“I sold her for just over 8,000 sterling – and then she won her first time out, and was sold again for £110,000!”
Rachael Blackmore made racing history last month when she became the first female jockey to win the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham with her victory on Honeysuckle.
Honeysuckle and Rachael Blackmore win the Unibet Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham. 16/3/2021 Pic Steve Davies/Racingfotos.com
But the connection to our little area of north Dorset is far closer than the jockey’s name – Seven-year-old Honeysuckle is from Glanvilles Wootton, just outside Sherborne, bred by Dr Geoffrey Guy and Guy’s co-owners and managers of The Glanvilles Stud, Doug and Lucy Procter
“It’s funny” laughed Doug Procter, when I caught up with him last week “I tried to sell her as a foal at Doncaster, and didn’t get a single bid. She wasn’t by a fashionable stallion, y’see. Then as a three year old I took her to the Derby sale in Ireland, and got €9,500 for her.”
He held a polite few second’s silence when I innocently enquired if that was far below what he would have hoped for, and then couldn’t hold back.
“It was a thumping great loss! And to make it worse, the following Spring she won the first time out by 15 lengths, and literally four days later Mark O’Hare sold her on again at the Punchestown sale to Peter Maloney, who bought her for owner Kenny Alexander for £110,000!”
(In case, like me, you’re wondering, if she’d been by a fashionable stallion Doug would have expected to get £20-£30,000 for her himself as an untried 3yr old).
Honeysuckle has stayed in Ireland, trained by Henry de Bromhead – and she’s never been beaten. She’s won 11 races under rules, including the Mare’s Hurdle at Cheltenham last year.
“It was the way she did it!”
said Doug after the Champion Hurdle race at Cheltenham two weeks ago
“The way she jumped and pulled clear at the second last and then just kept on going, that’s quite a way to win a Champion Hurdle.
“I always remember people saying of Desert Orchid, ‘he’s a marvellous horse, but he hasn’t won a Gold Cup’. But as soon as he ticked that box, it cemented him up there at the top.
“What else can you say about the mare? She’s never been beaten. 11 races on the trot, six Grade 1s on the trot and seven in total. She is just fantastic. I was clearly having a good day when I planned that mating!”
At first glance, one might think Glanvilles Wootton (“population not-a-lot” Doug quipped) is an unlikely spot for a Champion Hurdle winner.
And yet there appears to be something in the grass that racehorses like: where the Blackmore Vale meets the chalk downs seems to be perfect land for rearing Thoroughbreds.
Glanvilles Stud was originally an organic dairy farm, and the land with its beautiful mature hedges and trees has created 60 acres of safe paddocks.
Doug & Lucy Procter have produced two Grade 1 winners:
(“the horseracing equivalent of a football team winning the European Championship.” explained Doug)
Sam Spinner won the Long Walk at Ascot in 2017, and of course now Honeysuckle. Believe it or not, the 1959 Grand National winner Oxo was also bred in the tiny village. And just over the hill, Rooster Booster, who won the Champion Hurdle in 2003, was bred in the Piddle Valley.
Another random chance connects the Honeysuckle story to her Dorset roots – Henry De Bromhead came to visit his aunt in Sherborne, and whilst there he visited Robert Alner (himself a Dorset dairy farmer who turned his hobby of point-to-pointing into a successful training career) because his aunt owned a horse being trained at Lockets Farm in Droop, nr Hazelbury Bryan. He came for a couple of weeks, stayed for the whole season and has been training horses himself ever since.
Gillingham Medical Practice are about to change the way patients make appointments. Long gone will be the days when everyone queues for ages at 8.30am on the phone to get an appointment – they are introducing a triage system to ensure patients are seen by the right person in a timely manner. Like all changes, there will be concern and lots of questions – so here’s all the info you need:
We need your help…
We are looking toward a post-COVID future, whilst still expecting to be vaccinating our community against COVID until the end of the year. As of 30th March, The Barn Surgery will be undergoing extensive refurbishment requiring it’s temporary closure. We are expecting this to last at least six months.
From April 14th, we are bringing in a better system of allocating appointments, with the clinical team assigning the right type of appointment at the right time, based on information from our patients.
Our goal is to produce the best possible system – Total Triage should mean that the care you receive from us is delivered faster, more safely and of the best possible quality.
We will ask you to help us by giving us some information about your symptoms, and what you’re hoping we might be able to do to help. The easiest way for you to do this is by completing an eConsult. If this is not possible, the next option is to answer some simple triage questions with one of our Patient Services Administrators, to give us the information we need to give you the right appointment. Our entire team subscribe to the same very high standards of confidentiality.
We will not ever prevent anyone from receiving care – the goal is to deliver care that is:
FASTER – Total Triage with eConsult requires no waiting on the phone and will help you avoid the rush for appointments when the phone lines open.
SAFER – Total Triage with eConsult highlights symptoms to us that could be serious, and so reduces the risk of patients with these problems not being able to get through to us on the phone.
BETTER – Under Total Triage, appointments will be allocated by clinicians, which will allow us to make sure that we give you the right appointment at the right time with the right clinician.
Our aim is to maintain continuity of care whenever possible. Continuity of care means each patient ideally seeing the same, or a small team of doctors, rather than lots of different doctors. We think this helps us to spot more easily when something is seriously wrong, and helps us to help you make difficult decisions, if they come up.
Our fabulous team of Patient Services Administrators are key to implementing this system, as the vital link between our community and our clinical team.
There are lots of other ways you can help us make this a success such as signing up for online access via SystmOnline and using the NHS app.
Thank you for your continued support,
Katie Pearce (Practice Manager), Dr Lewis and Partners
Q & A’s
I don’t have access to email – does this mean I can’t receive care?
Please call us and speak with a member of our friendly Patient Services team. They will ask you some simple triage questions, so that you can be given the right appointment with the right member of our team.
Normally my relative or carer contacts the practice on my behalf – can they do this under Total Triage?
Absolutely. We are used to receiving eConsults or other contacts from patient’s representatives, such as family, friends, carers or care home staff. In order to then disclose confidential information we would need the patient’s consent on record.
I need to speak to a Doctor very urgently – what should I do?
Problems which could be life threatening are best managed by ringing 999, as they are likely to be time critical and will need hospital care. Otherwise please complete an eConsult or speak to one of our Patient Services Administrators.
Is there a best time of day to send in an eConsult?
The eConsults received through our Total Triage system will be monitored and actioned throughout the day – what time you contact us will have no bearing on when we can see you. The experience of fighting for an appointment at 8.30am or 2pm will be a thing of the past.
What do I do if I need medical advice at the weekend or evening?
This hasn’t changed. You can access eConsult to obtain lots of useful information, use the NHS app or NHS 111 service., or ring 999 in an emergency.
When can I complete and send an eConsult?
You can complete an eConsult any time of the day or night, from first thing on a Monday morning until 1830 on Friday evening.
How soon will I hear after sending my eConsult?
We will tell you how we’re going to respond within 24 hours, in terms of which team member will help you, at what time and in what kind of appointment.
What if I don’t want to answer any questions, as I don’t feel comfortable giving my details/symptoms to a receptionist?
Our Patient Services team subscribe to the same very high standards of confidentiality as our medical staff and take pride in their role as a professional, highly trained link between our patients and clinicians. Part of this role is the ability to empathise and respond accordingly when patients find it uncomfortable to discuss their symptoms. We would not prevent access to our services in these circumstances.
Won’t this make it harder to speak with my usual GP or discuss an existing condition?
One of the benefits of Total Triage is that it will help us re-instate continuity of care, after the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. You are more likely to see or speak to your usual GP under Total Triage than at any other time.
How do you know that the Total Triage system will be beneficial?
Our colleagues in other Practices who have implemented a total Triage System give us assurance that patients receive faster, safer care through having appointments with the right person in a timely manner. The system has been carefully designed and analysed to make it more likely that we can respond to more patients, and give us the best chance of being available if you’re really poorly.
If the COVID-19 vaccination programme is successful and cases fall – why can’t we expect GP services to go back to how they were before?
New data has shown us that each day we aren’t receiving information from enough patients who want our help. We don’t wish to continue like this. We have also been fighting for a number of years to have our town centre site, The Barn Surgery, made fit for the future. For these reasons we wish to start allocating appointments on the basis of clinician-led decision making, using information from our patients about what they want us to help with.
Is the Barn Surgery shut indefinitely?
No! The necessary building works will take approximately 6 months. All patients will be seen at Peacemarsh surgery during this time. We have secured additional consulting space at Peacemarsh to make this work for our patients.
Does this apply to nursing appointments, injections, dressings or blood tests?
No – the simple rule is that if you would normally ask to see or speak to a GP or nurse practitioner, then Total Triage will apply. For practice nurse or HCA appointments, please speak to one of our Patient Services Administrators, who can book these in directly.
I didn’t have my usual annual review last year, due to COVID-19 restrictions. What should I do?
Please navigate to the option “Start a review,” at the bottom of the right hand column of options on the eConsult page, then select “Medication Review.” Your GP will let reception know if you need a blood test. If you cannot use eConsult, please contact our Patient Services Administrators.
Do I need to send an eConsult or answer triage questions to request my medications?
No – please use Systmonline, the NHS APP or your repeat prescription slip. Patients who are housebound or suffering from certain disabilities can request their prescription over the telephone between 3pm and 6pm.
Can I send you an email instead?
We don’t think that email is a safe system to receive medical queries – it is so easy to miss an email, and email doesn’t highlight potentially serious symptoms in the way that eConsult does. eConsult, or answering triage questions from our Patient Services Administrators, is so much safer that we would ask you not to use email to contact the practice.
How do I complete an eConsult?
Please head to our website www.gillinghamsurgery.co.uk and click on “Consult your GP online,” under Online Services, or click on “Online Consultation,” in the middle of the home page.
Beauty spots across Dorset are blighted by the scourge of fly-tipping as cases across the UK spiral out of control. We’ve all seen the sorry sights. Sofas, mattresses, fridges and car tyres dumped in laybys, woods and in farmers’ fields.
These eyesores are left for local councils to clear away, at tax-payers expense, or the cost falls on private landowners, who have to pay out of their own pocket. According to Countryside Alliance, a farmer foots a bill in the region of £800 each time someone thinks it’s fine to leave a cooker with his cows.
Image by: Courtenay Hitchcock Blackmore Vale
David George, a spokesperson for The National Farmers Union (South West) told the digital Blackmore Vale: “This is a source of great irritation to farmers and the fact they have to pay to get rid of it just adds insult to injury. Mainly, it’s people getting rid of waste they may be charged for at the local tip, or that they can’t be bothered to take. We urge people to please dispose of their waste responsibly, especially if they are having a spring clean over the Easter holidays.”
The issue of fly-tipping falls on the shoulders of local councils. Some have reported a 50% increase in fly-tipping since Covid, with official rubbish and recycling centres shut during the first lockdown. Litter campaign charity, Keep Britain Tidy, estimates fly-tipping is costing this country over £58 million a year in clean-up costs. Putting that into local context, Dorset Council had to pick up the tab for clearance and disposal costs to the tune of about £112,000 in 2019/20 with 1,870 incidents of fly-tipping reported. For April to December 2020, the council received 1,356 reported incidences of fly-tipping, costing just over £80,000 to clear away properly.
And bear in mind that thousands of cases go unreported so the picture is even more rubbish – quite literally.
Images by: Courtenay Hitchcock Blackmore Vale
Sadly, it would seem that in many cases people are just too lazy to dispose of their rubbish correctly. James Potten from Dorset Council told us that, frustratingly, a lot of fly-tipping in this county is rubbish that could easily be disposed of for free. “Whilst trade waste, especially building materials is consistently dumped illegally, the majority of fly-tips consist of black bag household waste and other materials that can be taken to a household recycling centre and dropped off free of charge, such as furniture, white goods and garden waste.”
In a recent report by BBC’s Panorama, ’Rubbish Dump Britain’ it was revealed that there is only one prosecution for every 300 fly-tipping incidents. Staggeringly, local authorities dealt with close to one million cases in 2019 and 2020. With council resources already under intense pressure due to cuts, their chances of catching perpetrators, let alone bringing them to justice, are slim.
Images by: Courtenay Hitchcock Blackmore Vale
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: The fact is that this environmental crime is being driven by ‘man with a van’ operators – responsible for a third of all fly-tips – who are conning the public with what appears to be a cheap way of getting rid of their rubbish, but one that leads to illegal disposal and environmental devastation.”
Keep Britain Tidy is calling on the government to make tackling fly-tipping an urgent priority. It wants immediate reform of the waste carrier licensing system – very few checks are carried out at present – and dedicated use of income from the landfill tax. It’s also demanding tougher sentencing in magistrates courts for those found dumping waste illegally. Though this serious crime can warrant jail sentences and huge fines, this rarely happens.
Dorset Council’s James Potten said: “Our Enforcement Team are out every day investigating incidents, and have set up pro-active partnerships with Dorset Police, the DVLA and Litter Free Dorset, as well as working with private landowners, the Environment Agency, Keep Britain Tidy, and various housing associations.
“In 2019/20, we took around 300 enforcement actions related to fly-tipping, including fixed penalty notices and prosecutions.We also have a high profile case going through the courts right now that we hope to be able to report on soon.”
But one man has taken it upon himself to fight fly-tippers. Business man, Martin Montague, is a self-styled waste warrior. He’s founder of the ClearWaste.com app and website. ClearWaste created the first, fully national system for reporting fly-tipping.
Using a brilliant free app, people can easily report fly-tipping anywhere in the UK as it actually happens. Minute by minute, you can see how quickly the UK is becoming a huge skip. This link from ClearWaste shows reports of rubbish dumped across Dorset – it makes disturbing viewing. https://clearwaste.com/flytipping/england/dorset
‘’The rate of increase in reports of fly-tipping is shocking,” says Martin Montague. “Britain is drowning under a sea of illegally dumped rubbish which blights our town, cities and countryside. Clearwaste.com came about because I was absolutely sick to death of seeing fly-tipping everywhere. I really hate the damage it does to our environment and wildlife, not to mention the cost to taxpayers of cleaning it up.”
Images by: Courtenay Hitchcock Blackmore Vale
The app and website links to every local authority in the country, giving councils the location of the rubbish along with details and photographs.
Tackling the problem before it gets to the countryside, ClearWaste.com also helps people get rid of rubbish properly, giving alternatives to dodgy, unlicensed traders on social media. “When people have DIY leftovers, garden waste or rubbish from a clear-out, they often ask for recommendations on social media but they shouldn’t just hand their unwanted stuff to someone with a van who offers to remove it for a bit of cash,” said Mr Montague.
Their website features responsible waste removal companies with a new price comparison scheme that protects and saves the public money. So confident are they of their trusted traders, ClearWaste.com guarantees to strike the trader off as well as to cover any additional costs or fines up to value of £1000 if waste is illegally disposed.
Martin Montague explained: “There is clearly an increasing demand for legal waste removal so we’re now helping to link consumers with trustworthy, government-registered waste removal businesses to avoid fly-tippers. Our website makes it simple to find honest, reliable, skip-hire and grab bag firms – all backed by our £1000 no fly-tipping guarantee. It’s all about making it easier for people to do the right thing.”
This real-life womble also goes up and down the country investigating fly-tipping incidents for clues of the perpetrators. He uses drones and night-vision equipment in his quest to make them answer for their actions. He names and shames them across social media. ClearWaste.com is also lobbying the government to increase fines and custodial sentences for those who continue to flout the law.
The good news is councils have new and greater powers to tackle fly-tipping but as to whether they have the resources to make this happen is another matter. It can cost around £2k to gather evidence and bring someone to court who can receive a fine under £200.
James Potten advised: “Everyone needs to understand their personal liability when it comes to their waste, which is their legal responsibility until it is correctly disposed of in the right place.
“If you cannot get to a recycling centre and you hand your waste to someone – such as an unlicensed ‘man in a van’ found on social media – who then fly-tips it, you also risk prosecution and a criminal record. Please make sure you only use a reputable waste carrier when handing rubbish to someone else.
‘’Dorset is a beautiful place to live but fly-tipping is a blight on our county, a drain on taxpayers’ money and we all need to work together to tackle it. We will always pursue all avenues to hold offenders to account, so please keep reporting fly-tips to us when you spot them and check out www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/tip-off for more information on how to make sure you are covered when handing waste to someone else.”
Dorset Police’s Inspector Darren Stanton, part of the Dorset police Rural Crime Team, also advised: “Whilst fly-tipping is not a police matter, a fly tip in progress can be called in on 999 so that we can catch the offenders in the act.”
Image by: Courtenay Hitchcock Blackmore Vale
FLY-TIPPING – how to report it If you report fly-tipping, the rubbish can be removed and the crime can be investigated. If you see someone fly-tipping, or you want to report an area where fly-tipping has taken place, take note of the following: Date, time and place of the incident
What the waste looks like and how much there is
Descriptions of any person and/or vehicles involved along with the registration number
If the rubbish is on your own land, it is your responsibility to report it and to dispose of it correctly. Report the incident to your local authority or the Environment Agency. Although they have no obligation to remove the waste, they may be able to provide guidance on the best way to deal with it.
Uncontrolled illegal waste disposal can be hazardous to the public, especially if it contains toxic material or asbestos. There could be risk of damage to watercourses and soil quality from the waste.
Reports to the Environment Agency can be made using their national hotline number 0800 807 060.
Dorset rural communities are lucky to have a pub or a village shop, but many have neither. With the Lockdown expected to end soon it is time to take stock. Village shops have universally boomed in the last year thanks to fear of contracting the virus from supermarkets, but pubs have suffered badly. We support both as they are the beating hearts of our rural communities. With climate change an ever increasing concern, we also support them as their success can reduce car dependency. Dorset Council claims that reducing car dependency is a key objective in their draft Local Plan, not that their fine words were matched by much actionable strategy.
Photo of Steve Dunk from the Milton Arms, Winterborne Whitechurch – Image CPRE
Our current concern is for pubs. The number has shrunk, falling by about 2% p.a. nationally since 2010, hit particularly by fierce supermarket price-cutting, tighter drink-driving laws and reduced alcohol consumption. Pubs have had to adapt, with wet-led pubs having to become food-led. The declining trend had been worst in the towns, such as Weymouth, but less severe in rural Dorset. However Covid-19 hit all pubs drastically, so that nationally the number fell by about 5% in 2020. Many have been surviving by offering take-aways, which may pay some of the staff but no more, as the profits are made on drink sales.
Most pubs were praying for help in the Budget, which offered some support. However most UK pub bosses were “disappointed”. They question the restarting of business rates from the end of June, and only a six month extension of the full reduction of the VAT rate to 5%. Many rural pubs do not have the large gardens needed to erect the marquees that were a feature last summer, so cannot fully benefit from the resumption of outdoor service from 12th April. Even so the majority will probably open from this date. Steve Dunk from the Milton Arms in Winterborne Whitechurch, which serves delicious simple pub grub, says “we have been just hanging on” and hopes to reopen from the 12th even though he cannot protect clients fully from the elements outside. Indoor service will only resume from the 17th May.
Becky and John Gibbons in front of the Larder, their new shop behind the Rose & Crown at Longburton. Image CPRE
One trend we fully approve has been the opening of village shops by pubs during Lockdown, although a number tried initially but found them unviable. The Greyhound in Winterborne Kingston opened an attractive one, as did the Rose & Crown in Longburton. Both intend keeping them going. If any pubs do not reopen this spring, we hope that communities will take advantage of the £150m provision in the Budget for Community Ownership.
Please revisit our pubs as soon as possible after the 12th, but do not desert village shops once Lockdown is over. Remember both are the beating hearts of our rural communities.
Are you looking to use your office skills to help others?
We are looking for an enthusiastic person to join the Mosaic team. The successful candidate will be responsible for the administration of training and study days both on-line and face-to-face and the Mosaic Annual Conference.
Requirements:
Experience of using on-line platforms (Zoom, Teams)
Excellent organisational skills and time management
Good, accurate administrative skills
Good telephone manner
Excellent knowledge of Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook)
Closing date: Tuesday 27th April 2021
Full job description and application form available from:
Molly’s family are business owners in Sturminster Newton, and having seen first hand how much of a positive impact the new Vale Pantry has been having on the community, she felt compelled to help.
Her request to get the school involved was met with a resounding YES from Mrs Thomson, Head of Art Kirsty Mareau-Jones, and Molly’s houseparent Ruth Readman, who were all delighted to support her in the Charity Art Sale.
‘Molly is an accomplished art student and was determined to be able to use art and creativity as a means of giving back to the wider community.’ explained Mrs Mareau Jones
The Vale Pantry feeds around 200 families each week in the local community, and has become a much needed resource during this troubled year. ‘It’s a constant juggle in terms of funds and food, and we are extremely grateful for the wonderful and creative idea with an art sale’ said Carole Jones, Vale Pantry.
Molly made an appeal via Instagram (@clayesmore) and what a response it received! Over 50 pieces of art have been donated from current students, Old Clayesmorians and other family, friends and community connections. All items are being prepared to be sold to raise vital funds for the Pantry.
‘We are delighted by the donations of artwork that we have received from across the school community, as well as from many individuals beyond it. Participants have donated a fantastic range of work, including,drawings, paintings, prints, ceramics, photography and digital art. Thank You to everyone for their contributions’ Mrs Mareau-Jones, Head of Art at Clayesmore
You can view all of the art work at https://clayesmore-school-dorset.myshopify.com/ with this exciting sale launching on Friday 26th March. You may be able to secure yourself a beautiful piece of artwork.
Vale Pantry said ‘We loved the creative and imaginative idea for an art sale run by Molly & the team at Clayesmore, – so a BIG thank you – we hope it will be well supported and the Vale Pantry and our lovely 200 families we are working with each week thank Clayesmore enormously!’
Due to continued expansion of our general business department, we currently have a vacancy for an fulltime ACCOUNTS PREPARER with at least 3 years’ experience to deal with the preparation of accounts for sole traders, partnerships, LLPs and limited companies.
Full training will be given with the intention that the successful applicant will be given responsibility for direct client contact, assisting our clients with all aspects of their business affairs.
This is an interesting and varied role with an unusual medical bias; the successful applicant will deal with some specialist aspects of medical accounts, as well as liaising with our tax department.
Preference will be given to applicants who have had experience of preparing accounts in a professional office environment.
Rabbits are the third most popular pet in the UK and probably the most misunderstood. As prey animals they do not like to be picked up and cuddled, which means they are not a good starter pet for young children.
A great deal of consideration should be given to getting rabbits as they are time consuming and costly, they need yearly vaccinating against Myxomatosis, vhd1 and vhd2.
They need Spaying or neutering and regular check ups by a rabbit savvy vet (as not all are). Two unneutered boys will fight when they reach maturity, and unspayed girls are highly susceptible to uterine cancers.
Once you have got your rabbits, as they should never live alone. You have to give them a great deal of space to run and binkie about, the rabbit welfare society suggests a minimum 6ft hutch ( a shed is better as it gives more space and better value for money, usually better made as well). With access to a safe exercise area with lots of enrichment, as rabbits are highly intelligent and inquisitive animals , you and your pets will both benefit as the joy they will give you as you watch them is priceless.
Our fluffy friends are bundles of poop ( about 300 a day ) so hutch hygiene is very important they need cleaning more that once a week, sometimes everyday especially in summer when flystike can be a killer. However it is possible to litter train some rabbits.
There are many places to get rabbits, breeders, pet shops, free on the internet! However the best place is a rescue, there are thousands of unwanted rabbits in rescues all over the country which will give you advice and support. Rabbits will have been health checked, vaccinated, neutered even bonding offered. So don’t support the pet trade ….. rescue.
Regular monthly Blackmore Vale property commentary column in the Blackmore Vale from Susie and Brad the North Dorset Team at Meyers
“The housing market sees its strongest spring in a decade”
Anyone who is currently looking to purchase a property will know all too well they are few and far between, and when you do find one you would like to view, by the time you have made your enquiry it either has 5 others lined up to view it or it has already sold.
Rightmove statistics show that as of this month, the number of potential buyers enquiring about properties is 34% higher than this time last year, yet the supply of properties remains low which is resulting in a serious shortage of homes available for sale. This increase in demand has been fuelled by several lockdowns leading to homeowners reassessing what their home has to offer and of course the government’s stamp duty holiday extension which was first announced in July last year.
So why has it been such a slow start to the year in terms of new properties coming to market? The start of a new year is often slow in this respect and while the property market has remained open, we have been in a national lockdown for the whole of 2021 so far and many potential sellers have still been wary at the prospect of marketing their home in these uncertain times. Another significant factor is of course that at the start of the year, homeowners felt they were too late to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.
If you are one of the 7 million people visiting Rightmove’s website each day in the desperate search for a property, we have some good news for you!
Easter is traditionally an extremely busy time of the year for the property market anyway, and with the government’s announcement of the stamp duty holiday extension and mortgage guarantee scheme, together with the easing of lockdown restrictions, your dream home could be getting ready to come on the market as we speak!
Our friends at Rightmove sum this up perfectly:
“Blossoming buyer demand coinciding with blossoming gardens should put a spring in the steps of sellers, and more of them coming to market will provide a much – needed increase in the choice of property for the many who are looking to buy.”
Here at Meyers, we are passionate about providing the best possible experience for all our sellers and buyers and we are always delighted to hear from you with any property queries you may have.
Brad Hansford at our Shaftesbury branch on 07814 962 161
Susie Palin at our Blandford Forum branch on 07570 357 553
