What a great day we had at the Spring Countryside Show today – are you going tomorrow? There’s so much to see, but here’s our own highlights:
The Sheep Show. Brilliantly entertaining whilst being oddly educational – seriously do NOT miss this show. Way more fun than one man and his sheep has any right to be. You can find it in the Friars Moor Farm Yard, three shows through the day
The Farrier. For those of us not fortunate enough to have a horse, the Spring Countryside Show is a fascinating chance to see the farrier skills up close, and Sam is great at explaining as he goes. Find him in the Garden Village, three demos through the day
The Falconry display. I never miss the opportunity to watch Mere Down Falconry, it’s always a brilliant show. Made even more entertaining today by an unrepentantly bolshy falcon refusing to come home – he simply buzzed the crowd with flashy fly-bys, showing off his skills. See this in the Gritchie Brewing Company Rural Ring, two shows
Heavy Horse Logging – it’s amazing watching the team at work, and incredibly interesting to learn about an ancient industry that still has a place in modern forestry. Definitely worth stopping to watch it. See it in the Gritchie Brewing Company Rural Ring, two shows
Jonathan Marshall’s Free Spirits Show at Dorset’s Spring Countryside Show – no one could walk past without stopping to watch the beauty of Jonathan’s Amadeus (yes, he’s one of the Lloyds Bank black horse) and Aria the falcon. Not the show you’re expecting – see our interview with Jonathan Marshall here. See Jonathan in the Gritchie Brewing Company Rural Ring, two shows
Terrier Racing – Hilarious! Think your dog has the speed? Enter them in the terrier racing (not just for terriers, we saw all sorts having a go) – it was just beautifully brilliant chaos. And the commentator is ace. Don’t miss it! In the Gritchie Brewing Company Rural Ring, two shows a day.
ALL THE FOODS! Seriously. Cheese, gin, great burgers, hog roast, jams, chills, pancakes, doughnuts, sausage rolls, cakes, fudge… Go prepared.
Why not head down to the Spring Countryside Show, it’s a great day out! Gate Price is £12 per Adult & £1 per Child. Find it at the Turnpike Showground, Motcombe (between Shaftesbury & Gillingham), SP7 9PL
A great opportunity to work within a Farming Environment
National Milk Records plc is looking for an enthusiastic person to become a part-time, self-employed Milk Recorder, visiting 8-9 dairy farms in the Dorchester/Wareham/Bridport areas. The work involves taking individual cow milk samples.
Hours will vary but the work will take up approximately 5-8 early mornings and 5-8 afternoons per month and applicants must have their own transport. A perfect role if you enjoy the outdoor life.
“It’s the time of year I hate most” – Jeanette Hampstead of the Hedgehog Rescue shares why so many hedgehogs are seriously hurt in spring.
Below is a video of one of this winter’s successes – press play and sound UP for a sleepy just-woke- up excellent hedgehog prickle shake, a serious scritch, and then some clearly delicious munchies.
Having released the majority of our winter hedgehogs I am now busy organising our next Hedgehog Rescue fundraising event which will be held on 21st May. We have over 30 Craft stalls ready to join us on the day, the field and Pavilion in Hazelbury Bryan are booked … all we need now are volunteers to help us on the day! If you are interested in helping out, please do give me a ring 01258 818266 or contact me on [email protected]. Alternatively, a raffle prize would be a wonderful help too. As the weather begins to brighten and the days lengthen our minds turn to garden maintenance and cleaning up all those messy areas in the shed. It’s the time of year I hate the most. We have more hedgehogs admitted into the rescue with life-changing injuries than at any other time.
Burns People always say to me that they light the fire from one side so the animals can run out the other but hedgehogs do not run. They are scared by the voices and noise, so they simply curl up into a ball. And that is where they stay until they are burnt. Even then they do not run out the other side, because they do not understand about fear. Just by moving the pile to be burnt you could save several hedgehog lives that you do not even realise need saving.
Strimmers and lawn mowers Hedgehogs make nests in long grass. They are virtually unnoticeable, even when you know what you are looking for. Most of the time a nest just looks like a lump of grass with leaves and twigs. By cutting an area to be strimmed but leaving it longer, then walking through the area before cutting it short may help you identify a nest and rescue a hedgehog.
Major works Removal of sheds and other garden buildings require planning but a good time to start that planning is now as hedgehogs are waking from hibernation. Removing an outbuilding in the spring gives the hedgehogs time to find an alternative nesting site. Finding a nest of baby hedgehogs is traumatic and stressful for both finder and hedgehog. If the worst happens and the nest is disturbed give the mother an opportunity to remove her babies if possible.
The rescue will be closed for the coming month so that I can have some electrical work, with new sockets and heater installed; we are also doing some much-needed painting and emergency repairs. See you on 21st May!
They may sound like a character from a Brambly Hedge book, but Mr & Mrs hairy foot are a quintessential 20’s couple, says Jane Adams
The hairy footed flower bee is one of the first solitary bees to emerge in spring and people often confuse them for small bumblebees, although their quick darting flight motion is a good way to tell them apart. Image – Jane Adams
She’s a head turner. Orange stockinged and with eyes that match the dark velvet of her tasselled dress, she somehow has the knack of looking glamorous without being garish. Her beau’s the same; they’re a well- matched pair. He sports a loose-fitting suit of reddish- yellow tweed and as he fusses around her, the fringe of his silky scarf ripples in the breeze. They’re the quintessential 1920s couple. Or they would be, if they weren’t bees. But these aren’t any old bees. These are hairy-footed flower- bees, one of many harmless solitary bees that live for just a few short weeks in gardens and green spaces in Dorset. Males appear first, in late February or March, depending on the temperature. You’ll often meet him in the garden staking his claim over pulmonaria, primroses, dead-nettles, daffodils, and cowslips, and though bumblebee sized, he has a distinctive darting, jazzed-up way of flying and high- pitched buzz. He gets his quirky name from the long, silky ginger- brown hairs hanging from his middle legs and feet, and if you’re in his territory, he might try to chase you away. It’s all bravado. He’s harmless, and in common with other male bees, doesn’t have a sting. Besides chasing you and insects that stray into his patch, he will hope for a female (or two) to come and feed, which they do within a week or two. Black, but for her gingery-haired back legs, the female couldn’t look more different to the male and once mated, she’ll make a nest within the soft mortar of a wall or vertical surface of a coastal cliff. Here she’ll leave pollen collected on her orange stockinged legs for her unborn young and, after repeating this several times in several nests, her job is done. She won’t see her progeny grow into adults. By June, she and any males will usually have died, but don’t worry, new head-turners will be back again next year.
Fact File: Found: all over Dorset from late February/March until June. The female nests in soft mortar of walls and soft coastal cliffs. Males: bumblebee sized. Ginger/beige-coloured hairs, cream face. Territorial. Hairy legs. Females: bumblebee sized. Black with orange back legs Fast, darting flight. Hover in front of flowers to feed. Often rest on ground or leaves. Favourite flowers: pulmonaria, red dead nettles, primroses, daffodils.
by Jane Adams – Naturalist. bTB Badger Vaccinator. Nature writer. Photographer. Bee Watcher.
April sees the start of mushroom season, and expert forager Carl Mintern says you definitely have hairy bittercress in your garden right now.
St George’s Mushrooms are the first traditional mushroom (grows out of the ground) to start showing across the country, hailing the start of the season proper. It can be found in fields, by the side of roads, the edge of woodland and on patches of grass throughout Europe, North America, Russia and Japan. In Italy it is known as Marzolino (the March mushroom), and in Germany, Maipilz (the May Mushroom).
As we tick into April, the changeable weather can often remind us of winter one moment and tease us with tastes of summer the next. This year, after such a mild winter, I am expecting a bountiful wild harvest to begin earlier than usual; indeed we can already see magnolia trees in full flower. Elsewhere, those of us with a gardening bent will likely see the increased determination of our garden weeds to populate our beds and pots, and that is where we will begin this month’s Foraging guide.
Hairy Bittercress tastes like cress crossed with rocket and is great for salads, salsa, pesto (hairy bittercress pesto recipe here)and anywhere you would use cress raw
Hairy bittercress Like so many of our most common garden weeds, hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) is a diminutive, unassuming plant that you probably don’t notice despite its eager determination to pitch up on every small patch of ground it’s given a chance to find. A Pioneer plant (hardy species which are the first to colonize barren environments, or previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems that have been disrupted, such as by fire), it can take root in ground deemed unworthy of many other weeds and as a result it can be found in well-trodden paths and, well, just about anywhere from pavement cracks to plant pots. Its name is somewhat misleading however – its not that hairy without a very close inspection indeed, and it’s definitely not bitter. In fact, it serves very well as a replacement for any commercially-produced cress, and feels very at home in an egg sandwich! It truly is a delight to eat, and every forager owes it to themselves to familiarise themselves with this abundant plant – if you have a garden, then right now you have this plant growing in it somewhere I’m willing to wager.
Birch leaves
Birch tea Next up, lets talk about an often-overlooked tree, the Birch; specifically the Silver Birch (betula pendula) and Downy Birch (Betula pubescens). The young leaves of the birch tree are often one of the first to greet the Spring, and can be infused with hot water to make a peppery, slightly minty tea. A refreshing drink after a morning’s forage, and rich in vitamin C. Silver Birch leaves are simple, with serrated edges and round corners, whereas the downy birch has rounder leaves than those of silver birch, but both grow all over the Blackmore Vale. If you cared to be a little more adventurous, you could also attempt to tap these trees for sap, although the season for doing so is ending as we leave the winter months behind (note to self; let’s talk tree tapping next February!)
St George’s mushroom rings can often be spotted long before the mushroom actually appears as they exhibit circles of lush grass, a deeper colour than that of the grass around them.
St George’s Mushroom Finally, let’s talk about the St George’s mushroom (calocybe gambosa). The first eagerly- awaited prize of a new wild mushroom season. Traditionally late April and May is peak St Georges Mushroom time – hence the name, since it would tend to appear around St George’s Day. I would expect to see these any time this month or next, if you are lucky, and committed enough to go looking for them. They have a pale complexion, and an unevenly shaped cap with gills that match the pale colour of the cap. A stout stem attaches this mushroom to the grassland habitat they grow in. They will grow in rings, and these rings can often be spotted long before he mushroom actually appears as they exhibit circles of lush grass, a deeper colour than that of the grass around them. It has what is often described as a ‘mealy’ smell – to me it smells like bread flour – and this smell is one of its key identification characteristics which makes it a quite safe mushroom to identify. And the cherry of the mushroomy cake is if you find yourself a patch, they will likely come back every year!
It is also worth mentioning that wild garlic, and all the other plants I mentioned in March’s issue of the BV magazine are still available to harvest, so you might want to click that link and revisit before you leave the house.
See details and availability of Carl’s local foraging courses on his website: Self Sufficient Hub
2 X Arena Managers – Full time 37.5 hrs PW Salary Circa £21k
2 x Receptionists – 35 hrs PW Salary National minimum wage
2 x Catering Assistants – Full time 37.5 hrs PW Salary National minimum wage
Party Leaders – Weekends and Holiday Times Only National minimum wage
We are seeking responsible, dynamic people to be part of a brand new exciting venture in Gillingham. The new inflatable world is a community led venture that will cater for all ages and abilities.
The new team ideally would be people who love working in a very busy buzzing atmosphere where work is fun, not mundane. We are launching the New Inflatable world hopefully on the 2nd July 2022 but hoping to employ as of the 2nd week of June for staff training and pre-opening events.
The Roles will ensure that we successfully meet all of our customers’ requirements in a welcoming, fun but safe environment. From greeting the customers to feeding them and even helping them have fun is a pinnacle part of the new team’s ethics.
We are offering an array of roles where you design the sites future as it’s your business
We envisage these role to be very much focused on building positive customer relations and ensuring our little customers come back for more.
Proposed Opening hours of the inflatable world: 9.30am – 19.00pm
Staff Rotas are based on all staff working one week end in two. Rotas have been produced for these roles and we are happy to share these via email if requested.
The requirements below are based on the position you are applying for a Job description can be sent via email.
Ideally you would have:
Qualifications in Child Care / Catering / Reception Dependent on position applying for
DBS or CRB clearance required for Arena Managers and soft play staff only
Commitment and enthusiasm for Child Based Activities
Experience of working with young children / Catering environment / Front of House Dependent on position applying for
To apply for the positions, please send your CV and Covering supporting letter to:
Fairmead Community Special School transforms the lives of pupils aged between
4-19 years with additional learning needs (MLD and ASD). The school works in partnership with parents/carers and other stakeholders to develop our pupils in becoming positive individuals who make a valuable contribution to their community.
Attendance Officer – 37 Hours per week, Term Time (41 weeks)
The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate skills and knowledge to ensure support for the school in raising pupil attendance, investigating persistent absences and improving punctuality. To advise the school on strategies to promote the regular and punctual attendance of all students and assist with the implementation of these strategies.
Prospective candidates are warmly invited to visit our school; this can be arranged by contacting [email protected]
Closing/Shortlisting Date: Thursday, 12th May Interviews: Tuesday, 17th May.
Fairmead School is committed to safeguarding the school community. All job applications must contain the disclosure of any spent convictions and cautions. The school will carry out pre-employment vetting procedures, which include the successful outcome of an enhanced DBS.
Dorset NFU County Chair George Hosford reacts to the recent comments of Environment Secretary George Eustace on not needing artifical fertiliser.
George Hosford lives in hope that ELMS will eventually arrive just as BPS expires, with an administrative system that works first time, complete with a functioning mapping system.
I hope George Eustace, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is listening – he who seriously seems to believe (article here) that we don’t need artificial fertilisers because there is enough manure and digestate in the country to sufficiently fertilise all of our crops. With this sweeping statement, he is implying: 1. that we have been wasting fertiliser all these years because we never actually needed it, and 2. we must have millions of tons of farmyard manure hiding somewhere that we accidently haven’t been using. The fact is that we already use 48 million tons of manures on our crops in the UK every year, plus one million tons of nitrogen fertiliser, which contains approximately 33 times as much nutrient as there is in a ton of manure. To think this is replaceable with manure is simply ridiculous – we have nowhere near enough animals. (and we keep being told that animals are bad for the climate, but that’s a story for another day). I have tried to convince myself that public money for public goods will really make sense when we see what it means, that Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS – the primary mechanism for distributing the funding previously paid under common agricultural policy (CAP), ELMS will pay farmers for undertaking actions to improve the environment) will eventually arrive just as BPS expires, with an administrative system that works first time, complete with a functioning mapping system. I’m sure that the disconnect between Farming Rules for Water and creating healthier soils will also be mended. NFU president Minette Batters has said the Environment Agency’s (EA) interpretation of the Farming Rules for Water effectively banned farmers from spreading organic manures on land in the autumn. This is contrary to government aims to improve soil health under the forthcoming Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme. Spreading organic manures in early autumn was better than spreading onto bare soils in February, she added. I generally try to be a ‘glass half full’ person, but when faced with such ignorance as has been shared recently I find myself really struggling to remain calm.
To save, or not to save Rocketing input prices and yo- yoing grain prices leave farmers with a very high risk of making bad decisions. Fertiliser is in the spotlight, not only because of price, but because of supply – how many will go short this year? Some well-resourced farmers are in the habit of buying their nitrogen requirement almost a year before they need it, and those who did so last year should be feeling very smug right now. Prices have risen by a factor of four. But should they be using all that fertiliser this year, or should they save half of it for next year? We are often reminded that 50% of the nitrogen applied to a crop gives up to 80% of the yield, NIAB (the National Institute of Agricultural Botany) has many graphs demonstrating that the last bit of fertiliser, which we have in the past often applied ‘just in case’, barely pays for itself in more years than when it does. So is this a time for experimentation, to see what we can get away with and still grow a profitable crop? Headline yield is not what we need to pay the rent, it is the margin over costs that really matters, and right now we need to do our sums really carefully. On top of fertiliser woes, we have a huge headache over fuel price and availability; without fuel we can’t spread fertiliser even if we have any. And let’s be honest, something will grow even if it gets no fertiliser at all, but without fuel, we won’t be able to harvest what has grown, so I know which I consider the more important. Having said that, for red diesel to be costing more than DERV does at the local pumps once the 47p per litre difference in fuel duty has been taken into account, someone’s doing nicely.
UPDATE: As we go to press, the Government has announced steps (see details here) to assist farmers with the availability of fertilisers for the coming growing season to help address uncertainty among growers and keep farmer’s costs down. With agricultural commodities closely linked to global gas prices, farmers are facing rising costs for inputs including manufactured fertiliser, due to the process depending on gas. Environment Secretary, George Eustice has announced that changes to the use of urea fertiliser will be delayed by at least a year. In a move to further support farmers, revised and improved statutory guidance has been published on how farmers should limit the use of slurry and other farmyard manure at certain times of year. This will provide clarity to farmers on how they can use slurry and other manures during autumn and winter to meet agronomic needs. This guidance will provide more clarity and has been developed with farmers and farming bodies. Environment Secretary, George Eustice, said: “The significant rise in the cost of fertiliser is a reminder that we need to reduce our dependence on manufacturing processes dependent on gas. Many of the challenges we face in agriculture will require a fusion of new technology with conventional principles of good farm husbandry. The measures are not the whole solution but will help farmers manage their nitrogen needs in the year ahead.” NFU President Minette Batters said: “Many of the measures today, particularly the updated guidance on the Farming Rules for Water which will allow autumn manure spreading, are positive for farmers. This is what the NFU has been asking for and I’d like to thank government for making these changes.”
Finally – a police escort A small bunch of sheep went walkabout in the village recently. By the time we caught up with them, a couple of police cars had joined the chase, careering into the village with sirens wailing and blue lights flashing. It was the usual problem of someone leaving a footpath gate open, so the sheep enjoyed a few hours of freedom, caught on one resident’s hedgehog webcam and a neighbour filmed them wandering around their garden nibbling bits of this and that, before being escorted back to the field under the eye of the law.
I live in Mappowder. And I’m a guitar teacher (I know, not two sentences that you’ll have read before in close proximity, I’d guess). I’ve taught guitar in the States and in France and the wealthy south east of England. I say ‘wealthy’ because teenagers would turn up for lessons with expensive guitars worth thousands. I did wonder at the wisdom of such expensive indulgence to a beginner – rule of thumb is start off with a decent but relatively inexpensive guitar. When I started offering lessons here, I wondered what requirements rural Dorset’s rockers would have – and apparently the first thing you need to teach guitar in Dorset is tact. Not a commodity that abounds in me, but I’ve learnt.
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Oh Hank A new student, retired, is with me, we’re drinking coffee and chatting about what he wants to get out of lessons. I assess his ability and whether he would actually practise (I’m always naively hopeful on that last one). What’s the first song you’d like to learn, I asked. He replied, ‘The Young Ones by Cliff Richard and the Shadows.’ I’d just taken a sip, so after I’d wiped coffee off my old Telecaster, I said, ‘Good one, but really, what would you like to play?’ The Young Ones? was his rather hurt answer. ‘Great song,’ I gabbled, ‘it’s in G and goes like this…’ Twang, twang (that’s Hank’s intro, obviously). It’s a good song: great tune, charming sentiments. A young couple meet (twang) they plan to have kids, so they ‘won’t be the young ones anymore (twang)’. YouTube the song and you’ll find Cliff, absurdly, criminally handsome (so reminds me of my young self) crooning to a bunch of girls dressed like your gran, all hopelessly in love with him. Good luck with that, ladies. And do you know what? My sniffy attitude to these old classics has left me. There’s a reason why these old songs live on: they’re well-constructed and play well. It’s charming and fulfilling for me to see that this guy is, to quote a burger chain’s slogan, lovin’ it. It’s a song which thrilled him when he was young and he has always wanted to play it. And now he is. Not quite like twangy Hank, but he’ll get there.
The teenager Next, I have a young teenager with his lovely young mum. I’d had a long chat with mum, who is concerned that I might be put off because he has Asperger’s and is dyslexic. I reassure her that these conditions are absolutely no barrier to being able to play, in fact you’d be surprised at the number of brilliant guitarists with natural ability who are dyslexic. And I understand Asperger’s and we allow for that – in fact we have a bit of a laugh. I can see that after 10 minutes his concentration is lapsing, so I get him to put the guitar down and tell me about himself. Don’t know how, but I find that he’s good on accents, particularly Australian! ‘My fingers are getting sore,’ he says, to which I reply in a bizarre mixed American accent ‘Son, all art is pain. Y’gotta suffer for your art’. And I make him stand up and chant: I am an artist I must suffer for my art Art is suffering Suffering is art. He’s rather pleased with this, and so is his mum who’s happy that her lad, possibly a little ostracized at school, is enjoying himself. The next time he comes he says, gleefully, ‘I’ve been suffering for my art’.
Practice makes … There’s a reason why tens of thousands of people pick-up a new instrument to learn. I wrote a piece about it in The Times and it was replied to by an expert who said that apart from the pleasure it gives it ‘builds important disciplines vital for success in life such as concentration, setting goals, self- confidence…’ But the trick to learning is simple: practice little but often. I cannot stress that enough. The constant mantra I get from beginners is, ‘it’s difficult’. Quickly growing a long white beard and adopting a pair of little Oxford Don steel spectacles, I became the philosopher and say, ‘All things are difficult until they are easy’. And I tell them the tale of a sightseer in New York who asks a laconic cop ‘how do I get to Carnegie Hall?’ The cop pushes his cap back, breathes deeply and wearily says, ‘Lady, you gotta practice.’
The Sheep Show. Brilliantly entertaining whilst being oddly educational – seriously do NOT miss this show. Way more fun than one man and his sheep has any right to be. 
