Dorset Campsite Newsletter Mar-Apr 2023

Campsite News March April 2023

I had a steady trickle of people through March and April and a very good Easter, but the site was not without its problems. Firstly the hot water in the shower unit by the farmhouse ran dry because of an airlock.

The heater over the kitchen sink in the cabin stopped working and had to be replaced. It had been working perfectly last October when the water was drained out. One of the doors fell off the kitchen cupboard because the hinges got loose, and I had a particular problem with one camper who refused to use poo bags for his dog. No amount of notice’s around the place made any difference.

A lady who was hoping to move to Dorset to live came to look for a suitable house over a period of 28 days. (1) Unfortunately she didn’t find anything that she liked and decided to live in Devon instead!

Another person who was pulling a motorhome lost a wheel en route to the campsite. Fortunately, it did not cause an accident and the problem was easily solved and he was soon on his way to West Dorset. (2)

And the most attractive meal I have ever seen (3) was cooked on a barbecue by a frequent camper to Crabbs Bluntshay.

Farm And Garden Updates Mar/Apr 2023

The first calf born this year was quite straightforward. (4) But another cow had a calf three weeks prematurely and the mother headbutted it from the very first moment. She had to be put into a crush (5) to stop her from killing the poor animal.

The calf was then able to suckle her to get the colostrum from the first milk since she had been born.

This is essential for the health of a newborn calf. The new mother was in no better mood the same evening so we had to take the calf away and bottle-feed it. To begin with, it was necessary to have a tube and feed it directly down its throat.

After a couple of days, we then fed it with a huge bottle. (6) Eventually it went on to a normal feeder which had to be filled up 3 times a. day (7)

We also had two orphan lambs which had to be bottle-fed. (8) Another job we had to do with the sheep was ear tagging them. (9) The children on the campsite enjoyed feeding the cows in the yard. (10)

George is just completing a college course which will enable him to work in the Bridport Foundry (which his parents own). He has been practising his skills with welding and mending a trailer. (11)

My close family have been keen to tidy up the premises in recent months so have been putting up new fences (12) and second-hand gates. (13) which is a lot easier than handling galvanise sheets and small metal hurdles.

An enormous ash tree fell down in the orchard during the autumn. It took a very long time to cut it down and chop it up. (14) We then decided to “chip” the small branches through a chipper which would be good for garden paths (15) (16)

Young Farmers Big Breakfasts

It was good to attend two big breakfasts in quick succession, there being a dearth of them since Covid. The first one was organised by the Marshwood Vale Young Farmer and was held at Whitchurch Village Hall. (17) As usual the food was delicious, and the tea and coffee plentiful. (18)

The hall was getting filled up by 9.30 with people from all over West Dorset, (19) and Pat, (20) the local pub landlady did a sterling job with sorting out the crockery and cutlery ready for washing up.

This was expertly being done by mainly male young farmers (I was glad to see). (21) The Young Farmers served 194 breakfasts and made £1320 for the Stroke Association.

At the other big breakfast held by Broadoak Village Hall committee, they organised it slightly differently, whereby you were given a menu (22) and had to fill out a meal sheet (23) so that the servers would know not to put black pudding or other not so popular item on your plate. (24)

Easter Egg Hunt Spring 2023 – Village Life In Whitchurch Canonicorum

I had the best ever Easter weekend on the campsite; I was totally full up. (25) (26) We had an Easter Egg Hunt similar to last year which was very exciting for one family’s children, who invited other children to join them.

This one was more around the garden and sheds, with clues being on fences, gate posts, flower pots and lilac bushes with Jake leading the way. (27) (28) (29) Henry, and George enjoyed the games too with the help of their mother. (30) (31) Tillie proudly showed off her cache of Easter eggs. (32)

Ros organised a church egg hunt at Whitchurch which had children racing around the church and finding eggs in lots of exciting places. (33) (34) (35). Later on, Ros read all the children the Hungry Caterpillar book with plenty of visual aids to everyone’s delight. (36)

St Candida And Holy Cross Church Kitchenette – What’s Cooking?

After five years in the planning and development stage, and plenty of hassles along the way Whitchurch church finally got its brand new kitchenette. The old facilities were ripped out (37) and an enthusiastic group of carpenters and joiners worked hard to install the much-awaited oak kitchen. (38) (39)

Eventually, it was all in place (40) and had sinks that popped up in place with adjustable taps. (41) There were even specially made wooden power points to blend in with the rest of the kitchen furniture. (42).

Once it was all completed Sue and her helpers had the job of placing all the items from the old kitchen into the new one. (43)

Soon the day dawned for the grand opening of the new kitchen. (44) Nearly 70 people attended the event and Ros was chosen to cut the ribbon. (45) Several people who had helped with getting the kitchenette from its inception to its completion received gifts, including Ros and Chris. (46)

This was followed by a scrumptious cream tea enjoyed by everyone (47) with plenty of chatting. (48)

Louise’ Mckell Visit

A distant cousin, Louise, contacted me in 2022 and said that she hoped to visit me in March 2023. As the time got closer for her visit I had worked out that she was the great-granddaughter of my great-grandfather John Huxter’s brother Giles, who lived at Atrim Gore Farm (49), Broadoak until his early death in the early 1900s.

Unfortunately, his wife Elizabeth also died at a young age and their two daughters had to be “adopted out” to Elizabeth’s sisters – one of them living near Weymouth.

Within a few years, one of the sisters, Olive, was entertaining injured WW1 servicemen by playing the piano at a convalescent home in Weymouth. Here she met her future husband Harold Dunstone an Australian.

When the war had finished the Australian Army paid for Olive to sail over to Adelaide, South Australia, as a war bride in 1919. (50) By 1938 they had had 6 children. Bernard, the boy in the back row, was Louise’s father. (51) He bears a striking resemblance to one of my Huxter uncles!

On Louise’s arrival, she stayed in a very comfortable B & B in Morcombelake with beautiful views. I took her out on several “roots tours” to find places that were associated with her ancestors, At Symondsbury churchyard we found the headstones of both her great-grandparents (Thomas and Elizabeth Huxter) and her grandparents (Giles and Elizabeth Huxter) (52)

Next I took her to Atrim Gore Farm, and the present owner was good enough to show us around the premises and the immediate area. (53) She was really moved by this visit as her grandmother had been born there.

I organised a Huxter reunion and nine of us went to Mangerton Mill for a delicious lunch. (54) This was followed by a Lenthall’s (Louise’s great grandmother’s family) “roots tour” to a Dottery farm.

Finally, I took Louise to see a cousin’s dairy farm near Thorncombe so that she could see modern-day milking in a parlour, (55) giving milk to young animals with a milk dispenser (56) and feeding young stock with solids. (57)

This particular cousin lived in a very old grade 2 listed farmhouse, built in the 11th century, to house monks who were building Forde Abbey on the boundary between Dorset and Somerset. (58) Fortunately Forde Abbey wasn’t destroyed in the 1500s by Henry the Eighth.

Sylvia’s Jolly – Trip To Spain March 2023

When I was invited over to Spain in February for a 5-day holiday I jumped at the chance as January, February and early March are the only months I can get away from the farm.

I had to catch a flight at Bristol airport at some ungodly hour but was lucky enough to have a cousin in Bristol where I could lodge for half the night beforehand. I was met at Malaga by another cousin Linda and her husband, and the weather was fine and warm. They lived at Arenas about an hour’s drive from the airport.

Their house sat on top of a hill which was reached by a winding road. (59) Immediately next door to the house Linda had developed several rock gardens. (60) (61) (62) which gave the place a very Spanish feel. There was also a small orchard with an orange tree (63) and (64) several other fruit trees, these being persimmon, fig, almond, tangerine, avocado, quince, pear, loquat and apple.

We did a lot of driving through the local countryside and saw lots of terraced hillsides where avocado and olive trees were growing. (65) (66) (67) It was really good being a tourist!

Of course, there were lots of beaches to visit, which included Torre del Mar and El Playazo beach near Nerja. Grilled sardines a Spanish favourite and other grilled fish stalls along the beach were in abundance (68) and there was a selection of vendors selling shoes and handbags. (69)

I had to take secret photos of the latter otherwise they would have hassled me to buy something. It was good to see young people having a game of football and volleyball on the beach, which is much better than burying their heads in mobile phones! (70)

On the last beach we visited we came across an ancient piece of history which was originally Roman remains located next to the lighthouse at Torrox, that have been identified as a fish salting factory and then converted into a necropolis and later a potter’s workshop and thermal baths. (71)

During my stay, we visited a huge supermarket (72) where the parked cars were covered with canopies, (73) to shade them from the intense heat in the summer months. As I now never travel very far from Bridport to do food shopping and am used to a small Morrisons, Waitrose and Co-op I found the size of this market quite overwhelming.

Linda’s husband took quite a while to choose just the right fish for supper, (74) and the cheese stall was quite mesmerizing! (75) I have seen this beautiful vegetable before but have no idea what it is called. (76) I was surprised to see all the hams “hanging out to dry”. (77)

We talked and talked during our time in their garden which was a treat for me usually having no time to fraternize like this. I was completely rested by the time I flew back to England, ready to face the rigours of working in West Dorset!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Linda Eziquel,  Louise Mckell,  Chris Hawkins, Joanna House, Ros Woodbridge,  Julie Weller, Angela Mowlem,  Sue Johnson and Alisha Lambert

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