Clayesmore School is located in the village of Iwerne Minster in the shadow of the Iron Age Fort of Hambledon Hill. The breath-taking scenery isn’t really what makes working at Clayesmore a joy. What really makes the school standout is the warmth of the people and the culture and kindness that underpins everything we do.
We have an exciting opportunity for an Assistant Chef to join our team of talented and experienced staff. Clayesmore prides itself in providing a comprehensive, in-house fresh food service to its pupils and staff.
The ideal candidate will be experienced and confident in high volume catering and be flexible, and able to work as part of a team.
This is a great opportunity to work in catering with primarily daytime shifts. Benefits include a non-contributory pension scheme, Death in Service benefits, a free meal each day and free membership of the Clayesmore Sports Facilities. 6 weeks holiday per year plus bank holidays.
Accommodation may be available for the successful candidate.
Please feel free to ring the HR department on 01747 813213 if you would like to discuss this role. Further information can be found on our website: https://clayesmore.com/work-for-us/
Closing date: 8:00am on Monday 12 December 2022
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.
A year into the Wild Woodbury rewilding project at Bere Regis and surveys have already recorded an uplift in the biodiversity and abundance of species moving onto the site. Over the last year, the land has been allowed to regenerate naturally, which has increased the biodiversity and abundance of wildlife. Staff and volunteers have recorded more than 1,100 species in this summer’s surveys, and eight Red List birds (of conservation concern) have been confirmed to be breeding at Wild Woodbury. Skylarks have increased from just two singing males last year to 18 counted this summer. No tree pipits or woodlark were recorded in 2021 but a breeding pair of each has been sighted raising juveniles this year. Though there’s no previous data for them, 28 yellowhammers have been counted this year. A rising number of juvenile birds have been spotted across the site too, including cuckoo, whinchat and nightjar.
Wild Woodbury, taken in June 2021 as the rewilding project began (image courtesy of James Burland).
Lesser quaking grass A dry spring and the mass of emerging pollinators in the former arable fields helped to increase the invertebrate population. Butterfly transects tracked more than 200 meadow brown butterflies as well as silver-washed fritillary and painted lady on the wing. The hot summer weather increased moth activity, attracting rarer species such as dingy mocha. Invertebrate specialists amassed more than 200 species of beetles, bugs and spiders, some of which have only a handful of records in Dorset. Large clumps of the nationally-scarce lesser quaking grass appeared, offering an excellent food source for many finches including goldfinch and linnet, and for yellowhammers.. Narrow-leaved lungwort, red hemp nettle and three species of orchid – including southern marsh orchid – are present on the site, as are small populations of cobalt crust fungi. The restoration of natural processes on the site should provide the right conditions for many species to return in greater numbers next year.
Wild Woodbury taken almost exactly one year later, in July 2022 (image courtesy of Roger Bates)
Nature’s regeneration With an ambitious aim of building an exemplar for sustainable land use to tackle the climate and ecological crises, the early years of the project were always going to be about letting nature take the lead, allowing the land to gently regenerate and giving nature more space. But of course, that doesn’t mean simply abandoning the land! The Wild Woodbury team, partners and volunteers have spent much of the year conducting surveys and collecting data on ecology, soil, hydrology, species and water quality to provide baselines for monitoring and future analysis. Restoring a landscape and making space for nature on this scale takes time, but it is extraordinary to see all that has been achieved in just one year and to witness the abundance of wildlife species already calling Wild Woodbury home.
Join the RSPB at Arne nature reserve this December for one of the biggest conservation events in the country. Invasive pine trees from forestry plantations have taken over the heathland. Your help is needed to remove them – restoring the heath, saving the rare animals that call it home, and maybe bagging yourself a sustainable Christmas to take home too! Over the Pull a Pine weekend, visitors can explore the Dorset heath at RSPB Arne while helping pull up the invasive pine saplings, giving the reserve’s special wildlife a home. Then cut your own larger pine tree to take home for festive decorations or a sustainable Christmas tree! Throughout this special weekend visitors can enjoy the festive village with live music, an outdoor kitchen serving winter warmers, stalls selling local and festive wares, FREE festive crafting for children, and partner stalls including Wareham Fire Brigade, and Urban Heaths. Get your wellies on, dig out your hats and scarves, and join in for a wonderful festive day in nature.
Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th December, 10am to 3pm (last entry 2pm). Advance booking is essential – tickets NOT available on the weekend. Book tickets here for £15.50 (under 18’s FREE, ticket still required)
Pies, pasties and sausages are on the menu at Yeovil-based Wild and Game as they promote the use of wild British game into our diets. Rachael Rowe reports
Nordic-style venison. All images: Wild and Game
It’s that season when thoughts turn to pheasant and venison dishes, but one local company is making British game a year-round food dish. Steve Frampton, the managing director of Yeovil-based Wild and Game, explained how it all began in 2017: ‘We really wanted to sell more British game – most of the game from British estates is sold to European markets. We want to change that and encourage more people to buy our own. Game is a great commodity in this country. ‘People think that game meat is an expensive meat. The Victorians started that by making it an exclusive food. But it is actually in abundance, especially venison and partridge. There’s also lots of people who don’t know how to cook it, or don’t have a taste for it. ‘All our meat is wild game. We source it from British game dealers and British estates (including in Dorset and the West Country). Game dealers will buy from British shoots and estates, and farms for meat like venison. The meat is processed quickly, so we have breast meat, whole birds, and also pies and pates.’ What about the shooting season which will affect pheasant, for example? ‘Our meat is processed very quickly and then frozen, so it’s available throughout the year. It’s not seasonal and there’s no reason why British game can’t be available all year round. We extend the season beyond the season. ‘And wild game has a lower carbon footprint. It’s also lower in cholesterol than other red meats. Some people are concerned about the carbon footprint with traditional farming right now and looking at vegetarian lifestyles; game meat is a good halfway house as the meat is all wild.’
Sales manager Paul Houlker, business support manager Spencer Lord, co-founder Steven Frampton, technical consultant Katie Watkins-Young and operations director Mark Robbins
Tell us about the team? ‘We have three people at the distribution warehouse and three working on the business side. We also have an extended network of game dealers, obviously.”
The most popular products? ‘Sausages, all year round! Especially the venison and pheasant sausage. We’re also bringing back our grouse sausages and we have a pheasant and caramelised onion variety too. Other meats like pigeon and rabbit are also popular – I can’t get enough rabbits to sell.’
Rolled venison haunch roast
Are you just mail order? ‘We are. But we do supply a few shops, too. COVID was the main reason for developing the mail order side as the market virtually collapsed during the pandemic. But there’s a massive demand for game meat. ‘Everything is delivered frozen. People don’t eat game every day so they can put what they don’t want to use immediately in the freezer. Once it is cooked, most can be refrozen.’ If you haven’t visited the Wild and Game website, take a look even if just for the recipes (though do look at the meat of course!). If you’re in the “I don’t know what to do with it” camp there are many interesting and creative ideas on how to cook game, with lots of inspiration for meals. So who is responsible for them? ‘Jenny Price, our PR consultant, and Mark Robbins, our operations director, design the recipes. We developed a range of them purely because some people are frightened of cooking game. When they look at our site, they can always find one that fits. We also do subscription boxes of game and a recipe booklet is included, so it gets people thinking. People are always looking for more ideas and recipes.’
Your biggest challenge? ‘Getting people to eat game! People have this idea that game is expensive and that it needs to be hung for a long time which results in the strong “gamey” taste – that’s not always a taste for modern people. Our animals are processed very quickly so that strong game flavour isn’t there.’
What are you most proud of? ‘Really, simply getting to where we are today. We now have a customer base of 32,000 but it has been hard work.’
So what’s next? ‘We’re focused on getting game into the British diet. We’re about to launch a range of six ready meals. A lot of work has gone into the technical side and sampling – it’s a long process. We also have a luxury pies range. We’re always looking to try something interesting with game meat for the longer term prospects of the business.’
The review Growing up I used to eat a lot of pheasant as Dad belonged to a local farming shoot. Like Wild and Game we didn’t hang game birds for a long time as we weren’t keen on the stronger gamey taste. Having had to clean a few pheasants in my time, it was a pleasant change to receive a sample pack where all that processing had been done for me! Everything was well insulated so it could be simply popped in the freezer until ready to use and the delivery time from the courier was accurate. The recipe booklet really got me thinking about how to cook something different, in ways I would never have thought about (Chinese -style orange pheasant anyone?). The meat was very high quality and tasted delicious. I’m now a big fan of the venison and pheasant sausages and I’m looking forward to creating a Moroccan-style chilli with some venison mince.
The interior of the old NatWest bank in Sturminster Newton has been veiled in secrecy for many months. Passersby couldn’t see through the boarded up windows, and the solid bank doors remained firmly closed to casual onlookers. The Sturminster Newton Economic Development Society took over the lease of the old building last year, and have promised an ‘indoor market of artisans’.
The BV got a sneak peek inside this weekend, ahead of the official opening next week – and it is a rich and beautiful surprise. Gone is the dull, austere banking interior. Instead the building has been stripped back to its elegant, airy bones – even revealing an original fireplace that no one knew was there. The history of the building has been used as a feature, not hidden and decorated over, creating a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. The space is light and airy, and is as far removed as possible from the simple jumbled collection of local makers items that was clearly expected by the invited guests. Instead the welcoming interior showcases an eclectic bank of more than 30 carefully-selected artisans.
Inside 1855 in Sturminster Newton
‘Every single trader is connected to the Blackmore Vale area.’ manager Cheryl Basten told the BV ‘The one exception is Wolf Wine who are based in Bath: however, they have links to Sturminster Newton’s only winemaker, and next year will be stocking Sturminster’s own wine.
‘We do still have a few spaces available, and there is an application and interview process to go through – whether they are an artist, an artisan craftsperson, a drinks producer or a trader. The product has to sit well in the store, complement the other traders and be of an equivalent high standard.’
The result is a vastly varied mix of items which oddly work together in a room comfortably filled with bare brick, wood, and wire cages strewn with industrial lighting.
‘Traders pay a small rent for their space,’ said Cheryl ‘and then Sturminster Newton Economic Development Society take a 10% commission on all sales. We’re a non-profit, however – ALL proceeds go back into regeneration projects for the town.’
In the pending art gallery space at the back of the building, Nick Dobson thanked the team of volunteers and the managers Jackie Wragg and Cheryl Basten for their hard work in getting the space ready
The small room to the right of the entrance is currently filled with a range of bespoke cabinets by the Sturminster Newton furniture maker Original Crate – who has been creating distinctive bespoke wooden furniture on Sturminster’s Butts Pond Trading Estate for over 20 years, and yet is little-known in the town.
Original Crate Furniture are displying in the old bank manager’s office
In the main shop area, the individual traders each has a distinctly designed section to display their products. The tall free-standing glass case full of Elizabeth Shewan’s beautiful bronze jewellery caused more than one casual browser to pause. Lilypea’s beautiful candles and melts are nextdoor neighbours to local artist Beth Wood’s wildlife paintings. Stunning wooden sculptures from Jamie Hart stand alone in the centre of the floor, with a background of jewel-like colours of the fabrics from Treasures from the Silk Road.
The old bank vault has been cleverly re-purposed as a wine cellar!
‘It’s just wonderful!’ commented one browser. ‘It’s so welcoming, and such a surprise. Between you and me I did NOT expect it to be this fabulous!’ said another. ‘I’ve already bought something!’ said a third. It is very clear that 1855 will quickly become a destination point for the town, offering such a wide range of choices – every browse around the shop reveals a new item. Late night opening for the weekends will allow a visit after work for a bottle of wine or a last-minute gift, and Sunday opening will hopefully encourage more trailway visitors to continue their walks up and through the town. 1855 in Sturminster Newton will be officially opened by Sonnaz, the repair shop expert, on Friday 25th November at 4pm and everyone is warmly invited.
The opening hours for 1855 in Sturminster Newton will be: Mon-Tues 10am to 4pm Wed-Fri 10am to 7.30pm Sun 11am to 3pm.
A squad of nine Sandroyd School riders attended the nationals just before half term for the finals for showjumping (SJ) and JWS (jumping with style).
The Mini Showjumping class went first and Bo, Charlotte, Lily and Willow all rode well, finishing in 11th out of 27 teams. Two teams had qualified for the Mini JWS finals. The white team (Charlotte, Georgia, Rose and Bo) had a good experience at their first championships. The purple team (Lily, Willow, Molly and Daisy) all rode confidently over 17 fences showing a good style and transition from showjumping to cross-country. This competition is judged on style as well as faults and they achieved a team score of 26.8. Willow had an individual score of 1.9 penalties – the best of the class. The team placed 2nd and Willow won the class. On the Friday it was the novice classes, 85/90cm SJ and sandroyd had one team qualified. This was a very strong class with 42 teams entered. Molly, Willow, James and Charlotte all rode well but a couple of poles down meant they had a team score of 8 which left them in 17th place (a good result when only five teams finished on a zero score and seven were eliminated). In the 85/90cm JWS,two Sandroyd teams had qualified. The white team (Charlotte, Georgia, James and Rose) all hard. The purple team (Daisy, Willow and Lily) had to ride without Molly as her pony went lame and so could not compete but again a good experience. Lily, Willow, Rose and Georgia competed as a team in the Mini Eventers Challenge Qualifier for Hickstead next May. All again rode well on now-tired ponies (and riders) but they managed to win the class and Lily won as an individual so she has qualified for the finals next year. James had qualified for the 90/95cm finals as an individual and he rode a super double clear which gave him 21st place out of 164 riders – as one of the youngest in this class this was a huge achievement.
The warm weather has finally broken, and wine merchant Sadie Wilkins is reaching for her jumpers – and a satisfying glass of something comforting
The nights are darker, golden leaves are falling from trees and there’s a chill in the air – woolly jumper season is officially here. With hearty autumnal dishes back on the menu, it’s time to pour a tipple that feels cosy, warming and all things nice. Despite the common misconception that high alcohol content is the only route to tingly warmth, you can in fact achieve that satisfying comfort from a variety of wine styles – some more unexpected than others. Many structural components of wine are responsible for its reassuring embrace – from generous, ripe fruit and thick-skinned tannins to lees contact (wait for it – Ed) wines and fermentation processes – not to mention the usual ‘hits’ of terroir, climate, and grape variety. As I often say, there’s a lot going on in any bottle of wine, it’s just a matter of discovering what variables work for you – and at what time. Wine is subjective, after all. With that said, you shouldn’t be surprised to see some ‘big reds’ on our winter warmer wine list; a brooding glass that will bring a bang to not just your bonfire night celebrations, such as Napa Valley Cabernets, Northern Rhônes and Reserva Riojas.
Fortified and fabulous Less conventional – but just as hearty – are generous white wines that bring unctuous flavour and creamy texture with elegance and ease. We’re talking over-ripe Viogniers that are dripping in stone-fruit lusciousness, and oak-fermented Chardonnays that invite vanilla and coconut to the winter party. There’s also a lot of fresher wine styles and varieties that are being produced with lees contact too. The ‘lees’ are the leftover yeast particles from fermentation, and when the wine is left in contact with them you get a bucket load of creamy texture and buttery flavour. White wines made this way are like stepping into a French patisserie and indulging in a fine pastry or beautiful brioche. Now we’re in the realms of pure indulgence, we may as well move on to my other go-to wines that simply deliver at this time of year: port and pudding wines. Fortified and fabulous, port wine is one of Portugal’s greatest gifts. From ruby, LBV and tawny to vintage, colheita and white (and everything in between) there’s a comforting richness from port that you just don’t get anywhere else. Take a flask of port to your firework display, and I promise you’ll not regret it. And last but never least, pudding wines. The golden rule with dessert wine is to make sure the sugar content of the wine exceeds that of your dessert. After this, it’s great fun to explore and discover your perfect pud pairings. I’ll leave you with some tried and tested combinations to get you going: chocolate and Sauternes, an Auslese with anything red berries (my favourite is an Eton mess, but very berry trifles and pavlovas also hit the spot) and how about a Tokaji Aszu with a caramelised apple tart? If you want to get ‘winter ready’ and fancy trying out some of the season’s best, we’ve put together some themed wine cases to tickle your taste buds. Give us a call or simply pop by to our Sherborne wine shop – oh, and don’t forget your mittens.
Find Sadie and the Vineyards team at The Old Yarn Mills, 9 Westbury, Sherborne DT9 3RQ; they’re open Tuesday to Saturday.
North Dorset’s annual agricultural Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show is a beacon in the local calendar, and has traditionally been a single day event on the third Wednesday of August. The decision has now been taken by the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Agricultural Society that the show will now run over two days – on Wednesday 16th AND Thursday 17th August in 2023.
Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show Grand Parade | Image: Courtenay HItchcock
Giles Simpson, Show Chairman, local farmer and agronomist said: “Despite the challenges of an incredibly dry and hot summer, the Show was a huge success this year. However, running a one day Show is a risk and bringing all of this together for a single day is costly – more so if it rains on that day! The two-day Show will see us take the Show to a new and even more exciting level in our region. “Our decision to make the Show a two-day event will help us make it more cost-effective and even more financially viable by spreading the running costs over two days. It will also allow us to implement risk management strategies and fulfil our commitment to secure the future of this much-loved annual event.”
Texel and Poll Dorset Sheep being judged at the 2015 Gillingham & Shaftesbury Agricultural Show
The show is one of the few which is still very much a working agricultural show, and is an important date in the calendar for local farmers and those in the industry to come together for networking and business – over 85 agricultural businesses took part this year. But the G&S Show is also a big draw for the general public and tourists: the 2022 event saw a record number of over 25,000 visitors attending on a single day, enjoying the agricultural and countryside exhibits, equestrian events, vintage machinery and cars, live bands, parachute team, motorbike stunt displays along with many other exciting attractions. The much-missed Grand Parade of winning livestock also returned this summer, to wide acclaim.
The army parachute display team landed at the G&S Show team in 2022
Like many other rural events, the Show was struck by ever increasing logistical costs and turning the greenfield Showground into a large scale event is no easy operation. Record numbers also meant demand for extra car parking, incurring additional costs by sourcing space from local landowners.
The Society plans to keep the show entry price competitive with the assurance that daily ticket prices will remain under £20 per person and early-bird discounts available for £13.
In 2022, the BV produced the first official G&S Show magazine, including not only details of the show but also VERY serious interviews with the organisers and an insiders look at showing cattle, driving a steam engine and organising the equestrian events at the show. Ever wondered what makes a prize-winning egg? Or a champion rabbit? So did we, so we asked the judges. Click below to have a flick through!
Sherborne Primary School children in the Early Years Foundation Stage spent this month learning about ‘people who help us’. They had exciting visits from a vet and an ambulance driver and then they themselves visited Sherborne Fire Station. The children learned lots, but more importantly had an amazing time.
