If you’re fortunate enough to see a yellow Tiger Month bi-plane 2,000 feet above you in the Blackmore Vale performing death-defying stunts then you are probably watching local hero David Morgan DSC testing his flying skills to the limit.
And his life is as colourful as his plane.
David Morgan during the Falklands conflict, where he was awarded the DSC
Shaftsbury resident David was the most successful RAF pilot during the Falklands conflict, destroying four Argentine aircraft, including two Skyhawks which were attacking British landing craft.
The son of a Fleet Air Arm Seafire (the Royal Navy’s Spitfire) pilot, he trained with the RN as a helicopter pilot before moving to the RAF flying Wessex helicopters.
He then passed the highly-demanding course to fly supersonic Harrier GR3s and became one of the first Electronic Warfare instructors.
During the Falkland’s conflict David flew more than 50 sorties both ground attack and air combat patrol. His Sea Harrier was damaged by anti-aircraft fire over Stanley Airfield on the first raid but he skillfully nursed the stricken £20 million jet back to the unsteady deck of the carrier HMS Hermes, plunging in heavy seas.
David in the hangar with the Yellow Tiger Moth
He was credited with the destruction of two Argentine helicopters and two A4 Skyhawks which were attacking British landing craft, saving hundreds of lives.
For this skilled and dangerous attack David, known as Mog, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, only the second such award given to a RAF pilot since WWII – and making him the last RAF pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft. He also joined an attack sinking an Argentine intelligence-gathering ship, and flew several missions in a Wessex helicopter.
‘Every moment in the air counts,’ he says, ‘split-second decisions must be right, and that’s where the RAF’s superb training kicks-in. You cannot make a mistake. Once you’re off the deck of the carrier, you don’t have time to be frightened.’
After the conflict he was appointed to senior instructor roles, flying in 200 airshows, and became unit test pilot at Yeovilton, flying from the carriers Hermes, Invincible, Illustrious and Ark Royal.
Hostile Skies by David Morgan
David wrote a highly-regarded memoir of his Falklands service ‘Hostile Skies’, published by Orion, which is being translated in Spanish due to high demand in Argentina. It is also available as an audio-book.
David is married with two grown children and five grandchildren and now lives near Shaftesbury, in Dorset. He flew a total of 4,700 hours in the forces (2,500 on Harriers) and has recently retired from commercial flying as a Boeing 747-400 captain, with a total of over 16,400 hours in the air.
David with three of his grandchildren in his yellow Tiger Moth at Compton Abbas Airfield
He now teaches aerobatics in his vintage Tiger Moth from Compton Abbas airfield, the UK’s highest private aerodrome, which welcomes visitors to its smart restaurant/viewing gallery and bar (Covid restrictions applying).
Last month saw the 9th Annual Dorset Charities Conference held by Ward Goodman. As with many events in the past 18 months this became a virtual affair, but that did not stop over 100 charities from being represented as the delegates watched and listened to experts and professionals within the charity sector from Dorset and nationwide.
The keynote presentation entitled ‘The State of The Sector’ was given by Rita Chadha, CEO of the Small Charities Coalition.
The Small Charities Coalition helps small organisations with a social purpose to change lives, improve communities and broaden people’s opportunities.
Rita joined the Small Charities Coalition in July 2019 as CEO. Starting at the age of 15 as a volunteer, Rita has worked for a number of local and national charities on issues related to inequality and social justice and also remains a volunteer and trustee of a number of organisations.
Next up was Alex Picot from Dorset Community Action. DCA are a charity that exists to support charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises across the Dorset community. Their mission is to bring people together to develop community based solutions that deliver better services for the benefit of all. They support new and established groups and projects though 1:1 advice, tailored consultancy and group-based training to enable them to be successful and financially sustainable.
Alex is CEO for Dorset Community Action and provided a presentation entitled ‘Is there life after COVID?’
Further presentations covered investments, accounting updates, legal updates and charity banking from :-
James Johnsen – Director, Church House Investment Management
Paul Zoltowski – Client Director, Church House Investment Management
Jen Richardson – Head of Charities, Ward Goodman
Sophie Cass – Associate, Bates Wells
Ben Harris – Business Development Manager, CAF Bank
The final presentation came from Jane Galloway, Senior Lecturer at Chichester University and Lead Consultant at Arclight Solutions Ltd.
The University of Chichester is home to the world’s first degree in fundraising, Charity Development BA (Hons.). It offers students a unique opportunity to learn the skills essential to successful fundraising, such as marketing, planning, event management and donor care. The course is recognised by the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.
Charity Development students, at the University of Chichester know how to work hard and play hard, and it’s all for a good cause. This year they’re putting on a show, all in aid of the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth and have an ambitious target to raise £20,000 for the theatre, which has been really badly affected financially, during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The arts have suffered greatly throughout 2020/21 and the New Theatre Royal is no exception, as it’s facing its biggest challenge in its 160 year history, and we are immensely grateful to the Chichester University students for all their fundraising support.” Sheena Hulme. Operations Director, New Theatre Royal.
Donna Day Lafferty, the course founder explained that “The intention is to offer students plenty of real-life fundraising opportunities, while giving them a firm foundation of applicable theory. There is a lack of highly trained fundraisers ready to hit the ground running, and an ever growing need. A career in charitable fundraising is often overlooked and many people ‘fall’ into fundraising without qualifications. Virtually everyone’s life is touched by the work of the charitable sector, so we all benefit from knowledgeable fundraisers who raise funds efficiently while showing donors the respect they deserve.”
Rounding off the conference was a Q&A session hosted by the Managing Director of Ward Goodman, Ian Rodd. Delegates were able to put a wide range of questions to the expert panel from what Covid support is still available to ways to scale up fundraising requirements to cover shortfalls in operational funding.
You can watch all of the presentations and download all slides via www.wardgoodman.co.uk/dcc
With over 30 years’ experience in hospitality, food and drink at The Langton Arms, a successful butchery in the form of Rawston Farm Butchery and having hailed from a fifth-generation farming family, I’ve been invited to talk about the Australian trade deal, and what it means to the UK farming community.
Barabara Cossins & Grandchildren
We did a casual survey, and when asked, even fellow farmers did not know the ins and outs of the Australian trade deal our government are not-so-quietly making on our behalf as a nation. In fact, when you investigate more closely, there really is not a lot of information available in the public domain, which raises eyebrows, considering the implicit effect it will unarguably have on our UK based farmers, growers and producers.
In an article featured over at BBC online, Liz Truss, Trade Secretary tells MP’s “I am always looking to make sure British farmers will not be undercut by unfair practices from elsewhere,”. However, the UK are known to have among the highest standards in hygiene and animal welfare. As Tanya Steele, Chief Executive of WWF-UK critically states, “A rushed trade deal with Australia could drive a coach and horses through those efforts and provide a gateway into the UK for foods produced in ways that harm the environment.”*
British farmers have such high welfare farming standards compared to anywhere else in the world. We’ve seen countless examples of how cheap imported meat is making its way into our food chain almost under the radar.
Australian beef, for example, is produced intensively and more cheaply than can be done in UK. In this deal, Australia’s top beef exporter expects to increase sales to the UK tenfold, so clearly it is impossible that our high standards will not be compromised, and once again the consumer will be able to be easily mislead about what they are eating. Already, mislabelling on cheap meat imports to the UK is a huge problem, with this meat being permitted to use the supposedly trusted Red Tractor label, which suggests it has been reared here in the UK.
We’ve seen cheap pork being imported, which has been made into sausages and labelled with the British flag. Is this ethical? No. The consumer is led to believe they are buying British produce being raised under the high standards we can trust, but this potential loophole means those who do not know what to look for, are eating meat that has not been raised to such high standards, or in fact, mislabelled meat, which could be something entirely different to what they think they are eating.
Only back in Easter 2021, New Zealand lamb was being wrapped with the British flag, and when we did a price check British lamb was in fact cheaper than New Zealand lamb. So, the value was not even in benefitting from a lower price – why are we letting this happen?
Love Local Trust Local was founded to help raise awareness and educate the public on how food labelling really works, and help the consumer know who to trust. With these sorts of trade agreements, this is providing plenty of space to truly muddy the waters and make this a far greater challenge.
As a country, it is terrifying to think that we only have around 6 months of food before we run out completely. Importing is not the answer – ramping up our UK farmers output is a more sustainable approach. If Covid has taught us anything, surely, it is that we need to value our local produce far more. Over the last year and a half we have seen a huge increase on reliance on local farm shops, butcheries, and the like at the time where the consumer almost had no choice.
As we saw first-hand, heading into the big supermarkets to pick up your internationally mislabelled produce, was not as reliable as the public would have been led to believe. This was because international travel was halted, and borders put firmly in place to contain the virus. How would this have played out, had there been no UK-reared produce to buy?
Whilst people will always want to buy cheaper produce, which is a real need for some people when considering budgeting, it is important to understand that if we all do our bit to shop locally, those prices for outstanding local produce will be able to come down making it more accessible for all.
In contrast, if we continue to buy en masse from countries with shoddy standards, this challenge will always be insurmountable. In essence, if we do not support our British farmers, there will be no local produce. This trade agreement means that hundreds of British farmers are destined to have their livelihood cut or destroyed, especially the smaller farmers, as they simply cannot compete.
With the Australian trade deal looming, and the potential US trade deal in our sights, meat traceability will become impossible, and that is something that the UK has been extremely thorough about, to protect our high standards.
Rawston Farm Butchery was established in 2012, at the time when the horse meat scandal was underway; horse meat was being wrapped in beef to disguise it, because it was full of painkillers, and this contaminated meat was therefore allowed to be filtered into our food chain here in the UK. These are the kinds of issues we can expect to see increase and take hold with these trade agreements coming into play.
As a farmer’s daughter and a farmer’s wife, I cannot emphasise enough, that the British farmers need to be protected from the abuse of the food industry. Farmers are busy people and are essential to our very existence. Farmers do not have time for confrontation – they are passionate about looking after their animals and growing their crops, and their time is fully occupied with just that. This is why Love Local Trust Local exists – to truly fly the flag for our local farmers, growers and producers, and help protect their livelihoods, which in turn, protects our society as a whole.
To coin a bumper sticker phrase, you will have likely seen; “No Farmers, No Food, No Future.” Sadly, never has a truer phrase been stated. People are always going to want cheap food I understand that. But I’d like to feel they want the British farmer to survive as well, given how integral this is to our very being.
To learn more about food labelling, to support local, and to get behind our farmers, growers and producers, head over to Love Local Trust Local.
Barbara Cossins, Founder of Love Local Trust Local, The Langton Arms & Rawston Farm Butchery
Last month we had the dreaded news that our herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle had gone down with Bovine Tuberculosis. This was the first time that any of our cattle had contracted the disease in the ten years that they have been grazing the Beaminster Downs.
Cows at Westleaze
The positive reactor, which was discovered through our annual herd test has large ramifications; infected cattle are to be slaughtered and we are now unable to move any cattle off our farm till they all test negative twice after 60 and 120 days.
Due to the high cases of the disease in Dorset, we have to test our cattle yearly for signs of the disease, as opposed to every four years in low-risk areas. Otherwise, we would only test the animals that are due to move off the farm within the next 60 days.
Once a risk to human health in the UK, Tuberculosis today, however, causes stress and emotional heartache as farmers have their livelihoods slaughtered due to the disease.
TB testing in cattle began in England in 1935, as milk drunk from an infected dairy cow would transmit the disease. As with today, infected cattle would be slaughtered to stop the spread of the disease, which nearly led to the disease’s eradication in the 1970s.
Unfortunately, however, it was soon discovered that badgers and deer were carrying and continuing to spread the disease across the country. Last year, in England alone, over 27,000 cattle were slaughtered due to the disease.
The solution?
Realistically, there isn’t one solution. And it’s a bit of a hot topic to bring up! The Government have had a three-pronged approach to be TB free by 2038; testing, culling and vaccinations.
Many areas across England have been actively culling the badger population and it was announced in February that this was to be continued in Dorset, Somerset and Devon.
Patch the Dog keeping an eye on the herd
DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) has set a five-year plan to have an effective vaccine for cattle. Currently, there is one, however, it has an effectiveness of around 60% and when tested a vaccinated cow will automatically test positive for the disease.
Badgers can be vaccinated, but only by injections, so they must be caught in a cage and treated. This makes the process extremely costly; a five-year vaccination programme for badgers in Pembrokeshire worked out at £684 per badger.
Last year saw a 10% reduction in Bovine Tuberculosis slaughters in England – but it’s not enough. All of our cattle are to have blood tests in the next month to definitively see the toll of how many more will be killed.
Any animals that are slaughtered are compensated for by the Government, but the real cost is the mental effect on the farmer.
Despite what many people may think, we love our animals. We breed them, raise them and spend every day of our lives with them. We give up family time to spend time in the pouring rain with the boys and girls out in the fields.
it’s a case of having one of your own slaughtered, and farmers will do anything to stop that.
I think after last months article where I mentioned that during the month of April, we had not received any measurable rainfall and that perhaps farmers and growers could do with some rain, during May we have virtually have had rain everyday. So far the totals amount to 150mm or 6 inches. This has led to the rapid growth of our grass and crops which has meant that the silage making process of providing winter feed for cattle has been severely delayed. At least when the weather does improve we shall have a good crop although may be lacking in quality.
Silaging in the 60’s
Much of the farming politics has been involved with the trade talks with Australia. The result of the Brexit Deal has led to the United Kingdom being able to negotiate trade deals with countries outside the EU. The trade deal being agreed with Australia may be a bad deal for the farmers. With a tariff free deal being on the table this could mean food being imported produced at lower standards to what is expected in this country. This would put the UK producer at a disadvantage and unable to compete on price.
Let’s hope there will be better labelling in place soon so that consumers have accurate information of how and where the food was produced and hopefully will support local producers where possible.
Silaging today
With the weather now improving we have been able to get on with our silage making providing feed for our cattle next winter . Always an exciting time of year bringing in the first harvest of grass especially when you are relying on various bits of machinery not to break down !
The photos are of silage making at Rawston in the 1960,s and this year.
Here at Damory Veterinary Clinic in Blandford we have six full-time dedicated farm vets, alongside our small animal & equine teams. The majority of our work involves looking after dairy cattle, but we also see plenty of beef herds and sheep flocks; along with smallholders owning a variety of species including goats, poultry and alpacas.
Our days can be extremely varied, with a mix of pre-planned and emergency visits. For example I could be ultrasound scanning cows to see if they are pregnant, TB testing, dealing with emergencies such as difficult births, treating poorly animals, operating on a cow with a displaced stomach – the list is endless. Not knowing what you might do each day (or night!) is one of the most exciting aspects of our job.
Giving a cow intravenous fluids
Some parts of farm veterinary work are very seasonal, with Spring being notoriously busy. However there are some moments that make it all worth it: such as treating a severely dehydrated calf with a fluid drip, watching them go from listless to bouncing around the pen in a matter of hours! Or ultrasound scanning a cow and seeing that she is “in calf” (pregnant), after you nursed her back to health from severe illness a few months earlier. Calvings and lambings, including C-sections, are also immensely satisfying – the feeling of bringing new life into the world never gets old!
As well as visiting farms, there is also technical office-based work looking at farms’ data to keep us busy. We have several software programmes enabling us to analyse data and advise farms on how they can improve their herds’ health most efficiently.
Pregnancy scanning a ewe
Personally my special interest is infectious disease control, so when I’m not out on visits you might find me analysing results or advising farmers on control plans, including vaccination, tailored to their individual farms. It is so rewarding to get to know our clients and their farms, working with them over time to improve herd health. I am also enrolled on a post-graduate qualification, the Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice. My colleagues have particular interests in areas such as fertility, dairy cow lameness, mastitis, youngstock and suckler herd management.
To see more about our services & what we get up to, find us on Facebook “Damory Farm Vets” or Instagram @damoryvetsdorset_farm
Hedgehog Rescue of Hazelbury Bryan has booked a date, time and place for its 2021 fundraising event: Saturday, 26th June, 1pm to 5pm, at the Hazelbury Bryan Pavilion (opposite the Antelope). Given the circumstances of the last year, organising an event has been a struggle – even deciding on a name! Eventually our committee voted for “Hazelbury Hedgehog Craft Fayre” as we have over 22 craft tables booked in for the afternoon. We are now asking for local businesses to donate raffle prizes so we can sell tickets on the day.
It is so much easier naming hedgehogs especially as they never know and forget them even quicker. It makes my job easier to be able to identify the hedgehog by name and not just a number, although they get both on admission.
Buddy was admitted from Sturminster Newton with a nasty infection that made it difficult for him to pass urine. He is feeling much better now and has found his appetite. He is trying to build up the muscles he lost when he was ill.
Fortuna came from Fiddleford having had a very close call with a strimmer. Her prickles are beginning to grow back now, but she will have to stay with us until they do as they are her only form of protection. She hates being here and is very grumpy.
Hufflepuff is from Hazelbury. He is a beautiful young man who was sprayed with weedkiller. It made him very sick and gave him diarrhoea and vomiting. The first thing I did was give him a bath to remove as much weedkiller as we could. He has made a full recovery and is nearly ready to go home.
Like all the other casualties they will be returned back to the wild to live their lives.
No wildlife garden is complete without a pond of some kind. The larger, the better, but even if you only have a tiny patio, it’s still worth trying to find a small shady corner, to sink an old ice cream tub or something similar.
Brigit’s Pond
If you have enough space to dig a proper pond, you will need to vary its depth to suit different plants and aquatic wildlife. Make sure you leave a shallow ‘beach’ area for creatures to enter and leave the pond, as well as providing them with plenty of plant cover nearby so they don’t feel exposed as they come and go. And once built, try to fill your pond with rainwater or water from a nearby pond. When choosing plants it is important to use only native – which have co-evolved with native aquatic wildlife – and to include a variety of floating, oxygenating, and marginal species. Spiked Water Milfoil is a great oxygenating plant, as are Water violet and Common Water Crowfoot. Marginals might include plants such as Marsh Woundwort, Water Mint, Ragged Robin, and Purple Loosestrife; and for floating deep-water aquatics, consider Hornwort, Frogbit or native Water Lilies. There are plenty more to choose from.
Some aquatic plants are extremely vigorous and can take over, so it’s worth getting expert advice to make sure you get the planting balance right. Once you do, your pond will require little, if any, maintenance throughout the year.
As the plants begin to settle, you will be amazed by how quickly your pond becomes colonised by all manner of weird and wonderful creatures. Expect water snails, pond skaters, frogs, newts, dragonflies, water boatmen, whirligig beetles and many more exciting visitors – which all seem to appear from nowhere! Not to mention other non-aquatic birds insects and small mammals who will welcome the chance use your pond to quench their thirst, or take a bath. Our most regular visitor is a Crow, who turns up most mornings with a hunk of stale bread (from a neighbour’s lawn) which he drops in our pond to soak and soften, before he eats it.
Having a pond in your garden provides hours of interest and entertainment and within a couple of years you will wonder how you ever thought your garden was complete without one.Kate Bradbury’s book How to Create a Wildlife Pond is packed with useful advice, and DDS Aquatics, in Henstridge, provide everything you need to get started.
