Letters to the editor June 2025

7 June 2025

There is a new cat in the Hitchcock household.
It’s taken us a long time to get here. After we lost Pog we weren’t sure we could do it again. We live almost on a bend of a B-road that likes to pretend it’s an A-road at rush hour. On the other side: open fields. The siren call of hunting grounds. We couldn’t risk it.
I imagined an elderly retiree who’d potter from sunbeam to lap. But the daughter, who took many, many months to rebuild herself after losing her heart cat, couldn’t face falling in love with a cat she might lose all over again in a year or two.
Also: no black cats (we’ve had two) and no tuxedos (C’s irrational). And the cat obviously needed to be not too old, but old enough to have road sense, but not, you know, old-old.
Picky? Us?
After months of rejecting hundreds of rescue cats (feeling like the actual worst humans in the world), there he was: Bentley.
Seven years old. Found abandoned with infected teeth. Last known address: near a dual carriageway. Missing four teeth, dribbles when he purrs, desperately needs a safe place to become unafraid again.
We drove to Bath “just to look”. C rolled his eyes and reminded me to pick up a litter tray on the way home.
Bentley spent most of the first few weeks under the daughter’s bed – on it when she’s in it. He does not like shoes. Or people on the stairs. Or being downstairs. Or the office (upstairs). Or being carried. Or touched. Or breakfast being late. He does like Dreamies. And Lick-e-Lix. And the daughter.
He’s now started venturing out, bustling through the house like an anxious middle manager with a clipboard. We ache to scoop up his big, chunky, frightened body with its boxer-glove paws. But for now, the smallest of strokes is all he can manage – unless you’re the daughter, obviously.
Someone, somewhere, has hurt him. So we wait. We let him come to us. And that’s absolutely OK. However long it takes.

Laura x

On Mr Farage’s 10m migrants
I’ve been astonished recently by the number of people insisting that “millions of illegal immigrants” are responsible for breaking the NHS and the country. This myth seems to be gaining traction online, fuelled by Nigel Farage claiming there have been “over ten million illegal immigrants” in the UK over the last few years.
Well now.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the entire UK population is currently 69.14 million. That includes legal immigration and all UK births – with British births making up the vast majority of population growth. The total population increase over the last decade has been about three million. Even if all of that increase had come from immigration (which it hasn’t), we’re still nowhere near ten million.
As for “illegal immigrants”, or more properly “irregular arrivals” – the government’s own data shows that in 2024, just 38,784 people arrived via small boats* across the Channel. That’s 0.056% of the UK population. To put it another way, at that rate, it would take nearly 1,800 years for those arrivals to equal the size of the current British population. For context, around 68,000 people die from heart attacks in the UK each year.
So let’s be very clear: “illegal immigration” is not causing a population explosion. It is not swamping public services. It is not bankrupting the NHS.
What is happening is far more familiar – a politician is using fear and misinformation to build a platform. Mr Farage is far from the first to do so, but history tells us this tactic has very dark consequences when left unchallenged.
We desperately need honest conversations about migration, housing, the NHS and the future of rural communities. But we also need to base those conversations on facts, not fantasy.
*source on gov.uk
Edward J, Gillingham

On the closure of the day centres
As a mother to an adult son with additional needs, I read your article on the proposed closure of Dorset’s day centres with a heavy heart – and rising fury.
These centres aren’t just buildings. They’re lifelines. They provide safety, structure and familiarity for some of the most vulnerable people in our community. My son doesn’t need a pop-up session in a library or a ‘social’ in a pub. He needs a consistent space with trained staff who understand him – somewhere he belongs.
MP Simon Hoare hit the nail on the head: this proposal shows no understanding of the geography of North Dorset, or of the people it’s supposed to serve. Closing these centres will isolate users and heap more pressure on already stretched families.
This isn’t “modernising” care – it’s stripping it away. Dorset Council must think again.
Helen C, near Blandford

On the death of Philip Charlesworth
I was heartbroken and furious to read about Philip Charlesworth.
When a man is driven to take his own life because he fears what the government might do about a tax, something has gone badly wrong. This isn’t just a tragedy – it’s a disgrace.
People in offices talk about “tax efficiency” and “tapering reliefs” like they’re playing a game. On the ground, this is real life. Most farmers are land rich, cash poor – we can’t just sell a field to pay a bill without wrecking the whole farm.
The counter argument seems to basically be: “Why shouldn’t farmers pay tax? Nurses and dentists do.” But that misses the point entirely. Farming relies on owning and passing down enough land to keep a business viable. If you’re forced to sell it off, you may no longer have a working farm at all.
Most farmers aren’t making big profits. Spreading inheritance tax over ten years still isn’t possible if there’s no spare cash. Nurses and doctors (and we’re grateful for every one of them) don’t need to pass down land in order to do their jobs. Their wealth usually comes from salaries, pensions, rising house prices. Compare that with running a farm is like comparing chalk with cheese.
Jane S, by email

On the Dorset Insider
(Tick-box Planning, The BV, May 2025)

I don’t live in Dorset but the same applies to Somerset. Where is the ‘joined up thinking’, the ‘holistic approach’ and all the other buzzwords that amounted to nothing but suggest an approach that is definitely needed if these are to be sustainable communities? And don’t get me started on the house design. Ruled by greed.
Marcia Parkinson, Facebook

It’s not just Dorset. We were told by our Town Council in Somerset that developments can’t be objected to on the grounds of lack of local infrastructure. It’s a fundamental flaw in UK planning and absolutely ridiculous!
Holly Phillips, Facebook

No doubt replicated across the whole of the South West. Developer-led housing rather than local needs-led housing, with no genuine effort to build what we need, at prices we can afford.
Sadly we live in a world where profits override everything, and communities and the environment are given little or no consideration as the balance sheet is all that matters.
Our planning rules and the lack of any meaningful enforcement allow developers to bend the rules to suit themselves and on the whole the public sit and watch quietly as the West Country is destroyed.
Julie Chant

On Volunteering
I retired at the age of 70, and it only seemed right and proper with all this free time that I was going to have that I actually did some volunteering. Little did I know that free time during retirement is a fallacy – for some strange reason you seem to be busier than when you were at work. I’m three years in now and still trying to work out why.
I tried volunteering for several charities around North Dorset, but for one reason or another, they didn’t suit me. I eventually realised it was because I’d had a lifetime of attending a certain place at a certain time: I resented doing that once I was retired! Finally I tried hospital driving for The Friends of Blandford Hospital. I would really recommend it as a form of volunteering – you choose the jobs you accept, and you get to meet some really interesting people. So if you’re interested, give the friends of Blandford Hospital a call on 01258 450095.
Nigel Barrow, via email

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The ladies who brought back the Bard

Editorial team

7 June 2025

A North Dorset countess helped rescue Shakespeare’s bawdy brilliance from censorship, and is finally getting the credit … 300 years overdue

A new book on The Shakespeare Ladies Club shines a spotlight on an 18th century woman from North Dorset who influenced a nation’s love of literature.
Today, Shakespeare features in school curriculums and re-ignites memories for all those who swotted for English exams. However, the plays we all studied at school are remarkably different to those people would have watched in the 1720s. During the early 18th century, Shakespeare’s work had largely been sanitised, thanks to a post-Puritan drive to rid the theatres of immorality. Cancel culture, 18th century style. London theatres favoured other plays and Italian operas, and
the Bard was on his way to being forgotten.
When four ladies started reading Shakespeare’s plays in the 1730s they realised that what they were reading was not the same as the drama they had seen on the stage. The original prose and bawdy remarks that added character and richness to the plays had been removed. Incensed, the ladies began a campaign to restore the content and increase the popularity of Shakespeare.

The Shakespeare Memorial, Westminster Abbey – nearly 300 years on, the Ladies Club will finally be credited as its driving force

The Shakespeare Ladies Club
Susanna Ashley-Cooper, the fourth Countess of Shaftesbury from Wimborne St Giles, led the group. The other three ladies were Elizabeth Boyd, Mary Cowper and Mary Montagu. Susanna Noel was just fourteen when she married into the Ashley-Cooper family. Authors Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth reflected on where she got her love for the arts at such a young age:
‘Susanna Ashley-Cooper was 14 when she married the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury, who was the same age. We found multiple sources to suggest that the pair wanted to get married, that their marriage was loving and also a remarkable marriage of equals. Susanna had been educated under the direction of her highly intelligent mother, the dowager Countess of Gainsborough, and all of her siblings displayed a love of learning, theatre and music.
‘We believe that we are the first to connect a previously unknown story – Shakespeare and his troupe of players performed at a private stately home in Rutland in the late 1500s: the performance was at the ancestral family home of Susanna Noel, later 4th Countess of Shaftesbury who would found the Shakespeare Ladies Club.
‘We believe that a love and appreciation of Shakespeare was a family tradition over many generations of the Noel family.’
Christine and Jonathan are from Adelaide in Australia, and were fascinated by the story around the Shakespeare Ladies Club.
‘We were looking for a topic for a new book and reading widely about Shakespeare: we were interested in learning how and when Shakespeare became ‘famous’ and considered the best writer of the English language. We were intrigued by a couple of academics who had written about these obscure, influential women. We wondered if a book had ever been devoted to the Shakespeare Ladies Club – and none had. We decided to shift our focus onto these women, and what they had done for Shakespeare, to see if we could uncover any further information.
‘With previous books we have travelled to the UK and France to conduct research while also using digital archives. We found that much could be found for this book by reading books and papers, but since the restrictions of COVID we knew that that most archives, libraries and record offices have done a wonderful job digitising sources, or at least describing items they hold in their archives. This allowed us to work with archivists to have items copied and sent to us to read. This is not always a successful process, but we were fortunate, particularly with some collections. The Norfolk Record Office proved a jackpot of important poems and letters from Mary Cowper, one of the Shakespeare Ladies. We suspect the bundle of papers had remained undisturbed for hundreds of years.’
Using their influence in society, the ladies campaigned to get Shakespeare restored to the London stage in its original uncut format. Their impact, however, was much broader reaching, particularly among women. At the time, women had an inferior status in society and were not expected to lobby for change at all.
‘We now understand the impact of the Shakespeare Ladies Club in ‘rescuing’ Shakespeare’s original plays, making them popular and particularly attractive to women theatre-goers. It is possible to mount an argument that Susanna’s campaign from 1736 was, in fact, the missing link between the early 1700s when Shakespeare’s plays were considered too bawdy to perform without censorship and alteration, and 1800 when he was seen as a literary god.
‘Shakespeare reading clubs, particularly for women, became an enjoyable and empowering trend and could only have been seen as respectable, educative and fun because of the groundwork laid by Susanna and the Shakespeare Ladies Club.
‘A critical and admirable aspect of the original Shakespeare Ladies Club is that, far from being sheltered prudes, they were worldly-wise. They embraced realistic dramatisations of people and their passions. We think Susanna opened the door for women to embrace and enjoy Shakespeare’s bawdy and insightful characters and dialogue – on stage or page – free from shame or sexist restrictions.
‘This shift helped normalise women reading about human relationships and private lives, paving the way for the novel to become an enduring form of entertainment.’

Shakespeare in the Abbey
Susanna Ashley-Cooper also led the campaign to get a memorial to William Shakespeare erected in Westminster Abbey, where it remains today. In 1740, it was not legal for women to campaign, so the Shakespeare Ladies Club had to rely on men to work on their behalf, including David Garrick the actor, playwright and theatre manager. However, the men took the credit for the achievement.
That acknowledgement has never been challenged … until now. Christine and Jonathan have worked to petition Westminster Abbey: ‘Having written the book, we felt that, armed with knowledge, we should inform Westminster Abbey of the true story behind the statue’s accreditation to a group of men rather than the Shakespeare Ladies Club.
‘We were fortunate to have Professor Michael Dobson, director of the Shakespeare Institute, and Genevieve Kirk, a North American academic – both had written on the Shakespeare Ladies Club – agree to join us to petition the Abbey.
‘In effect we compiled a document of evidence in order for the Abbey professors to consider our claim that the ‘Ladies’ were the driving force behind public awareness, fundraising and arranging the commission of the Shakespeare monument.
‘We found the Poet’s Corner managers to be open-minded, and more than happy to correct this historical oversight, which they have now agreed to do. After nearly 300 years, Susanna and her club members will finally be credited.’
The Shakespeare Ladies Club is published on 15th June, and the authors will be giving talks in Sturminster Newton on 10th June, as well as in Stratford Upon Avon. Christine and Jonathan will be visiting Dorset for the first time: ‘We have always wanted to visit Dorset, says Jonathan. ‘Sturminster Newton Literary Festival provides us with the perfect opportunity to do so. We’re both voracious readers, and for Christine, Dorset stirs a longing for Enid Blyton childhood adventures with the Famous Five or Secret Seven. Of course, the inspiration of Thomas Hardy cannot be overstated, especially on a reader who wold like to be a writer.’
Thanks to Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth’s research, Susanna Ashley-Cooper is finally gaining the recognition she deserves. In a county steeped in literary tradition, it is fitting that North Dorset can now also lay claim to one of the most influential women behind Shakespeare’s revival – a campaigner who quietly shaped the nation’s love for the Bard, and helped ensure his place at the heart of English culture.

The Shakespeare Ladies Club: The Forgotten Women Who Rescued the Bawdy Bard will be published on 15th June. See Christine and Jonathan in conversation on 10th June at The Exchange, 6.30pm.
Tickets £10 Sturminster LitFest

The last cut for local meat

Editorial team

7 June 2025

When small abattoirs close, farmers lose options, animals travel miles and rare breeds, food miles and the ability to sell truly local meat are all threatened

When you throw some sausages or a steak on the barbecue, how much thought do you give to where the meat came from? Small abattoirs are critical to the UK’s food security and farming industry, yet they are in crisis.
When the last abattoir on the Isle of Wight closed earlier this year, it sent shock waves through the meat industry and created a significant logistics challenge for food producers, particularly in Southern England. North Dorset seemed miles away, but in fact the impact is being felt across the Blackmore Vale. So concerned was Sarah Dyke, Liberal Democrat MP for Glastonbury and Somerton, that she led a Backbench Business Debate in Parliament urging the Government to act to save the UK’s small abattoir sector from collapse. Speaking in the House of Commons, Ms Dyke demanded that the Government recognise the position of small abattoirs as a critical part of local food infrastructure. She also highlighted the impact that the alarming rate of closures is having on farming businesses and local food supply chains. ‘Small abattoirs are facing immense financial pressure and are operating under a regulatory system that is deaf to the realities smaller premises face,’ she said. ‘These businesses are the backbone of our local food infrastructure, yet many are being pushed to the brink.’
Several MPs, particularly those from farming communities, welcomed the debate on small abattoirs, and the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner, confirmed that the Government was looking at support for these businesses.
But is it too little and too late?
Small abattoirs across the country are quietly closing their doors, hit by an ageing workforce, higher costs, and complex regulations. Even Jeremy Clarkson has noticed – in the latest season of Clarkson’s Farm he discovers that his local small abattoir has closed, forcing him and neighbouring farmers to collectively hire transport and send stressed animals further afield, adding pressure to already-stretched slaughterhouses.

Gaps in the map
Gavin Keen is the manager at Blackmore Vale Butchery in Henstridge and has worked in the meat industry since the age of 16. He recently researched the state of the abattoir industry in the South West.
‘It was an easy exercise,’ he said. ‘I had a map of the South West and marked all the abattoirs. There’s a gaping hole in the A303 corridor. Two of the large businesses I thought were operating are no longer. With those closures, and the Isle of Wight gone, all the work goes to Holnest now – and there simply isn’t enough spare capacity.
‘Whenever there’s funding to improve things, it’s often distributed by the wrong people who don’t understand what’s involved. The Isle of Wight is a huge missed opportunity.’
Farmers and particularly those with rare and smaller breeds are heavily dependent on smaller abattoirs – and Gavin says it goes beyond just basic capacity:
‘Farmers need small abattoirs – lots of them have breeds that don’t go into the commercial market. Some farmers have Dexter cattle, for example, for the beef quality and also because they’re quite docile to handle. But they are small in size, and a commercial abattoir won’t take them – they are set up to take larger animals. So what do these people do if they don’t have a small abattoir within reach?
We provide a butchery service for local farmers so they can sell their meat. But if there are no small abattoirs, this will inevitably affect the local meat supply.’

One of Lillie Smith’s Oxford Sandy and Black sows.
Image: Courtenay Hitchcock

With them every step
Lillie Smith and her husband Morgan raise rare Oxford Sandy and Black pigs at Ham Farm near Shillingstone. She told The BV that the fate of small abattoirs was a subject they had been discussing just recently: ‘As small scale producers, we pride ourselves on being with our animals every step of the way. Most people appreciate the benefits of local produce and traceability, but it’s more than that. If we didn’t have a local abbatoir – we use C&S Meats in Holnest – we wouldn’t be able to complete that cycle of local produce. We cannot fill a lorry to travel hours to a commercial abbatoir, nor can we sell pork on that scale!
‘If we didn’t have access to the abattoir, we would have to drastically reduce our herd. We are currently supporting a pedigree rare breed with seven sows and three boars – but that is symbiotic with the ability to produce local pork.
‘Environmentally, you cannot beat the minimal food miles of local produce – but that is completely lost if animals have to travel hours to be processed and then shipped again to producers.
‘Local abattoirs are an integral part of each area’s food production and they are so often overlooked – their place in our community would be quickly noticed if you couldn’t purchase local meat. Producers just wouldn’t have the ability to finish and sell locally.
Local abattoirs provide the consumer with options. You have the choice to buy in a supermarket, but also to buy produce from local farms. And as farmers, we are able to finish and sell our produce direct, locally.’

One rule for one
Sarah Dyke described a recent visit to an abattoir in Sussex, now so oversubscribed that farmers travel from Essex to use it. The operator served more than 2,000 customers in February alone, but struggles due to limited staff and space – and red tape from the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
‘The current FSA regulatory model penalises small processors,’ she said. ‘Having a local network of abattoirs is crucial for farmers, allowing them to add value to their product and access alternative routes to market.’
Gavin Keen agrees. ‘The rules set by the FSA are a challenge to small abattoirs,’ he says. ‘They are the same for large commercial and small abattoirs. Not all the regulations are needed in a small abattoir and that affects the business. If there were different levels that would really help. However, I should point out that there is only one standard for managing the livestock, regardless of the abattoir size – and that is to always respect the animal.’
Gavin’s research also confirms that small abattoir owners were getting older, with many working beyond retirement age and with no succession planning. He knows of one still working at the age of 77. ‘Younger people need to be educated at grass roots level on meat and how it’s supplied. And it’s really difficult getting someone into the industry. I have a young lad now who wants to do an apprenticeship, but I can’t get the support and there’s nobody here to do all the supervision.’
While 93 per cent of meat in Britain is slaughtered in large abattoirs, it’s the smaller ones that protect local food security, rare breeds and farm-to-fork traceability. If they go, we risk losing far more than local sausages.

You can buy Lillie’s pork and bacon products at Enford Farm Shop

Swap barbecues for picnics, fire service urges countryside visitors

Editorial team

6 June 2025

With British Summer Time in full swing and warmer days drawing people to Dorset and Wiltshire’s heathlands and outdoor spaces, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) is urging the public to enjoy a picnic – not a barbecue.

DORSET & WILTSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE #BringAPicnicNotABBQ

Hot, dry and breezy conditions dramatically increase the risk of accidental or deliberate wildfires, which can devastate local wildlife, landscapes and habitats.

“A wildfire can move at speeds faster than an Olympic sprinter,” says the Service. “We are asking everyone to follow some simple steps to help prevent fires from starting – and to know what to do if you see one.”

DWFRS is encouraging everyone to:

Leave barbecues at home and bring a picnic instead.
If you see a fire, move to a safe place and call 999 immediately, giving as much detail as possible.
Consider using the What3Words app to pinpoint your location.
Report anti-social behaviour on open land and heathland to the police via 101.

Landowners and land managers are also reminded to cut and maintain fire breaks, and to remove cut grasses and vegetation where possible to help prevent fires from taking hold.

For more information on heathland fire safety, visit the DWFRS website:
Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service | Heath fires and countryside safety

When silence becomes complicity

Editorial team

6 June 2025

Good to see a tremendous turnout for the London protest on Wed 4^th June, when protesters dressed in red surrounded Parliament, holding a huge banner stating that “Starving children is a red line” & calling for a total embargo on military equipment sales to Israel. I was less impressed with media claims that the protesters were numbered in their dozens, when photographs clearly show there were many thousands. Thankfully less biased news reports have finally begun to feature sickening details of the barbaric and inhumane slaughter, maiming and starvation of innocent Palestinians in Gaza. Attempts to justify the situation as Irael having ‘the right to defend itself’ are sickening. How does defence necessitate snipers shooting children in the head, as reported by brave medics who have gone to Gaza to try to help save lives there ? We are clearly witnessing genocide, and it’s disgraceful that so many public figures are avoiding condemning it. It’s also disgraceful that UK military exports to Israel have expanded hugely under Labour, from less than £300k in the first quarter of 2024 to over £127 million in the last quarter.

Protests against the treatment of Palestinians are not antisemitic. Many Jews around the world are totally against the Zionist agenda of preventing the creation of a Palestinian state. Since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 around 160 illegal settlements have been built throughout the territory, and there have been countless reports of armed settler attacks on neighbouring Palestinian villages, aided and abetted by the so-called Israeli ‘Defence’ Force that has ironically labelled itself as ‘the most moral army in the world’.

The Israeli Defence Minister has described plans for a further 22 Israeli West Bank settlements as a move that “prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel.” The lack of a Palestinian state is the real danger, and the destruction of Gaza is simply acting as a powerful recruiting sergeant for terrorist organisations that seek to destroy the Israeli state. The answer lies in establishing what the Palestinians so desperately need and deserve, justice and a state of their own.

By Ken Huggins

Sources:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7893vpy2gqo Gaza surgeon tells MPs about drones targeting children

https://www.rsn.org/001/not-a-normal-war-doctors-say-children-have-been-targeted-by-israeli-snipers-in-gaza.html

https://www.scnr.com/article/u-s-doctors-report-idf-snipers-intentionally-targeting-children-in-gaza_ebe4ffd74b6a11ef9c930242ac1c0002

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/major-jump-approved-uk-arms-exports-israel-weeks-after-gaza-ban

https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/uk-denies-gaza-injured-children-medical-treatment-shameful

https://caat.org.uk/data/countries/israel

June issue is HERE

Laura

6 June 2025

Laura’s top editor’s picks this month:
‘A toxic work culture and managerial bullying’ were at the heart of Yeovil’s maternity services closure, said Adam Dance MP in a Commons debate. A quarter of the hospital’s patients are from North Dorset.
We know small abattoirs aren’t exciting. But they’re SO important. Don’t skip past the pig, pleasethankyou.
Remember the unholy row over the Okeford Fitzpaine pews which made the national news? We’ve been back to see how it turned out.
Stephen Toop’s wife had to perform CPR in their kitchen floor to keep him alive – since then he’s taken a step back from a stressful job and chosen the company of a million bees.
Composer Richard Nye described running up the spiral staircase of St Michaels in Mere at 115 beats per minute. His knees now hate him, but Mere’s new anthem is a joy.
We’ve bodybuilder beetles, the 18th century ladies who rescued our bawdy Bard, and the Dorset Insider says Dorset Council needs to get out more.
It’s all going on …

Beautiful North Dorset – Pulham via Holwell | 8 miles

Laura

6 June 2025

Gorgeous, easy-going circular walk, almost no hills at all, but a LOT of the famous Dorset hedges – be ready for lots of wobbly stile scrambling!

This was a really lovely walk through the quiet, unvisited but footpath-strewn farmland at the heart of rural Dorset – outside the villages you won’t see a soul.
Parking is easy in the village hall car park in Pulham (handily placed opposite the Halsey Arms for a celebratory pint when you finish), and goes via Round Chimneys farm shop & cafe if you need a mid-way refreshments break!

You’ll need your phone out frequently – I checked the route field by field – but the footpaths are nearly all exactly where they should be. Watch out for electric fences – there were quite a few, and one was right inside a gate which we didn’t see until one of us was zapped. With a taut fence and no handle provided we had to drop and roll to cross it (and the same on the opposite side of the field).

There is more road work than we would usually opt for, but we saw just one car on the entire route – these are the quietest of empty back lanes in North Dorset!

Judging by the marsh grass, a lot of the fields looked like they would be marshy for a lot of the year: I’d suggest this as a dry spring/summer walk only unless you have really good footwear and don’t mind boggy ground. All bridges were intact and sturdy, and the nettle growth at this time of year inevitably required some beating work to reach a couple of stiles, but every time we approached a hedge or field corner thinking the footpath had vanished it magically appeared as we got closer – trust the map, look up and enjoy!

Sausages and stories with LLTL

Editorial team

5 June 2025

The demonstration and presentation at the Dorset Spring Show has to be described as a complete success again this year. On both days we had a full house, with lots of people enjoying the tastings and talks by all the wonderful producers: South Paddocks Ltd (rare breed pork), The Book and Bucket Cheese Company (cheese), From Dorset With Love (jams, chutney and condiments), Meggy Moos Dairy (milk, cream and butter), and Rawston Farm Butchery (meat). It was great to see so many people genuinely interested in what we all had to say. Rachel from Meggy Moo’s brought some lovely double cream and we got everybody making butter, tasting Rachel’s milk and delicious home-made butter.
Peter Morgan from Book and Bucket showcased his smoked halloumi and curd cream cheeses: he paired the halloumi with a sweet chilli jam by From Dorset With Love, and their lemon curd was mixed with Peter’s curd cheese for an easy cheesecake idea.
I wanted to show people the difference between natural hog sausage skins versus the collagen bovine man-made ones – and also how easy it is to make meals with sausage meat, minced beef or a mix of both beef and pork. We also discussed food prices and why it matters to check labels for the true origin of what we’re eating.
Claire King from the Nutrition Advisory Team (NAT) joined us, talking about the importance of the nutritional value of food and about getting food education back into all schools.
Bec Hill, a farmer from Winterborne Keyneston and a Dorset County Show committee member was our main anchor and support for the two days – her knowledge of food and farming was very important. We made a great team, really working together to showcase Dorset produce. Thank you to all of you for making it such a success – and a big shout out to our sponsors Blanchard Baileys solicitors who made it possible.

Our next event is Open Farm Sunday on 8th June – farmsunday.org, Dorset has just four Open Farm Sunday participants this year, and Rawston Farm stands out as the county’s only full-scale working farm opening its gates to the public. If you’re curious to see a true commercial mixed farm in action, with dairy cows, arable land and livestock raised for food production, Rawston Farm is the place to visit. It’s a rare chance to explore a real working farm and chat with the people who run it – not just about the animals in the fields, but about food production, sustainability, and the everyday realities of farming in 2025. We look forward to seeing you there.

Join us for a FREE expert-led workshop on what the latest tax reforms really mean – and how to plan ahead:
Wednesday 11th June, 7pm at The Langton Arms,
Tarrant Monkton

Trevor Carsbrook

Editorial team

4 June 2025

12th April 1946 – 18th May 2025

Formerly of Blandford Forum Dorset.

Passed away at his daughers home in Newbury Berkshire after a short illness, surrounded by his family.

Much loved Husband of Sally, and greatly missed by Juliet and Martin, and grandchildren Nile, Pepper and Felice.

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