Countryside Newsletter for March ’22

Campite News March 2022

Wally the cat came to stay for a few days in March.  (1)  He was a 6 year old rescue cat and the present owners had had him for 4 years.  He was very well trained in having weekends away in a caravan as he was allowed out in the field and could be trusted to return without running off!  He loved travelling even though his owners had only driven from West Bay (8 miles away) to stay at the campsite.

We had a converted 1985 Bedford mobile library ex Worcestershire Council on site in March, which still had some of its original features inside. (2)  It had been converted in the mid 1990s and had been owned by Alex for 4 years in which he had made his home for 3 years.  Nowadays it is just used for holidays.  It is 5 berth and includes a compost toilet and log burner and can accommodate 5 adults

Farm Updates March 2022

Alisha now also has some orphan lambs, which spend their days outside and their nights in the stable.  (3)  When they are old enough to go outside all the time the stable will be free for the pigs after they have met the boar.  They are out to grass at the moment until their rendezvous with the boar!   Over the last 6 weeks we have had 5 new baby calves.  (4)

An enormous lorry came on its annual visit to collect the silage bale plastic, as I am not allowed to burn it.  (5)  It seems that the company has been undercharging me for years by mistake.  I think I will have to find another firm to collect the plastic or ask a local farmer if I can share his load: as I am not paying a huge amount for just 2 bags to be collected in the future.

Mothering Sunday Service 2022 At Whitchurch Canonicorum Church

Ros and Ginnie conducted a beautiful service for Mothering Sunday.  During the service it was necessary to call the marriage banns for the young couple attending who will be getting married in Whitchurch Church in the coming weeks.  Even though the couple and their immediate relatives were new to the church they became involved in the action songs which communicate God's love through song and actions. (7)  Using actions can help people connect more powerfully with the meaning of the words. 

During the Short and Sweet services which Ros organises she uses a Special Jar that helps communicate the content through messages that are put on Spoons.  (8)  During another part of the services we used shapes (9) as an act of prayer.  We wrote our hopes, prayers and dreams on the shapes and then put them into the Shrine.  In addition to this we all lit candles to symbolise the light of Christ shining in the darkness of our world and placed them on the Shrine. (10) 

As the service was celebrating Mothering Sunday  people in the congregation were encouraged to make bouquets of flowers.  (11, 12) A cream tea and other goodies were enjoyed  to complete  a beautiful service.  (13)

Lets Talk About Hedgehogs

I attended a delightful talk about hedgehogs at Whitchurch village hall recently given by Colin and Suzy Varndell.  (15) They had put up a lot of display boards covering many topics relating to hedgehogs.  (16)  About 15 people attended the talk.  (17)  The Dorset Mammal Group has set up the Dorset Hedgehog Project.

A hedgehog is about 22-28 cm long and is covered on the back and flanks with around 6000 banded spines.  The face and the underside are covered with coarse greyish brown fur.  They live on worms, beetles, slugs, caterpillars, millipedes and earwigs.  They will also eat meaty cat and dog food provided by people.

It has been estimated that during the 1950s the UK hedgehog population was around 30,000,000.  Recently the Mammal Society has put the current population figure at just over 500,000.  Hedgehogs have been driven from much of the countryside and are now found mainly in urban habitats.

The causes of this catastrophic trend in hedgehog numbers is complex with the main reason being cited as fragmentation of habitats, and intensive arable farming (use of  herbicides and fertilizers and larger field sizes).  Also the widespread use of pesticides reduces the invertebrates that hedgehogs eat. The use of strimmers, especially at the edge of hedgerows have also had a detrimental impact.  In the towns and cities  garden fencing and walls limit the area of connected land available and amongst other things gardens are lost to car parking or decking directly reduces foraging areas.  (18)

The Dorset Mammal Group (19) is aiming to develop towns and villages in hedgehog friendly habitats, by encouraging residents to make holes in or under their garden fences and walls for hedgehogs to pass through, and to adopt hedgehog friendly activities in their gardens by not using slug pellets, leaving areas of rough ground logs piles, and by offering supplementary food and water.  So far they have 30 villages signed up to this project so far.  DMG are trying to raise public awareness with a range of visual presentations and to produce literature and media articles.  They have organised a training day for Dorset town and council groundsmen and 60 delegates to attend the Vale Wildlife Hospital course in care and welfare for hedgehogs in Dorset.

On a very local level we were encouraged to make a cat-proof hedgehog feeding station (20).  To keep cats out it was suggested that stacked bricks at an angle be put just inside the feeding station entrance.  Unfortunately it will still let rats in!   It was suggested that people use Haydon Veterinary Practice as a first port of call for help with a sick or injured hedgehog.  Calci worms are fine to feed hedgehogs because of their high calcium content and low phosphate, but under no circumstance should one feed mealworms. A chart is now being complied to document any sighting of hedgehogs in the village of Whitchurch.  (21)

I will certainly check the whole area for hedgehogs before I ever do any strimming again!

Grit Bin Removal And Replacement

Our Parish Council Lengthsman gave us rather short notice about doing this job.  So it was a case of picking up a new grit bin from my field early one frosty morning (22) and my hopping into his van with his workmen and driving off to just outside the James Hargreaves Hall in Morcombelake.  Here was the old grit bin which had obviously been severely hit by a lorry working in the area.  (23)  I had taken a huge silage bag along with me so that the grit in the old bin could be placed in it to save any wastage.   (24)  It was amazing how long this took. 

The old bin had to be taken away and eventually taken to a tip. (25)   Then the new bin had to be filled up from the silage bag.  (26)  Lastly the remainder of the grit was pushed into the top of the new bin without a grain left on the road!  (27)  The local residents were both pleasantly surprised and delighted that the job had been done so quickly!   The Char Valley Parish Council has over 30 grit bins dotted around the area, usually on the side of steep hills, which are filled up every autumn ready to be used during inclement weather.  They need to be inspected at least once a year to make sure that they are still in good condition and full up.

Plane Crash On Lewesdon Hill In March 1942

Recently the people of Broadwindsor, near Beaminster, commemorated this tragic event by holding a service of remembrance on Lewesdon Hill.  This hill is the highest in Dorset (28) with an elevation of 915 ft (279 metres) and belongs to the National Trust.  The hill is often shrouded in mist just like it was on 15 March 1942.

The pilot was Jean Verdun De Cloedt who was born of Belgium parents in 1916. ( 29) Possibly they were refugees from WW1 when Germany overran Belgium.  Jean came to England to join the RAF Volunteer Reserve.  But because he was colour blind he was unable to join operational squadrons and ended up at No 3 Delivery Flight at RAF High Ercall, Shropshire delivering new and repaired Spitfires as replacements around the country. 

On that fateful day Jean climbed into the Spitfire at RAF Burtonwood near Warrington, some 222 miles north of Dorset.  The plane was a Mk Vb BL463 and he was on his way to RAF Bolt Head at Salcolmbe, a cliff top grass airfield where No 317 Polish Squadron had been relocated to protect Exeter and Plymouth.  Unfortunately he never made it and the plane crashed into the northern side of Lewesdon Hill and the pilot was killed on impact.  The plane's engine could be heard spluttering above Broadwindsor before the crash. 

Three Home Guard men (Jack Frampton, Jack Wakeley and Doug Studley)  from the village made their way up the hill  to investigate and found the wreckage of the plane and the pilot's body.  The next day Dudley Tolley, an 18 year old Home Guard farmer, found the propeller blade and hid it under his bed for 75 years.  It now hangs in the Beaminster Museum. The report of the crash was kept very quiet with no media coverage so as not to damage local morale.

After the accident villagers put up a wooden cross on the site of the crash as a mark of respect.  Flowers were placed there every 15 March until the 1960s when the cross rotted away under the leaves.

Up until 2021 no-one knew very much about the incident.  Covid and a dislocated shoulder were responsible for Andrew Frampton, a local farmer, having time on his hands  and then deciding that he wanted to research the story behind what happened on 15 March 1942.  He started the research in October 2021  and had to complete it by March 2022 when the tragedy's 80^th anniversary was due.  The National Trust funded the whole event.  About a hundred people attended the commemoration service.

People drove up to Lewesdon, Hill whilst the children walked up from Broadwindsor School. (30).  Rev Jo Nearey welcomed everyone to the service and then read a letter from the Belgium Airforce and Consulate. (31) This was followed by the school children reading poems.  Next Ruth Worsley from the National Trust Hill Forts spoke about the history of Lewesdon Hill. (32) Andrew Frampton told the story of the tragedy of the plane crash, (33) and then presented Benjamine (the pilot's great niece) with a small plaque showing a piece of the cooling system from the plane. (34)  Benjamine gave a speech and then unveiled the monument. (35).  (36, 37)  Benjamine's father  (the pilot's nephew) is still alive and 92 but wasn't well enough to travel to Lewesdon.  Raymond (38) was Benjamine's grandfather.

A member of the Dorset RAF Veterans Association played the last post (39), after which there was a two minutes' silence.  The trumpeter then laid a wreath.   After this everyone climbed to the top of the hill (40) at which point RAF Historian Aldon Ferguson spoke about the plane, the regiment and both air fields, and what they were used for during WW2.  After this a Tiger Moth plane flew over where the spitfire had crashed in 1942. (41)  The Charity Navy Wings from Yeovilton kindly flew in the Tiger Moth for the occasion.

Dorset RAF Veterans Association always mark any fallen airmen on their patch.  (42)  There were 4  officers in uniform including a standard bearer and trumpeter.

A truly memorable occasion for everyone who attended.

Cream Teas At Strongate Farm, Salway Ash Near Bridport

A great afternoon out.  I hope you can attend.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Eleanor Studley, Andrew Frampton, Marjory Hookings, Ros Woodbridge, Ginnie Luckett, Sue Mattock, Colin and Suzy Varndell, Victoria and Jeremy Trice, Sam Cannon, Kay Wilkinson and Alex Collins.

Blog Comments

Hi Sylvia.
Its such a shame that your man cant seem to get your page working properly, I don’t think people will bother to reply which will be a shame.

The story about the cat and the converted library van was very interesting, fancy the cat was allowed to wander the farm and still came back I expect it managed to catch mice.

It is lovely to see the beautiful little lambs running about the farm, what with them the pigs and the calves and later the geese, its a wonder you have any time at all.

I particularly liked the story of Whitchurch Mothering Sunday short and sweet, who knew so much went on at the local church.

I was intrigued with the piece where you stated “we all lit candles to symbolise the light of Chris shining in the darkness of our world and placed them on the Shrine.” Who is Chris ??

I loved the story about the hedgehogs Its such a shame that their numbers are dwindling I will certainly try to make my garden more Hedgehog friendly.

Very interesting the story about the very necessary grit bins around whitchurch, I will always forever know them as Sylvia’s bins.

I was interested in the spitfire article. Why was the trumpeter wearing a submariners badge and Royal navy epaulettes?

Luci and I may attend the Salway Ash Cream Tea’s, we will let you know later.

The march news letter was very good, cant wait for April’s.

Love Ray x

Hi Sylvia,

I enjoyed reading about the hedgehogs and in particular how the Dorset Mammal group is encouraging towns and villages to be more hedgehog friendly. It was inspiring!

Margaret

Hi Sylvia,
An excellent collection of stories thank you! Can’t wait for the next one!
Liz

The scones looked delicious.
Sad to hear about the diminishing hedgehog populations, maybe analagous to the echidna (and other species, even koalas are in trouble) situation in Australia.
Being a bit of a war history buff, I liked the article on the Spitfire crash on Lewesdon Hill.
Keep ’em coming.

Sandford