No Suitcase
Dad left home without his suitcase.
One dull and sunless day.
Quietly with soothing wings did he slip away through that portal invisible.
We his family left behind.
Memories aloud, laughter and fun, sighs, a joke.
The calm of wisdom given with love over time.
Gone to re-join your loved ones there, awaiting the day we leave our suitcases behind.
In Loving Memory of a dear Husband and Father, 6th April 2014.
Hugely missed by many.
Beryl Valteris (née Brown), aged 95, passed away peacefully at Dorset County Hospital on 16th March 2022.
Loving wife of the late Francis and mother to twin sons Peter and Paul and daughter in law’s Leesa and Catherine.
Born in Charlton Musgrove but lived in Blandford for over 70 years.
Much loved and will be sadly missed.
Cremation to take place at Salisbury Crematorium on Monday 11 April 2022 at 11am.
No flowers but donations if desired to Cancer Research UK c/o Colin J Close Funeral Directors, Peel Close, Salisbury Road, Blandford, DT11 7JU.
Dorset Council has approved a change of use application for Twisted Cider to develop a farm building at Spring Farm off Bradford Lane in Longburton near Sherborne. The building is part of Ben Weller’s Twisted Cider premises, and the change of use will cover new cider ‘experiences’ for groups of up to 20 people.
The business has operated from the farm for ten years, but suffered a devastating fire in 2020 in which
it lost equipment and stock. The past two years have been a “real struggle” says Ben Waller, with sales
dropping by 94% The new premises will be 14sqm larger than previously, allowing the business to expand.
Objections by neighbours
Dorset Council approved the change of use application despite some objections, which included neighbours who claim that the proposal amounts to “industrial development by the back door”. Part of the application includes the approval of 12 parking space on the site, and another objection states:
“This is the wrong operation in the wrong place, which will adversely affect neighbours with increased traffic
and influx of too many people to an area of quiet residential properties. Bradford Lane is unsuitable for the type of traffic which this operation will generate.” A planning officer report agreed that the proposal will
generate additional traffic along Bradford Lane, but that ‘the Local Authority cannot object and considers
the proposal does not represent a material harm’.
Business community support
Ben Weller’s application also received numerous letters of support from within the local business community, including the President of Sherborne’s Chamber of Commerce Jane Wood “Mr Weller is an active member of the community, supplying many local businesses and participating in markets and
events in the town and I support his application to develop his business”
Another supporter stated the principle should be to encourage rural businesses to diversify “On-farm
marketing is now a firmly established practice in the UK and is a very natural extension to a farm business
… The addition of an associated sales outlet has been permitted almost universally across the UK cider
industry and forms a vital economic component of such an enterprise. Rural business development in
Dorset deserves support …”
A similarly supportive letter points out that the proposed development plans “llustrate increased distance from previous to proposed location in relation to the nearest residential neighbours … noise impact from Twisted Cider shall be reduced if the proposed location is awarded. Entrance to the proposed car park is also … further away from neighbours driveways.”
New business plans
The new ‘cider experience’ classes will involve visitors cider and juice making, orchard management and the
history of West Dorset ciders. Ben says he intends to open for three extra hours on Fridays and Saturdays, compared to the previous hours (9am to 9pm Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sundays). A further planning condition restricts any outside use to take place to the west and south of the building with a further condition prohibiting outdoor music. The ‘impact on neighbour amenity’ is considered acceptable.
IT is all too easy to imagine that exciting contemporary visual art is only available in big cities – and certainly in this region there is a lot of challenging, cutting edge artwork happening in Bristol. As well as the international Hauser & Wirth arts centre at Bruton and Messums in the Tisbury tithe barn, there are a small number of experienced curators, who are also bringing outstanding work to galleries in unexpected places.
Sladers Yard, a former ropeworks in West Bay – famous for its cute food cabins and the dramatic fossil-rich cliffs – hosts exhibitions by some of the country’s leading painters, ceramicists and sculptors, alongside furniture by the resident designer-maker Petter Southall.
In a farmyard at Child Okeford, Kelly Ross shows work by leading artists of the past 100 years at The Art Stable at Gold Hill Organic Farm – most recently lockdown paintings by one of Britain’s finest portrait artists, Michael Taylor, marking his 70th birthday (see BV, Feb ‘22 issue, p.26).
The Slade Centre, in The Square at Gillingham, in an impressive Edwardian building that was once a department story, shows work by some of the region’s most talented contemporary artists. It was founded by its director, Anne Hitchcock, who was ECO of Wimborne’s Walford Mill Crafts for some years, after an MA at Falmouth and studying at Winchester School of Art.
Recent exhibitions have featured multi-media work (photographs, collages, sketches) by Kirsten Palmer and paintings by Ursula Leach, whose powerful, semi-abstract landscapes often have a provocative environmental message.
Originally on the first floor, the gallery has moved to the lighter and more visitor-friendly ground floor. There is also a cafe which serves a range of teas, great barista-style coffee, supplied by Reads Coffee Roasters of Sherborne, milk from Madjeston Milk Station, pastries and sausage rolls from Somerset’s Lievito Bakery, and
cakes by Sam Ross’s Gillingham- based Lavender Blue bakery.
Impressions
The new exhibition at The Slade Centre, running from 2nd April to 7th May, is Impressions, with work by four North Dorset-based artists, painters Eric Bailey and Jane Barnard, printmaker Victoria Garland and ceramicist Caroline Hughes. The work on show reflects the individual responses of the four artists to wildlife, landscapes and coastlines. The works, through shape, colour, mood, glaze and texture, convey their
impressions of the diversity in the world around us.
The Slade Centre also offers a range of facilities from office suites and meeting rooms to art classes and exhibition space – call 01747 821480.
by Fanny Charles
As children, we talk about what we want to be ‘when we grow up’. It’s a dream of the future, something we can put off for years before it becomes a reality. The majority of us have no idea what the future actually holds. But for a lucky few, it’s a straightforward answer: having spent her childhood in Purbeck exploring the stunning natural habitats and wildlife around her and painting what she could see, Maria Burns was never in any doubt about what she would do.
We chatted in the garden of her home near Wareham, in the “sanctuary” of her beautiful studio: “My father was a policeman. He joined the force at the age of 15 and was posted to Wareham when I was four: I get my strong work ethic from him.
Getting a ‘proper job’
“As children we went on lots of walks. We spent all our childhood on the beaches, looking in rock pools and developing an interest in nature. “I had a friend whose father was an ecologist and we made a little museum in his garage out of our collections of fossils and old bird’s nest. We used to charge the neighbours to come
and look! I was always drawing at school and would get told off for doodling all the time.”
Despite her father’s misgivings about her earning ability and the need for a ‘proper job’, she went on to train as a natural history illustrator at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design. On leaving college, Maria worked as a graphic designer for Poole Tourism, which “gave me a good grounding”.
She subsequently set up Maria Burns Illustration & Design and now has 30 years of freelance illustration and graphic design experience behind her.
From nature to Gromit
Rather than work in London (as most illustrators do), Maria is at home in the Purbecks, where the variety of coast and countryside provides her with everything she needs for inspiration: “It just feels right being here.” she says. Maria’s talent and versatility enable her to be involved in a huge range of fascinating projects and her body of work incorporates a variety of styles.
As well as the more traditional watercolour natural history and historical illustrations, she ranges from decorative bold images using mixed media collage techniques to, more recently, digitally produced artwork.
In Bristol, the Wallace and Gromit Grand Appeal “Gromit Unleashed 2” Public Art Trail featured Maria as one of the official artists who decorated the Shaun the Sheep figures and other Gromit characters.
The Trail featured giant fibreglass sculptures which were positioned in high footfall and iconic locations around Bristol and the surrounding area.
Maria’s ‘Tropi-canis’ Gromit (above) , sponsored by the House of Fraser, raised £37,000 for Bristol Children’s
Hospital. The model was “filled with zingy colours, sweet fruits, agile flamingos, and a friendly toucan, to provide a dash of the Caribbean’!” There is also a T-shirt, which comes with a set of pens for children to colour him in “It was a wonderful project to be part of,” chuckled Maria, “But it began to get out of control when I had endless animals delivered to the house. The worst part was when my husband came home
from work to find, in the lounge, two life-size rhinos that I was painting for Paignton Zoo and two Aardman animation ducks in the kitchen! I didn’t have my own space at the time so the animals had to be in the house. At that point my husband decided to build my studio. He thought it was the end of the animals – but
I had to tell him that I’d also agreed to do an elephant, anotter, a pig and a giant bear …
These have been lovely projects to be part of because so much money has been raised for charity and wildlife causes.”
Boards and books
Maria has ‘found her niche’ by combining all her interests, skills and knowledge to specialise in producing
natural history and interpretation boards sited on footpaths, nature reserves and historical sites. Working with the Broadstone Neighbourhood Forum to create five large interpretation boards detailing the history and natural history of Broadstone Village was a year- long project and involved a huge amount of research before she could start the design and illustration.
There are now interpretation boards at various locations in Dorset including Holton Heath Station and the Wareham Walls Trail – it gives Maria great pleasure to walk past and see visitors reading the information.
One of my own favourite summer walks is along the Priest’s Way from Worth Matravers to Swanage
(included in the BV’s stunning coastal walk featured in the January issue here). Little did I know that it was Maria who had designed the waymarkers, leaflets and information boards along the route.
A regular contract involves painting stunning illustrations in The English Garden magazine for garden landscaper and writer Non Morris’s monthly column; and an exciting current project in Maria’s busy timetable is to design dust jackets and illustrations for successful novelist Rachel McLean, whose six books in the Dorset Crime series include The Corfe Castle Murders and The Fossil Beach Murders.
Maria feels that her already- wide-ranging skills are constantly adapting and changing; she is always learning.
Where to find Maria’s work
Purbeck Arts Week (28th May – 12th June) will involve a joint exhibition at Rollington Barn. Maria’s work can also be found at Purbeck Artisan Yard, Wareham. A visit to her Etsy shop gives an idea of what will be on show – you can purchase Maria’s most popular designs on prints, illustrated maps, greetings cards, cushion covers and even a mindfulness book – ‘Unclouding – Clearing the Way to a Brighter Outlook’ – something we can all hope for at the moment.
Interview by Edwina Baines [email protected]
Love Local Trust Local (LLTL) is a Dorset-based not-for-profit organisation, focused on developing an accreditation mark which truly supports local farmers, fishermen, growers and small independent producers.
The LLTL initiative arose due to concerns over the integrity of food labelling in the UK – allowing the consumer to understand how their food has been farmed, processed and packed – and is driven by the belief that all farmers and producers should be working to the same ethical and welfare standards. The Cossins family are fifth generation farmers, and when they open their gates for Open Farm Sunday they take the opportunity to talk to as many people as possible about the food they eat. Visitors love knowing the story of their food, the miles it has travelled and that they are buying & eating genuine local produce. But the most – repeated question is always “how do we know that the food we buy every week really is what it says it is?”.
“We should all be concerned about lower quality food imports, and low standards of animal welfare.” says LLTL founder Barbara Cossins “We should all be supporting – and promoting – locally and ethically produced food. Current food labelling, even the Red Tractor symbol, aren’t stringent nor transparent enough. It is time for a fresh initiative which endorses high ethical standards, full provenance and complete traceability.”
The ‘Love Local Trust Local’ scheme aims to educate consumers on how to trust food labelling – where to look, what it really means and why shopping local matters. Alongside this, LLTL helps farmers and growers promote their produce across their locality. It is all about Quality, Honesty and Proximity.
LLTL is growing quickly and has already run two highly successful Love Local Trust Local annual food awards (see the website for the latest information on the upcoming 2022 awards www.lovelocaltrustlocalawards.co.uk). Many local companies are now supporting these important
local awards, keen to be associated with the scheme.
The LLTL team would love the opportunity to talk to you, and explore ways in which your business can benefit from being associated with this critical initiative and the positive profile it is generating. There are a number of ways in which anyone can get involved – do just give us a call on 07831 184920 or email Barbara at [email protected]
There are 14 LLTL 2022 award categories:
• Dairy
• Cheese
• Honey
• Jams
• Chutneys & Condiments
• Meat
• Fish
• Bakery (Sweet)
• Bakery (Savoury)
• Farm Shops
• Drinks
• Innovation & Diversification
• Conservation & Environmental Impact
• Business Development Award
Sponsored by: Blanchards Bailey – Law for Life
Blanchards Bailey are a Dorset based law firm specialising in commercial and private law. Recognised by the Legal 500 as one of the top firms in the south west.
Deputy Pre–School Manager
Grade 13, scale point 6 Hourly rate: £10.38 £16,577 per annum Hours: 35
Monday – Friday 8am – 3.30pm Term time plus 2 weeks
An exciting opportunity to join the strong team at Milborne Port Primary School and help shape the future of our early year’s provision.
The school governors are looking to appoint a Deputy Pre-School Manager to work alongside the Manager at The Beeches Pre-School from September 2022.
Applicants must be committed to creating an exceptional learning environment that offers the best for every child and meets all the aims of Milborne Port Primary School.
Please contact the School Business Manager Claire Brown on: [email protected] for an application form and job description.
Closing date: Monday 25th April 2022
Interviews: Week beginning 3rd May 2022
All completed applications should be returned to the school email address above.
Milborne Port Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share in this commitment.
This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check and medical clearance.
Key Stage 2 Class Teacher
(Maternity Cover)
Fixed Term, Full Time
From: September 2022 – May 2023 or on return of the post holder. Salary Range: MPS/UPS
The Headteacher and Governors are seeking to appoint an enthusiastic and inspirational Key Stage 2 class teacher to join our team and provide maternity cover.
The successful candidate will:
In return we can offer a warm, friendly and growing school with hardworking and well- behaved children, dedicated and supportive staff and governors, and opportunities for continual professional development.
Milborne Port Primary School is maintained by Somerset County Council. It serves a community of almost 3,000 and the number on roll is currently 162. In summer 2017 its Ofsted inspection resulted in confirmation of the previous ‘good’ judgement.
Milborne Port Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share in this commitment. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check.
Visits to the school are welcome, please telephone the school office to arrange a suitable time and date. For an application form and recruitment pack, please contact Mrs S Stephenson, [email protected].
All applications should be completed electronically and returned to Mrs S Stephenson, [email protected]
Start Date: September 2022
Closing Date: Midday on Friday 22nd April 2022
Interviews: week begining 3rd May 2022
I was a teenager in an age before Netflix and other streaming platforms, and my evenings were spent consuming whatever the BBC decided to produce and release on BBC Three. I was exactly their target audience, so for me, the channel was great.
I was excited then to hear the channel had relaunched recently (the BBC bigwigs opted to move its content online in 2016). There have been multiple complaints that the channel is predominantly showing old reruns, but I was pleased to see in the TV guide that there was some original content targeted at farmers.
That was, however, until I watched it.
Top Gear meets Countryfile?
‘The Fast & The Farmerish’ was painful viewing, to say the least. Radio 4’s Farming Today program had described it as ‘Top Gear meets Countryfile’, but I would say it had all the farming content of Countryfile (not much) and the (lack of) humour and excitement of Chris Evans’ short-lived Top Gear era.
The show consists of two teams going head-to-head in tractor driving challenges; it’s essentially Scrapheap Challenge, but with none of the mechanical intellect or entertainment.
I’ll be honest – the first episode was such awful viewing that I have only actually watched 30 minutes of the whole series.
The pain was partly down to the farmers featured on that first episode; the ladies’ team called The Diva Drivers took on three of the most insufferable lads from Somerset, calling themselves The Check Shirt Choppers, with hair cuts that suggest Covid lockdowns sent all their local barbers into permanent closure.
Dullness in a tractor
Frankly, the show was never going to work. As I have mentioned previously (see ‘it’s officially the most dangerous industry’ from The BV Sep 21), farming is the UK’s most dangerous industry to work in. I think the BBC knew that they couldn’t be encouraging young kids to jump London buses in their Dad’s 1980s Massey
Ferguson. So instead the show is a procession of boring tasks like reversing, or driving through water. Simply dull viewing. Looking at the positives, I have a lot of time and respect for the show’s presenter Tom Pemberton. His YouTube channel ‘Tom Pemberton Farm Life’ is well worth a follow if you are actually
looking for decent, informative agricultural content.
I am unsure how much creative control he has on the show, but I hope he had nothing to do with the naming of it at least; without a doubt the worst name for a show I’ve ever heard. I encourage the work of the BBC
and implore them to keep shaking the agricultural tree – there is some decent content ripe for eating.
The world of farming is filled with weird and interesting characters; there’s something about the isolation of agriculture or the abundance of fresh air that breeds a special type of human that the world wants to see.
Be prepared for a lot more, too – Clarkson’s Farm began a TV renaissance for the countryside.
But not everything will be the next Mona Lisa… I think the Fast and the Farmerish proved that.
by Andrew Livingston
Sponsored by: Trethowans – Law as it should be
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