You’d have had to try a lot harder on Saturday, Storm Darragh, if you were going to keep the Valley Club members away from their complimentary Christmas bash. Around 40 arrived to a welcome of mulled wine and mince pies and, having charged our glasses, we gave a warm Valley welcome to the Dorset Wrecks.
Valley Club News - 12th October 2023
The Fish and Chips came out of the warming oven hot and delicious (well done and thank you, Case & Brewer!) and the bar was busy during the fiercely-contested Quiz Night at the Village Hall on the 25th September.
The scores achieved were notably higher than last year which must of course be because we have all become so much more intelligent during 2023. What other explanation could there be?
The teams were closely matched but Sheree and Martin Fitzgerald together with Rosie and Gerald Duke clinched a one-point win over the runners up, aided by their expert local knowledge enabling them to name the town of origin of Dorset Vinney (the answer’s upside down at the end of this article.)
But the rest of us shouldn’t be cheesed off because there’s so much more to look forward to!
Christmas is in just a few short weeks and in the nick of time, the Village Hall will be graced with festive decorations ready for the Valley Club Christmas Celebration, on the revised date of 2nd December with mulled wine, mince pies, cheese, a bar and of course the wonderful live music. The doors will open at 7:30 pm.
Turning to January, I should perhaps not be surprised to have found it impossible to unearth anything on the internet about our speaker on the 15th. Alan Jenkins entitles his presentation “My Life in Counter-terrorism”. I need add no more given how troublingly pertinent this is in our times.
On February 19th its all about the optimism and joy that comes from growing things when we’ll be regaled with gardening folklore as the Gold Club comes to the Village Hall.
So if all of this sounds entertaining, enlightening and enticing but you haven’t yet joined the Valley Club – there’s a friendly bunch of people waiting to welcome you.
Christmas Celebration: 2nd December at 7:30 pm
Alan Jenkins: 15th January at 7:45pm
Gold Club: 19th February at 7:45 pm
Quiz answer:
Sturminster Newton!
Fortifications Around Dorset Talk
Up next in our schedule of talks is Chris Stevens from the Bridport Museum, who'll be telling us about the fortifications all round Dorset. This is on the 16th October at 7:45 pm.
Please also note that the perennial and always warmly anticipated Valley Club Christmas Celebration will be taking place on Saturday the 2nd of December.
"For everyone, forever..."
This is how the biggest conservation charity in Europe describes its cause and Emma Ayling, Senior Volunteering and Community Officer at the National Trust spoke to us on 16th January about what that means for the portfolio in North and West Dorset.
We heard how Octavia Hill, a pioneering thinker and social reformer and one of the three founders of the National Trust believed in the importance of access to nature for human wellbeing and the need to stop the destruction of the natural landscape. In a wide - ranging presentation, Emma showed how those principles are still today translated into action on our doorstep.
The conservation and preservation of the Hardy Monument and the spectacular Art-Deco villa, Portland House are two examples and we learned about the work done to maintain them. Similarly, Clouds Hill, the country cottage TE Lawrence moved into 100 years ago this year has been cared for by skilled conservationists tackling humidity, pests, light exposure and specialist cleaning of the furniture and art.
Hardy's Cottage and Max Gate were given similar treatment and we heard how the Trust is working on having the contents of Hardy's study returned to Max Gate from the Dorchester Hardy Centre.
Emma shared the outdoors work of the archeology rangers across the local National Trust land and the restoration of the Hill Forts habitats, implementing management plans to monitor conditions and maintain the ecology. The work of the gardening teams were covered and we discovered how the visitor experience managers have been encouraging the best possible experiences, with new walks making the countryside accessible. This included making Trampers (mobility scooters built for all-terrain use) available for hire to access Golden Cap and Hive Beach. If that's not enough to get anyone outside, then how about Masterchef winner Matt Follas leading you in foraging expeditions with the National Trust?!
The presentation contained a wealth of vivid images creating an entertaining presentation, made all the more so by the enthusiastically added snippets provided by Emma's National Trust colleague, Keith, who happened to also be her husband...!
I wasn't alone in feeling inspired to visit or re-visit some of the amazing properties. Some may even answer the call for more volunteers.
Turning to upcoming events, we have the AGM on the 20th March, when Tom and Chloe Marsh from Eweleaze Organic Dairy Farm will share their story. Find out how the team that brought us the local milk vending outlet created their organic system with an eye on sustainability and became a supplier to the multinational Müller brand. The AGM will also be an opportunity for us to thank Angela Barrett and Jill Empson for their long service on the Committee and also to Clive Willetts who has acted as examiner of our accounts for 17 years.
In breaking news, we now have a chosen venue and date for this year's village outing! After a close contest the final deciding vote was for Beaulieu and that is all set for the 22nd June. More details to come.
Chris Evans, Secretary.
