Sherborne Bombings | Looking Back

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11 December 2020

It was North Dorset’s worst day of the Second World War, yet it was also a case of mistaken identity.

When 37 Heinkel He.111 bombers flew over Yeovil just before 4pm on September 30, 1940, their intended target was the Westland Aircraft factory and aerodrome.

But 90 per cent cloud cover at 20,000 feet obscured the Somerset town and Sherborne copped it instead.

Estimates of the number of bombs that fell on the Abbey town in three disastrous minutes vary wildly from 60 to 300.

But other statistics of the destruction are more certain.

Eighteen people died and 31 needed hospital treatment. The names of the dead are recorded alongside the war memorial in Half Moon Street.

The wreckage of Phillips and Son’s outfitting department and (far right) the part of the Half Moon Inn, which narrowly avoided destruction

More than 680 buildings were damaged and 86 destroyed, mostly houses or shops.

Foster’s Infants School in Newland took a direct hit but thankfully its pupils had left for the day 15 minutes earlier.

Amazingly, the Abbey and its historic precincts survived virtually unscathed as bombs rained all around.

The most detailed account of the events that autumn afternoon came from Edward J. Freeman, clerk to Sherborne UDC and the district air raid precautions controller.

It happened to be Mr Freeman’s birthday and he had taken a rare day off and was queuing for the cinema in Yeovil when he heard the ‘thud of bombs’ to the east and saw the pall of black smoke.

It could only be Sherborne and he drove straight back and picked his way through the debris to the council offices.

The raid had cut off all water, gas, electricity and telephone services and blocked the sewers and all roads out of Sherborne.

The telephone exchange took a direct hit and its supervisor, Miss Maud Steele, became a heroine after organising the relaying of urgent messages to the outside world by road.

For her dedication to duty, she became one of the first recipients of the new George Cross, known as the ‘civilians’ VC’.

Maude Steele’s commendation for the George Cross, as listed in the London Gazette supplement on FRIDAY, 3 JANUARY, 1941, Issue 35030, p.47.

There were several strange incidents.

In The Avenue, a Miss Billinger reputedly climbed from her bath into the open air after much of her house was blown away.

The cemetery also took a direct hit and a coffin, buried just a week earlier, was blown out of the ground.

In Horescastles, bombs landed on both sides of a terrace causing outhouses to implode away from the main buildings due to a bellows effect.

Foster’s Infants School in Newland took a direct hit

At a bakery next to the Picture Palace in Newland, a hoard of silver coins was thrown on to the cinema roof and retrieved by an ARP warden.

At least six bombs were delayed action and went off 12 hours after the raid.

Like most crises and disasters, the raid brought out the community spirit.

After learning that 10 council houses in Lenthay had been destroyed and most of the remaining 108 houses badly damaged, Mr Freeman sent his billeting officer to organise rehousing.

But by the time he arrived, all the homeless had already been offered alternative shelter by other townsfolk.

‘It was quite extraordinary what happened there, and it happened all over the town,’ Mr Freeman told my late colleague Rodney Legg in an interview for Dorset County Magazine in 1984.

‘If ever I have admired the people of Sherborne as a whole, it was after the raid.

‘I had told the schools they might have to put people up that night, but in the event it wasn’t necessary.’

Roger Guttridge

Room with a view: traditional shepherd’s hut is a real labour of love for craftsman David

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Editorial team

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10 December 2020

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Craftsman David Jevons barely stops for thought when he’s asked about his work.

“I absolutely love it,” says the 40-year-old father of two.

“It’s just so satisfying.

“Creating something from scratch and then seeing the reaction of my customers.

“I can’t imagine anything more rewarding.”

David’s business, The Dorset Hutmaker, centres around building traditional shepherd’s huts.

He’s been passionate about craftsmanship since his teens, studying design and then carpentry, but only launched out on his own four years ago.

David said: “I love shepherd’s huts; their design, their functionality, their history and their presence.

“Although I started The Dorset Hutmaker in 2016, I’ve spent years learning how to build them using the best of traditional and modern techniques.

“They are authentic shepherd’s huts, combining traditional building methods with modern design ideals and knowledge.”

The term ‘hut’ – while accurate – doesn’t really do David’s work justice.

In fact, they’re bespoke wooden works of art which can take anything from 12 weeks or more to build with an average cost of around £21,000.

The Dorset Shepherd’s Hut comes in a range of lengths – 12, 14, 16 and 18ft being the most common.

There are two different widths, the more traditional 6ft 6ins and wider 8ft 3ins.

Key features of a hut include:

Corrugated or timber cladding
Traditional steel rolling chassis with hand forged design features
Sustainable cladding
Single or double stable doors

Then it’s down to you on how to customise your space by selecting the bespoke fixtures, fittings, and finish to create your hut.

Available extras include bespoke lighting and electrical options, hand-made furniture and interiors and a fully installed wood-burner.

Reclaimed and British grown timber is used, where possible.

David Jevons, his wife Stephanie and son Brody with a shepherd’s hut from The Dorset Hutmaker.

David works with local artisans and one of the UK’s last remaining manufacturers of traditional ironmongery for the bespoke detailing.

Planning permission is not required for home use as long as the shepherd’s hut is on wheels and portable.

“Every hut is different for each customer and that’s what makes it so special,” said David who is married to Stephanie.

Stephanie has her own business, Floral Design by Stephanie Jevons, and the couple share the same workshop in Tarrant Launceston near Blandford.

They’ve been married nine years and have two sons, Brody, aged seven, and Ted, two.

So what sort of uses do David’s customers have for their shepherd’s huts?

For the home it could be a stylish guest bedroom, a dedicated home office, a creative writer’s space, an artist’s studio, a children’s playroom or just a peaceful retreat.

And, of course, if you ever decide to move, you just take the hut with you.

Businesses, from spas, hotels and salons to farms, pubs and glamping/campsites, can use the extra space for treatment rooms, an outdoor bar or perhaps a food trailer.

David said the first lockdown had been tough for his business.

However, since then, there had been lots of interest and various projects had come in to keep him busy.

The launch of a new range of bespoke furniture items on Etsy had also been successful.

He said: “The combination of the staycation and working from home has definitely had a positive effect on sales.

“With current restrictions on travel, it seems people are choosing to invest in their home and garden.

“It’s a very enjoyable, and satisfying, way of making a living.”

thedorsethutmaker.co.uk

By: Andrew Diprose Dorset Biz News

Milton Abbas | Then and Now

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Editorial team

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10 December 2020

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It’s regarded as one of Dorset’s most picturesque villages and a magnet to tourists, but it wasn’t always so.

In fact the tyrannical village squire who created it was public enemy number one among many of Milton Abbas’s 18th century inhabitants.

An artist’s impression of the medieval Milton Abbas

Soon after buying his Milton Abbas estate in 1752, Joseph Damer (later Lord Milton and late still the Earl of Dorchester) took the first steps in an ambitious scheme of demolition, development and landscaping designed to transform both the medieval village and the valley in which it stood.

The caustically tongued Sir Frederick Treves summarises the story rather well in his 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,’ wrote Treves.

‘With the fine, quarter-deck high-handedness of the 18th century squire, he ordered the offensive object to be removed, and it was so.

‘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.’

The thatched cottages today are white but a century ago the walls were yellow.

Treves noted that they were ‘mathematically placed’, 20 on one side, 20 on the other, with an identical space between each and a chestnut tree planted in each space.

‘It is impossible to be rid of the idea that this is a toy town, a make-believe village, a counterpart of the Hameau at Versailles,’ Treves observed.

The ‘new’ village was built between 1773 and 1779.

It involved 40 double houses, each for two families and with a small garden, to house the medieval town’s displaced inhabitants.

As the tenants’ leases expired or were bought up by Damer, the inhabitants were moved to their new homes and the old buildings demolished and their sites landscaped.

It was a major upheaval for families who had lived and worked in the valley for generations.

Some found the new cottages inadequate and sought homes elsewhere.

But Blandford lawyer called William Harrison stood his ground.

Blessed with the security of a three-generation lease and the legal nous to defend it, he flatly refused to budge.

One day Lord Milton, who intended to create an ornamental lake below the site of the old town, ordered the opening of the Abbot’s Pond sluice gates, flooding Harrison’s house.

Undeterred, the lawyer took his landlord to court and won.

Soon after, the squire apparently mistook the ringing of the Milton Abbey bells on Guy Fawkes Day as a celebration by villagers of his courtroom defeat.

As astonished parishioners looked on, he had the offending bells removed and carted away on wagons.

Harrison could not be so easily dislodged and sat tight until his death, at which point the park was finally completed.

Roger Guttridge

Their Favourite Books…

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Editorial team

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10 December 2020

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To finish off 2020 on a warm and happy note, we randomly selected some of our columnists and local community pillars for a book recommendation.
But we had some ground rules: we had no interest in an obvious shopping list of latest releases. We asked for a genuine personal recommendation, for them to share their personal favourite read during 2020, with a couple of lines* as to why they loved it.
I wasn’t looking for the cleverest or newest titles: this wasn’t about impressing anyone.
It could have been a brand new release, but I pointed out that they may simply have finally got around to reading Du Maurier’s Rebecca (*holds hand in air*), or had gratefully enfolded themselves in the comforting familiarity of a tenth time through their guilty pleasure fantasy series (*also me*).
Whatever it was, we asked them to share honestly. And the results are a beautiful and eclectic array of titles, many of which I was not familiar with.
And so I share them here, in their own words: if any take your fancy for yourself or as a gift, simply click the image. As many as possible will take you straight to Winstone’s so that you can support an indie bookseller at the same time.
*never ask a writer for their ‘favourite book with a couple of lines’. You’ll get at least two titles, plus a 300 word review…

The Old Ways, by Robert Macfarlane

A book I’ve really enjoying spending time with this year is ‘The Old Ways A Journey on Foot’, by Robert Macfarlane. Those who know me will already be aware of my love of the Dorset Holloway, and as a county we are blessed with ancient tracks and drove roads galore. Whether enjoying another ramble with Ernie the dog up to the Dorsetshire Gap, or seeking out new views across the vale from the escarpment above, this book captures the essence of the ancient paths across the country. Reading it has always inspired me to get out and explore even more; there’s always something new to discover.
Luke Rake
Principal and Chief Executive
Kingston Maurward College

Master & Commander, by Patrick O’Brian

The Aubrey/Maturin series, by Patrick O’Brian is the most consistently utterly charming historic novels ever written. They chart the relationship between a Royal Naval Captain and a freelance surgeon (and spy), against a brilliantly researched historical backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. This is the first book, but I’ve read the entire series twice, many volumes three or four times, and I know when I read them again, I’ll find new nuances throughout.
Andy Palmer

Five Rivers Met On A Wooded Plain, by Barney Norris

I’ve just finished this page turner. There is something so comforting about reading a book situated in a place which you’re familiar with. Salisbury has a starring role as the story weaves its way through five lives which converge on a fateful night. It should come with a warning that once you start to read it, you can’t put it down!
Fiona Oliver, co-director of Wiltshire Community Foundation, part of the national network of rural community foundations which give money and cash where it is most needed; this year WCF has launched a successful emergency Coronavirus Response Fund.

Bookends, by Jane Green

This is one of my favourites – an easy read and a comforting escape from the world for an hour or two. It is also a nice reminder of how rewarding it can be to follow your dreams.
Heather Brown,
Dorset Foodie Feed

I Heard the Owl Call My Name, by Margaret Craven

In 2018 we went on what was truly “the holiday of a lifetime”, in a tiny boat travelling the Inland Passage in British Columbia, in search of the Spirit Bear. Margaret Craven’s sad, poignant, funny, insightful and inspiring book, written in 1967, evokes the atmosphere, the landscape, the weather and the extraordinary lives of the First Nation tribes of the pacific seaboard. It’s a slim volume, but not at all a quick read, as you follow day by day the life of Anglican vicar Mark Brian with the residents of his new parish, accessible only by boat. Thanks to Polly Mathewson for recommending it.
Gay Pirrie-Weir, freelance journalist, co-editor of the Fine Times Recorder; co-author of Deepest Wiltshire and Deepest Dorset.

Underland, by Robert Macfarlane

Robert Macfarlane confronts one of our great atavistic fears – the underworld – in his latest book. From neolithic cave paintings to nuclear bunkers, he explores the past, present and future under our feet, buried deep beneath the seabed, frozen in time, locked in memories off man’s inhumanity to man. It’s utterly fascinating and quite terrifying. As someone whose idea of hell is pot-holing, Macfarlane’s description of exploring the tiny, dark tunnels in the Mendip Hills is spell-binding when I could open my tight-shut
eyes and stop my heart pounding! It’s an important book, asking big questions but it’s also a great read.
Fanny Charles, freelance journalist, co-editor of the Fine Times Recorder; co-author of Deepest Wiltshire and Deepest Dorset

The Five, The untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper, by Hallie Rubenhold

A fresh approach to the women behind the killings, they were women, wives, mothers and daughters, facing the worst that Victorian Britain could throw at them. This book explores the details of each of their lives that led them to be in the wrong place at the right time. Beautifully and compassionately written.
Jane Dawes
Managing Partner
Blackmore Vale Partnership

The Code of the Woosters, by P. G. Wodehouse

Any Jeeves and Wooster – but particularly The Code of the Woosters. I find that whenever I need to pause and take stock of the maddeningly changing world around us there is nothing better to reset my perspective on life than to revisit for the 20th time anything written by PG Woodhouse. Woodhouse’s world is wonderfully graphic in its praise of the ludicrous and his sense of comic timing is unsurpassed. I truly challenge anyone to not find comfort, amusement and solace against the vastly inferior real world in the
pages of Bertie’s adventures.
John Paget-Tomlinson
Head of Senior School, Leweston School

Meadowland, by John Lewis-Stempel

A friend’s recommendation during early Lockdown 1, Meadowland has charmed me each month as we have journeyed through this year. Appreciation of birdsong, flowering plants and nature in general has sustained many of us, so imagine the joy of a book which does just that in wonderful prose, month by month. The author writes of what he knows, what he observes in one field in Herefordshire and you will soon be walking with his red fox, flying with his kites, waiting for the next revelation. A wonderful book to keep and enjoy every year.
Sara Jacson MBE chairs CedarsCastlehill at Shaftesbury and is founder chair of the Friends of North Dorset Women’s Refuge

Conversations with Friends, by Sally Rooney

I’m sure that loads of you will have watched this year’s fantastic TV series Normal People adapted from Irish writer Sally Rooney’s novel. If you did (or didn’t), then do read that but I would also like to recommend Sally’s ‘Conversations with Friends’, which was her debut novel. It’s about two college students and the strange, unexpected entanglement they forge with a married couple. It will appeal to anyone interested in friendship, jealousy and relationships. Sally does not include a great deal of descriptive prose instead it is full of brilliant, touching and funny dialogue. I felt as if I could hear the voices of the characters in my head. It is a book which touches on the events that make up the delicate passions and cruelties of human experience.
Edwina Baines, Arts Correspondent BV Magazine

Bechamp or Pasteur? by Ethel Hume

History, they say, is written by the victors, and as a journalist and historian, I’m fascinated by the way facts get distorted. I was taught that Louis Pasteur was God’s gift to chemistry and microbiology. Not so, according to Ethel D. Hume. She reveals Pasteur as a fraud and a plagiarist, whose greatest talent was in
the self-promotion needed to build his fame and fortune. His victim-in-chief was his great rival and fellow professor Antoine Béchamp, apparently the brains behind much that came out of France’s uni labs in the
late 19th century. Hume’s book was first published in 1923 but the 2017 edition is revised for easier reading, with an extended preface by R.B. Pearson.
Roger Guttridge – Historian, Jounalist & Columnist in the BV Magazine

The Labyrinth of the Spirits, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Labyrinth of the Spirits is a translation from a Spanish cycle of books (Shadow of the Wind and The Cemetery of Forgotten Books) set in Barcelona in the period of the Spanish Civil War. Interestingly, the cycle can be read in any order which is part of the labyrinth Zafon creates so beautifully. He is a compelling writer who conjures up the atmosphere and emotion of the period, and those who live in it, with both intensity and simplicity. Books are often described as ‘unputdownable’ and this one most definitely is. However, and this has never happened to me before in my reading career, I felt I could not pick another book up as I knew it could never match what I had just read. Zafon is an author anyone with a soul and imagination should read.
Simon Hoare MP

Childrens Christmas Present Appeal

By

Editorial team

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9 December 2020

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Blandford Food Bank for Christmas 2020 would like to give every child whose family need our support in the local Blandford area, their own gift bag. Filled with new toys to bring them some of the Christmas cheer which we all remember from our own childhood and took for granted.

Please see the poster below for details on how to help. Please give generously, thank you.

Subscribe to receive the Blackmore Vale now and every month, it’s completely FREE – click here

Shoebox Appeal

By

Editorial team

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8 December 2020

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Help for Homeless is a local charity supporting homeless people in Yeovil, Bath and Bristol. Thsi Christmas we aim to reach out to those suffering hardship and homelessness in our area. We desperately need your donations, please see the poster below for how you can help someone less fortunate this Christmas, thank you.

Click here to subscribe to the Blackmore Vale for FREE!

Cream of the crop: BV Dairy to create 32+ high-skilled jobs as £2m expansion gets green light

By

Editorial team

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8 December 2020

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A North Dorset dairy manufacturer is planning to create more than 32 high-skilled jobs as part of a £2m expansion.

Family-owned BV Dairy says the approval of £750,000 in funding from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) has secured plans to create the major new facility at its Shaftesbury site.

Construction is expected to start in January 2021.

It continues the major investment of the past four years including a new chill store, a kefir bottling facility and an automated process department.

Vaughan Heard, Finance and HR Director, said: “We are delighted to secure the grant funding from RDPE.

“It will support us in our aim to provide increased long-term opportunity for local employees and security for farmers and rural workers in North Dorset.

“We are extremely proud of the wonderful dairy industry heritage and legacy in North Dorset, and to play our part in bringing these quality products to a national and international audience.

“The additional capacity created by the new facility, together with the improvements in technology, allows us to court major new customers – which in turn creates more opportunity for our dairy farm suppliers.

“I would like to thank the RDPE for its generous grant funding.

“I also wish to extend my sincere thanks to Simon Hoare (North Dorset MP), our many Dorset suppliers and Ian Girling, Chief Executive of Dorset Chamber of Commerce, for their collective support and assistance in helping BV Dairy to secure the necessary funding.”

BV Dairy was founded in 1958 by father-and-son team Jack and Christopher Highnam.

They began by making clotted cream on a kitchen top at the family’s Old Rectory Farm in Kington Magna near Gillingham.

The dairy is now in the hands of the third generation of the family, Jim Highnam.

BV Dairy employs 130 people and had an annual turnover of £36.7m in the 12 months to March 31, 2019, its latest published accounts.

Milk is sourced from Red Tractor accredited farms within a 25 mile radius of the company’s Wincombe Lane site.

Its specialist dairy products are supplied to the manufacturing, catering and food service industries.

They include soft cheeses, crème fraiche, buttermilk, cream (single, double and whipping), Dorset clotted cream, fromage frais, yogurts including Greek style, soured cream, ricotta and mascarpone.

By: Andrew Diprose Dorset Biz News

Books for Christmas gifts

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Editorial team

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8 December 2020

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Who rode to hounds in Wiltshire on an elephant?

How many new houses are being built for the military on Salisbury Plain? What’s the traditional cheese
made into a cake in Devizes?

Find out in Deepest Wiltshire, the book that gives and gives. Deepest Books are sold to raise funds for charity – in the case of Deepest Wiltshire it is the county’s community foundation, the air ambulance and a military charity; So far over £20,000 to the Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation’s Covid Emergency fund from the sale of the book.
Deepest Wiltshire is the ideal gift, full of fascinating stories, quirky characters and pieces from local celebrities (including actor Nigel Havers, actor and comedian Jon Monie, Lord Lieutenant Sarah- Rose Troughton, footballer Don Rogers, Olympian David Hemery and the irrepressible former High Sheriff Nicky Alberry.
There are features about the history and landscape, the people who live and work in the county, about the food, the military and the church (from tiny medieval buildings to one of the world’s greatest cathedrals).
Brimming with entertaining and unexpected snippets – and all the money you spend goes to the charities.
To find out more and to order, visit www.deepestbooks.co.uk

Bridget Strawbridges beautiful book ” Dancing with Bees‘ is now out in paperback, but there are a few signed hardback copies left! Unlike the paperbacks they have beautiful colour papers by John Walters

Beautiful 100 Birds by popular West Country photographer.

Carl Bovis’ evocative and humourous photography has won him a large and loyal following on social media with almost 55,000 fans on Twitter. And justifiably so – his work is not only technically excellent, but also
fun, characterful and keenly observed, making it a joy for all who are allowed to share in the results of his passion.
His book ‘100 Birds’ is a delight for any bird lover; featuring 100 of his best, or most interesting, bird photos, coupled with Carl’s comments on how, when and where he got the shots, some information about the birds, plus personal stories and experiences. It’s a joyous book, and his love of the natural world shines from every page.

Don’t leave it too late…

By

Editorial team

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8 December 2020

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Many of us now know what a Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney is and how it authorises a trusted person to deal with your money and assets if you become unable to.

But we can be mistaken in thinking that a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney is not so important because next of kin know what is best for us and can make decisions and give instructions to health care providers if necessary.

The reality is: not necessarily so.

The Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney affords you peace of mind that the persons you trust are able to make decisions on your behalf relating to all your health and care needs in the eventuality that you are no longer able to make these decisions for yourself.

If you put in place a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney, your appointed Attorneys will be able to make decisions on your behalf. This covers everything from washing, dressing, eating, medical care, care homes and even Life Sustaining Treatment.

The Life Sustaining Treatment point is one that most clients find very important when providing instructions for a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney. This sensitive subject is covered separately in the document due to the weight of its importance.

You can choose whether you wish to grant your Attorneys authority to be able to give or refuse Life Sustaining Treatment on your behalf. If you have strong views on this that you would not want to be kept alive artificially, you would be advised to complete a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney and appoint Attorneys that are aware of your wishes.

In the absence of appointed Attorneys with authority to make these decisions on your behalf, the decision will ultimately be with the Doctors. The Doctors and other medical professionals must, of course, act ‘in your best interests’ at all times and may deem keeping you alive artificially as so, even if this is contrary to the wishes that may be known to your family.

The only way to ensure your family or loved ones have the overall say on this difficult decision, is to put in place a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney.

In certain extreme circumstances, if you find yourself unable to make your own decisions and there is no Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney in place, your family may have to apply to the Court of Protection in order to be granted the right to be able to make decisions in relation your health or proposed treatments. This is an expensive, upsetting and long drawn out process.

Having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place is much like taking out an insurance policy, one hopes it will not ever be needed, but if your family or loved ones do need to call on it; they really do prove invaluable.

By Lesley Hamilton Porter Dodson