Jim Goddard
I was born in April 1957 here on the farm, at Fairmile, beside the Old Sherborne Road. My father was drilling grass seed that day in a nearby field, in those days of course his presence only being required at Read more »
Author Archives: MV
Happy Midwinter Solstice
This heading may not roll off the tongue as readily as “Happy Christmas”, but celebrations of the solstice at the sunset on 20-22 December predated Christmas by some 4,500 years. Solstice celebrations have been found by archaeologists to have included Read more »
Christmas Cards
Any day now, they’re going to start arriving. It’s a widely recognised signal and a warning icon. It is just like the first cuckoo in Spring (although I haven’t heard any cuckoo in Dorset over the last ten years) or Read more »
Burning the Ashen Faggot
Midwinter fire ceremonies were once very popular in the UK, especially in rural communities. People gathered around the hearth in a noisy, joyous celebration, with the fire bringing light into the darkness of winter. These ceremonies probably have a pagan Read more »
People in Food Jonathan Hoskyns
From the end of June to the middle of November if you need to find Jonathan Hoskyns he will most likely be out in the orchards harvesting apples, or pears, and maybe some plums too. Owner of North Perrott Fruit Read more »
Vegetables in December
December is a great month to treat yourself by sitting in your comfiest chair with a cup of tea and sifting through the pages of seed catalogues to give you some inspiration for next year. It is the time that Read more »
December in the Garden
It certainly seems as if it’s done nothing but rain, for most of the autumn, which may have delayed some of the gardening activities which you’d like to have completed by now. While the ground is waterlogged, it does more Read more »
100 Years of Folk Dancing in Bridport
This year, Bridport Folk Dance Club celebrated its one-hundredth birthday. Monty Crook and Gwenda Selley take Margery Hookings through the minute books from the club’s formation to the thriving group it is today. It was Sir Thomas Beecham who Read more »
Alive & Kicking
Despite a general lack of noise about the arts in the run up to the next general election, internationally renowned ceramicist Kate Malone, one of the selectors for this year’s Marshwood Arts Awards, made a powerful statement when describing the Read more »
UpFront 11/19
Many years ago, whilst living in Seattle, I joined a boat trip around Lake Washington. A vast lake with a channel out to sea and the San Juan Islands beyond, it also hosted the home of Microsoft boss Bill Gates. Read more »