Dorset pub philosophy: Or, you could once be killed for talking about this sort of thing
THIS is a story about remarkable things. Firstly, in glorious defiance of the recession, courses costing at least £265 per person start in West Dorset later this month on the subject of the Mythic Imagination – things like daimons, fairylore, and the otherworld (“the neglected Western tradition of soul-making… described by Plato”). The first weekend course has already sold out.
The second remarkable thing is that this seemingly arcane tradition in fact links West Dorset to phenomena including the sex life of Sir Walter Ralegh, the birth of the British Empire and the Vietnam War…
Let’s start in Long Street, Cerne Abbas, with this former bakery, named Raleigh House in an anecdotal village guide put together by the Cerne Abbas Historical Society.
“In the early 1600s,” the guide states, “Sir Walter Raleigh was summoned to Saint Mary’s parish church on a minor ecclesiastical offence. It has been told that before the meeting, the family invited Sir Raleigh [sic] to rest in their home from his journey to Cerne Abbas. Thus the name remains to celebrate their famous visitor.”
A nice enough English village story, but is it true?
Sweet Sir Walter Ralegh
Sir Walter Ralegh was a lusty man, nicknamed ‘Swisser Swatter’ after the cries supposedly moaned by a woman with whom he was heard vigorously swiving. Try saying ‘Sweet Sir Walter’ in a faster and faster rhythm and see what you end up with… read more…
Note added 10.45am Friday, February 5: Dorset Police reiterate their belief that firearms were not involved. They are still hunting for two or perhaps three men.
The account in today’s Dorset Echo of what happened at Court Farm in Buckland Newton seems the most reliable published so far. An interview with farmer Martin Perrett backtracks on stories published in the Echo on Thursday.
“Mr Perrett said it was dark with bright headlights so although he had initially thought the raiders used a firearm, police now believed it was a projectile weapon like a ‘high-powered catapult’ as no cartridges had been found.”
Update added 9am Thursday, February 4: Dorset Police are continuing to search for two or perhaps three men.
It’s now thought unlikely that firearms were involved in the initial alleged attempted burglary in Buckland Newton.
Acting on “a postive line of enquiry,” officers have searched an address in Dorchester.
The 40-year-old man arrested is from Somerset. He has been released on police bail while investigations carry on.
First report: DORSET POLICE are appealing for witnesses to come forward after an alleged attempted burglary on the outskirts of Buckland Newton, between Dorchester and Sherborne – with officers asking the public to look out for the men responsible.
Officers are advising members of the public that the men may be dangerous and that witnesses should not approach them, but call the police immediately on 999.
Police attended Court Farmhouse at 2am, today, Wednesday, 3 February 2010, following a report that three or four men had made off on foot after an attempted burglary.
Officers, assisted by the force helicopter and dog handlers, immediately began a search of the area.
Although no-one has been injured, it is believed that the men may have possession of a firearm. Armed officers have been deployed, as is normal in such circumstances.
The suspects were initially tracked by the force helicopter from the C12 Old Sherborne Road, across fields, in the direction of Alton Pancras.
The men were then seen in the vicinity of the B3143 – with one man being arrested in Pulham.
Officers are now following positive lines of enquiry in order to detain the remaining two or three men.
Superintendent Wes Trickey, of Dorset Police’s county division, said: “Officers continue to search for the remaining men and key areas are being contained.
“The men have been running from police for over seven hours now and they will clearly be tired, dishevelled, wet and muddy.
“I understand that these men may be wearing camouflage-style clothing and it’s also possible that they have been discarding this clothing while on the run – this will have left them inappropriately dressed for the wet weather.
“If members of the public notice anyone matching that description and anyone running, hiding or acting in a suspicious or unusual way, then I would urge them to call us straight away.
“Do not approach these men – officers are nearby and they will be able to respond immediately.
“Fortunately, the occupants of the address were not hurt during this incident – it also appears that nothing has been stolen.”
A 40-year-old man has been arrested and enquiries are ongoing.
Witnesses and anyone who sees the men who they believe to be those responsible should dial 999 immediately. Anyone else with other information about those responsible should contact Dorset Police in confidence on 01305 222 222.
An open letter to readers of Real West Dorset
OVER the last few days I’ve been stopped several times by people keen to tell me that they have discovered Real West Dorset – and they enjoy it. I have also had several emails from people saying they like reading it. I can’t quote from some of those emails because they were marked Personal – Not for Publication, as if visiting here were a guilty pleasure. Which perhaps it is! I don’t mind. We all know that guilty pleasures can be the ones we care most about.
I only mention these communications because I noticed this morning that there are now 100 articles on this site, (this is actually the 101st), so now seems as good a time as any to pause for a few remarks.
Firstly, I would like to thank all readers of this site and everyone who has contributed to it. I have done almost nothing to promote it, but the number of readers per month is now well into four figures, which, for a new local independent site, is very gratifying.
Secondly, some of my correspondents, even though they like it, have been wondering what exactly this site is. It’s a good question. The best answer is still: It’s an experiment. In terms of its content, there is nothing quite like it anywhere else in the country (I can say this with a fair bit of confidence because I have spent a long, long time looking at other local blogs and websites in Britain, Europe and America).
Thirdly, some of my correspondents have obviously been asking themselves whether “this very promising development” will survive. Answer: it will, in some shape, either as an island or bridged to other forms. All sorts of people have come to talk to me about all sorts of possibilities; merging its flow of content into a new newspaper or magazine, trying different sorts of print offshoots, allying with other websites…
But there are no adverts, I know people think. True, at the moment, there are no adverts, and few may appear in the future, but this week, if all goes to plan, the whole structure of the site will change and the first advert scheduled to appear will be for The Bookshop on Marine Parade in Lyme Regis, which is very small but crammed with quality.
I went there to take some pictures. I’ll talk through some of these briefly because it might help to explain a few points about this site. (Equally, it might turn out to be a load of boring / pretentious / self-indulgent tosh but let’s see). This was the first, rather hopeless effort:
It’s a window. So what? Look more closely and it starts to get a bit more interesting:
Once you’ve been poor you don’t forget it. Creativity is born of constraints. So, let’s move round to the other side of the window.
That’s slightly better. The picture is opening up to reflect different positions; I like the mystery man lurking in the hat, posed with the front cover of The Open Society and Its Enemies (by Karl Popper).
And what happens if you get inside the window?
It looks like a dodgy video shop, says my wife. I was rather startled by this remark. I don’t know what you think…
I’d rather describe it – and this has only just occurred to me – as an invitation to curiosity.
I think that, I suspect, because that’s how I still see West Dorset…
And now I wonder: is this site an invitation to curiosity?
Not as much as it could be, perhaps. Which is why it’s good to hear from people privately and publicly.
So, please keep visiting, and if you ever want to get in touch, to comment or to contribute, please do. It makes a big difference and I just know that there are interesting things about West Dorset that you – yes, you – could tell us about. I look forward very much to hearing from you…
FOR years parents whose children go to Loders School have found it hard to resist raising an awful question.
Generally discussed in playground-style huddles, this question has long given a delicious frisson of dread.
It is: What will happen when headmaster Mike Kite finally decides to retire?
Loders School
Last year when Loders was inspected by Ofsted, this small village school near Bridport was found to be outstanding in every respect.
“Many [parents] commented on the inspirational leadership of the headteacher and it is this that provides the key to the school’s success. The headteacher has a positive ‘can do’ attitude and this permeates through the whole school from the headteacher himself to staff, governors, parents and children. No problem is too big to be surmounted.”
The problem now is that the time has finally come when Mr Kite, aged 62, has decided that he wishes to work rather less intensively than he has for the last 25 years.
His first plan – as explained in a letter – was to retire altogether in July.
But as everyone concerned with the school is reluctant to let him go – as some of what makes Loders special would inevitably go with him – another course of action is first being explored.
Loders has become the first school in Dorset to advertise for a Co-Head, that is, effectively, a job-sharing arrangement. It is, as Mr Kite says, unusual but by no means unique. About 40 other schools nationwide have co-heads.
The aim of Loders’ governors is to set up a mechanism for succession, an extended handover. It will be fascinating to see whether they succeed, at a time when a survey just last week found “a dire shortage of applicants” for headteachers’ jobs. More than a third of primary schools (35%) have to re-advertise.
If no co-head of sufficient calibre can be found for Loders, then Mr Kite will retire in July, and the school’s headship will be re-advertised on a conventional basis.
“Whichever route is taken,” says Mr Kite, “you can be sure that the governors will do an extremely thorough job – second-best is not an acceptable option for Loders School.”
More details of what’s proposed can be found on the dorsetforyou website.
Editor’s Note: I should say that when I qualified as a teacher, Mr Kite was one of my mentors, and I looked up to him as a flicker of light does to a star…
Bridport: Urgent plea for help to keep award-winning community recycling project going
Editor’s Note: This is a copy of a letter being sent out by Mr Edwards of Bridport TLC to parish councils in the Bridport area. Will they be able and willing to provide support, or could it already be too late? This is the time of year when parish councils finalise their budgets and decide how much to charge their council tax payers. If no help is provided, it looks like Bridport TLC may soon have to close. More will follow on this story.
BRIDPORT TLC is at a crossroads. Our volunteer-led community recycling project is now in its fifth year, having implemented a wide range of reduce, re-use and recycle schemes aimed at supporting the wider Bridport population to ‘do their bit’ and collectively we have kept over 1,000 tons of materials out of Dorset landfill sites.
We consistently reach the top three in National Community Recycling Awards, are the present West Dorset District Council ‘Environmental Champions’, and only last month came runner-up in the Resource/Novelis Community Project awards.
Bridport TLC needs stronger community backing
We know that we (27 active volunteers) are an asset to local businesses and organisations as well as a growing army of individuals from all local parishes who bring in some of the additional recyclable materials that we collect and process – from plastic wrappings and waste cooking oil to milk bottle tops and electrical items – but now need to know if we have full community support before deciding whether to keep going. Contrary to popular belief the financial fundraising from waste materials is very small, particularly when concentrated on a local level as our project is.
To this end we are writing to all local Parish Councils asking for a) indication of support and b) contributions towards the not-insignificant costs of providing the services we provide. As well as local Councils we are seeking feedback and support from other community organisations, needing responses by March 1st to gauge whether we continue from April 1st. If your organisation can support us by pledging a grant/donation for the next financial year, or sponsor a specific area of cost (see below) we may yet continue to operate and will highlight your support on our website and elsewhere.
Our basic running costs are £18,750 per annum of which £15,000 is raised through membership of our collections scheme, donations and the small returns on recyclable materials. Since Jack & Ollies Crisp factory closed we can no longer raise funds through biodiesel sales but the shortfall over the last two years was met with a one-off grant from Grassroots Awards and we include a breakdown of our running costs attached.
DEFRA recently published research highlighting the major contribution that Third Sector Waste Organisations such as ours make to their communities, from productive volunteer placements and community ‘feel good’ factor to environmental and financial benefits to the wider community – showing that every pound invested invested in them is worth up to £5.89 to the local economy.
With the HWRC [Household Waste Recycling Centre] in South Street due to close this summer we need to know whether we can keep going or be swamped with materials we do not have the time or personnel to deal with. We could continue our work towards Zero Waste if we could meet the shortfall in our running costs and purchase a replacement collections vehicle as ours is on its last wheels. Understandably, having already contributed over 16,000 volunteer hours and nearly £18,000 of our own finances and fundraising since 2005, unless we know we have wider public support we feel our significant efforts and achievements are not worth continuing.
Having already introduced bicycle rickshaws, the gull-proof bin bag, a Scrapstore, an affordable waste reduction scheme for businesses, behavioural change promotions, community biodiesel production and plastics recycling to Bridport we are keen to develop more beneficial schemes including community composting and collection ‘hubs’ in surrounding villages. Please support the ‘do-ers’ because we can’t do it on our own anymore.
We would be most grateful if you could give this letter your full consideration.
In Sincerity
Leon Edwards
Project Co-ordinator (Volunteer)
Annual Running Costs of Bridport TLC
- Rents & Water Rates (£1,211pcm), £14,532.00
- Rates (100% Rate relief WDDC), £ NIL
- Full Public Liability Insurance, £ 1,263.68
- Vehicle Insurance, £290.00
- Vehicle Tax & MOT, £260.00
- Electricity, £456.00
- Volunteer Expenses @ £25 pw, £1,300.00
- Baler Servicing & Twine, £166.00
- Office: Phone, Postage & Admin., £480.00
- TOTAL, £18,747.68
BRIDPORT 1/D/09/002009 & 1/D/09/002010 Conservation area and listed building. Satellite dish Electric Palace, South Street (From the latest list of planning applications issued by West Dorset District Council)
It's amazing what you can do these days: An artist's impression of the proposed Electric Palace satellite dish. Reproduced with permission.
THIS is a cool idea. Honestly, it is. The 1.2m satellite dish proposed for the south wall of the Electric Palace is not just any old dish. It is bespoke.
It will take in feeds from the National Theatre in London and the Metropolitan Opera in New York and let audiences watch live performances on the Palace’s cinema screen. The picture quality is said to be fantastic.
First up, if planning permission is granted in time by West Dorset District Council, and if a few other issues are sorted out, there should be a new operatic production of Hamlet with “an extended mad scene… amongst the greatest in opera”. So the Metropolitan Opera promises for March 27…
Next on April 22 should be Alan Bennet’s new play The Habit of Art, about WH Auden and Benjamin Britten, from the National Theatre in London.
It was the Met in New York that first got this idea of worldwide transmission going, and it’s been copied by the National’s supremo Nicholas Hytner because he wants to provide greater access to top-class work.
His line: “I grew up in Manchester in the 60s. If I had been able to see Olivier’s National Theatre at my local cinema, I would have gone all of the time.”
Apparently it costs the National about £50,000 to broadcast a performance, and the experiment has been criticised as misguided and inevitably inferior, because there cannot be the same flow of feeling between audience and performers, but it seems to me that the Palace should be congratulated for trying to join in. Bridport needs more bold moves.
Note added 10.41am, January 29: I’ve just spoken to Gabrielle Hitchen at the Electric Palace and she told me that was planning to speak to the Met and the National Theatre today. So the Palace’s plans could become a bit more definite later.
Lyme Regis: Playwright Ann Jellicoe to be guest of honour at fundraising literary luncheon
ONE OF Lyme’s best-known residents, the playwright Ann Jellicoe, will be guest of honour at a luncheon in aid of the town Museum on 4 February at the Alexandra Hotel when she will talk on “Trials and Triumphs: a Life in Theatre.”
A long time supporter of the Museum, and at one time co-curator with her friend, the author John Fowles, Ann Jellicoe trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She was a central figure at London’s Royal Court Theatre in the sixties, taking the theatrical world by storm with The Knack: it subsequently played, and still plays, all round the world, and was made into an award-winning film which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
She will also talk of her work in developing Community Plays: a new form which aims to involve as many people from the whole community as possible, working together in setting up and acting a very large caste play about their own town. Many Lyme residents will remember her very first Community Play The Reckoning in 1978. Written and directed by Ann Jellicoe, it told the story of the part played by the town in the Monmouth Rebellion. Its huge success led her to set up the Colway Theatre Trust with its subsequent development of Community Plays throughout the West Country and beyond. In 1984 came the second Lyme play, The Western Women, about the remarkable role played by women in the Siege of Lyme. For this work she was awarded the OBE.
Ever the innovator, she gave a one-woman dramatised reading of The Western Women at the Marine Theatre two years ago. Of this performance, given when she was 80 years old, the Town Mill’s journal said: “This was genius…such an evening is very rare and we were privileged to be part of it.”
Ann Jellicoe has been at the cutting edge of theatre in this country for the past 50 years. She has a fascinating tale to tell, and guests will have a unique opportunity to question her on all aspects of her work: writing, acting, directing, or creating theatre of the people, for the people, by the people.
Reservations, £25 per person, must be pre-booked by lst February at the latest so that catering arrangements can be finalised.
For further information please contact me, Margaret Rose on 01297-445503.
Margaret Rose is Chairman of The Friends of Lyme Regis Museum
COMPOSER Rachel Leach has created a dramatic score to bring to life a silent film made in Bridport in the late 1930s.
Dope Under Thorncombe, a melodrama based around West Bay, was made by local people under the direction of amateur filmmaker Frank Trevett.
His daughter, Vivienne Smith, pictured with the camera that captured the story, handed the film over to rural media charity Trilith for safekeeping.
Trilith’s Trevor Bailey said: “It was shot on 9.5mm film, the amateur’s favourite film choice in the 1930s. It was an amazing project for local people to take on and has been crying out to be given its own special music and to be seen more widely.”
The film receives its musical premiere at Bridport Arts Centre on February 11 at 7.30pm.
Mrs Smith, who lives in Bridport, said: “My father bought the cine camera when my brother, Rex Trevett, was born and that was in 1933 for filming the family. Dad was very keen on his hobbies – he’d throw himself with much enthusiasm into any hobby.
“He liked using his cine camera and thought he’d like to do something different to filming the family.”
Thriller writer Andrew Spiller, who lived locally, offered to write the story, which is about dope smuggling under Thorncombe Beacon. Frank Trevett, who was a hairdresser, enlisted his family and friends for the starring roles.
“They did it purely for their own pleasure, their own enjoyment,” Mrs Smith said.
“They would be so thrilled to think that it is going to be seen. Dad would be so pleased, they all would be, that it hasn’t been lost and forgotten.”
Rachel Leach previously worked with Trilith on a ‘radio ballad’, which combined music and the memories of people who worked in Dorset cinemas in their great days.
She has worked with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Aldeburgh Festival, Glyndebourne Opera, Opera North and many others. Her music has been performed at major venues and she has created music for children and for BBC broadcasts.
West Dorset District Council and the PRS Foundation have funded Trilith to commission the music.
A live performance of the score and film can also be seen at Burton Bradstock on April 24. A recorded version at Eype Centre for the Arts is due to be staged on March 6.
The project has also seen the creation of a website that includes photographs and interviews with local people by journalist Margery Hookings. This will be officially launched later in the year.
Funding for this part of the project came from the new Digital Film Archive Fund, administered by South West Screen.
Trevor Bailey said: “The aim is to draw the website’s visitors from initial interest in the place or in the arts to fascination with films and vice versa. In tourism terms, it will promote the idea of coming to see where the film was shot.”
Tickets for the live premiere cost £6 and can be obtained from Bridport Arts Centre online at www.bridport-arts.com or by calling the box office on 01308 424204.
Note: 1) This is a lightly edited version of a press release issued by Trilith.
2) After the performance at Bridport Arts Centre, the editor of this site (Jonathan Hudston) will be looking to record interviews with members of the audience, to gather reaction to the show. So, if you go, and you’d like to have a chat afterwards, I’d be very pleased to meet you.
(Teatime write-up)
SO, AS looked increasingly likely all morning, the planning inquiry into Bridport’s biggest development scheme for 30 years was stopped before it ever got properly going.
Late on in the afternoon, planning inspector Simon Rawle decided that landowners Haywards did not have the right to appeal against West Dorset district councillors’ refusal to allow them to redevelop St Michael’s Trading Estate and South West Quadrant land surrounding it.
In very simplified terms, the reason given was that links between West Dorset District Council and Haywards meant that an appeal could not be heard without breaching planning regulations.
The cost of the now-aborted appeal is estimated to be nearly £10,000. Work on failed planning applications may have cost more than £300,000.
Peter Atfield, a consultant to Haywards, asked for his reaction to the squashing of the appeal, said: “It’s nothing printable.” He added that something would still have to be done about the state of St Michael’s trading estate, as it could not be allowed to continue as it was.
St Michael's Trading Estate: Improvements are needed
Bridport-based district councillor David Tett, a consistent supporter of regeneration plans for the South West Quadrant, said: “I am very disappointed. It’s put the whole process back several years to the detriment of the town and townspeople.”
He thought it was a shame that arguments for and against Haywards’ proposals did not get fully aired.
“To disallow the appeal just because of legal arguments – that doesn’t help anyone,” he said. Asked about what might happen in future, he replied: “I fear the worst.”
Artists who led the fight against what was planned said they too were “disappointed” not to be given a chance to put arguments with months of work and masses of conviction behind them. “We would have creamed it,” said Andrew Leppard.
But Mr Leppard also said that he felt sorry at the way things had turned out for Norman Hayward, whose family was noticeably angered by today’s unexpected turn of events.
Mr Leppard added: “I think the whole community now has to work with Haywards and the district council to come up with a more community-based approach, to increase the economy, the activity and the value of the land.”
(Lunchtime write-up)
ABOUT 40 people turned up this morning for the start of the appeal into Bridport’s historic South West Quadrant, which includes St Michael’s Trading Estate.
They heard more than two hours of abstruse but often intellectually exciting debate about whether the planning inquiry – scheduled to last at the Park Dean Holiday Park in West Bay until Friday – should be allowed to proceed.
South West Quadrant appeal documents for perusal at holiday park in West Bay
Landowners Haywards are appealing against West Dorset district councillors’ refusal to grant permission for redevelopment work including 175 new homes, and revamped business opportunities.
Haywards twice applied for permission for this scheme with West Dorset District Council (WDDC) , and it is the terms and repurcussions of that arrangement that were debated this morning and will be discussed again this afternoon.
Potentially the appeal could be stopped before it has even properly begun.
In very simplified terms, much hinges on whether WDDC should be regarded as a developer or not. WDDC said this morning it should, because (for example) even if it never planned to undertake any building work itself, “development is not just the physical manifestation and execution of that, it is the process that is gone through.”
If WDDC is regarded as a developer, planning regulations bite, and the appeal should be declared invalid.
But Haywards said this was unfair, because WDDC “invited and persuaded” Haywards to work with them, with Haywards understanding that regulations would not bite because the two parties remained essentially independent. As such Haywards should retain their indepedent right to appeal and the appeal should be declared valid.
The scheme being proposed is the biggest in Bridport for at least 30 years. Hundreds of livelihoods could depend on what the planning inspector Simon Rawle decides later today – or perhaps even tomorrow, such is the intensity of the debate.
If you’d like more immediate updates, you can follow RealWestDorset on Twitter. See link in top right hand corner of screen.
“The deep country is no longer a secret”: West Dorset revealed from the Osismii to Johnnie Boden
Review of Wytherston: A History of a Dorset Settlement, by T.P. Connor (£10, from www.wytherston.com)
WYTHERSTON is a hamlet about four miles north-east of Bridport. You can see what it means to most people by looking at this sign just up the road from there:
It means nothing. It’s a small place that has played very little part in the history of anything, and few people have ever lived there.
For Tim Connor, this made it all the more enticing. He wanted to know how much could be discovered about a settlement like this, and he found the answer to be: a surprisingly large amount.
As is nearly always the case in West Dorset, when places and people are properly approached, stories and connections of an unexpected kind appear.
Two record sleeves, two links to Wytherston. The first link is read more…
