Harvesting has finally started at Rawston Farm, but James Cossins admits it’s a stop/start affair this year, thanks to the weather
Harvesting in the 70s at Rawston Farm
Eventually harvest started in the middle of July – and dodging the showers has been the name of the game! The weather has been the polar opposite to last year, when 19th July was the hottest day of the year in that astonishing heatwave. This year is totally different, with decisions having to be made about when to cut and how much are we prepared to dry. Fuel prices have dropped a little from the highs of last year but it is still expensive to dry grain and oilseeds. The yields of our malting barley have been variable, mainly dependent on soil type, but overall it’s been a satisfactory result. As I write, are about to start harvesting our oilseeds – which from a distance look fairly average so we will have to wait and see what ends up in the barn. Currently prices are volatile, seemingly dependent on what food exports Russia is allowing from Ukraine.
Take 5 Before harvest we hosted a Health and Safety meeting at Rawston, organised by the NFU. It was well attended by local farmers and their farm staff, and was a very informative day. The NFU’s Farm Safety Week, from 17th to 21st July this year, highlighted health and safety issues on farms – 23 people were killed on farms in 12 months between 2021 and 2022. Agriculture has a poor record on the number of deaths on farms and the theme of the safety week was ’Take 5 to Stay Alive,’ encouraging farm workers to pause, to take the time to address the task in hand and to work out the safe procedures. Statistics show the main causes of death were falls from heights, machinery accidents, falling objects and livestock incidents. In the course of a day’s work on a farm we have to complete a wide range of tasks, each with their own individual risks. It is important to take time to consider the risks involved to prevent potential accidents, whether major or minor. We all went away from the course with food for thought – hopefully leading to a safe harvest.
Take 5 to Stay Alive … This driver was unharmed, but 23 people were killed on farms in 12 months between 2021 and 2022
It’s show time! In Dorset we’re lucky to have three great show events each summer – the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show , the Melplash Show and finally the Dorset County Show in September. Hopefully the weather will look favourably on those days – and also on our harvesting. Some better weather would be very much appreciated!
Just in time for the summer holidays, Wayne Winstone shares his top reads for you to tuck into a suitcase or settle down with in the shade
As August stretches out before us, hopefully with more than a smattering of long lazy days to be enjoyed, it’s the time when many of us turn to our To Be Read pile. Whether it’s for a long journey to far-flung places, or just sitting in your own garden on a lazy day, it’s time to find something new to dip into. Wayne shares his personal suggestions for your summer reading pleasure this year (just click the book covers to shop).
The Perfect Golden Circle – Benjamin Myers This beautifully written novel is the story of two rural outcasts, and the crop circles they create under cover of night over the course of the long, hot and very strange summer of 1989. The adventures of these two oddball characters are told with gentle humour and the book is full of the sense of the English countryside, the mood of the late 80s and – with echoes of TV’s The Detectorists – of their warm and surprising friendship.
Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is a modern David Copperfield-inspired story of a boy born to a single mother in a trailer, with little beyond his dead father’s good looks and his own copper-coloured hair, wit and innate talent for survival. Told in his unsparing and humorous voice, the story follows the boy as he braves the perils of the modern foster care system, child labour, athletic success, addiction … and love. Here too is the author’s anger and compassion, and faith in the powers of a good story.
Isaac and the Egg – Bobby Palmer This best-selling modern fable is an unforgettable novel about friendship, love, sorrow and joy. Told with humour and tenderness, it starts with the day Isaac Addy walks into the woods – the worst day of his life – and finds something extraordinary there, taking it home with him. A grieving Isaac and his curious new friend are unlikely companions, but this single chance encounter will soon transform Isaac’s life in ways he cannot imagine.
The Escape Artist – Jonathan Freedland In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became the first Jew to break out of Auschwitz. He did it in order to tell the truth of the death camp to the world – and to warn what fate awaited others. He and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers and narrowly avoided German bullets, bringing the first full account of Auschwitz to the world. Their detailed report would eventually reach Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and the Pope.
The Lost Rainforests of Britain – Guy Shrubsole This is the story of a unique British habitat – one so ravaged most people today don’t realise it still exists. On a journey from the woods of the Western Highlands and the Lake District through the rainforests of Wales down to Devon and Cornwall, Shrubsole maps these ecosystems in exquisite detail – but underlines that without immediate political and public support, we risk losing them forever. This is the extraordinary tale of one person’s quest to find Britain’s lost rainforests and to bring them back.
Marple: Twelve New Stories A dozen original short stories, penned by 12 best-selling authors, will introduce Jane Marple to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple through a unique perspective, but stays true to the traditional mystery story.
Ithaca – Claire North Penelope of Ithaca was barely into womanhood when she was married to Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead – and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus’s empty throne – not yet. But as everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war.
Shrines of Gaiety – Kate Atkinson This hugely enjoyable and immersive novel is set in Soho in the 1920s, where nightclub owner Nellie Coker has just been released from prison. Greeted by her adult children who have been running her empire during her six-month absence, Nellie knows that the business she built is now under threat from those who want to take over. Full of interesting characters, including Gwendolyn, a war nurse turned librarian who becomes an invaluable assistant to Inspector Frobisher, and teenage runaway Freda.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin In this exhilarating novel, two friends come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy … and a kind of immortality. Spanning 30 years, from Massachusetts to California and everything in between, it’s a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play and our need to connect and to love. Yes, it is a love story; but it is not one you have read before.
Wild Fell – Lee Schofield An RSPB Warden tells the story of how he worked to create an economically-viable hill farm in the Lake District that allows space for nature. His passion for making a difference, his advocacy for wildflowers and his eternal hope for the planet are an education and an inspiration. It’s a call to recognise that the solutions for a richer world lie at our feet and, by focusing, we can rebuild landscapes.
The Satsuma Complex – Bob Mortimer Gary, a legal assistant, agrees to meet colleague Brendan in the local pub for a drink. Shortly after, Brendan has to leave. Gary stays in the pub and gets talking to a girl who is reading a book called The Satsuma Complex. They get on really well, but she leaves without saying goodbye and he hasn’t got her name. So, she becomes Satsuma. The next day, he learns Brendon has gone missing and he tries to find Satsuma to see if she saw or heard anything. Missing people, murder, a love story, humour and plot twists make this a marvellously entertaining novel.
Darling – India Knight It takes a brave person to attempt a contemporary reimagining of a beloved novel – but India Knight has managed it brilliantly. Darling is a savagely funny, bracingly sad, dazzlingly clever take on Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love. It’s a razor-sharp, laugh-out-loud novel – imaginative and tremendously romantic, with sharp writing, perfect detailing and funny jokes.
SOYA Soya is a beautiful Rhodesian Ridgeback X Breed who will require a special home as she suffers from separation anxiety when left alone. Soya is a very loyal dog once bonded to her owners and she is playful and affectionate. She requires a rural and calm home where she will be the only dog, potentially with children over the age of 10. She is very intelligent with good basic obedience, and is a gentle giant waiting for her forever home – could that be with you?
LOUIS Originally from Hungary as an imported puppy, Louis was brought to Ferne after another rescue sadly closed down. Louis is a shy boy, worried by the big wide world and will need a home with other dogs in a rural location. Louis came into our care with his pal Dexter, and they could be rehomed as a pair or separately, but will need other doggy pals for company if they are split up. Louis walks well on lead, is happy to use a crate as a secure den/sleeping area and he has come a long way since being in our care. Could you offer him the forever home he deserves?
DEXTER Dexter came to us with his pal Louis, they really do enjoy each others company and are very sweet together. Both are very worried, but not aggressive, and will need a home with other dogs or with each other in a rural setting. The team have been working hard with both Dexter and Louis, helping them to learn about life and how to become more confident. They are shy boys, but have come a long way and are now waiting for their forever home. Could you offer these boys or one of them a home to call their own?
Formed in 1972, Blandford Art Society is delighted to announce its annual Open Exhibition, a must-visit event for local art enthusiasts. It will be held 14th to 19th August, from 10am to 5pm daily, giving visitors ample opportunity to explore and immerse themselves in the artistic offerings. The venue for this year’s exhibition has changed to The Blandford School (DT11 7SQ). This fantastic new space not only allows for a broader display of artwork but also offers the added advantage of free parking. The collection has been carefully curated to include pieces not only from the Society’s members but also from talented artists around the county. The diverse styles, techniques, and themes promise to provide something for everyome to enjoy. In a collaboration with The Blandford School, the Society will also showcase work from young, emerging artists from the school itself, with the aim of nurturing future talent. Each year, a bursary is awarded to the most promising pupil, giving them a tremendous opportunity to hang and sell their work, and reflecting the Society’s commitment to fostering the next generation of artists. Come and browse at your leisure – if a particular piece catches your eye, you may wish to purchase it and take a piece of the exhibition home with you. Refreshments will be available, allowing you to pause and reflect on the art while enjoying a delightful treat. Members of the Society will also be on hand to provide insights and background on the displayed works.
Is farming at a crossroads? Andrew Livingston looks at the unfair struggle between agriculture and supermarkets
When I first started my column with the BV I presumed it was going to be me regaling funny stories from a life lived in agriculture. More and more I seem to be dusting off my milk crate instead, hopping up on it to shout about the many injustices that farmers face today. Strap in. I’m about to go off on one … again. News broke recently that The Dorset Dairy Co in Stalbridge was to sell its herd of milking cows. A dairy business without its cows – purely because the cost of producing the milk now outweighs the price they are paid for it. Sadly, it’s not a rare story – it is symbolic of modern farming. Many egg producers have empty sheds, no longer housing birds … thanks to the same fear of losing money each time. Last year saw a spike in the milk price as the cost of all commodities rose after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But the price farmers have been paid for milk has rapidly dropped again, while costs obviously have not. Of course, dairy farmers not being paid enough isn’t a new phenomenon. It seems every few years this row breaks out, farmers mobilise their tractors and block supermarket distribution centres. And no, the supermarkets can’t be blamed for the cost of electricity. And no, it isn’t the supermarkets’ fault that the cost of animal feed went through the roof. The issue I have with supermarkets is that when things get tight for producers and consumers, the supermarkets are always the winners.
Profits or profiteering? As the pandemic struck, the big three supermarkets – who had all been struggling in previous years thanks to the rapid growth of Aldi and Lidl – all recorded massive profits. Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda in 2021/2022 made a profit of £3.2 billion – double the £1.6 billion they made in 2019. This year, amid a cost-of-living crisis, with food inflation at 19.1 per cent, Sainsbury’s has announced a further three per cent increase in profits. Tesco has announced a very slight dip of two per cent. The most sickening news, however, is that Tesco and Sainsbury’s together are paying out a whopping £1.2 billion to their shareholders this year. Yet British farmers are expected to feed the country at a loss? Call me crazy, but Marxism is starting to sound a bit more appealing! Something has to change. The government must begin to control the strength and power the supermarkets have over the food chain.
A temporary solution In a statement, The Dorset Dairy Co announced that they are instead going to concentrate on their cultured dairy products (Dorset strained yoghurt, kefir and cultured butter). This diversification to create more artisan foods with their produce is the obvious answer for most small family-run farms. However, it’s not a golden bullet – it has its own issues. Firstly, it takes an investment of cash to purchase the required equipment for diversification – cash that a small family-run farm may well not have. Secondly, there can only be so many small Dorset cheese producers before it’s no longer niche and artisan. The gap in the market closes, competition rises … and farms begin to sell their produce cheaper and cheaper. I look forward to seeing The Dorset Dairy Co’s yoghurt and butter on the shelves – just please not on a supermarket’s.
The warm, wet month has meant a burst of growth on the allotment says Barry Cuff – sadly, for the weeds as well as the courgettes
With more than four and a half inches of rain recorded for the month and temperatures around normal for July, growth of both crops and weeds has been phenomenal. Even the strong winds on two occasions did no damage. We were harvesting young carrots (Early Nantes) by the second week. These had made a slow start from successional sowings, with the earlier sowings catching up with the later. It’s been the same story with the two varieties of beetroot (Moulin Rouge and Crimson King). Runner beans and French beans had to be picked every third day to ensure the plants kept producing. This year our runner beans were sown with home-saved seed and we have both white and red coloured flowers, which means they had cross-pollinated the previous year. Last year’s variety was Moonlight (white) and an allotment neighbour had Polestar (red). There was no discernible difference in either yield or taste! Lettuce, spring onions and radishes have all made excellent growth and we were able to gather daily for salads. Celery and celeriac also put on good growth, ready for the autumn – both of these were mulched with our own compost.
Our sweetcorn (Swift) started flowering mid-month with good pollen production. The three varieties of courgettes – Black Beauty, Defender and Astia – produced fruits every other day, while the weather has meant our winter squashes have made more growth than I can remember in previous years! The peas finished early due to the previous month’s dry weather, whereas our mangetout and snap performed better. We grow Carrouby De Maussane and Purple Magnolia – both are excellent for stir frys and salads. During the drier periods we harvested Charlotte, Rooster, Jazzy and British Queen potatoes – all except Rooster did well. Our remaining varieties will be lifted in August so we’ll keep an eye on the plants for blight. Both our potatoes and onion patches became very weedy, especially with fat hen, gallant soldiers (a plant that can produce 15,000 seeds …) and many-seeded goosefoot – all are difficult to remove without pulling up the crop. We also have a few unusual weeds on the plot. Weasel’s snout is now a quite scarce cornfield weed. Thorn apple has large white five-lobed trumpet-shaped flowers and green oval spiky fruits. The other we have is moth mullein, a biennial plant which we let bloom as it has very attractive flowers loved by bees. All our fruit bushes have loved the rain and produced large currants, gooseberries and raspberries – most of these are swiftly made into jam and wine!
MP Chris Loder warns the swing to divisively extreme ideologies is eroding the potential for important and meaningful debate
MP Chris Loder
We don’t have a Pride event in the Blackmore Vale as such, but there are many Pride events taking place in the South West region over the summer. These events bring attention to the identity of members of society who often feel under-represented. Since I was elected in 2019, we have seen a whirlwind of identity politics through the mainstream media – that is, the politics and profile of a specific characteristic of an individual or group. It is often about gender, sexuality, race, nationality, religion or something else. What the media report and what we see and feel here in the Blackmore Vale are often very different, but nationally, I think awareness is at an all-time high. In times past, the causes and campaigns that have been associated with identity have mostly been those that have looked to achieve equity for all. Fairness, equality and justice – to ensure that everyone is treated as equal, regardless of their difference – not for preference but for parity. Increasingly though, the politics of identity have become less about achieving fairness (often because fairness has already been achieved) and more about forcing a view onto others, or to show that one group of society is better than another. What’s worse is that if a particular view is not mutually held, it now seems to warrant a relentless, personal attack in order to shut them down or to bully them into submission.
Identity and youth The increasing politicisation of gender and sexuality has deeply concerned me, especially considering its impact on young people. When I was growing up, I didn’t want to be recognised as better than everyone else, I just wanted to be equal. I didn’t want to stand out for my difference, I wanted to be an equal part of my community and society. That is why I often find it so difficult to reconcile with the extreme and unpleasant campaigning which is now becoming the norm. This extreme politicisation in campaigning is eroding civilised debate about important matters. It is also permeating our schools – mostly about the ability of children to self-identify as a different gender. For some schools, self-identity of children has become so prevalent that on a weekly basis, the school circulates a list of children who have self-identified as a different gender. It seems that every week there are national headlines about children self-identifying their gender at school – without the knowledge of their parents or guardians. I think this raises fundamental questions around safeguarding, parental responsibility, and indeed the sources which are influencing the malleable minds of young people. Teachers now fear the consequences in this situation. That is not right, and I have made my petitions to the Education Minister for prompt action.
A destructive force I once thought identity politics had a place for good, but it has now become so divisive that it is societally destructive. There is an increasing inability for rational and understanding debate. The race for one group of the population to be positioned in a better place than everyone else, which has permeated our online ecosystem, is now generating a dog-eat-dog type of society. While it may seem a distant reality to readers in a quiet corner of Dorset, campaigning in the extreme – not just in this subject area, but others too – is having a detrimental impact on our democracy. It places undue importance on one specific characteristic or cause in an effort to dominate the political agenda. I sincerely hope that we can move forward in a way that means this divisiveness calms and that we can have meaningful conversations about difficult issues. If you have any thoughts or views on this issue, I would be very pleased to hear from you: [email protected]
Stepping up the levels has been an exciting move – though there was an unexpected dunking for Toots Bartlett at Freestyle R’s 4* debut
Toots and Cor y Taran competing in July All images: Luke Perrett Photography
There has been a lot of training going on for team TB, with coaches Lisa White (for flatwork) and Robin Dumas (showjumping) helping both me and the horses step up levels. Freestyle R had his first CCI4* at Aston Le Walls at the beginning of July. He did a fabulous dressage of 29 – inside the top ten in a section of more than 100 top athletes! He was jumping very well, till his 4* debut ended with a sudden dunking in the water after misreading the fence in. Fortunately we were both fine – Freestyle cut free and I only suffered from cuts and bruises. Sadly, my fall meant I was unable to compete at Upton House – where Cor Y Taran was meant to be stepping up to his first Intermediate competition. I was able to re-route him to the next Aston Le Walls last weekend, however. The weather tried incredibly hard to spoil the day – it didn’t stop raining once! But Cor Y Taran moved into Intermediate in style. We got a top five dressage, followed by two fabulous jumping rounds, even in the bad conditions! Planned time penalties meant he missed out on a top ten placing, but I am incredibly excited by this lovely seven-year-old!
Toots and Freestyle R
Positive thinking I am incredibly lucky that when things go wrong I am able to stay positive as a jockey. I have confidence in my training program and in my horses, and know that any issues will be ironed out quickly. I feel that as long as I learn from the days that just don’t go to plan, then I won’t make that mistake again – and therefore it doesn’t seem to knock my confidence. Of course I know the risks that come when riding horses … although it’s probably no worse then getting in a car. But a lot more exciting! Finally team TB is looking forward to welcoming some new faces to the yard – one of my lovely Ragdoll x Maine Coon cats is pregnant; keep your eyes peeled, we’ll soon have kittens!
Let me know I am currently available for teaching and freelance riding – are you in need of any help? In any discipline, no matter your ability or age. Or do you simply need some help with someone riding your horses? Please don’t hesitate to contact me on [email protected]
Dearly beloved wife of Franey, mother of Sarah ( Dec’d ), Belinda, Gerrard, Nicholas. Grandmother to Venetia, Emily, Charlie, Jamie, Antonia, Tom and Elizabeth. Great- grandmother to Isabella.
Paralympian in the 70’s and 80’s. Ran the Royal Bath & West Disabled Games for 40+ years. Dorset magistrate for 28 years. MBE in 2004 for services to Disabled Sports.
Memorial service 1st September at St Michaels Church Penselwood BA9 8LS at 2.30pm. No flowers. Donations to The Inspire Foundation.
