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 »
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 »
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 »
In October we looked at the rivers of Dorset, now let us look at some of the mills using the river water for hundreds of years. By the time of the Domesday Book there were many mills throughout the country, Read more »
Anna Golding went from being a landscape architect to a community dance teacher. Margery Hookings meets her to find out more. Photographs by Pete Millson The joy of dance is everywhere.Whether you’re glued to Strictly, learning to tango at Read more »
“See you later alligator—in a while crocodile”. This was a common exchange or song some years ago. But neither of these creatures inhabit the rivers of Dorset. The rain falls on our land and permeates the chalk until it reaches Read more »
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 »
Towards the end of July, I visited the Maer, a nature reserve situated at the eastern end of the promenade in Exmouth. With its sand dunes and sandy grassland, the Maer is a remnant of a much larger dune system Read more »
When I was 16 I took up a General Engineering apprenticeship with a large manufacturing company and was placed with a foundryman for a few months. The Works Manager, an impressive figure, processed through the factory, rotund with a prominent Read more »
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 »