The weather’s taken a turn, so settle in with a mug of something warm and have a listen to the second of August’s podcasts: just click play below, and turn up the volume!
In this week’s episode:
Laura Beddow is a Dorset councillor, a parrot rescuer, and dreams of an itinerant life playing her viola around a campfire with a cider in her hand. She shares the tracks of her years in Dorset Island Discs.
‘Don’t sell the sausage. Sell the sizzle.’ Sophie Baker is managing to do both – brilliantly – with her award-winning sausage business, reports Tracie Beardsley in this month’s A Country Living
This month Rachael Rowe met Jen Daly and Ken Peet – London expats who are the proud owners of the thriving Cerne Abbas Stores – in Meet Your Local
In the local politics round up, all four voices have something different to say. Simon Hoare MP considers the change in the way we consume our news has lead inexorably to a political fatigue. Ken Huggins of the Green Party considers the relevance of a recent Hollywood film, Mike Chapman ranges his thoughts from lurching politics to the cost of living crisis, and Labour’s pat osborne considers Blandford’s own drop in the ocean.
In this month’s Then and Now, Roger Guttridge visits Halstock to share the macabre story of how a pious Dorset girl came to lose her head
The weather forced a change in the yard schedule, says Toots Bartlett, but it was an opportunity to discover how the horses might cope outside the UK
Freestyle R enjoying his off duty time
Wooza! What a heatwave! July consisted of many (many…) early starts and late finishes in order to work around the heat. With temperatures rising as high as 38º on the yard, my team and I began our days at 5am in order to be on the first horse by 5.30am. This meant we were usually able to have the whole yard ridden by 11am and out of the sun before the days reached peak temperatures. With very limited shade in our fields we felt it kinder for the horses to remain in the cooler barn, and we attached fans to all of their stables to help. Electrolytes were added to all the horses feeds to help maintain hydration, even if they were on a light exercise day. Whilst making sure we were safe and sensible, we did utilise the heatwave whilst maintaining the horses’ fitness plan, to see how they coped and performed in extreme heat. This was a really good gauge for us to know how they would react when competing abroad. Top tip – for any horses that might not be keen to drink a lot in the heat, cutting up apples and carrot and placing them in the water is a great way to encourage hydration. We also monitored each horses temperature throughout the week.
Equador MW jumped double clear round the 3* showjumping course at Burgham International horse trials
July’s results Only a few events for team TB during July. A trip to Cheshire to the beautiful Somerford Park resulted in Freestyle R producing another double clear at 3* with a fabulous dressage of 26, giving him another chance of an International win. However, the ground was still extremely hard and he is such an exciting prospect now that he is producing such consistent top quality results, I chose to save him for another day and not run to time cross country. Our New Zealand horse Equador MW had his first event in the 2* and gave me a brilliant clear cross country. He then followed it up by jumping double clear round our first Intermediate together, to finish eighth at Upton House. Lastly, Six year old Cor Y Taran has made the step up to Novice level and in style!
Lippy the clever giant We have a fabulous four year old in for schooling livery; already standing at 18hh, Lippy is a big friendly giant. He has an exceptional brain and loves to learn. I find it incredibly rewarding riding the younger horses. Small things like doing a whole schooling session without them picking up the wrong canter leads feels like such a big accomplishment, it leaves me with a big smile on my face for the rest of the day!
Toots Bartlett is happy with six year old Taran’s progress in the novice class
In other news … We had a lovely girl from the high school join our team for two days work experience, which is a great way to gain an insight into how each yard is run and just how much work goes on behind the scenes. In very exciting news (to me!) team TB welcomed a rather special new addition. With the growing number of horses it was time to upgrade the lorry to a 26 ton beast – something I never thought we would have! It is slightly intimidating at the moment, and it will definitely make the narrow lanes of Dorset look even smaller. But I am so excited and so grateful. I am sure I will eventually adapt to sitting so high up! As I write this we are on our way up north to Northumberland to Burgham International horse trials, where we have two horses in the 3* and one in the Novice. Fingers crossed they might have had some more rain then the south!
(Update from Toots on the Burgham results: ‘It wasn’t the best weekend – Equador MW jumped double clear round the 3* showjumping, but I had a fall on Freestyle R early on the cross country course which cost us a third place in the 3*. It was another great run for Taran in the Novice, but no placing!’)
Do you enjoy working outdoors and being part of a team? If so, we have a great opportunity for you as a Repair and Maintenance (R&M) Supply Operator!
What can I expect?
We describe ourselves as ‘community within a community’ here at Wessex Water, and the Networks team is no exception. We provide a vital service that helps to ensure we supply water to 1.3 million customers, and we have a fantastic opportunity for you to join the team.
As one of our Repair and Maintenance Supply Operators, working in the Network Utilities team, you’ll carry out a variety of repairs and maintenance to the water supply distribution network, making sure that it meets quality and customer service standards. This might mean excavating and repairing burst water mains and leaks or making new connections, as well as landscaping and general building works.
You’ll be working within a great team, outdoors, dealing with different challenges every day and providing a vital service to our customers. These jobs involve operating as part of a two- person team.
What are we looking for?
This role will be based at our Sturminster Newton depot, so it is best suited to candidates living in the surrounding area, but consideration will be given to those living further away.
We’re looking for someone with a positive and can-do attitude who is well-organised, customer focused and a great team player.
You will need:
a valid driving licence
experience installing new services and meters, pipe-laying and/or general building
a current Streetworks ticket and a Health and Safety certificate would be preferred although full training can be given.
It is important to understand that you will be required to participate in an out-of-hours standby rota.
Benefits for you
Pension – up to 20% combined contribution
25 days’ holiday rising to 28 with length of service
Opportunity to buy and sell up to five days’ holiday
Health benefits package
Life assurance (up to four times your salary)
Electric vehicle salary exchange
Flexible working
Cashback and discounts from over 1,200 retailers
Paid volunteering day
Enhanced family leave
Interactive health and wellbeing platform
Support from mental health first aiders
£1000 referral fee if you recommend someone to work for us
What will you get from us?
Our people tell us Wessex Water is a great place to work, and they stay with us! We are proud of how we support development and career progression. We have a wealth of both financial and non-financial benefits to offer our people and are committed to ensuring we provide an environment that supports health and wellbeing and flexible working.
We continue to promote diversity and inclusion. With that in mind, we welcome all applicants.
We are delighted to have signed the Armed Forces covenant and are a Disability Confident Employer. Applicants who declare they have a disability or have previously served with the Armed Forces, and meet the minimum requirements for the job, will automatically be invited for an interview.
Please let us know if you require any additional support or adjustments to assist you in starting your journey with Wessex Water.
If you have what it takes to join this award-winning business and want to be part of our exciting journey and share in that success, then please get in contact with us to find out more.
Following his successful supercar breakfast meet-up in June, this month local teenager Zander Miller staged his first all day Classic & Supercar Sunday event at Clayesmore School, and estimates that the 160 classic and supercars on display had a combined value of more than forty million pounds.
‘It is tricky to estimate’ said Zander. ‘The Ferrari F40 that came is worth over £1,000,000 due to its rarity, age and condition. Many of the supercars are worth between £250,000-£500,000. And then the classic cars ranged from 1920 to 1997; we had an Aston Martin DB2 and an Aston Martin DB11. They’re 70 years apart! I’d imagine we had a value of around £40 (ish) million.’
Regular readers will remember the BV feature on eighteen year old Zander in the June issue – the teenager’s hobby of photographing supercars and posting them on Instagram lead to Zander organising his first supercar owners meet-up and the formation of the South Coast Supercar Club. In his final year of sixth form at Clayesmore, the budding entrepreneur was noticed by the school team who were keen to encourage him – they subsequently invited Zander to put on a full day event at the school over the summer. Zander grabbed the opportunity and, despite being in the middle of his A Levels year, threw himself into organising the one day event.
I spoke with Zander afterwards to find out how his first big show had worked out. Firstly I wondered just how many cars had shown up on the day? ‘The Clayesmore Classic and Supercar Sunday had 160 classic and supercars on display to the public. We had expected around 150; there were some inevitable no-shows as people unfortunately had to change their plans, but we received many more drive-ins on the day.’
Can you tell us about some of the cars that were there? ‘Our headline sponsors of the event The Hendy Group brought a lovely example of an RS Cosworth. We also had a Ferrari F40 on display from one of our most exclusive members, offering the rare opportunity to view such an iconic car – we were really happy that the owner even allowed the public to sit inside!
‘One of our other sponsors, First Choice Detailing, had arranged a tri-colour of cars on their stand to represent the Italian flag, covering the most track-focused and exclusive cars manufacturers can offer. There was a member’s Alfa Romeo GTAM (one of only 500 examples in the world), and a Ferrari SF90 Stradale, Ferraris latest and greatest hybrid technology which reaches over 200mph!
‘We were very fortunate that Meridian Modena (our local Ferrari dealership) were able to bring their brand new Ferrari 296 GTB demonstrator car. We were delighted to have had this on display next to the F40 as not many customers have taken delivery of this elegant machine.’
Putting on your first major event of this kind is a huge amount of work. Was it a steep learning curve? ‘If you’d asked me eight months ago if I would be working with Clayesmore and arranging a proper car event, I never would have believed you! Every single step has been a huge learning curve and has taught me so much about arranging a professional event which customers are willing to pay tickets for and then be satisfied on the day.
‘From my previous events, I’ve known the difficulties with logistics and communications with the South Cost Supercar Club members; however we tried to make the event as seamless as possible for our exhibitors and members. Even this was a learning curve – but now I know what works and what doesn’t for our future events.
‘I had a lot of positive feedback both during and after the event which is so nice to hear after all the hours of hard work and planning! All the praise really does make it worth while, and keeps me motivated. However I of course had a few comments and tips on what I can still improve upon. Hendy’s told me: “if you come out of the blocks and everything’s perfect, you’re either naive or lucky”. There are some positive lessons learned that will make sure my business continues to grow and be successful.’
Will there be a 2023 Classic & Supercar Sunday event?
‘Ha, I’m not sure yet! But there will definitely be something. I look forward to what is in store for the future of the club, and I’m excited to see where these next events take me. I think a big charitable event is what I’d like to do next.’
On the day we spoke, Zander had just learned his A Level results: ‘Somehow I’ve managed to arrange Clayesmore Classic and Supercar Sunday while juggling all of my subjects at Clayesmore. With the successful event last Sunday, I’m glad I can say that my place at Bournemouth University was approved, and I achieved a Distinction* in my Enterprise and Entrepreneurship BTec, A* in Photography, A* in Design and Technology and B in Business Studies. ‘The last few months have been busy and tough. But I have come out the other side with amazing grades and a growing and profitable business in an industry that I look forward to continuing in after my degree. ‘I’d also like to mention how grateful I am to Clayesmore for giving me the opportunity to work alongside them, starting an event which has the opportunity to become even more successful in the future. And a further thanks goes to Rhiannon Harris from Clayesmore School who I worked closely on the event with. It simply would not have been as successful without her.’
The best quality milk comes from local, healthy and happy cows, believes the third generation dairy in Shaftesbury
BV Dairy was established in 1958 and is now run by the third generation of the Highnam family. Both the business and the range of specialty products has grown and developed to form one of the most respected and successful independent dairies in the South West. BV Dairy started in the family home at Kington Magna, selling liquid cream. The business moved to its current site in Shaftesbury in the mid-1980s, and with the extra space the product range was extended to cultured milk products like yoghurts, sour cream and crème fraîche – anything from nought per cent fat soft cheese (quark) up to a 45% fat soft cheese (cream cheese). Our UF Plant, a world-class facility for manufacturing, was commissioned in May 2004. It uses Ultra Filtration (UF) Technology that, at the time, was a recent manufacturing process and uncommon in the UK. The plant offers total flexibility in the manufacturing of a range of different products, and has enhanced our position as an innovative manufacturer of specialist dairy product for our customers. Our active New Product Development department works constantly on new concepts and also with customers (and potential customers) whenever possible. October 2016 saw the commissioning of a new chill store facility; housing 1,000 pallet spaces and incorporating new office space and storage. The design ethos is based on lean principles, efficient running and full IT integration. We utilise VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) Fork Trucks running on guidance systems; and solar panels which generate 3,500kWh of electricity each day.
Back to the farm Hailing from a farming background originally, BV Dairy understands all aspects of the dairy industry and is proud of its strong relationship with the local farming community. We understand the importance of restricting food miles; our milk is sourced directly from within the local community, from dairy farms within a 30-mile radius of the production facility in Shaftesbury. These farms are regularly inspected as part of the Red Tractor Farm Assured Scheme and are required to comply with this standard. In addition, BV Dairy’s own Farm Liaison Team work closely with our farmers in applying modern best-practice principles and helping them maintain herds of healthy, happy cows that supply high quality, rich, tasty and nutritious milk. When collected from the farm all milk joins a schedule of testing – not only to maintain quality but also to form the basis of an agreed payment scheme for the farmer. In addition, BV Dairy host regular forums attended by their farmers and other invited dairy professionals where issues can be discussed and ideas exchanged to help ensure a continuing good working partnership.
The BV Dairy cows Our typical dairy farm supplier has a long heritage of dairy farming, and a long relationship with the Dairy. They vary in size from smaller, family farms with around 80 cows up to larger concerns with 400 cows. The systems used are dependent on the individual farm but ALL cows will go out on grass for a period of the year, and spend their winter in a cubicle house or barn. The breed of cow is also varied, with some farms having pedigree Holstein Friesians and others having crossbred stock – such as Jersey crossed with Friesian. There are also Guernsey’s, Brown Swiss and Montbeliarde. A nutritious diet is essential and in summer months this is mainly grass. In the winter when grass does not grow well cattle are fed mainly silage (preserved grass or maize) with a mixture of cereals and protein feeds to ensure that they maintain their health. BV Dairy support varied calving patterns as this helps achieve a consistent volume of milk arriving at the Dairy. Calving timetables are tailored by the farmer to suit his farm, workforce and the space and land available – there could also be other farming enterprises such as arable, beef cattle or sheep to consider. Some farms have the facilities to calve year-round whilst others calve in blocks; spring or autumn, or sometimes both!! BV Dairy is committed to its farmers whatever size their farm and our aim is to help them support healthy, happy cows
Do you have a passion for beer and a keen interest in science? If so, we would love to hear from you!
Hall & Woodhouse are looking for a motivated Laboratory Technician to join the team at our state of the art Brewery in Blandford, Dorset.
Owned and run by the seventh generation of the Woodhouse family, with Mark Woodhouse and Anthony Woodhouse as the current stewards, we’re proud to be a leading independent regional brewer with an established pub estate of beautiful pubs in great locations across the South of England.
We continue to invest and innovate in beer and pubs, ensuring we remain a fiercely independent family company at the forefront of British brewing and hospitality.
This role will include:
• Working closely with the production team members to achieve quality, cost and morale targets
• Be responsible for training on test procedures and advising on any remedial action required
• Championing and continually driving forward the quality of our beers, ensuring that analytical, microbiological, and sensory tests are carried out using the correct methodology.
About you:
• Minimum GCSE English, Maths and Science, or similar related qualification
• Enthusiastic, willingness to learn new skills and progress
• Excellent time management and the ability to use initiative and plan their workload
• Good IT Skills and the ability to work alone or within a team and communicate with other team members confidently and professionally
• Basic knowledge of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points
• Knowledge of a working laboratory would be an advantage, but not essential
• A passion for beer and brewing is desirable
Our values of Ambition, Dedication, Integrity, Kindness and Teamwork are key to our success, and we would like you to be able to demonstrate how you meet these as part of the selection process.
The role is available immediately on an annualised hours agreement, with core hours being worked between Mon-Fri.
Benefits include:
• A competitive salary
• Inclusion in company profit share scheme
• Pension scheme
• 30 days including bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 3 years service
• Day off for birthday
• Westfield cash back health plan and Hospital treatment insurance
• Annual Health Assessment
• Life Assurance cover
• Annual drinks allowance
• 25% discount off food and drink in our managed houses
Feeding different diets to a range of growing foals and mares living in the same field is an art form which Lucy Procter has mastered
Someone wants to know where her hard feed is please. All images: Lucy Procter
It’s relatively quiet on the stud, with the mares and foals out grazing all day and night. Despite the lack of rain, we still have just enough grass for them to get the majority of their feed through grazing, but we are supplementing with what is termed ‘hard feed’ – energy rich grains and pulses with carefully balanced vitamins and minerals. Traditionally, hard feed would have consisted of ‘straights’ – rolled oats and barley with no additives. But modern feed companies now manufacture balanced all-in feeds. They come as a muesli-type mix, or an extruded cube. In recent years ‘balancers’ have been introduced, which are a popular way of feeding horses which are in light work and would get too fat on the recommended amount of hard feed. Feeding a balancer provides concentrated nutrition without unwanted calories, and ‘balances’ a forage-based – grass or hay – diet.
No mares allowed The mares without foals at foot, or mares with older foals, are all now on a daily cup of balancer. The mares with younger foals, who are still drinking a significant amount of milk each day, are being fed a calorie-rich stud nut, in much greater quantity than the balancer feed, to ensure an adequate milk supply for their young foals’ needs. As the foals get older, their feed requirement comes increasingly from grass and hard feed more than it does from their dam’s milk, leading to the point at which they will be weaned, between five and six months old. All the foals are being fed hard feed in a creep feeder, which means that we can provide calorie rich hard feed to the growing foals, whilst their dams are fed a balancer. The creep feeder is too low for the mares to enter, but the foals happily duck under the rails to get their breakfast.
Foals inside the creep feeder
Prep work for Hurdles Work-wise, we’ve been concentrating this month on backing and bringing on four two-year-olds and two three-year-olds. One of the three-year-olds, a Montmartre gelding, is being aimed at the new Junior National Hunt Development Hurdle Races, which start in October. The second gelding by Black Sam Bellamy, being bigger and what we would term more ‘backward’ will shortly be turned out in a field for the summer to mature, and will come back into work in the autumn with the aim of getting him ready to race in the spring. The two-year-olds are having eight weeks of walkering (exercise on a mechanical horse walker), lunging and long reining with the aim of getting them well-handled and partially backed before being turned away again until next spring, when they, in turn, will also be fully backed and ridden away in preparation for the Junior National Hunt Development Hurdle Races, autumn 2023.
Taking on the French This new programme of Hurdle races, designed to help the development of Jump horses in Great Britain, was announced last November. Entitled Junior National Hunt Development Hurdle races and open exclusively to three-year-olds from October to December and four-year-olds from January to April, the races will be run from early-October 2022 to the end of the 2022/23 Jump season. They will be open to horses that have not previously competed in a Flat race, or a Jump race (except for a National Hunt (NH) Flat or Junior NH Development Hurdle Race). Each racehorse will be restricted to a maximum of four starts in the series. Richard Wayman, Chief Operating Officer of the British Horseracing Authority said at the programme’s launch: ‘By adding these races to next year’s programme, we’ll be able to gain a much better understanding of the impact of providing young jumping horses with the opportunity to start their careers at an earlier stage. Such an approach is already well established in France and to some extent as part of a vibrant point-to-point scene in Ireland. We hope that owners and trainers …[will] view them as an ideal opportunity for the right sort of jumping horse.” Bryan Mayoh, Chairman of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association National Hunt Committee, said: “We have long believed that differences in upbringing, rather than in breeding or environment, is the principal reason why French-bred Jump horses have outperformed those produced in Britain and Ireland. The impact that Irish four-year-old Point-to-Points are now having on the successes of Irish-trained horses, supports the hypothesis that Jump horses need to be backed and taught to jump earlier than has been traditional in Britain.” So, we will pre-train our Montmartre for another few weeks, before he will be sent to our trainer, Kieran Burke, in Dorchester, to do the final fittening and race preparation work, aiming for a run mid-October at Newton Abbot. Horses being horses, we just have to keep our fingers crossed that all goes well in the next few months – just getting a racehorse to a racecourse is an achievement in itself, running well is the bonus we are always dreaming of.
The foals happily slip under the rails while the mare is left eating the balancer
Wassailing the mares It’s not been all work this month, however. We joined in with Racing Staff Week, held nationally to celebrate the role of all stud and racing staff who work tirelessly in all weathers, by hosting a staff barbeque. After we had eaten, we loaded the truck up with staff and bottles of Monopole to raise a glass to the mares, who are the source of everything The Glanvilles Stud does – our take on the local tradition of ‘wassailing’, but with champagne and thoroughbreds!
Matt Cradock, local sheep farmer and chairman of the G&S Show’s sheep section, discusses the sheep of things to come with Andrew Livingston
For the second year running, sheep shearing demonstrations are back at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show. Organisers say that it was the public interest at last year’s display which means that it’s bigger and better than before. Matt Cradock, chairman of the sheep section, is excited about this year’s ‘Wool Village.’ He says: “[Last year] there were so many people asking what the price of it was, what the procedure was … there were so many questions that we just couldn’t get enough information out to everyone who was interested. ‘This year we’re doing the shearing and then we can see the fleece-judging classes of people who are exhibiting their pedigree stock at the show. We also have a couple of spinners – the process of getting the wool into yarn – and then we have a representative from the British Wool Board who is coming to talk about everything else in between. This way, the public is getting the whole picture.’ Twenty-nine-year-old Matt, who keeps more than 1,700 sheep on 300 acres around North Dorset, was brought up on his family’s dairy farm. They diversified into sheep to keep their business running. Matt, who bought his first sheep at the age of 16, is the perfect expert to guide the public through the shearing demonstrations, so he will once again be commentating on the shearing. ‘It’s a time when livestock farming is getting hammered left, right and centre from those who are opposed to it. Shearing can be a big thing. The public need to see it for themselves to make up their own mind on it. I did the commentary on the shearing last year and the public loved it. We could have spieled and spieled and sheared and sheared, but the public response was what really made it.’
No one likes a Poll Dorset Originally farmers sheared their sheep because the wool itself was the product … and a big income for sheep farmers. Today, however, a sheep’s wool – which weighs around two kilograms – will only be worth about 70p, with the average shearer costing double that just to remove the wool. ‘Shearing is mainly for welfare reasons now. It helps prevent fly strike, reduces the risk of the sheep getting stuck on their backs. Sheep left unsheared are at risk of rain scald, which is a skin disease.’ Once again, Henry Mayo and Ben Doggrell will be aiming to shear 180 to 200 of Matt’s sheep for the show demonstration –around 30 each an hour. That’s just two minutes per sheep. In 2019, 20-year-old Henry, from Hermitage in Dorset, became the first English farmer to win the top shearing competition in New Zealand for 30 years. Matt, who usually shears his own sheep, describes the pair as the best. ‘Put it this way, I’m really particular about what happens with my sheep and I’d be happy for them to come in and shear my own flock. If I didn’t think they were the best, I simply wouldn’t ask them to be at the show.’ Suffolk, Charollais, Poll Dorsets and Llyns are just some of the breeds that will be sheared at the G&S Show. ‘Everything being shorn at the 2022 show is called a shearling – a young sheep which has never been shorn before. They are going to be a challenge, the Poll Dorsets being the worst. I’ve never met a shearer who likes shearing them!’
Judging Texel and Poll Dorset sheep at the 2015 Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show.
Accompanying the shearing is the showing of sheep, with competition classes and prizes for all the pedigree breeds. Matt explains why having a rosette-winning animal is big business. ‘It’s advertising your breeding. You get to compare your breeding with another breeder of the same or similar breed. ‘Exhibitors do go to a lot of effort – there’s a lot of preparation work. To achieve a prize winner, they’re obviously breeding the right animal, and that’s what’s key to them. They enjoy the day. They get to go to the show, but their animals – they sell themselves.’ Next year, Matt’s vision for the sheep section at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show is once again bigger and better. ‘Why keep something the same? It’s worked one year, so let’s build it up to encourage people. ‘The idea is (we’re always full of ideas, whether they actually work or not is another matter!) we will have had two years’ worth of shearing demonstrations, so we’ll go for a competition shear next year. That way people will understand what the competition is, because they’ve listened to it being explained for the last couple of years. Then they can see what it REALLY means to be a professional shearer.’
