Visit Springhead’s first open gardens of the year – as well as having the chance to wander around the lakeside gardens you will be able to see some of the many named varieties held at Springhead as you enjoy the beautiful drifts of snowdrops.
The gardens will be open from Monday 6th until Sunday 12th February from 11am to 3pm. In addition, the gardens will be open on Saturday 18th February from 1 pm until 4.30 pm as part of Shaftesbury’s annual snowdrop celebrations (times are of course weather dependent). Entry to the gardens will be free but donations would be appreciated. Light Refreshments will be available throughout the day on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th provided by, and in aid of, St Andrew’s Primary School, Fontmell Magna. Dogs on leads are welcome and there is assisted wheelchair access. 6th-12th February, 11am to 3pm and 18th February 1 to 4pm For more information email [email protected] or call 01747 811853.
With our national newly-sanitised view of ‘Countryfile-d’ farming, complaints about animal welfare are on the increase, reports Andrew Livingston
John Hoskins keeps sheep on Maiden Castle, and gets 50,000 visitors a year across his land (image shutterstcok)
British winter is synonymous with sideways rain, muddy fields and non-existent grass. We humans may hate it, but the livestock across Dorset doesn’t really notice the inclement weather. For millennia, animals have lived on the picturesque pastures of our county all year round. Unfortunately, for a lot of the public, winter farming in the UK doesn’t match the glossy Countryfile version of farming they like. Because of this, bodies such as the RSPCA, the APHA (Animal Plant Health Agency) and Trading Standards get a seasonal influx of complaints. ‘Things just don’t look very good when it’s constantly raining and the fields are muddy,’ says Neil, manager of the Animal Health and Welfare team for Dorset Council Trading Standards. ‘Most calls that we get from members of the public are well meaning, but entirely unfounded – the welfare of the animals is fine. It just doesn’t look particularly pretty.’ With the high volume of complaints Neil and his team can receive, they have to trust their judgement with a lot of the local farmers. ‘We do probably visit the vast majority of them, but it’s a kind of risk assessment basis. If we know the farmer and we’ve been going there for a long time, we can deal with it via a phone call initially, just to see if there is a problem? Are they aware of it? Quite often that can resolve it. ‘To give you one example, we had a complaint about sheep in a field where a number of them were lame. It was a good sheep farmer that we’ve known for many years and we don’t have any welfare concerns with the farm, so rather than waste limited resources going out for a visit, we phoned him and he freely admitted, “Yes, I know that they are lame. I’m desperate to do something about it but at the moment the ground is too wet to get the handling system out there to get them in the crush to sort the feet out.”
Well cared-for livestock is able to withstand an average British winter (image shutterstock)
Mistakes have been made Neil has been with Trading Standards for 30 years but isn’t from a farming background. He was moved ‘kicking and screaming’ into animal health because the previous manager wanted to go back to mainstream trading standards work. ‘While I haven’t got a farming background myself, the people who are in the team that actually go out and do the visits understand farming and farmers, who are very different from the usual business owners that I had was experienced in dealing with. ‘I freely admit I’ve made mistakes before – I’ve been out in the field with cows in the pouring rain. They looked bedraggled and miserable and thin. So I got a vet out to look at them with me the following day. Of course, by then it was bright and sunny, and the cows looked completely different!’ Neil has had to deal with a vast number of complaints about one farm in particular – Maiden Castle Farm. The farm includes the Maiden Castle hill fort, and although it is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, it is John Hoskins who is the tenant farmer with his wife and son. ‘We have Maiden Castle hill fort within the farm itself,’ John explains. ‘And with it we get some 50,000 visitors a year. As well as tourists, we get all the general public from Dorchester coming to walk their dogs. And we get all sorts of complaints at this time of the year. ‘We have cattle grazing behind an electric fence with stubble turnips and feeders with hay and straw in. But of course it’s wet and muddy, and all [the public] think is that the animals should all be living indoors.’ John is quick to make the point clear that even though their downland farm is open to the elements, their cattle are hardy and have managed to live outdoors for 5,000 years.
Aberdeen Angus and Devon Ruby Red Cattle Grazing in a Muddy Field in Rural Devon, England, UK
Oh no, it’s definitely dead With the constant footfall over his land, John and his family have had to deal with complaints either to Trading Standards or direct to their face. ‘A year or two back we had a cow calving. We keep an eye on them all the time when they are calving and this lady stormed up to my wife and said “you’ve got a cow with its body all coming out”. ‘‘I suspect it’s calving,” my wife said. “Oh no, it’s definitely dead. There’s steam coming out”. When my wife got there, a calf was born, struggling to get up but alive and well. And my wife said: “Look, what you saw was the pre birth coming out”. But the woman would not have it.’ John is grateful to Neil and the Trading Standards team who act as gatekeepers. He says: ‘They know where we are. And [Trading Standards] actually come out, not on a complaint, just to see what we have on stubble turnips, or what cattle we have grazing. ‘And if somebody rings them, say two days in a row, saying, ‘John has got a sheep with a bad foot’. If on the second day we haven’t done anything, Trading Standards will call me and say, “John can you go and see about that sheep? It’s on the Castle” and we respond.’ It’s a well-trodden path to talk about how farming is portrayed in the media. Unfortunately, what the general public sees is either unrealistic ‘Countryfile farming’ or alarmist hidden camera footage on the news or social media showing the one per cent of farmers who mistreat their animals.. Neil has for the last six years been on the board of management for the Dorset County Show. He is a believer that educating the next generation is key. ‘The show has got a separate charity called Fabulous Food and Farming and its purpose is to promote agriculture. One way we do that is to invite school groups out to farms. We provide them with visits and we also provide funding for the transport to get them out there. ‘Good farmers are very keen to show off farming and the importance of what they’re doing. It’s difficult to get the public out and interested, but we can do that through things like the agricultural shows.’
Dorset County Show’s Fabulous Food and Farming charity funds school trips to help educate children about farming. Image: George Hosford
The odd rogue Maiden Castle Farm hosts a local school throughout the year to try and help educate children. They have even converted a calf house into a classroom. John Hoskins says: ‘We have a local school here once or twice a year just to show them what’s happening on the farm. ‘Everybody’s looking over our shoulder to see that we do things correctly and 99 per cent of farmers do that or more. But there’s always the odd rogue farmer that lets us down.’ There was a recent case of one of these ‘rogue’ farmers in the county, who ended up being prosecuted (Dorset farm fined £52,000 for causing unnecessary suffering– The BV, Nov 22) – and this is why Neil doesn’t want to discourage the public from picking up the phone if they are worried about the welfare of any livestock they see. ‘It is incredibly rare that we have to go as far as court action. On a complaint visit, we always try and work with farmers to improve things. It’s a collaborative process that involves visiting, advising, giving an improvement notice if necessary and making sure that’s complied with.’ The local ‘rogue’ farmer in question had been having visits from Trading Standards for ten years and he was found to be doing the bare minimum. ‘We regard court action as the very last resort. We will always try to work with the farmer and their vets to make improvements. But ultimately, if things are ignored or things get to an unacceptable level, then we will be forced to take action.’ John Hoskins felt that the farmer in question was let off lightly. ‘It was disgusting. I can tell you, every farmer who knew about that wished he’d had a heavier sentence. Every single farmer you spoke to said he was a disgrace to our industry.’ But Neil has dealt with a lot of these cases of poor animal management and he understands that causing harm is rarely anyone’s intention. He says: ‘In most of these cases I would say there’s an element of the farmer having mental health issues that, in turn, result in their animals suffering. ‘We’re always mindful of that. And again, if we’re aware that the farmer’s struggling himself, we try and get him support through charities like the Farming Community Network.’
If you see an animal you believe to be in distress, please contact the correct authority. For agricultural animals such as pigs, cattle, sheep, goats and poultry contactDorset Trading Standards.
If you have concerns about the welfare of domestic animals such as cats and dogs please contact the RSPCA
Following a local outcry based on inaccurate information, BV editor Laura spoke to Luke Rake, principal of Kingston Maurward college about the rumours
Luke Rake, principal of Kingston Maurward College
News that Kingston Maurward College has removed apprenticeships from its course offerings, with immediate effect, recently reached local media. This caused a number of inaccuracies to be shared locally. The BV spoke to the college principal Luke Rake to discover the truth behind the potentially harmful rumours that were causing his phone to ring. ‘Apprenticeships at the college have been in decline for some time.’ Luke says. ‘The numbers are down partly because the numbers of young people in the county as a whole are going down, but also because more and more students are choosing full time education. Simultaneously, our full time agriculture student numbers are growing. ‘We have also seen a reduction in the number of employers offering to take on apprentices, mostly due to the way the government made changes to the systems. It has basically become more onerous for smaller employers and so the numbers went down. The other major factor is the funding itself. We got to a point where the college was losing a huge amount of money running apprenticeships. ‘The funding has been reduced significantly over recent years. For example, in the farming sector, there were government-imposed changes a few years ago. Previously we received £10,000 a year for a farmworkers apprenticeship; this was moved to a stockpersons apprenticeship. It’s basically the same course, but now we get just £5,000 for it. ‘In addition to which, 20 per cent of that funding isn’t operational money during the course of the provision – we only get it if they pass, when they complete the course, which could be 18 months after they start. ‘Financially, it just doesn’t work. The land-based sector nationally was furious over the changes, and land based colleges across the country for a while refused to run the new farm-oriented apprenticeships because of the change in funding. In the end, they decided (quite rightly): “It is needed in our area, we can manage to run it, we’ll just have to do it at a loss”.
Kingston Maurward College, near Dorchester
Rural challenges ‘So now, unless you’re doing apprenticeships at real scale – hundreds of them, and we weren’t, we had 65 apprentices when we made this decision – it just doesn’t work. ‘We were effectively having to subsidise every apprenticeship we took on from other parts of the college. Had we continued, in the next 12 months we would have lost roughly £150,000. That’s money which could have been spent on, for example, staff pay – we haven’t made a cost of living award to our staff for two years, purely because we can’t afford to. The college, like almost all further education colleges in England, is in a difficult financial position, and our first duty is always to the survival of the whole. Therefore, as a loss-making entity, we had to let apprenticeships go. ‘This is also a specifically rural challenge. If you have an apprentice working for Rolls Royce, you probably have 40, 60 maybe 100 apprentices all in one place – which means you can teach them all in one place and assess them all in one place. Here, we might have one apprentice working on a farm near Sturminster Newton, one the other side of Gillingham, one at Evershot, one near Dorchester … and they all need visiting regularly, they all need assessing individually. So the sheer mileage costs and practicality involved was a major challenge. ‘It’s not unique to us, it’s a challenge for any rural provider – every local family knows that rural people struggle because of the additional cost of living in a sparsely populated area.
Kingston Maurward students
No one left behind What happens now to the young people currently mid-apprenticeship? Are they simply left to start again? ‘Not in the least. Those who are close to the end of their course will be finishing off with us. ‘Those who are at an earlier stage in their apprenticeships are still employed, that doesn’t change, but the provider responsible for their training will either be Bicton College if they are in the west of Dorset, or Sparsholt College if they are in the east and north of the county. Both are high-quality land-based colleges, and every single student has had meetings with staff and employers. We have worked very hard with both colleges to ensure those learners are looked after. ‘In a couple of cases students have decided they would actually prefer to stay at Kingston Maurward, and have moved on to a full time programme, which means they’re coming here three days a week instead of just one.’
Kingston Maurward students
Poor timing? Could this not have been put in place before the school year started in September? ‘It’s something we have been discussing for a while, but apprenticeships do not have a school year – they can start at any time, and roll continuously. There is no natural break, so whenever we had made this decision, it would have been difficult. Ultimately, we didn’t want to close the apprenticeships, but our main responsibility is to the financial security of the whole institution. It was a regrettable, but entirely necessary, thing we had to do.’
Guild Anderson is a successful Tisbury based kitchen designer and maker employing 25 people in its Tisbury design studio and Hindon based workshop.
We design and make kitchens, pantries, boot rooms and high-quality interior joinery for country houses across Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, and Hampshire.
We are looking to employ a workshop helper to undertake a broad range of tasks to support our busy production team.
THE ROLE
The role is five hours a day,(suggested 10am to 3pm, though this is flexible), five days per week. Tasks include:
Day-to-day maintenance of the workshop environment and supporting with housekeeping tasks
Undertaking local deliveries and collections
Accepting and checking goods-in to the workshop
Keeping workshop environment, canteen, and toilets clean and organised
Cleaning vans (and light maintenance such as oil/water level checks)
Managing vehicle servicing
The role is a fantastic opportunity for a retiree or someone seeking part-time work, and will suit someone who:
is based in the local area
enjoys manual tasks
wants to keep busy
is happy working in a hands-on environment
is honest and reliable
has a full UK driving licence
possesses a “can do” attitude
PAY
Salary: £11 per hour
APPLY
If you would like to apply for the role, please email [email protected] or call Andrew on 01747 820449. Alternatively you can apply directly online here – https://bit.ly/bvAPWorkshop
Gardener Pete Harcom says that February is far from free of jobs to do, so make the most of a dry day and get outside to be ahead for the year
It won’t be long before the spring bulbs show their faces (image shutterstock)
Spring is just around the corner … the crocuses will be out soon, honestly! February is a good time to look back and evaluate what went well last year and plan for this spring and summer, while getting on with some useful jobs:
Check recently-planted trees and shrubs, as these may have been loosened by wind There is still time to plant bare-rooted plants – February is regarded by some as the best time to do this, as the soil will soon be starting to warm up and this will give the plants a good start when the sap starts to rise. Clean up and wash all pots in the greenhouse – this will help keep pests under control. How about installing a water butt now, ready for the summer (it’s too late once it stops raining!)? Rainwater is particularly useful for watering acid-loving, ericaceous plants. Find out what type of soil you have. Invest in a soil testing kit to help you choose the right plants for your garden. Stock up on some organic fertilisers – there are many different types, each with different characteristics. Some of the more common examples are your own garden compost, well-rotted cow, horse and/or poultry manure, blood, fish and bone meal. Seaweed fertiliser is also worth looking for, as it is one of the most beneficial fertilisers and is also good for soil conditioning. All potted plants will benefit from a top dressing with some of that organic fertiliser. Pruning Prune all your winter-blooming shrubs such as mahonia, winter jasmine and heathers once they’ve finished flowering. Be careful not to cut back into old wood. Check your wisteria and cut side shoots to three buds from the base to encourage flowers in the spring. Prune Buddleia davidii (butterfly bush) and Elder hard back to the base to keep these vigorous shrubs to a reasonable size. Before the birds start nesting, trim back any ivy and deciduous hedges, Virginia creeper and other climbers. Prune summer-flowering clematis towards the end of the month, before active growth begins, cutting stems back to healthy buds about 30cm from the base. Cut back old stems of herbaceous perennials. If you have a cold greenhouse you can start potted Fuchsias back into growth. Prune overwintered fuchsias back to one or two buds on each shoot. For the next few months, if you pinch out the lead bud on every shoot, you will have lots more flowers in the summer.
Feed the birds February can be a particularly hard time for birds. Ensure your bird feeders are kept clean and regularly stocked. Maybe put up some nest boxes for garden birds to pick themselves a home.
Steve Tarrant, who suffered life-changing injuries at Goodwood in 2000, has been awarded for his courage and commitment. Rachael Rowe reports
Steve Tarrant with his Motorsport UK Lifetime Achievement Award, after the ceremony at the RAC Club in Pall Mall
‘You haven’t seen the last of me yet,’ Steve Tarrant famously said, after an accident at the 2000 Goodwood Festival of Speed resulted in the amputation of his right leg. He returned to marshalling in a wheelchair, and has worked at leading motoring events. At this year’s annual Night of Champions at the RAC Club in London’s Pall Mall, Motorsport UK recognised Steve’s 30-plus years as a race steward with a Lifetime Achievement Award – the highest honour bestowed by the Motorsport UK board. Steve describes the moment he got the news: ‘Initially, it was a shock. You don’t expect something like that coming through the door! And you certainly don’t expect them to recognise a marshal like me when you see the other names on the awards list.’ Previous winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award have included Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart – and now Steve Tarrant of King’s Stag. Locals may have seen him at the annual Sturminster Newton New Year’s Day Vintage Car Rally, busily marshalling the cars from the middle of the road. But Steve has marshalled at other, rather more glamorous, places like Le Mans, Goodwood and Silverstone. Marshals are all volunteers who play a critical role in motorsport racing.
Awards night on Pall Mall ‘It was a wonderful evening, and I wish they had filmed it from start to finish.’ says Steve. ‘Although getting me to the RAC Club was quite an ordeal for the taxi driver! They handed out 35 awards for winners of national championships, and then they had the special awards. There were actually two Lifetime Achievement Awards. One went to Ron Dennis, the former owner of McLaren Formula 1 … and the other went to me! It was a bit surreal seeing all these people you read about, on the track or on TV, and they were coming up and shaking my hand.’
Steve’s main career has been in IT but he has always loved motorsports. He jumped at the opportunity to volunteer as a steward, excited to enjoy the experience of motorsport racing from a different perspective. His life changed dramatically following his accident. He was standing near the finish line with the black and white chequered flag when a car travelling at 140 miles an hour crashed into him. ‘I was in the right place but at the wrong time. And I was the lucky one. The driver was killed and another steward died later in hospital.’ Two years later, Steve was back on the track marshalling, now in his TGA Vita Scooter. He was also invited back to Goodwood – this time as a VIP. Initially, Steve had to fight for recognition as a wheelchair-bound marshal – somewhat unusual in the world of motorsports. His mobility scooter also featured in his success at becoming a Guinness World Record holder in 2014. The award was for the longest distance travelled in 24 hours on a mobility scooter. Steve’s 190.2 miles was completed with more than 1,800 laps at Goodwood, only stopping briefly for battery changes.
Steve’s a well-known (and easily recognisable!) orange-clad figure at the Sturminster Newton New Year’s Day Vintage Car Rally
He now inspires other wheelchair users to become stewards. ‘There are plenty of jobs out there that you don’t need two arms or two legs for,’ says Steve, a photojournalist with a lifetime of unique experiences. Is there a stand-out moment in Steve’s career as a marshal? ‘There are several, especially after three decades. Being on the 24 Hour Le Mans race’s grid before the start was momentous. And meeting drivers like Lewis Hamilton or Tom Kristensen and chatting about racing because they want to talk to you just as much as you want to talk to them.’
If you would like to congratulate Steve on such a well-deserved award you can find him on Twitter @leglessmarshal or as motorsportmarshal on Facebook.
Second homeowners may soon see council tax double in Dorset – but is that good for the county’s residents? Rachael Rowe reports
Okeford Fitzpaine in Dorset’s AONB. Second homeowners typically choose older, characterful property in prime locations and small communities
Coastal towns have hit the headlines in recent years with bans on second homes, especially in places where local key workers can no longer afford to live. Dorset has one of the highest rates of second homes in England, at one in every 34 homes, and the Government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill presents an interesting opportunity for councils to impose a council tax premium on second homes; something Dorset Council is currently debating. But at a time when councillors have challenging decisions to make on budgets, is targeting second homes the right thing to do?
There’s a catch The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill was first presented to Parliament in May 2022. It is designed to devolve power and give local leaders and communities the tools they need to make better places and reduce inequalities. One of the components is the opportunity to implement a premium council tax payment on second homes; in effect a double council tax. With 5,722 second homes in Dorset, the Council report that could potentially generate an additional £9.5 million in income for the county budget. However, there’s a catch. Dorset Council has to give the government 12 months’ notice of their intentions, and the Bill still requires Royal Assent by April this year. Dorset Councillor Peter Wharf was set to present the ‘Council tax premiums on second homes and empty properties’ report (read it here) at 23rd January’s Cabinet meeting. However, the Cabinet agreed that it should be discussed by as many councillors as possible before it is taken to a vote at Full Council. The report has now be added to the Place and Resources Overview Committee on Thursday 9 February to consider before providing recommendations to Cabinet on Tuesday 28 February. If agreed, it will then go to the Full Council meeting in March. West Dorset MP Chris Loder has spoken in support of the proposal, saying it would ‘make it fairer for local people. Firstly, it will provide much needed income for the council for a fairer tax policy. And secondly, it will encourage property owners to think again before leaving their houses empty at a time when there are hard working local people struggling to find a home. ‘I have always maintained that to sustain our community infrastructure, we need to incentivise and support local people to stay and live in our communities.’ Behind the scenes at Dorset Council, any proposal of this nature requires discussion and agreement before notifying the Government of their intentions. And of course, it depends on the Bill being agreed upon. It all feels a bit chicken and egg – but what benefits, if any, will this premium bring to Dorset? I spoke to Peter Wharf.
What is a second home? Some people will naturally wonder whether the property they own and rent to key workers will also be eligible for this stealth tax, so I asked Peter to clarify what the council means by the phrase. ‘A second home is a second home. If someone has more than one property, then it is a second home. We have a list of homes that are potentially eligible for council tax; however, if someone is letting the property permanently, for example, that is not a second home. ‘We’re talking about the furnished properties that are left empty or used as holiday lets and rented on sites like Airbnb.’ Dorset Council has previously levied higher rates on empty properties. How has that worked? ‘That’s quite difficult to determine. It is difficult to see and assess all the properties, obviously. However, other councillors tell me anecdotally that it has sped up plans and building in some areas.’
According to the Council’s background paper on second homes in 2021, Dorset’s Coast, the AONB that runs to the north of the county and much of West Dorset have a particularly high proportion of second homes (see image right). There’s a lot of negative publicity about second homeowners, but does Peter think they bring any benefit to a local economy? ‘Well, there are benefits and disbenefits. One disadvantage is the schools don’t get enough pupils, and there is a lack of community in some areas. However, there is a counterargument. People come here and eat out in the restaurants, visit the beaches and go to the attractions. So they may add to the economy but detract from communities as they only live here sometimes.’ While the new proposal to double council tax may potentially help with house prices and the housing demand, I’m wondering what else councils can do to stop communities from becoming overwhelmed with second homes. Peter has a view: ‘There is very little we can do as it’s all about a free housing market and what people choose to do. However, it is possible to get an agreement that new housing should not be used for second homes. What we don’t want to see is a situation where second home owners are made to feel very unwelcome in Dorset. We don’t want that here.’
Airbnb wins So how could doubling the council tax affect tourism? ‘It is possible that second home owners won’t come here if we charge a premium. There is a possibility some will sell up. We also don’t know whether the £9.5 million quoted in the report will be realised because some people may sell up. I have spoken to some second homeowners who tell me they can get far more with Airbnb-ing their property than they can renting. It isn’t easy to generalise as people will choose what they want to do. ‘We are presenting this proposal now because it is an opportunity to regenerate communities in Dorset. It will go to the Place and Resources Overview committee, the Cabinet, and then the full Council. The public has an opportunity to attend.’ Second homes are like Marmite in rural and coastal communities and are guaranteed to stir up a debate. But, like them or loathe them, all councils are under pressure to find ways of funding core services. Details of the process and discussion on this proposal are on the Dorset Council website. If you have strong views, contact your local Councillor.
• Dorset Council has 82 councillors, of whom 24 have disclosed second properties and are therefore excluded from this vote
