Green shoots at the Green Man

By

-

13 October 2022

Well done to successive owners of the Green Man for sticking with the King’s Stag pub’s traditional name, says Roger Guttridge

The Green Man c1908 with a line-up of early motor cars.
Picture from Roger Guttridge’s Blackmore Vale Camera.

It’s refreshing to find an historic pub that hasn’t had its name meddled with in recent decades, especially when that name is traditional and meaningful.
And the Green Man at King’s Stag is just that. According to its website, the hostelry has been in the village since the 17th century and was originally known as the Inn at King Stag. But it has been the Green Man for as long as anyone alive can remember, and in fact much longer.
I happen to have a copy of Kelly’s Directory of Dorset for 1931 and, after referring me to the entry for Lydlinch – King’s Stag being in that parish – it told me that the Green Man’s landlord 91 years ago was one Albert Percy Padfield.
The Green Man name is synonymous with forestry and rural England and a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth that begins every spring.
That is especially appropriate right now, given the green shoots that are almost visibly sprouting at the pub.
After what the website itself describes as a ‘rocky few years’, the Green Man is back on its feet with an impressive new beer garden and the additional attraction of a coffee shop.
My two pictures from the early 20th century show how little the building itself has changed in more than 100 years.

Children and a mobile knife-grinder gather for the camera outside the Green Man in the early 1900s.
Picture from Barry Cuff collection, published in Lost Dorset: The Villages and Countryside, by David Burnett

The Dorset FX
The one with the three cars appeared in my book Blackmore Vale Camera in 1991, when I was able to identify the owners of those with the Dorset FX number plate.
Far left (FX 307), seated beside his driver in the 60hp Fiat, is Sir Randolf Baker (1879-1953), owner of the Ranston Estate at Shroton and MP for North Dorset.
Sir Randolf, who was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Order while serving in the Dorset Yeomanry during the First World War, was a motoring pioneer whose first car, a 10hp Panhard, was only the second in the county.
The identity of the car (FX 387) next to the horse and wagon (far right) is in dispute.
In 1991, I had reason to think it belonged to Francis Learworth, of Hanford. But in Lost Dorset: The Villages and Countryside, based on Barry Cuff’s collection of old Dorset postcards, author David Burnett identifies the car as a 16hp Vauxhall owned by Thomas Spiller, of Luccombe Farm at Milton Abbas.
I can’t currently resolve this except to suggest that perhaps it was owned by both gentlemen at different times!
The LC-number plate on the centre car suggests a London registration.

The Green Man at King’s Stag today
Image: Roger Guttridge

Henry III’s stag
The other early 1900s picture shows a travelling knife-grinder and another local tradesman as well as the usual gaggle of children who were attracted by the novelty of the camera just as kids today (and some attention-seeking adults!) love to linger in the background when there’s a TV camera about.
There are two stories as to how King’s Stag itself acquired its name.
It was called ‘Kingestake’ in a document dated 1337 while ‘Kingstake Bridg’ is mentioned in the 16th century.
These probably refer to a king’s stake which once marked the spot at the bridge over the River Lydden where the parishes of Lydlinch, Pulham and Hazelbury Bryan meet.
The alternative placename story is much more fun but probably untrue.
Legend has it that King Henry III was hunting in the Blackmore Vale when he saw a white hart, which he decided to spare.
When the king’s bailiff later slew the magnificent beast near the bridge over the Lydden, the king was so angry that he threw the offender in jail and fined the whole Vale.
Hence King’s Stag.

So mushroom for sweet chestnuts

By

Editorial team

-

12 October 2022

0

As the summer crops hang on a little longer and the autumn season begins, October is the best month for foraging, says expert Carl Mintern

Sweet chestnut trees kindly leave the nuts at their base, ready for collecting

October is here, and it’s perhaps the most exciting time to be a forager. Most of the tender plants are still hanging on in places, offering a rich assortment of wild salads and herbs, and the nut harvest is now in full swing. To top it all there is never a greater variety or abundance of wild edible mushrooms to choose from, meaning I can sometimes return from a trip to a woodland or footpath with bags of produce collected from high and low.

Field Mushrooms
Let’s start with one such bag filler – Field Mushrooms (Agaricus Campestris).
Field Mushrooms can be found from summer to autumn, but I have found the peak season in these parts to be September and October. During this period, I can often spot them in a field as I am driving around, at which point I tend to hit the brakes and work out where I can park (after checking my mirrors, obviously)! One of the best things about this mushroom is that when you find some, you often find a lot, meaning just one harvesting session can sometimes end up with me bringing home a year’s supply! Couple this with the fact that these mushrooms are really easy to preserve through dehydrating and I think you are onto a winner.

Just making sure
The Field Mushroom is found in grassland that is not intensively used by agriculture, meaning not monocultures where the use of pesticides is prevalent, but look for them on grazing pasture for sheep and the like. It is a saprobic mushroom, meaning it survives by recycling dead and decaying organic matter under the foliage of the grass. It can be found individually or in clumps, but also in partial or full rings, sometimes many metres across.
Look for a smooth and white cap which can develop a slightly darker centre with time. The young mushroom is domed, resembling the shape of a closed cup mushroom from the supermarket, but the cap opens out to flat as it grows. The gills start off a delicate pink and turn brown then eventually black with age. The size of the cap is usually 3cm to 10cm and if handled roughly can bruise a very slight yellowish colour. The poisonous lookalike mushroom, helpfully called the Yellow Stainer, also stains yellow – but much more vividly.
Luckily for us there is also another key identifier to help us differentiate between this delicious edible and its toxic cousin – smell.
The Yellow Stainer will smell of chemicals, rather than the usual ‘mushroomy’ smell we might expect, and this smell can be exaggerated by placing in the microwave for a few seconds if further reassurance is needed. As always, never munch on a hunch and be sure you have correctly identified your prize before eating!

Your sense of smell should easily tell edible Field Mushrooms from their poisonous Yellow Stainer lookalikes.

Sweet chestnuts
Next up on my free wild food shopping list is sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa) – a delicious treat of sweet nuttiness, as the name suggests. Sweet chestnut is another wild edible that was introduced to Britain by the Romans, so we can add this nut to the list when answering that old chestnut, “what have the Romans ever done for us?”
Chestnuts can be cooked in any way imaginable; baked, roasted, boiled, or microwaved. But do ensure you score a cross in the shiny skin otherwise there is a high probability of exploding when they are cooked!
After cooking, the options continue to expand. Eat them as-is, add them to desserts or make some stuffing. You can also puree them, store them in syrup or make delicious sweets from them.
Established trees will kindly leave the nuts at their base ready for you to collect, and, with their unmistakable prickly shell, they are not easily confused with anything dangerous. Just be sure you know the difference between sweet chestnuts and conkers and you cannot go wrong … unless of course you forget to bring gloves!

Spooky insouciance instead of consensus

By

Editorial team

-

12 October 2022

0

The national picture feels like the beginning of the end, says North Dorset Lib Dems’ Mike Chapman, but there’s need to watch the new Investment Zone

After all the flourish and noisy braying in past weeks from the Government benches about ‘real Conservative policy’ … it all looks a bit less professional today. There are two fundamental concerns here: does this package deliver growth or does it merely deliver division? Then, does this package presage a confident, capable government for the next two years? I do try to be positive, but look, it is desperately simple: those earning the least keep less because personal allowances are frozen. And the mood music says that benefits will be pared back. Otherwise, as individuals or businesses, we are back to where we were a few months ago, except that … interest rates are rising, impacting mortgages; the weak pound and higher cost of imports are stoking inflation; and energy bills will still be going up.
I cannot see how these measures in these circumstances deliver an incentive to spend and/or invest – the drivers of growth.
The huge cost has been loaded onto the nation’s credit card in a budget lacking the other side of the equation but it was the insouciance, the devil-may-care attitude as much as the fiscal irresponsibility that spooked the markets. Added to this, we have the continuing and spreading industrial unrest and anxiety about budgets in every other area of public expenditure. Great start? It feels more like the beginning of the end.

Confrontation politics
Closer to home, we have Dorset Council looking to turn parts of the county into an Investment Zone, with all the regulatory relaxation that implies.
To suggest that some of the motivation might be to help dig themselves out of the hole they are in with the Local Plan might be unkind. We shall all need to watch, though, how the Zone idea develops; especially when seen in conjunction with the mooted relaxation of the planning system. With Dorset and Somerset both involved, there must also be a danger of a race to the bottom as each competes to attract bigger business investment.
Our democracy, so deeply attached to its polarities and its confrontational ways, struggles to find consensus of the kind many of the more successful nations seem to manage. Risky shifts in policy, ignoring the experts, have rarely served us well. Consensus may be hard to achieve but it is the soundest basis for public policy.

Stur’s Nexus
Enough philosophy. Back to our local world. There are exciting prospects for Sturminster Newton’s ‘Nexus’ business incubator project, whose launch happens on the evening of 10th October upstairs in The Emporium. It brings together many parts of the community, including local business organisations, philanthropists and volunteers, to create a mentoring environment for start-ups and fledgling businesses. Backed up by seasoned professional advice and support, including the potential for investment, it looks to be an excellent example of what can be achieved by working together toward a highest common denominator.
Three words that trump any race to the bottom, methinks.

The rich just keep on getting richer

By

Editorial team

-

12 October 2022

0

Infighting and infantile economics set the table for a fairly disastrous first course from our new prime minister, says Labour’s Pat Osborne

Few can deny that it was a disastrous first Conservative Party Conference for Liz Truss. Her tax cut U-turn has been a total humiliation for the new prime minister and her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, prompting an infighting free-for-all amongst the Tories, reminiscent of the bunfight scene from Bugsy Malone.
But it’s hard to find any amusement in a political pie-in-the-face when it’s rooted in a collective blunder that will continue to do so much damage to those who can least afford it.
According to the Resolution Foundation, despite scrapping the abolition of the 45p tax rate, the measures announced in the now-infamous ‘mini-budget’ will deliberately widen the inequality gap further. The richest five per cent will gain an average of £3,500 next year, while the poorest 20 per cent of households will gain around £90. In fact, the richest five per cent still stand to gain more than the poorest half of the income distribution combined, with any real term benefit for most of us being swallowed up by the spiralling cost of living crisis made worse by rocketing interest rates driven by the Government’s economic incompetence.

GCSE Economics
While Truss and Kwarteng’s £18 billion corporation tax cut remains standing, the Chancellor has announced £18 billion in cuts to our already creaking public services.
Meanwhile, our schools and our hospitals require intensive care themselves, after 12 years of Tory austerity – and the hard-working people who work in them (and whom we clapped during lockdown) desperately deserve a pay rise, not another real term pay cut.
But as most of us are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet, Liz Truss’s instinct is to stand firmly by a mini-budget which is designed to line the pockets of the rich and wealthy, and has all the substance of a GCSE economics assignment copied from the Chuckle Brothers on the bus to school.

We’re not the only ones facing a challenging winter

By

Editorial team

-

12 October 2022

0

The squirrel in your back garden really can benefit from where you choose to spend your weekly shop, says North Dorset Green Party’s Ken Huggins

Two years ago we enjoyed our best hazelnut harvest ever, with hundreds of nuts to enjoy through Christmas. Last year was very different, with just a handful left. The culprit appeared this summer; a squirrel digging furiously in the garden and every now and then emerging triumphantly with a hazelnut. I was a bit miffed.
But we need to share our harvest with other creatures and I appreciated the hazelnut saplings that sprang up where the squirrel had missed some of its buried treasure.
This summer’s harvest is looking very different, though. In the heat and drought our hazelnut tree lost half its leaves mid summer, and then the nuts began to drop. They were empty. Nothing for us, or the squirrel.
On the nearby Alners Gorse butterfly reserve the wild blackberries are small and dry, the sloes are tiny, and the elderberries are almost non existent. Slim pickings for those who like to forage treats from nature’s bounty, but we can buy food elsewhere. Some wildlife will undoubtedly fail to survive this winter for lack of food.
The UK is rated as one of the most nature-deprived countries in the world, largely due to intensive industrialised farming. Since 1950 we have lost 118,000 miles of hedgerow habitat, and 97% of wildflower meadows. Unsustainable use of artificial fertilizers & pesticides is destroying our soils, polluting our waters, and crashing the insect populations that pollinate our crops. Of course, these devastating environmental costs are never included in the price of the supermarket’s cheap food.
We as consumers are not powerless. What we choose to buy – and not to buy – makes a real difference. We can choose to eat more seasonal and less highly processed food. And, those who can, to support organic producers whenever possible.
Do spare a thought for the wildlife that will inevitably struggle during this post-drought winter. Put food out for the birds, and perhaps let some of your garden grow wild to provide a habitat for the insects and other creatures that life depends on. Perhaps join the River of Flowers project and grow pollinator friendly wildflowers, or join groups working to restore our wildlife. You have the power!

Same party, different views

By

Editorial team

-

12 October 2022

0

There’ll not be a general election until 2024 – but that doesn’t mean the fight for practical, pragmatic politics ends, argues Simon Hoare MP

The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes tells us: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” As the hand of autumn firmly settles over our landscape, we are more than aware of the ending of one season and a passing to the next.
And so, perhaps, we might be seeing this on our political landscape too. I fought my first Parliamentary election in 1997. Not a great year for the Tory party and an election that heralded 13 years of Labour Government. Slowly the Tory Party, in the words of the song, got itself up, dusted itself off and started all over again. We should expect a General Election in 2024; I know that many want that to be earlier. I can understand their argument but I do not share it. With all of the recent turmoil and sadness, COVID, Ukraine, the death of The Queen, interest rates and inflation, I really do not believe that it would be in the interests of the UK to take six weeks for a General Election campaign.

Side with commonsense
I am firmly of the view that most people want the Government to focus – and focus on solving today’s problems in a practical and pragmatic way. I will work tirelessly, as I have done since first elected, to ensure that the interests of North Dorset are taken into account when policy evolves. I want to make sure that Government is doing all it can to help and support people locally. In so doing, I appreciate that sometimes puts me out of step with Government – but I have usually found that the commonsense side of the argument, that I am inclined to be on, usually wins through in the end. Let me give you some recent examples.
I have made clear, both publicly and privately, that I will not support a resurrection of fracking. I will continue with this campaign and hope that Government listens. Fracking is bad news for Dorset’s environment. I hope Government listens to the public mood.

It is the dragon of inflation that must be slayed, not our pledge to protect the vulnerable
Simon Hoare

Likewise, I could not fathom any economic, social or political merit in removing the 45p income tax band. The Government listened to many voices making the same point and has changed direction. I welcome that.
I have also made clear that I believe that benefits across the board should rise with the rate of inflation this year. You cannot build a successful economy by making the lives of some of the most vulnerable in society more difficult.
It is the dragon of inflation that must be slayed, not our pledge to protect the vulnerable of our country.
During the summer I made clear that helping households with fuel bills was not a ‘handout’ but a vital measure of support due to unforeseen and arguably unforeseeable events. I therefore welcome the package of measures that the Government has announced for both domestic and business customers. I continue to advocate for a Windfall Tax (as, incidentally, does Shell).

Being poorly educated, feeling unsafe or being unhealthy does not economy contributors make.
simon hoare

As a Conservative I of course welcome competitive and realistic levels of tax (both personal and corporate). Reducing the tax burden is important and is a noble enterprise, but it should only be delivered when it is affordable. I remain distinctly uncomfortable with the strategy of borrowing to fund tax cuts, and wait to see what the Office for Budget Responsibility has to say on that matter before the Treasury proceeds. I remain implacably opposed to delivering tax cuts funded by reducing investment in vital public services that the vast vast majority of our fellow citizens use, be it local government, health or education.
High quality public services produce results which play a key role in levelling up. Being poorly educated, feeling unsafe or being unhealthy does not economy contributors make.
So, whatever the season, I shall continue, to the best of my abilities, to advocate for North Dorset in the ‘corridors of power’.
To try to secure the best deal I can for you.
I share Churchill’s old view (not one shared by any party’s Whips’ Office) that it’s constituency, country then party that should dictate and shape an MP’s action.
Simon Hoare MP

Do you actually know how to interview?

By

Editorial team

-

11 October 2022

0

You are recruiting, have identified potential new employees and invited them to come for an interview. The interview is the opportunity for you to both find out more about each other. As an employer you will be aiming to find out more about the person; their skills, attitudes and behaviours, and whether they are right for your business.
But remember the candidate will also be assessing you and your business and whether it is right for them!
Dorset Growth Hub are offering a free workshop in October – join Debbie Greenwood to find out all about interviewing the right way. The session will look at planning an interview – and also at the legal compliance that you need to be aware of.
Subjects to be covered include:
Planning an interview.
Identifying key skills and behaviours to rate candidates.
Setting questions to prompt responses to identify the right candidate.
Rating candidates fairly. Unconscious Bias.
Putting candidates at their ease.
Legal considerations when hiring and interviewing including receiving and storing information.
Employment rights, when and how do they kick in and how long are applicants protected.
Wednesday 19th October, 09:30 to 12 noon, at The Exchange in Sturminster Newton. FREE event, but registrations online here.

Don’t rush to put the garden to bed!

By

Editorial team

-

11 October 2022

0

It’s good to have a tidy up, but don’t rush it, says flower farmer Charlotte Tombs. There’s lots of goodness in those last remains of the summer

Leave your dahlias till the frosts turn them black
Image: Charlotte Tombs

What a strange concept it is, putting a garden ‘to bed’ – though I’ll admit it’s always nice to see everything cleared away and put on the compost heap, burnt or taken to the municipal dump. It’s just as well that there really is no hurry to get on with it. I’m in the middle of organising Christmas workshops… (shameless plug to follow).
If you take a moment now, you can organise your current garden mess to benefit your growing season for next year.
Try cutting back all the dead woody stems and then use them as a mulch on your flower beds; the insects will be able to overwinter here, and it will provide food for the birds. Leave the root balls in place. They will add to your soil’s health and increase the good micro-organisms.
Leave anything with a seed head. Not only will it look beautifully architectural on a cold frosty morning, the birds will thank you for these extra seedy treats.
You will find with the fluctuating autumnal temperatures that some seeds will start to self-sow. Use this as nature’s indicator that now is the correct time to plant your autumn hardy annuals such as cornflowers, Ammi majus (Queen Anne’s lace) and calendula by sowing these now. Your seedlings will have a jump on next year, and it’s always good to get ahead. Plus you will find that these autumn-sown plants are bigger and healthier than their spring-sown counterparts.
Some seeds need something called cold stratification – a period of cold to germinate. Orlaya and Larkspur benefit from this treatment, and in fact I have a Ziplock bag of seeds in my fridge all year round!

Deal with dahlias
Do wait for a couple of hard frosts to knock your dahlias back (wait until the frost hits them and they go all black) before you lift to store, or leave the tubers in and mulch – it all really depends on your soil type. If you have free draining ground you are probably OK to leave in, but if the ground is subject to standing water they are likely to rot. Dahlias do like being dug up and divided every few years, it encourages more vigorous growth (plus you get free plants). I usually lift some and leave some, but then one of my absolute favourites rotted in storage but was fine in the ground, so it’s always a gamble!

Christmas is coming!
This year I am running two workshops:
12th November – Christmas stencilling in the morning with Melanie Ward, and wreath-making in the afternoon with Charlotte
30th November – Indian cookery with Christmas wreath.
Hands-on Indian cooking with Torie True in the morning, with a leisurely lunch of the dishes you prepared. An afternoon Christmas wreath workshop using lots of different elements grown and foraged by Northcombe Flowers.
Both of these make great gifts for that person who has everything – or simply to treat yourself.
Please take a look at my instagram account
@northcombeflowers for details and book classes early to avoid disappointment!

Have you seen the Truckle Truck?

By

Editorial team

-

11 October 2022

0

A vintage van was the unlikely solution for cheesemonger Carolyn Hopkins – now she’s an unmissable regular sight at local markets. Rachael Rowe reports

Carolyn Hopkins’ bright blue 1969 Citroen HY van (Susie) brightens up Shaftesbury High Street like a beacon attracting customers – but what it contains is more important. This tiny vintage truck is packed with a selection of delicious cheeses as it travels to markets around the Blackmore Vale.
When I met Carolyn, she had just finished judging at the Global Cheese Awards in Frome.
‘It’s part of the annual Frome Cheese Show. I’m one of the judges and we get all kinds of artisan cheeses there. It started off the back of Cheddar and just grew. It’s very well known within the cheese industry.’

Tell us how you got started?
‘I used to manage Turnbulls in Shaftesbury (remember that amazing shop?). I was taken on one Christmas and I stayed. When it closed in 2018, I knew I still wanted to do something with cheese. This job means I’m selling cheese all day. I have my van (the Truckle Truck) as I can’t face putting up a gazebo at markets! The van also attracts people, too.’

How big is the team?
‘It’s just me!’

What’s flying out of the van?
‘My best seller is Gorgonzola. It’s young, soft, gooey … and I’ve sold out of it today.
‘There are also Cheddars from Westcombe Dairy and Montgomery. The tourists always look for Cheddar as they like to taste local cheeses. I’ve also got some artisan cheese here from Feltham’s Farm; I have Rebel Nun, but I think their new Gert Lush will turn out to be their bestseller.
‘We have some interesting Somerset cheeses – not just Cheddar. Pennard Ridge produces cheese mainly from sheep, goats and buffalo. And White Lake makes cheeses mainly from sheep and goats. ‘And then we have Dorset Blue Vinny, of course. Their’s is a fantastic story with how they found an old recipe in the garage and started producing what was a forgotten recipe, almost lost forever. And now they have a large business.’

A selection of cheese on the Truckle Truck: image Rachael Rowe

How do you choose cheeses?
‘Some of it is always here. I also like the very weird and wonderful. And then there’s the reliable stuff that people can’t get enough of. And also the cheese story, so people come to look at what else is here.’
Apart from the story behind Dorset Blue Vinny, there’s a lovely Princess Alisia Victoria from Switzerland. It’s made by three brothers who live in the same valley and is named after the princess who worked with the Swiss Red Cross during World War Two.

Your biggest challenge?
‘Adapting to a small counter and shelf space. I have to be really strict with myself. If it doesn’t sell, I don’t carry it.’

What are you most proud of?
‘Just the way people have taken to this business, especially here in Shaftesbury. They have really taken it to heart. People are almost possessive, saying “Here’s our Truckle Truck!”.’

The Truckle Truck outside Shaftesbury Town hall a regular spot – image Rachael Rowe

What’s next for Truckle Truck?
‘It’s tricky in the current climate. First, getting through Christmas. Then next year, I’m looking at cheese-related hot food like raclette. But there are quite a few logistics to sort out first.’

The Truckle Truck is at Shaftesbury Market on Thursday mornings and Wincanton on Fridays. Carolyn also visits Sherborne Farmers Market, Bowerchalke and Berwick St John. And if you want Gorgonzola, be early as it sells out fast!
thetruckletruck.com

Buying from Carolyn means your own cheese choices can be informed and entertaining:

Lincolnshire Poacher sits somewhere between a Cheddar and an Alpine cheese, with the buttery, savoury notes of the former blending into the sweet, nuttiness of the latter. Aged for up to 22 months, the Vintage develops a mellow bite to the finish.
Shropshire Blue is one of the mysteries of the cheese world. Originating in Scotland and now produced by Stilton makers, there are many theories behind the name. However it came to be, it’s a delightful cheese, smoother than Stilton and with a little sweetness to balance the blue.
Last, but most definitely not least, is L’Etivaz Alpage. We’ve had a few Alpage cheeses on the counter over the summer, and they’ve all been superb. This one is seeing the season out in style – flavours of sweet pear are followed by nuttiness and a hint of the farmyard to finish.