The story of a mother’s love for her child is always guaranteed to cut right to the bone of even the coldest hearted person, but never so poignantly as when that mother is dying of cancer. As October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, it is somehow fitting that a song written by terminally ill Portland mum, Maxine Edgington, for her fifteen year-old daughter Jessica, is being released as a single. Co-written with Burton Bradstock’s Billy Bragg, during a series of workshops at the Trimar Hospice in Weymouth, the song, We Laughed, has every chance of becoming a top selling record. If so, then nothing could be more fitting. Not because it points to the pain and sadness that terminal illness brings to so many people, but because it highlights the value we can put on those around us. When her condition was diagnosed in November 2004, Maxine Edgington’s first thought was how it would affect her daughter. She commissioned a series of photographs, so that one day her daughter could show her own children how happy they had been. One of those photographs was the inspiration for the song. It may be a huge hit or it may be a minor hit. It might not even make it into the charts, and more cynical music fans and critics will probably not see beyond what they, wrongly, consider to be commercialisation of a sad story. However anyone touched by this story can only gain from the strength and commitment of those that helped to bring it to a wider audience.
Up Front 10/05
October is awash with food festivals. Not only is there Great British Food Fortnight, Seafood Week and British Cheese Week but locally there are food festivals in South Somerset, Exmoor and Dorset, as well as a liberal sprinkling of Apple Days throughout the month. Which makes it an opportune time for a new Government initiative to promote healthy eating in our schools. At the Labour Party conference in Brighton, education secretary Ruth Kelly is to announce new measures to curb the spread of junk food in schools. Turkey Twizzlers, as highlighted by Jamie Oliver in the Channel 4 series, Jamie’s School Dinners, are to banned, along with chicken nuggets and other ‘reformed’ meat products. Vending machines selling fizzy drinks, chocolates and crisps will also be banned and chips and ice cream are to be rationed. Fresh fruit and vegetables will be introduced with cafeteria-style lunch menus and head teachers will have to monitor the nutritional value of the food supplied to the children in their care. These changes will, of course, be ideal fodder for those that complain about a nanny state, but as government initiatives go, this one is not before its time. After decades of sophisticated marketing it may be hard to educate many of the parents who have grown up with the ease of processed, microwavable fast foods – perhaps the children will come home from school and help change perceptions. I may just have to dig out the research that suggested a glass of red wine and a bar of chocolate was healthy, and keep it on hand when little (or not so little) fingers start wagging.
Wally Weeks MBE
Wally Weeks was born in Shawford, Hampshire in 1948 and now lives in Godmanstone, in the Cerne Valley, Dorset. Wally is a chartered civil engineer, and works as a consultant specializing in public water supply. He was awarded an MBE in May 2005, for his work in Iraq, restoring war-damaged water supplies. Wally takes up the story:
‘Born into a railway family, I grew up in the age of steam. My grandfather, who was originally from Poole, was a steam train driver who regularly drove the ‘Bournemouth Belle’ to and from Waterloo. My father rose through the ranks at the Eastleigh railway works, and was a manager during the time that the renowned Merchant Navy, West Country, and Battle of Britain classes of locomotives were built. A beautiful example of that locomotive can be seen chuffing along the line between Corfe Castle and Swanage.
Christened Warwick, my schoolmates shortened my name to Wally, which seems to have stuck. There have been moments when I have had to remind folks that I was not christened a real Wally! School was an ordeal until 15, when fortunately a new physics teacher inspired my class. With a simple practical demonstration, I remember him showing the difference between temperature and heat. From then on, I began to find science exciting, and my career path was set.
After graduating from Salford University in 1972, I took a job in the Water Works Department at Bath Corporation. The Corporation was later amalgamated into Wessex Water Authority, who transferred me to the Dorchester area. Working in the Wessex Water region was a marvellous learning experience, and formed the basis of knowledge for my international career. Whilst working in Dorchester, I acquired the old milking barn at Field Farm, Godmanstone, one of a group of dilapidated farm buildings, which had permission for conversion to a dwelling. The flint-walled structure provided some “grand design” challenges, but now seems to be a blend of old character together with more modern creature comforts. I carried out quite a lot of the building work myself, between international assignments.
Since 1981 I have worked mainly overseas, and mostly on assignments for the British Government. I have had the opportunity to work in five continents, and in numerous countries, providing assistance in the water sector. Sometimes the assignments are large, working in cities with populations of millions, and sometimes working in remote rural areas on small self help projects. The nature of the work has shifted over time, from construction of new water systems to more institutional reform projects. Usually the technical solutions are straightforward, but encouraging local utilities to run efficiently and reliably can be much more of a challenge.
More recently I have been working in Iraq, and for those duties was awarded an MBE. I found working with the Iraqis an absolute joy. They were hardworking, very keen to learn new technology, and eager to carry out works to improve their standard of water supply. My team and I would suggest ideas, and the Iraqis would contribute and make them better, thus leading to the perfect solution, with the ownership anchored with the Iraqis, where it belonged. This desire for innovation and motivation to succeed is not always found in developing countries.
My Canadian-born wife Pat and I like to join in and support village life whenever we are in Godmanstone. Our contributions are a bit intermittent, but we try to be involved in community life when we are home. I served as Chairman of the Village Hall Committee during the late 1990s, and am currently supporting the campaign to calm the traffic through the centre of the village. We have a son called Dwight in Canada, who is married to Tracy, with a grandson Joshua who is two years old. I still have family in Hampshire whom I regularly visit.
I am not planning to retire. I hope to visit Nova Scotia soon to find the grave of my great uncle, Sydney Holloway, who perished on the Titanic. Uncle Sydney, who was 20, boarded the Titanic in Southampton as an assistant clothes presser. I’m looking forward to finding out more about his life.’
Sir Ranulph Fiennes – Living Dangerously
Sir Ranulph Fiennes talks to Fergus Byrne
Sir Ranulph Fiennes is one of the world’s top inspirational and motivational speakers and he will be speaking at St Anthony’s Leweston near Sherborne at the end of September.
Part of a series of talks organised by Minnie Churchill, Wendy Hannam and others, the evening promises to be an entertaining journey through tales of adventure, as well as a source of inspiration to anyone lucky enough to attend.
Sir Ranulph has been described by the Guinness Book of Records as the ‘World’s Greatest Living Explorer’. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales called him, ‘mad but marvellous’, and the chief executive of the multinational conglomerate Unilever said after hearing him speak, “I have attended a number of keynote speeches to the UK Marketing Forum. We have had top-level business leaders, the best educationists, knights of the realm and American gurus. None of them approached your address to us in range, content or inspiration. On rare occasions, something happens that one feels will live in memory for years to come and your address to us emphatically fits into this category.”
Born in England in 1944 and brought up in Africa, he joined the Scots Greys before moving to the elite SAS regiment. He is said to have been dismissed from the regiment for blowing up a section of the film set of Doctor Dolittle in Castle Coombe in Wiltshire. After a period with the Sultan of Oman’s forces, where he won the Sultan’s Bravery Medal, he began leading the expeditions that would make him a household name.
Today Sir Ranulph Fiennes is an inspiring speaker, tirelessly working to raise money for various charities. He has raised millions of pounds for Multiple Sclerosis and Heart Disease and has inspired many with debilitating illnesses to persevere through difficult times. Although to many he is an effective icon of bravery, a need to inspire is not something that drives him. Referring to some of his most recent adventures he told me: “I took part in the Everest trip and the 7x7x7 marathons for a number of different reasons, including an ongoing desire to raise cash for chosen charities. If, as a result of these projects, anyone who reads about them is helped in their own challenges, that is an additional bonus.”
Photographer Martin Hartley, who’s photographs from various exotic locations around the world have uniquely captured the majesty of nature, cites Sir Ranulph as a key influence on his career. “He is the ‘Clint Eastwood’ of the polar world without doubt” said Martin. “You’d always want him on your side. When I saw him ‘in action’, ice climbing in the Alps, I could see something about him that defines him and possibly guides him through his hardships; and it is a simple combination of sheer determination, focus and willpower.” Martin, who himself has seen some extreme conditions on his photographic journeys went on to pay tribute to Sir Ranulph’s ability to persevere under duress. “His breathtaking ability to carry on when his physical being is under the kind of extreme duress that would make most people crumble instantly and his uncompromising determination to get ‘the job done’ is what I find most inspiring.”
In between adventures Sir Ranulph has also managed to write numerous highly successful books, including his autobiography Living Dangerously, The Feather Men, Secret Hunters and the bestselling biography Captain Scott. One journalist remarked that he ‘slotted books into his schedule the way most of us make time for lattes or movies: in the downtime when nothing else is pressing.’
His most recent effort to climb Everest may not have been one hundred per cent successful – despite reaching over 27,000 feet he was forced to turn back only hours from the summit – but that doesn’t detract from the main point of the expedition, to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. Sir Ranulph, President of the Ranulph Fiennes Healthy Hearts Appeal, said: “I know first-hand the life-changing difference that research makes – my own heart bypass operation saved my life and has allowed me to carry on doing the things I love.”
Although he hardly needs any more adventure in his life Sir Ranulph is keeping his future plans close to his chest. When we asked him whether there were any challenges he would like to tackle in the future he replied: “I am working on one or two personal aims for possible future challenges but none are definitely on the cards as yet.”
Though he claims to have had a ‘soft’ childhood and was bullied at school, Sir Ranulph Fiennes has more than proved himself an extraordinary human being. His family motto is ‘Look for a Brave Spirit’. This motto may well ring in the ears of many who admire him but it will have a special meaning for those who aspire to create a greater contribution to their own legacy. Those that will strive to push themselves that extra mile, whether for personal goals or to help others.
Julia Mear
Julia Mear grew up on Fawnsmoor Farm in Axminster, Devon, a holding farmed by her family for three generations. She now lives a few miles away at Kilmington. Julia takes up the story:
“I’ve lived in the picturesque village of Kilmington for ten years. It’s a traditional East Devon village, with a friendly community. It still has two thatched pubs, and a village shop that has been owned by the same family for over one hundred years. The things that are important to any community are still here: the school, church, chapel, farm shop, filling station and garage. The village cricket team, which has had only three secretaries during the past hundred years, is an asset.
I have a close family network around me, and I’ve always enjoyed listening to individual family stories – it’s so important to discover where we come from and how our families lived. It grounds us and gives us a sense of who we are. I’m now in my early thirties and my life is quite different from my forebears.
My grandmother (nan) grew up on local farms where they had all kinds of animals: pigs, sheep, cows, hens and two carthorses, Smart and Duke, who did all the heavy farm work. Nan was very fond of the animals, and as a child she was known to nurse the odd orphaned piglet under her bed. Nan became the first woman chairman of Axminster Young Farmers Club. During a railway strike, probably in the 1930s, no milk could be taken out of Axminster, so great grandfather opened a shop in Chard Street, Fawnsmoor Dairy. Until recently the sign could still be faintly seen.
Nan married a local farmer in 1936; he was originally from Ashill in Somerset. They had four children and farmed at Fawnsmoor until the late 1960s, then my mum and dad ran it as a dairy farm.
My mum’s family was one of the first to be housed in the American- built Nissen huts at Millwey Rise, Axminster. The huts were provided as temporary accommodation in 1948, at the end of World War Two.
My mum’s father was an AA man (Automobile Association) on the Axminster to Bridport beat, posted at Hunters Lodge. He started his AA work in 1950 with a yellow BSA motorcycle and sidecar, and later, a yellow mini van. It was the custom for AA men to salute all motorists displaying the AA badge.
My own childhood, growing up at Fawnsmoor with my sister and brother, brings back fond memories. In the winter of 1976 we were snowed in and had to take our milk up our winding lane for the tanker to collect. The highlight of all this was being taken to our local primary school on the tractor and trailer – we were the envy of all our school friends.
I went on to Colyton Grammar School but found it quite inconvenient when exams coincided with haymaking time; I always wanted to be helping collect the hay bales from the fields before it was too dark, as it was bound to rain the next day.
After school, and a few short-term jobs, I set off to work as an au pair in Morges, Switzerland, looking after three French-speaking young children. At first, we communicated using signs and drawing pictures, but by the end of the year my French was fairly good. It was great to learn another language. I returned home to attend nursing college in Winchester but only lasted a few months. I missed life in Switzerland, so returned again the following year.
When I came back to Axminster I worked as a nanny for a family with four lively children. I loved working with children, but felt I wanted a more permanent career. Ten years ago, I started work with Axminster Power Tool Centre and now work part-time as Human Resources Manager.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a keen interest in black and white photography, a passion shared with my grandad. But most of my time is spent with my beautiful two-year old son, Jack. Yesterday, we were over at the fields picking blackberries and exploring the wildlife. For me, farming and family life in Devon will always be very special.”
Up Front 09/05
It is often said that a little scepticism can be a good thing. The Public Library of Science (PLoS), a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world’s scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource, recently highlighted the fact that we really shouldn’t believe everything we read. According to John Ioannidis, a researcher at the Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece, most published research findings may be false. One of the factors he cites in his paper is that financial and other interests and prejudices can lead to untrue results. The greater the financial and other interests and prejudices in a scientific field, the less likely the research findings are to be true. Conflicts of interest and prejudice may increase bias, and according to the report, conflicts of interest are very common in biomedical research. Also, ‘the hotter a scientific field (with more scientific teams involved), the less likely the research findings are to be true,’ which may explain why we sometimes see ‘major excitement followed rapidly by severe disappointments in fields that draw wide attention.’ To anyone who has worked at the higher levels of the corporate ladder this is not rocket science – some call it spin and in the pursuit of market share, be it business or government, skewed research findings have become an acceptable weapon. My extra sceptical friend down the road, however, is not fooled by Mr Ioannidis’s findings – he thinks we should take them with a pinch of salt.
Chris Marston
Chris Marston has lived at Charmouth for twenty two years. Her parents, originally from Leicester, came to farm in the Axminster area fifty years ago. Chris takes up the story.
“I love living in Charmouth. The village is beautiful with it’s painted cottages and thatch, and the shops are quite delightful, well stocked and full of surprises. My home is by the sea, it must be one of the smallest cottages in Dorset, but it’s all I need, and I’ve been able to do most of the upkeep myself. The garden is small and full of flowers. I also look after my neighbour’s garden and get great enjoyment raising plants from seed, especially vegetables. There’s nothing like fresh food from a good garden, tasty and totally organic. But this year I’m concerned about the lack of bees and butterflies.
I can’t bear waste. I try to recycle every thing possible, in fact, my dustbin wasn’t emptied for a month, due to oversight by the collectors. It was still only half full due to my neighbour’s wonderful composting system.
As a child, brought up on a farm, I was aware that things were done according to seasons, ploughing, sowing and harvesting. I left school in 1949 to work as an under matron at a boy’s school. After bringing up my four children, I worked as a craft instructor for Social Services visiting people with disabilities, in their homes. When I first moved to Charmouth I got a job at the local Cheshire home for children.
In 1989 I decided to look into the possibility of further education. I got a place on an access course at the Co-operative College in Loughborough. This was really enjoyable, and although I’d never thought about going further, I soon realised more was possible. I then went on to Brookes University to study Anthropology and Sociology and threw myself into the wonderful world of learning, graduating just before I was sixty.
Although life in Charmouth is idyllic it has given me time to ponder. My university studies encouraged me to look at wider issues, and concerns that now affect us all – in particular the environment, the over consumption of the West, and the kind of world we are leaving for our grandchildren. Many of my friends share the same concerns.
Simple pleasures are within easy reach, Bridport, Lyme Regis and Axminster are not far away – there always lots of things to do: yoga, swimming, and singing workshops can be a sheer delight. I’ve met some lovely folk and made some wonderful friends. People in this area seem to be non-ageist and non-sexist, which is just as well in the circumstances.
Up Front 08/05
Anyone who has lived in America will know the importance of having a car. Unless you live in a city with good public transport you’re unlikely to get anywhere without your own wheels. That’s why so many car dealers there are quick to set up payment plans for their clients. A while back they came up with a unique method of dealing with that universal of problems – the late payer. Chuck Lutes, owner of Affordable Auto Sales in Florida, installs a device on every car he sells that alerts drivers when they have a payment due. Day by day, the alert gets increasingly insistent and on the fifth day, the car won’t start. Lutes says the device, called On Time/Payment Protection Systems, has dramatically increased customers’ on-time payments. According to his computer data files, only 65 percent of his customers were making payments on time before he installed the system. Now, about 95 percent of his accounts are current. As soon as a payment is made, the customer is given a code to punch into the module that stops the alerts until the next payment comes due. The device will not shut a car down while it’s in operation. If the payment is five days late, it simply won’t start again. Shockingly there are people even in the West Country that are slow to pay their bills. I’d be interested to hear readers’ ideas on possible alert systems for local slow payers. Could we get Harry Potter style invoices that shout at you and set fire to your desk when you don’t pay on time?
Claire Harvey
Claire Harvey was born in South Brent on the edge of Dartmoor, but moved to East Devon at an early age. Here, her family run a dairy farm at Musbury near Axminster and Claire looks back fondly at her childhood years, growing up in this friendly community.
‘I especially remember my early years at Musbury Primary School in the early 1990s, and this has probably led to my choice of a career in childcare. After leaving Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis I spent some time travelling through France and Spain. I’m now 22 and have just completed a two-year National Diploma course in childcare, at Exeter College, with work placement. I hope to find employment in a local nursery; I’m quite creative and like to make things with the kids – we made a cardboard train this week.
Living in the countryside has heightened my concern over conservation issues and I’m keen to promote the safeguarding of natural resources, through recycling and the use of environmentally friendly materials. I tend to use alternative rather than conventional therapies, especially herbal remedies. I’ve worked part-time in Ganesha, a local health shop, for about seven years.
I love animals; I’m passionate about cats. I enjoy reading and walking in the countryside, particularly in the area around Lyme Regis. I also have an interest in photography.’
St Catherine’s Chapel
St Catherine’s Chapel has stood on top of Chapel Hill, overlooking the village of Abbotsbury, for over six hundred years. A prominent landmark in the countryside, it can be seen when approaching Abbotsbury along the coast road.
The monks of Abbotsbury Abbey built the chapel from the local golden stone at the end of the fourteenth century. It is of massive construction with substantial stone buttresses and parapet walls. No timber was used in its building, presumably to avoid the risk of fire from a lightning strike in this exposed hill-top position. Centuries of weathering by salt-laden winds have rounded all the sharp angles on the stonework.
The use of the building as a lookout tower and as a prominent seamark for mariners meant that it survived the demolition and stone robbing following the dissolution of Abbotsbury Abbey in 1539.
The chapel is a poignant reminder of Abbotsbury’s monastic past. It is dedicated to St Catherine, who is believed to have lived in the fourth century in Alexandria. Beautiful and well-educated, she was converted to Christianity by a monk. Maximinus, Caesar of Egypt and Syria, held pagan beliefs and ordered the local populace, in Alexandria, to attend a ritual sacrifice. Catherine persuaded others not to attend and ended up being imprisoned.
Curious to find out more about Catherine, Maximinus’s wife visited her in prison and ended up being converted to Christianity. Maximinus, on learning of this, ordered Catherine to be tortured on revolving wheels. These shattered during the torture and Maximinus had her beheaded. According to legend the wound flowed with milk, not blood, and angels carried her body to a grave on Mount Sinai. Catherine was a popular Saint when the chapel was built and there are other examples of hilltop chapels being dedicated to her. St Catherine has been adopted by unmarried young women as their patron saint and Dorset folklore has it that local women visit the Chapel to invoke St Catherine’s help in finding a husband:
A husband, St Catherine,
A handsome one, St Catherine,
A rich one, St Catherine,
A nice one, St Catherine,
And soon, St Catherine.
A walk from Abbotsbury to the top of Chapel Hill is necessary for a detailed inspection of this impressive building. Anyone making the ascent on a clear day will also be rewarded with magnificent views to the east over the Fleet to the Isle of Portland, and across Lyme Bay to Tor Bay in the west.
Entering through the north porch with its steeply pitched stone slab roof, you find yourself in the main part of the chapel. Despite the colossal construction of the building with its 4 ft thick walls, the interior is only some 42 ft long by 14 ft wide. The barrel-vaulted ceiling is constructed of stone, split into eight main bays by moulded ribs. Each bay is further split into two ranges of three panels with cinquefoil heads. Between the panels there are carved bosses, the details of which have become indistinct with age. It is believed that the ceiling was originally painted and as such would have been indistinguishable from a conventional timber ceiling.
The east window in the chapel is the only one to retain its stone tracery. The window is of 3 cinquefoil lights with vertical tracery in a two-centred head. On each side of this window are stone brackets, one of which must surely have held a statue of St Catherine.
On the north west corner of the chapel there is a distinctive octagonal tower which projects above the level of the parapet walls and provides access to the roof. There is also a small chapel at the top of the tower with windows looking out over the surrounding countryside. This tower may be one of the reasons for the siting of the chapel. The area at the time was suffering from raids on the coast by the French, and a lookout point was needed. The abbey also wished to reinforce its position in the community. So what better way than to build an imposing building looking down on the mediaeval lynchet field strips being cultivated by the abbey’s tenants on the slopes of Chapel Hill?
The chapel is in the care of English Heritage. When visiting at reasonable times of the day I have always found it to be open—but to be sure, check on the English Heritage Web site (www.english-heritage.org.uk).
Sources: St Catherine’s Chapel at Abbotsbury and the legend of the saint – published by Abbotsbury Music; The 1952 Royal Commission Inventory of the Historic Monuments in Dorset (Volume 1 – West Dorset).
Story and photograph by John Culshaw
