It’s an action-packed February half term at the Fleet Air Arm Museum with amazing circus tricks from StrongWomen Science and the Great British Take Off.
Be wowed by naval aircraft in four halls, including the thrilling new family-friendly Carrier Experience. Refuel in the recently refurbished Warnefords Café, and let the little ones try out the mini play area. FREE activities included with a museum ticket:
Matchstick Fleet 11th and 12th February, 10am to 3pm A display of Philip Warren’s Matchstick Fleet, a culmination of a lifetime’s work. The collection, built entirely from matches and matchboxes, spans 525 ships and 1,000 aircraft. It includes the ships of the Royal Navy and beyond, illustrating the development of warships from the end of WWII right up to the present day.
StrongWomen Science Circus 14th and 15th February, 11am, and 1:30pm Ever wanted to know how to balance a chair on your chin? Or if it’s possible to juggle liquid? StrongWomen Aoife (an engineer) and Maria (an environmental scientist) reveal the amazing science behind their astounding tricks.
The Great British Take Off 16th and 17th February, 10am to 2pm. Get involved building and launching a balsa wood aircraft from the museum’s own model aircraft carrier. Choose a type of wing from a Swordfish to a Seafire or even a new F-35 Lightning and watch it go! Who can design the one which flies the furthest?
The New Carrier Experience Blending the best of technology with the scale of a carrier flight deck to transport visitors from the pioneer years of WWI all the way to the modern HMS Queen Elizabeth class carriers of today. Virtually meet a cast of characters to get a taste – and feel – of what those serving onboard experienced. Fleet Air Arm Museum tickets can be purchased online here
Hogarth paintings are undergoing restoration in London, but what do they have to do with a surgeon from North Dorset? Rachael Rowe reports
The Hogarth stair is part of a £5m restoration of the North Wing at 900-year-old St Barts hospital in London. Image: Rachael Rowe
St Bartholomew’s, the oldest hospital in England, is celebrating its 900th anniversary this year. It was founded in London by King Henry I’s courtier Rahere in 1123. The hospital is famous for many innovative medical developments, including the discovery of blood circulation in 1628 by William Harvey – today it is one of the largest cardiovascular centres in Europe. As part of the Barts 900 celebrations, a major restoration programme is under way, funded by a £5m award from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and focused on the Georgian North Wing. The building is famous for its paintings by William Hogarth, but what is their connection with North Dorset?
A local lad John Freke (1688-1756) was born in Okeford Fitzpaine, the son of the village rector. He grew up in the North Dorset countryside and was educated locally. At 17 he was apprenticed to Richard Blundell, a prominent London barber-surgeon. In the days before medical schools became widely established, apprenticeships were often the only route into the profession. Blundell had a prolific practice and also attended the Court of Queen Anne. Freke went on to marry Richard Blundell’s daughter Elizabeth in 1713, and having served a long apprenticeship he qualified as a barber-surgeon in 1720. Four years later, at the age of 36, he was appointed as assistant surgeon at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. In the 18th century, physicians were considered the experts in medicine. Barber-surgeons were seen to perform the ‘dirtier’ side of medical treatments; lancing boils, applying leeches and performing amputations. Anaesthetics had not yet been invented,, so the job was harrowing (as were the treatments). They also cut hair, including monks’ tonsures, and were known for styling beards. Today, traditional barber shops have red and white poles signifying the blood and bandages – the legacy of the days of the barber-surgeon.
A surgical pioneer During the early part of the 18th century, the surgical profession we know today began to specialise and develop formal standards in training. Freke was asked by the governors at Barts to pioneer eye surgery. Through the development of a technique called couching for cataracts, John Freke became the first ophthalmic surgeon in 1727. He was also responsible for a number of other discoveries; he modernised obstetric forceps, making them safer, and he was the first to recognise the importance of removing lymphatic tissue in breast cancer. Freke also wrote about electricity, rickets, and recognised the importance of studying the body. He became the first curator of the pathology museum at Barts, which acted as a study resource for the hospital’s medical students. With fellow surgeon Percivall Pott, Freke was instrumental in establishing the College of Surgeons (later the Royal College of Surgeons). This move distinguished the surgical profession and its modern, stringent standards from the old barber-surgeons – who returned to cutting hair. It was a pioneering move, and his legacy has saved thousands of lives through safer training standards.
Art and Science John Freke became a governor of St Bartholomew’s Hospital at a time when it was being redesigned by James Gibbs. Part of the 18th century restoration of the already 500-year-old hospital was to the North Wing, and Italian artist Jacopo Amigoni was about to be commissioned to complete the decoration of the stairs. However, William Hogarth, a local artist and friend of John Freke, stepped in, incensed that an Italian had (almost) got the job. Hogarth offered his services without charge. He lived on nearby Bartholomew Close and had married a Dorset girl – Jane Thornhill, the daughter of Sir James Thornhill of Stalbridge, himself a distinguished artist. Barts Heritage chief executive Will Palin says: ‘We know from the archives that Freke was an advisor to the workings of the hospital building and we can be certain he knew Hogarth.’
Sickness in the paintings Hogarth created two large paintings which still adorn the stairway – now known as the Hogarth stair – which leads to the Great Hall. The Pool of Bethesda and The Good Samaritan were completed in 1736 and 1737 respectively and both depict healing scenes from the Bible at huge scale, featuring figures around seven feet high. But there is more to the artwork than meets the eye. Within the paintings are people with medical conditions, thought to have been modelled by patients from the hospital. It is thought that Freke advised Hogarth on the accuracy of the appearance of some of these diseases. Unusually for an artist known for caricatures, none of the illnesses are exaggerated, and they reflect what would have been seen regularly at the hospital at the time. Within the art are signs of gout, jaundice, rickets, breast cancer (possibly another connection to Freke’s work), and the body language of fear and anxiety. There is also a blind man in the foreground of the Pool of Bethesda, possibly alluding to John Freke’s role as first ophthalmic surgeon. The paintings have served as a unique teaching aid for medical students and nurses for 300 years. They are still used today.
The legacy continues Hanging above the paintings on the Hogarth Stair is an elaborately carved gilded chandelier which was commissioned by John Freke and given to the hospital. It is inscribed with ‘ John Freke, surgeon of this hospital’ in Latin around the centre. Hogarth had specifically requested that the completed canvases never be varnished, but when they were cleaned in the 1930s, seven coats of varnish were removed. As an indication of how much dirt the paintings accumulate, when they were again cleaned in the 1960s it was only then that an inscription in the foundation stone in the second tableau was discovered. Will Palin says: ‘The Hogarth Stair is one part of a much bigger project. The £5m grant will restore the entire North Wing, including the Great Hall. Freke’s chandelier will also be getting a careful clean as part of the project and it will look splendid.’ Today, as the hospital celebrates the past and looks forward to the future, the legacy of John Freke lives on in safer surgical professional standards that have saved thousands of lives.
St Barts has a small museum open to the public, and there are also guided tours of the historic hospital including the Hogarth Stair. More information about the paintings is on the Barts Heritage site.
Winners of the inaugural Shaftesbury Business Awards held at the Grovesnor Arms. Picture: Paul Collins/PC Visuals.
A great success’ was the verdict on the first Shaftesbury Business Awards after 15 of the town’s finest businesses and individuals, were singled out for recognition. The Grosvenor Arms hosted the event with more than 60 business leaders celebrating the range and quality of businesses in the town. Cllr Piers Brown, mayor of Shaftesbury joined the sponsors to present the awards which were spread over 15 categories. Shirley Allum Boutique Fashions & Lingerie was named as the overall Business of the Year. Nigel Reeve, of Marketing West, organisers of the awards, said: ‘We knew there was great interest in the awards from local businesses when we received over 150 entries and nominations. ‘Supporting local businesses has never been more important. ‘They drive the local economy, they innovate and they create jobs. We hope, in a small way, these awards help build their profile and make people realise what a great choice of businesses they have on their doorstep. ‘I’d also like to thank the sponsors, many of which are Shaftesbury businesses, for making these awards possible.’ The awards concluded with the announcement that Gillingham is next in line to have its own business awards, and that the second year of the Shaftesbury Business Awards was also confirmed with the final scheduled for January 2024.
Details of all winners and sponsors, with links, can be seen on our facebook post.
A big thank you goes to Kingston Maurward College for hosting this year’s award ceremony and to Barbara Cossins and the Love Local Trust Local team for all their hard work in promoting and celebrating the best of Dorset’s food and drink.
The BVMagazine are proud media partners of the Love Local Trust Local Awards
There’s no need to fly a bouquet of sad roses a thousand miles for Valentine’s Day this year, says flower farmer Charlotte Tombs
Both images show UK-grown Valentine’s Day bouquets. Flowers and images by Katie Priestly of Dorset Flower Co
Not all cultures around the world celebrate St Valentine’s Day (obviously), but for those that do, why do it with the gift of roses – and why red? Red can be seen everywhere in nature, from a holly berry to a red snapper fish. Of course it signals danger, but in western countries red is also a symbol of martyrs and sacrifice, particularly because of its association with blood. Red is the colour most commonly associated with heat, activity, passion, sexuality, anger, love and joy – quite a powerful colour all in all! Roses have been on Earth for 30 million years. When questioned, 90 per cent of people, regardless of their nationality, will answer “rose” as their favourite flower. Civilisations from the ancient Greeks, Romans and Persians to the present day have shown a passion for the rose, thanks to its transient beauty, its colour and of course its scent. Since the 1940s it’s easy to see why roses and carnations have led florists’ sales as we Brits give red roses on Valentine’s Day to our sweethearts. But prior to Second World War, British florists mostly sold violets in heart shaped boxes. These were grown in Victorian greenhouses and conservatories because of the season; mid-winter is simply not great for growing flowers in the UK – unless you want a bunch of daffodils or snowdrops!
International Valentine’s The Germans exchange pigs. No, not real ones! Cute cartoon ones on cards or keepsakes. Pigs are considered good luck bringers (Glücksbringer) in Germany and are as common at this time of year as seeing Cupid is in the USA. The sensible Finnish celebrate Friends Day instead, choosing to honour both friends and significant others. In Japan, it’s the women’s turn to give gifts to men in the form of a homemade chocolate honmei choco (true-feeling chocolate). Men return the gesture on the 14th March by giving white chocolate and white gifts as a sign of their affection. Historically the French celebrated Valentine’s Day with une loterie d’amour. Single French men and women would shout in the streets until they were paired off. The man then had the option to ditch the woman. The left-over women would naturally then get together and vent their anger by lighting a huge fire (so French!) and burning images of the men who had abandoned them. This event could get out of hand and the French government eventually had to ban it. A woman scorned and all that …
Flowers and images by Katie Priestly of Dorset Flower Co
Say NO to roses in February Regular readers know there is no need to buy imported roses (or any flowers). They are quite literally costing the earth. Flowers from the Farm has a clever search bar that will direct you to a grower in your area who will be able to send flowers. You can support a small business, help the planet and make all involved happy – what’s not to love? The brilliant Dorset Flower Co based near Dorchester and Eveline’s Flowers based in Sturminster Newton are both Members of Flowers From the Farm. Go on – make someone do a happy dance!
Between the rain and the frozen ground there’s been little to do this month, says Barry Cuff, but now’s the time for some potato shopping
Choosing from the 70 varieties on offer from Mill House Nurseries at Owermoigne Image: Barry Cuff
For the first time in many years we have not been able to carry out much work during January. Roughly five inches of rain and 12 days of frost have kept us off the soil. We have managed to cut down the raspberry canes and prune the currants and gooseberries. At least all the bare ground had been manured back in November and December, including the areas of green manure killed off by the hard December frosts. Of course we continued harvesting the hardy vegetables – sprouts, leeks, parsnips and carrots – as needed. We picked our first purple sprouting broccoli mid month and despite the weather there were still some usable oriental mustards and Mizuna for salads. We dug the last blue moon radish as well. We have really enjoyed these Asian radishes (Blue Moon, Red Moon and Accord round Daikon) and intend to sow a larger area in August. From the store we have been using onions, potatoes, winter squash and garlic, and from the freezer peas, French beans, broad beans, and sweetcorn. Our November-planted garlic has survived the winter and is looking good. However, for the first time in about 30 years we have no spring cauliflowers; all were lost during the hard frosts in December. We now believe these were lost to a combination of below-freezing temperature and Boron deficiency which can occur on high pH soils. The deficiency causes the stems to become hollow, which affects the water availability to the plant. We have now ordered a supply of Boron foliar feed for the coming season!
Shopping for spuds We made our annual trip to Mill House Nurseries at Owermoigne to buy our seed spuds for the coming season; there were about 70 varieties to choose from, all laid out loose in trays. This year we chose Maris Bard for our first early, and bought our tried-and-tested favourites Charlotte, Picasso and Rooster, along with a new variety Sagitta which did exceptionally well last year. Each year we try a line of something new so we bought five tubers of each of Caledonian Rose, British Queen and Marvel. The nursery also sells loose legume seed, and for £3 we bought about 1,800 seeds of Hurst Green Shaft peas, which is very good value. We now look forward to the beginning of the growing season.
Tracie Beardsley meets Richard Lee, Dorset craftsman, founder of Plankbridge and pioneer of a global revival of shepherd’s huts
Richard Lee, founder of Plankbridge, inside his office – a 1921 Bournemouth tram All images: Courtenay Hitchcock
In a moment of quiet reverie, she’s rolled out to greet the bright winter sunlight. A majestic diva, she is a super-hut – the shepherd’s hut equivalent of an executive home. This is a luxury lodge made from English oak, insulated with Lakeland sheep’s wool with very modern fittings. Six weeks in the making from chassis to chimney, behind her stands a 37-strong ‘making team’ of skilled Dorset craftspeople – carpenters, joiners, painters, metalworkers and more. This is the Plankbridge family; they are makers of fine shepherd’s huts, the only ones boasting the prestigious endorsement of the Royal Horticultural Society. It’s a rural business that enjoyed a 30 per cent increase in turnover with the sudden growth of working from home during the pandemic. As well as garden offices, these shepherds huts are used for accommodation and treatment rooms by the upmarket hotel chain The Pig, by the National Trust for offices and visitor meet and greets, for glamping, as B&Bs, and they are sold to celebrities including TV’s countryside champion Kate Humble, a 90s rock star (whose name must remain a secret) and even, occasionally, to shepherds!
Plankbridge’s 50-strong team of crafts and trades people simultaneously works on a number of huts in various stages of build
Hardy country huts At the top of the family tree are Richard Lee and his partner Jane, who started Plankbridge 23 years ago, initially working out of a converted chicken shed. By 2007, they had recruited their first employee, ‘part-time and a big step’. With 37 employees including Richard’s brother, who makes the chassis units, plus a further dozen ‘crucial’ subcontracted electricians, plumbers and powder coaters, Plankbridge works out of a huge converted grainstore in Piddlehinton, deep in Thomas Hardy territory.. And it’s thanks to Dorset’s most famous author that the idea of building 21st century shepherds huts came about. Richard says: ‘We live in the heart of Far From The Madding Crowd country. Waterston Manor, the inspiration for Bathsheba’s Weatherby Farm is just down the road. Smitten Farmer Boldwood was at nearby Druce Farm and Hardy’s own cottage at Higher Bockhampton is near us too. ‘Walking my dog near Hardy’s cottage I spotted a dilapidated shepherd’s hut and I started researching. I was self-employed at the time, making kitchen and garden furniture, but it wasn’t really satisfying my creative bent. Back then, lots of people were restoring old huts but I wanted to make my own from scratch, be true to the original style, but with all the modern qualities of a timber-framed building.’
The home of Plankbridge is a huge converted grainstore in Piddlehinton
Richard did just that; his first hut incorporated cavity insulation, a breather membrane and electrics. He kept and used the hut in his garden, and later advertised it and sold it easily. ‘Then a lady from Wells called me wanting to buy it. I told her I’d already sold it but could make her another one – and that’s how the business began!’ Plankbridge now ships much further afield than Wessex. The latest super-hut is bound for the Channel Islands. Huts have been shipped to America and across Europe. One customer, a real shepherd in Scandinavia, needed her hut as protection from wolves! Continuing the Hardy link, Plankbridge also worked on Gabriel Oak’s shepherd’s hut in the 2015 film of Far from the Madding Crowd. Look closely and you may even spot Richard Lee in his role as an extra!
With an on-site forge, even the hut wheels are made by Richard’s team of craftsmenimage Courtenay Hitchcock BV magazine
Sitting in the 1921 Bournemouth tram which is now his quirky office, Richard is currently planning his latest creation – The Gardener’s Bothy. Designs are under wraps until the big reveal at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May, but it will be made from home-grown ash, chestnut and oak. ‘The show is a great launchpad for innovation,’ he says. Richard trained in woodcraft at Hooke Park in Beaminster, the brainchild of renowned furniture maker John Makepeace. ‘Makepeace was ahead of his time – he wanted to make us entrepreneurs in wood. You didn’t just learn to make things. You learned about British timbers, marketing, accounting, running a business. We used to get high-powered furniture designers from London to lecture us, which I found enthralling. ‘I’m really driven by the Arts & Crafts Movement and it’s incredible to think shepherds huts, which historians date back as far as 1596, are still evolving and are now a familiar sight. But now it’s not just in fields – they’re in many back gardens too.’
Richard’s tram-cum-office sits inside the old grainstore
Quick fire questions: Dinner party guests around a campfire by your hut? Musicians Mike Scott from The Waterboys and Paul McCartney, actress Kate Winslet, biological anthropologist Prof Alice Roberts, rewilding expert Derek Gow, American politician and activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and comedian Billy Connolly. That should be an interesting mix!
Current reading list? A biography of Terry Pratchett – I’m not a particular fan of his work but I like finding biographies of people I don’t know much about. I’m also reading Lee Scofield’s A Wild Fell – Fighting for Nature on a Lake District Farm. Rewilding and nature books are a bit of a passion of mine.
Inside an original shepherd’s hut that the team is currently renovating.
Rob Nolan was thrilled to capture an image which, due to its orbit, we are potentially the only humans ever to have a chance to record
January usually feels like a long month for most of us, but for astronomers this particular one felt really long! We were blessed with a spate of crisp clear and moonless nights, so that meant not a lot of sleep for many of us, including me. Those of you familiar with Blackadder, the 1980s TV show, may recall Lord Percy trying to create gold, and ending up with a ‘nugget of purest green’? Well I hoped last month that I would be able to share with you a very special once-in-a-lifetime capture of a green comet that has not passed our way for thousands of years. As you can see opposite, I’m happy to say, I got it! It really is a great feeling when you try to capture a rare target, those first images start coming in and you see the object for yourself in glorious detail. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a long-period comet from the Oort cloud and is approximately 1km in diameter. It was discovered as a very faint 17.3 magnitude smudge in the constellation of Aquilla, and the 1.2m telescope at Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) is credited with the comet’s discovery. What is remarkable about this comet is that it last appeared in our skies 50,000 years ago, when Neanderthals roamed the Earth. There’s talk in the science community about the comet currently moving in an open parabolic orbit; it may move into deep space and never pass this way again. This would mean we would be the only humans to have ever witnessed this comet in our skies with the ability to image it. Amazing! C/2022 E3 passed within 26 million miles of Earth on 1st February, and should be visible as a faint smudge in the sky to those out looking for it well into mid-February – a pair of binoculars or a small telescope will help. This image was captured with my 350mm refractor telescope and the ZWO ASI2600MM Pro Astro camera with RGB filters. Only 30 minutes of capture time was needed to bring out the detail of the comet’s tail due to its apparent brightness.
The night sky, February 2023 – Rob’s guide for your stargazing this month:
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) continues to grace our skies into February, having passed closest to the Earth on the first of the month and should be visible with the naked eye! It is visible near the north celestial pole and located within the Camelopardalis constellation. Our local neighbours Venus, Mars and Jupiter continue to shine brightly in the evening skies throughout February, alongside some pretty high profile stars. The month ahead sees Orion drifting further west with the constellations Leo and Boötes continuing to rise higher in the east. Canis Major, the larger of Orion’s hunting dogs, is in full view towards the East in the evening, crowned by the dog star Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky, hot on the heels of Lepus (the Hare). Other nearby stars to take a look at are Mirzam – The Announcer in Arabic, due to the fact it rises just before Sirius – and Adhara which, five million years ago, held the crown for the brightest star in the night sky due to its relative position to the sun. Nestled in Canis Major is M41, a relatively small star cluster of around 100 young stars. It is quite possibly the subject of the earliest known description of a deep-sky object, made by the Greek Philosopher Aristotle in 325 BC, though we can’t say for certain that this is what he referred to when he described ‘a cloudy spot’ in the constellation. You can observe M41 through binoculars or with the unaided eye. I’m told Comet C/2022 E3 will appear to pass close to Mars on the night of the 11th, which would be a fantastic sight to behold, involving our local planetary neighbours dancing with the Moon in a neverending stellar waltz. Other events to watch out for besides the comet? On the 15th February, Venus appears close to Neptune, which will help stargazers find the outermost planet in our solar system. Find Venus, and then look to the lower right of the brightest planet to bring into view the dimmest. Compared side by side, Venus is 60,000 times brighter than Neptune. On the 22nd, look west after sunset to see the crescent Moon adorned by Venus and Jupiter. The following night you’ll witness a similar entanglement, with Venus and Jupiter below the crescent Moon. And since we have a short month in February, why not finish off on the 27th with a look at the Moon’s first quarter with Mars close by and the star Aldebaran shining brightly. Until next time, clear skies!
