With frost easing and wildlife stirring, March offers gardeners a final window for planting, dividing and preparing for a busy spring
March is the time to divide your hellebores, once they have finished flowering
If weather allows and the soil isn’t frozen, March is a good time to prepare your flower beds or create new ones. Once the soil is workable, dig in a 5cm (or more) layer of compost or well-rotted manure, add a general-purpose fertiliser, and apply some mulch on top. Annual flowers can be sown from March onwards: rake soil to a fine tilth on a dry day and protect the seedlings from frost with cloches or horticultural fleece. It’s always best to wait until late March before buying the year’s tender plants such as fuchsias and pelargoniums, unless you have good frost protection. Clear the winter’s moss and algae from paths and driveways using a pressure washer or patio cleaner. Baking soda can help dry moss out, making it easier to brush away after a few days. March is the last chance to plant bare-root trees and shrubs, and also the final time to prune bush and climbing roses. Take them back to strong stems, cutting no more than 5mm above a bud. Deadhead the daffodils as the flowers fade, but allow the foliage to die back naturally. You can also finally deadhead last year’s hydrangea flowers before any new growth begins: cut stems back by about a third. Slugs can’t be eradicated, but populations can be controlled. Please avoid slug pellets as they harm wildlife. Alternatives include traps (such as beer traps), barriers like sharp grit, eggshells or wool pellets, or removing slugs by hand at night. Nematodes are another effective option, available from garden centres. They target slugs in the soil without harming other animals and provide around six weeks of protection. Keep soil moist after application for best results. Plant summer flowering bulbs such as lilies and gladioli this month. Anemone coronaria tubers need particularly well-drained soil, so add grit to the soil when planting to ensure that drainage is sufficient and to avoid waterlogging. Divide your hostas this month too, before they come into leaf, and also hellebores and polyanthus-type primulas after flowering.
The garden centres will tempt you, but it’s always best to wait until late March (when the risk of frosts is past) before buying the year’s tender plants such as fuchsias and pelargoniums
In the pond March is the key month for breeding amphibians – always fun to watch for if you have even a small pond. Frogs start breeding first, laying clumps of jelly-like spawn at the pond edge, joined by toads a couple of weeks later. Finally, newts return.Shine a light into the water at night to see males performing a courtship dance to woo females. Female newts will then wrap eggs individually in leaves of marginal plants such as water forget-me-not and Veronica beccabunga (a great name that!).
Barry Cuff takes a look back through his notes on what happened on his Sturminster Newton plot last month
Potatoes chitting Images: Barry Cuff
After weeks of rain, the weather turned a little drier around the third week of February, finally allowing some work on the plot, although the soil was still too wet to dig. There were only two slight air frosts which meant that weeds continued to grow, as did the grass paths. Daytime temperature reached 16º on the 16th, and we’ve had red dead nettle, dandelion, speedwell and hairy bittercress all in flower. We spotted a brimstone butterfly on the 25th, and many ladybirds among the weeds and vegetables, as well as three slow worms found in the compost heap. Plot work: Mulching with manure and compost as land became vacant, and straightened the plot edges (we have more than 400ft of edges!). Hedges: We have a fairly thick hedge on our northern boundary consisting of hazel, blackthorn, hawthorn, elder, ivy, snowberry and bramble. We have cut it back and burnt the trimmings. Sowings: In the greenhouse – red cabbage (two varieties), little gem lettuce. In large containers – radish, mixed salad leaves and agricultural peas for seed sprouts. Planting: On the 23rd, we planted an 18ft double row of broad beans – Witkiem Manita and Masterpiece Green Longpod (these were sown in trays in the greenhouse on 19th January). We have spare plants to fill any gaps. The leftover seedlings will go to a neighbouring plot-holder. Mice: We have caught 17 mice in our two greenhouses since the beginning of the year. We do not like killing them, but they can cause so much damage. Was the rain driving them inside? Seeds: We bought the majority back in November 2025 but we still look out for any bargains or new varieties not stocked by our main supplier (Kings Seeds). We have tested the parsnip already: germination can be poor for parsnip seed, and as they will take up to 50 days to emerge on the plot, we need to test early (result 68 per cent).
Barry and Val are still eating purple sprouting broccoli harvested fresh from the allotment
Potatoes: All chitting well in trays in the garage. We hope to plant the first earlies during the first week of March. For an early meal of new potatoes, we planted two ‘Jazzy’ in a large pot in the greenhouse on the 6th. Harvesting: From the plot as required – parsnips, carrots, leeks, Brussels sprouts, spring cabbage, sprouting broccoli and salad leaves and roots. Still using 2025 harvest: From the store we’re still eating our own potatoes, onions, garlic and squash. And we also have sweetcorn, peas and French beans in the freezer. Fresh February salads: We are still enjoying freshly harvested ingredients from the plot – spring onion, winter radish, carrot, rocket, spinach beet, sorrel, land cress, radicchio, mizuna, red and golden mustards, plus chicons from store. The mild winter has meant all these have kept producing. Rent: We have just received our invoice for 2026/27, and it comes to £53.92 + £7 insurance for Val and myself. This works out at 16p/m2 and includes free water and a 40 per cent discount on our Kings Seeds order. May we have lots of fine days and plenty of sunshine in March!
heat are being encouraged to start sowing now, as the Great Dorset Chilli Festival launches its annual chilli-growing competition. This year’s variety is Rooster Spur, a small but famously fiery chilli known for its prolific harvest. Dorset seed company Sea Spring Seeds once counted 3,238 chillies from a single Rooster Spur plant (see image). To achieve ripe fruit in time for summer, organisers say seeds should be sown now, giving plants enough time to grow and produce chillies before judging at the festival in August.
The competition is open to amateur growers, and focuses on the overall quality and appearance of the plant rather than simply the number of chillies produced. Entries will be judged by commercial seed grower Matt Simpson of Simpson’s Seeds, with winners in each class receiving a £50 voucher from Harts of Stur, the Sturminster Newton-based cookware and gardening retailer. A limited number of free Rooster Spur seeds are available to anyone keen to take part in the hotly-contested (sorry) compeititon. Growers can request a pack and competition rules by emailing [email protected] The Great Dorset Chilli Festivalreturns to Stock Gaylard Estate on 1st and 2nd August 2026.
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Dorset already ranks among England’s highest council tax area – as bills rise again, sharp variations in parish precepts prompt fresh scrutiny
As council tax bills begin landing on doormats across Dorset, many households will notice another increase. Dorset Council has agreed a 4.99% rise – the maximum it can charge without triggering a local referendum. While council tax is calculated according to property value, the total bill also includes separate charges for adult social care, the police and fire services, and the parish or town council precept. Nationally, Dorset is already among the most expensive areas in England for council tax. For 2025/26, Dorset Council’s Band D charge stands at £2,630.30, placing it third highest nationally behind Rutland and the City of Nottingham. But within Dorset itself, it is the parish and town council precept that varies most dramatically.
Sturminster Newton – where the Band D parish precept is £303.52 for 2026/27.
What is a precept? A precept is the amount requested by a parish or town council to fund local services. These range from grass cutting, public toilets and play areas to CCTV systems, street lighting, allotments, recreation grounds and community facilities. Unlike principal authorities, parish councils often have limited income streams and rely heavily on the precept. This year, towns and parishes across Dorset have reviewed their budgets against rising costs in wages, fuel, utilities and maintenance. Some have also chosen to fund new projects or expand services. The table opposite shows how precepts vary across several Dorset towns.
A wide variation The difference is striking. A Band D household in Lydlinch will pay £39.21 towards its parish council this year. In Dorchester the figure is £218.83. In Sherborne it is £277.73. In Shaftesbury it is £247. But in Sturminster Newton, the Band D precept charge is £303.52 – the highest among the towns listed – with an annual increase of £30.50: also the highest increase in the county. So why is Sturminster Newton’s figure higher than larger towns such as Dorchester or Sherborne? One key factor is the ‘tax base’ – the total number of Band D equivalent properties contributing. Dorchester’s tax base stands at 8,745.9. Sherborne’s is 4,293.5. Sturminster Newton’s is just 1,695.4. When costs are spread across fewer households, the charge per property rises accordingly. Another factor is income generation. Some councils operate car parks or own significant buildings that generate rental income, helping offset expenditure. Others have fewer assets from which to raise funds. Sturminster Newton Town Clerk Kate Squire explained the context behind this year’s decision: ‘Sturminster Newton Town Council considered a range of budget options for 2026/27, setting out the impact of different service and project scenarios on the precept. Following that, the council approved a precept request of £514,582.00 for the 2026/27 financial year. For a Band D property, this represents an annual increase of £30.61. ‘The approved budget includes £10,000 to fund one day per week of Citizens Advice provision at The Exchange, supporting local residents with access to independent advice services within the town. ‘Unlike many town councils, Sturminster Newton Town Council does not have significant chargeable assets from which to raise income. The council receives only a modest level of income from sources such as room hire and cemetery fees, and does not operate car parks or other facilities with regular paying customers. As a result, a greater proportion of the cost of delivering local services must be met through the precept rather than being offset by income. Wherever possible, the council actively seeks to secure external grant funding for projects, in order to reduce the burden on local taxpayers and ensure that improvements and community initiatives are delivered in a cost-effective way.’
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Some potential service changes and higher-cost options were considered during the budget-setting process, but councillors concluded that more detailed work and consultation would be needed before pursuing them: ‘Members agreed that proposals of this nature would require community consultation and, if necessary, a review to ensure transparency, fairness and long-term sustainability. The information required to undertake that work could not be gathered and properly considered within the timescales required to meet the statutory precept deadline. ‘The town council’s precept funds a wide range of services and facilities that directly benefit residents and contribute to the day-to-day running, safety and appearance of the town. These include the operation and maintenance of Station Road public toilets, the town’s CCTV system, two equipped recreation grounds and four smaller play areas, two nature reserves, the cemetery, the Mill, and the Youth Club. The Council is also responsible for maintaining over 60 litter bins, more than 30 benches, street cleaning within the town centre, several miles of public footpaths, two allotment sites, formal gardens and other open spaces, as well as street lighting, a community newsletter, and the provision of small community grants. ‘In addition to these visible services, the precept covers the staffing and administrative costs required to deliver them lawfully and to an appropriate standard.’
Different choices Looking across Dorset, it becomes clear that precepts reflect a combination of:
The size of the tax base
The range of services provided
The number and type of assets owned
The level of income generated
Local priorities and projects
Dorchester, for example, has the largest overall precept request in cash terms, reflecting its larger size and wider responsibilities. Sherborne and Gillingham sit close together in Band D charges, despite different tax bases. Smaller parishes such as the village of Lydlinch have far lower absolute costs and therefore lower charges. With Dorset already among the highest council tax areas nationally, understanding how parish and town precepts are calculated – and why they vary so widely – is likely to become an increasingly important part of local discussion. For many residents, the parish element of the bill is the most visible reminder that local services, however small, come at a cost.
As drivers dodge deepening craters, ministers promise record investment – but is the current model built for harsher winters and rural mileage?
Local Facebook groups are filled with warnings of new potholes, and damaged car pictures. Image of pothole damage requiring entire wheel replacement courtesy of Dorset resident Jill Everall
When Yeovil MP Adam Dance asked in PMQs whether rural counties receive fair road funding, he was articulating a frustration many Dorset drivers recognise. The Prime Minister pointed to the government’s £7.3bn four-year settlement for local road maintenance, including £225m allocated to Somerset – but did not address whether the funding formula accounts for the scale and exposure of the country’s rural road networks. Between December 2025 and February 2026, Dorset Council recorded a 92% increase in reported potholes compared with the same period last year. Other road defects rose by 54%, and emergency call-outs increased by 83%. In three months, nearly 10,000 highways enquiries were logged. The spike followed exceptional rainfall Dorset recorded its wettest January day in 74 years. The first half of February saw almost double the ten-year average rainfall for the month. Some rural roads remained under floodwater for more than a month. ‘Our rural roads have taken a battering,’ said Cllr Jon Andrews, Dorset Council’s cabinet member for place services. The council says more than 3,000 potholes were repaired in January and February, with serious defects prioritised within 32 hours. An additional £5m investment agreed last month will fund priority drainage and surfacing works later this year, once conditions allow. Yet for many drivers, the lived experience feels markedly different. Local Facebook groups are filled with warnings about deep potholes and photographs of damaged wheels. Drivers report hitting the same defects repeatedly. The council’s data shows effort and volume of repairs, but the near-doubling of reports indicates a network struggling to absorb repeated weather shocks. Nationally, the RAC recorded 25,758 pothole-related breakdowns in 2025, with drivers paying an average of £590 for repairs. The Local Government Association estimates councils face a £17bn backlog of road maintenance across England. Dorset is due to receive around £125m between 2026 and 2030 from the government’s new Roads Settlement. Spread across 2,360 miles of carriageway, the new settlement works out at roughly £13,000 per mile per year – a sum that must stretch across patching, resurfacing, drainage and routine maintenance. By comparison, full resurfacing typically costs between £150,000 and £300,000 per mile, while light surface dressing averages £10,000 to £20,000. Funding allocations are calculated using established formulas based on road length, usage and historic data. But recent winters have not followed historic patterns. More frequent extreme rainfall raises a structural question: is the current model reactive, funding repairs after damage, rather than investing at the scale needed to strengthen vulnerable rural roads before failure occurs?
Dorset Council’s pothole map – every red dot is a publicly reported pothole currently under investigation
Patched up The government has introduced a traffic-light rating system linking future funding to performance. Dorset is currently rated amber, meaning preventative measures are in place but improvement is needed. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has acknowledged that there has historically been no consistent national definition of a pothole, or standardised data collection. For a unitary authority that covers more than 90% of Dorset’s land mass and maintains long stretches of unclassified rural lanes, extreme weather brings particular challenges. Flooding weakens road bases as well as surfaces. Drainage failures are harder to resolve on isolated routes. There are few alternative roads when damage occurs. This winter saw pothole reports almost double. Dorset Council says it is responding at pace and investing more. Ministers say record funding is on its way. But the question raised in Parliament – and increasingly heard in village pubs and online groups across Dorset – is whether the current funding model, even at record levels, is enough to keep a largely rural network resilient in the face of more frequent extreme weather? If this winter is a sign of what lies ahead, the debate will soon shift from how quickly potholes are filled to whether the network itself is built for a changing climate. Both Whitehall and County Hall may find that patching alone is not the long-term answer.
Buyers who trusted glossy masterplans now face unmet promises and unfinished landscaping as enforcement struggles to keep pace
Across the Blackmore Vale, residents who believed the promises of glossy brochures and landscaped masterplans are now living beside rubble mounds, unfinished play areas and absent infrastructure. Dorset Council currently has ten open enforcement cases relating to alleged breaches of planning conditions on developments of more than 25 homes. Housing estates are being constructed at an ever-increasing pace – but are they being completed to an acceptable standard, with all the planning conditions met?
The unfinished pedestrian link at Knights Meadow, designed to allow residents to avoid traffic on the A357.
Templecombe Knights Meadow, a 73-home development in Templecombe, came with promises of a children’s playing field connecting to the school, a burial ground, landscaping and designated play equipment. Traffic calming and a 20mph limit were also anticipated. The site was attractive to prospective buyers, especially as it is within walking distance of a train station. Although all the houses have sold and social homes have been allocated, some aspects are still incomplete. Walking through the estate, it quickly becomes clear that areas of landscaping need improvement, and the 20mph speed limit has not been introduced. Tara Williams moved to Templecombe from West Sussex 18 months ago: ‘When I moved in there were bits that needed to be done in the house, and to be fair, Tilia Homes were excellent and got all that sorted. Then what I call “the mountain” appeared – soil was brought in to shape the open area.
A manhole cover installed within tactile paving at Knights Meadow, with surrounding slabs visibly cracked
But we now have this play area for children that is on a level with our first floor bedrooms! And they put tactile paving in for people with low vision … and then stuck a manhole cover in the middle of the tactile bit.’ Councillor Sarah Webb from Templecombe Parish Council is frustrated at the lack of progress on a school playing field, and that the estate play area is on the lip of a steep attenuation pond (which, despite all the recent rain, remains empty). ‘One of the first problems here was the amount of additional soil they were generating,’ Sarah says. ‘This mound is entirely the wrong shape, and as a result of that, the play area is in the wrong place. We were also supposed to have brick-based driveways which help with drainage – important with climate change. We only got two. They have simply tarmacked over the majority of the drives. ‘Everything should have been finished within three months of the last house being occupied, which was September last year – if I’m being generous. There is still a significant amount of work outstanding. ‘One of the other major issues is that what they have dumped has now grassed over – but it’s a rocky surface underneath. It’s going to be impossible to maintain. As soon as you put anything mechanical on that it will break. You can’t mow it. And that’s what it’s like everywhere.
The fenced-off attenuation pond at Blackmore Down during one of the wettest winters on record
The school field was meant to be a level area for the kids to play football. But it sloped, so all that has had to be re-levelled.’ We walk through the housing estate, looking at a fenced-off unfinished footpath – meant to be a link to the village hall, avoiding traffic on the A357. An ‘orchard’ remains treeless. ‘I didn’t really favour this application, but it got approval and these people now live in our village. They bought houses here and they deserve better. ‘From the planning point of view, if you are going to have construction in a village it needs to be of high quality. If you are going to enforce more development, it also needs to be of a quality fit for the residents. And there needs to be comeback if it is not. It’s just not good enough. ‘We hear about people “not wanting development” but actually we now need to say, “we don’t want the development but if you do develop it, keep your promises”.’ A spokesperson for Tilia Homes said: ‘Work on the public open space, school playing field, burial ground and children’s play area is progressing well and is expected to be completed in early summer, subject to weather conditions. The play area will be independently inspected before opening, and landscaping is being finalised during the current planting season.’ The spokesperson added that the attenuation pond is a planned feature of the development and will include appropriate safety measures before the surrounding open space is opened to the public.
There are significant level changes between new homes on the Knights Meadow development and existing properties behind
Shaftesbury It’s a similar picture in Shaftesbury on the Blackmore Down development. For many residents, the promised landscaping was a major factor in their purchase, and the town council was attracted by the prospect of new public views of the Blackmore Vale that could be enjoyed by all. Shaftesbury Town Council chairman Virginia Edwin Jones is annoyed: ‘Half of Blackmore Down is within a National Landscape – Cranborne Chase wraps itself around Shaftesbury. It was designed specifically to create a beautiful open space with a new view over the Blackmore Vale – a view that was never available to the public before because it was previously private farmland. ‘So the plans show this beautiful landscaping scheme, and that’s what everybody bought into. The people whose houses sit next to the open space paid tens of thousands more to be able to live right next door to it. Yet the landscaping scheme has not been fulfilled at all. ‘The planting wasn’t done. They’ve been chased up and then they got builders, not landscape architects or landscape contractors, to basically shove in loads of saplings. They took away all the virgin soil – which would have been perfect topsoil – and instead dumped a waste-filled mix of earth, rubble and construction debris. What they put back is much higher than it should be – the ground level is mounded. The residents filmed them doing it. ‘You could just weep for the residents who have been looking at … well, it’s a load of crap, let’s be honest … when they have paid tens of thousands of pounds more than their estate neighbours in order to have something beautiful to look at.’ Walking around Blackmore Down I soon see there are food waste bins which have been commandeered as dog bins as none have been installed. There is evidence of dying saplings and weeds throughout the site, with deep banks of old dock plants rather than the promised landscaping.The attenuation pond looms high on the mounded open space – and once again, during one of the wettest winters on record, is mysteriously devoid of water. A spokesperson from Barratt Redrow Southern Counties said: ‘Landscaping works are scheduled to begin this summer, with all outstanding tree planting to follow in the autumn. We are currently reviewing the ground levels, and if any adjustments are required to address level differences, these works will be carried out at a time that minimises disruption for residents.’ Residents say they will be watching closely to see whether the promised works are delivered.
Proactive residents have commandeered food waste bins for dog poo
What can be done? Dorset Council was asked about the scope of the problem with large developments not meeting planning conditions in the county. A spokesperson said: ‘The council currently has ten open planning enforcement cases, relating to alleged breaches of condition, on developments of over 25 homes. As with all planning enforcement cases, alleged breaches of condition are investigated in line with the council’s Local Enforcement Plan. There is a current open enforcement case in relation to the Blackmore Down development, at Littledown, Shaftesbury. In this case, a planning application has been submitted with the aim of resolving matters, but further information is needed from the applicant before the application can be validated.’ The council has given the applicant until the end of March 2026 – just weeks away – to provide the additional information required. ‘The council does not comment on ongoing enforcement matters,’ the spokesperson continued. ‘But it remains committed to progressing all cases in line with our Local Enforcement Plan.’ As Dorset faces continued pressure for new housing, and development accelerates across the country, residents and town and parish councils are increasingly asking a simple question: if developments are approved with conditions, who ensures those conditions are met? The widening gap between approved plans and delivered reality is testing confidence in the planning system. Landscaping, play areas, drainage and public open space are not cosmetic extras but core parts of approved schemes. Planning conditions are designed to ensure infrastructure, landscaping and public amenities are delivered alongside new homes. Where those conditions are not met, enforcement can be slow and complex – leaving our communities living with the consequences.
A Dorset dairy farmer has been fined after failing to comply with a formal anti-pollution notice, following more than a decade of slurry-related incidents at his farm near Blandford. Mark Pearson, of Hanford Farm, Hanford, appeared before Yeovil Magistrates’ Court on 24th February, where he pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an Anti-Pollution Works Notice under the Water Resources Act 1991. He was fined £1,200 and ordered to pay a £480 victim surcharge and £4,075 in costs. The case marks the latest enforcement action linked to the farm, where there have been seven recorded pollution incidents since 2012. Magistrates previously heard that, despite regulations requiring five months’ slurry storage capacity, only two months’ storage was available on site. Hanford Farm lies within a designated Nitrate Vulnerable Zone, an area identified as being at risk from agricultural nitrate pollution. Excess nitrates can leach into groundwater and enter watercourses, damaging aquatic ecosystems and affecting drinking water quality. The farm sits in the Stour valley beneath the National Trust-owned hill forts of Hambledon Hill and Hod Hill, close to the River Stour and near Hanford School.
Image: Environment Agency
Pollution, fines and promises Concerns about slurry storage at the farm were first raised by the Environment Agency in 2015, when Pearson was advised that additional capacity was required. The outlined improvements were not delivered. In January 2019, an Environment Agency officer walking nearby noticed what appeared to be slurry in a stream and traced the runoff to a field at Hanford Farm. During a formal interview under caution, Pearson admitted that slurry spreading had caused the pollution. He initially agreed to an Enforcement Undertaking – an alternative to prosecution – paying £2,000 to the National Trust and committing to increase slurry storage. However, the slurry lagoon was not completed. In November 2024, Pearson was fined £2,500 for the original pollution offence after failing to fulfil the conditions of that undertaking. On 26th January 2024 he was served with an Anti- Pollution Works Notice requiring him to install and commission a new slurry storage system by 1st October 2024. The notice carried a right of appeal, which was not exercised. A site visit on 16th October 2024 confirmed that once again no new slurry store had been completed. Chris Westcott of the Environment Agency, said: ‘Pearson has consistently failed to deliver on his promises to the Environment Agency that slurry storage would be increased. We first highlighted this issue in 2015. We have been more than patient with the farmer, but the promised improvements never materialised and the offending continued, which left us with no alternative but to pursue enforcement actions!’ A local resident, who asked not to be named, said they were relieved action had finally been taken. ‘There have been pollution issues linked to the farm for years, and it has been a source of frustration locally. ‘People just want to see the rules applied fairly and the environment properly protected.’ Additional slurry storage has now been installed at the farm.
Youth and experience both won this week, sharpening expectations ahead of a Festival packed with opportunity, says Chris Wald
Tythingman won the Hereford Bumper, his racecourse debut
It was a week of extremes at Tizzard’s Yard. At one end of the spectrum, a four-year-old homebred making his racecourse debut. At the other, a 12-year-old veteran who has already earned over £200,000 in prize money. Both won. For Colin Tizzard, the Hereford Bumper victory of his first homebred runner felt particularly significant. The gelding – Tythingman – is part of the first crop bred by Colin and raised entirely at the yard. Colin had trained the dam, Queen of the Wind, before breeding the foal, sired by Pether’s Moon. ‘He’s been here his whole life,’ says assistant trainer Chris Wald. ‘His whole education has been here, so it was really rewarding for everyone that the first homebred runner was a winner.’ At the other end of the scale, Copperhead rolled back the years at Newbury, landing a veterans’ race on Saturday. ‘He’s 12 now,’ Chris says. ‘That was his 10th win, and he’s put more than £200,000 in prize money on the board.’ But the victory meant more than statistics. Last summer, Copperhead suffered a serious bout of colic and required surgery. For a time, his racing future – and more – was in doubt. ‘It was touch and go whether he was going to make it,’ Chris says. ‘It’s an achievement just to come back and race. The fact he’s come back and won a big race on a Saturday like that – he’s just a brilliant, brilliant horse. ‘If they don’t want to do it, they don’t tend to have long careers. He’s come through something like that and still has the enthusiasm to race at a good level. That says a lot.’ Now, though, all eyes turn to Cheltenham. Tizzard’s Yard expects to send eight or nine runners to next week’s Festival – a strong team combining established performers and progressive types stepping into the biggest week of the season…
Cheltenham Runners
Rock My Way Tuesday – Ultima Handicap Chase (3m1f) Second in last year’s National Hunt Chase at the Festival, Rock My Way returns to a track where he has already proved he belongs. ‘He’s got Festival form, which always helps,’ Chris says. ‘He won the Berkshire National at Ascot earlier in the season.’ He is now higher in the handicap and will carry more weight than for those victories. ‘He’s on his best form, he’s got a good each-way chance. If he can hold a position early and not get too far back, he’ll keep galloping. They’ll go a good gallop and he’ll be staying on at the end.’
Alexei Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
Alexei Tuesday – Unibet Champion Hurdle (2m½f ) The yard’s headline act of the week: Alexei lines up in one of the Festival’s championship races after a breakthrough season. ‘It’s really exciting just to have a runner in the Champion Hurdle,’ Chris says. ‘I’m pretty sure Colin never had one, and it’s definitely Joe’s first.’ He arrives in form, having won the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham in November and followed up in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton. ‘He’s coming into it in great form. It’s a tough race – there are some proper horses in it – but we think he’ll run a big race and hopefully give us something to shout about.’
First Confession Tuesday – National Hunt Chase (3m6f) A stamina test over nearly four miles for novice chasers. ‘He’s never run over three miles for us, so the trip is a question mark,’ Chris admits. ‘But we’ve always thought he’s a horse with loads of stamina.’ He heads to Cheltenham off the back of an impressive novice chase win at Carlisle. ‘A lot of these horses won’t have run over this distance either. If he gets into a good rhythm with his jumping, he’ll run a big race.’
First Confession
Tythingman Wednesday – Champion Bumper (2m½f) The Hereford winner could take his chance in the Festival bumper. ‘It might be a bit ambitious,’ Chris says. ‘But you only get one go at these things … I guess we’ll find out how good he is.’ It’s a huge step up from Hereford – but experience alone could prove invaluable for the yard’s first homebred.
Western Knight Thursday – Jack Richards Novices’ Chase (2m4f) A progressive novice who has won at Haydock and Doncaster and finished second in a Grade Two at Ascot: ‘He travels and jumps really well,’ Chris says. ‘This is a step up again, but he’s got a solid chance.’
Chris Wald with Rock My Way Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
Sunset Marquesa Thursday – Mares’ Hurdle (2m4½f) A consistent mare stepping into Grade One company: ‘She’s had a good season and won nicely at Sandown,’ Chris says. ‘This is her first time in a Grade One against the best mares in Britain and Ireland. It’s a big ask, but we really like her and hopefully she can be competitive.’
JPR One Thursday – Ryanair Chase (2m4½f) A high-class performer who showed improved form when he stepped up at Musselburgh to win the Scottish Champion Chase. ‘We think he’s better suited by two and a half miles now,’ Chris says. ‘If we get a bit of a dry week and the ground dries out, that will help him. If everything falls right, he can run very well.’
Western Knight winning at Haydock
Ambion View Thursday – Pertemps Handicap Hurdle (3m) A lightweight outsider – if he makes the cut. ‘He’s towards the bottom of the handicap and it depends how many get in,’ Chris says. ‘If he gets in, he’ll have a very light weight and could run well. But he might just miss out.’
JPR One on the gallops Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
Kripticjim Friday – Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (3m) Perhaps the yard’s strongest novice hope. Winner of his last three races, including a Grade Two at Cheltenham in January, he steps up in trip. ‘He’s a big chasing type who should be suited by three miles,’ Chris says. ‘If the ground dries out a bit, he’d have a really solid each-way chance. He’s been great for us all season. He also holds an entry in the shorter Turners Novices’ Hurdle, and the ground will likely dictate the decision.’
The yard heads to Cheltenham with depth, realism and quiet confidence: ‘It’s exciting just to be going there with this many runners,’ Chris says. In a week where fine margins decide everything, that measured confidence may count for plenty.
A new fundraising appeal has been launched to catalogue the archive of Dorset writer and LGBTQ+ pioneer Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893–1978), opening the collection to researchers and the public for the first time. The project, led by Dorset Archives Trust (DAT), aims to raise £48,000 to create a full online catalogue of Warner’s archive, held at Dorset History Centre in Dorchester. Once catalogued, the material will be searchable online, allowing readers and historians to explore the life and work of one of Dorset’s most distinctive literary figures.
Sylvia Townsend Warner with one of her many cats 1970s
Warner wrote seven novels, as well as poetry and short stories, including 154 pieces published in The New Yorker. Much of her life was spent in Dorset, where she lived with her partner Valentine Ackland. The archive itself is substantial, containing 85 boxes of material, including diaries, letters, photographs, drawings and printed works that chart Warner’s creative life and relationships. Chris Fowler, chair of Dorset Archives Trust, said the project would bring a major Dorset literary archive into clearer public view. ‘This significant writers’ archive deserves to be fully in the limelight,’ he said. ‘Sylvia Townsend Warner was a great observer of Dorset life during the war years and beyond. DAT is delighted to spearhead this fundraising effort.’ Interest in Warner’s work has grown in recent years. A statue of the author in Dorchester, depicting her with her cat and manuscripts, was unveiled following a campaign by the charity Visible Women. Author Tracy Chevalier, patron of Dorset Archives Trust, said making the archive accessible would help readers connect more deeply with Warner’s life: ‘This is an extensive archive of one of the county’s most interesting writers,’ she said. ‘Documents like this open up the past to us, and really bring a person to life.’ Donations can be made through the Dorset Archives Trust website.
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