For those days when you want something sweet with your coffee, but you don’t quite want a big slice of cake, these little biscotti are the perfect treat. Traditionally biscotti are a little Italian biscuit, baked twice to make them wonderfully crisp. They are literally designed to dip into your coffee (or hot chocolate, of course), and they make a lovely not- too-sweet treat. I’ve used pistachios and cranberries here, but you can substitute those ingredients for any dried fruit or nuts. I have made these simply with whole almonds and a little almond extract, and they are delicious with a freshly made espresso. Heather x
Ingredients
200g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
200g Caster Sugar
50g Ground Almonds
200g Pistachios
100g Cranberries
2-3 eggs
a little white chocolate
Preheat the oven to 160º fan/gas 3.
Grease and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, sugar, ground almonds,pistachios and cranberries.
Gently beat together the three eggs. Add this to the dry mixture until you form a soft dough. This will likely take all three eggs, but you don’t want the dough to be too sticky. You can also add a little almond extract or vanilla extract here if you wish.
Place the dough onto the baking tray and pat or roll into a large rectangle about 1cm high. It doesn’t need to be too perfect and can taper at the sides slightly.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes and then remove from the oven and leave on a cooling rack to cool.
Reduce the oven temperature to 145º fan/gas 2.
Once cool, gently remove from the baking parchment the baked dough and then using a serrated knife, cut the baked dough rectangle into 1 cm slices. Place the slices back onto the baking tray, cut side facing up.
Bake in the oven again for a further 20-30 minutes until slightly golden and crisp. Once baked, transfer to a cooling tray.
If desired, melt the white chocolate and drizzle over the cooled biscotti to finish.
Heather Brown is on the committee of the Guild of Food Writers; a home economist with a passion for Dorset’s brilliant foodie scene. Heather runs Dorset Foodie Feed, championing Dorset’s food and drink businesses, as well as working with her food industry clients
100% employee-owned Rubicon recruitment consultancy – one of just four in the UK – has traded successfully for 40 years.
Rubicon’s founder and current MD of Rubicon People Partnership, Lloyd Banks commented: “Supporting local businesses with recruitment solutions for 40 years from May, we’re also about to celebrate Rubicon’s first year of 100% employee ownership.” With a combined experience of over 130 years of recruitment industry experience, Rubicon’s senior management team have reflected on the changes they’ve witnessed:
• “Employee’s expectations have changed. A competitive salary used to be enough to entice a ‘talented’ candidate. Candidates we speak to, especially millennials, now expect much more. Those employers embracing flexible working, as well as a suite of attractive benefits, ‘out-recruit’ and ‘out-retain’ their competitors.” Jessica Comolly-Jones, Director. • “Tech has become a gamechanger. Securing a physical presence at local events used to be of paramount importance. Now it is secondary to an appropriately targeted social media and web presence.” Terry Porter, Director. • “Paper based applications, multiple-paged Thursday newspaper supplements, job centre careers fairs etc. have given into online applications/inductions/tests, website pre-selections and video interviewing.” Tina Perry, Director.
The 2022 market When asked about the challenges hiring managers face today, Lloyd said “post Brexit and Lockdowns, the availability of ‘talented’ people significantly reduced, and employers continue to struggle to find talented people at many levels, and in many sectors. Job seeker numbers are increasing, many individuals don’t have the experience, and/or skills, and/or qualifications, and/or attitudes necessary to meeting employers’ needs.”
Fourteen of The Blandford School staff set off to complete the 3 Peaks Challenge this month – climbing and descending the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales in under 24 hours. Their challenge officially began with the ascent of Ben Nevis at 1pm on Wednesday 20th April. In glorious weather the team reached the snow- covered peak at 1:45pm, before returning to the bus and travelling to Scafell Pike in the Lake District.
The 14-strong team that completed the 3 Peak Challenge
The second 978m climb started at midnight; it was tricky with a howling wind most of the way up. The team kept close together to ensure everyone stayed safe, but successfully completed the trip just after 5am. The third climb was Snowdon – and another glorious day for the final 1,085m climb, but the team didn’t begin until 10:21am. The time looked very tight, so the team decided to split up and allow colleagues to complete the mountain at their own pace, with the hope of some being able to get to the top in under 24 hours, and others being able to make it up and down. The first four members of the team made it back to the car park at 12:51pm. They were quickly followed by two others, all completing the challenge just inside the 24 hours. The rest of the team successfully made it to the top and back down again. Trip organiser, Mr Niall Clinton (Head of year 7 and 9) commented “It’s been a real team effort from both the climbers and the members of staff who helped with the organisation of accommodation, travel and fundraising. The student body have been supporting our efforts and credit needs to go to our Senior Students, including our prefect team, for this. We are so pleased that we’ve been able to raise money and awareness for two such worthy causes.” Everyone involved would like to say a huge thank you to Riverside Travel for the use of their bus, and everyone who sponsored the event; so far over £2,700 has been raised for the two charities (Blandford Foodbank and MYTIME Young Carers). https://gofund.me/67260be6
Rural crimes can be violent, costly and yet are often misunderstood, requiring an entire community approach reports Andrew Livingston.
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For over two and a half years Police Constable Sebastian Haggett has been deterring and solving rural crime in Dorset, including many ‘Hot Fuzz’ moments such as hiding in bushes for poachers. In North Dorset, a lot of the Rural Crime Team (RCT) time is spent hunting poachers who engage in the illegal activity of hare coursing, whereby individuals trespass on private land with vehicles and dogs to chase, catch and kill brown hare, causing serious damage to land and crops. Speaking with the BV magazine, the 31-year-old police constable explained why North Dorset is a prime location for hare coursing. ‘“’The north and east of Dorset see increased levels of activity because of the large flat open fields favoured by brown hare.’ For two years now, Operation Galileo has been in effect nationwide to clamp down on hare poaching; the operation involves sharing intelligence between different forces. PC Haggett states that Dorset police works closely with Hampshire and Wiltshire. “In January 2022 we conducted a joint evening operation with Hampshire and Wiltshire Police which saw the arrest of two individuals for poaching and a vehicle seized in Dorset.
New laws include jail time New laws have recently been emplaced to further clamp down on the illegal activity. The changes, which came into effect on the 28th of April, mean that poachers found guilty can now face up to six months in jail. Nine days prior to the changes in law, three men from Essex and one from Cambridgeshire pleaded guilty to the charges of trespassing in the pursuit of game after being caught by the Rural Crime Team in North Dorset. In total, the four men were fined £3,255 in the Poole Magistrates Court on April 19th. “We are committed to working with our rural communities as well as our national and local partners and take reports of this nature seriously. In this case, we were able to detain the offenders at the scene and subsequently bring them before the courts.” Since 2020, there has been a 20% reduction in rural crime. The Dorset Constable believes that this is due to much better cooperation with more than just other police forces. “In the case of fly-tipping, we work with the Council to share intelligence on top offenders. I can’t go into the specifics of the tactics being used, but we are seeing positive outcomes from that effective working partnership.” Constable Haggett went on to explain the difference in working within the RCT as opposed to the neighbourhood units. He said: “In the RCT our base is to look at agricultural, heritage, wildlife and waste crime. However we will sometimes investigate other elements if our ‘core offenders’ are involved in that area of criminality. This allows us to disrupt and deter those repeat offenders.”
Sharing their stories Under 20% of the UK population lives in rural areas and that, coupled with the fact that only 1.7% of the UK workforce is in agriculture, contributes to a lack of public awareness of crimes that affect the countryside. Despite this, PC Haggett believes that there is a growing awareness of rural crime and its effects. He went on to say: “there is a growing number of Rural Crime Teams being created nationally, charities such as Crimestoppers are running rural-crime-specific campaigns, and there is even a university course around rural and environmental crime. “We are keen to share the stories of farmers to help increase public awareness of rural crime. On Facebook we have used #ruralcrimestories to publish stories allowing the victim to share with members of the public what had occurred. One of the important roles of the Dorset Rural Crime Team is to prevent crimes from occurring in the first place. The four men arrested and charged in Poole in April were caught due to a report from a civilian who noticed suspicious activity. “It is important to report all incidents of rural crime, but also any suspicious incidents. The latter often remains unreported, but is important; they can be the ‘final piece’ in the puzzle we need to take action against a suspect.
Partnership with farmers “Intelligence is the lifeblood of our work, telling us who is causing the most harm and where these incidents are happening.” Constable Haggett and the rest of the team also work with farmers to help ensure that everything is being done on farms to prevent thefts from occurring. “Should a farmer want to have a free crime prevention survey they can get in contact. I would also advise any rural business or farmer to make sure they are signed up to Farmwatch so they know what is happening locally – this may include suspicious vehicles to look out for.”
Rural Crime Stories:
“I want to remain anonymous because I don’t want poachers to know this is me talking and target my land in the future. The truth is, I must speak out and I am glad to have this opportunity to do so. The modern day ‘poacher’ is not trying to feed their family. They used to drive across my crops night after night, destroying hedges, gates and anything else that came into their path. They did so under the cover of darkness, their acts shielded by the remoteness of the farm.
Dorset Rural Crime Team
My fields had become a playground for the most barbaric and pointless crimes where they would film their activities, sharing them live to others who would be betting on the outcome – what dog will get the kill? How long will it take? Who will get the deer with the biggest antlers? It wasn’t just about the economic loss. It was truly barbaric how some of these animals were killed. When it was at its worse, in my frustration, I blamed the authorities and felt helpless.
Rural Crime Stories:
“I am a sheep farmer. I often do a 14 hour day with early starts, seven days a week… I am always ‘on call’ to tend and look after my livestock. I have been a victim to livestock theft on a number of occasions. How does that make me feel? Angry, to tell you the truth. When you spend a good portion of your life rearing livestock, to have them stolen feels personal – this job is part of everything I am. I think sometimes people don’t understand rural crime, especially those not involved in the agricultural sector. That’s why its so great to be able to highlight ‘our side’ of the story. The last time I had sheep stolen the police put out a public appeal on social media. I read some of the comments and it shocked me. One suggested the crime hadn’t happened, that this was just an insurance claim because the offence timeframe was wide. I think they didn’t realise that whilst I count my sheep on a regular basis, I cant count them everyday! If you owned hundreds of sheep in a field, would you notice 20 missing straight away? Likewise people always suggest investing in crime prevention; of course it’s important but I think people need to understand how this is difficult for farmers. The idea that a farmhouse is situated in the middle of its land is not always a reality. Farmers often have fields dotted in multiple areas, making watching over it difficult. Likewise, securing all the access points to stop vehicles is both costly and difficult, especially if you are a tenant farmer and the land you are investing in is not yours!
I can strive for strong perimeter fencing, but what I can’t do is turn our fields into a fortress. Not only is ease of access important for farm vehicles, its also important to keep bridleways and footpaths open so others can enjoy the countryside. In the past I have had secure metal gates simply rammed by suspected poachers, and fences have been cut. When this happens, I wake to find my livestock all over the place, walking in roads and causing a danger to road users and themselves. Its important we share our stories and talk about it. It’s important people understand. When we understand it, we can tackle it.
Swift donations from Dorset businesses lead to a successful auction raising £11,242 for the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Appeal.
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Items donated for the auction bids included signed AFC Bournemouth shirts, VIP tickets to the Bournemouth Air Festival, holidays and hotel stays, surf lessons, a laptop, signed cricket bat, an Audi A5 cabriolet for the weekend, lunches, dinners, afternoon teas, fashionwear, events tickets, hampers and more. Chamber CEO Ian Girling said: “The money raised will help save lives and relieve the suffering of people fleeing this horrific war. It is easy to feel powerless in such situations but this is a way of really making a difference.” TV personality Martin Roberts and Dorset businessman Paul Tansey met at a refugee camp while on separate mercy missions delivering medicines, supplies and emergency relief. Martin, star of TV’s Homes under the Hammer, and former chamber president Paul spoke at an emotionally charged opening of bids in the auction.
You’re not the same guy Paul, chief executive of the Intergage Group, travelled to the border to deliver aid after linking up with the From Bournemouth to Ukraine charity. He told of his experiences at the border with some ‘heroic’ volunteers helping refugees and risking their lives to drive aid into Ukraine, as well as some horrific stories of children travelling alone to Poland and others dying overnight while queuing at the border. He added: “You’re not the same guy when you come back after seeing those lives in bits. “What Dorset Chamber has done really does matter and really will make a difference.” Martin added “I saw children exactly like my son and daughter who had lost absolutely everything. It just strikes you in the face. People are crossing the border not knowing anything about what is ahead of them and what the rest of their life holds. “They arrive at the refugee centre and are wrapped in so much love and support – and that is where what we are doing makes so much difference. “it will help save lives but also lets them know that the world hasn’t forgotten about them.”
The whole of Pamphill First School decamped to the nearby church for its annual Easter service.
Rev Suzie Allen and headteacher Mike Wheeler at the back, with pupils and their bonnets
The school near Wimborne has around 70 pupils who made traditional bonnets to wear. Reverend Suzie Allen led the service in St Stephen’s Church at which the children sang hymns enthusiastically. Afterwards all the pupils took part in an Easter bonnet parade in front of their parents – with medals given out by headteacher Mike Wheeler. He said: “Following all the Covid disruption it was great to have the whole school in church for the traditional Easter service. “Afterwards the wonderful Parent Teacher and Friends Association (PTFA) sold tea, coffee and cakes to raise funds. It was a lovely service during which we were reminded of the true meaning of this Christian festival.” Wimborne Academy Trust’s CEO Liz West said: “This looked like a great last day of term and the bonnets all look wonderful.”
A wonderful new country life focusing on home-grown produce and beautiful food could have been shattered by the death of a son. But the family have strained every sinew to wrestle good from the tragedy, says Rachael Rowe.
Archie, aged seven, already showing a love of cooking
When Patty Lowe and her family moved to a large house in Woolland with a traditional Victorian greenhouse and an acre to grow vegetables, it inspired a journey of creating nutritious recipes. Over ten years, Patty and daughter Gertie tested and refined family favourites while husband Gordon provided technical know-how. Twins Archie and Jamie loved trying the various creations emerging from the kitchen, with Archie helping with preparation and cooking. So that her children could use the recipes at university, Patty uploaded them to a website. However, son Archie, 21, insisted the photography should be better and set about creating beautiful images of the feasts made in the Lowe kitchen. He used the garden and a small studio he set up in the house, saying, “The pictures should make people feel hungry, Mum!” On 8 September 2020, all that changed. Archie went off to work in a local racing yard as usual, and later that morning, Patty got a phone call. There had been an accident. Archie had been tragically killed in a horse- riding accident on Okeford Hill. Everything the family knew and loved about life was blown apart. ‘It is a beautiful place,’ Patty reflects, ‘and for someone who loved life as Archie did, I cannot think of a more beautiful place to spend your last moments.’
Archie with Manni, ‘the ugliest pony in Britain’ with whom Archie went on to trial for the Great Britain team and was recognised as one of the best young riders in the country.
Ugly pony, best pony Archie had been passionate about horses from the age of ten. Patty smiles as she reminisces: “He got the ugliest pony to ride. It had a wall-eye, and he called it the Cow (it was called Manni), but he loved it so much. And he went on to trial for the Great Britain team and was recognised as one of the best young riders in the country. In fact, people talk at Pony Club of how the ugliest pony in Britain went on to be the best in the country. “And Archie was always so positive. He would always say hello to people or say what a nice dog they had.”
As Patty and her family were dealing with the aftermath of Archie’s death, friends suggested pouring their energies into a fundraising cookbook of their family recipes. More than 100 recipes were selected, all illustrated with Archie’s photography. Sea bass receipe image Archie Lowe
That cookbook! As Patty and her family were dealing with the aftermath of Archie’s death, friends suggested she create a cookbook. More than 100 recipes were selected and illustrated with Archie’s photography. Tempting dishes such as mushroom risotto with peperonata, courgette and walnut bake (just in time for summer gluts), and pork with chilli burst from the pages. For the last two years of his life, Archie was vegetarian, so there is a large selection of plant-based ideas. Poignantly, delicious-looking doughnuts are on the back cover, but there is no recipe in the book. Patty explains: “Archie wanted to make doughnuts just like Krispy Kremes and mastered a technique. Each Friday, he made them and took them to work for colleagues but never told us the recipe.” All the proceeds from A Dorset Kitchen are going to two charities. The Air Ambulance that tried so hard to save Archie is one beneficiary. In addition, the Archie Lowe Foundation has been established to support young riders, especially boys, to learn riding skills. The Archie and Manni Bursary will help people who might not otherwise have been able to pursue their dream of riding. It is a partnership award in collaboration with West Wilts British Eventing with the first prize of £1,000. Does Patty have a favourite recipe? “Chicken lasagna. And Archie loved the Pad Thai.”
A Dorset Kitchen recipe for vegetarian stuffed peppers – a simple risotto packed with veggies spooned into baked peppers image Archie Lowe
Sold out The book sold out all 1,000 copies within six weeks. More have been printed as word gets out of how good the book is (the recipes are easy to follow and delicious, by the way). I’m curious as to how the book is helping Patty and the family begin to heal after such a tragic accident. “Just before I wake up each day, I wonder what to do. And then as I wake, I think, today I can do something good. I can do something good and help people. It is easy to sink into self-pity. If I can make this charity work and give a little bit of Archie to people, good can come from this, and the pain is eased.”
Archie with his much-loved Sura
To buy a copy of A Dorset Kitchen, visit www.adorsetkitchen.com. More events to support the Archie Lowe Foundation and Air Ambulance will be held in the near future.
Now it’s easy to think at first glance that this isn’t a particularly great image, but bear with me. The reason this is such an interesting photo is because a supernova (designated SN 2022 HRS) in this little region of space near M60 (NGC 4649) – which is an elliptical galaxy approximately 57 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo – suddenly became visible to us just a couple of weeks ago, around the 16th April. It is also worth bearing in mind that a single light year is around six trillion miles, so this galaxy is possibly the furthest object I’ve intended to capture to date! There are many other ‘faint fuzzies’ in this image, making up the Virgo supercluster which is a huge swarm of 2,000 galaxies in this region of space. The Supernova shown magnified in this image actually happened 63 million years ago. To put that into perspective, this star all the way across the universe exploded in the biggest explosions that we as humans know about – but it actually happened when the dinosaurs were still roaming the Earth. However, it only just became visible to us on a seemingly ordinary day a couple of weeks ago. More amazingly, we saw it, realised, and now astronomers all over the world just like me are imaging it themselves, just days after it became apparent to us. I find that truly incredible, and its why I love this hobby! This image was captured only nine days after the Supernova appeared, and was captured using my bigger Sky-watcher Newtonian Reflector Telescope and Cooled Astro Camera.
The night sky, May 2022 – Rob’s guide for your stargazing this month:
We are in the midst of galaxy season now, and with the lighter evenings extending, long nights shooting are becoming scarce. The nights are still packed with celestial events though, if you’re prepared to get up early enough to see them! Highlights include close conjunctions of some of our neighbouring planets, a total lunar eclipse, meteors from Halley’s Comet and a possible storm of shooting stars towards the end of the month! So, grab those binoculars or your telescope and get ready to set those alarm clocks. Also on display this month are the bright stars Vega and Arcturus; look towards Vega on a dark moonless night, and you may be able to make out a fuzzy patch. This is the Great Cluster M13 in Hercules. A closely knit globular cluster of around 1 million stars. That particular cluster may feature as next months image, if I can get a good shot of it!
What to look out for On the 6th of May, we’ll be treated to a display of shooting stars from the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Caused by tiny pieces of Halley’ Comets burning up in our atmosphere, you’ll need to look up in the early hours of the morning to catch the display. On the 13th May between 1:55 and 2:45am, the Moon moves in front of Porrima, a large star in the constellation Virgo. On the 16th May, there is the possibility of seeing a total lunar eclipse which should be visible from America, and parts of Europe and Africa. Here in the UK, the partial phase starts at 3:27am, reaching totality at 4:29am. Grab a pair of binoculars and look low towards the east to spot the crescent Moon sailing below Jupiter, Mars and Venus, on the respective nights of the 25th, 26th and 27th May. Another celestial event requiring an early dawn wake-up call! Before dawn on the 29th May, Mars passes below Jupiter, another one to observe with Binoculars. The second potential meteor shower on offer this month is provided courtesy of the debris from Comet Schwassam-Wachman-3, during the night of 31st May/1st June. This may produce a brief but intense storm of shooting stars, known as the Tau Herculid meteor shower, with the best views offered once again before dawn. The comet itself is still in the process of breaking up, a process which began when the comet first started to fracture in 1995.
by Rob Nolan – Find RPN Photography on Facebook here
Clayesmore is a wonderful school in which to work, with excellent facilities and a warm, supportive and happy atmosphere.
An enthusiastic, proactive and practical person is required from September 2022 to provide the skills and expertise to support teaching and learning within the vibrant DT department.
Your duties will include preparing for practical work, advising and supervising pupils, and ordering, storing and maintaining stock materials and equipment. You will have a knowledge of Health and Safety within a DT environment and be able to carry out regular safety checks and risk assessments.
This post is full time, term time only, Monday to Friday with occasional Saturdays. A competitive salary and attractive benefits are provided for the successful candidate.
For further information and an application form please go to:
Clayesmore is committed to the safeguarding and promotion of children’s and young people’s welfare and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.
