Spirit of Place
Why is that some locations have a special place in our hearts? Is it the landscape, the people, the personal connection or the way some places can literally ground you to the here and now and also to the past Read more »
Margery Hookings
Land fit for Heroes
In 1882, legislation was started to enable Somerset County Council to acquire land for smallholdings. But it was not until the passing of the Smallholdings and Allotments Act of 1908 that Somerset began to create a smallholdings estate. Margery Hookings’ Read more »
Waffle – more than just talk
Margery Hookings is intrigued after receiving a phone call about an innovative project aimed at combating loneliness. She goes to East Devon to find out more. The wonderful sweet smell of waffles is the first thing your senses pick up Read more »
The Family Tree
A large group of us is sitting around a big table at Marsh Barn, on the outskirts of West Bay towards Burton Bradstock. I’ve been here before, to learn about family history with local expert Jane Ferentzi-Sheppard. I’ve done a Read more »
A Nest of Songbirds
Margery Hookings makes some musical connections when she discovers the raucous singing past of her local pub, The White Lion at Broadwindsor. When folksinger and folklorist Nick Dow visited West Dorset with his wife in the late 1980s, it Read more »
The Sound of Distant Drums
Margery Hookings has a go at drumming and meets the founder of Organic Rhythm to find out her story I’m in the parish hall at Ilminster where there’s a drumming session organised by Organic Rhythm. The sound of friendly chatter Read more »
Into the wide blue yonder
Margery Hookings meets young Bridport man Luke Shirley who leads horse trekking tours of Mongolia Photograph © Steve Luck Photography (www.steveluckphotography.co.uk) A lust for life and a quest for adventure have led a young Dorset man to set up an Read more »
At the Heart of the Community
The Plunkett Foundation’s Rural Community Ownership Awards are an annual celebration of the contribution community businesses make to creating resilient, thriving and inclusive rural communities. Broadwindsor Community Stores, which was nominated in the ‘Community Story of the Year’ category, is Read more »
Rowing Back the years
Margery Hookings is invited along to the launch of a very special boat at Hestercombe House and Gardens, near Taunton, where she meets the West Dorset team who created it. The punt glides through the calm water of a lake Read more »
An Oasis for Learning
A school garden project in the heart of Bridport won a special award this year at the Melplash Show. Margery Hookings visited the edible garden to find out more about it. She was very taken with what she saw. Photographs Read more »