We are utterly bowled over to have been named the Regional News Site of the Year at one of the UK’s most prestigious media events, Press Gazette’s Future of Media Awards.
Recognising excellence in digital news media and publishing, the biggest names in UK publishing were represented at the awards, with the FT, Telegraph and Sky News all big winners on the night. The winners were chosen by a panel of 30 judges who carried out their own assessments before taking part in two days of in-person discussions.
Press Gazette’s Charlotte Tobin wrote: ‘For the Website of the Year categories, the judges were looking for sites which have great content, are well designed, are easy to use, are strong technically and commercially sustainable.’
The national Website of the Year award went to The FT, and it was The BV that impressed judges for the regional category. The comments on The BV’s entry included: ‘With a clear mission, The BV is serving a clearly defined rural audience, delivering news content effectively on multiple platforms and securing the support of local businesses.’
The winners of Press Gazette’s third Future of Media Awards were presented at the London Hilton Bankside on Thursday 12th September, alongside a sit-down dinner.
Thomas Sydenham, one of the most prominent physicians in 17th century England, was born 400 years ago, just ten miles from Dorchester
Thomas Sydenham, painted by Mary Beale in 1689
Known as the English Hippocrates, Thomas Sydenham was one of the most famous physicians of the 17th century. He was renowned for his observations on infectious diseases including smallpox and cholera, and some of his principles remain in medical practice to this day: most notably that teaching should be done at the patient’s bedside. He was born 400 years ago this month, on 10th September 1624, in the hamlet of Wynford Eagle just outside Maiden Newton. His parents, well-known Puritans William and Mary Sydenham, lived at Manor Farm.
A Civil War cavalryman In 1642, at the age of 18, Thomas went to Magdalen Hall in Oxford, but just four months later his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the English Civil War. Thomas returned to Dorset, joining his three brothers fighting for the Parliamentarians (or Roundheads) as a cavalryman, in line with his family’s beliefs. Thomas’ father William was taken prisoner in Exeter when it fell to the King. In 1644, after Dorchester was defended by the Parliamentarians – including the Sydenham brothers – a platoon of Royalists turned up in Wynford Eagle. Mary Sydenham was murdered on the doorstep at Manor Farm by Major Williams because she would not allow the Royalists to pillage the property. Thomas’ brother Francis later avenged her murder by shooting Williams. The Sydenhams were involved in several actions, including the Second Battle of Weymouth in February 1645, which was won by the Parliamentarians. If the Royalist plot for the King’s army to take over Weymouth and Melcombe, known as the Crabchurch Conspiracy, had succeeded, it could have changed the course of the Civil War, as most other ports in the area were under Royalist control. Col William Sydenham, another of Thomas’ brothers, was governor of the Weymouth garrison at the time and under his leadership 500 Royalist troops were killed in one night as they defended the town. William went on to serve as second-in-command in Cromwell’s new form of government, the Protectorate. Thomas is thought to have been inspired to study medicine during the Civil War by Dr Thomas Coxe, a physician who treated William when he was injured in battle. Thomas Sydenham said: “I had the good fortune to fall in with the most learned and honourable Dr Thomas Coxe, who was at that time attending my brother during an illness.”
Becoming a physician In 1646, he returned to Oxford to take up his studies, becoming friends with fellow Dorset scientist Robert Boyle and physician and philosopher John Locke. Graduating two years later, he returned to fight in the second Civil War with his father and brothers, before moving to London to work as a doctor. He also studied at the famous medical school in Montpellier, France, before returning to London to work as a doctor. He received the licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in 1663, and was officially confirmed as a doctor on 17th May 1676 – 28 years after graduating as a Bachelor of Medicine.
Thomas sydenham observationes medicae
Thomas Sydenham’s legacy Thomas lived at a time when many diseases were not understood – but it was also a time when rigorous scientific methods were being explored. He actively encouraged physicians to move away from the teachings of Hippocrates and Galen, which were aligned to religious beliefs and ‘humours’ and towards scientific methods of observation. He is perhaps best known for his work on infectious diseases, but also for believing in the fundamental principle of care and observation of patients taking place at the bedside – something that clinical teams still value and advocate today. In a letter to Sir Hans Sloan, the renowned Irish physician to the English aristocracy, Thomas said: “You must go to the bedside. It is there alone that you can learn disease.” He had a few unusual recommendations too. He suggested that poet and royal physician Richard Blackmore should read Don Quixote to learn about the principles of medicine. In his defence, the book is full of medical knowledge, and Miguel de Cervantes’ father was a barber surgeon! When faced with a hypochondriac, Sydenham recommended he consult a Dr Robertson in Inverness. The man went off to Scotland … to find no such person there. He returned to London, enraged – but cured of his symptoms. Thomas Sydenham is famous for the observations he made when treating the common infectious diseases of the time. He described cholera as: “[it] comes at the close of summer and the beginning of autumn, as swallows in the beginning of spring and cuckoos towards midsummer.” Contrary to the theory of the four humours, Sydenham did not believe that a disease was different from person to person – he believed that each disease was different, and that doctors needed to observe the patient and identify the exact disease before recommending a cure. When bubonic plague arrived in London in 1665, Thomas, along with many other physicians at the time, initially fled the city. However, he returned shortly afterwards, observing and treating the sick at a time when mortality rates were at 50 per cent. His first book, Methodus Curandi Febres or The Method of Curing Fevers, was published in 1666 and later updated to include a section on the plague in 1668. His best known work, Observationes Mediciae or The Observations of Medicine, was published in 1676, and it remained one of the most important medical textbooks for the next 200 years. Thomas Sydenham was the first person to describe scarlet fever, and he used case histories to build up intelligence, contributing to medical knowledge. He named Whooping Cough pertussis, meaning a violent cough. His 1685 book ‘Opera Universa’ became the most important medical text of the day and included his classic descriptions of malaria, cholera, bronchopneumonia, pleurisy and measles. It is to Thomas Sydenham we attribute the famous saying: “A man is as old as his arteries.” Another disease he identified was St Vitus’ Dance – also named Sydenham’s Chorea. At the time, rheumatic fever was common, and the condition is a complication of the disease. In Medical Observations, Sydenham used the word chorea to reflect the involuntary movement associated with the disease and its physiology. Thomas Sydenham died in London in 1689, aged 65. He is buried in St James Church, Piccadilly, where there is a memorial stone with his name. However his legacy lives on in the importance of making sure practical experience, diligent observation and bedside teaching are prioritised in medicine and nursing.
Fanny Charles talks to James and Lucy Smart, who are celebrating ten years of running one of this country’s finest charcuterie businesses
The Real Cure produces a range of 15 charcuterie items
‘It is easy to make good charcuterie once,’ says James Smart, founder of The Real Cure. ‘It is much more difficult to do it week after week. Consistency is the key.’ And consistency – with creativity and rigorous sourcing of ingredients – has been key to the success of the North Dorset-based charcuterie business, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this September. From the smallest beginnings – as a hobby for a country-loving ecologist returning from London to his family farm at weekends – to a national award-winning artisan producer, The Real Cure’s story is one of slow, organic development and steady growth, helped by a few grants. ‘We received LEADER [EU] grant funding for part of our expansion project, but apart from that we have never had any outside investment,’ says James. Now he and his wife Lucy have a team of 12 – quite a significant number in a rural area like Hartgrove near Shaftesbury – producing a range of 15 charcuterie items. Venison is the core of the business but the range now also includes pork and beef products. ‘People are more familiar with pork salamis,’ says Lucy. One of their best-sellers is still the sloe and garlic venison salami which was their first product, using sloes they foraged from their local Blackmore Vale hedges. More recent successes and customer favourites include the chefs’ favourite, nduja (a spicy spreadable pork sausage), Italian black truffle salami, which has two Great Taste stars, and the coppa (cured pig’s collar) which has won a coveted three stars. As the business has grown, James and Lucy have had to source some of their ingredients from further afield – the wild venison (previously solely from Dorset) now includes wild sika, roe and fallow deer from across Britain. But local products and producers are still important. They include Dorset’s famous historic cheese for Dorset Blue Vinny Salami, and Purbeck Cider.
‘Home’ is a converted outbuilding on the family farm at Hatrtgrove, near Shaftesbury
A passion for venison James was studying ecology at university when he met Lucy. His first job was with Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot) surveying and recording wildlife on a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Sutherland. Here, he learned about the environmental damage that can be caused by deer – and understood the necessity of managing the population of wild deer, which have no natural predators, to maintain the fragile balance on this ecologically-important and beautiful SSSI. After a few years working in ski resorts in Austria and Switzerland, the couple moved to London, where Lucy worked for a big PR firm on food and drink brands like Bottlegreen, Magimix and Burts Potato Chips. James kept as close as possible to his rural roots, working at outdoor pursuits shop Farlows in Pall Mall. During his time in the Highlands, James had developed a passion for venison and began experimenting with curing using a double-door fridge in the small garden of their Camberwell flat. ‘We used to come down at the weekend and make salami and other charcuterie and later we would sell it at the farmers market in Shaftesbury. I always wanted to come back to Dorset. What started as a hobby went out of control. Something had to give. We had to make a choice!’ City life was not what either of them wanted, and the idea that they could make a business of the charcuterie kept growing. ‘So we gave up the London jobs.’
James holding a Hartgrove coppa ham: free range air dried pork, dry cured in a gentle mix of herbs and spices and aged for a minimum of four months
After a rudimentary renovation of a farm workshop, they set to work with a tiny smoker, a table-top sausage stuffer, converted double door fridge … and plenty of trial and error. Initially, the fledgling business was just James, Lucy and a friend, Amy. Lucy kept the family afloat by working for Osprey, the upmarket backpack company in Poole, and slowly the word spread that their charcuterie was exceptionally good. Demand grew. ‘The growth has been very organic,’ says Lucy.
Lucy and James were happy to give up their London jobs to embrace rural life in Dorset
Salt and time Venison – particularly wild venison – is now more widely recognised for its health benefits (it is a very low-fat meat) and sustainability, in terms of managing herd numbers and the environmental balance across Britain, from the Scottish Highlands to the Purbecks. The pork for the charcuterie is all free-range – ‘We pay massively over the odds to get proper free range pork,’ says James. They also insist on using high-quality natural bovine collagen casing and grind their own spices. ‘We don’t buy any pre-mixed spices. Everything is done from scratch. We genuinely don’t cut any corners. The quality of our products has to justify our prices. We are proud of what we make.’ Sustainability and animal welfare are very important to the Smarts, as they are to many artisan producers and family farmers. They are concerned by the impact of recent reports criticising the environmental damage of meat production and the claimed benefits of moving to a plant-based diet. They take great care in the selection of their meat, only using the cuts they need, and outsourcing the butchery to ensure that the whole animal is used. ‘If you choose wisely, the UK probably has the best animal husbandry in the world,’ says James, who believes that there is an increasing push-back among consumers against including good British-produced meat within the global meat context. There is a lot of science in the production of top quality charcuterie, and it has a long history … part of food culture for centuries, if not longer. It would have started as an essential way of preserving meat, long before refrigeration existed and ensuring every part of the animal was used. James explains: ‘The magic ingredient in charcuterie is salt, which binds with water molecules, limiting the amount of available water for bacteria to reproduce. This, in conjunction with air-drying, preserves the meat.’ The other essential ingredient is time. A cured ham can be hung for many months, even years, while its flavour improves. The famous Spanish Iberico ham is hung for up to three years. The Hartgrove Coppa is air-dried for four months, which gives it a deep and mature flavour.
Hartgrove Coppa in one of the maturing rooms
The products, none of which include milk powder (milk is a common allergen), are all ambient and therefore don’t need refrigeration. There is a rigorous routine of testing to ensure product safety. ‘We spend a lot of money testing,’ says James. ‘We do monthly swabbing and there is stringent quarterly testing. We have to be doubly, triply, careful with ready-to-eat products.’ The Real Cure is SALSA-accredited – Safe And Local Supplier Approval is a robust food safety certification scheme for smaller food producers and suppliers. A recent development has also been a move to recyclable packaging – expensive, but one which fits well with James and Lucy’s commitment to sustainability.
Where to find The Real Cure products From the early days at farmers markets and events like Screen Bites Food Film Festival, Shaftesbury Food Festival or the Dorset Food and Arts Festival at Poundbury, James and Lucy have steadily built up a wide range of retail outlets. They used to attend a lot of events, which helped with cash flow in the early days, and you will still sometimes find them at a food festival, but their products are now widely available in the area – locally at Compton McRae in Semley, the Shaftesbury Deli, Udder Farm Shop on the A30 near East Stour and Gold Hill Organic Farm Shop at Child Okeford. Further afield you will find The Real Cure at the Dunning family’s famous Gloucester Services on the M5 and Tebay in Westmorland on the M6, and as far north as farm shops in Scotland, the Koze wine bar at Signals in Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire. The Real Cure products are also served on cruise ships, sold at Fortnum & Mason and used both in recipes and served in cafes by the National Trust. Covid, predictably, had a huge impact, and highlighted the importance of farm shops and online ordering from the website: ‘We don’t keep all our eggs in one basket,’ says James.
The allure of a mysterious Saxon font in Toller Fratrum’s tiny church has fascinated artists for a century, says CPRE’s Rupert Hardy
The Saxon font in St Basil’s
n 1934, the artist John Piper drove 112 miles through the night from Henley-on-Thames with some friends just to see an extraordinary font in the tiny church of St Basil’s at Toller Fratrum in West Dorset. Toller Fratrum is no more than a small, atmospheric hamlet of mostly thatched cottages and a single impressive 16th-century farm house, Little Toller Farm. Located down a one-way track near Maiden Newton, it was built largely by John Samways, who acquired the estate in 1540. The hamlet is now a dead end – earlier lanes to neighbouring villages have dwindled into farm tracks. Mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, the parish is very old and was held by the Knights Hospitallers in the medieval era. The Hospitallers were founded in the 11th century, during the first Crusade, as a religious order to care for the sick or injured pilgrims at their hospital in Jerusalem. The isolated farming community of Toller Fratrum has always been mostly cut off from the modern world except when the railway was built through the parish. But it never had a station and the line closed in 1975. The name is taken from its location on the brook formerly known as the Toller, which in Celtic means ‘hollow stream in a deep valley’ but is now called the Hooke. The addition of Fratrum is Latin for “of the brothers” – the knights of the Order. The Hospitallers dedicated the church to St Basil, an obscure 4th century cleric who became the patron saint of hospitals. No-one seems to know how old the church is, but it is possibly Saxon, given the rounded shape of the churchyard. It may have been much larger than the present tiny Grade II* listed structure that is there now. The current stone and slate building was rebuilt in the Victorian period, probably on the foundations of the Preceptory chapel in which the Hospitallers would have worshipped. The exterior may be unprepossessing but within lurks a rare treasure … a remarkably well-carved font dating back also to Saxon times. John Piper was right. It is worth travelling many miles to see.
St Basil’s is a tiny, remote chapel
Beautifully carved font The font may be a simple tub shape, probably of Purbeck stone, but it is the carving that is so special. There are figures in high relief showing Biblical characters and scenes. Many have their arms upstretched to the heavens, or in posture of prayer. Eyes peer out from the stone, with hands gripping the plaited rim above. One interpretation is that the principal figure represents Christ, surrounded by his apostles. St Michael is there too, carrying a cross and leading souls from Hell. There is a four-legged creature standing on columns, sharing a human face with another creature and another figure that may represent the Holy Spirit and the Lamb of God. Another possible explanation is that the carvings may show Moses saving the Israelites at the battle with the Amelekites – a story in Exodus, from the Old Testament. The carving, shrouded in mystery, is exceptional. It fascinated John Piper, whose photograph of the font is at the Tate Gallery in London. It was featured in the first Shell Guide to Dorset, produced in 1935 by Piper’s friend, war artist Paul Nash, whose work was moving into surrealism. John photographed the font several times, often wetting the stone and lighting it with a paraffin lamp, to achieve a more dramatic effect. Piper was an early enthusiast for Romanesque sculpture, seen by some as primitive and unbalanced, but by others as radiating a mystical strength. He believed that contemporary artists, including Picasso, drew inspiration from this early period of sculpture. Piper wrote: “For the primitive artist the Deity … is above all awe-inspiring and majestic; powerful, and very unlike powerless man himself. So there is very little that is knowable, touchable or human about these associates of the primitive God on a village font.”
His visits to the South West were part of a rediscovery of the Romanesque which had been ignored by the lovers of English Gothic in the Victorian era.
A four-legged creature stands on columns, sharing a human face with another creature
Mary Magdalene There is also a mysterious stone fragment in St Basil’s, above the altar, depicting Mary Magdalene washing the feet of Christ and drying them with her own hair. It is thought it may have been a part of the 11th century Chichester Reliefs found in the town’s cathedral. The east wing of the farm may now appear as just another outbuilding, but was once the refectory for the Knights. There are some lovely carvings on the stringcourse (the decorative horizontal band on the exterior wall of a building), especially one of a boy playing the bagpipes. The farm has a surviving medieval carving of a poor man being given a loaf of bread, reflecting the hospitality which was one of the duties of the Knights. I can recommend Toller Fratrum, Little Toller Books’ slim volume on the hamlet and the church. The latter may be closed for regular worship, but is still open for visitors.
Does the font show Christ surrounded by his Apostles?
churches in Dorset, including the one opposite my own house at Winterborne Tomson. St Andrew’s is one of only four English single-celled Norman churches with an apsidal east end. Its plan has not altered since its building in the early 12th century. They offer a priceless legacy of the beauties of our past. Do visit it and this corner of a historic and very unspoilt Dorset!
Wildlife writer Jane Adams’ nocturnal visitors lead her on a quest to outsmart a quartet of attic mice in a whimsical tale of persistence
a wood mouse, apodemus sylvaticus , is sitting on the mouse hole under a tree trunk at a spring evening
As summer fades and an autumn chill sets in, I lie in bed, listening to the steady rain against the window as I fall asleep. But there is something else … I can hear a faint but unmistakable noise. Something is tap-dancing in the attic. The following morning I investigate, half expecting to find a troupe of tiny Fred Astaires. Instead, I find a mound of chewed-up paper and, to confirm the identity of my new visitors, a scattering of mouse droppings. In all the time we’ve lived here, we’ve never had mice in the attic. There’s no food stored up there, and it would be a significant climb for such small creatures. So, why are they there? I’ve frequently seen mouse burrows under the flowerbeds in the garden – I can only assume all the recent rain flooded their nests, pushing them to find refuge in our nice, dry attic. Sadly, they couldn’t stay. I set six Longworth small mammal traps. These lure mice with sunflower seeds, and once they trip a small door, it closes behind them, keeping them safe and unharmed with food and a safe place to spend the night. The next morning, the traps are full. Four small wood mice with large, doleful eyes stare up at me. I gently release them behind the garden shed, hoping that’s the end of the night-time dance routines. It isn’t. That night, the tap-tapping is even louder, and by morning, the traps are full again. Four days later, despite my persistence, I have now relocated thirteen mice. I wonder if our attic is overrun with rodents. (Yes, I know. It took me a while to catch on) Finally, I mark each captured mouse on the neck with a dab of animal-friendly marker. In the morning, each cheerful captive bears a purple mark – we’re not overrun, we’ve just been playing hide and seek with the same persistent quartet. This time I drive the four mice to a small, sheltered wood three miles away from my nice warm dry house, and carefully release them. At last, the final curtain has fallen on their nocturnal performances … until the next encore, anyway.
a wood mouse (long tailed field, Apodemus sylvaticus) feeding in a garden patio area
Wood mice facts
Defensive tails: wood mice can shed the end of their tail if threatened by predators. Unfortunately, the tail doesn’t grow back.
Super-sperm: Male wood mice produce sperm in chains, creating a “sperm train” that swims faster, improving their chances of successful reproduction.
Signposts: To help with navigation, wood mice place small objects like leaves and twigs around their environment. Humans are the only other animal that does this.
Varied diet: Wood mice eat a wide range of foods, from fungi and berries to seeds and insects.
Night life: Mainly nocturnal, wood mice may come out during the day in the summer months. They are skilled climbers, and
build complex burrows and nests either underground or in tree stumps.
Distribution: European wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) inhabit Britain, Ireland, Europe and northern Africa.
In southern England, we also have its close relative, the yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis), which is larger and has a yellow collar.
Home: The wood mouse is happy in a variety of habitats, from woodland and gardens and to fields and even sand dunes.
Short life: Typically, wood mice live for just three to four months. It’s quite rare for them to survive from one summer to the next.
Garden helpers: Wood mice can be beneficial to gardens by eating pests. Their forgotten food stores also help trees and shrubs spread naturally.
The challenges facing pollinators are very real – but Andrew Livingston, the son of beekeepers, has a jaundiced view of the little stingy guys
I appear to have a bit of a bee in my bonnet this month. Speaking with beekeeper Anne Ashford about the horrors of the Asian hornet inspired me – not only has it been a hard year for the little lads (and queens), but I was reminded of a bee-related incident from my childhood. Plus I’m never one to pass up the opportunity for squeezing in the odd un-bee-lievably bad pun … I cannot stress enough how important bees are for agriculture. We have around 270 species in the UK – and only one, the honeybee, is kept by those fanatics in the big white suits also known as beekeepers. I’ll come back to them. Studies have shown that crop yields for farmers are increased by the presence of bees – even the shelf life and nutritional values have been shown to improve. The Red Mason Bee is used by commercial apple growers to pollinate orchards: they are 120 times more efficient at pollinating than the honeybee. It’s not been an easy year for the bee. Many of the UK species are now endangered – and that’s before we consider the new threat of the Asian hornet flying over from France. The weather has been particularly poor: bees are not wet weather fans, and we had a mild, wet winter, followed by a wet spring and then a cold wet summer … Basically, it’s been wet all year! The British Beekeeper Association and the National Bee Unit (yes, that’s a real thing. I’m not pollen your leg) sent starvation alerts out to beekeepers, encouraging them to check and feed their bees with syrup if required. My parents have kept bees for years – they also told me it’s been hard year. They have four hives, but only one is active and they have been finding it hard to locate swarms to replace the colonies due to the low bee activity. I genuinely love pollinators – but as the son of beekeepers, I secretly found this good news. I don’t wish ill on the bees, but growing up with hobby beekeeper parents isn’t easy … especially when they rope you in to help.
Don’t anger the bees I clearly remember stepping off the school bus at our home in the village of Hooke when my stepmother, wearing her full bee regalia, stopped me in the garden with a firm ‘Andrew!’. She had another bee mask in her hand and it was clear she either wanted me to help her in the vegetable patch apiary or she was about to scream ‘EN GARDE!’ and have a quick fence on the front lawn. Unfortunately, it was the former. So, out we went – stepmother in full regalia, me in just a half-suit, the big bee hat and top thrown on over my school uniform. It was as if the beekeeping budget promptly ran out when it came to the second suit. We got to the hive and I was told the plan: ‘We give them a bit of smoke to keep them calm. You hold the lid and I’ll inspect the bees.’ Sounded easy enough. But you know when you get that feeling that something’s about to go very wrong? Yes. That. The plan raced through at a rate of knots: the lid was lifted and bees were suddenly flying everywhere through the smoke. They didn’t seem calm. In fact, they seemed pretty mad. I knew something was very wrong when I saw one inside my mask. And then, I felt it. At first, it was just one … then more and more sharp stabbing stings, all over my legs. My black school trousers were no defence from the bee attack. I started to hop and skip on the spot, still dutifully holding the lid, pleading with my stepmother for more smoke. It was futile. I was too late. The bees were angry. I screamed, ‘I’M DONE!’, dropped the lid and began running back to the house, stripping clothes as I went till I was naked doing a couple of laps of the front lawn as I desperately tried to outrun the bees that had chased me. My stepmother followed the trail of school clothes to eventually find me cowering in my bedroom, still thinking I could hear the buzzing of bees around me. ‘I’m never helping you again. I’ve been stung all over my legs!’ She looked a little guilty. ‘In hindsight, you should probably have changed out of your school uniform … bees don’t like the colour black.’ Me and beekeeping was never meant to bee.
Three small Somerset villages had a huge impact on global exploration and trade – Rachael Rowe talks to Professor Terry Stevens
Columbia and Shamrock compete in the 1899 America’s Cup – both were equipped with Coker canvas sails, at the insistence of Sir Thomas Lipton
“Nothing much ever happened at West Coker. No great man ever lived or died there. It was never the centre of great industry nor the source of widespreading trade.” When Professor Terry Stevens read a book called The Annals of West Coker during lockdown, he was struck by the above opening sentences, penned by Sir Matthew Nathan in the 1930s. It inspired him to research further, to tell the story of how, for more than 300 years, the villages of East and West Coker produced the finest sailcloth in the world, used by explorers, traders, pirates and the Royal Navy. ‘I was born in East Coker. As you become older, you become more quizzical, and I realised I had grown up accepting strange names of places like Rethy Ponds and Yarn Barton, and never really asked how they got their names. There were fields called Guinea and South Sea. I had wondered why the primary school in East Coker overlooked the Dawes Webbing factory – in fact it was the original sailcloth works. ‘I think familiarity breeds invisibility. When I read that book by Sir Matthew Nathan I thought “How wrong could he be!” TS Eliot lived in East Coker for a while – my dad buried him in 1965. And William Dampier, who set foot on Australian soil before Captain Cook, came from there. His mother was one of those who grew flax for the sail industry. ‘I have worked mainly in the tourism industry as a consultant, travelling to 55 countries. In contrast, my father and mother never had a holiday – Dad never left East Coker. This book is more of a desire to tell a story about an industry that few people realised was actually there.’
The SS Great Western with its four masts complete with Coker canvas – image: SS Great Britain Trust
Coker cloth was the best ‘The sailing industry in the Cokers came about because the soil in the area meant that it was particularly good for growing the two main components, flax and hemp. From the 13th and 14th centuries onwards, flax and hemp were grown here and the yarn-making industry was here in William Dampier’s time. ‘I grew up with the saying “Bucked in the yarn rather than the piece” and never knew what it meant. I know now that “bucked” means to strengthen. What the people in the Cokers realised was that if they strengthened individual pieces of yarn in the sailcloth, instead of the completed woven piece, it would be much stronger. So they used an alkali process on the yarn – and Coker canvas lasted twice as long as any of the other sails made in Europe. People tried to copy the process but Coker canvas was always the best. It was the canvas of choice of both Lord Nelson and Kaiser Wilhelm II. One of the best sailcloth producers in the area was John Giles, and he produced the sailcloth for the Sovereign of the Seas, King Charles I‘s flagship. The Royal Navy commissioned Coker canvas as their sailcloth of choice, as did the US Navy and the German Navy. At one time, people in the Cokers were trading with Russia, Lithuania and the Baltics, and it’s known that these traders all stayed in one of the local pubs. West Coker issued their own tokens as currency, so that they would be spent locally by the traders. Some of these tokens have since been found in people’s gardens.’
The America’s Cup One of the most exciting connections to the Coker canvas story is its link to the America’s Cup – the oldest international competition still operating in any sport, not just sailing. From 1899 to 1930, when Sir Thomas Lipton of the tea trade was involved, every boat had to sail with Coker canvas. Cowes-based Ratsey and Lapthorn, the world’s oldest sail-makers, insisted on using Coker cloth for the America’s Cup. Lipton famously said: “We will use Coker canvas.” ‘Without Coker canvas there would have been no America’s Cup,’ says Terry Stevens. ‘The company that makes the sailcloth still exists as Ratsey and Lapthorn, and they still make the sails for the America’s Cup today.’ Terry, who is a professor of international tourism, worked on the book for four years. ‘My job was a bit like a traditional weaver,’ he says. ‘I’m not a historian, but I wanted to tell the story. Richard Sims in Bridport has researched Coker canvas for years, and he focuses on the industrial process. But I wanted to weave in other angles. Did William Dampier use Coker canvas? What did TS Eliot have to say about the trade – and why did he want to be buried in East Coker? I went to all these other sources and wove them into the story. ‘There were a few surprises, such as uncovering stories of bribery and industrial espionage. One of the discoveries was that the Bullock family were known for making the best sailcloth and they lived at North Coker House. They sold their home to the Maudsley family from Coventry, who invented the marine steam engine. And it’s that very steam engine that led to the decline of sailboats. ‘A further twist in the tale is that The SS Great Western, Brunel’s wooden-hulled paddle-wheel steamship, was designed to have sails and engines. Launched in 1838, it was the first ever engine-powered ship built to cross the world’s oceans, and on its first voyage, it used Coker canvas sails and a Maudsley engine. ‘As a further heritage project the Coker Rope and Sail Trust is getting Coker canvas sails made by a craft sailcloth company in Bristol. We’re working with the Boatbuilding Academy in Lyme Regis and aim to have them sailing next year. “The story of Coker canvas is worthy of a Netflix film! However, what I’d really like is for every Somerset schoolchild to know this story, and how small rural communities genuinely influenced international trade and exploration.’
To mark the links between Coker canvas and the America’s Cup, Terry’s book, Bucked In The Yarn, was launched on 29th August at the Ratsey and Lapthorn Sail Loft in Barcelona, where the 2024 LV America’s Cup is running until late October. The book will be published on 17th September by Graffeg and all royalties will go to the Coker Rope and Sail Trust. All royalties are being donated to the Coker Rope and Sail Trust.
Kelsi-Dean Buck takes us through Thorngrove’s last summer hurrah: join them at the Dorset County Show for plants, bugs, and more!
Well, there we have it – the nights are rolling in and we are bidding farewell to summer … but not without one last hurrah before autumn! “Thorngrove on tour” continues – this weekend we are joining many other amazing Dorset businesses and entertainment at Dorset County Show. Do come and find us on Saturday 7th or Sunday 8th September, where we will be pitched up with Employ My Ability, and staff from our site in Moreton, The Walled Garden. Regular visitors to our sites – and readers of this column – will know we are more than just a garden centre and café. The work that takes place at Thorngrove, and The Walled Garden, is all in partnership with Employ My Ability as we look to continue developing our amazing environments for young people with special educational needs and disabilities. Our students learn and gain valuable work experience which allows them to find their future within the local communities and beyond. (find out more at employmyability.org.uk) Our stand at the county show will be stocked with beautiful plants and garden items, along with staff from Thorngrove and EMA to talk about what we do – and this time we’re even bringing some of our amazing exotic bugs with us. Yes, you read that right! Visitors to the Walled Garden may have already braved our ‘bug experiences’, but if not, now you can get a little peek yourself at the show. The bugs are part of our wider animal family at Moreton, along with goats, guinea pigs, rabbits and reptiles – all of which help our students develop new skills, and learn about animal care as they pursue careers in related industries. So please do stop by and see us – we’ll be giving out vouchers too! If you’re reading this after the show, don’t fret, I’m sure we’ll have a few left over … pop into Thorngrove in Gillingham during September and ask us.
In the garden With our new stock of spring bulbs at the ready, planting season will soon be underway and we’re on hand to offer inspiration and advice to those of you looking to plan ahead and grow your own. The cyclamen have also already arrived – they always signal the end of summer, and … yes … dare we say it … the looming whispers festive season! We are deep in the midst of our Christmas planning and will have lots of exciting news very soon on what you can expect from us here in Gillingham. Stay tuned to our social media for up to the minute details, plus all the latest insight from the garden centre, and the café. We look forward to seeing you this season!
Wimborne is set to celebrate ‘food, glorious food’ with a brand-new food festival on Saturday, 14th September: events, tastings, demos and talks will be taking place all around the town from 11am until 4pm. Meet Maggie Richardson, Great British Bake-Off contestant, discover the secrets of Indonesian cooking with Yayu Slocock – author, chef and owner of A Taste of Rasa Sayang – and hear from Kingston Lacy head gardener Andrew Hunt and café manager Phil Anderson. Get top tips from Michael Russell, head pastry chef of Le Petit Prince Patisserie and cake maker to royalty, and wash this down with a guided beer tasting by Laura Green, co-owner of independent craft beer bar The Butcher’s Dog. In addition to the festivities, there will be a self-guided food walk, organised by award-winning Salamander Cookshop, taking visitors around Wimborne to meet local food retailers and discover some of the town’s specialist offerings. You can join in too – put on your pinny and bake a Dorset Apple Cake for the Dacombes of Wimborne Cake Competition. Bakers of all ages are encouraged to create their most delicious and visually stunning Dorset Apple Cake and bring it to the marquee on Willow Walk at 2:30pm, where BBC Repair Shop star Sonnaz Nooranvary will be the celebrity judge! Keep an eye out for more details, including a Food Walk map, available at pick-up points around town.
