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Is this the ultimate pony?

By
Editorial team
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Is the Connemara simply the best pony? Local breeder Kate Walters explains their appeal and introduces a couple of Connemara superstars

The Connemara is a breed of native pony originating from the wild and rugged region of the same name in County Galway, Ireland. Prized for their hardiness, agility, extraordinary jumping ability and not least for their temperament, Connemaras are understandably popular with children and adults alike.
The British Connemara Pony Society’s breed description is ‘a well-balanced riding type with good depth and substance and good heart room, standing on short legs, covering a lot of ground.’
The height specification for a Connemara pony is 12.2hh to 14.2hh but the overheight Connemara is probably everyone’s ideal first horse!
They have a gentle disposition, are deeply inquisitive and love human affection, making them very easy to handle. The Connemara pony is a safe and sensible breed, which makes them a fantastic choice for all ages and stages of riding.

Marion Mould with Stroller, the only pony to compete at the Olympics in Showjumping

Working roots
Traditionally, Connemaras were bred to be the backbone of small farms, where they lived as part of the family. They worked from dawn to dusk doing whatever task was asked of them; ploughing, pulling carts of turf, rocks and seaweed, and of course, on Sundays they were the mode of transport carrying the family to Mass … Not to mention hunting, racing and local shows.
They have a natural jumping ability, with a rectangular frame which also makes them suitable for dressage. Their natural athleticism and versatility allows them to excel in all disciplines and makes great all-rounder ponies. In fact, the Connemara pony can be seen competing in all rings – showjumping, eventing, dressage, driving, working hunter, showing, hunting, side saddle … They make fantastic competition ponies and are completely safe riding ponies for children.
Many of today’s Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) showjumping and eventing pony teams, representing most of the European countries, are made up of Connemaras and partbred Connemaras.
Connemara ponies have long been crossed with Thoroughbreds to produce the ultimate competition horse, with a couple of noteable showstoppers.

Tommy Wade on Irish Connemara showjumper Dundrum


Stroller
Marion Mould’s Stroller was the only pony to compete at the Olympics in showjumping. He was just 14.1 hh (but clearly absolutely believed he was a horse). A bay gelding with a star on his forehead, he was a Thoroughbred cross Connemara and was owned and ridden by New Forest-born Marion (nee Coakes).
She is very well known in riding circles across the New Forest and Dorset.
Representing Britain, they competed in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, and despite Stroller suffering with a tooth infection they won the silver individual medal and achieved one of only two clear rounds at the Olympics. At Olympia that same year, Stroller cleared a puissance wall of 6’ 10”.

Dundrum
Tommy Wade’s Connemara gelding Dundrum was supreme champion at the 1961 Wembley Horse of the Year Show, where he set a puissance record of 7’ 2”. Dundrum was 15.1 hh – 61 inches tall at the withers. A 7’2” puissance wall is 86 inches high – more than two feet higher than the horse. And Dundrum was carrying a rider and a saddle.
In 1961, Dundrum and Wade won a total of five major competitions and a Sports Star of the Year award. Connemara societies around the world frequently refer to Dundrum as the best Connemara that ever lived. But he was simply one of the world’s all-time great jumpers, and he beat the best of every breed.
Kate Walters runs Holnest Connemaras, near Sherborne, where she breeds competition, showing and hunting ponies.

Moody Kathleen

By
Editorial team
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Kathleen Moody (Kath)

Beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother who passed away peacefully on July 9th at Dorchester Hospital. Kath will be sadly missed by all who knew her. Service of thanksgiving to take place in August.

DARKE, BETSI

By
Editorial team
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On the 4th July, peacefully after a long illness. 

Much loved Mum to Michael, Helen and Gillian and Mamgu to Malcolm, Hannah, Matthew and Cecilia. Cherished by many. 

No flowers, donations if desired for research and education on Vascular Parkinson’s c/o Colin Close funeral, Blandford.

The alchemy of the glassblower

By
Editorial team
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The Venetian art of glassblowing is little changed in 800 years. Edwina Baines visited Emsie Sharp’s studio to interview the Murano-trained artisan
Artisan glassblower Emsie Sharp and her ‘servente’, Anne
All images: Edwina Baines

At her studio in a converted cowshed at Gold Hill Farm, Child Okeford, Emsie Sharp pursues the art of glassblowing. Invented by Syrian craftsmen in first century BC, blown vessels for everyday use were produced and exported to all parts of the Roman Empire. By the Middle Ages, Venice had become a major centre for glass making – and, for fear of fire in the city, production moved to the island of Murano. Venetian glassmakers developed secret recipes and methods for making glass and at one time the craftsmen were not allowed to leave the island in the Venetian lagoon for fear their methods would be lost. Revealing their trade secrets was punishable by death.
Thankfully, no such rules apply now in Emsie’s studio! She was happy to demonstrate the techniques which have remained basically the same to the present day. Following a degree in glass from Farnham Art College, Emsie moved to London to work with both Adam Aaronson Designs and Columbia Glassworks. Three years later she left to work on Murano, the ‘Mecca of the glassblowing world’. The Maestro (or Gaffer) was the chief glassblower and Emsie was the only woman apprentice under his tutelage. Initially she spoke no Italian and had to learn Venetian (a separate language from Italian: “They use different words. It’s like learning English, then hearing Geordie!”).
Glassblowing takes years of practice and dedication to the Maestro, as well as specialised tools and equipment, and a Maestro’s two assistants were known as the servente and serventino. Emsie learnt her trade as the latter: “I would call it ‘the slave’!
“There were long days of tiring, repetitive work” said Emsie. “In Italy they are very traditional, very Venetian. They work on a high level of accuracy. Items have to match perfectly. But I don’t want all my pieces to be the same. In Murano the glass is made for show, something you would put on display in a cabinet. I want mine to be functional. Useful. I want people to feel the craft in each piece.”

Even a wine glass is a two-person task

It starts with cullet
Today, even on a cool morning, the studio is hot. Each piece starts life as molten glass in the furnace at around 1100ºC. With the price of gas rising all the time, keeping the furnace at this constant temperature is a considerable and increasing cost. The furnace is fed with 24 per cent lead crystal cullet (excess or broken crystal from the previous week’s production) purchased from Dartington Glass in Devon. “It’s a form of recycling” was how Emsie termed it.

Emsie Sharp is curently working on a series of bowls representing sea urchins

I watched Emsie and her assistant Anne making several glasses which were part of a larger commission of wine glasses, decanters and candle holders. The molten glass is ‘gathered’ on the end of a hollow tube/blowing iron and inflated with a bubble. The vessel is shaped and formed by rolling on a smooth surface often consisting of pads of damp newspaper or an applewood block. The block is a wooden tool used to smooth and shape the molten glass into a spherical shape. The blocks are kept soaked in water before use, creating a layer of steam as the glass is shaped.
Emsie may also swing the iron and use gravity to make a longer shape if required. The stems and ‘spun’ foot are each attached separately, with Anne helping to apply a separate ‘fetch’ or bit of molten glass each time. A paddle is used to squeeze the foot between two apple wood boards so that it is even. A ‘punty’ or small metal rod is then attached to the bottom of the glass so that the other end can be fashioned. This leaves a small mark on the bottom of the glass which demonstrates that the item has been handmade.
Tools of the trade

Emsie Sharp in her studio The Cowshed on
Goldhill Organic Farm in Child Okeford


The tools of the glassblower are many and varied, each with specific names. Callipers are used to measure each glass for uniformity; a soffietta (a metal tube attached to a conical nozzle) is used to cool the glass before the next process. After the vessel has been removed from the blowpipe, the cone can be placed into the opening and used to further inflate it. Many of the tools originate from Venice; Emsie said hers “will last a lifetime.”
It was fascinating to watch the two women working together, in a seemingly effortless dance of adding, shaping, cutting and moulding.
Emsie also makes decanters, exciting sculptures and lamp bases. She says: “I don’t plan things out completely. I have an idea of the colours and shapes but I like the excitement of not knowing what’s going to happen. All the colours behave in different ways. In around 40 seconds, even though it’s still around 800ºC, the glass will cool down so much that you can’t work with it. The longer you let it cool, the longer it will take to heat back up.”

Cracks appear
The traditional process does not always go to plan and sometimes a crack appears when the article is removed from the rod. Often this can be removed when re-heated in a second furnace (called the ’glory hole’) where the rod is supported on a ‘yoke’ – but sometimes the glass shatters and all is lost. If all goes well, a final furnace or ‘annealer’ is used to cool the glass slowly, which keeps it from cracking. It was with a sense of satisfaction that I saw the beautiful finished article placed in the annealer and we all heaved a sigh of relief.
Emsie said: “I absolutely love what I do. Although it’s been a tough journey and I’m not going to be rich, I feel very privileged to be able to do it. I would like to pass on my knowledge to the next generation. There are technical skills which need to be taught.
“I want my work to be both useful and functional; I want people to feel the craft in each piece. The process is like alchemy – or an intricate dance.”
Hand-blown glass is generally thought to be more graceful than machine-made glass. This is preferable when drinking wine, not only for the way the glass balances in your hand – but because the glass enhances the wine, especially at the rim or lip. A thin, smooth edge where your lips meet the glass is best while taking a sip.
Seems like a good enough reason to keep this ancient art alive!

You can see Emsie’s work on www.sharpglass.co.uk – she is open for commissions, and has items for sale on her website.

A Right Religious Rackett (pt. 2)

By
Editorial team
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From the ‘fat old woman at the toll-bridge’ to coins of ancient Dorset, the Thomas Rackett Papers have them all – Roger Guttridge reports
Spetisbury Rectory

Have you heard the one about the ‘fat old woman at the toll-bridge’?
Not my words but those of Mrs E Pulteney when describing the impact of a major storm which swept across southern England in March 1818.
Writing from Lymington to Miss Dorothea Rackett, daughter of the Rector of Spetisbury and Charlton Marshall, Mrs Pulteney speaks of the ‘late tremendous weather’ and complains that ‘our house has been partly blown down, though without any serious injury to the inhabitants’.
She then tells the comical tale of ‘the fat old woman at the toll-bridge’, who found herself knee-deep in flood water and unable to walk to safety.
The woman’s son tried to carry her to a neighbour’s house but when the task proved too challenging, he ‘set her down in the water to get assistance’.
It appears the ‘fat old woman’ survived but was not the only one in trouble.
‘They had six pigs in the house, which in the darkness they could not attempt to rescue,’ Mrs Pulteney adds, ‘But in the morning, great was their surprise in finding them all alive and floating in the water.’

Spetisbury Church as drawn by Thomas Rackett for the second edition of Hutchings’ History of Dorset

Irreplaceable fire loss
Mrs Pulteney’s letter is among more than 50 years’ worth of correspondence in the Thomas Rackett Papers, first published by the Dorset Record Society in 1965 and now reprinted, with additions, in hardback.
Other topics referred to in the letters range from Dorset land and grain prices to the freezing winter of 1829-30, from an 1833 flu epidemic at Blandford and Charlton Marshall to – perhaps most curiously – a ‘terrible depreciation’ in the value of books in 1830 and the related sale of many private libraries.
In 1808, the Rev Thomas Rackett wrote to a friend describing a disastrous fire at John Nichols’ Fleet Street printing office and warehouses which destroyed, among other things, the proofs for most of the second edition of Hutchins’ History of Dorset as well as ‘the whole impression’ of Nichols’ own four-volume History of Leicestershire.
Nichols was only insured for a small amount so his loss was ‘very considerable’.

A Roman Road
Many letters reflect Rackett’s lifelong passions for all things historical and scientific.
In 1815-16, Stourhead owner Sir Richard Hoare kept Rackett informed on his charting of ancient sites in Dorset and south Wiltshire.
In one letter he announced his plans to ‘trace the Roman road’ from Sarum to Woodyates and thence to Badbury Rings, where he intended to ‘examine the camp to see if our survey is correct’.
At Badbury Rings, he saw ‘two diverging causeways’, one heading for Dorchester, the other appearing to head towards Wareham.
This puzzled him as there was no evidence of a Roman road reaching Wareham.
He also noted a ‘great portion of another via’ leading from Hamworthy towards Vindogladia (by which he probably meant Wimborne or Badbury Rings) and on to Gussage Cow Down.
Sir Richard was on the money with this speculation. We now know that the Romans built a road from their port at Hamworthy to Lake Gates, Wimborne, where they set up their 40-acre base camp for the conquest of South West England.
Another road led from Lake Gates to Badbury Rings, where it split into three routes, one leading to Dorchester [the Roman Durnovaria], another into North Dorset and a third to Old Sarum.

Thomas Rackett and Tiberius Cavallo’s drawing showing the bearings of objects found at Badbury Rings

Coins of kings
Being a wealthy antiquarian, Sir Richard employed his own surveyor, Mr Crocker, to record details of Badbury Rings, Hambledon Hill, Hod Hill, Maiden Castle and other sites.
He described Hambledon – which he called ‘Hamilton’ – as ‘one of the grandest earthworks I ever beheld’.
In 1832, a parishioner’s discovery of ancient Greek coins in a field at Charlton Marshall prompted Rackett to make further inquiries in the general area.
Within six months he had collected more than 100 coins from the kings of ‘Syria, Macedon, Bythinia, Syrmium and Egypt’ and from ‘states and colonies of Antioch, Carthage, Cos, Mamertini, Rhegium, Syracuse, Neapolis etc’.
Rackett also refers to 70 to 80 silver coins found at Okeford Fitzpaine some years earlier.
In a report to Henry Ellis, secretary of the Society of Antiquities, he says coins plus the glass beads and gold ornaments found in Dorset barrows suggested ‘commercial intercourse’ between the local Britons and people from the East, and perhaps even that ‘a colony was formed in this part of the Island’.

Copies of the Thomas Rackett Papers are available by post from the Hon General Secretary, Dorset History Centre, Dorchester DT1 1RP (£14.95 + £2 p&p – cheques only) or in person from the Dorset History Centre.

Carer Needed | Shaftesbury

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Editorial team
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Carer Needed – Immediate start

Carer needed for 96 year old lady in Shaftesbury

Some weekend work required, usually extra hours during the week and holiday cover.

Salary £16 per hour

For further details on duties involved and to apply, please contact Lauren on :

07398 631853

More Roman Mosaics, holidaying on a Dorset Housing Estate and it’s early rise in the Bread Shed!

By
Laura
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The first episode of July’s BV Magazine Podcast is out now – just click the play button to listen. If you’ve not had a chance to click through the July issue yet, then why not just listen to the first episode? 

In this first of July’s BV Magazine Podcast episodes:

  1. The Letter from the Editor, Laura Hitchcock
  2. Second mosaic at Hinton St Mary leads to a history re-write Archaeologists have discovered a second mosaic at the site of Hinton St Mary’s iconic Roman mosaic pavement – almost six decades after the original discovery – and it is challenging everything we thought we knew.
  3. New reserve is a tribute to Angela Hughes The Countryside Regeneration Trust is keeping alive the legacy of a pioneering Dorset farmer and conservationist
  4. North Dorset housing estate becomes top holiday destination Residents on a new housing development in Okeford Fitzpaine are working together to create a welcome for their African guests
  5. Letters to the Editor A new additon to the Podcast – but they’re one of the most well-read pages in the magazine, so it feels right to include them
  6. Early rise in the bread shed It’s a baker’s dozen of working hours for David Mirus, perfecting his sourdough before Wimborne awakes. Tracie Beardsley reports in A Country Living

Love Local Trust Local Awards are open now – have you entered?

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Editorial team
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Love Local, Trust Local Awards founder Barabara Cossins takes us back to the start of her journey, and reminds us all that local producers are so important

For those who might be new to this column, it’s probably time to go back to the beginning and introduce both ourselves and Love Local Trust Local (LLTL).
LLTL has two simple purposes:
Putting consumer trust back into buying local
Promoting products with genuine provenance and full traceability
In creating LLTL, we have created a food label you can trust.
The Cossins family are fifth generation farmers. We have our own butchery and farm shop (established in 2012), and we have been running the local village pub for the past 30 years. We really do know the importance of Farm To Fork, from every side of the table – and plate!
Every third year we host Open Farm Sunday at Rawston Farm, and we take the opportunity to talk to as many local people as possible. Our visitors love knowing the story of their food, the miles it has travelled and always enjoy buying and eating genuinely local produce.
We were frequently asked ‘how do we know that the food we buy really is what it says it is?’
During the 2018 Open Farm event it became clear the scare stories in the media had created real doubt in many people’s minds, so we finally decided to do something about it, and Love Local Trust Local, Dorset’s very own produce label was born.

By farmers, for farmers – and more
We created Love Local Trust Local to support Dorset producers, with a guiding ethos of education whilst promoting quality, honesty, and proximity.
In the summer of 2020, despite the Covid pandemic, the inaugural Love Local Trust Local Awards were launched as a natural step on from the label. We were hesitant at first, and tempted to delay our plans. However, what better time than during a global health crisis to promote buying and consuming local food & drink with provenance you can trust?
We are passionate about Dorset, advocates of British farming and love the collaboration of small local businesses. Whilst Dorset is leading the way, however, every county has its own flag. It is important that consumers across the country start to recognise the county flags and know what is grown or produced on their own doorstep.

Entries are open
Awards are open now and FREE to enter. Remember, if you don’t tell other people about the amazing things you’re doing they won’t know. Put yourself out there! There are 15 categories to choose from in 2022 so if you’re a business that is growing, producing, rearing, brewing, crafting or cooking here in Dorset, and you source your ingredients within 30 miles of your home base then you should be entering.
You can enter one product in each category, or multiple products into a single category, it’s totally up to you.
The LLTL awards are fast becoming the food & farming family to be part of. They recognise the hard work and dedication of the people behind the food on our plates as they work hard to put Dorset producers on the map.
To find out more, visit lovelocaltrustlocalawards.co.uk or call us for a friendly chat on 07831 184920.

Sponsored by Blanchards Bailey – Law for Life

Blandford Hospital and the Case of the Sozzled Servant

By
Editorial team
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In this month’s Then and Now, Roger Guttridge finds the cottage origins still within Blandford’s hospital and discovers the very first patients
An impromptu cricket match, with Blandford Cottage Hospital in the background. Picture from Lost Dorset: The Towns, by David Burnett, from Barry Cuff’s postcard collection

Working out exactly what’s what in these ancient and modern pictures of Blandford Hospital takes a bit of doing, so much has changed in 130 years or so.
The hospital’s history dates back to 1883, when the Hon Miss Portman paid for the construction of a cottage hospital adjoining the Corner Coffee House near the junction of Salisbury Street and Whitecliff Mill Street.
The first patient was reputedly a man injured in a wagon accident at Tarrant Hinton in March 1883.
It became known as the Nurse House, but only catered for out-patients; the more seriously ill or injured being sent to bigger hospitals at Dorchester, Weymouth, Bournemouth or Bath.
The Portmans of Bryanston House then financed the present hospital, which was officially opened on the 15th December, 1888.

With Blandford Bowling Club in the foreground, a modern extension now obscures the original hospital. Image: Roger Guttridge


‘This hospital,’ declared Viscountess Portman and the Hon L E Portman, ‘is principally intended for the necessitous poor of Blandford and those parishes in the neighbourhood which have no institution of the kind within easy reach of them. Such patients are admitted free of charge.’
In her diary, Julietta Forrester, wife of Lord Portman’s agent, noted that one of the first patients was a Iwerne Minster woman whose incapacity occurred in ‘rather laughable circumstances.’
In his will, the squire of Iwerne, Lord Wolverton, left instructions for everyone in his service to receive a year’s wages.

A similar view of the Cottage Hospital showing the junction of Milldown Road and Park Road. Picture from A Blandford Forum Camera, by Terence Sackett

Julietta believed this sweeping bequest was a ‘clerical error’ by Lord Wolverton’s legal people, which cost his estate the then princely sum of £8,000.
Apparently one of the servants ‘spent and drank’ some of her money, went upstairs to bed but then decided she needed another drop.
‘She stumbled, and, falling from the top of the stairs to the bottom, broke her leg,’ says Julietta.
The mishap earned the sozzled servant the dubious honour of being one of the first two patients at the new Blandford Cottage Hospital.
The other ‘first patient’ was a man: complaint unknown.
The Portmans continued to pay the wages of the matron and nurses for many years.

The aerial view shows how the original cottage hospital has been consumed by more modern extensions. Image by kind permission of Mark Hume, Skyfast Media in Blandford

No longer a cottage
The late Victorian photos are taken from somewhere close to the junction of Whitecliff Mill Street, Milldown Road and Park Road and show the original Cottage Hospital when it really was a cottage of sorts.
The location was known as Picket Close and the impromptu cricket match in the foreground is being played on what is now the home of Blandford Bowling Club. Fortuitously, the club was in full match mode when I arrived to take the ‘now’ picture (above)!
The building in the background of the bowls match is one of many modern extensions that have seen the present-day Community Hospital grow to many times its original size. However you can just make out one of the original gables peeping above the roof line.

Has the sweep into Park Road moved further from the hospital since the original photograph? Image: Roger Guttridge


The other Victorian picture (above) shows a rural-looking Milldown Road stretching away into the distance while the sweep into Park Road appears to follow a different line much closer to the original hospital than the present road – or perhaps there’s a foreshortening effect in the old photo?
The aerial shot below shows how the original building is still there, but has been entirely consumed on all sides by later extensions, with just one gable and two chimneys showing where it still sits.

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