Idyllic Hatch House to Host Annual Open Garden

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25 August 2023

Hatch House, situated in the heart of the Wiltshire countryside just outside Shaftesbury, will once again hold its annual Open Garden next month, by the kind permission of Sir Henry and Lady Rumbold. This wonderful event for the entire family provides a rare opportunity to explore the 17th Century walled Dutch garden, offering breathtaking views over the Vale of Wardour.
This year, the event will be on Saturday 2nd September, and the garden will open slightly earlier, from 11am until 5pm. Compton McRae will be returning with their barbecue, following last year’s great success.
Visitors can enjoy traditional cream teas, ice cream, cake stalls, second hand books, plants, shoes, bags and hats – and the star of the event is always Lady Rumbold and Mrs Vernon’s renowned clothes stall, packed with extraordinary finds, and a true magnet for bargain hunters. This year the separate tents for ladies and gentlemen returns too.

As always, proceeds from the event will go to the Salisbury Hospice Charity – last year the event raised an incredible £20,000.
Lady Rumbold has stressed the importance of community involvement, stating:
‘We badly need the support of local volunteers for Salisbury Hospice Charity, which caters for young and old alike. Younger blood is needed to continue the important work of supporting patients with terminal illnesses and their families – community service used to be part of school education!
‘The fund-raising events are enormous fun as well as charitable, and we implore the community to please assist us in recruiting dynamic folks from local schools, youth clubs, sports facilities, the churches and elsewhere to give some time helping the cause of Salisbury Hospice Care, which does crucial humanitarian work in support of the NHS.’

•Saturday 2nd September | 11am to 5pmAdults £5, Children £1 | hatch-house.co.uk

The official Dorset County Show pre-show magazine is here!

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Laura

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24 August 2023

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We have been bursting to share the news that we have been working closely with the County Show team to produce the first official Dorset County Show pre-show magazine! Dive in to get a sneak peek of everything that awaits you at this year’s vibrant celebration of rural life in Dorset.

Here’s a taste of what to expect:

Tracie Beardsley caught up with Michael Murty, the man at the wheel of the world’s biggest monster trucks as his team prepares to rev into the main ring
Is this Dorset’s biggest larder? With a super-sized new Food Hall and more than 100 producers, we’re thinking: ‘Yes, yes, it is!’
Brilliant and unmissable, The Sheep Show hilariously highlights the importance of wool and the truth about sheep farming … while debunking certain sheep-related myths
Get set to cheer your favourite team – as the Pony Club Mounted Games gallops into the Dorset County Showground for the first time, we find out what happens during the exciting speed games
Meet Dorset’s soap star Kirsty Hearne (and more importantly, Honeybee the matriarch) – creator of a thriving artisan cottage industry selling goats’ milk and the soaps she makes from it.
Planning your visit? Don’t miss the Show Map and Timetables, ensuring you don’t miss a thing during your visit. Make notes and set a plan of attack – it’s a BIG show!
Take a nostalgic stroll through the showground with farmer and columnist Andrew Livingston

Get acquainted with the county’s rich agriculture, food, and farming legacy, thanks to the unwavering efforts of James Cox and his passionate team. If you’ve not got them yet, don’t forget to book your tickets NOW: TICKET DISCOUNTS END ON FRIDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER 2023!
Get ready for an unforgettable experience at the Dorset County Show 2023. We can’t wait to see you there!

Inside Out with premieres and giant puppets

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Editorial team

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24 August 2023

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Dorset’s outdoor arts festival is back with events stretching from Wimborne to Weymouth, from woodland soundscapes to street circus

Street performers, circus acts and artists from across the region and around the world will be coming to Dorset in September for Inside Out, the biennial outdoor arts festival,
Activate Performing Arts in conjunction with the Inside Out team have created an exciting programme of performances, workshops, installations and parades in rural and urban venues including the Moors Valley woods in East Dorset and Woodbury near Bere Regis. The festival has run in alternate years since 2007; more than 28,000 people attended events in 2021.
This year’s festival, which runs from 15th to 24th September, will include two world premieres and five UK premieres.
Inside Out aims to remove the traditional barriers to the arts, while encouraging people to discover and appreciate some of the unique places across the county. Most events are free.
The Dorset-based arts organisation works with Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the National Association for AONBs, along with European partners with complementary interests in the relationship between the landscape, artists, land stewards and the climate emergency.

Music in the canopy
Events at Moors Valley Country Park will see spectacular art, music and sound installations located across the 800-acre site.
Two of the pieces have been created by the Frome-based composer and sound artist, and founder of Artmusic, Helen Ottaway. Lachrymae and Saeflod will be located in the woodland canopy, creating an immersive experience. In 2014 Helen’s Lachrymae was commissioned by Inside Out Dorset and Dorset AONB to be presented on the South Dorset Ridgeway. Such was the success of the piece, she has been asked to present it again this year. Her inspirations include landscape, water and nature, and her style is predominantly minimalist with influences from folksong, English pastoral and church music traditions.

Working Boys Club
At Poole and Wimborne, Inside Out events will include Serving Sounds from The Working Boys Club, as well as international circus acts and multi-sensory sound installations.
The Working Boys Club is identical twins Jason and Adam Dupree, who make and create work by mixing the arts with their past lives as tradesmen.
Wild Woodbury at Bere Regis will have a wide-ranging programme, including workshops, talks and local food vendors.
As well as an Iron Age hillfort, Woodbury was also a medieval religious site and the setting for the Woodbury Hill Fair. It is undergoing a process of rewilding and will provide a unique location for Inside Out Dorset to work alongside Dorset Wildlife Trust and Dorset AONB.

Giant dolls
The Inside Out finale weekend will see a spectacular parade of light and music weave through Weymouth led by Transe Express’ Poupées Géantes. Readers with long memories may recall Transe Express dazzling the crowds in Salisbury Market Square with an aerial drumming and acrobatic performance. For Inside Out, these French street performers will bring three giant dolls who will glide magically through the crowd, with the voices of three opera singers transforming the Weymouth streets into an outdoor opera house.

insideoutdorset.co.uk

The good, the bad – and the downright ugly

By

Editorial team

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23 August 2023

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The Uxbridge by-election had it all. It was good for the Conservatives, winning narrowly by focusing on the Labour mayor of London’s plans to penalise the ten per cent of most-polluting cars by charging them to drive in the area.
It was bad for Labour of course. And it was downright ugly for anyone wanting common sense to dominate in our battle to stop climate change. Both parties have started rowing back on their already inadequate plans to tackle global warming. As if Net Zero would just be nice to have, instead of an absolute necessity.
Where was the grown-up conversation, for example, about the economic benefits of a fair transition to a cleaner world?
Or the costly – massive – damage to lives and health from fossil fuel-driven air pollution?
Aside from clean air, there are two other absolutely essential requirements for survival: clean water and healthy food.
And at the moment we’re doing our damnedest to deprive ourselves of those too.
Water has hit the headlines recently, with decades of failed privatisation having seen waterway sewage pollution increase. Water companies have been loaded with billions of pounds of debt, while billions of pounds have been paid out in dividends to shareholders – most of them based overseas.
As for food, we urgently need to reform what we eat, how it is produced, and where it is grown. Targeted support for farmers is key. More than a quarter of all the food we grow is never eaten. That’s 13 million tonnes wasted. Industrialised farming is a major cause of damage to our soils, and the pollution of our waterways with pesticides, fertilisers etc. Agriculture uses 71 per cent of land in England, with 85 per cent of that used for feeding and rearing livestock – growing plants for human consumption generates around 12 times more calories per hectare than using the land for meat production.
We presently import 46 per cent of the fresh vegetables we eat, and 84 per cent of the fruit. Poor diet causes diabetes, cardiac disease and other obesity-related conditions. It is blighting the lives of millions, predominantly our poorer citizens, and is costing the NHS billions. Unsustainable.
The Government knows all this, but isn’t taking the action needed. Time for change.
Ken Huggins
North Dorset Green Party

Guttridge, Roger

By

Editorial team

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22 August 2023

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Roger Stephen Guttridge passed away on 8 August 2023 at the age of 73 at Poole Hospital, four years after his leukaemia diagnosis.

He battled his illness with courage and determination right up until the very end.

Roger was well known throughout Dorset as a journalist and local historian, having written for the Bournemouth Echo, Blackmore Vale, Dorset Life, and latterly here in the BV Magazine and authored over 20 books.

He is survived by his loving wife Sylvie and son Andy, and his granddaughter Eliza.

Services will be held at Poole Crematorium on Friday 25 August at 1pm.

No flowers please.

The family requests donations be made to the Dorset Wildlife Trust.

What not to miss this year

By

Editorial team

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22 August 2023

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The 2023 G&S Show is bigger than ever – and alongside some exciting new attractions, there’s a return of some much-loved old favourites

NEW: The Squibbfreestyle motocross arena stunt show
We are thrilled to announce that the adrenaline-pumping SquibbFreestyle Motocross Arena Stunt Show will be headlining both days of the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show this August! Prepare to be amazed as Jamie Squibb and his team of talented riders perform breathtaking jumps and stunts mid-air right before your eyes.
Hailed as the ultimate UK & International indoor or outdoor arena show, known for their jaw-dropping acrobatics, the team of riders is set to bring their high-flying skills to the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show this summer, promising an unforgettable experience for visitors of all ages. Get ready for a heart-stopping performance that will leave you on the edge of your seat!

SEE THEM – Gritchie Brewing Co Main Ring:
Wednesday 11am and 2:10pm
Thursday 11:15am and 3:40pm

NEW: Sheep Shearing Competition
For the first time in its illustrious history, the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show welcomes the age-old craft and competition of sheep shearing. This isn’t just about trimming some wool; it’s about tradition, of course, but even more than that, a shearing competition is about skill and speed. As blades meet fleece in a rhythmic dance, both novices and seasoned professionals will showcase their talent, aiming not only for precision but also the care and well-being of their woolly partners.
Come and be entranced by the mesmerising swirl of wool, the hum of the shears, and the palpable tension of competitors vying for the title of the show’s first-ever shearing champion.
A professional shearer is skilled and careful – one shearer can shear a sheep in less than 2 minutes!
Read all about sheep shearing and the Wool Village in our interview with Matt Cradock, the local sheep farmer who is chairman of the G&S sheep section.

SEE THEM – The Wool Village:
Both days, from 10am onwards through the day
(*TOP TIP – Don’t miss the fancy dress shearing at 4pm on Thursday!)

The Lightning Bolts Army Parachute Display Team
Following the excitement of last year’s display, one of the world’s most experienced operational deployment teams – the Lightning Bolt Army Parachute Display Team – will once again be jumping into the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show!
They had just one day’s space in their schedule, so Wednesday visitors will have the treat of seeing the dynamic military freefall team – watch them fly into the ring with smoke and flags!

SEE THEM – Gritchie Brewing Co Main Ring:
Wednesday 1:45am

The Grand Parade of Livestock returns to the Main Ring!
Agriculture has always been the heart of the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show, and following it’s reintroduction last year after a 15 year absence, the Grand Parade of Livestock, sponsored by Strutt & Parker and the Environmental Farmer’s Group, will proudly return to the Gritchie Brewing Company Main Ring this year.
At 3pm watch as all of the days champions, prize-winning livestock parade around the ring – and this year the Heavy Horses will be joining in!
We promise it is a spectacle not to be missed.

SEE THEM – Gritchie Brewing Co Main Ring:
Both days, 3pm

PIRELY, Ian Robert

By

Editorial team

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22 August 2023

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Formerly of Wincanton. Passed away peacefully on 10th August surrounded by his loving family

Aged 91 years

Much loved Husband, Father, Grandfather and Great Grandfather.

Funeral has already taken place.

Donations if desired to be sent directly to the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund

A Night of Romance and Scandal with Author Sophie Irwin

By

Editorial team

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22 August 2023

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Sherborne’s Sunday Times bestselling author Sophie Irwin invites you to an evening of love, literature, and questionable conduct as she presents her latest novel, A Lady’s Guide to Scandal, at a launch event on Monday 4th September at Castle Gardens. The evening will feature an exclusive interview, conducted by fellow romance author Lulu Taylor, as Sophie shares the scandal surrounding her fictional character, Eliza the Countess of Somerset. Caught between two men, Eliza’s story is a passionate exploration of love and intrigue in a world filled with opulence and decadence.
The daughter of The Gardens Group’s owners, Mike and Louise Burks, Sophie’s passion for period research shines through the pages of this sequel to A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting; it’s another delightful, escapist Regency romance.
The event promises more than just a glimpse into the world of Sophie’s characters; it’s an invitation to experience the allure of historical romance, accompanied by free refreshments provided by The Walled Garden Restaurant. Following the interview, attendees will have the opportunity to have their books signed by Sophie.
Tickets are priced at only £2 and are available for purchase at Winstone’s Books on Cheap Street and at Castle Gardens in Sherborne.
Doors will open at 6:30pm

There’s a dead cat, and it smells of carbon

By

Editorial team

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21 August 2023

0

The ‘Rishi Sunak helicoptering in to announce a carbon-capture project hypocrisy’ is a fine dead cat of a story.
Cynically positioned alongside news of his first family holiday abroad in four years, it’s clear that many ordinary holidaymakers in the same position will feel some sympathy for him. But it’s pure distraction.
The real story is Sunak’s decision to grant 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences – demonstrating an ongoing investment by the government in irreversible damage to the planet.
Firstly, 80 per cent of North Sea oil is exported. If we needed more, there’s clearly enough existing supply; simply redirect it to the domestic market.
And as for the gas – this was not, as advertised, a move that will ease household energy bills. Before the war in Ukraine, Russia provided just four per cent of the UK’s gas (most of it comes from Norway). Prices rose due to the war in Ukraine because they’re set by global traders. Will more gas from the North Sea mean cheaper domestic fuel bills? Unlikely. Rishi Sunak can’t force the licensees – many backed by multi-national companies – to sell it at a discounted price in the UK. They trade at the international prices.
In the face of this tidal wave of environmental vandalism, the announcement of the new carbon-capture project in St Fergus, Aberdeenshire, is like offering an egg cup to bail out an already-sinking ship.
In the same week that the Met Office announced that last year’s 40º-plus UK heatwave will be considered on the cool side within a few decades, and the UN declared July 2023 to be the hottest month in human history, the Tories are clearly not taking climate change seriously enough.
In light of this decision – and others like it – the UK’s Net Zero by 2050 target seems increasingly unachievable.
Meanwhile the recently reinforced commitment to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 seems more and more likely to buckle under pressure from the loony libertarian wing of the Tory Party that is really running the show.
Sunak’s commitment to meet our net zero target in a “pragmatic and proportionate way” but without “unnecessarily adding costs and burdens to families” is also a nonsense.
Even his own party chairman has admitted that his current policy will not take a penny off household bills. And neither will a continued commitment to oil and gas do anything to mitigate our reliance on fossil fuel oligarchs and dictators who do not share our democratic values.
Pat Osborne
North Dorset Labour