Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Home Blog Page 10

The Mirror and the Light

By
MV
-

Bruce Harris on Part Three of Hilary Mantel’s Tudor Trilogy

Even a writer’s most avid fan might find 900+ pages a daunting prospect, but for those of us who have already immersed ourselves in the first two books of Hilary Mantel’s Tudor trilogy centred on the life of Thomas Cromwell, ‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Bring Up The Bodies’, the experience once again registered more sustenance than endurance.
Both of the first two books won the Booker Prize, and for the third to also win it would be unprecedented, but I think few people would bet against it. Historical fiction has become a ubiquitous genre in recent years, and like all forms of writing, its quality varies. Most of it is set earlier than living memory, and faced with the inescapable fact of not having been there, the author must find some way to enter the past – perhaps research, imagination or some predetermined social or political agenda. Writers can guess, construct or manipulate the past, but only a writer with Mantel’s extraordinary combination of investigation, empathy and logic can actually inhabit it.
There are no thees and thous in Mantel’s Tudor England, no big heroic speeches, no gallant knights and forlorn damsels. We find ourselves with the brutal – quite frequently, literally – realities of everyone in England, whatever their wealth or station, having to deal with not just an authoritarian regime, but an authoritarian regime centred on a single man holding absolute, God-like power.
An episode of the sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf contrived a scenario where an entire planet had been constructed from the mind of the least pleasant character, Rimmer, giving physical manifestations to all his phobias, insecurities and prejudices. So England at the time of Thomas Cromwell had to arrange itself around the mind of Henry VIII.
Both Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII have been demonised for various reasons, Cromwell for doing Henry’s dirty work with merciless efficiency and Henry for throttling and suppressing the Catholic traditions of England. Both images are, of course, gross over-simplifications; like Brexit, like finding our way out of a pandemic, like rescuing the planet, nothing is that simple, however much we would like it to be. Cromwell, having been the principle bagman of Cardinal Wolsey until Henry harasses the Cardinal into dying on the way to his execution, has to deal with the strange, precarious world of Tudor power politics. He has to somehow both appease and control Henry, and far from being simply Henry’s chief of terror, he does sometimes save people or do the best he can to save them, including, in previous books, Sir Thomas More and Thomas Wyatt, the former unsuccessfully, the latter successfully, and in this one, successfully, Henry’s own daughter Mary, forced by oath to declare her own mother’s marriage null and void and therefore disinherit herself.
Cromwell is the son of a Putney blacksmith, a man of extraordinary strength and ferocity, and he grows up in the kind of world where his own mother can drag him off to witness the burning of a ‘heretic’ woman when he is still a toddler. He is a survivor, fluent in several languages and self-trained in political tradecraft across the courts of Europe. Unlike most of Henry’s senior courtiers, he cannot call on small armies of men bound to him by oath and property, or appeal to the great traditions of his family name, or retreat to one of his castles to sulk and recuperate.
I have personal experience of putting historical fiction together; my novel ‘Howell Grange’, set in the mid-nineteenth century and following the fortunes of a northern mine-owning family, was published last year. I know how exhaustive the research needs to be, and how it isn’t enough to see characters as stereotypical cut-outs, or ignore the circumstances and attitudes of their time. Yes, Henry is a tyrant, but he is also genuinely concerned about the succession and the possibilities of plunging the country into chaos, and rightly so, as it turned out; yes, he lusts after Anne Boleyn, but unlike some of his predecessors, he concentrates on consent rather than force. Yes, he disestablishes the monasteries and moves the country significantly away from Rome, but many of them at the time were corrupt to the core and milking the populations around them with what can only be described as protection rackets.
On a ‘spoiler alert’ basis for those whose knowledge of Tudor history is not exhaustive enough to know what ultimately becomes of Thomas Cromwell, I will leave the ending alone, but no-one has to be a historian to relish all the qualities of this book, the sharp and frequently very funny dialogue, the living detail of Tudor food, buildings and pastimes, the unflinching portrayal of the hot, in-your-face undercurrent of everyday violence and death in what some would still term ‘the good old days’ and the understanding it provides of how so much of the world we now inhabit was starting to develop.
One of the 17th century descendants of Thomas Cromwell went by the name of Oliver, the only man in our history to replace rather than serve a monarch, and it is tempting to imagine what kind of trilogy would emerge from the Mantel searchlight remaining with the Cromwells. In the meantime, I can only say that it will take something truly phenomenal to deny this volume a third Booker prize for its author. Whatever the gongs awarded, her now very numerous band of devotees certainly won’t be disappointed.

Into the Wildlight

By
MV
-

Dorset musicians, Ava and Elijah Wolf, are taking The Gravity Drive to another level. They talk to Fergus Byrne about their new album.

For any artist, be they poet, painter, sculptor or songwriter, the moment of unveiling new work can be stressful, to say the least. The emotional turmoil when one’s ‘baby’ is launched upon the world; when work that has lived inside your head for days, months or even years is about to be judged by others, can be daunting. So, for musicians Elijah and Ava Wolf from local band, The Gravity Drive, it’s handy to have gone through a process of heavily critiquing their own work before it even gets to the recording stage.
Their new album, The Wildlight, is scheduled for release in August and a limited edition pre-release CD with a special lyric book inside is quickly finding homes in a fan base that reaches far and wide, even as far as Moscow.
The Wildlight contains ten incredibly polished tracks that have been pulled together over more than three years and inevitably not every song has retained the exact form it started with. The rigorous process of creative input after principle songwriter Elijah presents new songs to his wife and band partner Ava, means some songs can take quite a beating before reaching the studio.
The opening song on the album, Hits like a Fix, is a classic example. Now a soporific, piano-based love song it was originally written for guitar and started life as a rock track. Ava never really liked it, describing it as ‘frenetic and attacking’. ‘I just felt it was trying too hard’ she says. ‘I just really felt we should pull it right back and make it on piano and make it more seductive—more like a trip. So we had a bit of a wrangle. That was the big wrangle of the album.’
Elijah laughs, ‘I resisted it for so long and then one evening I thought, right sod it I’m going to do exactly what she says. And literally that opening riff just fell out of the sky.’
Living in gentle Dorset countryside, Elijah’s song-writing process may be the envy of many musicians. When an idea begins to develop, whether it is a riff, a chord sequence or a lyric, he often goes for a run through the idyllic Dorset lanes where he lives, and lets the idea germinate. ‘As I’m out running, the melody and lyrics will just kind of appear’ he says.
But it’s just another day in a working family’s life. Ava will often hear him ‘tinkering’ around the house. ‘Sometimes he gets a vague look in his eye’ she says. ‘Where he appears to be in the room but he’s clearly not—he’s off on some writing thing inside his head. So I know there’s a new song coming. He’ll play it to me and then if I love it I’ll say so—but I can be quite a harsh critic if I don’t.’
‘As a songwriter it isn’t the easiest thing’ explains Elijah, ‘bringing a new song to anyone, whether it be to the band or to your wife. These are your little babies and you love them all in different ways for different reasons. And you know that some are better than others. But the great thing about Ava is that, instantaneously, if it’s good she’ll be completely honest and on your side and if it’s not working she’ll tell you as well.’ Elijah sees the process as giving The Gravity Drive a useful standard and an early quality filter.
The results prove there is little doubt that the internal ‘wrangle’ has a beneficial impact on the duo’s creative process. ‘That’s why I think it’s worth being super critical instead of saying, yes it’s a good song and just stumble forward’ says Ava. ‘Just take time and think, how can this be better? It takes a lot of energy and it’s quite an emotional journey. The album’s been quite emotional. We’ve been trying to make it the best that we can make it.’
Although he admits much of the album was done quite quickly, Elijah echoes the statement that there has been real effort to lift their music up a level. ‘We would work together as a band and be 90% there with a song,’ he says ‘and I’d look at Ava and know she wasn’t convinced yet. One track took us about a year to get right. It might have been finished a lot earlier but for Ava’s pursuit of excellence.’
That pursuit of excellence is born out of years of experience. Elijah started performing with his brother and school friends and played his first gig in front of over four hundred pupils in his first year in secondary school. ‘Just before I started’ he recalls, ‘it dawned on me that I was in front of an awful lot of older kids and if this goes badly, well … but it went OK.’ The band eventually signed for a small label and then broke up to go separate ways, but Elijah was hooked.
Ava’s journey was via acting school and growing up in a family that ran a well-known nightclub in Birmingham. Her brothers managed Duran Duran and whilst on tour with them she learned an awful lot about just how hard you have to work to produce great music and great performances. However, she never dreamed that one day she would be singing in a band herself. ‘It surprised me’ she says. ‘But it didn’t really surprise anyone that knows me, because apparently I’m always singing. I’m one of those people that walks around just singing and bursting into song in the supermarket.’
It’s easy to describe The Gravity Drive’s sound as harmony-driven pop but that’s like describing Coldplay as a pop band. There is so much more going on. ‘We’ve always relied on the boy-girl harmony-driven aspect of it as being a focus point’ says Elijah. ‘Whether that’s me bringing in a big song or a simple acoustic track, the harmonies are the main thing.’ However, it’s the diverse taste that the band shares that creates the ‘magic’. ‘In a lot of albums there is a bandwidth in which the band operate’ says Ava ‘and you absolutely know it’s not really going beyond that bandwidth—that’s what they’re going to deliver. But I think our album is full of surprises. We journey from quite heartfelt ballads to something that’s quite rocky. But that’s our interest in music. We have an eclectic taste in what we listen to and that’s definitely reflected in the way we write. So we’re sort of a little bit multi-genre.’
The Wildlight has been in the melting pot for a while. As a completely independent band with no record company support, Elijah and Ava started a Crowdfunder campaign with the hope of releasing the album in 2017. It took time to get it right and there was no music industry throwing money their way—which is potentially a raw subject. Talk about the way the music industry works unleashes a tension in Elijah that isn’t easy to mask. ‘With the music industry, the way to get to the top is to spend money’ he says ‘and to pay all the right people and pay the pluggers and play the game. And that’s all well and good, and it doesn’t guarantee success but it guarantees you might get heard.’
But that isn’t a game that Elijah likes to play. ‘I think we’ve got more of a Robin Hood approach—we’re going to do what we’re going to do and because we believe in it, it will go where it’s going to go.’
The band is unlikely to change to suit industry needs and there is a strong sense of a determination to remain authentic. Elijah continues: ‘We believe that people who are creative should believe in who they are and that the industry and the game should bend to the original artists—not the artists bend to the game. We might be naïve in that belief, but it’s got us to a certain point and we’ve managed to stay authentic and not sold our souls.’
Outside of ‘the industry’, the internet and social media has helped many unsigned bands to break out of their home patch and develop a wider audience. Elijah explains how ‘bubbles’ of interest appear through Spotify and other streaming services. ‘For some reason and we don’t know why, in Moscow they’re playing lots of our music. We’ve not been to Moscow and we don’t know quite why that is. There’s no way that we could go to Russia and gig there, but what’s interesting is that in the future we might, because there is a presence there. So you can see there are little bubbles. I’m not sure why but they do appear. That’s the greatest thing; you can get global without having to physically be global. It might not be a huge impact but you can see how you can grow those bubbles if you stay authentic to who you are.’
Now, four years on from that Crowdfunder initiative, it seems The Wildlight has benefited from the extra time in development. After their first album, Testament, a period of touring meant the band and especially Elijah and Ava’s vocals had the opportunity to gel and gain confidence. ‘In terms of songwriting, performance, artistry and record-making’ says Elijah, ‘this is us at the peak of our powers—so far’.
The Wildlight has some absolute gems. Hits like a Fix, Shooting Star, The Wildlight—all memorable. Play Kaleidoscope loud—close your eyes and imagine yourself in the middle of a field with thousands of people singing along—it has that anthemic quality. And the new single Forever—where Elijah and Ava’s vocal harmonies, lifted by drummer Ryan Halsey and bass player Rob Male, soar over an inspired production mixed by engineer Chris Potter. There is a slickness yet authentic quality to these songs that makes The Wildlight one to treasure.
Polished and sparkling, this is The Gravity Drive’s new baby, an album that also hints at even better things to come.

The new single, Forever, is scheduled for release on June 5th. The album is officially released in August but there are a limited number of the special pre-release CDs available from www.thegravitydrive.com.

Unlocked Fun and Games

By
MV
-

As we slowly pull ourselves out of the viral hole that mankind has fallen into, we are going to have to make a start at a return to normality. I’m not sure that anyone knows what ‘normal’ is supposed to be now. Shopping, eating out, getting on a bus, meeting more than one person at a time (at 2 metres) let alone meeting lots of them at pubs and parties is going to take quite a bit of time to rediscover.
But the Game must still be played (as they sort of say) and since we’re all being encouraged to take exercise, stay fit (and of course alert) and maybe indulge in a modicum of sporting activity, we shall have to see what activities may be permitted in an ex-isolation world. I, therefore, offer you my lateral guide to ‘un-locked down Sport’.
Obviously solo endeavours are easiest since we can’t infect others very much while jogging, fishing by one’s self, playing golf alone or doing solo yoga exercises in the garden etc. But if the activity involves other people then we need to make sure that everyone’s OK. Most sport is competitive because we have to try to win or lose at something to make it fun. Playing tennis by one’s self against a wall is OK, but after fifteen minutes it gets a bit boring because the wall always wins. Of course, if you’re isolated from others in a sort of titanium and plexiglass cocoon, then it’s quite safe. This means that Grand Prix and motor car/cycle racing should be OK, although care will have to be taken when shaking up the champagne and squirting it over everyone at the end. Perhaps anti-bubbly face masks and latex gloves could be given to everyone on the winning podium.
The hygiene limitations of horse racing are unknown at present. Apart from jostling in the paddock, do horses themselves carry the virus? Will equine flu re-appear? Is it really feasible to race round a track keeping a minimum of 2 metres from your fellow competitors? Perhaps all jockeys should wear sanitary surgical gowns and bubble helmets? These and other four-legged questions may eventually find answers…
The majority of two-person competitions should be OK provided we take extra precautions. Wimbledon has already been cancelled for this year, but 2021 might see new regulations introduced. New balls might have to be introduced every game (instead of every seven games) and no shouting, grunting or screaming when you serve as it spreads splutter and spittle over the court. Players may not shake hands but they will bow to each other in oriental style between sets. Two-person contact sports are probably a no-no—particularly judo and wrestling which would undoubtedly spread viral sweat from one competitor to another. Boxing, however, may just be possible provided both boxers wear face masks and protective robes. The two-metre rule would have to be temporarily forgotten otherwise no boxer could reach out and hit the other (which if I recall is mostly the point of boxing), while the gloves themselves will act as anti-viral insulators, provided they are thoroughly disinfected with suitable wipes between each round.
However, the majority of team sports may prove too difficult to overcome. As I write, football is still hovering between the absurd and the frankly impossible. Currently, I understand that non-contact training is allowed but tackles, blocks and bumps are out. How are you supposed to get the ball off your opponent if you can’t touch him? Perhaps you have to ask nicely… “Excuse me, but if you have a moment could you possibly lend me the ball?”. If you ask politely enough, perhaps the referee will insist the ball is passed to the other team? I can’t see many goals being scored, but then it wouldn’t matter that much because there’s nobody in the stands to watch the match anyway. Sterile and Safe? Yes. Boring? Very much yes. And no more hugging or wild pitch-side celebrations, if by some miracle a goal is be scored! And no kissing… absolutely NO celebratory kissing on penalty of 14 days quarantine in an empty and windblown football stadium.
Cricket should be OK but the distance between batsman and wicket-keeper would have to be marked out on the pitch. A delivery counts as a ‘no ball’ if the keeper stands too close. However, I’m afraid that rugby is almost definitely a big NO. Tackling would be out and any players involved in a ruck or a maul would be cautioned by police for over-close contact. Don’t even mention the word ‘scrum’, unless you can find a way of putting all players in sterilised body armour and fibre-glass helmets! All of which sounds rather too much like American Football…
But think of the benefits of new un-locked sport! For a start, it will provide massive extra employment for all sorts of new Health and Safety personnel legally required to be present whenever a sport takes place. We will have jobs for Private Gel Sprayers, Mask Cleaners, Spittle Analysers, Forehead Temperature Gunners, Brow-Moppers and Personal Hand Washers (lots of those). In addition to Ball Boys, tennis will have to have Ball Wipers, Ball Sterilisers and Racket Purifiers. Snooker, ping-pong, basket-ball—all ball games—will be legally compelled to employ hordes of Ball Cleaners and Alcohol Gel Ball Appliers. This might even be a solution to our forthcoming inevitable recession and bring full employment back to Britain! Stay Alert and Look After Your Balls (if you’ll forgive my expression). Stay Safe!

Abbotsbury

By
MV
-

Abbotsbury is an historic village. It is an interesting village, worth visiting again when the “shut down” is over, with attractions for all ages.
The oldest history of Abbotsbury is passed as you proceed to it from the west on the B3157. As you start to descend, Abbotsbury Castle Hillfort is on your left, but you have to leave the road and climb up to it. The fort is an Iron Age earthwork, triangular in shape, surrounded by two banks separated by a ditch on two sides, the third to the south east having four banks and ditches. There is evidence of hut circles and it is thought to have later been used as a Roman signal station. The South Dorset Ridgeway runs close to the hillfort and on over Black Down and Bronkham Hill and is embroidered with Bronze Age burials (tumuli).
Passing on down Abbotsbury Hill the entrance to the Gardens is on the right. Ahead is the village with a raised pavement on each side. The road divides with a narrow road on the left leading up to Bishop’s Road including Bishop’s Limekiln, now a picnic site. The main road is at the right of the division passing the “Ilchester Arms” hotel which carries the arms of the Strangways and a solitary street lamp. The road then takes a right angle to lead on towards Portesham and Weymouth. The road is narrow and traffic difficult when heavy.
A Benedictine Abbey was founded in about 1030 by Orc and his wife Tola during the reign of King Canute (Cnut). Orc was a Scandinavian henchman and steward to Canute and Tola was Norman, as was Emma, wife of Canute, which is how they were granted the land which became Abbotsbury. The original name of the village was “Abbodesbyrig”, a Saxon word. Orc and Tola were granted other lands so the monastery became wealthy. The monastery had a large Tithe Barn which is still impressive although only half remains. A mill, fishponds and a dovecot were also included. Later Orc became steward to Edward the Confessor and accrued more land. The swannery was probably an early addition to augment the food of the monks. Two churches were built for the monastery, St Peter’s for the monks, which no longer exists and St Nicholas for the village.
When King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries Abbotsbury did not escape and the abbey and monastic lands were sold to Sir Giles Strangways in 1542. Sir Giles, from a family who came to Dorset from Yorkshire in 1500 had been appointed one of the Commissioners for the surrender of the monasteries. By this time the abbey apparently held 22 manors. The last abbot managed to become vicar of Abbotsbury but the nine monks lost their living. About half of the huge Tithe Barn was destroyed. Sir Giles demolished the abbey and built himself a manor house close by. The Strangways family have been associated with Abbotsbury ever since and increased their wealth and land by marriage. Stone from the abbey has been found around the village in various buildings.
Further change came to the village with the 1640 Civil War. The then senior Strangways, Sir John, was a fervent Royalist so his house was entered and searched by Parliamentary soldiers in 1643. The next year a large group of Cromwell’s army under Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper came from Dorchester to annihilate the Royalists in Abbotsbury. The church of St Nicholas came under fire and the pulpit still bears holes made by musket balls from the siege. The Manor House was completely destroyed by a fire reaching a gunpowder store and Sir John and his son Giles were captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London for several years and fined a huge sum of money. Another son managed to escape to France.
With the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 the Strangways were restored to their previous position. Surprisingly Ashley-Cooper had turned against Cromwell and assisted in the Restoration of the Monarchy and was rewarded with a peerage.
The next change in the ownership of Abbotsbury came when a Strangways daughter, Elizabeth married the man who became the first Earl of Ilchester. Elizabeth Countess of Ilchester built a castle-like house overlooking the sea and commenced the gardens in the 18th century which have since become a favourite visiting place as the sub-tropical gardens. Unfortunately the castle was burnt down in 1913 and although rebuilt it was apparently unsatisfactory and it was demolished in 1934.
The Ilchester Estate largely owns most of Abbotsbury. Many of the house doors in the village were painted blue or white. The blue were rented and the white were leased. Any other colour probably indicated freehold. Opposite the Ilchester Arms is the old school house, now the village hall and beside it in Back Street is the “Schoolmaster’s House”, probably both funded by the Ilchester family.
On Chapel Hill is St Catherine’s Chapel which can be seen from most points. Overlooking the sea it was a navigation aid from medieval times. It is a sturdy, austere building which has survived from at least the 14th century and legend says that spinsters went to pray to the patron saint for a husband. It overlooks the Fleet, a narrow area of salt and fresh water south of the swannery with an underwater walkway across it, thought to aid fishermen bringing their catch back to the village. Fish were prolific in the past. The Fleet was briefly famous during the second war when it was an early site of trials of the “bouncing bomb”. The famous Abbotsbury Swannery is at the west end of the Fleet and was probably a source of meat, eggs and quills for the monks from at least the 14th century. Since the dissolution of the monastery the swans belong to the Strangways and are very popular.
The Ordnance Survey map shows a dismantled railway line from Upwey and Weymouth to Abbotsbury. It opened in 1885 to transport local iron ore, which proved to be insufficient and the line closed in 1952. The map also shows several withy beds and reeds, the latter used for thatching. The present roof of the Tithe Barn originally of stone is now thatched. The barn is now a children’s attraction.
After the loss of the abbey many poor people had a hard time and some turned to other ways of making money. In common with most of the south coast smuggling was rife in Abbotsbury in the 18th century. In 1720 Abbotsbury fishermen caught 23 casks of brandy and 2 barrels of wine anchored to stones with ropes which they intended to take to the Excise Officer, but the Strangways Bailiff, William Bradford took the contraband and would not hand it over, with local people aiding. Troops called from Dorchester enabled Customs Officers to restrain the goods, but Thomas Strangways claimed they were salvage from a wreck, not contraband and raised the matter in Parliament. In 1832 Moses Cousins, an Abbotsbury basket maker was taken by the Abbotsbury Excise Officer with four gallons of brandy and gaoled for a year for non-payment of a £100 fine. The Vicar, Mr Foster, tried unsuccessfully to have the sentence reduced, then wrote to Lord Ilchester who achieved his release after only 60 days in Dorchester Gaol. Eventually the Government reduced the duty payable on such goods, reducing the profit for the smuggler and the trade ceased.
A few years ago Paul Atterbury, well known on TV from the Antiques Roadshow, produced an excellent picture book “Greetings from Abbotsbury” using many old picture postcards. It has helped me to recall some of the places and is a good alternative to visiting during the shut down.

Cecil Amor, Hon President of Bridport History Society.

Balloons and Confetti

By
MV
-

Despite media focus on fears for the elderly and those in Care Homes, there is another side to the story. Susan Blacklock has seen bunting, fairy lights, positive acceptance and ‘stern stuff’.

Coronovirus has created a level of fear amongst all sections of the community. Maybe more so in those classified ‘At risk’—particularly in the over 70 age group with underlying health issues.
The Government focus was initially on supporting the NHS and very much later, focus is now on Care Homes. The news stories are worrying in that one third of Care Homes have been affected by the virus.
However, the other side of this is that two thirds of homes have been successful in keeping the virus at bay. The majority of homes have been resourceful and proactive in dealing with this new threat.
This should be celebrated. I would hope that this provides some reassurance to those people who may need the help a care home can give them.
Care Home staff have to be inventive in the care we provide. In addition to many other essential caring attributes, to have a positive disposition is important and no more so than during this crisis.
We contend with winter infections and viruses and generally manage to contain them. Covid-19 has amplified our need to be ever vigilant.
I think Bymead staff hear our mantra of ‘Wash your hands. Do not touch your face’ in their sleep!
Bymead closed its doors early in this growing pandemic to all but medical staff and manager, Amy Blacklock, is steadfast that anyone moving into Bymead then and now is Covid-19 negative.
The hospital staff struggled with this concept in the first weeks and to some extent they still do but we realised it was and remains the only way, during this time of unknown unknowns, to manage the situation.
To this day we have had a few rocky moments as the Covid symptom list grows ever longer and obtaining tests for residents is a challenge but we remain clear of the virus.
Amy and our staff have been determined to keep everyone safe, putting every effort into ensuring this remains the case.
We talked to the residents about how they would feel not seeing their relatives for the foreseeable future. They unanimously agreed that their biggest fear was the virus coming into the home. They wanted to remain safe and certainly wanted their relatives to remain safe. We explained the infection control measures we needed to take at that time and indeed the ongoing changes in these measures.
Since those early days, it seems so long ago, we have had many chats. During one recent afternoon chat the discussion turned to gradually opening the home again to visitors.
The residents’ general comment was that they felt safe and rather we didn’t open the home just yet. That gave us a little boost to think that we had been able to fill the gap their relatives had left, even for a short time.
The people in Bymead’s community amaze me with their philosophical acceptance.
I think this would be true of most people living in care home communities at this time. Certainly this generation, who lived through VE day all those years ago are made of stern stuff!
We felt it was important to keep safe but ignore the frequent news bulletins and enjoy this time. Bymead staff have been inventive with the activities, events and pastimes enjoyed.
We have celebrated a virtual 100th birthday party with lots of balloons and confetti. The relatives joined in through the magic of a skype call but we did not skimp on the champagne and cake.
From Easter Ducklings, a Spring Ball through to VE day we have enjoyed every moment.
Our Spring Ball was a last minute thought but turned into an extravaganza of more balloons, bunting with fairy lights to make it that extra bit special followed by a delicious, elegant high tea.
We celebrated VE Day with music, singing and mojitos provided by The Dark Bear from Bridport.
We have recorded all the good times and made a compilation video for family and friends.
During our ‘lockdown’ we have seen many positives. Particularly, new friendships have formed within the home. Residents have had the time to develop their ties with each other.
It is true that it is never too late to find a new friend.

Beer Quarry Caves

By
MV
-

Temporarily shut by Coronavirus pandemic – join us when we open

If curses could kill the coronavirus would be long dead. I’ve contacted an ancient Irish poet friend and asked him to get out his great book of Ulster Curses, aim a good one at coronavirus and let fly. But so far, like President Trump’s chloroquine and Dettol, no luck.
In the meantime our doors are temporarily shut but not our curiosity.
Beer Quarry Caves are many things. They are the longest worked limestone quarry-mine in Great Britain. The quarry was first opened by the Roman’s, probably using local slave labour, sometime soon after the 2nd Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD, perhaps as early as 50 AD. Almost 2000 years later the caves helped see us through World War 11 as an ammo store and mushroom source for hungry Londoners. In between those two events the entire story of modern English and British History unfolded around the caves.
In 1348 the caves were open when the Black Death came to England, starting at Weymouth in next door Dorset, in June that year. The plague took two forms, bubonic up to the Autumn of 1348, and then, a bit like coronavirus now, a pneumonic form . The plague killed between 40% and 60% of the population of England and kept returning for years, in the form of new outbreaks, something the current government might take note of. With a dearth of labour as workers died from the plague, wages rose partly leading to the Peasants revolt in 1381, against taxes to pay for the plague effects, and serfdom, another consequence our present government might note carefully.
Going back a bit further, Beer Quarry Caves were open when about 60 different recorded pandemics struck England between 664 AD and 1348 AD. These pandemics varied but a regular cause was war or invasion. Corpses were left to rot where they fell and disease soon followed. War as the World at War series for WW2 recently showed, still killed vast numbers of people less than 75 years ago, many from typhoid and indeed bubonic plague, again. As part of our new researches we will be trying to find out how those running Beer Quarry caves dealt with those events during those long years between 664 AD and 1348 AD.
But the caves have a much older and more significant record in their walls and underfoot. The limestone in the caves was laid down between 200 million and 300 million years ago. About 250 million years ago the great Permian extinction occurred, killing 96% of all life on the planet, and 70% of all life in our young earth’s oceans. There have been 5 great extinctions since the first appearance of life on earth, between 600 million and 900 million years ago, of which the Permian was the most devastating. Scientists do not agree on the cause of the Permian extinction but a meteor collision is one suggestion. The geologist Professor Ian West has pointed out that the presence of chromite and serpentine in the limestone in the caves “is quite peculiar”. He writes that “Another possibility, much less likely, is that the chromite and serpentine grains are of meteorite origin” but he then points out that, “ Material believed to be ejecta from a meteorite impact event has been found at a coastal site in Portugal Monteiro et al.(1988), Thus it is almost exactly the same age as the Beer Stone”. At least 2 others of the 5 extinctions may have left their mark on the caves too and we are now in search of that record and ways to display it.
Flint has always been an important issue at the caves. John Scott FRSA, FRGS, who saved the caves from demolition in the 1980’s and created our tour company, believed that flint from the quarry site may have been found at both Stonehenge and at Carn Brae in Cornwall. We are currently investigating the site and the area for evidence of a prehistoric flint ‘factory’.
Its easy to forget that for 90% of the life span of homo sapiens the only tool humans had, for hunting and for lighting fires, was flint.
About 6 miles from the caves, at Broom on the river Axe north of Axminster is probably the most important historic ancient tool find in the South West. Workmen digging a cutting in the 1870’s discovered a huge trove of (chert) flint axe heads and tools, 2,300 of which survive in museum collections. Carbon dating puts the age of the tools at about 350000 BC, long before homo sapiens turned up in Britain. The huge Ancient History of Britain (AHOB) project missed Broom, possibly because no human bones had been found there. But AHOB also missed the last formal evidence of Neanderthal mankind in the west of England. We are currently investigating the links to the flint at Beer.
But perhaps our most interesting find is what we are calling ‘the aquifer next door’. Water supplies in most places come from reservoirs, lakes and rivers. In West Dorset and East Devon it comes from an ancient aquifer, dated to between the Triassic and Permian period by the British Geological Survey. That coincides with the formation of the Beer Quarry site and takes us back to between 200 million and 300 million years ago, again. Beer has already sent algae from the beach cliff face into space. We are now hunting another space traveller, the Tardigrade, that may live around the caves. Tardigrades outdid all 5 extinctions and is one of the greatest survivors on earth; 560 million years and continuing.
Finally we are updating John Scott’s references to Beer village itself, starting with the 1st Domesday note of 1086 AD, when there were 26/28 dwellings in the village, and 2 slaves.

Dance on the Wyld Side

By
MV
-

Sue Kirkpatrick, a musician with Wyld Morris, explains a tradition that sees dancers greet the dawn

On Wednesday evenings, in the darkest wettest depths of the English winter, a heavy rhythmic thumping echoes through the dense and otherwise silent gloom shrouding a small Dorset village. The Morris side is practising. It is the sound that has now accompanied ten years of Wyld Morris, so called because this team was founded by a member of the community of Monkton Wyld Court. In this old and beautiful setting, the pagan nature of this traditional dance is slightly contradictory, given that the Court was once a vicarage.
The term ‘Morris’ is possibly a corruption of ‘Moorish’ dancing, credible as its first mention of this style is in documentation from the Guild of Goldsmiths in 1448, along with ‘guising, sword dancing, and mumming.’ There is also a theory that the ‘sticking’ and thumping could have been a part of a young knight or squire’s training, even preparation for fighting the ‘Moors’ in the Crusades. Many of the weapons used in the medieval crusades were based on poles, for instance the pole-axe, and hand to hand combat was too often necessary, so agility, alertness and the ability to work together as a force were vital, and skills still relevant to present day Morris sides especially during energetic stick dances. Knuckles sometimes get a bruising, although mistakes for the dancers nowadays are not normally fatal. Strictly traditional Morris teams are still for men only, but Wyld Morris was founded as a mixed side so that women in West Dorset were not excluded, the only physical qualities necessary to join a side being energy and stamina, which of course are not simply male attributes.
Another widely held belief is that Morris dancing has pagan origins. This is probably because the high points of the Morris calendar are dependent on the seasons. Having practised almost every week throughout the winter, sides are ready to burst out of the darkness into the spring to dance, taking advantage of the light summer evenings and the opportunity to explore many local pubs and entertain the sometimes startled clientele.
For sides all over England, and for Wyld Morris, the season begins as dawn breaks—at 4.30 am on the first of May. Even for those who at best have seen the dawn only after a very long night, the sun rising over the sea towards Portland Bill is a spectacle, worth a wake-up call in the pitch dark, to travel to the top of Stonebarrow Hill, the beautiful cliff top downland which overlooks Charmouth. Sometimes, of course, there has been a pall of cloud and fine drizzle or even fog, dense enough for the dancers to identify each other only with difficulty. Most surprising is that several otherwise sane members of the public also turn out to see the Morris team greet the dawn. After breakfast, the side travels closer to Bridport to dance with a hundred or so children, hopping up and down in a school playground before their normal day begins. Then by midmorning the hankies will be waving in a residential home in Bridport as a small danceside does its best to avoid bringing down the lampshades. For many of the elderly residents, the Morris music and dancing sparks reminiscences as they bear witness to living history. The percussion section is expanded to allow for the residents to respond to the strong Morris rhythms as the band has a variety of bells and beaters for enthusiastic participation.
Lastly on May Day there is always a performance scheduled in the heart of Bridport, which Wyld Morris identifies as its home. The team has a strong sense of its contribution to the community, and the annual seasonal events which follow May Day take place in the town. The Community Orchard behind St Mary’s Church is a local treasure, lovingly maintained by volunteers who tend a variety of apple trees whose names are rich in history, for example Slap Ma Girdle, Golden Dawn, Ribster Pippin, and Worcester Pearmain, which is even older than the known origins of English Morris. Wyld Morris dance here for Dorset Apple Day in summer, helping to celebrate the crop by sampling locally produced cider and apple juice. Families come with picnics and listen to storytelling and maybe the Bridport Mummers who, by their own disarming admission, “never knowingly perform in sobriety”, and are always the source of great hilarity.
At Christmas Wyld Morris band will be singing carols and playing at several places in Bridport as part of the town’s Winter Fair, and then in early January they will be back in the Orchard for an undoubtedly pagan Wassail ceremony, when the apple trees will be blessed and offerings of bread left in the branches, and libations of cider poured onto the roots. Wyld Band will be helping to make as much noise as possible to drive evil spirits out of the trees so that they bear good harvests. The Wassailing tradition stems from the poorly-waged agricultural labourers, who were given a kind of licence to prevail upon their employers for a few groats and something from the wealthier cellar. The present-day colourful ‘tatter jackets’ worn by many sides is a reminder that originally the working men’s clothes were turned inside out for dancing so that the ragged linings were exposed. Sometimes the Morris men would black their faces to hide their identity for fear of repercussions. These days this practice is less popular as the tradition has been misinterpreted.
Wyld Morris usually has a busy summer weekend calendar, being invited to festivals and fairs most weekends throughout the summer season, ranging from the bustling Melplash Show to Stoke Abbott Street Fair, and also to local folk festivals such as Sidmouth, Lyme, Swanage and Weymouth. These are great opportunities to see other Morris teams dance, and to shake the bells of course. Sadly, of course, this year Wyld has become a virtual band but the spirit lives on via the small screen and practice continues once a week in maybe a dozen Dorset kitchens.
Although personnel has changed several times since Wyld Morris began ten years ago, such is the commitment of both dancers and musicians that many of the earliest members are still part of the team. Anyone who wishes to join the side is always welcomed, as dancers or musicians, and sometimes former members will turn up to cheer the side on. Besides being a wonderful way to exercise, it is a very sociable activity which has made its members into valued friends. There is much good humoured mockery for those who are literally wrongfooted when learning a new dance, but there is a general wish to present careful timing and precise stepping for the best overall performance from the side.
The dances come from different traditions. Wyld dances both Cotswold and Border, styles, but the programme also includes the East Acton Stick Dance which was apparently invented by the Goons, and, to the great pride of everyone who has mastered intricate stepping without being tied in knots, Bridport’s very own Rope Dance. This was created by a much loved member of the side in honour of one of the town’s oldest industries, and will make its debut this next season.
The present enforced social distancing will give the team plenty of time to polish baldricks, trim the beribboned straw hats, and embellish tatters jackets, all in the Dorset colours of white, gold and red. The connection with the rural landscape gives Wyld Morris ‘kit’ its extra colourful splash of green, and beige.
The season will be very different this year, of course, as lockdown has prevented the usual May Day celebrations. Like everyone in the country whose activities have been put on hold, the side will look forward to an end to our present troubles, so that planning can resume for a deferred 10th anniversary celebration next summer when Wyld Morris expects to host several other ‘sides’ who will travel from all over the country, as they have done also for the Bridport Folk Festival, another strong local tradition successfully revived three years ago, in which Wyld Morris are proud to represent the town.

Lifelines

By
MV
-

A community initiative for wildlife corridors in the Char Valley. By Owen Day and John Blanchard

As we emerge gradually from the lockdown, many of us are wondering what kind of future awaits us. It seems clear that our economy is headed for a very bumpy ride, and with no effective vaccine or treatment yet, we may still be in for some nasty surprises. But there is also a growing sense of hope that the recovery from this crisis might provide a much-needed opportunity to solve other problems too, and maybe start to heal our fractured relationship with nature and our planet.

A Green Recovery is on many people’s minds and increasingly spoken about by politicians of all persuasions. With the world hurtling towards climate breakdown and a collapse in biodiversity, surely a Post-Covid Green New Deal is a “no brainer”? Massive investments in clean technologies, renewable energy, regenerative farming and reforestation programmes, would create millions of jobs, kick-start our economy and help solve the climate and ecological crisis. Bring it on!
But while we wait to see what governments will do, many communities are taking action. One group of local people from around the Marshwood Vale have just launched a community initiative called Lifelines, designed to strengthen the health and resilience of our local wildlife and soils.
The Lifelines Project for the Char Valley starts with the insects—seeking to stop the decline in numbers locally and trying to encourage regenerative ways of managing that land so that insect populations—and the birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians that feed on them—can revive and flourish once again. The project will start by mapping areas of land where pesticides—insecticides, herbicides and fungicides—are not being used*. It will then see how new areas of land can be added by finding anyone with land—from a small garden to a large farm or estate—willing to commit to managing their plot in ways that help insects. Farmers can join the scheme by including just part of their land, such as field margins and hedges to create corridors (see text box). A local farmer has demonstrated that hedges can be harvested profitably when coppiced for wood fuel on a 15-year cycle (1,2) thus helping wildlife and his business. To get the most benefit, these areas of pesticide-free land should link up to form wildlife corridors that can encourage wildlife and biodiversity. Natural England has already identified some of these “Priority Habitats”(3) and the Forestry Commission has also mapped the woodland inventory of England. Both of these are shown as layers on the Lifelines map.
At the heart of the project is an interactive online map that can be explored at www.thelifeline.site. Residents who manage their land without pesticides can join, and their fields or gardens will turn bright green on the map. As other residents learn about the scheme and decide to stop using pesticides, so these lifelines will spread across the map, like a colourful green mosaic, as the Char Valley starts to be restored to vibrant health, with more biodiversity and more resilient ecosystems. The map allows everyone to see how the project is going and get more involved in the management of their local environment.
So why focus on insects? In a nutshell, because they are very important and are in serious trouble. Healthy insect populations are essential to our ecology—skylarks, cuckoos, swallows, bats, frogs, hedgehogs and many other animals depend on them for food. They are also vital for our food supply, as orchards and many crops depend on them for pollination. A review of 73 studies (4) found that insects are in dramatic decline globally and that 40% of the world’s insect species could become extinct over the next few decades. The study’s authors conclude that “a serious reduction in pesticide usage and its substitution with more sustainable, ecologically-based practices, is urgently needed to slow or reverse current trends, allow the recovery of declining insect populations and safeguard the vital ecosystem services they provide. “
The 2019 State of Nature Report (5) found that insects in England are declining rapidly, both in abundance and distribution. Numbers of butterflies and moths, for instance, have dropped by 16% and 25% since the 1970s, with habitat-specialist butterflies declining by two-thirds over that period. The report lists the causes of the decline as linked to climate change, loss of habitat and intensification of farming, with the latter “having the biggest single impact upon nature in the UK over recent decades, with the great majority of that impact being to drive species’ populations downwards”.
The proliferation of pesticides in the UK, with over 400 varieties now permitted, was highlighted in recent report by the Soil Association (6). Farmers are often advised to use combinations of these and multiple applications. Consumers and wildlife are increasingly exposed to the “pesticide cocktails”, whose toxicity to humans has not been assessed. The herbicide glyphosate for example, a known carcinogen to mammals (7), is used on a huge scale and routinely found in food samples. Two thirds of our rivers contain over 10 pesticides, and 67% of soil samples contain multiple pesticides. About half of all bumblebees have two or more pesticides on their surface.
The Lifelines project hopes to be a small part of this movement to encourage more insects and wildlife back into our gardens, fields, and landscapes. It also hopes to foster discussions about how we can support our farmers in producing healthy food in an uncertain world, while ensuring a more resilient, greener and brighter future.
If you are interested in finding out more about the Lifelines please visit www.thelifeline.site or contact Owen at owenday@me.com

Photographs by Owen Day

Note *. Except for occasional spot-spraying using an approved herbicide for the removal of harmful invasive and non-native plants as recommended by DEFRA
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-the-spread-of-harmful-invasive-and-non-native-plants

Lifelines and Farming
The participation of both organic and conventional farmers in the Lifelines project will be critically important to its success. It is hoped non-organic farmers will support the project and recognise the benefits to their business of having more biodiversity in the environment. It is well-known that high numbers of insects and bird in the margins of fields, reduces the impact of insect pests on crops and hence the need for expensive insecticides.
Biodiversity can help farmers reduce damage from pests and can also help them in other battles too, like the urgent need to have more climate-resilient soils – less prone to flooding, erosion and drought. Farmers are on the frontline in the battle against climate change, having to cope with extreme weather events, such as record-breaking rainfall followed by record breaking droughts. As these extreme weather events are projected to become more frequent and more intense in the coming decades, farming is also going to become much harder and will need to adapt. Flooding and soil erosion are already getting much worse, and poor farming practices are often blamed for aggravating matters.
Looking at changes to the Char Valley in the last few decades, it’s clear that criticism should not be levelled at farmers, but rather aimed at the misguided Common Agricultural Policy that has resulted in the current impoverished state of our environment, wildlife and soils. Fortunately, the CAP has now been replaced by the new Agriculture Bill 2020 that is currently under discussion, putting in place the framework that will hopefully align the interests of farmers with those of nature – allowing production that is truly environmentally sustainable, through what is called agroecology. From now on, public payments received by farmers will no longer be calculated based on their acreage and production but will be based instead on the “ecosystem services” they provide – public money for public goods. These services include maintaining soils, preventing flooding, increasing biodiversity and sequestering carbon in the soil. All of these critical ecosystem services depend on a healthy biodiversity – particularly insects.
The importance of biodiversity is at the heart of organic farming and regenerative agriculture, which are all demonstrating the possibilities of farming profitably, while providing healthier food (pesticide-free and nutrient dense) regenerating soils, preventing floods and absorbing carbon. Gabe Brown, one of the pioneers of regenerative agriculture and author of “Soil to Dirt” (8), says that by working with nature and by focusing on profit not yield, he managed to transform a loss-making conventional farm into a highly profitable and sustainable business. He and many other agroecological farmers are demonstrating how fertile soils can be built-up by using techniques such as no-till, multi-species cover crops and mob-grazing. Artificial fertilizers and pesticides are not needed, in fact they are positively excluded as they destroy the life-giving symbiosis that exist between plants, fungi and bacteria in healthy soils.
The amount of rainfall that healthy soils can absorb before they become saturated is truly amazing. A conventionally farmed soil often becomes saturated with half an inch of rain in an hour, but healthy soils can absorb water much more efficiently, sometimes an inch of rain in 10 seconds, and two inches in under 30 seconds (8). Healthy soils allow water to infiltrate so fast because they are full of channels and cavities made by fungi, worms and soil invertebrates. Scientists are only just beginning to understand the importance and complexity of soil ecology and its importance in flood prevention, sustainable food production and even in the fight against climate change. By dramatically increasing the amount of organic matter in their soils, regenerative farmers are pulling carbon out of the atmosphere and putting it back into the ground.
Society should recognise the huge challenges that farmers face with the vagaries of weather, markets and now government policy. Communities need to support their local farmers as they are asked to transition from a mindset dominated primarily on production, to one where food must be produced with greater consideration for wildlife and the climate emergency.

References
1. “A Coppiced Hedge: Converting a flailed hedge into an economic crop of firewood” by Ross Dickinson, Racedown Farm, Dorset
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ny53s9xwseqqtf/A%20Coppiced%20Hedge%20with%20photos%2C%2019%20June%202018%2C%20Ross%20Dickinson%2007.58.54%5B1%5D.docx?dl=0
2. “A New Look at Hedge Coppicing” by Owen Day www.marshwoodvale.com/agriculture/2019/03/a-new-look-at-hedge-coppicing/
3. Priority Habitat Inventory (England), Natural England
https://data.gov.uk/dataset/4b6ddab7-6c0f-4407-946e-d6499f19fcde/priority-habitat-inventory-england
4. Sánchez-Bayo, F. & Wyckhuys, K., (April, 2019) Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers. Biological Conservation, Volume 232, 8-2 www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320718313636
5. State of Nature 2019. https://nbn.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/State-of-Nature-2019-UK-full-report.pdf
6. The Pesticide Cocktail Effect. www.soilassociation.org/the-pesticide-cocktail-effect/
7. Some Organophosphate Insecticides and Herbicides. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans Volume 112. 2017; 452 pages. https://publications.iarc.fr/549
8. Gabe Brown. “Dirt to Soil”. www.waterstones.com/book/dirt-to-soil/gabe-brown/9781603587631
9. Agriculture Bill 2020. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8702/

Life after Lockdown

By
MV
-

No one can deny that lessons have been learned in the last couple of months. Margery Hookings hears some of the positive stories through COVID-19.

It’s been a funny old thing, this lockdown in the time of coronavirus.
We’ve all had to learn to live life differently, some of us more than others. And at the end of it all, will this time have changed us? I’m hoping, for the environment’s sake, that we’ve learned lessons to take us into a brighter future. The joy of nature on our doorstep, blue skies without aeroplane trails and the pleasure of walking and cycling as regular exercise.
I’ve been playing music requests from my window overlooking Broadwindsor Square every day at one o’clock for 72 days. What started out as a leftfield idea two days into lockdown soon turned into something else, which all the village latched on to and supported with gusto, especially when professional musician Simon Emmerson lent me his speakers and mixing desk.
The final Sound of Music Through The Square Window was on Sunday 7 June. It has attracted media interest worldwide, including an interview with Lauren Laverne for Your Desert Island Discs, a special Radio 4 programme about how people have turned to music during lockdown.
The daily playlist will be the soundtrack for our coming out of lockdown party, if we ever feel safe enough to have one.
I have a Sam Cannon picture on the notice board above my desk. The illustration is of an upright and alert hare, supported by this quote: ‘The inspiration you seek is already within you. Be silent and listen.’ The message I’m taking from this crisis is never underestimate the power of unusual ideas to bring a community together. Don’t run things past a committee, maybe ask one or two trusted friends but then just do it.
For this piece, family and friends at home and abroad have shared some positive lockdown stories to take us forward into a post-Covid-19 age.

Dorothy Rowe, parish councillor.
‘Last year, wildflower planting on the verges initiated by Broadwindsor Group Parish Council resulted in a beautiful display and rich habitat for wildlife. A larger area was planned for 2020, with sowing in mid-April.
But the impending lockdown in March prompted emergency measures. We had to arrange for the immediate delivery of seeds, compost and a trailer for displaced turf in place and a call for volunteers. Local parents and children worked in shifts to prepare, sow, and rope off three 6ft x10ft seedbeds, with another family undertaking daily watering.
From telephone conversations with elderly residents I didn’t know previously, I’ve discovered they paint, write poetry and have a deep wisdom in their approach to life. I would never have known that if lockdown hadn’t happened.
I’m hoping the many acts of kindness and selflessness during this unprecedented era will bring about a better world.’

Marion Tayor, artist.
‘As an artist, having long periods of solitude is a way of life so in that respect little has changed. I have noticed a shift in my work, though. It has become more experimental and I have been exploring more fully the different mediums of clay and collage beside painting. Both of these are totally absorbing, allowing the imagination to roam free.
The main difference is now I am working for myself and not in preparation for forthcoming exhibitions, which have in the past imposed restraints and implied pressure. Now there is time for experimentation and play. However, without exhibitions, a valuable income source has been lost so it has become necessary to explore online platforms such as Instagram for selling work. Overall, I am reluctant to return to the old way of life of too much busyness. For me I feel the balance has been restored, with long walks and reconnecting with nature reinstated.’

Sam Smith, The Beautiful Boat Company, Lyme Regis.
‘Lockdown led to our projects being put on hold. It gave us a chance to reflect on how far we have come since we started in 2018 and consider where to go next.
The slowed pace of life, coupled with a growing recognition across society that we need to make greater efforts to look after our planet, led us to look more closely at how to marry the romantic image of wooden boat-building with sustainable approaches.
We have always been eco-conscious, ensuring materials are responsibly sourced and using reclaimed timber where possible. Recent events have brought more people on board with this growing ethos, with a surge in enquiries for projects involving our stock of reclaimed teak.
Most of our boat builds to date have been sail or human power, but for motorboat customers, how best to work with electric propulsion has been on our mind for some time. The global lockdown brought this into sharp focus as reduced movement of people and commodities has seen unprecedented reductions in pollution.
So we have been busy researching the latest electric technology to integrate into our boats. And coming back to our primary passion, we are looking at a unique new build that combines these eco-aims in a boat for more serene cruising.’

Simon Emmerson, musician with Afro Celt Sound System the Imagined Village.
‘I’ve just taken part in my first online Zoom festival. As a band with a 25-year history of headlining world music stages we have built a reputation as a top live act. Understandably we were initially very sceptical about how this was all going to work.
It was an amazing experience. We had Afro Celt founder N’Faly Kouyate locked down in his village in Guinea playing his grandfather’s ancestral balafon and singing live, directly illuminated by his car headlights as his village has no street lighting.
Robbie Harris, our percussionist, was in his studio in County Mayo on the West Coast of Ireland. The rest of us were dotted around the UK. Not everyone could make it. Lottie Cullen our piper, was doing her bit to fight COVID-19 as a radiologist in Dublin Hospital. Rioghnach Connelly, our singer and flutist, was in an online discussion on the future of live music in a post COVID-19 world.
The festival was warm and welcoming. We had great craic as we showed everyone how we build up an Afro Celt tune from a fiddle reel to a full-blown track. We then played a video of the mixed tune we had written for the event called The Lockdown Gorroch Reel.
There were technical glitches—at times it was glorious chaos, at others there were moments of real intimacy as musicians performed to an enthralled audience from their own very private and personal spaces, including me from deepest West Dorset. It was great interacting with the crowd in their little Zoom boxes from their rooms, made over with personalised festival lights and hanging. People could post messages direct to us musicians during our performances and whooped and cheered at the end of every numbers The whole thing had the intimacy and interactive quality totally lacking in a bigger corporate festival.
If this is part of the future of live entertainment in a post COVID-19 world then count us in. It was inspiring, magical and generated a very moving sense of togetherness and solidarity so needed in these dark and fractured times.’

Jayne Ray, south west France.
‘I worked for 23 years in the NHS. Firstly as a nurse, then as a midwife before moving into public health for the then North Dorset Primary Care Trust.
Since relocating here with my husband, who works in Toulouse, I became involved in a national charity in supporting English speaking people affected by cancer. I am now a trainer for the volunteers, and President of Gascony, Cancer Support France (CSF). I work with many wonderful volunteers locally and nationally.
At the beginning of the lockdown, I was fully occupied working with national CSF on developing our extended service provision, supporting all isolated, elderly or vulnerable English speakers in France, which has proved helpful in supporting a wider scope of people.
As restrictions ease, we do not need to take out a signed form with us. We can go out together and take our dogs to the woods. During the eight weeks of lockdown, I only left the house three times.
Working in my pottery studio—I’m PotteRayFR on Facebook—kept me sane, as did bread and cake baking and twice weekly yoga sessions on Zoom.’

Caroline Essame arts therapist and educator, Singapore
‘In a city of tower blocks, I’m lucky to live on a university campus on the ground floor surrounded by gardens. Nature has always fed my soul and now more than ever, growing plants and gazing at greenery filled with birds is one benefit of lockdown.
The greatest blessing of all is having time to paint again. My paints have been in the cupboard for the past 12 years because I’ve been busy travelling, working and socialising.
Now I’m painting again and I’ve discovered once more the joy of making art. I’ve just painted the view from my balcony, looking with fresh eyes at what I see every day. Lockdown has reignited my creative fire and given me time for one of life’s greatest pleasures, seeing, being and wondering at the beauty of the world around us.’

Andy Hull, teacher.
‘As a secondary school teacher in the London Borough of Hillingdon on my journey to work teaching the children of key workers, there are a number of positives. Not only do I have an empty M25 to travel on, I have an empty car park to use too. My other team members make the most of the weather and cycle in.
We work on a rota to look after the small number of students attending, so when preparation and marking of work for my other classes is complete, I have turned to baking—a skill passed down by my late father.
I live on the outskirts of London, just inside the M25. Daily walks have become really important. My partner and I have found footpaths just ten minutes from our house into the open fields and woods of Hertfordshire that we never knew existed. We have been able to enjoy spring through the flowers, blossom and wildlife. I have also tried to grow seedlings.
As the days have turned to weeks, I finally picked up my guitar again after a long time.’

Betty Roussinou, Corfu, Greece.
‘People who live in Greece stayed at home and could go out only with permission. I had to send a message to a certain number to get a message back saying that I was allowed to go out. You had to dial one number out of six depending on where you wanted to go. Police were everywhere, even in our little village. I lost my job in tourism and my husband has less work.
First, when restaurants and bars were supposed to be closed, some people didn’t take it seriously. But they had to pay a heavy fine, starting with 3,000 euros and later 5,000. People who didn’t send messages before they went out of their houses got a fine of 150 euros. We were so afraid not to catch coronavirus, but also not to pay the fine. Especially now that many lost their jobs. The government helped by supporting those who lost their jobs or businesses.
We got to a stage where we could open restaurants and cafes with strict rules, and also schools on certain days and with reduced numbers of pupils. Those children whose parents decided to send them back to school are separated.
I wish people in the UK behaved like us. After a couple of days people understood that if they didn’t listen they would pay for it. It worked. Police were everywhere.
We behaved. That’s why we loosened the restrictions. Finally, after two-and-a-half months I see tables and chairs outside the kafenion and tavernas in our village square. We all have lost a lot this year in the village, the island, the country and in other countries. I just hope all this happened for a good reason.’

UpFront 06/20

By
Marshwood
-

‘Slowly easing out of lockdown’ are not words that many of us would have expected to use this year. Especially as we emerged from the Christmas break to what we then called ‘normality’. Every year lots of us experience something that we endearingly call the ‘madness’ of Christmas: where we lock ourselves in with close family, only escaping for the occasional walk or short visit with other close family. We buy presents, eat and drink too much, play games and then breathe a sigh of relief when it’s all over and we can get back to normal. But in recent months vocabulary has changed. I wouldn’t like to be embarking on a course learning to be a TEFL teacher right now. Teaching English as a Foreign Language is hard enough without having to explain ‘self-isolation’, ‘social-distancing’ or ‘Test & Trace’ though these will be familiar to most. But how can we ever describe the word ‘normal’? Will we say it’s a word we used to use before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it no longer exists? It’s now called ‘New Normal’. That sounds too much like ‘Alternative Facts’. Reading through the comments in ‘Life after Lockdown’ on page 10 and listening to points raised by many of those I’ve spoken to in the last couple of weeks, the term ‘New Normal’ already feels like a slightly shallow way of describing something that might well have real power. Despite feeling trapped by isolation, there are many who have felt that the lockdown may have released them from a world gone mad. Some described it as like stepping off a treadmill; the endless race for more advances, more productivity and more growth—economic and spiritual. I’ve listened to many people who don’t want to go back to how things were. They want to stay close to family and friends and massively reduce their consumption of progress. There has been a lot of looking back in the last eight to ten weeks and in many ways, it’s been inspiring. Who could blame people for wanting to leave the treadmill to those that enjoy it?

1...91011...126Page 10 of 126

Sibyl King

Marshwood -
'I have loved Dorset from the first moment that I arrived. I was 25 and had never been abroad before. Each new sight and...

The Lit Fix

Impressions of a Landscape

This Good Earth – and our part in its future

Stonehenge keeps Growing

© Marshwood Vale Ltd