Barnyard Buzz Dorset Nov Dec Christmas 2023

November & December 2023: Campsite News

Campers continued to arrive in the winter although in smaller numbers, braving the wind, rain and occasional frost. (1) One family drove all the way from Coventry for a three-day stay and enjoyed looking around the farmyard. (2)

Farm And Garden Updates Autumn 2023

We brought the cows and calves in from the fields in late October as the fields were getting wetter and wetter and we didn’t want the fields to get “poached”. I sold all my calves before Christmas at 2 consecutive sales at Sedgemoor.

During the first market, I had a very favourable mention in the market report for my beef animals and was congratulated by cousins who were there at the time. So I must be doing something right!

Geese were scarce this year when it came to the Christmas trade. I could have easily sold another 4 at least if there had been more geese around. Looking on the internet and talking to several suppliers it was obvious that the selling price had gone through the roof.

I decided not to go to that extreme fearing I may not get any customers next year! As usual, I had to hire a cold storage unit for storing the geese, (some up to Christmas Eve), the cost of which had gone up yet again! I am amused when people want to have a photo with their goose, (3) and appreciate when a customer sends me photos of it just about to be eaten! (4) (5)

We seem to have a recurring problem with getting the odd cow pregnant even though the bull had been around for more than enough months to do the deed! So we bought some Kamar detector packages. (6) These were glued to the back of the animal. (7) (8)

The package would burst In the event of the bull getting interested in that particular animal, thus telling us that the animal might become pregnant. We tried this procedure with two cows and neither of them got pregnant!! So we are trying for a third time – the bull was put in with my cows last weekend, with the hope that it will be third time lucky!

Even though we have spread many tons of farmyard manure we still have some left in my top field so two keen local gardeners came and took a few bags away. (9)

Flooding Of The River Char

We had floods all over the Marshwood Vale during the early winter, and the River Char came over the bridge and up the road further than I had ever seen it before. (10) (11) (12) (13) The only vehicles to get through were large lorries and large tractors.

My neighbours had to put sandbags on both the back and front doors to stop the water coming into their house, (being right next to the river and bridge).

This event had more or less demolished the river side fence (14) and after the water had subsided the geese were up to their old tricks.

They were fenced into an area further up the field but managed to open knots tying the fencing together and so escaped down to the river’s edge.

If they had not been seen straight away they would surely have hopped over the fence and been on their way to Charmouth – in a still fast flowing current!

Views Of The Marshwood Vale

There is a very keen photographer who visited the campsite on numerous occasions during 2023 and spent some time taking fantastic views from the hills around Marshwood Vale Here is a selection: Coneys Castle 1 (15) Coneys Castle 2 (16), On top of Hardown Hill, (17) Hardown Hill looking towards Golden Cap, (18)

Relaunch Of My Book “Dorset’s Western Vale”

This was finally organised for 12th December at the Bull Hotel in Bridport after a few hiccups along the way. (19)

It was far too late to have one in the local bookshops in Bridport as they would only facilitate it at the beginning of November at the latest.

I did manage to find a photo of my original launch in 1986 (20) so that a comparison could be made with the one taken on 12th December. (21)

It felt quite strange to sign the first copy with a special “signing” pen after all these years. (22) The Little Toller Bookshop at Beaminster has agreed to sell my books. (23)

Canterbury Tales At Wootton Fitzpaine

I had seen the Canterbury Tales show (24)some years ago but felt it was well worth a second visit. David Mynne is a “one-man band” who took us through one of Geoffrey Chaucer’s best-loved tales. (25) It paints an ironic and critical portrait of English society in the Middle Ages. We were told to expect ‘naughtiness, nonsense and medieval swearing’.

A synopsis of what we were about to see went like this:

It’s Rude! It’s Ribald! It’s Ridiculous!

Welcome to ‘The Canterbury’, an Olde English Inn;
Infamous around these parts for villainy and sin.
The floor is fresh with sawdust for soaking up the spit.
And the air is full of stories, told with wisdom, guile and wit.
Some of them romantic, some are bawdy, others scary
And there are tales about the devil that should make you oh so wary.
Some are beautifully poetic and some a little coarser;
A medieval medley from the pen of Geoffrey Chaucer!

A memorable experience!

Christmas Brass Band Concert

This was a much-anticipated event (26) for the village at the beginning of December and the church was packed (27) to hear the Durnovaria Silver Band (from Dorchester) and the Honiton Band, under the baton of Elizabeth Carter, who lives in the village. (28) (29) (30) (31)

The church has very good acoustics which made the music even more powerful. A most memorable late afternoon event.

Donkeys At A Short And Sweet Sweet Service

(32) Ros, (33) who puts on a series of Short and Sweet services during the year organised a special one on 10th December which involved Betsy’s two donkeys from Ryall. (34) Ben is aged 18 and Belle is 14. Before Betsy bought them 10 years ago the donkeys were part of the tourist trade giving rides on the beach.

Whilst at home the donkeys are part of a grazing rotation to keep all the grass down.

Their well-rotted dung provides valuable natural fertilizer for vegetable gardens at home and also for a number of local friends. Their favourite foods are creeping thistle and stinging nettles.

They have young people to visit, who enjoy petting and feeding them carrots. Prior to the service Betsy and the Rev Sarah Godfrey gave the donkeys some practice for their big role. (35)

When the big day arrived, braving the rain and wind, Betsy and Allison walked Ben and Belle a mile to the church and their first appearance was in the church porch.

(36) The donkeys were too shy to come into the church, but next time they might be persuaded with some hay! Later parents and children sang carols in the church (37) and visited the Christmas crib by the pulpit. (38)

On 24th March 2024, Ben and Belle are scheduled to lead the annual Palm Sunday procession from the Five Bells Inn to the church.

Christmas Lunch At Burton Bradstock For The Family History Group

Every year I organise a Christmas lunch for the West Dorset branch of the Somerset & Dorset Family History Group. On 25th November about a dozen of us ate at The Anchor and enjoyed all the trimmings of a festive meal, (39) putting us all into a Christmas mood, hopefully!

Lots Of Christmas Markets In The District

Firstly there was the Christmas Fayre at Morcombelake. (40) All stalls were run by local people selling their wares (41) (42) which included Charlie selling his meat products (43) and the ladies in the kitchen producing scrumptious food. (44) As this occurred at the end of November it got everyone into the Christmas mood.

Next, there was the event at the Five Bells Pub where we were greeted with a fabulous Christmas tree (45) and a glowing fire. (46) I bought some of Pat’s products for Christmas presents. (47) Betsy also had a stall selling her honey, (48) and Caroline was promoting her book ‘Lotus Eating Days’, published in 2022, based on her parents’ experiences in WW2 in the Far East. (49)

Meanwhile, Simon was busy persuading people to buy his Christmas stars and Jelly. (50) Stacey was on hand at the bar selling drinks to the thirsty stall holders. (51)
In the middle of December, we had a Krampus Christmas at the Shave Cross pub just up the road from the campsite.

The landlord and his partner dressed up as the Krampus character and our usual Father Christmas. (52) I had a stall at this event and managed to sell a few books, (53) Kat and her friend did a roaring trade selling wreaths for front doors and graves. (54)

An Amazing Carol Service At Whitchurch

I usually miss the event every year(55) (56) as I am in the middle of processing my geese, but this year I had a slight gap in the work so attended the Carol service after a very long absence.

The church, lit with candles, a Christmas tree and beautiful flowers had a full congregation and the singing was quite moving. After the service, we served mulled wine with mince pies.

The Forge And Blacksmiths At Broadoak

The forge (57) (58)is situated in a converted cheese-making building that used to be part of Denhay Farms. Alex Pole has been a blacksmith for 30 years. To commence his career he did a 4-year course which involved studying metalwork, jewellery making and architectural ironworking.

He travelled and worked as a journeyman blacksmith for many years before returning to the UK in 2006. During the last few years, he has worked at Stratton, near Dorchester and has been at Broadoak for 14 months.

Alex has 2 full-time blacksmiths working for him. (59) They specialise in making hand-forged tools for the kitchen, the garden and the woods. To this end, a gas forge, anvil, hammer and tongs are used to achieve these goals. Making functional items is what Alex really enjoys about his job.

Alex has special links with some companies where he makes bespoke tableware for restaurants in countries all over the world, which includes Singapore and Ireland.

Alex also runs blacksmith courses (60) which cover “craft cookery school”, “Forging an Axe”, “Forging a kitchen knife”, “BBQ tools” and “Tool making”. (alexpoleironwork.com) A quote from his handbook states that “Only traditional techniques are used at The Forge. All products are hand forged to the highest quality using the best materials available by a small team of skilled craftsmen”

His blacksmith workshop was like walking into an Aladdin’s Cave. (61) (62) (63) (64) (65) An impressive visit!

New Year’s Eve Party At Chideock

This is the first time I have seen the new year (66) in a very long time. We went along at about 9 pm and wondered whether we would know anyone at all but did see some familiar faces. We had a really good time. Singing Auld Lang Syne at midnight, and then doing the Hokey Cokey; it was all rather emotional.

We left before a Conga of dancers started careering around the room! Let’s hope that it is a good 2024 for everyone, everywhere.

Acknowledgements

Ros Woodbridge, Katherine Johnston-Hyde, Betsy West, Elizabeth Carter, Mark Joynes, Scott Barton, Terry Sweeney, Sue Beckers, Alex Pole and Gabriel Showell-Nicholas.