What is CrossFit?

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10 July 2021

Back in September I decided to join the world of CrossFit – with no real idea of what it involved, or indeed whether it was something I would enjoy.

With a gentle push from a friend, I decided to give CrossFit Shaftesbury a go… and I haven’t look back since.I often get asked what CrossFit is all about and if I’m honest I struggle to explain it in a way that does it justice. CrossFit is best described as a constantly varied high-intensity fitness program; it incorporates elements from different sports and types of functional exercise. It includes elements such as Olympicweightlifting, plyometrics, powerlifting, gymnastics, kettlebell lifting as well as high-intensity interval training. For those new to CrossFit this may feel daunting, intimidating and somewhat scary. But the beauty of CrossFit is that it is suitable for everyone regardless
of your fitness level or ability.

The movements and techniques can be modified to help each athlete achieve their goals. This means that the programs are designed to challenge you as an individual, getting you closer to where you want to be, whether it’s to get stronger, fitter or simply to lose weight. It is also a great chance to try new forms of exercise. I never thought that I would ever be upside down doing handstand press-ups! There are lots of functional movements to master but it’s all about being patient and working at your level. I am in no doubtthat I will be doing handstand walks, muscle-ups and double-unders in no time, especially with the help of the amazing coaches and the other members of the gym (aka the ‘box’).

CrossFit is so much more than a fitness program and the community plays a massive part in the whole experience. Everyone in the ‘box’ wants to see the other succeed and without them I certainly wouldn’t be hitting personal bests and getting the most out of the workouts.Still confused as to what CrossFit is all about? Why not give it a go
and find out!

Always happy to answer your questions – send them to me on melmitchellmassage@gmail.com

By: Mel Mitchell – experienced Personal Trainer, group exercise instructor & sports massage therapist based in Sturminster Newton.

The Importance of Ponds

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Editorial team

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10 July 2021

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With any luck, this summer you’ll get to enjoy plenty of time outside, taking in the buzz, chirp and croak of hundreds of wildlife species. If you have a garden or outdoor space, a pond is a great way to attract and help more wildlife. The still waters of ponds large or small are important elements of many wider habitats, while also creating their own ecosystems.

Common DFrog, Rana temporaria leaping into a pond – Dale Sutton

Beyond the more obvious species such as frogs and newts, established ponds teem with aquatic insect life. The larval stages of flies, dragonflies, damselflies and beetles dwell and hunt amid the murky depths, spending the vast majority of their life cycle in the pond before a short emergence as adults. Pond skaters balance on surface tension, while water boatmen row with their hairy-legged oars. But it’s not just aquatic insects and amphibians that benefit. Birds and mammals come to the edges of ponds to drink and bathe. Placing logs or stones in the water can also help ensure there is a safe place for pollinators to stop for a drink.

Ponds host a variety of plant life, adapted to survive the wet conditions. Large and small ponds benefit from aquatic plants such as water starwort or spiked water milfoil, which help oxygenate the water.

If you’re thinking of creating your own pond, it’s important to think about structure. Shallower areas and gently sloping sides provide warmer, oxygenated microclimates for plants and animals to thrive in. They also provide a safe edge where birds can bathe. Submerged, floating and emergent plants can act as useful cover for pond dwellers. Fallen leaves and twigs are good hiding places for animals but try to avoid placing your pond under a tree that will shed lots of leaves into the water.

As well as having ponds on several nature reserves, Dorset Wildlife Trust works with landowners and other partners to ensure ponds are well-managed, providing habitats particularly for the rarer species that depend on them. Garden ponds play an important role in this network. They don’t need to be big – in fact, any amount of water can be beneficial, as it encourages aquatic species to spread and colonise new areas.

To learn more about creating your own pond and more projects to help wildlife, visit dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/actions.

Garden Jobs for July

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Editorial team

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10 July 2021

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Well… It is finally summer, and we should all find time to relax and enjoy the garden! Having said that, in between your tea-breaks, here are a few ideas to help maintain your garden in tip top condition!

Deadhead flower borders regularly to prolong flowering. Leave roses that produce attractive hips. Cut back delphiniums and geraniums after the first flush of flowers to encourage a second flowering period. Feed after
cutting them back.

Delphiniums are in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) and have been grown in the UK for centuries. The word delphinium comes from the Greek delphinos, meaning dolphin, probably because of the shape of the opening flowers. Their common name, larkspur, dates back to Tudor times. – Shutterstock

Divide clumps of bearded Iris and take cuttings of patio and container plants ready for next year. Cut back plants in baskets and follow by feeding to encourage new growth and help revive tired displays.Tender perennials such as Fuchsias are best propagated from cuttings. July is a great time as young plants root more easily, cuttings should be taken from the tender new growth for the season.

Liquid feed containerised plants and keep well watered in dry spells. Mulching borders can help retain moisture, and keep down the weeds – this will save a lot of work. A really thick layer of mulch (2-3in all over) works best.
Autumn flowering bulbs can be planted now.Most perennial weeds are best dealt with in the summer when the weeds are in active growth. Digging out is often best if you are trying to avoid using weedkiller.Start collecting seed from plants you want to grow next year, especially Aquilegia Calendula, Poppy and Love-in-a-mist.Sow biennials such as Foxgloves, Sweet William and Wallflowers, Honesty and Forget-me-nots, to plant out in autumn for a stunning display next spring. Sow into large seed trays or a dedicated seed bed, then separate seedlings when large enough to handle.

Pest and diseases Vine weevils can also be a problem at this time of year. Watch out for aphids (greenfly and blackfly) and capsid bug damage on stems and leaves of young shoots.Look out for and treat blackspot on roses and scab on Pyracantha.

Avoid pruning your hedges until the end of August at the earliest if possible. The main breeding time for garden birds is between March and August so leaving the hedges can give them time to rear their young. Garden birds need all the help they can get!

By: with Pete Harcom – Head Gardener at Sherton Abbas Gardening Petepete@shertonabbas.co.uk

THE BEST REASON NOT TO DRINK

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Editorial team

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9 July 2021

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Its 5pm on a Friday night and you are getting ready to go out with friends… however, you are the nominated driver for the evening. You stop at your local drink shop and the non-alcoholic offerings are pretty slim – either fruit juices, fizzy drinks or flavoured waters, so you find it hard to be enthused. Fast forward to 2021 and the bar has been raised. Whether you are looking at non-alcoholic wine, gin or just awesome 0% products that are totally unique, they aren’t just for non-drinking friends or pregnant friends, they are there for all of us who have a discerning palate and enjoy a nice glass of something.

Jukes Cordialities are one of the key players in raising the ‘zero to hero’ bar. Matthew Jukes, the brainchild behind Jukes who is an awesome wine writer based in the UK, embarked on an idea of making a non-alcoholic drink a couple of years ago. He has perfected a range of drinks made from natural ingredients that do everything that a wine does on the nose, palate and finish but without any grapes or alcohol. When we first sampled the products at Vineyards, we were fighting over which styles of wine they reminded us of; Viognier and Bardolino were mentioned more than once. Very low on calories and all you need to do is add chilled water (still or sparkling) or tonic water. They have really made us sit up and take notice of the alternatives out there. £4 per 30ml bottle (makes 2/3 drinks depending on taste preference.)

Conker distillery, who most of you will know produce a fantastic Dorset gin, have made Bowser Leaf. Derived entirely from the spring water distillation of five botanicals, including mint, tarragon, thyme and basil, it’s a non-alcoholic spirit drink that really delivers on flavour. It is a deliciously refreshing alternative which has been flying out of our shop since its launch at the start of this year. £20 per 70cl bottle.

Rivani who produce some of our amazing Italian sparkling wines have made a de-alcoholised wine made from the Macabeo grape. Fruit driven and a really refreshing alternative to the alcoholic versions. Customers have added a very small amount of fruit cordials to make an alternative to a Kir Royale. £7 per bottle.

There’s a whole multitude of reasons as to why you might be drinking zero and we are delighted to see this sector pushing forward and becoming more interesting for those of us who enjoy the flavour of a great tipple, but sometimes want a night off. Yes, you heard it here first – even the most seasoned merchant has a night or two zero. All things are best when savoured in moderation and zero is fast becoming the new hero.

By: Hannah Wilkins, Indie Wine Merchant, Vineyards of Sherborne

WANTED HOUSEKEEPER & GARDENER

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Editorial team

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9 July 2021

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Part time housekeeper & gardener with high standards required for long-term position.

Based near Stow-on-the-Wold Cotswolds

Lovely one-bedroom unfurnished self-contained cottage available

General household duties and some plain cooking. Help needed with Donkeys during the week and a pair of dogs when we are away, so animal lover essential.

Car owner essential and references required please.

Please call: 01608 658 593 or: 07770 998 029

Email: jacquieri@gmail.com

Preparing land for sale

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Editorial team

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9 July 2021

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Whilst most property transactions generally proceed without major issue, there are sometimes avoidable problems that can occur. Sarah Dunlop, Associate in Blanchards Bailey’s Agriculture & Estates team, shares her top tips on how you can prepare for selling your land:

Wouldn’t it be wonderful for all property transactions to proceed quickly without any hiccups causing delays? Once you decide to sell your property often you want to press ahead as quickly as possible. A little preparation can really help. Here are my top tips to consider before you proceed:

Know what you’re selling.

The first port of call would be to review your title documents. If the property is registered at the Land Registry, does the title plan accurately reflect what is on the ground? If your land is not registered at the Land Registry, do you have all the necessary title deeds? You might be surprised to know that circumstances have arisen where legitimate parties try to sell property that is not in their name, though they occupy and are beneficially entitled to the property.

Speak to your lender.

If you have a mortgage, it is worth making contact with your Lender to ensure that your charge can be redeemed on the sale and to be clear on whether you have any early repayment charges. If you are only selling part of your property, your lender will require sufficient loan to value security so you should make enquiries as to whether they would be willing to make a part release of your security and on what conditions, if any.

Consider access issues.

How is your property accessed? It is not uncommon in a rural area for there to be undocumented access to property and this will inevitably be raised by any prudent buyer.

If your property is occupied, how is it occupied? It is often desirable to have a formal agreement in place and information concerning occupation should be provided to your lawyer from the outset.

Speak to the experts in their field.

Also, I highly recommend that you engage with a reputable land agency to help market your property. They will be able to guide you to the right time and method of sale that would best suit your circumstances and your land. Any additional considerations should be negotiated into the memorandum of sale. For example; if you are selling at mid-season and wish to retain a crop, this needs to be made clear from the outset and communicated to your buyer.

Know the real cost.

Lastly, it is always worth speaking to your accountant prior to disposal as there could be tax implications on your business and the opportunity could be taken to reduce any tax potential liability by forward planning.

By following these top tips, you can help iron out any bumps in the road of selling your land before they arise. If I or any member of the Agriculture & Estates team can assist, please do get in touch on 01258 459361 or email sarah.dunlop@blanchardsbailey.co.uk

A Farmers Eye on Clarkson’s Farm

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Editorial team

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8 July 2021

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You would think as a farmer, the last thing I would want to do at home in the evenings is watch programmes on farming, but they have their merits. Check the weather for the week with Countryfile, or remind yourself “It could be worse!” with Our Yorkshire Farm… “I could have nine kids!”

Andrew Livingston’s own Clarkson momnet on his Farm

The issue with programmes on farming and agriculture is they are actually quite dull. They don’t have to be like Saving Private Ryan, but there’s only so many times you can watch Matt Baker talking about his dog in the middle of a field before you are bored. So, when I heard that Jeremy Clarkson was to take on farming in Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime, my ears pricked up and I was intrigued.
“I’m basically Allan Sugar in wellies!” Exclaims Clarkson, whilst moments later electrocuting himself close to tears on his fencer… What’s not to like about that?
With no knowledge of how to farm, the 61-year-old decides in 2019 that he would begin to run his £12.5 million farm in Oxfordshire. The show is funny, entertaining and insightful. However, as a farmer, it’s the relatability that stands out, he experiences the same struggles and strife as every other poor bugger praying for his grass to grow across the country.
For example, every farm has someone as incomprehensible as Gerald. An individual so isolated to their village that they have begun to formulate their own language of utterances and murmurs. Fellow locals can converse with ease, but as soon as you cross counties borders you might as well be listening to Greek.
Every farm has a single arch-nemesis – the weather. Clarkson is no different. The show was filmed across 2019 and 2020, which were devastatingly wet and dry respectively. Crops and soil are such delicate infrastructures and when margins on profit are so small, we rely heavily on hoping for breaks in the clouds in the winter and elaborate rain dancing in our flip flops in the summer.

On a personal level, I resonate a lot with Clarkson and his struggles. Most agricultural kids and Young Farmers are birthed on tractors. I, on the other hand, was brought up on a tractorless smallholding, meaning that, to me, they are big scary machines with what is frankly an unnecessary amount of buttons and levers that I think are mainly for show. Yes… I have punctured the odd £600 tyre and yes I have bent and smashed the odd gate, but I try and count it as a learning process from day to day.
Unusually, Clarkson isn’t really the star of his own show. Young contractor Kaleb Cooper holds the limelight. Funny, intelligent and terrified of leaving his home in the village of Chadlington, Kaleb manages to tare Clarson down a peg or two across the eight episodes. If you would like to meet a Kaleb, Tuesday evenings, down your local pub, you will find a dozen or so individuals with an encyclopaedic knowledge of tractors and trailers. These makeup what is known as your local Young Farmers Club; buy them a Jäeger Bomb and they’ll talk to you for hours.

I really can’t recommend this show enough. Clarkson’s Farm has done more for agriculture than Countryfile in nearly 25 years. Whilst being the usual entertainer, Clarkson displays his passion and love for the countryside and manages to put farming on the map.

By: Andrew Livingston

What Does Dorset Chamber Do? With Ian Girling

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Editorial team

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8 July 2021

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Hello and welcome to my first column in The Blackmore Vale . I’d like to say a huge thank you to Laura for inviting me to have a regular column and I really appreciate this opportunity to connect with the North Dorset business community.

Ian Girling Chief Executive at Dorset Chamber

I have strong links with North Dorset, being raised in Shaftesbury. Many will know my family and remember our family business MacDougall Fuels and my parents and sister and her family still live in the town. Working in our family business as a young man really gave me an insight as to the hard work that goes in to running any business; the long hours, recruitment and staffing issues, the never-ending to-do list and of course the worries that come with owning a business. This has given me a real empathy with business owners and over the years I have had the opportunity to work with and support thousands of businesses. In Dorset Chamber, we work with businesses of all sizes with the majority of our members being small businesses. Small businesses make up over 99% of the UK’s business population and are the lifeblood of our economy. Our aim as the county Chamber is to support and help Dorset businesses succeed and grow.

In this first article, I’ll take a moment to explain a little about Dorset Chamber. We are a small business ourselves, a limited company employing around 20 people. We are not-for-profit, there is no share capital in the business and any profit is retained to help us deliver services as opposed to being paid to directors as dividends. Our board of directors are all business people who are unpaid non-execs who give freely their time and support to Dorset Chamber. Our income comes from membership, our international trade documentation service and delivery of a small number of publicly-funded business support programmes. Whilst not profit, like any business, we need to be financially viable and face the same pressures as any business.

When I became Chief Executive, my aim was to completely modernise Dorset Chamber and I am very proud of the energetic, modern, innovative Chamber we have become. We are one of around 50 UK Chambers accredited by the British Chambers of Commerce, meaning we have a very strong national voice. We work closely with town Chambers all across Dorset. We also act as a voice for the Dorset business community within the media.

We’ve just published our Annual Review, a summary of our activity over the last 12 months. We’ve done our absolute best to support our members and the wider business community in what has been an incredibly challenging time for businesses, particularly for those that were mandated to close. We transformed our face to face events to virtual meetings and this has been tremendously successful, enabling businesses across Dorset to attend our events without the need for travel – around 1,300 people attended 31 digital events in the last year and these virtual events will certainly continue. We also filmed and published 50 videos, offering practical information and advice on support for businesses during Covid. We also worked closely with Dorset Council in helping businesses access grants. Our free business Gateway service, funded by Dorset LEP offering free information and support to all businesses in Dorset, provided a lifeline to many businesses. We actively fed local issues in to the British Chambers of Commerce who did an incredible job in lobbying ministers at the highest levels for support for businesses. Looking forward, we are optimistic about the recovery of the economy and are doing our best to help businesses across the county as we look forward to better times.

I hope this gives you a good overview of who we are. Looking forward, I aim to cover a range of interesting topics and issues in my column and please do feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn!

Until next time, Ian

By: Ian Gilrling

Lasting Powers of Attorney and Will planning

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Editorial team

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8 July 2021

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The times that we are currently living in have shown that life can change completely overnight and the future can look uncertain. The best way of dealing with this uncertainty is to ensure that all your personal planning is in place. There are two pillars to this planning – the first is executing a Lasting Power of Attorney so that your family can help you if you become ill or mentally incapacitated and the second is making your Will to ensure your estate passes to those who you wish to benefit on your death.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) allows you (the donor) to make a choice now, when you are fit and healthy, about who you would trust (the attorney) to make financial and personal decisions on your behalf if, in the future, you lose the mental capacity to make them for yourself.

There are two types of LPA. One type is a Property and Financial Affairs LPA which allows the attorney, to make decisions about your finances and property. A Property and Finance LPA is very flexible in that it can be used whilst someone is incapacitated, but as soon as they have returned to health the attorney will step aside – it is not a permanent arrangement unless it needs to be. The other type is a Health and Welfare LPA which gives the attorney authority to make decisions for you in respect of giving or refusing consent to healthcare, staying at home and receiving support, or moving into care. A Health and Welfare LPA can only be used when a person has lost capacity.

All LPAs have to be registered at the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), before they can be used. If it appears that the attorney is abusing their position, then anyone can raise a concern with the OPG or Social Services, who will investigate.

If you have an accident or become ill, it may be too late to make an LPA and then an application will have to be made to court to appoint somebody, called a Deputy, to look after you affairs. This person may not be your choice, and appointing a deputy through the court it is also a longer and more expensive process. This can take at least three months and there are costs which include application fees, medical assessments, solicitor’s fees, deputy appointment, annual management fee and a security bond.

Your Will is used to appoint a person (your executor) who will deal with the administration of your estate after you have died. The Executor is responsible for valuing your estate, closing bank accounts, dealing with your house, paying any tax that is due as well any debts and making sure that the balance of the estate passes to your chosen beneficiaries. If there is no Will, the Law of Intestacy sets out who can inherit your estate and how much they can inherit. This may not be what you want. Making sure your Will is up to date will provide you with the comfort

of knowing that your family is provided for how you want them to be even if times are uncertain.

Your solicitor will help you make a Lasting Power of Attorney and Will that gives effect to your wishes. You can then rest assured knowing that your family will benefit from your planning.

For more information, please contact Naomi Dyer on 01935 811307 email at naomi.dyer@battens.co.uk