NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 2025

CAMPSITE

The late summer saw quite a lot of campers arriving at the campsite [1] in the good weather.  People commented how clear the sky was at night and how wonderful that so many stars could be seen.  One regular camper  managed to snap a rainbow! [2].  Another arrived in a custom built unit, [3] which looked amazing inside – except that I wasn’t allowed to take any photos of it.

This camper wrote an amusing account of his adventures with our local birdlife. “Tap, tap….tap, tap tap.  That’s been my early alarm call for the past few days.  Not being your average wake-up call, at first I did wonder what it was.  Could it be the awning creaking in the wind?  Maybe water droplets coming of the branches.  No, it was too regular, too consistent a sound, seemingly coming from the rear of my caravan.”

Quietly edging outside onto the damp morning’s grass, while creeping around the back I was confronted by the sound of a startled intruder.  The culprit – the alpha male Bluntshay Blue Tit! [4]

After repeating this ‘who-dunnit’, or rather ‘how’s-he-dunnit’ procedure for the following few mornings, the reason for these early morning attacks became clear.  The rear of the caravan has chrome rails.  Acting like a mirror, the male Blue Tit obviously thought he had a big strong rival.  He was looking at himself!

A small hand-held mirror has been hung from one of the hawthorn branches opposite the rear of the caravan with a convenient perch for the head Bluntshay Blue Tit to stand on.  Being clearer and larger than the chrome railings and with a natural perch to stand on, it’s hoped that the ‘Blue-Tit-on-the-block’ will be much more prominent in the strategic distraction mirror.  Will it be enough to attract the attention away from head-butting my caravan?

FARM AND GARDEN

As usual lots of things have been happening on the farm.  The 9 piglets, born on 19th August, have been doing well [5] and the geese always had to have a good flutter before they settled down to eat grass all day. [6]

The 6 monthly TB test seems to come around with remarkable speed.  In the summer we set up a ‘race’ so that the animals can be easily controlled in the field when the vet has to do his injections. [7]

One poor cockerel had to be separated from the other poultry because he was being bullied and ended up with a bloodied bottom and no tail feathers. [8]  George had a surprise hatch of chicks which had to be kept in a run until they were old enough to mix with the ‘grown up’ poultry.  [9]  The chicken runs seen here must be at least 70 years old!

With such a hot summer we were able to make very good hay which was then stored in the hayloft for winter feeding. [10]  All the ewes had to be ‘crutched’ [11] to make it easier for the rams to do their job!

At the beginning of 2025 the Dorset Wildlife Trust ‘cut and plushed’ one of our hedges in the ‘Enhance the areas around electricity pylons’ scheme. [As seen in an earlier newsletter.]  We were unable to fence the hedge until late autumn as the ground was so hard from the drought. It was impossible to drive any stakes into the soil.  A stake thumper [12] helped the process [13], but obviously  attaching the pig netting and the barbed wire had to be done by hand with hammers and staples.

We decided to clear a lot of old iron, and the like, from an area behind the shed.  I suppose that it had been accumulating there since the mid-1950s and was completely grown in.  It took hours to remove it from near the hedge and transport it over to a huge lorry. [14]  [15] [16] [17]  The ‘junk’ consisted of lots of old machinery that had been very useful when first purchased but were discarded when improved equipment came on the market.

We still have quite a few stationary engines in my late husband’s sheds.  Back in the 1990s he spent many hours restoring them into working order.  I expect that most of them would still leap into action with a bit of tinkering. In the past they were used for corn cracking,  water pumping, circular saws, milling apples for cider making and the like. But some of the engines were never completed so I have sold a few of these to enthusiasts. [18] [19]

Despite the long drought during the summer and early autumn we had an abundant crop of walnuts [20] and blackberries. [21] No one was interested in buying the walnuts so I gave them all away. I planted the myrtle bush at least 20 years ago. This year is the first year it has produced more than one flower. [22]  I planted this because of the association with myrtle being used in Queen Victoria’s wedding bouquet, and nearly every royal bouquet connected with the Windsor dynasty ever since.

The peacocks, mainly pied, from next door [23] continue to use Bluntshay as their second home, often arriving in the early morning before we are awake!  They don’t seem to be afraid of the geese and pick at their food.  Similarly flying over the high fence to get to the hens and ducks feed seems equally as easy for them.  Three of them got into one of my greenhouses and had a bit of a ‘bust up’ and broke a pane of the glass.  Fencing was put over the hole as well as the door frame, but they still got in again.  But the campers like to see them!

ROBYN AND EDDIE – BORN LAST AUGUST

The two kittens, [24] when not sleeping, scamper all over the place, knocking over books, papers, files, cups of coffee and drying clothes.  They have been micro chipped and have had their two jabs, but are not being allowed outdoors until they have recovered from ‘the big operation’ early in the new year.  When they escaped up to the attic they found a small sparrow in the eaves and brought it down to show me their prey!  It was dead of course after its terrifying journey.  I will have to remember to close the stair door from now on.  They are being over fed as I need them to be occupied [with feeding] when I leave the house, so they don’t escape into the kitchen and then outside. They are still not perfectly house trained yet!  I am wondering how much long this will take?

TELEPHONE BOX TRANSFORMATION

Now that these boxes are considered redundant various villages have come up with ideas to use the space.  Like Broadoak, the box outside the Whitchurch Canonicorum Village Hall sat empty for a while and then it was decided to convert it to a ‘lending library’.  Many villagers waited in anticipation [25] for the ribbon to be cut by Alison and Philip.  [26]   It was soon filled with books.  I have a lot of my husband’s books which I hope to donate to the cause.

VINTAGE WEDDING DRESS FAIR AT MARSHWOOD

This was held at St Mary’s Church in Marshwood by the local PCC and was part of the fund raising programme for repairs to the church.  The display featured 11 wedding dresses spanning 100 years. The oldest dated back from the 1920s. [27a] [27b] The event was made even more interesting because I knew most of the bridal couples.  One couple married in Canada and then spent several decades running the Shave Cross pub.  [28] [29] In another it showed a farming couple [who had since been married for over 50 years] and the bride could still fit into her dress after half a century. [30]  It was difficult to chose which gowns/weddings to photograph so I chose one from 1998 [31] and another from 2008. [32]  The event truly brought together the history and beauty of the tradition and love over the decades. Refreshments were available at the event, [33] and a chance to catch up with friends and family and the latest news.  The event raised £185 in donations but the event was more about raising the profile of the church in the area, for local people to consider getting married there.

Following on from the success of this event the Marshwood PCC are hoping to hold a similar Fair in 2026.  I have access to several vintage wedding dresses and photos so I hope to participate.

RIDE AND STRIDE EVENT IN THE MARSHWOOD VALE

This is an annual event during which supporters raise money for the  Dorset Historic Churches Trust and for their own church by cycling, walking, running and having a tractor trundle between the beautiful and interesting churches in the area.  The DHCT uses half the money raised to fund vital repairs to roofs, windows and fabric while the other half is returned to nominated churches – in this case St  Candida, Whitchurch – to help with its own maintenance.

Nine walkers [striders] set off from Whitchurch church [34] to walk to Fishpond church across country. [35] [36] Their destination was Fishpond church where refreshments awaited them. [37] and as it was good weather at the time the walkers sat outside in the graveyard and had their ‘elevenses’. [38] [39]

Along side this 20 tractors set off from the Five Bells Inn, [40] and wove their way through the lanes to Wootton, Catherston and to Charmouth beach. [41] From Charmouth they trundled across the A35 onto the B3165, down Sector Lane and into the Hawkchurch and Axminster areas travelling down farm tracks and lanes, eventually coming out again on the B3165 to White Gates.  At this point they stopped for a picnic.  On the road again they used tracks across country to go through the Fishpond area and eventually back to the Five Bells for a ‘cuppa and cakes’.

The final figure collected for the event was £1435.00  This is £235 more than in 2024.

BABOO ICE CREAM AT THE HAWKCHURCH WOMEN’S GROUP

In October the group had a very interesting talk and food tasting experience at Hawkchurch Village Hall by Baboo Gelato.  [42]

Sam Hanbury gave us a brief history on how Baboo Gelato came about.  It was set up in 2015 by Annie, his wife, a trained gelatatiere, who wanted to combine her passion for making seriously good ice cream with the glut of fabulous ripe fruit on her doorstep.  After living abroad [Singapore] Annie and her family moved to the beautiful rolling hills behind the Dorset seaside town of Bridport and became the proud owners of a smallholding with an overflowing and abandoned market garden.

Annie decided she wanted to put the heart and soul back into ice cream making.  She missed her children’s excitement and wonder as they used to chose from a gorgeous array of colourful and scrumptious flavours whilst living abroad.  Annie and Sam have four children.

At Baboo Gelato every batch is handmade in small quantities using fresh seasonal fruit from the South West, carefully sourced ingredients from across the UK. They try to locally source their ingredients as much as possible; strawberries from Forde Abbey, near Chard and organic milk from a farm in Somerset.  However, the finest vanilla, grown in Madagascar, is sourced through a company in France.  Their focus is always on flavour, craftsmanship, and award winning taste.

Sam mentioned that all the big commercial brands of ice cream in the UK come under the umbrella of Unilever.  Baboo may be more expensive than the other brands but being handcrafted and with the finest ingredients Sam thinks that the higher price is worth it.

Gelato is not simply the Italian name for ice cream.  Gelato is made using more milk than cream, and so is much lower in fat than traditional ice cream.  There is also less air in gelato, which means it packs more flavour.  Baboo won the Champion Ice Cream 2020 from Taste of the West for their Salted Caramel, and Best British Speciality from the Great British Food Awards 2020. [43]

They were awarded a grant [November 2023] by Low Carbon Dorset as part of the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund to add solar panels to their production facility in Rampisham, Dorset.  This reduced their carbon footprint by 14.55 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide each year.  Between 2017 and 2019 they received a generous grant from the EU to support their growth helping them to buy top quality machinery.  Two of their local outlets are at Felicity’s Farm Shop in Morcombelake and at Lyme Regis. [44] [45]

During Sam’s visit to the group he gave members a taste of each flavour and each one was amazingly delicious!  [46]  [47]

Baboo is a family name for Annie’s grandmother which the family thought sounded just right.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Betsy West, Adam Peat, Robin and Jane Symonds, Evelyne O’Hare, Sarah Forsey, Alison Hawkins, Dean Minson, Sam and Annie Hanbury, Helen Doble and everyone else who kindly sent me relevant photos.