Local chief instructor Mouse Berry looks back on busy months of Pony Club activities as the season grows colder
Safia Woodward, Molly Pullin and Camilla Cripps, the novice area dressage team
The lighter evenings and better weather in May allow the Pony Club to begin its season of outdoor rallies. The Pony Club is based around three age groups: Minis are three to nine year olds, Juniors are aged nine to 12 and Seniors are 12 to 25 year olds. Each age group has rallies and events on every aspect of equestrianism that their local Pony Club can provide. We have a fabulous team of experienced local coaches. We concentrate on the three main disciplines of dressage, show jumping and eventing, but a variety of others including driving, mounted games, handy pony and care rallies are all included. There are also achievement badges to be worked for on numerous subjects. These are aimed at all levels, and work in conjunction with the test system (see the BV article on the Pony Club Efficiency Tests from the Oct 21 issue), gradually educating members in care and riding skills. The top tests are the AH Care and the A ridden, highly respected achievements, recognised throughout the equine industry.
PC members enjoying a trip
The Pony Club instructors also arrange fun rides and social events. The most exciting week for us is Pony Club Camp – a wonderful opportunity for young riders to spend several days with their ponies, learning new skills, making friends, of course, and having lots of fun. The annual summer show is another event which is always popular, and offers classes for all ages and disciplines. The summer is great! But autumn has arrived – it’s back to school, and now the winter programme gets under way.
If you’d like to find out more about Pony Club activities, and to find your local club, then take a look at pcuk.org.
On Tuesday 13th September, Leweston Prep celebrated Roald Dahl Day; commemorating the author and his achievements. Each year group celebrated Dahl in their own way. Reception made ‘Mr Twit’ beards complete with straw for the beard, cornflakes, crushed Shredded Wheat, feathers and cut out sardines, inspired from Mrs Cheyne’s favourite Roald Dahl book, ‘The Twits’. Prep One were introduced to the story of ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’. The pupils listened to the beginning of the story and spoke about the events. They then explored the classroom and came across some strange-looking ingredients and came up with their own recipe.
Prep Two got creative in the kitchen, making their own ‘Bruce Bogtrotter’ chocolate cake, from ‘Matilda’. Prep Three had a special lesson focusing on ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’. The pupils were challenged to create their own ‘marvellous medicine’. They dreamt up some extremely imaginative ingredients, wrote careful instructions on how to make their potion and gave it a name. Prep Four celebrated by illustrating drinks cartons in the style of Quentin Blake and adding our own Dahl-ian made up words! Prep Five started the day by heading to the library and went on a book hunt for all of Roald Dahls books. Then in the afternoon the pupils focused on the illustrator of the Roald Dahl books ‘Quentin Blake’ and identified his style of drawing . They then created self-portraits in the same style. Prep Six shared information they had researched about the author, and used this to create a fact file. There were some fantastic facts and some wonderfully presented fact files!
John Stanley and Deanne Tremlett give Edwina Baines a tour of the enormous range of creative options available for the whole community at The Gugg in Stalbridge
An eclectic range awaits you in the As The Crow Flies shop at The Gugg All images: Edwina Baines
Gone are the days when the cows were driven up Station Road twice a day to be milked. The yard and outbuildings of the 16th century farm have for more than 25 years been the home of Guggleton Farm Arts – or The Gugg as it is now affectionately called. The farmyard offers an eclectic range of studios, galleries and shops, as well as the Dutch Barn Sculpture Yard and a large space available for outdoor events.
A sign at the entrance proudly announces a Community Interest Company, where anyone can join for art, crafts, textiles, ceramics, printmaking, music, sculpture, film… and tea!’ A little refreshments cabin, crammed with cosy sofas, is tucked into the corner of the Dutch barn. It was here that I enjoyed a cup of coffee with treasurer and director John Stanley and curator and artistic director Deanne Tremlett. Guggleton Farm Arts was founded by owner, artist Isabel de Pelet, a renowned champion of visual and performing arts and supporter of local artists, as an inspirational environment for artistic exploration.
The sign at the entrance to Guggleton Farm Arts
It welcomes local people to get involved in creativity of all kinds at all levels. Exhibitions by established artists inspire visitors and resident and participating artists to develop their aspirations.
A continuing theme At the beginning of 2019 Isabel stepped back from day-to-day involvement. It was a serendipitous search for a new studio that led accomplished painter Deanne to Stalbridge. She has helped in the continuing development of Isabel’s vision ever since, as it is one which entirely mirrors her own. She says: “At the heart of all our work is the belief that any creative pursuit, no matter what form and independent of its outcome, promotes wellbeing, nurtures the mind and provokes discussion and engagement. We are a place for all ages and experience, offering opportunities to become involved in a creative community, with all of the joy and growth that this creates. We’re not looking to be results-based – we’re looking for people to enjoy themselves through their creativity.”
John Stanley and Deanne Tremlett
The Shedders I visited on a Tuesday, the day the Men’s Shed was in operation. This is one of 576 sheds in the UK which belong to the Men’s Shed Association. Whatever the activity, the essence of a Shed is not a building, but the connections and relationships between its members. These are community spaces for men to pursue practical interests at leisure, to practise skills and enjoy making and mending. David Stubbings, the Shed co-ordinator, was notionally in charge at The Gugg – but I gathered the activities were a collaboration between the other Shedders, as they are called. The space was filled with woodworking and metalworking tools, most of which have been donated or are owned by David. The activities are similar to those that the Shedders might undertake in their own garden sheds, but with the company and encouragement of others, helping to reduce the common loneliness and isolation. Most importantly, they’re fun, as I saw from the laughter and camaraderie from busy ‘workers.’
Oil Painting from Observation with tutor Carolyn Finch Corlett
some bargains. In the Milking Parlour Gallery there was an exhibition of new paintings by Matthew Hayward. John explained that artists are invited to exhibit and the calendar is booked a year ahead. Outside the gallery, tucked into a corner, there is a cupboard full of free craft materials for children, who can go to the Dutch Barn with their parents, to make things, during the holidays. John showed me the Pottery Shed, recently equipped with a shiny new kiln, where classes will soon be held. Thanks to a grant from Dorset’s Culture and Community Fund, all children within the catchment area can enjoy two free pottery lessons.
Some of the Shedders at work
Tutor Carolyn Finch Corlett was teaching her weekly Oil Painting from Observation class in the workshop/art room that she describes as ‘an inspiring space.’ In a nearby studio, Jo Winter was using her jigsaw to create some new designs which she will use in forthcoming classes. She is a mosaic artist who works mainly in 3D. She showed me photographs of quirky dog sculptures that she sold in Brighton. They started life as a wire armature covered in concrete and then were layered with ceramic or lustreware mosaic. Her sculpture Fox Trotsky has pride of place at the door of the craft gallery. She felt a two-dimensional approach was more appropriate to introduce mosaics in the classroom.
As The Crow Flies
As the crow flies The craft gallery houses one-off items created by local makers and artists living within a 20 mile radius – hence the shop’s name As the Crow Flies. Deanne’s mother, Mary Tremlett, says she enjoys her one day a week volunteering at the shop. I could have spent hours browsing the wonderful items in stock, including macramé wall hangings and items created by Laura Jackson, who runs classes in air dry clay and découpage as well as macramé. The wonderful stock includes macramé wall hangings and other items made by Laura Jackson, who discovered that macramé was excellent therapy after difficulty with movement and numbness in her fingers following a stroke four years ago. Laura, who runs classes in air dry clay and decoupage as well as macramé, says her first attempt at a pot-hanger was a disaster, but she has learned much from her initial mistakes. Deanne persuaded her to run classes, giving her confidence a further boost. She enjoys sharing the craft with other enthusiasts and everyone leaves the sessions with a piece of macramé, a satisfying outcome.
Jo Winter in her workshop
Community gathering The Dutch Barn hosts a variety of community events and coffee mornings to help combat isolation, as well as musical soirées of all sorts. Thursday is Open Mic night, the aim being to help up-and-coming musicians on their road to success. The audience can bring their own drinks or picnics as the venue is not licensed – but popular stone baked sourdough pizzas are available. There is too much going on at The Gugg to describe all the activities; I left the venue impressed by Deanne’s enthusiasm to create a space where everyone is welcome – even if just as a safe haven to come and sit. She feels that everyone can benefit from some form of creativity – it has been lost from so many lives. She believes in living a more sustainable life and in having the confidence to make a mistake, in finding your own path and your own happiness. Who could argue with that? guggletonfarmarts.com
As the first episode of the month, it’s the front section this week – Ed’s letter, the lead feature stories and the Random 19:
In her letter from the editor, Laura is wondering where all the grown ups went (and she apologises for galloping through slightly – this was her fifth attempt at getting through the paragraph about Pog without needing to stop and gulp a little)
NHS Dorset is investing in technology to improve care for the population – sometimes unpopular, it has become necessary in order to cope with demand.
If you think your traditional turkey is a dry, under-flavoured, over-rated bird, then you might want to change where you buy it. We spoke to some local turkey farmers for an inside look at the industry, and their top turkey tips.
Letters to the Editor – listen to what others think (our postbag is always open – send emails to [email protected] )
Edward Hoare is a philanthropist and environmentalist – born at Stourhead, he is a direct descendant of Sir Richard Hoare, who founded Hoare’s Bank in 1672. As a bonus for podcast listeners, you can listen to Edward’s interview and hear his answers for yourself, rather than the edited version that appears in the magazine.
The BV magazine is the monthly digital magazine from Dorset – you can read the entire latest issue here, and why not subscribe (it’s FREE!) so that it drops into your inbox every month on publication day? Just click here!
Cyber resilience centres (CRC)are a national policing network – essentially they are crime prevention businesses for our digital age. They are led by serving police officers and staff, and thanks to Home Office funding they are able to provide a swathe of free guidance and support to businesses, charities and the public sector. A core part of their work is helping small businesses learn online skills and cyber basics. They can provide a health check on your IT system security through to assisting on how to recover from a cyber attack – which happens more often than most would think. Two in five businesses spotted an attempted cyber breach last year; their offer is an essential one for most small businesses. Each cyber resilience centre has enjoys building strong business partnerships, and they are keen to do whatever they can to work more widely with the business community. The CRC’s want to work with as many small businesses and charities as they can, in order to make the entire local community safer (potentially when a local business is under cyber attack, the data they hold is also threatened, and in small local businesses that data is the local community). They are also keen to speak with bigger companies who might be able to provide support in turn. You can find contact details for Dorset’s CRC at swcrc.co.uk. They’ll be very happy to talk with you and to explore the potential for mutual support.
The current cost of energy may well prove the turning point in the country’s proactive adoption of renewables, says Andrew Livingston
Despite the government’s plans to cap the cost of electricity for homes and businesses, the start of October once again saw the cost of lighting and heating increase. The government’s intervention will have saved many farms around the country that typically survive on small profits. Nevertheless, the still-high costs remain crippling for so many small businesses. I have heard of one large broiler farm spending tens of thousands of pounds on electricity for a crop, deciding to run their farm on a (much cheaper) red diesel generator. Other farmers and landowners are being driven into green renewable energy solutions as they look to take their businesses off the national grid. Farmers won’t just be cutting the power cables onto their farms figuratively; long term, investing in greener energy will actually save thousands of pounds.
Burn it or blow it The most popular green option is biomass, where organic material is burned in a boiler to produce high-pressure steam. This in turn rotates turbine blades to power a generator and produce electricity. The process releases some carbon dioxide, but nowhere near the amount released by conventional fossil fuels. Biomass is unsurprisingly popular on farms – they have surplus amounts of organic matter that are a by-product of their land and animals. Even manure can be used, but it has to go through a lengthy period of moisture removal before it can be burned. Another popular option, especially in hilly Dorset, is wind turbines – a truly green source, with the only side-effect being the noise of the turning turbines. On our farm at the top of Beaminster Downs, wind is our constant companion; we are currently considering installing one ourselves, although the local townsfolk may have some frustrations at what they would probably call an eyesore. Of course, on the five days a year it’s not blowing a hurricane we are treated to some sunshine. The shed roofs such as our hen house, are the perfect location for solar panels. In the southwest, solar panels are the main source of renewable energy, with Butleigh Solar Park being one of the main contributors. Companies installing freestanding solar panels insist that sheep can easily graze underneath them and that enough sunlight reaches the grass to grow for them to eat. Near the village where I grew up, there were plans for a large solar farm on the site of the old World Service radio transmitters. However, the plans were quashed in Rampisham – when work on the infrastructure had already started – because an ecological survey discovered extremely rare grass …
Carbon targets Looking at the long-term picture, a year or so of astronomical electricity prices might turn out to be the very best thing for our carbon footprint. If it takes the risk of bankruptcy to get farmers to turn green, then I say, so be it. Rumours are circulating that the government is planning to renege on its targets to reach net zero by 2050. Shame on Liz Truss and her government if they pull out. The NFU needs to stand strong and set an example by committing to net zero and committing to protecting the future of our country.
Wild Light – A printmaker’s day and night by Angela Harding (£25)
With more than 70 original illustrations, printmaker Angela Harding invites you to look at how the light changes the world around us, and how that, in its turn, changes us. ‘I, like many other people, find great inspiration in the way mornings, evenings or bright midday light changes the way we see the things around us. The bouncing light of a cloud-filled storm sky can change a seascape through a palette of blues, greys, and turquoises. The cool summer moonlight that crosses my back garden sends long shadows that change the mood of the garden from homely to unfamiliar. And whether it’s the low light of an English February afternoon or the sharp, bright mid-morning light of the Cornish seaside, the light and dark we experience affects our moods. ‘But life is busy, and I am as guilty as anyone of being too preoccupied by daily life to just stop and look. This book is a collection of illustrations from those moments when I have stopped and looked; when a particular encounter with nature has been highlighted, becoming a strong image long remembered and one that I wish to illustrate. ‘I hope you enjoy this journey through 24 hours of my collected memories of the nature that surrounds me.’ Angela Harding is a fine art painter and illustrator based in Wing, Rutland. She is inspired by British birds, nature and countryside. Angela is also the book illustrator featured in Raynor Winns’s books, Salt Path, Wild Silence and Landlines.
Join Wayne and the team at Winstone’s for a Talk and signing with Angela Harding on 8th November in The Butterfly Room at Castle Gardens, Sherborne, at 6.30 for 7pm. Tickets, £5, available from Winstone’s Sherborne or online here
In The Seed Detective, Adam Alexander shares his tales of seed hunting and the stories behind many of our everyday vegetables. We learn that the common garden pea was domesticated from three wild species more than 8,500 years ago; that Egyptian priests considered it a crime to even look at a fava bean, that the first carrots originated in Afghanistan (and were purple or red in colour) and that the Romans were fanatical about asparagus.
Taking us on a journey that began when we left the life of the hunter-gatherer to become farmers, Adam tells tales of globalisation, political intrigue, colonisation and serendipity. Exploring the world’s rare and endangered heritage and heirloom vegetables, Adam explains the importance of continuing to grow these varieties and saving their seeds, not only for gardening and culinary pleasure, so that their stories can be passed on to future generations.
Join Adam for a talk and book signing in The Butterfly Room at Castle Gardens. Doors open at 6:30pm and free refreshments will be provided. FREE event – please register online here
The Open Garden at Hatch House has this year raised in excess of £20,000 for Salisbury Hospice. The annual event, held on Saturday the 10th of September this year, is always hosted by Sir Henry and Lady Rumbold and organised by the Tisbury Fundraising Committee. The event is beloved for its vintage and pre-loved designer clothes, shoes, hats and bags, but the varied stalls also include antiques and collectables, raffle, cakes, organic produce, local honey, plants, ethical gifts and homewares, jumble and books. Refreshments were provided by a team of wonderful volunteers and a barbecue by Compton McRae. The glorious weather ensured guests could make the most of the outdoors and were able to sit and enjoy the idyllic scenery that surrounds the house.
All leftover items from the stalls were donated to Alabaré, a local charity that supports the homeless. Salisbury Hospice Charity are keen to thank Sir Henry and Lady Rumbold for once again welcoming the event to the grounds of Hatch House. Notable thanks went to Lady Rumbold and her team of helpers for their many hours of organising the clothes for sale, the entire Tisbury committee for their hard work organising and running the event and all the Hospice volunteers who helped the event run so smoothly. Salisbury Hospice say the money will fund vital hospice services, ensuring the service remains free to patients and their families.
Tamsin Murley, Community fundraiser for Salisbury Hospice Charity said: ‘I am delighted to announce the huge fundraising total for this event, and express our huge gratitude to the Tisbury Committee and all extended volunteers. The continued support shown by Sir Henry & Lady Rumbold is phenomenal and they are without doubt the heart and soul of this event. We look forward to seeing you all again next year!’
As the challenges keep on coming, the NFU continues to represent UK farmers to policy makers, says county advisor Gemma Harvey
Sunrise across farmland fields near Stalbridge
As has been described in this column over the past year, UK farming is experiencing some significant challenges; the prolonged dry weather over the summer, the changing policy environment and the ever-increasing costs of inputs from seed and fertiliser through to labour and machinery, and, last but not least, energy. We are all well aware of the rising energy costs and this is being felt significantly on-farm. The NFU has been hearing some shocking figures in terms of price increases from members. The challenge of food security is ever increasing, particularly against the backdrop of the Ukraine invasion and its ramifications across the globe. It is vital that UK farmers are able to continue to produce high welfare, high standard food for the nation, while at the same time protecting and enhancing the wonderful British countryside that we all love and enjoy. This is key and the NFU absolutely believes that food production and the environment go hand in hand – and our domestic agricultural policy must allow this to take place. The Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) is the Government’s replacement offering for farmers following the removal of direct subsidy in the form of the Basic Payment Scheme. The NFU has always maintained that it is vital that any scheme is fit for purpose, delivering for both food production and the environment, allowing our fantastic British farmers to farm profitably and productively as well as protecting and enhancing the natural environment.
Farming voices heard Over recent weeks, reflecting the changes in the Government and with the appointment of a new DEFRA Secretary of State in Ranil Jayawardena, there has been conversation about the progress of the roll out of the new ELM scheme. The NFU has once again repeated the message of the need for a scheme that is fit for purpose, delivering for both the environment and food production. The NFU continues to represent its members at all levels. With party conference season in full swing, we have already had a key presence at the Labour and Conservative party conferences. Our President, Minette Batters, is meeting key ministers to ensure that the farming voice is hears, reinforcing the messages regarding for the ELMS to be fit for purposes to allow farm businesses a level of certainty and confidence.
