraction and fun for the whole community, says Kelsi-Dean Buck
And there we have it – October is in the rear view mirror and the festive season is officially here! Our Christmas plans for Thorngrove are coming to fruition and 2022 is set to be our biggest one ever.
We appreciate the world has been a little upside down, and many hard-working people have experienced difficult times recently. The thought of Christmas might even be a stressful one to some. But we’re seeing it as an opportunity to remind everyone of what’s important at this time of year – making memories, and spending time with those most important to us. Our role in the community goes far beyond selling garden plants and essentials; we want to be a place everyone can rely on for a distraction, and as a destination for making those memories!
Let us distract you
Regular visitors to Thorngrove and followers of our story will be aware that 2022 has seen us get ourselves back on the map as a location for events. The hanging basket workshops have been a staple of our calendar and we’re aiming to broaden the appeal, perhaps introduce new people to gardening, and to become a place for young people to get creative too.
It’s been going really well with our craft events for children. We’ve hosted them at Easter, over the summer, and most recently for Halloween. They have given children an opportunity to visit Thorngrove, and create something brilliant to take home with them. We’ve had pot decorating (and planting!), decoration making, and sessions for making jam jar lanterns.
It’s a simple approach, but one we’ve had amazing feedback on. We keep the events affordable too, determined to be accessible to as many people in the community as possible.
Looking ahead, these craft sessions will definitely continue, along with more new events that allow us to continue being that place for a distraction, and a relaxing meeting spot for family and friends.
Our upcoming feature event is of course our Santa’s Grotto. Tickets for this are available now (just go to our website for more info). We’re also delighted to be hosting Angel Exit Theatre from 10th November – they’re offering drama workshops, right here at Thorngrove. All leading to a Christmas show!
With a new menu in the café, and all the Christmas essentials arriving now, let us be your one stop shop for festivities this year. Hope to see you soon!
October was a washout for stargazing, but astrophotographer Rob Nolan captured the eclipse – and is looking forward to some crisp clear nights
Of course, it was predictably cloudy during the partial eclipse on the 25th October. However, perseverance and a bit of luck with a break in the clouds meant that I was able to get a decent image of the event!
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, thereby obscuring the earth’s view of the sun, either totally or partially. Such an alignment always coincides with a new moon, as the moon is closest to the plane of the earth’s orbit. In a total eclipse, the disk of the sun is fully obscured by the moon. In partial and annular eclipses as we saw in October, only part of the sun is obscured, around 15 per cent during this partial eclipse.
If the moon were in a perfectly circular orbit and in the same orbital plane as Earth, there would be total solar eclipses every new moon. Instead, because the moon’s orbit is tilted at about 5 degrees to the earth’s orbit, its shadow usually misses Earth. Solar (and lunar) eclipses happen only during eclipse seasons, resulting in at least two, and up to five, solar eclipses each year, no more than two of which can be total. Total eclipses are more rare because they require a more precise alignment between the centres of the sun and the moon, and because the moon’s apparent size in the sky can be too small to fully cover the Sun.
The next partial solar eclipse will be visible from the UK in March 2025, with a total eclipse not forecast over UK mainland until 2090! Yes, 2090! So if you want to see a total eclipse in person sooner, you’ll need to travel to a different continent to catch one!
This month’s image
The image opposite was taken in a single shot using my standard DSLR camera equipment and 400mm telephoto lens. I used a strong 10-stop Neutral Density filter to allow me to sufficiently darken the sun to be able to see details including 2 sun spots. Usually a dedicated solar filter would be used, but because of the clouds, I was able to use this filter instead. NEVER look at the sun under any conditions without the appropriate solar glasses or filters for your photographic equipment!
October was a pretty grim month for stargazing; we seemed to have a lot of very cloudy nights which meant we didn’t get to see much, including the meteor showers! Hopefully as it gets colder we’ll see some crisp and clear nights this month. Heading out on a clear night in November will provide stunning views of our very own Milky Way as it looms overhead. Spend some time looking at the structure and you’ll see that it is spangled with glowing diadems. Grab those binocular or a small telescope and those blurry jewels will reveal themselves as distant star clusters.
Constellations to look out for this month include Perseus, the legendary hero who slew Medusa. Look out for the stars in this cluster including Mirfak, and Algol, the demon star, which represents the eye of Medusa. Also look out for the double cluster within Perseus, h and chi Persei, which borders with Cassiopeia.
One of the best planets in our solar system to look out for in November is Uranus. On very dark nights, you stand a good chance of spotting the planet with the unaided eye looking towards southern skies. Uranus is four times the size of the earth, and is unique because it orbits the sun on its side – most likely due to a collision when it was in its infancy.
On the 5th of November, Uranus will be opposite the sun in our skies and at its closest to the earth, so it’s a good time to try and spot it.
Look low towards the south western skies on the evening of the 7th to see the narrowest crescent Moon with brilliant Venus visible to the left.
On the 10th and 11th, the moon will dance with Jupiter and Saturn, passing below the two planets.
The Leonid meteor shower will peak on the night of the 17th/18th, however due to a nearly full Moon, the display this year will likely be washed out by the moon’s brilliance.
See the moon set below the backdrop of the Pleiades on the 19th, above the bright stars Aldebaran and the Hyades.
Find RPN Photography on Facebook here
Filleting since he was 14 – meet the fourth generation fishmonger with no better fish to fry when it comes to his life choices. By Tracie Beardsley
Ask the way to Bell’s Fisheries in Wimborne and you’ll probably get a blank look. Ask for John the Fish and people know exactly who you’re looking for.
In his bright blue salopettes teamed with a funky floral shirt and loud tie on the day we met, this great character of a man has made selling fish into an art form – so much so his nickname embodies his craft.
If you should be asking for John the Fish, you’ll actually find yourself directed to a car park! A huge lorry container, surrounded by a white picket fence, has been converted into John Bell’s unique fishmonger’s stall. The fish is displayed with flair – you’ll find scallops, hake, haddock and cod amongst a cheery coral reef scene among the delicious smells of smoked fish.
And expect a performance. As your fish is expertly filleted, John the Fish will tell you its provenance, share easy-to-follow recipes and advise on accompanying wine.
And once he knows your name he never forgets it.
Wet, dried and fried
The sign proclaims ‘Bell’s Fresh Fish, Established 1892’. John is a fourth generation fishmonger in a family that’s always been full of entrepreneurial spirit.
In 1892, John’s great grandmother Eliza imported from France some of the first oil-fired ranges – and so began the Bell’s fish business. In rapid time, the family owned five shops in York. John’s grandfather Alfred became a partner in the business at the age of 18.
John explains: ‘The shops were known as wet, dried and fried. There’d be wet fish sales in the morning, fish and chips sold at lunchtime and then smoked fish in the afternoon. In the evenings, it was time to fry again. Phenomenally hard work!’
The two world wars changed everything. In the first, Alfred fought in Flanders and returned badly wounded. He traded through the 1920s, but an accountant “crooked as a barrel of fish hooks,” fiddled the whole family out of its businesses.
Never work-shy, Alfred moved to London and toiled on the roads until a settlement from the financial fiasco saw him returning to fishmongering, establishing a new business in Fulham with the princely sum of £3,000.
It was here that John’s father Ernest (born 1922), began learning the family trade. The Second World War saw Ernest conscripted and Alfred’s shops bombed.
Surviving the war, Ernest worked for the biggest chain of fishmongers at the time MacFisheries. After 20 years, he fulfilled his dream and opened a shop in the place he had holidayed on the south coast. An only child, John worked for his father after school and on Saturdays. ‘He taught me old-world skills from centuries ago. He passed them on to me and I’ve passed them on to my son Joe, whose latest business venture is building a smoker.’
From the waist up
At 16, John the Fish began his formal apprenticeship, getting the best training in stock control, how to treat customers and knife skills: ‘Quality first … then speed comes naturally,’ says John.
‘My dad made retailing fish fun. He taught me to know the product, to like it and to know how to prepare it and cook it.’
John’s natty attire is also down to his dad’s timely advice. ‘Fishmongering is a messy trade from the waist down. Dad believed it was important to look presentable from the top up. He was a stickler for smart hair and a clean-shaven appearance.’
John the Fish has been trading in Wimborne for nearly 30 years and he still sees customers he started serving as an apprentice. ‘One lady used to come to me when I was 15 and she still buys fish from me to this day.’
common, as they are for the Saturday pop-up cafés run by his wife Sally. People sit on converted whisky barrels behind the picket fence and enjoy the dish of the day with a glass of wine or beer. There’s no menu and no booking. It’s first come, fish served!
The lights in the lorry container flicker into life at 4am, five days a week, as John, along with his team Mike and Sarah, start curing, hot smoking and cold smoking fish in preparation for the day. There’s always time for a workers’ breakfast of fish too. ‘I eat fish every day,’ says John.
‘Sustainability and seasonality is key to this trade. I don’t buy frozen fish, processed fish or imported fish. I want to fillet it myself. I use Poole fishermen for our shellfish and have agents in Cornish and Devon ports such as Newlyn and Brixham for prime fish. Why do I need red snapper from a different hemisphere when we’ve still got the best fishing grounds in the world?
‘I’m driven by the love of what I sell. And my love of people. Talk about full circle. My father worked for me for ten years before he died. In fact, he was working right up until the day before he died. Now that’s a lifelong passion for what you do!’
Quick fire questions:
If you could cook one fish on your desert island?
Lemon sole – dust it in flour and seasoning, stick it in a frying pan for a couple of minutes, or under the grill, and you’re done. Fish is the best fast food in the world.
A-list dinner party guests?
My dad would be first on the list. History-makers Winston Churchill, Montgomery and Kennedy. And I’d serve lemon sole!
Bell’s opening hours:
Tues-Wed: 8.30-12
Thurs-Fri: 10-12
Sat: 10-11.30
Find it in the car park at the back of No.1 High Street in Wimborne.
Bell’s Famous Fisheries
In September Dorset teen Ruby White travelled to Italy to compete in the EUBC Junior Boxing Championships – and won gold. Laura Hitchcock reports
Ruby White, the 15 year-old Stalbridge teenager who stands just five-foot-tall, travelled as part of the England squad to Italy in September for a week-long knockout tournament, and had four bouts in her Under 48kgs category.
‘I think people underestimate me, because of my size. They don’t notice my power and my strength,’ she says.
She won two of the bouts by stoppage; the quarter and semi-finals were won on points. ‘I knew the semi would be the hardest opponent. I wasn’t worried about beating her, but I knew she was the biggest challenge – she was strong, a good boxer. The others were … easier?’
Ruby may have felt the semi was a tougher bout, but England Boxing’s Matt Halfpenny reported on the final: ‘Ruby arguably produced her best performance of the championships in the final with an outstanding showing against Azerbaijan’s Narmin Alizada. The Sturminster Newton club boxer was quick out of the blocks, forcing two standing eight counts in the first round and a further count in the second before the ref stopped the contest to give the Three Lions their first gold.’
BV readers may well remember Ruby, who was spotted as a seven year-old by her coach Shaun Weeks at his Sturminster Newton boxing gym. When she was 12 she participated in the biggest female amateur championship in Europe, and won the ‘Best Prospect’ award (The BV, May 21).
Later last year she was selected at the England Boxing National Schools Championships as ‘Female Boxer of the Tournament’ – from all classes – by the England Talent coaches (The BV, Oct 21), and invited to join the GB Pathways squad.
Corruption in the sport
Ruby’s dream since she first picked up a pair of boxing gloves was to win Gold at the Olympics in 2028. But amateur boxing has recently suffered a major blow with the announcement the sport will not be included in the programme for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
A 2021 independent investigation into the 2016 tournament in Rio de Janiero confirmed more than ten suspicious matches were likely corrupted as part of a “bout manipulation” scheme in place at the event. The report details how “compliant and complicit” referees and judges, acting under a “culture of fear, intimidation and obedience” created by the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), corrupted the boxing tournament.
An Olympic medal is the most coveted prize for any amateur boxer and has been the starting point for many of the big names in the professional ranks. Now a number of Olympic boxing teams – including Team GB – have taken to social media to start a campaign to ensure boxing is included in the programme for the 2028 games.
‘I always dreamed of being in the Olympics,’ says Ruby ‘I was so upset when I heard. My dream is maybe gone. Now the aim is that when I age into the Youth category I can go to World Championships. Hopefully I’ll still be in the England squad when I go into Seniors in 2026, and I can then box in the Commonwealth Games. With no Olympics, if I can get a Commonwealth title, or win a World title, then that still gets me off to a good start when I turn professional. I don’t want to go pro too early, you really need to win something big to start your career.
‘But I have a feeling that boxing may be brought back – the 2028 Olympics are in Los Angeles, and boxing is massive in America. Imagine having the Olympics in a country where it is one of the biggest national sports and not actually having any boxing in it?’
Teen spirit
How does life as a normal teenager fit around such a dedication to her sport?
‘When I’m in training camps, like the eight weeks I did in Sheffield every weekend in the lead up to the European Championships, I can’t do anything else.’ Ruby said ‘But when I’m not at camp, I work Saturdays and Sundays, and I cover odd shifts during the week too. And of course I get to see my mates. I’m going out tonight! I’m in Year 11, it’s the year we all go to parties!
‘But yes – if I have a bout coming up obviously I’m sensible.
‘My friends are so proud of me, so supportive. They all watch my bouts, and I never get any stick from anyone at school.’
Ruby acknowledges the impact on her family, and on Shaun, too:
‘It’s not just the time taken up in driving me around. The finance side is tough. I don’t have a sponsor. We’ve set up a GoFundMe page, which I’m really grateful to people for donating through, it really helps. But when I have to travel to Sheffield for the GB training camps it’s £180 each trip just for the fuel. If it’s just a one-day training session there’s no accommodation provided, and it’s a five hour journey each way. And then obviously there’s travelling for bouts etc. We have to find that, plus any equipment I need. I do worry about it.’
A new future
With the massive rise in awareness around women’s sport in 2022, does Ruby think the women’s football team has helped the women’s boxing audience?
‘Yes. Definitely. The England team has such a big support system. They’re all over every social media. And I loved that meme this summer:
“Men: Football’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming, football’s coming home…
“Women, 60 years later: … For goodness’ sake, I’ll get it myself.”
‘I loved that! But the knock-on effect is that women’s sport is finally becoming mainstream. It’s not just football, it’s rugby, cricket … and in boxing. Sky Sports’ main Saturday Night Fight in October was an all-women show for the first time. And the O2 was packed! That just wouldn’t have happened even a few years ago.’
Coach Shaun agrees ‘Without a doubt Ruby’s prospects are very different from those she would have had even five or six years ago at the same stage.’
So what’s next?
‘I have a bout in November against a boxer from Switzerland. Then on the first weekend in December I’m in another international tournament, the England Boxing Women’s Winter Box Cup in Manchester.’
If you feel you can help with sponsorship of Ruby or SturminsterABC let us know and we’ll put you in touch.
Ruby’s titles:
2 x MTK Lonsdale Box Cup
National Cadet Champion
Bristol Box Cup Champion
Riviera Box Cup Champion
3 x MTK Lonsdale Box Cup Champion
3 x Western Counties Junior Champion
3 x National Junior Champion
2 x Golden Girls (Sweden) Box Cup Champion
GB Three Nations Junior Champion
European Junior Champion
40 hours a week (Monday to Friday)
Milton Abbey School seeks an experienced and competent Health, Safety & Projects Manager to work within our busy Operations Team. This will be an all year round, varied role within the School Operations Team, this is an exciting opportunity to be part of a forward thinking, supportive team working on a historic site, set in the heart of the beautiful Dorset Countryside.
The successful candidate must hold a relevant H & S qualification, have suitable experience within the H & S field, with a reasonable knowledge level of project management.
You will be part of a friendly and supportive team, and training will be available to enhance skills. Staff also benefit from free parking, free daily lunch and annual leave.
Further details may be obtained from our website or from HR on 01258 882182 or email [email protected]. Applications must be submitted on the school’s application form, download here – https://bit.ly/MiltAVacsBV
The closing date for applications is Thursday 17th November 2022.
Milton Abbey School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The appointment will be the subject of an enhanced disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service. Additionally, please be aware that Milton Abbey School will conduct online searches of shortlisted candidates. This check will be part of a safeguarding check, and the search will purely be based on whether an individual is suitable to work with children. To avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination a person who will not on the appointment panel will conduct the search and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.
Please note that our school is a no smoking site.
www.miltonabbey.co.uk Registered Charity No 306318
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